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When this was done, and he knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought, by murdering his agent

I have examined the map and find that the river most suitable for the Slovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the SerethI read in the typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling level with my ears and the creaking of woodThe Count in his box, then, was on a river in an open boat, propelled probably either by oars or poles, for the banks are near and it is working against streamThere would be no such if floating down stream

Of course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may possibly investigate furtherNow of these two, the Pruth is the more easily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza which runs up round the Borgo PassThe loop it makes is manifestly as close to Dracula’s castle as can be got by water

MINA HARKER’S JOURNAL–CONTINUED

When I had done reading, Jonathan took me in his arms and kissed meThe others kept shaking me by both hands, and DrVan Helsing said, “Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacherHer eyes have been where we were blindedNow we are on the track once again, and this time we may succeedOur enemy is at his most helplessAnd if we can come on him by day, on the water, our task will be overHe has a start, but he is powerless to hasten, as he may not leave this box lest those who carry him may suspectFor them to suspect would be to prompt them to throw him in the stream where he perishThis he knows, and will notNow men, to our Council of War, for here and now, we must plan what each and all shall do

“I shall get a steam launch and follow him,” said Lord Godalming

“And I, horses to follow on the bank lest by chance he land,” said Mr

“Good!” said the Professor, “both goodBut neither must go aloneThere must be force to overcome force if need beThe Slovak is strong and rough, and he carries rude arms All the men smiled, for amongst them they carried a small arsenalMorris, “I have brought some WinchestersThey are pretty handy in a crowd, and there may be wolvesThe Count, if you remember, took some other precautionsHe made some requisitions on others that MrsHarker could not quite hear or understandWe must be ready at all pointsSeward said, “I think I had better go with QuinceyWe have been accustomed to hunt together, and we two, well armed, will be a match for whatever may come alongYou must not be alone, ArtIt may be necessary to fight the Slovaks, and a chance thrust, for I don’t suppose these fellows carry guns, would undo all our plansThere must be no chances, this timeWe shall not rest until the Count’s head and body have been separated, and we are sure that he cannot reincarnate

He looked at Jonathan as he spoke, and Jonathan looked at meI could see that the poor dear was torn about in his shop mind

Welcome to my first blog

I
didn’t worry about broken mirrors or crossing
black cats’ paths, but I’m very much a believer
inwell, maybe not love at first sight, that’s
a little too Rhett-and-Scarlett for me, but
instant attraction? SureIt’s the way I felt
about Pam the first time I met her, on a double
date (she was with the other guy)And it’s the
way I felt about Big Pink from the very first
She stood on pilings with her chin jutting over
the high-tide lineThere was a NO TRESPASSING
70
sign slanting askew on an old gray stick beside
the driveway, but I guessed that didn’t apply to
me”Once you sign the lease, you have it for a
year,” Sandy told me”Even if it’s sold, the
owner can’t kick you out until your time is up
Jack drove slowly up to the back dooronly colourful louis vuitton bag with
its face hanging over the Gulf of Mexico, that was
the only door”I’m surprised they were ever
allowed to build this far out,” he said”I
suppose they did things different in the old
days To him the old days probably meant the
nineteen-eighties
The car drawn up on the square of cracked pavement
to the right of the house was the sort of
anonymous American mid-size the rental companies
specialize inI hadn’t driven since the day Mrs
Fevereau hit Gandalf, and barely gave it a glance
I was more interested in the boxy pink elephant
I’d rented”Aren’t there ordinances about
building too close to the Gulf of Mexico?”
“Now, sure, but not when this place went upFrom
a practical standpoint, it’s all about beach
71
erosionI doubt if this place chanel handbags shop online hung out that way
when it was built
He was undoubtedly rightI thought I could see at
least six feet of the pilings supporting the
screened porch – the so-called Florida room
Unless those pilings were sunk sixty feet into the
underlying bedrock, eventually the place was going
into the Gulf of MexicoIt was only a matter of
time
As I was thinking it, Jack Cantori was saying it”Don’t worry, though; I’m sure
you’ll get plenty of warningYou’ll hear it
groaning
“Like the House of Usher,” I said”But it’s probably good for
another five years or soOtherwise it’d be
condemned
“Don’t be so sure,” I saidJack had reversed to
the driveway door, so the trunk would be easy to
unloadNot a lot in there; three suitcases, one
garment bag, a steel hardcase tiffany jewelry us with my laptop
inside, and a knapsack containing some primitive
art supplies – mostly pads and colored pencilsI
traveled light when I left my other lifeI
72
figured what I’d need most in my new one was my
checkbook and my American Express card
“What do you mean?” he asked
“Someone who could afford to build here in the
first place could probably talk a couple of B-and-
C inspectors around
“B-and-C? What’s that?”
For a moment I couldn’t tell himI could see what
I meant: men in white shirts and ties, wearing
yellow hi-impact plastic hardhats on their heads
and carrying clipboards in their handsI could
even see the pens in their shirt pockets, and the
plastic pocket-protectors to which they were
clippedThe devil’s in the details, right? But tiffany’s necklace I
couldn’t think of what B-and-C stood for, although
I knew it as well as my own nameAnd instantly I
was furiousInstantly it seemed that making my
left hand into a fist and driving it sideways into
the unprotected Adam’s apple of the young man
sitting beside me was the most reasonable thing in
the worldBecause it was his
question that had hung me upFreemantle?”
“Just a sec,” I said, and thought: I can do this
73
I thought of Don Field, the guy who had inspected
at least half of my buildings in the nineties (or
so it seemed), and my mind did its crosspatch
thingI realized I’d been sitting bolt upright,
my hands clenched in my lapI could see why the
kid had sounded concernedI looked like a man
having a gastric episodeSometimes my mind louis vuitton diaper bag tote stut

