Night of the Vampires (16 page)

The children had to go to school. Alex or Cody could
see that they got there and back safely, but they needed to know how to protect themselves, as well.

Megan had awakened to discover that Cole was gone, and for a moment, she was torn. She hoped in a way that he had left without her—no matter what the mission, in her heart, she didn't want to leave.

And yet…

She didn't want Cole to be gone. She didn't want to believe it, but she didn't want him to be away from her, either. Which was quite ridiculous, because he still barely tolerated her, even if she had discovered that he could be kind, even tender. But she had strange vampire blood running in her veins, and she was quite sure that was something rooted deeply in his mind, whether he was already friends with Cody or not. He could completely infuriate her, and yet…

Maybe Lisette Annalise was now going with him.

She disliked the woman. Great actress, songstress—she was still a one-minded, possessed harpy, as far as Megan could tell.

But it did seem that she'd had some kind of a relationship with Cole.

And that might be why Megan disliked her as much as she did….

Then, again, she could be right. Lisette Annalise was rabid in her determination to win the war—more so than she was to kill vampires, it seemed.

But she hadn't had to wonder about Cole and the journey to Harpers Ferry long—Alex greeted her with the cheerful information that Cole was arranging for their supplies and that he would be back soon.

She was packed and ready to go, and showing Artie how to fashion crosses out of reeds for the room he would
share with his mother and sister—the family didn't intend to be parted anymore—when Cole returned.

He was striking in his dark breeches and vest, white shirt and ever-present weapon-laden coat. He strode into the house and found her on the parlor floor with Artie. She looked up at him, and he smiled.

“Master Arthur! You're doing remarkably well. Sir, I look forward to returning to see you and your family again soon,” he said. He offered Megan a hand to pull her to her feet, and she accepted, feeling a rush of warmth just to take his hand and feel his strength as he drew her to her feet.

“We're really going?” she asked.

Artie, who had risen as well, asked Cole, “Must you? Really?”

“We really must. But we'll be back soon enough, I warrant. And I know that you'll be here to assist your mother, Alex, Cody and Brendan with all that they might need.”

“Yes, sir. I've been learning this morning. I'll be very careful from now on. I'll keep my eyes open at all times. And I can help my mother and the others.”

“Good man,” Cole said, ruffling his hair. “Now, Megan, where are your things? There's a wagon outside. We're taking the horses, but the wagon will take your bags.”

“I travel lightly,” she told him. “One bag.”

“I'll get it, sir!” Artie told him.

“Thank you,” Megan said, and watched the boy head for the stairs.

“Where are the others?” Cole asked.

“In the kitchen.”

She followed Cole through the house. In the kitchen,
Alex was packing a bag with bottles for Megan. “You'll be supplied for several days,” Alex said flatly. “After that…well, it doesn't keep forever.”

“I'm good at fending for myself,” she said, her cheeks reddening. She was certain that Cole had to be thinking it was quite inconvenient to travel with a woman who needed a supply of drinkable blood.

“If that basket is set, I'll take it to the wagon,” Cole said flatly. He pulled out his pocket watch. “We've got to be there in a matter of minutes.”

Alex came and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He and Cody started out with a handshake, but embraced briefly. Brendan gave Cole a tremendous pat on the back, and Martha held back a little sniffle.

“Do you have to go, Cole?” Marni asked.

He lifted her into his arms. “Yes, Miss Marni, that we do. But we'll be back in a jiffy. This is the nicest place to be,” he assured her.

He set Marni down and she ran to Megan, burying her face in her skirts. “It's all right, little one. You know I'll come back—I always do!”

“You'd really better hurry,” Cody said.

Cole nodded. He looked at Megan. “We've got to go.”

They walked through the house and out the front where a wagon was waiting to collect the belongings. The horses were waiting as well, for which Megan was glad. She had grown fond of the bay mare, rather ridiculously named Brunhilda. The animal was beautiful, however—well fed, sleek and well trained. She started to mount, but turned when she realized that Cody was standing there, ready to give her a boost up.

He smiled solemnly at her. “Take care, and come home safely. It's good to have a sister.”

She felt bizarrely like bursting into tears and nodded instead.

Cody stepped back, perhaps aware that he might be overly sentimental. “And watch out for Cole, huh?”

Cole shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Cole, you take good care of Megan,” Alex said.

“I'll see to it that you receive the news from the telegraphs,” Cole told Cody.

Cody nodded. With a last wave, they turned the horses down the street and followed the wagon to the railroad station.

Four men in uniform were waiting for them. Cole introduced them as Sergeant Terry Newcomb, Gerald Banter, Michael Hodges and Evan Briar. The men were unerringly polite. They pointed out that they were in the fourth car. She took note of the armor on the train as she walked along the side of it to the door and as the men helped her up the two steps to the car.

Inside, the train was dark and shadowed; the windows were small ovals that opened up to the world beyond.

Cole took the seat beside her, and the four military men sat in the two closest rows on the opposite side of the train. She noted, as they waited, that a number of men in uniform were boarding the train, and their car filled up quickly. There were a few other civilians, all with their travel papers ready should they be needed.

She heard the sound of the train's whistle, and then felt the massive wheels beneath her as they began to churn. They moved slowly from the railway station.

Cole took her hand, surprising her. He drew a line over the top of it, his fingers moving down hers. It was
an affectionate gesture, and she hoped that he couldn't feel the sudden heat that it sent rushing through her.

“You're unusually quiet,” he said, a half smile curled into his features.

“So are you,” she told him.

“Ah, well, I like to play the silent type.”

“Really? I must say, I hadn't noted.”

“I'd love to know what you're thinking right now,” he told her.

She would not love to tell him.

