Forever Young The Beginning (82 page)

Ian relaxed then and stood erect,
removing his hood. Grimacing in pain he said “Hello, Jennifer.
Aimee told me about you. Thanks for jumping in when you did. I
believe that if you hadn’t, my head would be on the floor with all
of these others.”

“
Ian?” She smiled then,
brightening. “No thanks are necessary. Aimee said her family would
come.” She stepped out of the smoky haze toward him and stopped,
standing in front of him. “You’re hurt.”

Ian grimaced again, pulled a flask
from a pocket and drained it. “I’m pleased to meet you, Jennifer.
You’ll have to excuse me for a bit.” He left the cell and went over
to the stairs and sat down, leaning against the wall and just
waited for his shoulder to heal itself as she followed. “If you’re
up to it Jennifer, help find all of their heads. We need to leave
soon.” Marie came over then to see his wound and gave him a hug
saying “It’s healing well already.” In a few more minutes, he got
up then and walked to the group holding the two on the floor and
said “Who buys little girls from you bastards?”

No one spoke. Ian saw that one of the
two was the bald one, lying there moaning, minus a foot. He grabbed
him and dragged him to the other side of the cellar through two
doors to a storage area, spearing his foot with his sword as he
happened across it. He flipped his sword and the foot flew into a
corner. Then he said “That belongs to you. You might try answering
my question if you want it back.” He asked again and got no
response. So he drew his knife and cut off his index finger in a
flash. The vampire hollered in pain, clutching his wounded hand to
his chest and then he said “I just have one customer. I took a
little girl there tonight. I can take you to the place if you let
me go.”

“
You supplied him
then?”

“
Yes.” Ian handed him his
finger and he held it as it began to knit back to his
hand.

“
Who else?”

“
He was the only
one.”

“
Li; please come in here.”
Li was there in a second. “Please watch this one for a
bit.”

Returning to the other group he saw
that the one they had pinned was the vampire who had abducted
Jennifer. He writhed and moaned, holding the stump of his right
arm. Ian looked about and finally stepped on a hand that looked
like it could be his. He speared it with his sword and brought it
to him then and held it against his wrist until it began to
knit.

“
What’s your
story?”

“
To hell with you! There’s
enough blood in the boy. We would’ve shared with all of you if
you’d asked.”

Ian regarded him for a moment. Marie
stepped forward and said “We don’t drink human blood, you
cockroach. It’s your kind that makes it harder for us to live
peaceably. You brought this hell upon yourselves.”

Ian drew his sword menacingly and the
vampire hollered “Stop, stop. What do you want to know?”

“
Who do you sell little
girls to?”

“
That’s his specialty. I
don’t like to be around them long enough to get paid. That wench in
the cell there is mine. I caught her and I bit her so she’s mine.
You can have a turn after I break her in.”

Henri said “I asked my mate to marry
me and she did. We don’t take women by force like you maggots
do.”

“
Married? Asked? I take what
I want. That is what a real vampire does. Ask that wench in there
who her man is.”

Chuckling while shaking his head Ian
said “Looks to me like most of you ‘real vampires’ have lost your
heads tonight over that notion. Jennifer, come here.”

Jennifer had been talking to Marie and
Li. She came smiling, an inquisitive look on her pretty face. “This
one says you’re his. What do you say to that?”

She walked up to them and spat on the
vampire “Give me a pistol and I’ll show you what I say!” Marie
walked over and handed her last loaded pistol to Jennifer who put
it to the head of the vampire and shot him. Andre lopped off his
head.

Ian walked back to the other room to
the bald headed one then. He speared his foot and tossed it so that
it fell near him. The vampire held it in place for a minute and it
began to knit and reattach. Three minutes passed in silence and
then Ian said “Li let him stand now.” They let him stand up then.
He looked closely at Ian then and suddenly his eyes widened. “I
know you. You were the drunk who was near my table
tonight!”

“
I’m sober now.” replied Ian
as he struck his head from his shoulders.

The three Adepts had picked up all of
the weapons and had gathered the eleven heads. By daybreak, they’d
all departed. The three were to come back that night and dispose of
the bodies.

Jennifer had written her
employer a letter of resignation, explaining that she had found a
better job and had to relocate now to secure it. One of the Adepts
went to the
Hungry Eye Tavern
to deliver the letter. The family returned to the
estate, taking Jennifer with them.

Robert took Ian and the boy who had
been a captive to a place that he owned which was an apartment in a
small nondescript building in a nondescript part of London.
Margaret took the carriage and said she would return soon with food
and a change of clothes for the boy. In a half an hour, the lad was
giving himself a hot bath, perhaps the first in years.

Ian and Robert then sat down and Ian
said “Sir, I have two men bound and waiting for you to question. We
should go there after Margaret returns.”

“
I’m not ‘sir’ to you
anymore, my friend. I’m Robert.” he said with a smile. Ian smiled
too then and said “Thank you Robert.” As they discussed options for
the boy, Margaret returned with some food and a package containing
clothing.

“
Margaret, we have to run an
errand. Can you take care of our young guest for a
while?”

“
Yes. Go ahead. Ian, thank
you for everything.”

“
No thanks are necessary,
although I nearly lost my head last night.”

Robert laughed heartily and said “So
we heard. We only thought we had the worst of it! So Marie and
Sophia accompany you on these…raids all of the time.”

“
Yes. We’re a team as well
as a family.”

“
I was impressed how well
and how thoroughly everything was done.”

“
To be fair, they’ve had a
lot of training that you and Margaret haven’t had.”

She laughed then and said “I can
surely see that. Whose idea was it to make those black
suits?”

“
Well, I needed one once so
I made the first one.”

“
Was that the time in Paris
where you went in alone against a group of them?”

