The Vampire Affair - McDaniel David - Страница 19

"Well, I'm sure there's a logical..."

"You weren't here tonight, Napoleon. I didn't miss that creature in Hilda's room. I was ten feet away from him. My gun was not filled with blanks. He went out a third-floor window and disappeared into the fog."

"... logical rational explanation."

Illya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he shook his head. "I wish I could have met this Mr. Ackerman," he said. "I'd feel a lot happier if I could be convinced of that." He looked up at Napoleon, the faintest of smiles beginning to show on his face. "That couch will be comparatively uncomfortable, you know. Why don't you simply trade beds with Hilda tonight? Sleep in her room."

Napoleon thought about this for several seconds. "Wellllll, I...I'd better stay in here. Mr. Waverly has warned us about compromising situations while on assignment, and you should have a chaperone."

Illya nodded, a satisfied look on his face. "Very good, Napoleon—a logical, rational reason for staying here." He leaned back on his pillow, drew up the covers, and switched off the light. "Good night—and pleasant dreams."

* * *

They all slept late the next morning, and it was getting on towards noon before they met downstairs for breakfast.

Zoltan had been unable to find much definite information on the current ownership or occupancy of the castle—it had been sold to a firm of developers for possible use as a vacation resort. The skiing was good in the mountains, and even this late there was snow on the peaks above the village. But nothing had come of it. The castle was still the property of this firm, which had apparently gone into receivership some few years ago, and as to its present tenancy nothing could be determined.

"I am becoming convinced," Zoltan concluded, "that the answer to all our questions lies within the walls of Castle Stobolzny."

"Fine," said Hilda. "I suppose you'll walk up to the front gate, ring a bell, tell whoever answers, 'My name is Dracula; would you like to hire an assistant?' and see what happens?"

"In fact, no. I was thinking more of going in by a more devious route." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "As you know, I grew up in that castle—at least for some few years. A boy does a lot of exploring, and keeps his discoveries secret. The place is honeycombed with secret passages, some of which not even my grandfather knew about. And some of them lead to the outside."

"And since we're outside already," said Napoleon brightly, "they would lead inside just as easily."

"Exactly. The three of us will make the venture this evening. If you have not lost your courage of last night, that is."

Napoleon smiled and shook his head.

Zoltan looked at Illya, and asked the same question silently with a cant of his eyebrows.

Illya moistened his lips with the tip of his tongue, and said, "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Hilda looked from him to Zoltan, and back again. Her jaw dropped just slightly. "You're mad," she said. "You really are! There's nothing you could do in there but get yourselves killed!—or worse!"

"Oh, I don't know," said Illya lightly. "If we find him, we could always drive a stake through his heart."

Hilda shook her head. "And not only that—you're planning on going in there and leaving me all alone. Well, if you're going in there, I'm certainly going with you."

All three of them started to object, but she raised her hand. "No, I'm perfectly serious," she said. "I would be more afraid here, alone, than I would be there, with you three."

Napoleon, Zoltan and Illya looked at each other; then they looked at her a while. "I do believe she means it, boys," said Zoltan with a smile.

"Of course I do," Hilda said. "Now let's hear no more about it. When will we leave?"

"About four this afternoon. I know an entrance quite a ways down the hill from the castle, with no possible way of observing it from there. If there is an occupant, he won't know we're coming."

"Unless he's wired the entrance."

"Not likely; even my grandfather didn't know about this one. And if he has wired it, I must depend on your professional knowledge to get us past it undetected."

Illya nodded and raised his glass. "To tonight, then, and success."

They toasted all around, and settled down to finish breakfast with only slightly lessened appetites.

* * *

It seemed a short time later when they were walking quietly through a section of the woods strange to them, each armed with a handgun, a knife, and a large electric lantern. All were in peasant garb, in case they should be spotted by some legal resident of the castle.

Zoltan was looking around him doubtfully as they walked, and occasionally correcting their course. "After all," he said once, "it has been twenty-five years since I played here, and landmarks do change...."

Then he brightened. "There it is, I think. Behind that rock." And so it was. The entrance was just large enough to crawl into, and it was overgrown with weeds and brush, but it looked unoccupied. Illya checked it for wires and found no sign of any detection apparatus, so they all went in on hands and knees, Zoltan first, followed by Illya, followed by Hilda, with Napoleon bringing up the rear.

A few feet inside the lights were switched on, and the tunnel roof rose to a comfortable height. Comfortable for Hilda and Illya, that is—Napoleon and Zoltan had to stoop slightly.

"Odd," murmured the Rumanian. "I remember the passage as being much larger." Then he smiled at his own foolishness. "Of course, I was much smaller, too."

He beckoned them and they started forward.

The passage began to rise gently, then more steeply. Soon the floor became cut into steps, and they were climbing.

After a while Zoltan spoke again. "We may be in here for some time, and it would probably be best if we conserve our batteries. As leader and guide, I shall keep mine on. Napoleon, as last man, keep yours on. Hilda, you and Illya can switch yours off for the time being."

The darkness moved in a little closer as two of the lights went out, and the little group moved on.

They seemed to be plodding along, sometimes on the level and sometimes on a slope, never moving. Rough rock walls appeared ahead of them, moved slowly by, and vanished again into the pitch blackness behind them. Napoleon had started off counting paces, but soon lost track. He felt as though they had come into the very heart of the mountain down this tunnel, and it seemed endless. Perhaps it connected with the Bucharest subway system, he thought whimsically—or came out somewhere in northern Greece. No, they'd come too far for that; they must be approaching Athens now....A scrap of an old poem came back to him about a group of people claiming to have come from northern Germany to Transylvania underground; he was beginning to believe it. This must be an extension of the same tunnel....

And then there was a break in the wall ahead, and Zoltan motioned them to a stop. "We're now under the castle," he said softly. "There are many interconnecting passages, and they twist most confusingly, so stay close to me."

"Better than that," said Hilda, pulling something out of her pocket. "It's not a ball of twine, but a piece of chalk to blaze our trail through this labyrinth ought to come in handy."

"Clever girl," said Zoltan. "I am afraid I must admit I don't remember all these passages quite as well as I thought I did. Come along now, and we will make our way on up into the basement."