She was sitting next to him, not exactly tightly, but tightly enough. She was coming to be so aware of him when he was near that it hurt. She loved the sound of his voice, and she particularly loved his face when he had that sardonic smile that seemed to be a wry look aimed at himself, rather than anyone around him. She loved the darkness of him—the deep, penetrating blue of his eyes, and still…the scent of him. And the feel of him. His fingers, a featherlight touch upon her own…

She didn't draw away from him. She tried to answer. “Actually, I'm thinking that just weeks ago, I would have been stunned to think that I could be here—wishing that I was not leaving the Union capital.”

He nodded, staring out as the train continued its slow pace out of the station and through the heart of the city. The day was clear and the sky was light—now that they were leaving. There was no hint of rain. People moved to and fro; a horse-drawn trolley was clopping along while riders passed it and pedestrians seemed to crawl behind it. Shop fronts displayed their wares, and men and women went into and out of a large bank.

He looked at her again. His hand squeezed hers. “They'll be fine. Really. Cody is the most adept person
I have ever met, and Alex is excellent at his side. And Brendan! Brendan is an extremely wise man. He knew about Cody and hunted him down when the trouble began out West.”

She nodded, afraid to speak for a moment.

He leaned closer to her, talking softly. “I do know the feeling, however.”

“You don't want to be leaving?” she asked him, surprised.

“It isn't that. We're not going far, and still, we're going to a different world. The war effort is so visible here—and yet, there are so many civilians here, too. Life goes on. From what I've heard…Harpers Ferry, early on, became something of a ghost town. There has been so much battle and trauma that everyday life is nonexistent. And…”

“And?”

“Believe it or not, I made a promise to the president of the United States today.”

She smiled herself. She'd been so distrusted herself, she'd not really realized that Cole was out of his element here, too…

“Oh?” she asked.

He nodded. “Today…ah, well, it's so strange. There are those who would make a true monster out of Lincoln. The papers in the South skewer him, as do his political enemies in the North. There are sketches of him as a buffoon in some of them—I recently saw one in which he was depicted as man dangling a group of Africans from his fingers, as if he weren't really concerned for the welfare of man, but just in having his own way. I never believed that he was a monster. In all honesty, I tried not to think about the East or any place where I knew that
people were dying daily, torn apart in so many ways. But today, I saw what makes him a man who people do follow with a passion. He cares deeply. And he is torn and embattled with his own inner demons and those of his wife.”

“Go on,” Megan said when he paused for a moment, as if lost in thought.

“I promised I would find a drummer boy, and see that his soul was saved,” Cole told her softly.

“We'll find him,” she said, filling in the words but not quite knowing what he meant.

He nodded. “There were seven more deaths last night.”

“Seven—what have they done with the bodies?”

“I'm hoping that we get there in time to see that—that they have been dealt with in the proper manner,” he told her.

“I'm hoping we don't get there just to run into a battle,” Megan said. “I know what happens when the wounded lay strewn on the fields of war.”

He squeezed her hand. “I think it's quiet at the moment. The Union forces have been in control since the end of July, last year. God knows, that can change at a moment's notice. But the area has faced the same problems since the beginning of the war, when the Southern forces knew they needed to keep the town—but then realized that, logistically, it was almost impossible. I think Union forces, in leaving initially, destroyed most of the armory. The Southerners salvaged what they could, but knew they didn't have the manpower to hold tight—the heights there leave an awful lot of opportunity for snipers, for guerilla forces, to pin down the town. It's one of God's
most beautiful creations—now devastated so much that it's barely recognizable.”

“And now it's been carved off from its homeland. Now it's the state of
West
Virginia….” Megan commented.

Cole didn't reply to that. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.

Their route was to take them north-northwest to Frederick, then west to Harpers Ferry. They fell silent as the train picked up speed.

Cole continued to look out the window, watching.

“We're traveling through Union territory,” she reminded him.

“Yes, I know. And the major armies on this front are engaged elsewhere.”

She arched a brow. “How do you know that?”

“Battle is engaged at Cold Harbor,” he said.

“But there are smaller pockets of guerilla bands in motion?” she asked. “And, certainly, Lee has been known to split the Army of Northern Virginia. The war isn't over, Cole. You must know that Jeff Davis and Robert E. Lee are always thinking of ways that they might invade Washington, D.C.”

“Yes. But I believe that we're looking at nothing but bloodshed—until the ‘rebellion,' as it's called here, is put down. Lincoln knows how many men he is losing, and the generals know how many men they are losing. While the South eyes D.C., the North is eyeing Richmond. And the North has more men. And arms.”

“George Washington and the Rebels should have, logistically, lost the Revolution,” Megan pointed out.

“The English were across an ocean. They didn't have a passion like President Lincoln's, and they were distracted by their other holdings.”

She smiled slightly. “Have you been swayed to a cause?” she asked him.

“My only cause is a prayer that all this ends,” he told her. “My cause is to save
people,
which I believe is your cause.”

She looked away for a moment. “I think we'll be all right on the train.”

He looked at her. “I'm not just watching for Southern troops.”

“You think that a band of vampires might attack an armored train?”

“I think that anything can happen.”

She discovered that she was particularly disturbed, and looked out the window again.

Anything could happen.

But nothing did happen as they moved through the countryside. Though it had picked up speed out of D.C., the train did not seem to be moving fast.

The land gently rolled as they headed west toward the mountains. They passed farms and fields, some heavy with the abundance of the crops planted this past spring.

And they passed barren areas of desolation. Farmers worked out in their fields.

And nothing happened.

She began to doze, leaning her head on Cole's shoulder.

In her dreams, she saw him. He was standing as if in one of the fields they had just passed. And there was something behind him. Something dark, like a malevolent cloud, and yet it had a substance to it, a shape….