Anyush by Martine Madden Read Free Book Online Page B

giaour.
    Anyush’s reflection stared back at her in the glass, and something else – a dark figure creeping away towards the wood. She jumped down from the chair and pulled open the door.
    ‘Husik!’
    The trapper’s dog was barking somewhere in the distance.
    ‘Husik, I know you’re there.’
    There was no answer, only the distant wash of the sea and the blood pounding in her ears.
    ‘Stay away from me, you hear? You mean nothing to me, Husik Tashjian. Nothing!’
    Going back inside, she pulled off the dress and hid it in a corner of the loft.

 
    Diary of Dr Charles Stewart
     
    Mushar
     
    Trebizond
     
    May 6th, 1905
    Two more TB patients arrived at the hospital today. They were both children, so I’ve put them on the female ward which is almost empty, but this is a situation which cannot continue. An isolation unit was included in the original hospital plan, and I haven’t given up hope on finding some way to fund it. Elias Riggs is slow to respond to my letters, but his answer is always the same: we will have to make do. Since the hospital opened there is more pressure than ever to bring in income, especially now that we have our first member of staff. Manon Girardeau is Matron and Head Nurse, the only nurse in fact. She arrived to my office from Trebizond one morning, a substantial presence blocking my exit through the doorway. She’s of French Lebanese background and came originally to Constantinople with her mother’s family. Roughly the same height as myself and with the frame and physique of a blacksmith, she’s an imposing figure and commands instant respect. It was Paul who told me she was looking for a position and that she had worked with him in the Municipal Hospital as a theatre nurse for many years. I knew he thought a lot of her, but I wondered why she would move to a small, badly equipped, underfunded hospital in the sticks.
    Yesterday, during a visit to the Vali to extract one of his teeth, I happened to mention our new arrival and he grinned knowingly, saying there had been an incident.
    ‘
Un scandale
,’ he told me.
    I pressed him for details, but he would say no more. Paul knows something but is clearly uncomfortable talking about it, so I let it go. I did however decide to interview Manon, before taking her on, and she left me in no doubt as to which of us would be in charge.
    ‘The hospital is run by me and the staff they will answer to me. You are told only if there is a
problème
.’
    ‘Well, I
am
the–’
    ‘We choose new staff together and all must have my agreement before a decision is made.’
    ‘I haven’t actually decided–’
    ‘
Alors
, the roster is written at the beginning of the week, and if there is a change, you talk to me.’
    ‘I see.’
    ‘I am paid every Thursday and in full before my
vacances
of six weeks to France.’
    ‘Six weeks …!’
    ‘Otherwise, I work all days, except Friday.’
    I chose not to tell her that aside from Hetty and myself there was no other staff, and hired her immediately.
    Manon, it turns out, is exactly what the hospital needs. She’s taciturn and sometimes brusque to the point of rudeness, but a better commander-in-chief I cannot imagine. The wards are running like clockwork, and, best of all, she has put manners on our more difficult patients. Even the Circassians bow before her impressive bulk. It means I have more time to devote to my neglected research, and Hetty has reopened the school, which has been closed since Jane Kent’s time. I’m also discovering that Manon has very definite opinions about this country, and is not reticent when it comes to sharing them. Hetty was telling her recently about how I’ve increased the number of calls to patients a distance away because of
ayak teri
or ‘foot-sweat’, one gold lira for every hour of caravan time, which all goes into the hospital coffers. Manon expressed surprise, saying that the hills are full of bandits waiting to rob me and slit my throat. I don’t think she