CHAPTER TWO - Breakfast on the Borgo Pass
"There seemed a strange stillness over everything; but as I listened I heard, as if from down below in the valley, the howling of many wolves. The Count’s eyes gleamed, and he said:-
‘Listen to them - the children of the night. What music they make!’ Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my face strange to him, he added:-
‘Ah sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the hunter.’ "
-Jonathan Harker’s Diary
Dracula,
by Bram Stoker
25 July 1914. Borgo Pass
Someone above him was talking; annoyed, he pulled the blanket over his head. Then that same someone shook his shoulder. With an effort, he turned over, “What?”
Sabina stood up, “Your turn for the watch. Time to get up.” Jonathan sat up, now fully awake. He nodded in understanding, and as Sabina departed, he threw his blanket off. He was surprised how cold it was. He quickly reached for his coat and boots.
Karoly and Stefan had their horses already saddled, and without a word, left the camp. Sabina motioned to Doctor Van Helsing and Jonathan to follow her. She led them out of the camp and along a ridge, stopping by a small path leading upward.
"Follow this trail to the top. You will be able to see in all directions. Watch to the west and east, that is where the main road is located. If you notice any movement off the road, warn us."
She handed Doctor Van Helsing the shotgun she had been holding and removed a small satchel from around her shoulder, putting it around the doctor's neck. “Extra shells,” she explained, glancing over at Jonathan.
“I have my father’s Kukri, well, actually it’s known as a Gurkha blade, ” He pulled out the large knife from the back sheath.
Sabina’s eyes widened a bit. “Your father’s?” She reached out to touch it.
He nodded, surprised at her reaction.
“It will serve you well. You are well armed.” She turned and left them.
Doctor Van Helsing laid a hand on his shoulder. "I had not realized how unsettled this region is right now. I never would have brought you and Quincey here if I knew of this.”
"Do you think Sister Agatha and the Szekelys can protect us?”
"In some ways, yes, but in some ways, no. If we do not hear from the good Sister soon, I will take you both into my confidence and then we will decide what to do."
He hefted the shotgun to his shoulder. "In the meantime, let us keep watch on the road."
Jonathan welcomed the quiet night. Walking through the woods brought back memories of his night excursions in Exeter, a world that seemed so far distant now. As in Exeter, he walked as quietly as he could; trying to draw in any sights, sounds, or smells.
Once, upon turning, he caught sight of the doctor sitting on a rock, watching him. He waved, and, turning away, wondered if he could sense the doctor's presence as well as he did Sabina’s earlier. The most he could conjure up was a shadowy presence, and, if Jonathan was not imagining it, a distinct feeling of a wall in front of the doctor's thoughts.
The only disturbance during the first few hours was the sound of a lone motorcar traveling on the road; the lanterns not readily visible from their vantage point yet. He focused on the noise, watching to see when the vehicle would appear below him on the road. Eventually, the doctor joined him.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes, some time ago. I am trying to see if I can catch its lights.”
Finally a glow appeared from the west, leading into the village. He pointed in the direction of the vehicle, its flickering lanterns pinpointing its location now. In a few moments the doctor acknowledged seeing the vehicle.
They watched as it made its way into the village, and continued to watch for its departure; but, as the minutes went by,it became apparent that the vehicle had stopped.
After a time, they stretched and moved back to higher ground.
“Well,” said the professor, “Maybe Karoly or Stephan will have more information for us later.”
Each took a different circuit around the ridge; but patrolling the area was becoming increasingly monotonous, and Jonathan was getting hungry. He walked further and further afield, but had used up all the options in the little area allotted them.
He had checked the doctor's watch so often in the past hour that the good doctor was definitely getting annoyed with him. He finally sat on a rock, arms crossed, not even bothering to look at the road anymore.
He did not realize he had fallen asleep until a sound woke him. There was the palest change to the dark woods that signaled the dawn. Turning, he saw the doctor twenty yards in back of him, his back towards Jonathan. He could not tell if the doctor had made the noise. Holding his breath, he listened intently.
There it was again!
Standing up,he turned in the direction of the noise. There was no time to try and warn the doctor. He scanned the woods, the light barely enough to distinguish one tree trunk from another. He could see no movement, but the noise told him where to look. The sound took on a pattern, something moving through the leafy part of the forest floor; but no stealth to the pattern.
