Dante Book 1 Canto III Scene 2

 

Scene 2

 

“I may suggest that you have me hidden.” Virgil hovered before Dante. “This ain’t the best place to be seen out of the ordinary.”

Without waiting for a reply from Dante, Virgil slipped into the vest worn by Dante.

“What the…” Dante had yet to respond to the action by Virgil when he was pushed from the rear.

“Move on, you unclean heathen.” Dante has stepped aside and seen the group of uniformed men marching in past him. They were all dressed in the red jacket and white longs with the knee-high boots, and the headpiece was the mitre caps that was embroidered with the fine design of the Prussian Army designation. The five men were led by their leader, the Feldwebel. The squad of soldiers was without their weapons.

“Bloody Huns!” That was the sworn grumbling of another who was pushing through from the rear of Dante. The latter stepped aside once more to let the figure through. The figure was a diminutive man dressed in the army fatigue of the British Army circa World War I with the Pith Helmet. The man held a handlebar moustache above his upper lips and had a scar across his left eye.

“Pardon me, my good guy. Care for a cuppa of tea?” The Pith Helmet figure offered the ceramic mug held by his left hand. “I am not being rude but the Huns took my right one with their bombs.”

“No thank you. I am fine. To whom am I addressing?” Dante was amused to meet someone that seemed to be generations of age from his.

“Corporal Matthew, Barry Matthew. Former Adjutant to the Commanding Colonel Vernon Partridge, of the Maginot Line, at…” The Corporal was cut short by Dante.

“Dante Alighieri, Army Volunteer, Empire of the Nations….”

“What year will that be? I am bloody lost in the ones I had met.” The Corporal cut in. “Mine was 1916, and it felt like several lifetimes.”

“That was a joke, matey.” The Corporal chuckled then. “So, what was yours? 1970’s or was it the 90’s; seen some of your mates before but I lost them in the push and pulls.”

“Fun-loving era then.” The Corporal imitating the dance moves with the arms and legs twisting. “I dare say that in my time, it was the waltz or pain of the footsteps on each other toes. And the physical loving never stops although my time, it took us a long time to consent. So, when was yours?”

“To have sex? No, never did. I was…” Dante replied.

“Keeping it pristine, huh? Past my exams on that ages ago but I was only with the love of my life. So, what year are you from?”

“2166 to be exact,” Dante replied. “The Empire’s Fiftieth Anniversary.”

“Another into the future, I see. The bloody mechanism here is that we meet everyone from the creation date. I did meet one who wore green leggings and tunic and told me he stole from the rich to give to the poor. I say blimey me. I was in the Army because I was poor. Could not feed my mother and I joined the Army. Ended up serving the Officers in the Mess more. Bloody sods they were.”

“What is this place,” Dante asked.

“It ain’t the Dover Cliffs or we will be pushing them lots over to the sides. And it ain’t Dunkirk either. Was told by one who claimed to be my nephew that he survived Dunkirk to die at Coventry; run over by truck there. Bloody luckless of him.”

“This place, please.” Dante was keen to know where he was.

“Oh, we are the border. It's from here to Hell or perhaps Heaven. Here is the staging area. You wait your turn to pay the fare and they take you off. Or don’t for some won’t leave. It’s the, pardon me saying what’s life beyond concerns. Like when you get married and wonder if her dad knows that you had pregnant before the engagement.” The Corporal laughed. “My cousin, Ginny was one. Bloody good it did her. She was so good at it; she had a litter before she was twenty-five.”

“The place, please.” Dante was exasperated then.

“It’s named Acheron by the souls. What does that meant I have no idea?” The Corporal looked at Dante.

Dante searched his mind for the word.

Acheron.

There are five rivers encircling Hades or better known as Hell: the Styx, Phlegethon, Lethe, Acheron and Cocytus. In Homer’s poems, it the Acheron was described as a river of Hades, into which Cocytus and Phlegethon both flowed.

“It’s Styx.” Dante mumbled.

