Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones (9781101614631) (52 page)

“You say you put yourself intirely at my Disposal,” I said, removing my Coat, and Waistcoat, and tucking in the Ruffles of my Sleeves. “I
accept your Offer, Mr Simmins. I have Need of your Assistance in my Studies. Remove your Shirt and your Boots, but otherwise you may remain cloathed.”

“What, Sir?”

“I do not desire to bugger you,” I told him. “Do as I say.”

Remembering how tightly it had been necessary for Dr Hunter to restrain Lady B.—, I searched thro’ my Belongings until I found Items suitably strong and flexible to tie down Mr Simmins to my Bed, and then Instructed him to lie supine upon the Counterpane. This Simmins did, quite readily, his Expression one of simple Curiosity rather than any dread Apprehension. I lifted his Arms above his Head and tied his Wrists first together and then to the vertical Bars at the Head of the Frame, so that his bent Elbows rested each above one Ear. To prevent his moving much during the intended Operation I bound also his Feet firmly to the Posts, and would have secured his Trunk to the Mattress, but I had insufficient Cordage. Once I had thus rendered him securely immobile, I steppt hurriedly across to the Grate, for the meagre Fire was now fading from Hunger and I had to feed it, ere we both catch a Chill. Having coaxed the fresh Coals to Flame, I lit from them first one wax Candle, then seven others, which I placed about the Room in a near perfect Circle, so that wherever I should stand sufficient Light would fall upon Simmins, and upon my Table, for me to perform mine Experiment and record my Findings. My Theatre thus established, I returned to the Bed and sate My Self beside Captain Simmins. He smiled.

“I had assumed,” I murmured softly, stroaking Simmins’ Head, “that I should find some unfortunate Inhabitant of Seven Dials, and pay him handsome for his Service. But now you, my dearest Isaac, have put yourself quite literally in my Path, and offered yourself up
to me. So I shall explain all; for ’tis only right that you know what, and wherefore, you shall suffer. It is mine Intent to prove upon you the Rectitude of an Hypothesis I have lately formulated regarding Pain, and its Potential to cure Paralysis. My dear Father, as you know, hath recently endured a crippling Stroake; I have spent countless Houres and Dayes in searching for a Method to replicate it upon a living Animal and thereby prove its Cause, which I am certain is an Insult to the Tissue of the Brain. All by the by; I do not intend to inflict upon you—as yet—any Manner of Insult within your Cranium, for I could not be at all certain that you would survive the Process. That may come later, when I have perfected my Method. I do, however, require your Co-operation in an Investigation of the Effects of Pain upon a previously induced Paralysis.”

Simmins’ Eyes grew wide at these Newes, as well they might; he stared at me, perplexed, and to my Mind somewhat skeptical, and gave a little Laugh. Ignoring this Response, I continued: “My present Interest is in that Portion of the Net of Nerves that weaves thro’out the Body, and connects the Extremities with the Spine. A Sennight since, I was sitting in Southwark listening to a Conversation—the Detail of it matters not, but it put me in Mind of something I used to notice between-whiles at Mrs Haywood’s. I told you something, I think, of mine Experiences there. I will now confess that I was not intirely truthful. I did not fuck the Whores, Isaac; I do not like to do that. But neither am I like you, as you seem to have assumed; the Bodies of Men do not much entice me either. My Pleasure was to bind those Women as I have bound you, and to torture them severely, until they could no longer endure the Agonies. Now here comes the Point, which I hope will prove to be of great Significance to Science: upon a Number of Occasions,
I noticed that upon my releasing them from Bondage they would complain of a Numbness in their Hands, which did not persist long. Then, I merely considered this to be indicative of my Tying them too tightly, and compromising the Circulation of the Blood; but now, I think I had not interfered with their Blood at all, but rather had injured a Nerve. This, Mr Simmins, this Induction of nervous Paralysis, is what I intend to do to you; then I shall inflict such Pains upon the senseless Part as are necessary to restore its Feeling, sufficient possibly to make you faint if you were properly to sense them—which of course you shall not, for a while. And we shall see whether, as I am utterly convinced it must, these healing Pains restore Sensation quickly, or take a longer Time.”

Simmins’ perplext Expression lingered a little while longer; then as he began to comprehend that I was in earnest, his meagre Smile vanished, and the Colour drained slowly from his Face. He made a strange, incoherent Sound. I placed mine Hand quickly over his Mouth.

“Do not cry out,” I said. “I require your Co-operation, Mr Simmins, and I do not want to have to gag you; but if you cry out we will be overheard, and interrupted.”

