“Right.” Mike sincerely hoped Hank would not
discover just how little he was trusted until Mike and Danise were
safely in the twentieth century. By then, it wouldn’t matter that
Mike had secretly made several telephone calls while Hank was busy
with the computer and Alice wasn’t there. “What do you want me to
do, Hank?”
“Just come over here,” Hank instructed, “and
put your hand on the screen. Yes, like that. Okay, here we go.”
Hank threw a switch on the computer. Mike
heard a humming noise followed by the appearance of the familiar
pulsating orange-gold light. Then came the blackness and the
sensation of falling. This time there was a difference. This time
he welcomed the feelings of dizziness and nausea. Nor did the black
silence terrify him. Now that he was on his way to find Danise, his
earlier concerns about the experiment vanished. He was excited and
yet perfectly serene about what he was attempting to do.
Until he heard Danise screaming….
“It’s an attack! Guntram, help!” Even as she
screamed out her warning, Danise was surrounded by Autichar’s men,
all of them with drawn swords or battle-axes in hand. They closed
in around her with relentless purpose written clear upon their
faces.
Danise knew she would be dead before Guntram
reached her, but at least he and Clothilde and the others would be
warned. Her sacrifice might enable her friends to live. The only
thing left for her to do in these last moments of her life was say
her prayers.
Clasping her hands at her bosom, Danise
closed her eyes, thinking of Michel, praying for his well-being and
happiness, wherever he was. A quick prayer for the safety of
Guntram and Clothilde and the rest of their group followed.
Before she finished it, rough hands pulled
the linen scarf off her hair and grabbed at her braids, jerking her
head backward, baring her throat to her killer’s blade. Something –
sword or ax, she knew not which – slashed across her cheek, drawing
blood. This was the moment, then. Waiting for the final,
death-dealing stroke, Danise gathered all her strength and courage
to withstand it without flinching.
Her next and final prayer ought to be for
herself, but suddenly her willingness to die vanished and Danise
was filled with a blazing anger and a resurgence of her desire to
live. She, the daughter and wife and friend of brave warriors, was
not going to allow herself to be cut down like a willing victim!
Whether she ever saw Michel again or not, she was going to make him
proud of her. She was going to die fighting and until her last
breath she was going to continue to shout out her warning to
Guntram.
When she opened her eyes she looked right
into the face of the man who had first accosted her, the leader of
the warrior band. Unclasping her fingers from their prayerful
position she pushed hard against the man with both hands, forcing
him backward. He was not expecting her sudden movement. He
stumbled, collapsing against two of his fellows, who were crowding
around her. They caught his arms, pulling him away from her.
Surprised by their action, and by an unusual
glare, Danise blinked. The sunlight was unnaturally bright here in
the deep woods where it ought to be shady. The men around her were
all falling back now, staring at something she had not yet seen,
and leaving Danise standing alone.
No one spoke. There was a strange silence
filling the forest glade. The unusual light grew stronger, and
Danise began to wonder if she was already dead. She looked in the
direction in which all the men were gazing, and saw a globe of
orange-gold light. Caught in amazement she stared at it, unable to
move. A human figure stepped out of the light and came toward
her.
“Danise!” She recognized that beloved
voice.
“Michel?
Michel
!” She was in his arms
and she knew he was no ghost and no dream, either. He was alive and
so was she. “You came back for me!”
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. “You
should be safe at Deutz. Never mind, you can tell me later.
Actually, this is a stroke of wonderful luck.”
“Michel, where have you been? What is that
light? It hurts my eyes, and look at Autichar’s men, how they are
standing so still, staring at it.”
“Hush, darling. Don’t talk, just listen.
Those fellows will probably recover from their shock in a minute or
two. Danise, I have found a way to take you with me into the
twentieth century. At least, I think I have. I have to warn you, it
is dangerous. Will you take the risk? Will you go with me?”
“You cannot stay in Francia any longer?”
Danise held on to his hands, unwilling to release him even for an
instant.