When this was done, and he knew that all was in train, he blotted out his traces, as he thought, by murdering his agent

I have examined the map and find that the river most suitable for the Slovaks to have ascended is either the Pruth or the SerethI read in the typescript that in my trance I heard cows low and water swirling level with my ears and the creaking of woodThe Count in his box, then, was on a river in an open boat, propelled probably either by oars or poles, for the banks are near and it is working against streamThere would be no such if floating down stream

Of course it may not be either the Sereth or the Pruth, but we may possibly investigate furtherNow of these two, the Pruth is the more easily navigated, but the Sereth is, at Fundu, joined by the Bistritza which runs up round the Borgo PassThe loop it makes is manifestly as close to Dracula’s castle as can be got by water

MINA HARKER’S JOURNAL–CONTINUED

When I had done reading, Jonathan took me in his arms and kissed meThe others kept shaking me by both hands, and DrVan Helsing said, “Our dear Madam Mina is once more our teacherHer eyes have been where we were blindedNow we are on the track once again, and this time we may succeedOur enemy is at his most helplessAnd if we can come on him by day, on the water, our task will be overHe has a start, but he is powerless to hasten, as he may not leave this box lest those who carry him may suspectFor them to suspect would be to prompt them to throw him in the stream where he perishThis he knows, and will notNow men, to our Council of War, for here and now, we must plan what each and all shall do

“I shall get a steam launch and follow him,” said Lord Godalming

“And I, horses to follow on the bank lest by chance he land,” said Mr

“Good!” said the Professor, “both goodBut neither must go aloneThere must be force to overcome force if need beThe Slovak is strong and rough, and he carries rude arms All the men smiled, for amongst them they carried a small arsenalMorris, “I have brought some WinchestersThey are pretty handy in a crowd, and there may be wolvesThe Count, if you remember, took some other precautionsHe made some requisitions on others that MrsHarker could not quite hear or understandWe must be ready at all pointsSeward said, “I think I had better go with QuinceyWe have been accustomed to hunt together, and we two, well armed, will be a match for whatever may come alongYou must not be alone, ArtIt may be necessary to fight the Slovaks, and a chance thrust, for I don’t suppose these fellows carry guns, would undo all our plansThere must be no chances, this timeWe shall not rest until the Count’s head and body have been separated, and we are sure that he cannot reincarnate

He looked at Jonathan as he spoke, and Jonathan looked at meI could see that the poor dear was torn about in his shop mind

For now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its undoing, I turn to my diary for reposeThe habit of entering accurately must help to soothe me

The Count’s mysterious warning frightened me at the timeIt frightens me more not when I think of it, for in the future he has a fearful hold upon meI shall fear to doubt what he may say!

When I had written in my diary and had fortunately replaced the book and pen in my pocket I felt sleepyThe Count’s warning came into my mind, but I took pleasure in disobeying itThe sense of sleep was upon me, and with it the obstinacy which sleep brings as outriderThe soft moonlight soothed, and the wide expanse without gave a sense of freedom which refreshed meI determined not to return tonight to the gloom-haunted rooms, but to sleep here, where, of old, ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless warsI drew a great couch out of its place near the corner, so that as I lay, I could look at the lovely view to east and south, and unthinking of and uncaring for the dust, composed myself for sleepI suppose I must have fallen asleepI hope so, but I fear, for all that followed was startlingly real, so real that now sitting here in the broad, full sunlight of the morning, I cannot in the least believe that it was all sleepThe room was the same, unchanged in any way since I came into itI could see along the floor, in the brilliant moonlight, my own footsteps marked where I had disturbed the long accumulation of dustIn the moonlight opposite me were three young women, ladies by their dress and mannerI thought at the time that I must be dreaming when I saw them, they threw no shadow on the floorThey came close to me, and looked at me for some time, and then whispered togetherTwo were dark, and had high aquiline noses, like the Count, and great dark, piercing eyes, that seemed to be almost red when contrasted with the pale yellow moonThe other was fair, as fair as can be, with great masses of golden hair and eyes like pale sapphiresI seemed somehow to know her face, and to know it in connection with some dreamy fear, but I could not recollect at the moment how or whereAll three had brilliant white teeth that shone like pearls against the ruby of their voluptuous lipsThere was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fearI felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lipsIt is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina’s eyes and cause her pain, but it is the truthThey whispered together, and then they all three laughed, such a silvery, musical laugh, but as hard as though the sound never could have come through the softness of human lipsIt was like the intolerable, tingling sweetness of waterglasses when played on by a cunning handThe fair girl shook her head coquettishly, and the other two urged her on

