Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (68 page)

“Henri Lafayette? The French banker?”

“Yes.”

“What is it then?”

“Henri Lafayette had an investigator
following him about over there for quite a while. He discovered
that one Arnaud Moreau was building two vampire covens there to
take down him and his family.”

“What? Vampires? Covens? Now see here
Milliken! What on earth do you take me for, talking about such
rubbish?”

Making his eyes glow brightly suddenly,
Robert said “I take you for a vampire who bankrolled another
vampire to try to kill a very, very old friend of mine and his
family, as well as another good friend of mine in America.”

Edward’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped
open. Speechless and in shock, he had never dreamt that Milliken
was a vampire nor that he knew all about him being one as well.

His eyes now beginning to glow he said “I
say, Milliken, that is a serious accusation” as he rose from his
seat menacingly. About then five pairs of hands grabbed him and
forced him back into his seat and he was pinned there,
struggling.

“The Lafayettes have destroyed both of your
covens, Edwards. One numbered what, twenty three? The other
numbered twenty five I think. I was not there when that second
bunch were killed. I understand that they were so thorough that
they even killed two new recruits who had not yet moved in with the
coven itself, so I suppose you could say that bunch numbered twenty
seven. Now I know that near sundown today, Moreau came here to see
you. Where is he now?”

Licking his lips nervously, Edwards said
“That bastard robbed me just this evening. He came here wanting
more money for his revenge and he came here a wanted man in France
and in Spain. Not only that, but the constables are looking for him
here too!”

Laughing then, Robert said “I know about
that already. I put them on to him myself.” His face went somber
then as he said in a soft voice “Where is he, Edwards?”

“He stole over four thousand pounds from me
this very night. I suspect he is on the run now.”

Robert took a deep breath and leaned back in
his chair, contemplating the fire for a moment as he digested the
information.
He can only run now, but where? Ireland, the Swiss
Confederacy, Prussia, Austria, America? I am guessing it is
America. Four thousand pounds will give him a good start over
there, and put him out of the reach of the Council.

Sighing then he said “I see. Edwards, tell
me now, how was it you arranged things for the vampires you sent to
America?”

“What?”

“Oh come, come Edwards. Are we not past
pretending now? I know that you backed vampires to go to America to
kill Ian McCloud. How much money did you pay them?”

Edwards stared at him in disbelief as he
thought
they have been on to us from the beginning. I must make
the best of this or else. “
I was forced in this thing I assure
you. Moreau bit me, forced me to cross over. I was angry at him but
angry at Ian McCloud and Henri for motivating Moreau to ruin my
life. Besides that, I know that Ian McCloud killed my brother. Look
in that box on the table behind you.”

Robert turned and opened the box and pulling
out a linen handkerchief, he unwrapped it to find a dried piece of
a human ear. He raised his eyebrows and looked questioningly at
Edwards then.

“I found that lying in the guest house right
after my brother disappeared. I know that McCloud and Lafayette
were traveling with a child who was kidnapped and I put it all
together. McCloud and Lafayette killed my brother for having that
little girl kidnapped and she did that.”

Robert looked at the grisly item thinking
yes, Aimee did this. She is a child vampire as I suspected.
He nodded and smiled affably at Edwards and said “I think you are
right about this. Continue, please.”

“I did agree to give the Devries five
thousand pounds. It is in Wellington’s bank here in London. I set
up an account for them in New York City as well. I also financed
Moreau in France. I was not a part of this thing from the beginning
though. I am a victim here, Milliken.”

Standing up Robert nodded and smiled
disarmingly then, saying “Now see how easy that was, Miles.” as he
thought
I know that you are thought to be a serial rapist
according to the Constables. Or at least you used to be. It seems
that you have quit that activity. I suspect you were poorly
imprinted by Moreau and lost your libido. The constables never did
get enough on you to hang you though, either you or your scurvy
brother.
He continued with an affable smile, saying “Oh, you
might be surprised to know that it was me who killed your perverted
brother.”

