Deliver us from Evil (68 page)

'And then it faded, and there was only silence; and then, very soon, there was not even that.

'as ever you do hope to be by me

Protected in your boundless infamy,

For dissoluteness cherished, loved, and praised

On pyramids of your own vices raised

Above the reache of law, reproof, or shame,

Assist me now to quench my raging flame.'

The Earl of Rochester,
Valentinian

I
woke again at last to feel the sun against my face.
I
blinke
d pain
fully. The sky was a burning blue; the trees which spread below me vivid shades of green. Of snow there was not a trace.
I
blinked
again, in disbelief. How many days, how many months, could have passed?

I
rose to my feet; and as
I
did so,
I
felt how my clothes seemed sodden.
I
shrugged off my thick cloaks, then ran my fingers between my thighs, which were damp and sticky with blood.
I
frowned. How was it possible, if it was indeed summer, that the gore should still be fresh?
I
looked around me. There was more blood lying in pools amidst the rocks, and
I
could see that it was streaked with gobbets of jelly; and then, behind me,
I
found a thick trail of the stuff. It led towards a mound of something - as though a creature, veiled beneath the slime, had sought in vain to escape it by crawling away.
I
crossed to the mound
...
I
prodded it with my toe. And then
I
thought that
I
would vomit with disgust - for the mound,
I
could see now, had been a little child.

I
breathed in deeply, then turned the corpse over. Again, as
I
looked down,
I
thought that
I
would retch. For the thing appeared less a child than a homunculus, a tiny monster fully formed, with razor teeth in a bared grimace, and a face which seemed, even frozen in death, expressive of the most loathsome cruelty and thirst.
I
knew at once where
I
had seen such faces before - in the darkness of the cellars at Wolverton Hall - and
I
offered up a prayer of thanks that the thing by my feet would never join their ranks now.

I
knelt down beside it; then reached out with my finger. The gore which veiled the creature oozed at my touch; and at the same moment, the air seemed to lighten and the mountains to pulse.
"The Blood is the Life."
I
touched my finger with the tip of my tongue. At once the brightness grew more burning, and
I
felt it ripple and caress through my thoughts; and
I
knew, if
I
desired it, that
I
might make its power my own. But
I
remembered the Wanderers' admonition, not to employ his gift with too much prodigality; and so
I
rose to my feet, and felt the brightness start to fade.
I
crossed back to my furs, and brought out from beneath them the gourd and the sacks of food.
I
transferred what
I
could into one of the two sacks; then
I
filled up the gourd from the pools of blood, and scooped the foetus into the empty sack. That done,
I
turned and began to climb down the mountainside, towards the wondrous green trees and a distant silver stream.
I
felt a strange and joyous strength within me; and
I
imagined, as
I
walked, that my veins were filled with light.

I
soon found the stream, and began to follow it through ravines and over giant rocks.
I
remembered, from my journey upriver, that there had been an Indian settlement at the foot of the hills; and when
I
arrived there,
I
was able to steal more food and a boat. After that,
I
made rapid progress - very fortunately, as it proved, for there were no more settlements, nor Indians at all. There were clearings, it was true, but they were all overgrown, and the soil often charred; and
I
began to wonder again how much time could have passed. One evening, to my astonishment,
I
saw a stockade ahead of me upon the bank, and inside it the gutted ruins of log buildings.
I
landed, and walked through the abandoned streets. Just as the clearings had been, they were charred and overgrown; and yet
I
was certain, on our journey upriver, that we had never passed such a fort; for there had been no one but Indians living in the woods.

I
was not many miles distant now from where the blood-drinker and
I
had first set off for the hills. It did not surprise me, when
I
arrived at the site, to find it as abandoned as all the other settlements had been. It was late now; and so
I
moored my canoe, and prepared for the night. But before
I
lay down,
I
unfastened the sack and laid it, still open, upon the edge of the bank. There was a light breeze ruffling the grasses.
I
hoped it would also serve to carry any scent.

'The Redskin came to me in the dead of the night.
I
woke suddenly to find him as
I
had done before, seated by my side, staring down at me. "So you met with him," he murmured. "You met with Ketan?"

I
half-rose, then gestured to the bag.

' "It has been a long time since
I
left you in the snows."

' "How long?"
I
whispered.

'He gazed about him. "Since then," he murmured, "twelve winters have passed. And upon those winters - so have other things passed too." He picked up a handful of dust, then scattered it upon the breeze. He watched as the river was pockmarked by the dirt, and muttered strange words
I
did not recognise. Then he glanced up at me again. "For ever more," he whispered, "if
I
am to be understood in my own tongue,
I
must speak it to myself." He paused. "
I
wish now
I
had come with you to meet with Ketan."