New movement behind him announced the professor’s approach; at the same time, he caught the distinct aroma of freshly baked bread. Villagers! Probably from the village below. He sighed, relieved, and turned towards the doctor who had come alongside him. The first thing he saw was the muzzle of the shotgun sliding into view. He backed up and put his hand on the barrel, gently pressing down. He leaned over to the doctor and whispered, "They are from the village."
"How do you know?" The doctor hissed back.
"Smell the fresh bread." He heard the doctor audibly sniff the air, and hesitate; then he shouldered the gun.
"Let's go back to camp and see what news they bring."
Just then Jonathan heard something rustling behind the advancing villagers; he grabbed the doctor's shoulder. "I hear something else behind them. Stay a minute." He felt the doctor stiffen.
He squinted, trying to pierce through the lingering darkness, willing his eyes to catch any movement to match the sound he heard. Finally he caught a streak of movement separating itself from the general gloom. It was fast!
The villagers were not the targets. It swept past them without any loss in its stride. What was its target? He took a chance and tore his gaze away to scan ahead to see what its prey might be.
Sabina!
He saw her outside the cabin. She appeared to be looking for tinder. He bolted down the cliff face, startling the doctor. Half his mind was focused on finding a path through the tangled trees; the other half was furiously gaging his speed against the wolf's.
He had already determined that, indeed, it was a wolf stalking Sabina. He spared a second to wonder why it did not attack the villagers. But he could not afford wasting any more precious time. He kept on calculating, and recalculating, judging how much speed he needed to intercept the beast.
While running, he drew his blade. His only focus was on reaching the wolf before it reached Sabina. He saw Sabina turn her head toward him, alerted to his presence by the noise he was making crashing through the underbrush.
"Sabina! Wolf to your left." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the wolf slow slightly. He took advantage of that to steer closer to the wolf.
"Jonathan! No!"
At the sound of Sabina's voice, the wolf gained greater speed and ran towards Sabina. Jonathan let a cry escape from his lips. He would not make it in time. He put forth a last tremendous effort and leaped toward the wolf, hoping to distract it. The wolf was beginning its own leap towards Sabina. He could see the yellow eyes look blankly at him before passing by and landing in Sabina's arms. Jonathan hit the ground and had the wind knocked out of him. He forced himself upright, blade in hand. The wolf had knocked Sabina down.
It was now on top of her, wagging its tail and licking her face. He stared at the scene in front of him, letting a few moments pass, allowing his mind to catch up with his senses. Sabina was quietly laughing and making cooing sounds to the great wolf who had toppled her over, and who was still wagging its tail furiously.
Jonathan sheathed his knife and stepped back from the scene in front of him. Quincey, standing by the cabin, was watching him.
"Sabina!
The villagers rode into camp. They dismounted as Sabina, and her companion, went over to greet them. There was much conversation as Sabina took the baskets and bundles handed to her.
Jonathan felt Quincey staring at him. He looked up. "That was quite a leap you took."
He blushed. "Yes, and quite a tumble too."
Quincey continued to stare at him. "Yes...." Quincey drew out his response as if he had intended to say something more.
Jonathan turned to Dr. Van Helsing, who by now, was alongside him. He was out of breath and looked annoyed. "Why did you run off?"
He sighed, "I thought Sabina was in danger of being attacked by this wolf."
Dr. Van Helsing looked over at Sabina, now kneeling by the wolf, ruffling her ears while she continued talking to the villagers. He heard the doctor grunt in understanding. "Yes, the wolf certainly does look ferocious."
He risked a sidelong glance, quick enough to catch the beginning of a smile on the doctor's face. He felt the doctor's hand on his shoulder, "Good instinct though. I did not even see the wolf. Thank you for coming to her aid."
Jonathan turned his attention to Sabina as he had heard his name mentioned. The two villagers were looking at him as Sabina spoke. They smiled and nodded to him as one of the villagers handed Sabina a strip of yellow cloth that he guessed had been the same strip she had attached to the tree limb when they were hiding from the motorcade.
Sabina, still speaking, now pointed to Quincey. "Ahhhh" they exclaimed.
The sun had not yet reached the mountaintops, and the cold chill of morning was still in the air. Sabina kept on talking, slowly ushering everyone back to the fire, which was now crackling away. She smiled to the doctor as she held up a coffeepot and set it onto a small camp stove.