Edwards’ eyes widened at the realization and
he struggled to free himself, and then sat back resignedly. Still
smiling affably Milliken said “Our business is concluded then,
Edwards.”

Making a pretense of straightening his coat
a bit, he suddenly pulled a pocket pistol in a vision-blurring
motion and shot Edwards point blank between his eyes.

“You two take care and finish him outside
away from the house. Do it in the woods and then wrap everything in
those oilcloths we brought. Put it all in my carriage. You other
three help me search this house now.”

Ian put on his new fighting suit and tested
it by moving about quickly. Satisfied that it was a good fit, he
tried the hood and it was perfect. The twin shoulder holsters were
stiff, being new leather. Rubbing a goodly amount of goose grease
on them he knew they would soften in a few days. Putting two of his
pocket pistols in them he practiced cross-drawing the pair for some
twenty minutes until he could draw and cock both in a single
eye-blurring move. Satisfied he put on his weapon belt, adjusting
it. At each hip were holsters for two more pocket pistols and at
the small of his back was a third holster for his dragon pistol.
His saber attached to the side, a bit behind the pistols. A long
hunting knife was at the other hip, just behind the other pistol
holster. He adjusted the suspenders so that they bore the
considerable weight of the weapons. All was dull black leather as
he had specified.

He had paid double the going rate for
everything, and the cobbler and tailor were both happy to get that
kind of work. They had dropped everything when he had put his money
down with his specifications. All in all, he considered himself
lucky to get such high quality work done so quickly.

Tonight would be only a surveillance mission
to ascertain the strength of the coven and the layout of their
house. Since Grundy was assumed to be there, Ian elected to take
his sabre. He preferred the short sword for an all-out assault with
full complement of pistols, since he kept it hanging between his
shoulder blades. But it would put him at a disadvantage due to not
having as much reach as a saber. Since he was taking only two
shoulder-carried pistols, he elected to take the saber for tonight.
For this he had a belt and sheath just for the saber and knife,
saving a lot of bulk and weight.

Wrapping everything in an oil cloth he
stuffed all of it in his rucksack and ran to his canoe in the
darkness. He had bought that from a man who was half Poospatuck
Indian and half-white, living as a tenant farmer not far from
Hoboken. It was a small one, with a hickory frame covered in birch
bark and well caulked with tree sap; a perfect size for Ian’s
use.

Soon the canoe was knifing through the inky
waters of the Hudson and making astonishing headway toward
Manhattan Island. Had it been possible to have seen it in the
darkness, one would have seen a lone figure paddling at a rate that
made his arms appear as a blurred image, and the canoe itself
moving at a seemingly impossible rate of speed with a fine, frothy
wake trailing behind.

Arriving at a pre-determined location on the
western shore of Manhattan, Ian silently pulled the canoe ashore
and then emptied it and flipped it up over his head as if it
weighed nothing and bounded away to a barn where he concealed it,
covering it with straw. Rocketing back to the shore, he retrieved
his rucksack and weapons and rocketed away toward the northeast to
the Stedman estate.

***

Yvonne looked peeved as she approached
Priscilla, saying “Where were you?” Priscilla handed her the
newspaper, saying “I thought you might want to find out if the
newspaper did a follow up on that story, you know, the one that
said a second body was found.”

“Oh.” She smiled and said “Good thinking,
Priscilla. I should have known you were up to something useful. I
am taking the group to set watchers at three places tonight. Can
you stay with Grundy and help him teach the new ones to feed
properly?”

“Yes. I didn’t think he cared about
that.”

“Well I care and besides he wants to teach
them some basic swordsmanship after they learn to drain a kill. He
wants to get as many as he can to where they can fight at least a
little bit since he thinks McCloud will come soon.”

“Oh. Good idea. My, but Harold is
smart!”

She laughed at that and said “Remember what
I told you about manipulating men, Priscilla. Harold is as smart as
I want him to think he is.”

Priscilla thought
he is smarter than you
about one thing, Yvonne. McCloud will be here sooner rather than
later.