“I have to return to the twentieth century,”
he said. “If I don’t, Hank will never stop his experiments. Who
knows how far he will go or how much damage he’ll succeed in doing?
Once I’ve fixed things so he can’t move people around in time
anymore, I won’t be able to come back here. Danise, I hear Guntram,
and he sounds as if he’s coming closer.”
“I shouted to warn him of the attack. But,
Michel—”
There’s no time for any explanation,” he
interrupted. “Right now, Danise – this instant – you have to
decide. I know this demand is unfair to you, but it can’t be
helped. Are you going with me, or are you staying?”
“I will go anywhere with you. I cannot live
without you.”
“Be absolutely sure. Once we go, there’s no
turning back.”
“I am with you, Michel, to the very end of
time.” There was no doubt in her heart, only joy.
“Then hold on to me and try not to be too
frightened. I love you, Danise.” He pulled her toward the waiting
light.
“And I love you. Oh, what is that box on your
belt?”
His hand was on the box, pressing it hard. It
began to emit a strange humming sound. Danise would have jumped
away from it, but Michel caught her with his free arm, holding her
tight against his side.
“Don’t let go,” he said. “Stay right here
with me.”
The humming noise grew louder, and suddenly
they were drenched in light so brilliant that Danise pressed her
face into Michel’s shoulder to shield her eyes from it. Then, in
the next moment, all was empty blackness. All things familiar fell
away from her, leaving her completely alone except for Michel, who
still held her close.
She was not afraid. Whatever was happening,
she was with her love. If they were dying, they would die together,
and she had been prepared for a death far worse than this. She was
not even afraid when they began to fall.
* * *
“It is beyond my understanding.” Guntram
shook his head. “So many men, all discovered in the same
unexplainable condition. First Autichar, and now these men, all of
them found on their knees in the same location, every one staring
at nothing with expressions of horror on their faces.”
“I can explain it.” Uland crossed himself and
then made the sign a second time. “There is a dreadful monster
living somewhere in this forest, a creature that snatches away
people without a trace. Autichar saw it when Michel was taken. Now
these men have seen Danise carried off in the same manner.”
“Who are they?” Guntram gazed down at the six
pitiable figures, then looked around. “They were heavily armed.
See, Uland, there are two battle-axes and here is a sword someone
has dropped, but every man of them still has a weapon in hand.”
Bending down, Guntram removed the sword from the unresisting
fingers of one man. “All armed and yet stricken dumb and
immobilized. Never have I dealt with so great a mystery.”
“Guntram?” Clothilde hurried through the
trees. “Your men tried to stop me, but I must know. Where is
Danise?”
His eyes suddenly full of tears, Guntram
picked up a bloodstained linen cloth. He held it out to Clothilde.
Smothering a cry of anguish, she took the cloth from him.
“What has happened here?” Clothilde recoiled
from the unmoving men kneeling in silence before her.
“Whatever creature took Michel away has also
taken Danise,” Guntram said. “Perhaps the intent of these men was
as evil as Autichar’s intent. Perhaps that is why they have been
punished as he was.”
“Oh, no! Danise! Danise.” Clothilde paid no
heed to Guntram’s suppositions. She heard only his words about her
mistress. “Danise!” Guntram caught her, stopping her from plunging
into the trees in search of Danise, holding her in place by
embracing her with an unbreakable grip.
“We should leave here at once,” Uland
advised. “This is a dangerous and unnatural place.”
“We cannot leave,” Clothilde cried,
struggling against the restraint of Guntram’s arms. “We must find
Danise! Guntram, begin a search at once.”
“You sound now the way Danise sounded when
she heard of Michel’s disappearance,” Guntram said. “I do not want
to be unkind to you, Clothilde, and you know I loved Danise as if
she were my own daughter, but I will not risk the life of any other
person in a fruitless search. We have from Danise’s loss the proof
we were seeking for Michel’s death. That bloody headcloth tells us
she was badly injured or killed at once, and her body carried off
by the beast. There can be no chance for her survival. Surely, the
same fate also befell Michel. That is what I will report to
Charles.”
