Fritz

Chapter Eight

                               Fritz

Jayanto- " Look there - there's that elephant statue on top of the gate! And the turrets! And here is the bed made of silver and Goddess Laxmi's chamber. I am amused that it's still here and in perfect condition. Look at those pictures on the wall, I saw them the last time I came here!"
But within an hour, his enthusiasm began to wane. I was so engrossed myself that I didn't noticed it at first. But, while walking through a hall and looking at the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, I suddenly realized Jayanto was no longer walking by my side. Where was he?
I saw a saint, and decided to ask whether he saw Jayanto or not.
So I asked him, " Excuse me, have you seen a man, he was with me 5 minutes ago. "
The Saint-" Yes, he has gone out on the terrace, I saw him heading that way. "
Me- " thank you. "
I came out of the hall and found Jayanto standing absentmindedly near a wall on the other side of the terrace. I went and stood beside him. He didn't seem to notice my presence at first but got surprised when I called him.
Me- " What on earth is the matter with you? Why are you standing here looking morose even in a beautiful place like this? I can't understand it. "
Jayanto- " Have you finished seeing everything? If so, let's....."
Had I been alone, I would have spent a little more time here. But one look at Jayanto made me decide in favour of returning to the circuit house.
A road through the hills took us back to town. Jayanto and I were both sitting on the back seat of the car. I offered him a cigarette, but he refused. I noticed a veiled excitement in the movement of his hands. One moment he places his hands near the window, then on his laps and immediately afterwards, began biting his nails. Jayanto was quiet by nature but this odd restlessness in him worried me.
After about ten minutes, I couldn't take it anymore.
Me- " It might help if you share me your problem, ". Jayanto shook his head.
Jayanto- " It's no use telling you, for you're not going to believe me. "
Me- " Ok, even if I don't believe you, you can at least discuss the matter with me, can't you?"
Jayanto- " Now, I can recall everything."
Me- " What do you mean?"
Jayanto- " now I remember, it was not a cat or a mice which came into our room last night. Those little marks on my quilt were footprints. "
Me- " Yeah, you are right. Those marks were footprints of a cat. So, what's the big deal?"
Jayanto- " No, those footprints belonged to Fritz. He was there with us last night."
Me- " Hang on, who is Fritz? You never told me that you have s cat, whose name is Fritz."
Jayanto- " Fritz is not a cat. He's my toy doll which I had in my childhood."
Me- " Wait, you mean to say that a doll walked over your chest and left footprints on your quilt? Hahahaha.......
Seriously, are you mad. I think you need to see a good doctor, immediately.  You are out of your mind. "
Jayanto- " No, I am not. That's why I was not telling you. See you don't believe me. "
I think that slowly, in bits and pieces, he recalled the whole business about his doll.
Me- " Alright, but how can I believe that it was your doll and not a cat?"
Jayanto- " I will show you when we will reach the circuit house. "
There was very little I can do at this except catch hold of him and shake him. How can I talk sensibly to someone whose mind is obsessed with an absurd idea?
Me- " Are you sure, you didn't see anything, didn't you ?"
Jayanto- " No, but I could distinctly feel that whatever was walking on my chest had two feet, rather than four. It mustbe Fritz. "
As we got out of the car at the circuit house, I  decided that Jayanto must be given a nerve tonic or some such thing. A tranquilizer might not be good enough. I could not allow a thirty-seven year old man so upset by a simple but absurd memory
Me- " it's nearly 12:00 pm. Should we not be thinking of having a bath?"
Jayanto- " You go first", after saying so he approached his room.
An idea came to my mind while bathing. Perhaps this was the only way to bring Jayanto back to normality.
After bathing I entered into Jayanto's room all fresh and energetic. I entered into Jayanto's room and he is still sitting on his bed and staring at his quilt gloomily but mysteriously and surprisingly. He showed me his quilt and by my amusement we were shocked to see those marks were not footprints belonging to a cat as it doesn't had any paw marks instead they more resembled a man's footprints. We can see the shoe marks and the fact that they were covered with mud. Earlier,  we didn't noticed that at all.
I started looking Jayanto in a very suspicious and surprised manner.
Jayanto- " Now you got it, I was right. It was Fritz who visited us last night."
I kept quiet and a thrill of silence prevailed.
It was 1:30 pm, and lunch was served. We both settled down at dining table, thinking anxiously about the footprints and his doll.
At lunch, Jayanto ate nothing except a couple of chapatis with meat curry, although I knew he was quite fond of food.
After lunch we went and sat in the cane chairs on the veranda that overlooked the garden. Still wondering about the footprints and his doll. There appeared to be no one else in the circuit house. There is something eerie about the silence this afternoon. All we could hear is the noise made by a few monkeys sitting on the gulmohar tree across the cobbled path.
I asked Jayanto about Fritz.
Me- " Why did you never told me about Fritz and what happened to it. "
Jayanto- " How can I tell you, when I myself recalled everything about it right now. "
Me- " But now you can tell me everything. "
Jayanto- " I will. It was not a usual kind of doll little girls play with. One of my uncles had gifted me from Switzerland. It was a twelve-inch-long figure of an old man. Dressed in swiss style. Apparently, it was very lifelike. Although It was not mechanized, it was possible to bend and twist it's limbs. It's face had a smile on it and on it's head, it wore a swiss cap with a little yellow coloured feather sticking out from it. It's clothes, especially in their little details, were perfect- belt, buttons, pockets, collars, socks. There were even little buckles on the shoes. "
