Chapter 18

Alfred had done well. After breakfast he handed Elise a thick bunch of pages, texts and pictures alike.

"Elise, there is so much to be found, I just printed what I thought to be most relevant. My tiny printer has its limits. It's fascinating stuff, I hardly slept. But also quite frightening, if I am to think that Lexa and I have to start all over. We won't have much time for anything else should we take a liking to the procedures."

His chuckle was proof enough. He had recovered. Now for Elise to do her magic. She decided to take the car over and get away with Karla. Though easy on the eyes, this part of our country is well-known for its almost total lack of spectacular tourist attractions. Yet it boasts of a fully developed network of hiking trails affording undisturbed pleasant walks through fields and forests, moderate crags and expansive meadows. Pubs and inns are spaced at considerate intervals. She would see us in the evening. Not to worry, but we should try and behave.

Alfred had the great idea to flip us over to the Island and have a medium heavy bash with Jake. Jake was all for it and offered to take care of nourishment. To meet the old scoundrel face to face again was therapeutic in itself. We cavorted in the bay, Alfred caught some nice fish in the lake, we worked out in the gym, soaked in the pools and entertained Jake with our report on the state of Karla and Helmut.

As Alfred had predicted, Jake was aghast at my treatment of Karla. But he did admit that perhaps this was the only way to break through all those silly barriers.

"Bert, do you think that Helmut will be open to that fancy sex concept of yours? He is a rather physical sort of guy, if you care to remember his treatment of his wife."

"I think it is worth a try, even if you are right and he doesn't catch on. If he strives at least for more closeness, if he should manage to relax their physical interactions, and if he doesn't force his desires on her, they might just make it. – I know, I know, lots of ifs, but what else could work? Alfred will have his work cut out for him."

Alfred was appalled. "Are you really going to duck out of this? You are much better suited to deal with Helmut. You two share business rapport as well as personal empathy. However, with Karla I think we should ease off for now. Let's rather do some very informal group therapy. Have some fun together, go sightseeing, all of us, and for the weekend we shall invite Helmut to come up. You to take over then. What do you say?"

If Elise would be for it, who was I to argue?

When Helmut arrived early on Sunday morning, he was amazed at the progress we had achieved with Karla. She was relaxed and told him of the foolish things Alfred and I got up to. Chasing squirrels in the forest, bombarding each other with pine cones, inventing silly limericks in a mixture of English, German and Swabian dialect. Elise had held well back, but got in a lot of quiet talks with Karla whenever our mood became too boisterous. Now she had gone off with Karla for a stroll through the village.

"Berthold, Alfred, you men have done incredibly good with Karla. I can't believe this is the disturbed woman I left you with," Helmut kept repeating.

We told him what we had done throughout the week, told him about the problems with her sexuality and our proposed cure for it. He had vaguely heard of Karezza, we had to spell it out for him in greater detail. He was dubious about the concept of avoiding ejaculation and delaying orgasm but was aware of the greater closeness unhurried lovemaking would bring about.

"Helmut, neither one of us is an expert in the art. We have our own, separate, experiences practicing it, and while we try to adhere to some of its rules some of the time, it certainly does no harm, ever, if we do get carried away through ardour or plain lust. We don't normally discuss it. It will have to be a private thing with you as well. Soon you will know what works for the two of you. And you will reap the benefits. I don't want to sound too clinical, but perhaps it would be best if you concentrated on non-genital caresses and stimulation at first. Let Karla then set pace as well as direction."

"You should keep in mind that there is no timetable, no hidden agenda," Alfred added. "The main thing is for you to become comfortable with each other's bodies once more. Learn to trust, never insist on anything either of you doesn't like, be it doer or doee. Observe how she acts and reacts. It will tell you all you need to know." Of course he didn't mention that no force was to be used, ever. He gave him that much credit.

Helmut sat slumped in his chair, his normally strong and erect body slack, his face a mask of wonder – and anger. "Listen, all of you. What you have achieved so far seems like magic to me. For the first time I am confident that Karla and I, our family, will be alright. We want it to happen, we will work at it.

"But those parents of her? What about them? If they keep exerting their influence over Karla, how long till she falls back into that evil pit?

"I have thought a lot about all aspects of our relationship. I know I did wrong; this is a thing of the past. My word on it. But this unholy mess with Karla's parents, how can we solve that?"

Before answering him, Alfred did a kind of summing up. He spared us nothing. Not Helmut's violent attacks, his rapes, nor Karla's manipulative scheming and derision. He spoke of their failure to talk about their problems, their closing up totally, and their failure to shield the youngsters, and he also spoke of the results: hate, hurts and despair in equal measure for all involved. He took great care to point out that, even though they both made mistakes, no permanent damage had been done.

"You won't be able to forget the past. It shall be with you forever. But this memory will ascertain that you won't repeat your mistakes.

"And never forget your girls. Their well-being is most important. Give them the chance to develop into strong adults, free from the strictures you experienced. They are going through the growing pains we all suffered. Help them, encourage them, guide them. Helmut, their crush on you is quite normal. It means that they look up to you and they will again respect you when they realise that you are not only the caring father but also a loving husband once more."

Alfred then spoke of our roles in treating Karla. He stressed that some of my actions had been quite coarse and seemingly uncaring. Yet he also pointed out that while my methods had been unprofessional, to say the least, they succeeded where the psychiatrists, himself included, had failed dismally.

"The doctors acted without Berthold's compassion. And their aims were entirely selfish in both cases: scientific fame, greed and lust for power.

"Helmut, there is sufficient healing water left. I want to check you over as well. It will be like your normal physical exam, just with immediate treatment for any problems which may crop up."

Helmut pondered over this for a long time. "I'm still not comfortable with what you fellows do. Sure, Karla's healing is a fantastic achievement. But there was so much deception, so many tricks and evasions, all that shifting and shunting. Berthold, are you going to be part of this new chapter as well?