“I have been with her since she was a baby,”
Clothilde sobbed. “How can you ask me to give up so easily?”
“You will do it because there is nothing else
you can do,” Guntram said, though not unkindly. “I am convinced
that Uland is right. There is a monster lurking in this forest,
which you must agree is dense enough to conceal any number of large
beasts. I believe we will never find Danise or Michel, or any trace
of their bodies, and I wish I had never agreed to bring Danise to
this terrible place. If I had refused her, she would still be
alive. I blame myself for her death.”
“Don’t say that. If you had refused her, she
would have come here alone.” Clothilde was calm enough by now to
consider what Guntram was saying, and to appreciate the depth of
his grief. “Danise would never have believed that Michel was gone
without seeing for herself. Now she knows the truth of his
disappearance and we shall never see her again. We must pray that
they are together and happy in heaven.”
“Come back to camp with me, Clothilde,”
Guntram urged, “and there pack up your belongings and Danise’s.
Uland, get the other men to help you move those poor lost souls.
We’ll take all of them with us, mounted on our extra horses. We
leave for Deutz within the hour.”
With a last, sorrowful glance around the
forest glade, Guntram turned toward the camp. Looking at him as she
walked beside him, Clothilde saw the tears coursing down his fierce
warrior’s face.
“Come on, come on,” Hank urged. “We can do
this.”
“There is absolutely no point in talking to a
machine,” Alice muttered. “I told you it would never work.”
“Get out of the way. You’re no help to me at
all.” With his left arm Hank pushed Alice aside. He moved her just
in time. Where she had been standing, right next to the computer,
two figures materialized.
“Gotcha! Yeeow!” Hank’s yell of delight was
cut off when sparks began to fly from under the table where the
computer was. “Alice, cut the power!” Alice raced out of the
bedroom.
“Jeez.” Hank shook his head in disgust. “I
think we just blew all the circuits.”
“Michel,” said Danise, “this is the man for
whom you mistook Adelbert, isn’t it? They are much alike, but I do
see a difference. Adelbert is taller, and much more neat in his
appearance.”
Hank had been paying more attention to his
computer than to his newly materialized guests. Now he stared in
fascination at the lovely eighth century apparition who was
speaking to Mike in a soft voice, using a completely unfamiliar
language. Except for one word.
“Why didn’t you tell her to call me Hank?” he
demanded. “I never use my middle name.”
“Never mind that. You did it!” Mike stuck out
his hand. “Hank, I have to admit, I wasn’t sure you could handle
two people at once, but you are something else when it comes to
computers. Congratulations.”
“Yeah.” Hank neglected to shake hands with
Mike. His eyes were still on Danise. “I can hardly believe it
myself. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“You bet I am. This is my wife, Danise.”
Putting his arm around her, Mike switched to Frankish for the rest
of the introduction. “Danise, this is the man who made it possible
for you to come with me.”
Smiling at the unkempt young man, Danise put
out her hand in the same way as Mike. This time Hank paid
attention. He raised her hand, examined her fingers to make certain
they were solid, and then raised them to his lips in what he
obviously imagined was a gracious gesture of welcome to this living
relic of an ancient and heroic age. His bemused contemplation of
Danise’s features was interrupted by the reappearance of the owner
of the house.
“What the hell are you doing?” Alice
demanded. “You’ve never chewed on
my
fingers!”
“I am kissing her hand,” said Hank in his
most dignified manner. “It is a continental custom. Perhaps if you
were more ladylike, I’d do the same for you.”
“You are a real wacko,” Alice responded.
“Danise,” Michel asked, seeing her sway and
put a hand to her head, “are you all right? We ought to find a
bandage for that cut on your cheek.”
“I am a little dizzy,” she said, “and I’m
very glad that I did not break my fast this morning, for my stomach
is most uneasy. I think it will pass before long. Michel, are we
safely where you wanted to go? Is the movement in time completed
now?”
“It is. There’s no returning for either of
us. Have you any regrets?”