Nevertheless, I had to try. As I approached the pair, apparently locked in a deathly embrace, I yelled all sorts of threats and curses at my beloved brother. I can’t remember exactly what they were except that they were dire and foul. No response or acknowledgement was forthcoming from David, in any event. And, just as I expected that David would deliver the coup de grâce to the small man, an amazing thing occurred: David released his grip, stood up and walked away, making the same type of grunt he had made when I had, so recently, offered him an apple – utter disgust. The small man lay on the ground, passed out but physically unhurt. The door to the crypt opened a crack and a quavering voice croaked: “Are you okay, Charles?” “Charles”? Yes, of course, I knew this guy. His real name was Peter but he called himself ‘Charles’, as in Charles the first, beheaded king of England. He imagined himself as royalty – and even grew the royal goatee of the period. All his special friends bore the names of the royal court. Jude – you know, the one who, presumably, was still holed up in the Baillieu Library – was dubbed ‘Henrietta-Maria’ (Charles I’s wife) and, for what it was worth, Charles had dubbed me ‘Oliver Cromwell’. (I only realised much later that, coming from Charles I, this was a dire insult – since Cromwell had been responsible for Charles’ beheading. But, I’d not been at all fussed by this at the time of my ‘christening’). Charles, at that time, was the only openly gay friend that I had. He was very brave. At that time, male homosexual acts were still punishable in Victoria as felonies under the Crimes Act of 1958. (“The abominable crime of buggery”, as it was therein described – very strange, non-legal, language.). So, ‘to come out of the cupboard’ was not without serious risks in those days. The law was still routinely enforced against men such as Charles. So, who was ‘Paul’, still cowering in the crypt? That could wait. More to the point, why had David scorned a fresh meal of Charles? Were zombies homophobic? Surely not. Any meal of living flesh is a meal. Isn’t it? Who could be so picky? Besides, zombies seemed perfectly happy to devour either male or female flesh – but not, of course, the flesh of lawyers. So, why reject the flesh of a gay man?
Byttiwettha, res o dhymm dhe assaya. Ha my neshes an dhew, prennys warbarth yn byrlyans a vernans, my a usas eghennow-oll a vraslavarow hag a vollethi orth ow broder meurgerys. Ny allav perthi kov anedha yn ewn – mes yth ens i euthyk ha plos. Ny dheuth gorthyp vyth nag aswonnans dhiworth Davydh, yn neb kas. Ha, pan dheuth an termyn rag Davydh dhe ri an coup de grâce dhe’n den byghan ma, y hwarva tra varthys: Davydh a’n livras dhiworth y dhalghenn ha sevel yn-bann ha kerdhes dhe-ves, ow kul an kethsam rogh a wrussa pan brofysen aval dhodho a-gynsow – divlas dien. Yth esa an den byghan a’y worwedh war an dor – heb omwodhvos mes anbystigys. Yth igoras krakk yn daras an gleudhgell hag y tellos dhiworto lev ow krena: “Osta da lowr, Charles?” “Charles”? Ya, heb mar, my a wodhya an polat ma. Peder o y hanow gwir mes ev a wrug devnydh a “Charles” avel hanow – kepar ha Charlys Kynsa, an myghtern sowsnek re via dibennys. Ev a omdybi bos ryeleth – ha, gans henna, yth esa dhodho barv gaver kepar ha’n myghtern na. Yth esa ynwedh dh’y sos arbennik henwyn an lys ryel. Jude – an huni esa, dell grysyn, hwath owth omgudha y’n Lyverva Baillieu – o henwys ganso ‘Henrietta-Maria’ (gwreg Charlys Kynsa) ha, mars yw res godhvos, yth en vy gelwys ‘Oliver Cromwell’. (Ny gonvedhis bys termynyow diwettha an hanow ma, ow tos dhiworth ‘Charlys Kynsa’, dhe vos arvedhenn euthyk – drefenn Cromwell dhe omgemmeres y dhibennans. Byttegyns, ny vroghsen vy ganso pan vien ‘besydhyes’.) Y’n tor’ na, yth o Charles ow sos unnik bos kethreydhel yn igor. Pur hardh o ev. Y’n termynyow na, y kessydhyes hwath gweythresow kethreydhel yn Budhykka avel felonis herwydh reyth an senedh henwys “The Crimes Act (1958)”. (Y’n reyth na, an feloni a veu deskrifys avel “An gweythres kasadow a vuggrans” – geryow pur anlaghel, pur goynt.) Ytho, nyns o heb argoll sevur ‘dos yn-mes an amari’ y’n dydhyow na. Yth o an lagha ma gweythresys herwydh usadow erbynn an dus kepar ha Charles. Yn neb kas, piw o ‘Powl’, hwath owth omgudha y’n gleudhgell? An kwestyon na a allsa gortos. O zombis ownoryon-kethreydhogyon? Na, nyns o henna gwirhaval. Liv a gig yn fyw yw liv wosa oll, a nyns yw? Py par zombi yw mar dhewesik? Dres henna, yth heveli bos pur lowen an zombis dhe dhevorya po kig gorow po kig benow. Henn yw leverel, kig oll an dus (po ogas) – a-der an laghysi, heb mar. Ytho, prag y talvien skonya kig dhe dhen kethreydhel? 71langbot langbot