His Return

We burned Adriaen today, his flesh given over first to the strange wasting disease on the isle, then second to the flames of the pyre. I could not hold my composure and wept, yet others among us remained silent. He had already been feared lost almost a season ago – some claimed they thought they had seen him amongst evil-looking soldiers, but they could not be sure, and feared to approach too closely lest they be captured as well. Still, to see him return, so sickly and feral like a hound, lashing out at all he could find, it took three men of the town to bring him down with clubs until he collapsed, still clinging to life. We gathered around, horrified, none of us knowing what to make of it, until Marten ordered we burn him, lest the infection spread. Kathrijn