CHAPTER 31

Summary

• In 1936, in Saint Bridget's, Rune travels up a mountain road to visit a family who have become like his own; a family in which the mother, Leelamma, died five months prior after contracting typhoid. This left the family's two children devastated, and Rune promises to check on them regularly.
• Rune lives in a small bungalow on the edge of Saint Bridget's property, separate from the leprosy treatment center so friends can visit. The property is largely self-sufficient with essentials provided by a garden, an orchard, poultry, and a small dairy.
• The residents of Saint Bridget's also make plum wine which is very popular, especially after a patron named Chandy began buying and reselling it by the case. Rune brings four cases of the wine when he visits the family after Leelamma's death.
• At Chandy's home, Rune is told he has an urgent message from friends named Lena and Franz Mylin. Rune enjoys the evening sky before turning in for bed.
• The next day, after spending time with the children and playing bridge, Rune heads to see the Mylins. On the way there, he spots an unusual sight: a bandaged man dressed in a lungi rapidly walking towards the estate.
• At the Mylins’, Lena tells Rune they have been sheltering a surgeon who once helped them, in their guest cottage. This man is, in fact, the individual Rune saw on his way to the house.
• Rune goes to the guest cottage with a bottle of wine, and meets with the surgeon, whose hands are severely damaged. Rune feels a deep connection with the man, comparing their shared struggle to two soldiers in battle.
• The hand injury is severe, with the right hand damaged more significantly than the left as a result of attempts at self-treatment. There are also scars from burns on his ears, cheeks, palm, and at the corner of his mouth.
• Rune assures the man, Digby, that his left hand can be treated so that it will function again, but the right will be more difficult. He suggests a technique used on a man named Cowasjee in the 18th century, who after being disfigured in war, had a new nose reconstructed by Indian bricklayers using a piece of skin from his forehead.
• Rune invites Digby to come to Saint Bridget’s for treatment, but makes his agreement to help contingent upon whether Digby enjoys their plum wine.