At around 3:00 pm, we saw a man came into the garden, carrying a watering can. He was an old man. His hair, moustaches and sideburns were all white.
( Jayanto continues his story)
Jayanto-"My uncle had returned from Europe shortly I left for Bundi with my parents thirty one years ago. The doll or rather I should say the old man had been bought in a village in Switzerland. The man who sold it to my uncle, had jokingly said to him," He's name is Fritz. You must call him by this name. He won't respond to any other. "
I had a lot of toys when I was a kid. My parents gave me literally and practically everything I wanted, perhaps because I was their only child. But once I had Fritz ,I forgot all my other toys. I played only with him. A time came when I began to spend hours  just talking to him. Our conversations had to be one-sided, of course, but Fritz had such a funny smile on his lips and such a look in his eyes, and it seemed to me as though he could understand every word. Sometimes I wondered if he actually converse with me if I could speak to him in German. Now it seems like a childish fantasy, but at that time the whole thing was very real to me. My parents did warn me not to overdo things, but I listened to no one. I had not yet been put in a school, so I had all the time in the world for Fritz. "
Jayanto fell silent. I looked at my watch and realized it is 9:30 pm. It is very quiet outside. We were sitting in the drawing-room of the circuit house. Suddenly the lights were off. We called the servants and they said that there is a fault in the electricity tower and the workers are fixing it. We went inside the room. It is so dark and gloomy. An oil lamp burnt in the room.
Me- " What happened to the doll?"
Jayanto, still lost in deep thoughts. His answer to my question came so late that, by that time, I had started to think that he had not heard me at all.
Jayanto- " I had brought it to Bundi. It was destroyed here. "
Me- " Destroyed? How?"
( Jayanto sighed)
Jayanto- " we were sitting out on the lawn having tea. I had kept the doll by my side on the grass. I was not really old enough to have tea,but I insisted and, in the process, the cup tilted and some of the hot tea fell on my pants. I ran inside to change and came back to find that Fritz had disappeared. I looked around and found quite soon that a couple of stray dogs were having a nice tug-of-war with Fritz. Although he didn't actually come apart, his face was battered beyond recognition and his clothes were torn. In other words, Fritz didn't exist for me anymore. He was dead."
Jayanto's story intrigued me.
Me- " And then?"
Jayanto- " What could possibly happen after that? I arranged his funeral, that's all."
Me- " Meaning?"
Jayanto- " I buried him under a deodar tree. I had wanted to make a coffin. Fritz was after all, a European. But I could find nothing, not even a little box. So, in the end, I buried him just like that. "
Me- " That's why you were so anxious after finding the deodar tree."
Jayanto- " Yes and I want to see him again ."
He rushed to the deodar tree. And I followed him.
Me- " If a doll had been buried somewhere thirty years ago if one knew the exact spot, it might be possible to dig the ground there. No doubt most of it would have been destroyed, but it is likely that  we will find just a few things, especially if they are made up of metal, such as the buckle of a belt or brass buttons on a jacket can be found."
If Jayanto could actually be shown that is all left of his precious doll, he might be able to rid himself of his weird notions; otherwise, he will have weird and strange dreams every night and talk of Fritz walking on his chest. If this kind of thing is allowed to continue he might go totally mad.
Jayanto seemed to like my idea at first. But, after a little while,
Jayanto- " Who will do the digging? Where will you find a spade?"
(I laughed) Me- " Since there is a garden, there is bound to be a gardener. And we saw him today. And that means there's a spade. If we we offered him a little tip, I have no doubt that he would have no objection to digging up a bit of the ground near the trunk of the tree at the far end of the lawn. "
Jayanto stared at me for a couple of seconds and said.
Jayanto- " Will you ask him or should I?"
Me- " You don't worry, I will do the honors."
After I had spoken to the gardener, he looked at me rather suspiciously. Clearly, no one had ever made such a request.
Gardener-" Why, Sir?"
I laid a friendly hand on his shoulder and said, " Don't worry about the reason. I'll give you fifty rupees as tip. Please do as you are told. "
He relented, going so far as to give me a salute accompanied by a broad grin.
I beckoned to Jayanto who was standing behind us. He began walking towards me. As he came closer, I saw the pallor on his face.
Me- " I did hope we would find at least some parts of the doll."
Jayanto- " I think so...."
The gardener, in the meantime, had fetched a spade. The three of us made our way to the deodar tree.
Jayanto pointed at the ground about a yard from the trunk of the tree.
Jayanto- " Here..
Me- " Are you sure?"
Jayanto nodded silently.
Me- " how much did you dig?"
Jayanto- "At least eight inches. "
The gardener started digging. The man had a sense of humour. As he lifted his spade, he asked if there is a hidden treasure under the ground and, if so, whether we will be prepared to share it with him. I laughed at this, but Jayanto's face didn't register even the slightest trace of amusement. It was the month of October and not at all warm in Bundi. Yet the collar of his shirt is Soaked in sweat. He is staring at the ground unblinkingly. The gardener continued to dig. Why is there no sign of the doll?
A raucous cry of something from the Bush made me turn my head for a moment and, in that instant, Jayanto made a strange sound. I quickly looked at him. His eyes were bulging as though they will pop out from his sockets. He raised his right hand and pointed at the hole in the ground with a finger that is visibly trembling.
Jayanto( in a voice turned hoarse with fear)- " What....what is that?"
The spade slipped from the gardner's hand. I, too, gaped at the ground, open-mouthed in horror, amazement and disbelief.
There lay at our feet, covered in dust, lying flat on its back, a twelve-inch-long
, pure white, perfect little human skeleton.