“
It was. The others liked
them, so Marie and Sophia made them after that. Marie designed and
made the double shoulder-mounted pistol holsters too, for an
excursion we had in Austria.”

Margaret laughed then and said “Now
that is a type of sewing and fashion design that I never dreamt of!
I have to admit this. I was terrified waiting up there, but now
that it’s over, it was fun, wasn’t it? Well, I mean it was fun for
me other than being stabbed and Robert losing a couple of fingers
for a while!” She laughed giddily then as she thought of what she’d
said.

Ian and Robert laughed and then Ian
rubbed his shoulder and said “Marie told Henri that after one of
our raids too. I’m not commenting on that.”

***

Being that it was daylight now, Ian
just drove the carriage past the posh estate of the pervert, saying
“I have him and his errand boy gagged and trussed up in the woods
out back.”

Robert had ceased to talk as they had
gotten closer to the place and continued in silence. Finally he
said “This is the home of the senior partner of our bank.” There
was silence as the horses clip-clopped along the boulevard past
magnificent homes. Finally Ian said “I’m sorry Robert. Are you
close to him?”

“
No. We’re co-partners only.
I never dreamt…damn his eyes! What a disgusting thought! There’s
only one punishment for such a one.”

“
The bald one said he’d
furnished little girls for him on other occasions.”

Ian saw that Robert’s features had
hardened, becoming grim. He’d never seen him look that way before.
Robert gave Ian directions to take another road and eventually they
were proceeding through a wooded area with no homes visible. He
pulled down a narrow brush-choked lane for some two hundred yards
and stopped. “We can get there from here.” he said as he got out of
the carriage. He turned to Ian and said “This is my mess. I’ll take
it from here, Ian.”

They talked at some length,
establishing an alibi for Robert and a version of events wherein
Thomas had found Aimee wandering the streets and had brought her
home safely just this morning. Ian told him that Aimee had received
some instruction regarding how to fight against an adult who might
try to take her for any reason and that she had broken Edward’s
finger and bitten his ear.

It was suggested by Ian that Thomas
might want to adopt the boy they rescued. He asked if there was
another place which would be more private for imprinting since they
had to help Jennifer through that. Robert offered his summer home
to the west of London, near Oxford and overlooking the Thames. It
was a four thousand acre estate with a home as big as the chateau
near Marseilles. He furnished information about where the firearms
and their supplies were kept and promised to send Thomas out to
take them there and open the place.

He went on to reaffirm that his three
Adepts would take care of the cleanup and would see to it that the
carriage was repaired and returned. In conclusion he told Ian that
he knew of an abandoned quarry upcountry that would serve as a
place to dispose of the bodies of the two men. They parted company
then, agreeing to meet later after Jennifer’s imprinting was
completed.

***

As Ian came in the door, Aimee heard
him and jumped up into his arms kissing and hugging him. Alandra
was next and they had a long kiss and he held her while he answered
questions that the others asked. Alandra sucked in a sharp breath
when she saw the way his bloodstained shirt was cut about his
shoulder and asked about it. He said “If not for Jennifer, it
would’ve been worse than this.” Jennifer came to him then with a
smile and took both of his hands saying “Thank you
again.”

“
How did you manage to fool
that vampire?”

“
Aimee told me to. When you
came in to my cell, he was hiding there near me. I played sick like
Aimee said to do. He tossed something across the cell so that you’d
hear it and turn away. When you turned and he made for you, I
jumped on him.”

“
Well, by Heaven, I’m glad
that you did, Jenny!” He turned to Aimee and said “Aimee, you
helped keep me from getting myself really hurt. I’m very pleased
with you, little one. Come here.” He gathered her into his arms
once again and kissed her and held her close as the others came
around and praised her.

After a bit, Ian took Henri and Marie
aside for a brief conference as the others all congregated about
Jennifer and Aimee. Coming back to Jennifer, he gently took her by
the shoulders. He held her back from him so they could look into
each other’s eyes, and smiling he said “Jennifer, you have a
decision to make.”

‘
What is that?”

“
You don’t have to decide
today, but do you want to stay in Britain, or come with us to
France?”

She put both hands over her
mouth as her eyes widened and looked around at the others then,
saying “Can…can I come with all of you… after I m through
imprinting
?” She saw only
smiles and heads nodding in agreement. She began to cry then. Marie
hugged her and comforted her.

“
I’m sorry for crying so,
but I was an orphan and have never had a family. Wherever you go,
I’ll go too. I’ll miss Thomas though.”

Marie said “We can talk about that
later, Jennifer. Right now the sun is shining and we have work to
do.” Throwing her a bundle of clothes she said “You’ll put these on
now and meet us all outside.” A few minutes later she was outside
barefoot, wearing very short pants, and a brief sleeveless blouse,
which was very open at the top. Her imprint training began in
earnest and she was never alone except to rest for the entire
time.

That afternoon, Thomas came by and he
spoke with Jennifer for a half hour. He had the boy with him and
the lad was happy and curious about everything, like a normal child
of seven. Thomas was too much the gentleman to even mention the
unusual and brief clothing that Jennifer was wearing.

He took Ian and Alandra out to
Robert’s summer home about twenty five miles toward Oxford, to the
west of London. Perfect for imprinting, it would be perfect for
firearm training too, being so private and isolated. They stayed
overnight and did a bit of readying of the place for the
others.

While they were there, Ian offered
Thomas a choice of coming with them to France with the boy, or
staying and working for Robert. He gave him a sizeable bag of gold
coins then. Thomas’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Ian said
“Thomas; it was because of you that we learned the two kidnappings
were linked and because of you that we were able to find the
kidnappers so quickly. I’m a rich man, and I’m grateful to you.
This money is yours no matter where you decide to live.”