The house was big and rambling. It dominated a whole corner of the block in Valletta. The family had been very happy there but a feeling of uneasiness began to fill Doris. She was, by her own admission, a very superstitious type and eventually she could stand it no longer. She called in a baħħara from the south of Malta.
The ancient custom is, in a way, a mild form of exorcism. The Maltese strongly believe in the evil eye, and the baħħara is often called in to walk around the house, burning blessed olive leaves on a plate. It is believed that the pungent smoke drives away any evil spirits that may be lurking in the house.
On this occasion, the family solemnly followed her from room to room, mumbling prayers as they went. But then as she went into one room, the smouldering leaves suddenly burst into flame. The fire leap up a foot into the air, so suddenly that the baħħara almost dropped the plate. The rest of the family let out screams, quickly muffled as they watched her.
She walked all around the room, taking step by measured step and finally, she looked up.
“Someone has been murdered here,” she proclaimed.
The family shook their heads in disbelief. They had never heard anything untoward about the house. The baħħara was adamant.
As if to give weight to her statement, as soon as she stepped out of the room, the flames died down suddenly to a smoulder once again.
The Maltese strongly believe in the evil eye and the baħħara is often called in to walk around the house, burning blessed olive leaves on a plate
The flames flared up slightly once again in another room but this time, she smiled. The feeling was a positive one and not a negative one. She walked around the room and stopped in front of a photo of Doris’s mother-in-law which sat on the fireplace mantelpiece. The flames played gently.
“This woman really loved you,” she announced. “She is a very strong presence.”
The mother turned to the rest of the family gathered at the doorway.
“Yes, yes,” she agreed. “She was a very strong woman, determined, may she rest in peace. She cared a great deal for me, she was such a help.”
The baħħara wandered around the rest of the house and left without any further incident. The pungent smell lingered in the rooms.
But it was not just the smell that lingered. Doris was unable to get the memory of those flames leaping suddenly in the air out of her mind. A murder indeed! The very thought!
A few days later, Doris went to the corner shop and stopped for a chat with one of her older neighbours. Lowering her voice confidentially, she told her that the baħħara had been round. Her neighbour nodded approval. But when she mentioned the strange sudden fire, her neighbour looked quite pensive.
“Mela,” she said eventually, her deep wrinkles creasing even more than normal.
“Well, I remember that where there is now a garage, there used to be a little shop. And yes, there had been somebody murdered there. I remember all the police. Oh, yes, there certainly was a murder there.”
The flames had risen in the room next door to the garage.
The sceptical will dismiss this story. Had the baħħara just done her homework and spoken to someone before going to the house? It would have been so easy to add something unnoticed to the leaves to make them burn suddenly.
There are many in Malta who would, however, believe that the baħħara had merely done what she is meant to do: seek out the spirits in the house.
This is the 39th in a series of short stories The Sunday Times of Malta is running every Sunday. It is taken from The Unexplained Plus (Allied Publications) by Vanessa Macdonald. The first edition was published in 2001 and reprinted twice. It was republished, with added stories, as The Unexplained Plus. The Maltese version of the book, Ta’ Barra Minn Hawn (Klabb Kotba Maltin), is available from all leading bookstores and stationers and from www.bdlbooks.com.