"Ygor, will you please stop saying that," barked Dr. Anne Frankenstein. She felt her last nerve fray.
The butler, Ygor shook his head. "It is just that after all these years to find out the villagers were right. That your grandfather, and now you, brought the dead to life. It's amazing."
"It's nothing if the villagers find them first," Anne snapped. "We'll be burnt as witches."
"Oh no, Doctor Frankenstein," added Inga the housekeeper. "This village never burnt witches. They hanged them."
"Not comforting."
"Maybe they won't hurt anyone," Heidi suggested. The buxom lab assistant shifted uncomfortably. "Seth looked innocent and confused."
"The first monster drowned a child and ripped off a young man's arm," Inga pointed out.
"Innocent and confused, but not harmless," said Anne. "We must get them back before sun rise."
Ygor coughed into his hand and unfolded a map of the region. "Where would they go?"
Inga said, "In my mother's stories the monster was either at the windmill or the graveyard or walking in the forest."
Heidi looked at the map. "The forest is huge. How can we search all of it before sunrise?"
"We'll split up." Anne didn't look at the map. "Ygor and Inga will search the forest. Heidi go to the cemetery. I will check the windmill and my father's old lab."
"How are we going to capture a creature if we find one?" asked Ygor. "No man can match their strength."
Anne thought for a second. "Ygor get some food together. We will lure or convince them to come with us. This might be a terrible mistake, but hardly my first."
"Oh doctor no one blames you for making monsters." Heidi said sunnily. "It's what Frankensteins do."
Heidi's cheek burned where Dr. Frankenstein had slapped her. Heidi hadn't been hurt by the blow itself or a sense of betrayal. It was the look in Anne's eyes. A witch's brew of loathing and self-loathing and longing. Even the slap had come with madness or anger it would have been easier to bare than the fact that Heidi had been slapped because the doctor could not slap herself.
She wished she had a friend to see and explain things to, instead she of creeping through a cemetery. Every shadow was a waiting giant or harpy looming in the darkness. Or worse a policeman. Explaining to the police that Dr. Frankenstein's assistant was lurking in a graveyard with a flashlight and picnic basket could not end well.
Consumed with her thoughts Heidi stepped around a mausoleum and gasped. Seth sat quietly on a raised bier. His face turned toward the sparkling stars in the sky. To her surprise he had dressed. Boots, pants, and a furred vest that looked the worse for wear.
Screwing up her courage Heidi stepped toward him. She screamed as she slipped sideways and tumbled through the tarp covering an open grave. Twisting she landed on her back with a thud. Lost in the noise was the tinkle of the flashlight bulb shattering. Cheeks burning, clothes soaking in rainwater, and back aching Heidi stared up at the sky.
She wondered if Seth had heard.
The giant's head and shoulders eclipsed the sky. He loomed over the open grave. Heidi's breath caught. The blonde thought she might scream. Seth knelt and reached down with one hand.
Heidi stared at the hand. It didn't press against her or threaten her. So she put her hand in it. Gently the fingers closed around Heidi's hand and pulled her to her feet. Heidi's other hand gripped the handle of the picnic basket. Seth plucked her from the grave effortlessly. Her feet scarcely touched the ground. Then he let her go and returned to the bier.
"Hello, my name is Heidi," tried Heidi. Nervously she sat on the bier with the basket between them. "Can you speak?"
Seth's voice was a gentle rumble. "Yes."
Heidi cast about for another topic. "The sky is pretty tonight."
"Pretty?"
"Something you like to look at," said Heidi.
"Pretty sky."
"It is," she agreed. "Would you like some wine, Seth?"
"Wine?"
"It's a drink. Do you want to have a drink while we look at the pretty sky?"
Slowly Seth nodded. To her relief Ygor had backed a pair of metal cups along with a bottle. She also found a half loaf of bread, some boiled eggs, and a few pieces of cold chicken.
"We can have a picnic like friends," Heidi declared. She uncorked the bottle, poured out two cups, and handed one to Seth. "What should we toast to?"
"Toast to?" Seth repeated the words as he stared into the dark red wine.
Heidi nodded. "How about life? It's always good to drink to life."
Seth frowned. His face and bearing fell in on itself. Heidi winced. She felt like she had unwittingly kicked a puppy. This was not a stupid creature. Simple, like her, but not stupid. No one who could hold a conversation the night of their birth could be stupid.
She tried again. "What about the dead? In a cemetery maybe we should toast the dead."
"Dead."
"To the dead then." Heidi tapped her cup against his before sipping the wine. Whatever else Ygor got up to in the wine cellar with Inga the man kept a quality stock.
Seth drained his cup with one deep swallow. "Dead."