I
told him nothing of what the Wanderer had said to me about the future of his race; but reached for the sack and handed it to him. "Taste it,"
I
ordered.

'He frowned at me. "Why?"

I
explained the secret nature of its power.

' "The scent is rotten," he muttered. But he dipped his finger into the blood all the same
..."

Lovelace's voice seemed suddenly to fade into a smile. He reached for the bag he had laid upon the bed, and settled it instead upon his lap; then he leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. 'The taste of it, my Lord - it made him start to choke. He grinned at me in sudden pain and disbelief; then he moaned, and staggered, and fell at my feet, scratching at his throat all the time, as though to tear it apart and cool it with the breeze.'

'Indeed?' Lord Rochester glanced at the bag. 'Might not blood have proved an easier cure?'

'Naturally,' Lovelace shrugged, '
I
tried that more - sanguinary -alternative. As the Redskin had done for me, so now
I
did for him, nicking my wrist and pressing it to his lips. Yet he needed more. He was able to gasp in my ear, while his senses were still his own, that there was a fort a few miles further downriver. Then, at once, his convulsions returned.'

'You were successful in discovering the medicine?'

'
I
located a supply. Yet it took me time; and when
I
returned to the Redskin, where
I
had left him in the boat, his fever seemed so violent
I
was certain he would
...
die.'

The final word seemed to linger in the air; and Lord Rochester glanced again at the bag. Then suddenly he shook his head and sneered. 'Yet he did not die, did he, Lovelace, not in the end? For he was immortal - a blood-drinker - he could never have died.'

'You cannot know that, my Lord.
I
saw his convulsions and his sickness for myself. If
I
had not brought fresh blood to him in time, then, yes, he would have died.'

Lord Rochester laughed contemptuously. 'And that claim, Lovelace, is the basis for your boasts?'

'That claim, my Lord - and what
I
hold here in this bag.' He raised it aloft, kissed it very softly; then laid it again by the side of his feet. 'For
I
need not tell you the mystery it contains.'

'On one point, certainly, your savage was right - it stinks of rottenness.'

Lovelace smiled mockingly. 'Are you not tempted, then, to test its other effects?'

'Why, Lovelace, most certainly, if you will only vouch for me that you have seen any of my breed be slain by its taste.'

'
I
have told you, my Lord, that the Redskin survived; and yet, for all that,
I
can swear that its taste will destroy you.'

'How can you know?'

'Even should the venom on its own not prove fatal
...
well' -Lovelace shrugged - 'there are other ways as well.'

'And for those ways at least you are able to vouch?'

‘I
ndeed, my Lord. But patience.' Lovelace held up a hand. 'For
I
am not yet finished with my history.'

"Well, then.' Lord Rochester sank back upon his cushions. 'We have world enough, and time. Continue. You were saying,
I
believe, that the Redskin did not die?'

'No, he did not.' A smile shimmered faintly over Lovelace's lips. 'For do not forget, my Lord, that he had been poisoned by only the barest of tastes - and with a settler fresh from the fort on which to succour himself, his recovery soon proved certain enough. He rose at length, and tracked fresh blood; and
I
told him, as he fed, that
I
would leave the next day, for
I
was eager to return at once to England, and Milady. The Redskin nodded; then he warned me to be careful, that there were men abroad still hunting for me. When
I
asked him what he meant, he answered that a New York man had lately journeyed to the fort, asking if anyone had seen me or knew of my fate.
I
was puzzled by this news; for
I
could not see what interest it could have been to such a man, that a murder had been committed in Marblehead more than ten years before.
I
asked the Redskin where the New York man had gone. The Redskin smiled. He rose from his meal, then led me a short distance from the river towards a road. On the other side of it, in the shelter of a cave, he pointed to a corpse. "There," the Redskin smiled. "He will never find you now."

I
bent down by the corpse's side. Around its neck there was a leather bag, very thick with mildew but still preserved.
I
unslung it. Inside
I
found a sheet of paper, folded and stamped with a seal; yet when
I
broke the letter open, it was to find that the ink had run and faded with the damp.
I
dropped the letter; then felt again inside the bag. There was nothing else there, save only a ring.
I
drew it out, and held it to the light; then felt a hollowing wrench of astonishment.
My
first thought was that
I
had surely been mistaken - yet even as
I
held it to the light again,
I
knew that
I
had not been, for the meaning of a ring does not fade as easily as that of ink will do. It still gleamed as brightly as when
I
had seen it before, seen it and kissed it on Milady's finger.'

Lord Rochester started at the sudden mention of the name. 'And there was no other clue upon the corpse,' he frowned, 'as to what the fellow's business might have been?'