Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (72 page)

Believing that this was the place he began
to take extra precautions. It was beyond even good luck to think
that he could invade the place and kill them all. Grundy had said
to expect sixteen of them not counting him. It would take more than
good luck to get that many. As he slowly and carefully crept toward
the place, his senses were tuned to their highest level, especially
his hearing. Who knew if sentries were posted all around? So it was
that he stealthily glided through the grove of trees, carefully
placing each foot so as not to make a sound.

***

At the chateau, Marie got up and quickly
moved her chair to where it was opposite where Celeste and Celine
were sitting. Placing it directly across from them she gingerly sat
down on the edge of it and reaching out, she placed her hands over
Celeste’s hands on both sides of Celine’s head and closed her eyes.
First she went to the imaginary door in her mind, visualizing it
closed and she opened it. Then she visualized Cosette as she
remembered her. Gradually she began to get a picture of Cosette; a
detail of her face came clearly into focus. This changed gradually
to a living picture of her in motion, her striking gray eyes moving
about as if she was searching for something while running.

Concentrating on her eyes, Marie willed
herself to flow into them as it were, seeming to move closer to
them as they became where they dominated the entire image in her
mind’s eye and then suddenly she was inside, looking out and seeing
a dark shoreline as a structure loomed nearer. It appeared to be a
bridge at first, but then she realized that Cosette was seeing a
pier and that a bulky object tied to it was a ferry boat. It passed
by and another boat was seen pulled up and turned over. It came
closer as Cosette approached it.

***

“James, Melissa! Here is what we need!”

“It is damaged near the waterline. Look
right here” said James as he pointed to it. There was a splintered
plank and sure enough there was a place that was about a foot long
that had a gap in it that was a crack maybe a quarter inch wide
along its length. It looked to him like it was a good ten inches
below the water line, as if it had hit a rock near the shore at
some time.

“The four of us can row it fast enough to
get over before it sinks. That big ferry barge will take us too
long to row across.”

James said “Let’s try it. If we swim we’ll
get over faster, but we might just as well leave our pistols
behind.” She pulled a pistol and fired off a shot, as James and
Melissa righted it and carried it to the water’s edge. Cosette came
to it and pulling her hood from a pocket of her fighting suit; she
twisted it tightly and began to gently poke and force it into the
crack from the outside of the hull, using her knife blade. She had
crudely but tightly wedged it into the crack by the time Li and
Sophia had arrived and she pulled it into the water, holding it
while the others got in. Li and James sat nearer the center and
manned the oars as Cosette shoved them away and bounded into the
boat, rocking it somewhat.

Sophia spoke then “Be careful not to row so
hard that you break an oar.” Li and James had settled into a steady
but very rapid rhythm and the boat speedily knifed its way through
the inky waters of the darkened river, moving steadily faster
toward the dark shores of Long Island. Cosette reloaded her pistol
as the distant shoreline grew closer bit by bit.

***

Ian had reached the house by now and was
stealthily circling it to be doubly sure that no sentries had been
posted. He didn’t relish the thought of trying to kill or outrun
sixteen vampires, but he thought that he could breach a door or
window suddenly and kill the leader and maybe a few others. He
could then leave and run for it, getting safely away during those
first moments of surprise and shock before they thought to follow
him. It would be best if he would run
away
from New York
City and not toward it, and by so doing to evade any pursuers. As
he thought about it, unless they maintained visual contact with
him, he would be assumed to be running back toward New York City,
the same direction he had come from. Pursuers would instinctively
go that way since going the other way there was only the Atlantic
Ocean.

Loss of their leader and anyone else he
might kill in the few seconds he would be among them might just be
enough to cause the coven to break up what with those deaths added
to the deaths of the other two. For one thing, they wouldn’t feel
safe anywhere if he found them here and killed a couple of them
tonight and then got away clean. Surely they would be demoralized
and if not, he would keep on killing them as he ran across them.
Satisfied that was a workable plan if he stayed focused; he came to
a window and focused his hearing to its most sensitive.

Several conversations were in progress then,
and from what he could discern, the subject was either about him
and wondering how he had gotten three of them already, or about
wanting to move back to the Stedman estate. Another conversation
mentioned having a foot cut off while in pursuit of McCloud. That
one stopped him cold and he strained to hear more, thinking
how
can one of this group have had a foot cut off chasing me? I wonder
if one of them chased James and that is how it happened. I wish I
could have found him and Melissa. We should have had a plan to join
up if we were ever separated.

As he listened another one chimed in with an
account of how he had lost a hand the previous night chasing
McCloud and he referred to another coven member as having his neck
broken. Ian turned that over in his mind, thinking
James had a
good night. I almost wish I had been with him. Half of this bunch
may jump out of a window when I come in after hearing all of this
talk about me doing all of these things in one night.

In other circumstances he might have found
this situation humorous, but instead he grimly moved to another
window to glean what he could and to get a better idea of the floor
layout of the place. On this night he had no room in his heart for
seeing the humorous side of any situation.

After a bit, he had seen more of the floor
layout and had moved on. He found the back door unlocked but
thought that if he could come in undetected upstairs, he might be
among them before they realized it. The more he thought of that
option, the better he liked it because it would give him an
elevated view of the parlor and foyer and who would expect an enemy
to come from inside of the house?

He leapt silently to the roof and made his
way to the westernmost dormer, easing up to it and peeking in. The
room was very dimly lit and he saw a petite young female with curly
black hair kissing a young male and the two of them were undressing
each other. He thought
there are two of them who will be
otherwise occupied when I arrive.

