Franengeld

Previously in Frankengeld. Doctor Damion has had a visit from Victor Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth, and his friend Paul. He has learned that Victor's experiments continue, and that the construction of his 'new man' is well under way. Elizabeth's frustration with a lack of Victor in her bed spilled over into a scene which could have led to disaster for our hero, but she cleverly rescued the situation by suggesting a novel form of duel, which Paul lost. During the afternoon Damion has created a tonic for a vampire.

Now read on...

14th June in the year 1784, just after sunset.

We were sitting down for our early evening meal, thought his was different. It was the first time we'd had a vampire as a guest. And I had a surprise for her, a tonic of my own creation, from a Sumerian recipe, that just might assuage her need for blood.

Helena had already opened the red wine and poured Alicia a generous cup. She brought a second cup and placed it near. Alicia nodded to me and I popped the cork on the tonic and poured a small amount, like a waiter allowing the customer to test the bottle before committing to a full glass. It had an unusual, but not unpleasant, odour. Rich and rather earthy, with metallic hints. Alicia took a sip.

"That is... delicious," she replied. "What is in it? My hunger is satisfied with just a little. It tastes like..." she glanced around the table. "A young man!"

While Yani tried to look small and uninteresting I listed the ingredients.

"You have made me into a vegetarian!" she exclaimed. "I met one once, a traveller in saffron from the east who would not eat meat."

I did not ask what happened to the traveller. I hope he wasn't himself a meal. Perhaps to reassure those around the table Alicia proceeded to explain that vampires do not have to feed to continue to exist. They do not die for lack of blood. But lack of blood makes them increasingly lean in appearance, and gives them a hunger that sits like a deep pain in their body, a pain that grows until only the most strong willed can resist.

We learned that older vampires have more control over this hunger than the newly risen, who are almost completely in thrall to their appetite for blood. And that their kind must be careful not to let their feeding attract attention. They are powerful in the hours of darkness, but vulnerable during the day, and the mob eventually catches up with a vampire that feeds carelessly.

As we tucked into our meal, and Alicia had alternate sips of wine and tonic, she explained that it was a matter of mathematics. I was surprised to hear a Countess talking about such a subject but it seemed that, as a child, she was precocious and rather talented in that regard.

"Imagine that my Master, Gina, and I, came to a great city."

This was easy, we could all imagine that and so far there was no complicated mathematics to deal with, merely counting to three.

"Then imagine we each feed upon a resident of that city. In a relaxed way, taking a month to taste them, to enjoy them, and then at the end of the month making them like us."

We all sat quietly, trying not to look like food.

"So now there are six of us," said Alicia. "Imagine if at the end of the next month we all make our meals into vampires. Now there are twelve of us."

This was mathematics, but still not too hard.

"If we continue feeding and creating, how many of us will there be after seventeen months?"

I tried to do the calculation but without a piece of paper before me my mind quickly failed me. I guessed, "A thousand? Fifteen hundred?" It seemed a very large number.

"More than one hundred and ninety six thousand," said Alicia.

We sat aghast.

"Why, that is the entire population of Vienna!" I gasped. Vienna was our closest large city in Europe, and only a few cities, like London or Paris, had greater populations. I tried to imagine what an entire city of vampires would look like. The streets deserted during the day, perhaps, and at night, chaos, as they all looked for food.

"Of course it would never get to that point," said Alicia. "Even just a few dozen patients with severe anaemia would set alarm bells ringing. And there are doctors who specialise in supernatural diseases. There is one in the low countries; Van Helsing I believe he is named. Someone like that noticing our feeding would be the beginning of the end for us. We would have to flee and hide."

I had not heard of this Van Helsing person but Alicia was right. News travels quickly amongst the medical fraternity. Dozens of patients with bite marks on their necks, who refused to stay in their coffins when dead, would be noticed.

"So you see," concluded Alicia. "Our only chance of survival is to stay well away from society, feed infrequently, and transform victims very rarely."

"But that," said Helena quietly. "Leaves you lonely."

"True," admitted the queen of the night.

At this point we had finished our meal. We had promised to take our news to the Mystery Club. But, as we prepared to go out I could see Alicia becoming quite sad.

"I had better go now," she said. "I have already outstayed my welcome. If I fly now I can be back at the castle before dawn."