One said, “Go on! You are first, and we shall followYours is the right to begin

The other added, “He is young and strongThere are kisses for us all

I lay quiet, looking out from under my eyelashes in an agony of delightful anticipationThe fair girl advanced and bent over me till I could feel the movement of her breath upon meSweet it was in one sense, honey-sweet, and sent the same tingling through the nerves as her voice, but with a bitter underlying the sweet, a bitter offensiveness, as one smells in blood

I was afraid to raise my eyelids, but looked out and saw perfectly under the lashesThe girl went on her knees, and bent over me, simply gloatingThere was a deliberate voluptuousness which was both thrilling and repulsive, and as she arched her neck she actually licked her lips like an animal, till I could see in the moonlight the moisture shining on the scarlet lips and on the red tongue as it lapped the white sharp teethLower and lower went her head as the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin and seemed to fasten on my throatThen she paused, and I could hear the churning sound of her tongue as it licked her teeth and lips, and I could feel the hot breath on my neckThen the skin of my throat began to tingle as one’s flesh does when the hand that is to tickle it approaches nearer, shop nearer

Then I ran to the window and cried to themThey looked up at me stupidly and pointed, but just then the “hetman” of the Szgany came out, and seeing them pointing to my window, said something, at which they laughed

Henceforth no effort of mine, no piteous cry or agonized entreaty, would make them even look at meThey resolutely turned awayThe leiter-wagons contained great, square boxes, with handles of thick ropeThese were evidently empty by the ease with which the Slovaks handled them, and by their resonance as they were roughly moved

When they were all unloaded and packed in a great heap in one corner of the yard, the Slovaks were given some money by the Szgany, and spitting on it for luck, lazily went each to his horse’s headShortly afterwards, I heard the crackling of their whips die away in the distance-Last night the Count left me early, and locked himself into his own roomAs soon as I dared I ran up the winding stair, and looked out of the window, which opened SouthI thought I would watch for the Count, for there is something going onThe Szgany are quartered somewhere in the castle and are doing work of some kindI know it, for now and then, I hear a far-away muffled sound as of mattock and spade, and, whatever it is, it must be the end of some ruthless villainy

I had been at the window somewhat less than half an hour, when I saw something coming out of the Count’s windowI drew back and watched carefully, and saw the whole man emergeIt was a new shock to me to find that he had on the suit of clothes which I had worn whilst travelling here, and slung over his shoulder the terrible bag which I had seen the women take awayThere could be no doubt as to his quest, and in my garb, too! This, then, is his new scheme of evil, that he will allow others to see me, as they think, so that he may both leave evidence that I have been seen in the towns or villages posting my own letters, and that any wickedness which he may do shall by the local people be attributed to me

It makes me rage to think that this can go on, and whilst I am shut up here, a veritable prisoner, but without that protection of the law which is even a criminal’s right and consolation

I thought I would watch for the Count’s return, and for a long time sat doggedly at the windowThen I began to notice that there were some quaint little specks floating in the rays of the moonlightThey were like the tiniest grains of dust, and they whirled round and gathered in clusters in a nebulous sort of wayI watched them with a sense of soothing, and a sort of calm stole over meI leaned back in the embrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy more fully the aerial gambolling

Something made me start up, a low, piteous howling of dogs somewhere far below in the valley, which was hidden from my sightLouder it seemed to ring in my ears, and the floating moats of dust to take new shapes to the sound as they danced in the moonlightI felt myself struggling to awake to some call of my instinctsNay, my very soul was struggling, and my half-remembered sensibilities were striving to answer the callI was becoming hypnotised!

