By Sue Ricketts
Mariam travelled to Eastern Europe recently. She wanted to take the baths. The Romans thought it important enough that they conquered the Dacians in 101 AD. The sulphur-salts are so good for the body in every way. Yes, Mariam wanted to soak in the same place as the Hapsburg Emperors had done for centuries.
Taking a tour bus from the airport up a long and winding road to an ancient hotel in the middle of a medieval landscape was just amazing. The locals still farm in the old fashioned ways and wear traditional peasant outfits. She passed ornate, intricate wooden carved gates and incredibly built wooden houses along the way.
The hotel itself was all white stucco and porticoes surrounded by lush gardens for miles around. The tiled roof shone in the sunlight from the recent rainstorm which had washed the countryside clean.
When she was shown to her room, there was a huge pedestal bed high off the floor. A vaulted ceiling was painted with gilded cherubs strumming lyres and gambolling amongst flowers of all types. On a side table there was an array of finger foods, melons and grapes. A large gabled window looked out on the surrounding hillside. The hotel was so quaint that there was no electricity and candles were lit after dark. It was just so beautiful to behold.
After a restful nap she decided to go down to the baths to relax her body and soul. Staff gave her a lovely soft robe to wear as the air down in the caverns beneath the hotel could be damp and chilly sometimes. The bellman, who was dressed in traditional style with a fez and white shirt and trousers topped with an ornately embroidered vest, lead her on a long walk of over a mile through the tunnels carved into the rock. His name was Ali Darco and he was an amazing looking specimen. Standing over six feet tall, with dark skin, black hair and a goatee, Miriam fancied that he might just be a genie out of a fairy tale. He told her there was a series of baths under the hotel all of which progressed in strength. If a guest could use all ten of them during their stay it was said that a cure for all their ills would occur.
The baths themselves were pools ranging in depths from a meter to two meters deep with steps leading into them and stone seats carved around the edges to sit on. Each pool had a room of it’s own which was about 6 meters square. It was recommended that each bath be used for three hours a day followed by a minimum of three hours rest to allow the chemicals to work on the system and rejuvenate one’s health. Miriam didn’t think she was sick but was eager to enjoy a rejuvenation. She was tired, with a job that bored her and recently going through a breakup with her long-term boyfriend. Life didn’t seem to have much spice left these days.
When Ali left her, she carefully set her watch alarm to make sure she didn’t overdo it the first day and removed her robe and luxuriated in the warm steamy waters. The smell of sulphur-salts was odd to her nose as she had never smelled it before. Fans worked overhead and wafted perfume scents around the room. Miriam drifted off into daydreams of spending time with Ali and she must have dozed off because the alarm woke her with a start. There was no one else around but big fluffy towels had been laid at the pool’s edge waiting for her. She towelled herself dry and then put on the robe. Now Miriam noticed for the first time that there were ornate latticed screens around the room and they were painted a creamy ivory colour. As she stumbled along the corridor, for the baths had made her feel weak, she heard soft footsteps and suddenly Ali appeared and offered to lead her back to her room. He offered his arm to support her and she didn’t really remember much about returning to her room.
Awaking many hours later, she went down to the gilded dining room where supper was still being served on very fine porcelain china with gold plated utensils. There were only a few couples eating and no one seemed to pay her much attention.
Just as evening was descending, Miriam decided to walk in the garden to see if fresh air would awaken her senses. She found it difficult to go far but she enjoyed the view down the hillside and watched the farmers walking back home after a day’s work from a bench in a little arbour not far from the wooden gate at the front of the hotel.
On day two, the bath room lattices were painted a pastel shade of orange but the treatment was much the same. First a leisurely breakfast and then a gentle massage given by a lovely but silent lady who stretched, manipulated and relaxed every muscle that she owned. When Miriam went to the second pool, Ali accompanied her and smiled when she said that she felt tired today. He suggested that she get used to not being rushed and just enjoy the experience of the miracle baths. Each day would show her some improvement and when it was time for her to go she would be healed.
Days three, four and five passed in a quiet haze. Each pool was painted another colour. The lattice screens were more fantastically carved and the perfumed scents were stronger as the sulphur-salts in the water was more and more.
On the sixth and seventh days, Ali was offering his arm to guide her along when she entered the labyrinth beneath the hotel. He was there waiting outside the pool room to help her again on her return to the room with the pedestal bed. She found it harder and harder to reach the bench in the arbour to watch the setting sun after supper. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Each day Ali assured her that this was her body reacting to the treatments and that she should be feeling an improvement any time now.
On the eighth day as she was getting ready to go to the baths she sat brushing her hair in her room. She looked at the silver hairbrush she had picked up and realized that there were long strands of her hair stuck in it. The light in the room was very dim and had seemed romantic to her before. But now she couldn’t really see her reflection in the antique mirror very well. Her skin felt dry and itchy. She had the masseuse use a new thicker, creamy lotion when doing her treatment.
The nineth day passed in just the same way until she had been in the bath for two hours. She started to feel a bit dizzy and decided to get out. This time she didn’t even use the towels but put on the robe over wet skin. A strange urge struck her and she wanted to see the colour of the ninth bath now. She tottered weakly along using the wall to help her keep her balance and descended to the deepest level to see what was there.
The usual pool of water, but no smell of sulphur. As she stared into the pool’s depths she realized that there was something lying on the floor of this pool which was much deeper than the rest had been. There were three bundles of what looked like metal rods tied together. Each bundle contained a tag with writing on them. She had difficulty reading what was printed because her eyes kept watering and she really didn’t feel well. With her hand she managed to wipe her eyes clear for a moment and saw that the words were done in Cyrillic script. She couldn’t read it but she did understand the symbol beside the lettering. It was a skull surrounded by three triangles – the international symbol for hazardous nuclear waste. Less than five meters under the water at her feet.
Miriam understood now why she was so weak and her hair seemed to be falling out. Radiation poisoning. How bad could it be? Three hours a day for nine days? Ali, hadn’t shown any signs. It was then that she remembered that he always looked like he had just showered when he took her down to the baths and again when he returned to guide her out. She began retreating back up the tunnels to the hotel and suddenly heard a soft footstep behind her. A gentle arm came up to support her and she heard Ali’s voice murmuring to her softly, “ Miriam, my dear, you must return to the ninth bath for one more hour. Tomorrow will be your graduation day and you will never feel the same again. How convenient that it will be on All Hallows Eve.”