"Countess" I replied. "Did you not say that you wanted a more interesting life?"

"That is true, yes," she sighed.

"Then why are you contemplating leaving us now?" I gently touched her arm, which was cool and felt incredibly strong. "It's just about to get interesting."

"We would like you to come with us," grinned Helena. We had discussed this during the afternoon.

"Come with you? Where?" Alicia was puzzled.

"The Mystery Club," Helena replied, and took a cloak from the pegs in the hallway and presented it to Alicia. "Come and meet our friends."

I had only the poems and tales of vampires as a guide to how one might behave, and - to be honest - they weren't big on detail. They certainly didn't prepare me for being hugged by a four hundred year old Countess.

As we walked to Freida's house I took the occasion to check if Alicia had any other foibles we should be aware of.

I discovered that direct sunlight would destroy her. Garlic would repel her. Silver could wound her. And a stake through the heart was fatal. So much fitted with the tales. But she did not need to lie in her own coffin, or in the earth of her own country, that was spurious. And she was quite capable of crossing flowing water by her own efforts, it held no terrors for her.

I asked how her master was able to travel during the daytime. It emerged that with great age came resistance to the death-sleep, as she called it, to sunlight, and to charms like garlic and sacred symbols.

I felt much better informed by the time we arrived at Freida's house. I knocked and, when the maid answered, I asked her to bring Freida to the door. She looked puzzled but neither Helena or I would enter and leave Alicia standing outside on her own, so in the end she complied.

"Damion, Helena," said Madam Minna. "What's this about? Freida is busy at the moment. Can I help?"

"Yes," I said. "We have brought a friend but she is from a distant land, and needs an invitation to enter the house from the owners."

This was not a lie. I did not add that she was also from a distant time.

Madam Minna studied Alicia. She saw a very tall woman dressed, barely, in a very old fashioned night dress, clutching her cloak around her. A pale woman, with a hint of death about her. "What is your friend's name?" she said, after a long pause.

"Alicia, Countess Von Hinterleitner," said our vampire friend. She curtseyed low to Madam Minna. "I am honoured to meet a friend of Helena and Doctor Damion."

"I thought the Hinterleitner's line died out many years ago," said Madam Minna, revealing a better knowledge of aristocratic lineage than I possessed.

"I am the last of that noble family," said Alicia, which at least had the benefit of being true.

"Very sad," replied Madam Minna. She thought again, I could see the doubts in her face, then she made up her mind. "Enter Countess," she finally said in a calm, quiet voice. "Be welcome and bring peace to our house."

She stood aside and let Alicia enter. We quickly followed and made our way to the withdrawing room. I went in first with Alicia and Helena hand in hand behind me. Poppy and Lord Scunthorpe were there ahead of us, occupying their usual sofa. They glanced up casually when we came in, then Philip's eyes narrowed and he leapt over Poppy, snatched his sword from its scabbard where it was set against the wall, and turned to face Alicia.

Alicia, shocked, hissed like a cat, showing her canines, sadly confirming exactly what Philip had clearly guessed. I stepped between them.

"Hold your blade!" I said. "She is a friend, and I would not have you abuse her." Philip's blade hovered over my heart. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Helena move to stand directly in front of Alicia.

"She's a vampire!" cried Lord Scunthorpe. "We are all in grave peril!" Then, despite the desperate situation he saw before him, he could not resist a witticism, "No pun intended."

Alicia had calmed herself and now spoke, saying, "Is this the famed courtesy of the English aristocracy?"

Philip stood for a moment, torn between the niceties of society and the danger he perceived, then he slowly lowered his blade. "Philip, Lord Scunthorpe, at your service madam." he intoned, bowing low and taking his blade into his left, extended his right hand, open palmed to show he held no weapon.

Alicia stepped out from our protection and let her hand rest under his, then said, "Alicia, Countess Von Hinterleitner, at yours and your descendants until such time as I am dust."

Philip tentatively curled his fingers around Alicia's and kissed the back of her hand. Poppy, Helena and I breathed a collective sigh of relief. Violence had been averted.

Philip returned his sword to its scabbard and, in the process, lost his place on the sofa. Poppy, patting the cushion, had invited Alicia to sit with her. Alicia shrugged off her cloak, laid it to one side and sat, looking a little disconcerted. Presumably the gloom of an ancient castle was her normal environment. A well lit withdrawing room was something she'd not enjoyed for a very long time.