At the next dormer he again encountered an
amorous couple already further along than the other couple. He
moved on to the third window and again he saw yet a third couple
also already further along than the first couple. At another time
he would have thought all of this to be funny, but tonight he only
had killing on his mind and thought
this is a good sign. With
six of them busy, that leaves ten who I will have to contend with
when I go in. Looks like it is going to be the back door after all
and it has to be now!

“We’re taking on water!” said Li as he
doggedly kept his rowing rhythm matched to that of James. Melissa
jumped up and stepped to the seat between James and Li and reached
down to find that the water was already up to her wrist and the bow
was already lower in the water than it should have been. She said
“Li is right. There are several inches of it here!”

Being that her weapons were all in her
rucksack, Cosette simply did a back somersault from the seat the
three had been sharing at the stern of the rowboat and came up in a
flash. Putting both hands across the stern she stretched out and
began to kick the water to a white froth behind her and the boat
picked up speed noticeably. In seconds Melissa had joined her while
Sophia had gathered all of their rucksacks and moved them to the
rear of the boat. In seconds she had joined the other two in the
water and the boat really took off then, a long frothy wake
appearing behind it clearly visible even on the moonless night.

James and Li picked up their tempo
noticeably too and the boat steadily ate up the remaining distance
to the shoreline. Details of the shore began to be barely visible
then as they neared it. The bow of the boat was nearly down to the
water line now as it plowed ashore, grinding on the mud and gravel
as it stopped. Grabbing their rucksacks, the five of them rocketed
eastward until they came to a road.

Cosette raised her hand and stopped all of
them at the road as she held her hands over her ears and
concentrated on the voice in her mind.

Cosette! Look for a stone farm house with a
weathervane on top. That is Queen’s highway and it goes to the
coven house. Hurry! Ian is ready to go in!

“Quickly now! Li, you and Sophia go left and
look for a stone farmhouse with a weathervane on top. A road will
branch off from this one at that house. When you see it, fire a
shot. We will go right and do likewise.” The five of them split up
then, each group rocketing away in different directions.

As she ran, Cosette again heard Celeste in
her mind saying
I will be right back. We are trying something
here!

***

Nearly four thousand miles away in a chateau
east of Marseille a family all sat tensely, sensing that something
had changed as they watched Celeste reach around Celine to pull her
to her breast and put her hands to Marie’s head as Marie leaned
close against Celine’s back, her hands atop Celine’s hands.

Celine. We have to try to talk to Uncle Ian
now sweetheart. We really have to try real hard.

I will try real hard, Mama.

So will I.

So will I and may God help us!

All together now and kick down that
door!

***

As he reached for the door handle suddenly
in his mind came an overpowering thought or an idea or something
that he did not recall ever happening and that thought was saying
Ian wait! Wait! Help is coming!

He paused and waited, thinking
what was
that all about? If I didn’t know better I would have sworn there
were three people telling me to wait. How could that possibly
be?

He stood there in the blackness then
pondering this development with great wonder and waited to see if
it would repeat itself as the group inside began to sing a song.
One of them had brought out a mandolin and was playing it while the
others were singing along. The music distracted him then as he was
trying to listen for the voices to repeat what they said.

He thought
this is perfect. They can’t
hear me now even if I break a window. Six of them upstairs having
their own fun to boot. It is now or never!

***

Cosette stopped at the intersection, peering
closely at the house in the darkness. There was one light burning
in one window. In her mind came Celine’s voice saying
that is
the one, Aunt Cosette! That is the road!

Thank you!

Cosette raised her pistol and fired a shot.
Melissa and James turned to her then as James said “This is the
road?”

“Yes” said Cosette as she began to reload
her pistol at vampire speed. Melissa marveled at her ability,
saying “James taught me to do that, but I am not that fast
yet.”

“Speed is not as important as doing it
right, but at times like tonight it is.” Finished, she put the
pistol back into her rucksack and fished around in it pulling out a
small tin which she opened and inspected, snapping it closed and
putting it back.

“I am going ahead. You will pass seven
houses; five of them will be on your right side, and two on your
left. After the 2
^nd
house on the left, you will come to
a dilapidated barn on your left with a weathervane on its top. Next
to that will be a little road that goes left off of this one
through some trees to a house. That is where Ian is now. I will use
some of my gunpowder to start a fire in the leaves alongside the
road where you turn off. Hurry! Ian is going in the door now!” she
shouted as she rocketed away to the east.

***

The sound of mandolin music and voices
singing became louder as he slowly opened the back door and glided
in, silently closing it. He felt around him and verified that his
five flintlock pistols were in their holsters, unfastening the
retainer strap on each of them. Next he touched the hunting knife
at his right side behind the pistol on that hip freeing its
retaining strap and sliding it up and back down. Reaching over his
head he undid the stay on the short sword hanging down his back
between his shoulder blades, pulled it partway out and slid it back
just to be sure it was loose. Satisfied that all weapons were
ready, he glided forward and as the song came to a place where they
were singing louder, he drew two of the pistols from his shoulder
holsters, cocking them.

Meanwhile upstairs, Bartholomew crept to the
door to Priscilla’s room and pressed an ear to it, trying to hear
anything he could as the music from below grew louder. About then
he felt a hand grab his collar and pull him back away from the
door. Spinning around he saw Yvonne staring at him, green eyes
blazing. “Damn you Bartholomew! Come along now. Leave those two
alone and find your own partner.” she said through clenched
teeth.

Gliding forward, Ian approached the parlor
and foyer area where they were gathered and came silently out into
the light seeking the leader of the coven. A female near the far
wall saw him first and her mouth suddenly froze in an open position
as her eyes widened in disbelief while the others sang on. Ian had
only seen eight of them up to now so two vampires were unaccounted
for besides the six that he knew were upstairs in the bedrooms, but
it was too late to turn back.