“Yes, it’s. And this is the area which we called the Beach but to me it’s, the staging area they … or rather I did like mine back at the port of Dover Cliffs. It was a board or be boarded in the jail.” The Corporal laughed again. “The dismay of the place is that they don’t plan the accommodation well and it's crowded now. I think some wars took the tally here too high and we are suffocating.” The Corporal laughed. “Bloody exaggerated as if we need air. We are all dead and the only intake I get is their flatulence.”

“You mean you are dead?” Dante looked at the Corporal.

“I bloody am.” The Corporal turned his back and showed the wound inflicted on his body. “Shot me in the rear in the lower spine, bored through to my liver and out the front. I’ll be blinked if they hit my scrotum and took my jewels.”

“Jewels? Oh, I know now. I am sorry.” Dante extended his apology.

“Bloody well accepted. That was why I disliked them Huns. Whoever shot me should rot here in Hell.” The Corporal laughed out. “Lucky for me, I had my cup with me. The mates send me off with it. Jolly fun of them. It was my love’s gift when I sailed to the front. So, why are you here?”

“I…I was eaten by a demon. Huge one it was.” Dante lied. He then moved the subject. “Tell me more of this place.”

“Here is the beachhead.” The veteran of the place told Dante. “Let me get you a place to rest your soul. That’s another joke, mate.”

It was then Dante laughed.

After a while of living at the beach, Dante had the rare view of life after death before they reached Hell or Heaven. The place was a congregation of souls, and there were several passageways to it.

“My last count was six hundred and sixty-six entrances, with an average of ten persons per day or night, who cares. We don’t have Big Ben here to tell the time.” The Corporal laughed once more. “There are many of us here; the Frenchs, Spaniards, Belgians, and even the Crimean. You could tell by their dressing. Or lack of it for some. Its bloody shame to die when you are in the sods with the other, but the same-sex tangled; that is worth a laugh.”

“We don’t have any segregation of the …. sex, but we do have communities of them by the preference.” The Corporal smiled. “I do wander a lot. Can’t help it since I have been here long or way too long.”

“Why don’t you take the journey on?” Dante asked.

“And missed all the fun here? Narry the concern of mine to rush into things. I told my lover then and we waited for the right moment but it rained that day out in the fields. Bloody London weather was unpredictable. When you needed the fog, they encased you with the mists.” The Corporal laughed.

“That’s a joke, right?” Dante did partake in the laughter.

“I can’t go on for I am without the fare. The ferryman wants his due for the rowing works. I am penniless and when I was shot, I was without a dime then. All my dues were sent back to home to my mother.”

“You could…” Dante was cut off.

“Borrow, take or steal? Not so practical here. There are blokes I could borrow or offer my services but it will scar my soul forever.” The Corporal sighed.

“I don’t understand.” Dante looked puzzled.

“You see most of them came with the coin or coins on them. Or at least one in the mouth upon death. I came without my liver and portions of my torso. If you want to earn one, you could see the ones who have it. I dare not, for the rich ones are all sodomites. I’ll be darned if I add another hole to my cavities.”

“Oh, I can see that.” Dante nodded then.

“Bloody well, you could for I don’t have a mirror here to see my own back.” The Corporal said. It was then Dante saw some familiar faces.

“Isn’t that Napoleon Bonaparte with Adolf Hitler and who is that one seated on the chest?” Dante motioned to the three figures seated in a small circle.

“That’s Alexander the Great. They are all discussing the division of Europe if they ever do it again. Bloody good they will go far for they are penniless here. The coins are with Solomon over yonder. He guards them like a bloody terrier over the bone.”

“Bloody yanker! They are calling you over to the ferry. Your journey is on. Where is your fare?” The Corporal called out and then pushed Dante to the jetty where the ferry administrator was seated behind the table constructed from the bones of the human structure.

“Aye, you are new?” The administrator at the jetty asked. The Administrator was a huge brunette with then gender marked as females coupled with the heavy sags on her chest was dressed in the white shroud for cover, heavily decorated with the golden accessories that were hung from her neck to the wrists.

“His name is Dante Alighieri.” The Corporal announced to the Administrator.