Simmins, to my extream Surprize, was not quieted by this Admonition, but became a great Deal more agitated. He began to struggle hard against his Bonds and fight to free himself from mine improvised Gag. I presst down with mine Hands upon his Mouth and Shoulder to restrain him, and chided him, reminding him sorrowfully of his Failure to carry out mine Errand regarding Annie, and pointing out to him the Depth of my Disappointment in that Matter; which, I told him, his Sacrifice todaye would greatly mitigate. I sought, with an increasing Desperation in my Voice, to impress upon him my Conviction that the Paralysis would be of
a limited Duration, and easily cured, for I had no Intention of cutting him or employing any Method in its Induction other than this simple Immobility, but he would not be calmed, and I found My Self forced to use much more aggressive Force upon his bound Arms than I desired.

“Isaac,” I said, trying to reassure him. “Isaac, desist!”

But Simmins did not desist; he struggled harder, and caught me hard about the Chin with an Elbow. And suddenly, as unexpectedly as I had understood his Purpose to me, I lost Patience. Damn you! I thought. You and Dr Hunter both! You shall co-operate, you damnable little Goblin; and if you sustain Injury to your Brain, so much the better; why should I waste my Time upon the nervine Net when it is that which lieth within the Cranium that signifies? Damn you! I will prove mine Hypothesis, I will make My Self a Giant of Natural Philosophy, I will have my Will! Suddenly I was hurting him, smothering him, pinning down his Elbow with mine own; tightly covering his Mouth, his Nose, with my left Hand; pressing with my Knee upon his Chest, crushing with mine other Hand his slender Wrists, feeling the Ligaments and the small Carpals shift and crunch beneath my Fingertips; watching his Eyes roll backward in his Head as he battled to draw breath; his Neck desperately twisting this way and that, his Skull wrenching violently to one Side as he sustained a rough Blow from mine own Elbow; and suddenly Simmins had fallen silent, and lay quite still, except for a subtile Quivering that ran like Electricity thro’out his whole Body; and I took away mine Hands from his Body and, automatically, put my Fingers soft against his Carotid Artery.

“Isaac,” I whispered. “Isaac.”

He did not respond.

Have I broke his Neck? I thought.

Suddenly overcome by Horrour at My Self, and at what I had done, I sate back upon mine Heels. Damnable Goblin? Damn Simmins? Wherefore damn Simmins? He was—or he had thought himself—my Friend.

“Oh, Isaac,” I cried. “I did not intend to harm you thus!”

I could not for the Life of me begin to understand wherefore Simmins had resisted. Why, why had he attempted to cry out, why had he begun to struggle, when all I had demanded of him was his peaceful Compliance? Had he not made me the Offer of Assistance? Moreover, was he not my Slave, who would do for me anything that I requested, without Question, without the merest momentary Consultation of his own Desires? Why should not I expect him to submit, and submit willingly, to Vivisection? There seemed no Logic to the Business, no Sense at all.

Suddenly, Simmins drew in a ragged and half-hearted Breath, and this brought me back to My Self. His Pulse was fluttering beneath my Fingertip. His Eyes opened, but they held no Intelligence, and appeared as vacant as if I had trappt him in an Aire Pump. Panicking now as I had never before, I took his Hands in mine own and squeezed them; they felt as lifeless to my Touch as those of a Corpse. Yet Simmins was now breathing; neither dead, nor, I prayed—tho’ to what Concept or Manner of God I knew not—dying; but he lay quiet, still so quiet; and his Quietude was so terrifying wrong.

“Fool!”

I knew that I could not, for Humanity’s Sake, if not just for Simmins’, continue beyond this Point with mine Experiment, so with shivering Fingers I carefully untied the Bonds I had so tightly applied and gently brought Simmins’ Arms down to lie flat upon the Bed at both Sides of his Body. I ran mine Hands over the wiry Muscle of the Biceps and the
Supinator longus
, to what Purpose I
do not know, unless it was to attempt restoration of the Feeling and Circulation I feared, now, had been genuinely lost; and the wild Notion struck me that mine whole unplanned and ill-designed Experiment had been as much vacant Phantasy as had been my misplaced Confidence in Dr Hunter, and that verily I had never wanted to injure Simmins in any Manner, temporary or other-wise. My great Worry, my terrifying Dread was that I had done him an unknown Injury that would prove incapacitating, and permanent.

After some Minutes, during which my Terrour mounted to such an Intensity that I began to believe I must run to seek Assistance from some Physician other than My Self, Simmins turned his Head in my Direction, and flexed the Fingers of his left Hand, and then the Elbow quite independent of all my Kneading and Cajoling, and his brown Eyes came into steady Focus on mine own.