The villagers stopped in front of Quincey and Jonathan. The man reached out to shake Jonathan's hand. He did it solemnly, and Jonathan bowed in return. The woman grasped Quincey's hand with both of her hands and murmured what sounded like blessings. Both the lads were embarrassed by the gestures, but were determined to match the villagers' formality and solemnity.
Breakfast was wonderful! His stomach had been growling for quite some time now. The smell of the fresh bread was overwhelming his senses. Even though his sole intention was on eating breakfast, he managed to keep one ear tuned in to the conversation between Doctor Van Helsing and Sabina.
Sabina continued, "Officers have been coming into our villages to conscript our young men. They do not even care to check their age. We have had to go to Bacau several times to remove any young boys' names from the lists."
"This morning Stefan and Karoly went with some of the townsfolk to gather the boys that were listed by the Hungarian First Army yesterday afternoon. From time to time we have to remind the authorities that we have our own regiments to which we serve. Now we have learned to take the boys to one of our hidden encampments in the surrounding mountains. They do not go back to their villages for a while."
"There is more bad news. Last night Serbia refused the Ultimatum."
He noted that the doctor looked startled at what Sabina told him, but sat in silence. He took that opportunity to finish his breakfast.
“What is this? What is this Ultimatum?”
Sabina sighed, "The Austrian Emperor has demanded many concessions from Serbia because of their involvement in Franz Ferdinand’s assassination.”
“But that was a month ago! Why now? And the assassin was captured and jailed! ”
“I only know what I am told, Serbia has refused the demands, and there is now talk of war preparations. That is all I know. We will not be going into the village, it is too dangerous, and the First Army will be back again. We are to go straight to our camp near the Count’s castle."
The professor, seated on a camp stool, with head bowed, studied his hands lying on his knees. After a pause he turned towards Jonathan and Quincey. He stood up, ushering the boys to follow him away from the campfire.
They followed him out in to the warming sun, which had now crested the surrounding mountains. Dr. Van Helsing walked over to a large mass of boulders. Leaning against one of them, he crossed his arms, "I am so sorry that I have taken you both on this trip."
He lifted a hand to quiet the instant protests coming from both Jonathan and Quincey.
"This trip was dangerous enough before this. Now we face other threats." He straightened up, pacing back and forth.
"But milk spilt cannot be undone. We are here, and, with this turn of events, we are most likely safer if we stay here than to try to return to England; as we did not report our presence when we first arrived."
Jonathan sighed. Reason told him the professor was right, but his stomach was definitely protesting. Dr. Van Helsing stopped his pacing and looked at the two young men in front of him.
"I am not going to wait any further in telling you both as much as I know about why we were asked to come here. I cannot wait for Sister Agatha any longer. I was hoping she would be here to tell us what she knows. But with this latest danger, we will have to proceed with what information we have."
He sighed. "The primary reason we are here is to help Sister Agatha and her people. She has asked our help in investigating some new mischief at the Count's castle, as you know." Jonathan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen. The Professor looked at him, "We owe much to Sister Agatha.”
He nodded. “I know; she saved father’s life.”
"Yes, but more than that. She has been watching this region, with the help of these good village people, by our request, for over ten years. She has been our eyes and ears."
"You both overheard how your parents,", here he nodded at Jonathan, "and how your uncle," he nodded at Quincey, "did battle with the Count. Unfortunately for us the story did not end there."
"A few years later, when you were still very young Jonathan, we all came back here to reassure ourselves that what we had done, and what we had all suffered, was not just some horrible dream that had afflicted us all.
“The castle no longer looked threatening, and, again to assure our sanity, we gathered up enough courage to go inside the castle. Remember Jonathan, your father had been a prisoner in there for quite some time."
He nodded, noticing Quincey giving him a sharp look. He realized that Quincey would need more updating than he.
"We entered the Count’s castle; a gloomy place, but not frightening in the daylight. Your father was still plagued with recurring nightmares, and we thought this trip back to the castle might help him. We traced his footsteps with him.
"Our first task was to visit the Count's chambers to see if any of the gold that your father remembered being there might still be left untouched. There was no gold. We do not know if the Count had it all sent with him to London, or if the castle had been ransacked.
"After looking through the rest of the castle, and finding many things undisturbed, we determined that the Count most likely took the gold with him, or hid it elsewhere before he left here."