“Anyway, we will be out all night on this.
When you two are done with the others, all of you come help me
watch the Davis home. I think he might pay a visit to that Rebecca
Davis.”

Priscilla smiled and nodded her head as
Yvonne turned and called to her group, who all followed her away
into the darkness.

Grundy soon came with two wooden sabers and
said gruffly “Go get the newcomers, Priscilla.”

She turned and rocketed to the house and
down to the cavernous cellar and within a half hour they were in
the woods around a quarter mile from the estate. Grundy had just
caught a rabbit and was explaining to the four newcomers how to tie
up the carcass properly to make draining it easier when Priscilla
threw up her hands to her face and said “Oh my! I forgot
something!” as she turned around and bounded away toward the house.
Grundy looked at her for a moment as she sped away and then resumed
what he was saying.

Priscilla retrieved her rucksack with the
copper bowl and two copper flasks and her knife where she had
stashed them outside of the house and waited a bit before running
back to rejoin the others out in the woods.

She came rocketing up to Grundy as one of
the newcomers was trying to catch blood in a cup and said “Oh my,
Harold! Oh my!”

“What is it, Priscilla. I am busy here.”

“Oh my, Harold! I think Roland is in the
house. I don’t know what he is looking for! What do we do?”

“What! Are you sure?”

“Who else could it be?”

“I’ll bet he followed you home from the
city. I’ll take care of him. You stay here and show these other
three how to drain game” he said and turned to bound away toward
the manor house.

***

Ian approached the estate from the road and
not long after sighting it, he put on his hood and was on the roof
beginning to test the eight dormer windows. Finding the third one
he tried unlocked he slipped inside and stealthily glided out into
the 3
^rd
floor hallway, ghosting from room to room,
pistols drawn and cocked.

Finding no one on the 3
^rd
floor,
he descended to the 2
^nd
floor and began a similar search
from room to room, finding no one. There were a few oil lamps lit
on every floor but it seemed as if no one was at home. Taking the
back stairs down, he came out in a really large kitchen which was
dark and uninhabited. Gliding out into a broad hallway, he
un-cocked his pistols and slid them into his shoulder holsters,
snapping the security straps over them. Pausing he pondered the
situation
I had best not fire a pistol if I can avoid it. Who
knows but what they are near enough to hear it if they are
outside?

Drawing his saber he glided toward the grand
foyer. Seeing no one he crossed the foyer, stealthily moving toward
the parlor when he suddenly felt an icy prickling at the base of
his neck that plunged down his spine. In that same instant he spun
in time to see Grundy hurtling toward him from the drawing room,
his eyes blazing and his saber raised to strike.

Instead of falling back he attacked and met
his opponent head on. The two slashed and parried at eye blurring
speed, neither drawing blood when suddenly Ian switched his saber
to his left hand after just driving Grundy back two steps. He was
able to dart in and make a wicked slash across his torso and
instantly switched his saber to his right hand again, inflicting
yet another punishing cut deep in Grundy’s side.

Roaring with rage Grundy tried to attack yet
again, but again Ian switched to his left hand and again he cut him
viciously across the thigh and again switched to his right hand and
gave him a grievous shoulder wound. Grundy could move fast and was
stronger than Ian, but he did not have the years of experience
fighting at vampire speed that Ian had, nor was he ambidextrous.
Everything Ian did was by instinct, with no forethought or
predetermination, concentrating years of techniques honed in actual
combat and years of practice against Li and others of his family at
vampire speed.

He drove Grundy across the foyer and into
the parlor, slashing viciously and constantly switching hands and
altering fighting rhythm so as to keep him bewildered and off
balance. By now Grundy was bleeding from eight wounds and it was
dawning on him that he was overmatched as Ian bored in relentlessly
with his constantly varying and unpredictable attack.

It was all that Grundy could do to keep Ian
off of him and he had no respite or even a split second to gather
his thoughts. He was fighting for his very life now and he knew
it.