Once again Mendel castigated himself. Those who knew the signs saw that the monk was working himself into a state of nervous exhaustion and would have one of his famous 'illnesses' the next morning.
"The boys were put under the guard of the porter and asked to wait outside Schrattenbach's study while the matter was discussed. I have to say, it wasn't pleasant," Brother Victor said. He was well known as the Monastery gossip, and normally took great pleasure in finding and revealing details such as these, but today, somehow, it was not as much fun.
"At Abbot Napp's strong insistence no formal action was taken right away," he said, "he told the Monsignor that he was going away for a few days, but that when he came back he wanted to be part of an inquiry into the whole incident, from start to finish." Although Brother Victor did not say so, Abbot Napp had felt partly responsible for the incident, which, in his mind, started with the decision to cut the Freikinder program; a decision he should have prevented.
"There was a lot of talk about the right formal steps to take, but the only thing that was agreed was that the Tomin boys were suspended from school until after the inquiry, and that Monsignor Schrattenbach wanted to speak to you" - he pointed at Mendel - "in the next couple of days."
Brother Matthew slapped the palms of his hands sharply onto the kitchen table. "Something is not right here," he expostulated with a growl. Like Napp, he was feeling some secondary guilt for letting an innocent like Mendel take a valuable book away from the library.
"Right or not," Brother Victor told him, "it is going to make it hard to keep the Freikinder program going. Two of the boys in the program stand accused of stealing a book right after being told that their education was being cut. It looks bad and it gives Brother Timothy additional ammunition for the next Board of Trustee's meeting.
At this Thomas Makyatta had to ask for further clarification, not having been told about the proposed cuts in the program to teach Mendel's sparrows.
"That does not seem fair," he said to no one in particular, after Brother Victor had provided him with the details.
"It is all he needs," Brother Matthew grunted, "Brother Timothy only has to hint to the Board of Trustees that the Freikinder boys are not 'reliable' for them to have an excuse for cutting the program. You know how they are."
"It has been a long fight to keep this program going," Mendel said quietly, "and now I have killed it. Why?"
Makyatta, who had still been at the school when the Headmaster, Dr Auspitz, had returned from the Bishop's palace, said, "That is not what you were told by the Headmaster, was it?"
Again Mendel groaned, "He did not say as much, but he was very troubled by the whole incident and he was very unhappy that two of the boys in his school had been accused of theft."
Makyatta shook his head, "Don't give up yet. I'm sure that something can be done to save the program."
"It looks very bad, however," Brother Victor told him. "Abbot Napp was quite furious all the way to the railway station, but he will have cooled down by the time he gets back from the Diet."