Quicker and quicker danced the dustThe moonbeams seemed to quiver as they went by me into the mass of gloom beyondMore and more they gathered till they seemed to take dim phantom shapesAnd then I started, broad awake and in full possession of my senses, and ran screaming from the place

The phantom shapes, which were becoming gradually materialised from the moonbeams, were those three ghostly women to whom I was doomed

I fled, and felt somewhat safer in my own room, where there was no moonlight, and where the lamp was burning brightly

When a couple of hours had passed I heard something stirring in the Count’s room, something like a sharp wail quickly suppressedAnd then there was silence, deep, awful silence, which chilled meWith a beating heart, I tried the door, but I was locked in my prison, and could do nothingI sat down and simply cried

As I sat I heard a sound in the courtyard without, the agonised cry of a womanI rushed to the window, and throwing it up, peered between the bars

There, indeed, was a woman with dishevelled hair, holding her hands over her heart as one distressed with shop running

Come to the drawing room, where there is a big fire, and there are two sofasYou shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy will be comfort to each other, even though we do not speak, and even if we sleep

Arthur went off with him, casting back a longing look on Lucy’s face, which lay in her pillow, almost whiter than the lawnShe lay quite still, and I looked around the room to see that all was as it should beI could see that the Professor had carried out in this room, as in the other, his purpose of using the garlicThe whole of the window sashes reeked with it, and round Lucy’s neck, over the silk handkerchief which Van Helsing made her keep on, was a rough chaplet of the same odorous flowers

Lucy was breathing somewhat stertorously, and her face was at its worst, for the open mouth showed the pale gumsHer teeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than they had been in the morningIn particular, by some trick of the light, the canine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest

I sat down beside her, and presently she moved uneasilyAt the same moment there came a sort of dull flapping or buffeting at the windowI went over to it softly, and peeped out by the corner of the blindThere was a full moonlight, and I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled around, doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim, and every now and again struck the window with its wingsWhen I came back to my seat, I found that Lucy had moved slightly, and had torn away the garlic flowers from her throatI replaced them as well as I could, and sat watching her

Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had prescribedShe took but a little, and that languidlyThere did not seem to be with her now the unconscious struggle for life and strength that had hitherto so marked her illnessIt struck me as curious that the moment she became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to herIt was certainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her, but that when she waked she clutched them closeThere was no possibility of making any mistake about this, for in the long hours that followed, she had many spells of sleeping and waking and repeated both actions many times

At six o’clock Van Helsing came to relieve meArthur had then fallen into a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep onWhen he saw Lucy’s face I could hear the hissing indraw of breath, and he said to me in a sharp whisperI want light!” Then he bent down, and, with his face almost touching Lucy’s, examined her carefullyHe removed the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throatAs he did so he started back and I could hear his ejaculation, “Mein Gott!” as it was smothered in his throatI bent over and looked, too, and as I noticed some queer chill came over meThe wounds on the throat had absolutely disappeared

For fully five minutes Van Helsing stood looking at her, with his face at its sternestThen he turned to me and said calmly, “She is dyingIt will not be long nowIt will be much difference, mark me, whether she dies conscious or in her sleepWake that poor boy, and let him come and see the lastHe trusts us, and we have promised him

I went to the dining room and waked himHe was dazed for a moment, but when he saw the sunlight streaming in through the edges of the shutters he thought he was late, and expressed his fearI assured him that Lucy was still asleep, but told him as gently as I could that both Van Helsing and I feared that the end was nearHe covered his face with his hands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained, perhaps a minute, with his head buried, praying, whilst his shoulders shook with griefI took him by the hand and raised him shop up

I had gained a new painful experienceThe Count could, it was evident, handle the earth boxes himselfIf so, time was precious, for now that he had achieved a certain amount of distribution, he could, by choosing his own time, complete the task unobservedAt Piccadilly Circus I discharged my cab, and walked westwardBeyond the Junior Constitutional I came across the house described and was satisfied that this was the next of the lairs arranged by DraculaThe house looked as though it had been long untenantedThe windows were encrusted with dust, and the shutters were upAll the framework was black with time, and from the iron the paint had mostly scaled awayIt was evident that up to lately there had been a large notice board in front of the balconyIt had, however, been roughly torn away, the uprights which had supported it still remainingBehind the rails of the balcony I saw there were some loose boards, whose raw edges looked whiteI would have given a good deal to have been able to see the notice board intact, as it would, perhaps, have given some clue to the ownership of the houseI remembered my experience of the investigation and purchase of Carfax, and I could not but feel that if I could find the former owner there might be some means discovered of gaining access to the house

There was at present nothing to be learned from the Piccadilly side, and nothing could be done, so I went around to the back to see if anything could be gathered from this quarterThe mews were active, the Piccadilly houses being mostly in occupationI asked one or two of the grooms and helpers whom I saw around if they could tell me anything about the empty houseOne of them said that he heard it had lately been taken, but he couldn’t say from whomHe told me, however, that up to very lately there had been a notice board of “For Sale” up, and that perhaps Mitchell, Sons,

Welcome to my first blog

Welcome to my first blog