"I again exorcised the chapel where the Count, and others of his kind, had laid in their unholy rest." Quincey shifted uncomfortably. "We then visited the apartments where your father had been held against his will. Again, as I mentioned, it did not look like anything had been disturbed.”
"We looked through the library that your father knew so well. We examined it thoroughly and were surprised that the newspapers, periodicals, and books were all of this century. That struck us as odd. For a, …man, of his many years, we expected the library to be filled with many ancient texts. "
"Lord Godalming, more of an expert on ancient architecture and furnishings than the rest of us, began examining the walls for the possibility of hidden rooms, a feature not uncommon in more unsettling times. Perplexed by the lack of older publications, we all joined in to help."
"Towards the middle of the afternoon, we were rewarded. The afternoon sun cast rays of light from the ceiling transom onto the east wall of the library and illuminated a crack between two of the bookshelves lining the wall. Your mother was the one who, pausing from looking at the books, first noticed this dark crack. She thought, at first, that the sun was playing tricks on her eyes. But as she drew closer, she felt a slight draft emanating from the crack. Your father and I noticed her, and we joined her investigation. It soon became apparent that this was a concealed doorway. We tried to force it open."
"Lord Godalming, now intrigued by this discovery, moved to the window. As we pulled on each of the bookcases, Lord Godalming gazed towards the ceiling, and followed the casing to the nearest window. Here he selected one of the curtain pulls and gently tugged on it. Before our eyes, one of the bookcases slowly opened into the room. We stepped out of its way. There, with an old whiff of escaping mildew and dust, we found the Count's private library. "
"Your mother and I entered the passageway that led to the library and opened the window to get some light and air into the room. Here is what we were looking for. Some of the manuscripts were so ancient that we were fearful they would crumble under our fingertips. Here also your father found his luggage and papers that the Count had stolen from him."
"We closed the hidden library at the end of the day. We could tell that this was too huge an endeavor for us to finish in the limited time we had. We declared a council meeting, as we had done when we were fighting the Count. We could not let these writings perish, and we could not let them fall into the wrong hands. It was decided that we needed local help. The only person in this region that we felt confident with was Sister Agatha."
"We would have to see her and explain all that had transpired after Mina and Jonathan left the hospital. I took that task, as I felt I had a better understanding of the history of Count Dracula, as well as the details surrounding poor Lucy. I left immediately as it would take two days to reach her at the hospital."
"Your mother cataloged all the volumes in the private library before closing it off again. Lord Godalming and your father contracted with some of the local villagers to repair the outer doorways and entrances into the castle. They did the final locking up of the castle after the local folks left. They wanted to secure the castle in such a way as to discourage any curiosity seekers. They then joined me at the hospital. By that time, I had told our story to the good Sister."
"She asked questions of us all, regarding our past adventure. She said she would think about helping us out and taking over the responsibility of securing these ancient volumes in a safe place. I had already mentioned to her that I hoped her abbey could be the depository. The nuns here were trained in the handling and preserving of ancient manuscripts. I thought Sister Agatha could persuade her Bishop to take on the task of preserving this ancient library.
"Lord Godalming, although not of the Catholic faith, said he would present a generous grant to the parish as his way of showing his appreciation to the abbey for taking on this task. He would of course, reimburse the abbey for any expenses incurred. He asked that Sister Agatha be the conduit through which the money would flow to the parish and to the abbey."
"I volunteered to stay on until all was settled. Your father and mother stayed on too, so that your father could file papers with the local magistrate showing he had power of attorney over the Count's property, and that Sister Agatha was to be the local agent for his firm. We still had the original documents, signed by Count Dracula, attesting to the fact that the Hawkins Law firm, now known as Hawkins and Harker, were the designated legal representatives for the Count. We gambled that no stories had circulated about the Count's untimely end. The gypsies that scattered after the Count's death were not from the local region."
"Our plan did work. With your father’s power of attorney, the path had been cleared for me and Sister Agatha to begin transporting the Count's library to a safer place. The good Sister and I took your mother's catalog of the contents of the Count's library, and the instructions from Jonathan and Lord Godalming as to how to get into the castle, before the three of them left to go back to England."
"Dr. Van Helsing!" Sabina shouted from the cabin entrance. They all looked in her direction. "It is time to leave."
Dr. Van Helsing stood up. "We will continue with this story later."