“I am s-orry,” he said. “I p-anicked, Sir. I did not understand. I h-ope I did not—was I—did I—g-ive A-ssistance?”

My Mouth droppt open, and my whole Body began to Quake. I could have kissed him, like a Woman, hard upon the Lips. The pure and beautifull Relief, flooding over and thro’ me at this marvellous Recovery: Simmins apparently unharmed, able to see, and speak coherently, and move his body Parts of his own Volition when I had feared all was lost, was so powerful a Wave it was some Seconds before I could speak. “You did,” I stammered. “You were—you assisted—most helpfully, Captain Simmins.”

“Your W-ife,” Simmins said. “Mrs H-art. Does she kn-ow what Kind of M-onster you are?”

“Yes,” I said. I collapsed beside him, unable yet fully to comprehend the Narrowness of my Squeak, my Limbs shaking far too much for me to stand, or even to sit erect. My slowing Heart felt
as if it had never thumped so furious, never pumped so much Blood.

“’Tis t-errifying,” Simmins said.

“I love Mrs Hart, and she loves me. We married in full Cognizance of each other’s Interests, and Tastes.”

Simmins made no Response to this. I imagined him to be digesting the Intelligence, and for some Minutes lay exhausted beside him, glad of his Silence. Then he spoke.

“I cannot f-eel my right Arm,” he said. “That is the P-aralysis you were sp-eaking of, isn’t it? It will p-ass, will’t not?”

Over the next six Houres I did everything that I could think to do in order to restore the Sensation to Captain Simmins’ Arm, but all for naught. I stroaked it with Silk, rubbed it with warm Fat; pinched, scratched, pricked, jabbed with the Point of my Lancet; applied Pressure, cold Water, extream Heat, and Theriac; repeatedly flexed and un-flexed the Arm, and let it lie still; but either mine Hypothesis regarding Pain was quite wrong, or the Damage I, in my careless, ruthless Violence, had inflicted upon Simmins’ vulnerable nervous Fibre was too serious to be swiftly restored by any acute Treatment. Perhaps I had rippt the brachial Nerve from its Anchor at the Base of the Cranium. Or perhaps in those Moments during which we had struggled, he without Aire, I verily had injured his Brain, tho’ I had committed no direct Assault upon it. Perhaps I had, by Accident, induced a small Stroake. I had no Method of knowing, none. Yet tho’ it appeared to me quite soon that my Treatments were ineffective, I persisted with them; for to have given up so quickly, to have admitted the horrible Enormity of the thing that I had done would have flung the shattered Remnants of my Courage into the deepest Pit, and I knew not how I would have got them back again; so I continued to administer mine attempted
Agonies, and still Simmins felt nothing; until finally he placed his sensible Hand upon mine own, and bade me quietly and calmly to cease.

I already had untied him; now it fell to me to dress him, as one might a Child or a Cripple; and then I walked with him the small Distance to his Quarters, where finally, we parted.

Simmins took two Steps thro’ the Gateway and then, pausing, turned back toward me. “I shall tell the S-urgeon that I was fi-ghting,” he said. “I w-as in-toxicated, and I got My S-elf into a Brawl. There may be s-omething he can do.”

There was not; but I said nothing.

“Do not w-orry, my d-ear H-art,” Simmins said. “All shall be well.” He got up on his tiptoes and bussed me, feather light, upon my hot Cheek; then he was gone.

I would then have wept; but I could not. A strange Coldness had taken Possession of mine Heart, and verily I believe I felt nothing; neither Pity, nor Remorse, nor Loss, nor Grief. I knew that everything was over, everything. Mine Ambitions were as useless, as beyond Recovery as Simmins’ Arm. Dr Hunter had abandoned me and without his Assistance I could not make any Progress whatsoever upon mine Hypothesis. My Dream was broken. I did not permit My Self the merest Contemplation of Simmins’ Prognosis. The Truth was that I did not know, I could not know, or with any Confidence predict, how soon, or even if ever, he would regain the Sensation I had raped from him in my Carelessness.

All at once, into mine Head came the Memory of that Moment when I had stood, with Nathaniel, at the Door to the Bull, and all the Light had vanished, and the whole World had appeared as if to shrink to the Size of a Pin-head. Perhaps ’twas not Memory, but Vision; for as I stood at the Gate I seemed to stand again at
Nathaniel’s Side; and yet it must have been I, not he, who had the Look of a coiled Spring strained as if to snap; for Nathaniel turned to me, and putting the Palm of his left Hand softly upon my Cheek, said: “The only Way out is to smash the Clock.”