"Nobody wears tie-on sleeves any more," said Poppy. This could have been said in an insulting way, but the way she smiled and made space for Alicia on the sofa was rather charming. I watched, hoping Alicia had a sense of humour.

"It was what I was wearing when I was made as I am," she said, quietly and rather conspiratorially, as if they were society ladies sharing fashion secrets. "I can cover it with more layers, and I can remove it, but at dawn and dusk it always returns."

"Oh," replied Poppy. "I thought it was a fashion choice."

"Not exactly," said Alicia. "It was my choice of bed wear when I was alive, especially if I expected visitors to my bed. Now it is a permanent part of my unlife. But there are advantages. When I change back from being a wolf or a bat I am always dressed in something."

Poppy was listening intently, it was clear to me that she wanted to explore this more. To be able to question a creature of myth was, to a creator of stories, a real gift. But at that moment Freida entered the room carrying papers and maps, this interview with a vampire would have to wait.

Freida nodded and smiled at her new guest, so I presumed her mother had prepared her for Alicia's presence. "Good evening everyone," she said. "I would like to extend a warm welcome to the latest member of the Mystery Club."

Alicia smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

"Before we report back," Freida continued. "I think it would be useful if our noble guest was told why we are meeting. The mystery we need to solve."

She looked me in the eye. Oh dear, I thought, now I have to explain that there's a possibility my father is a murderer. I took a gulp of wine and told Alicia the circumstances of my ownership of number 34. She sat silent, concentrating on my words, and I found myself wondering how long it had been since she'd been in a social situation like this. Probably hundreds of years. No wonder she was desperate for company.

I handed over to Helena to describe our interview with the Chief of Police, which she did in a most amusing and entertaining way, imitating his formal military style of speech. Then she looked back at Freida for directions.

"Thank you Damion and Helena," said Freida. "We each took on tasks, and I can report on mine. I conversed with several of the Chief's men and found one who was able to identify where they found the cart."

She spread a map across the low table, using glasses of wine to hold down the corners. "He told me exactly where they found the doctor's cart," she continued. "It was by a side track, near the three kilometre distance stone, it should be easy to locate. I am going to visit the location tomorrow." She traced her finger from Carlsbruck along the road to the east and pointed out the junction where the track to Tatarif joined the main road. We all stared at her finger poised where, possibly, two lives had ended.

"That is a cunning place," said Philip. He seemed to be much more relaxed with Alicia now, perhaps because Freida had made her welcome. It would be a serious breach of etiquette to fail to be polite to a guest of the family. Alicia looked him in the eyes and solemnly nodded in agreement. He offered her the opportunity to speak.

"I would agree," she said. "A junction, at night, would most likely mean that the driver slows down. Especially if the side track is not obvious. An attack at that moment would be easier."

Now it was Philip's turn to nod in agreement, saying "I offer my coach, and a driver, to take us to this place. And I would be happy to travel with the noble Countess."

"I would guess you will want to make your examination of what mistress Freida calls her 'crime scene' in the daylight," Alicia replied. "The night is where I will be more helpful."

She gave Philip a gracious smile, with just a hint of canine, that turned the refusal into a promise of adventure to come.

"We will be there," said Helena, as she looked at me and clutched my hand. "Won't we Damion."

I nodded. "I must find out what happened," I said. "And if the doctor and his daughter have been abducted, and are still alive, rescue them."

"Even if you lose your house?" said Poppy.

A shocked silence fell on the room. I had not thought of that. If the doctor, or his daughter, were alive then the sale of the house was invalid. We would need a new home.

"Er," I glanced at Helena who, I knew, loved the house as much as I did. To my pride she nodded back at me to let me know she approved. "Helena and I want to know the truth, wherever that will lead," I said. "Even if we have to give the house back."

Poppy spoke up, breaking the gloom that had descended upon the room, "Philip and I were tasked with finding the cart. Which we have achieved by a stratagem. Dressed as a servant I visited all the livery stables in the Town, engaging a loose-tongued ostler at each location and I have found the stable."

We looked at each other, a chance to hunt for clues was being given us tonight. This was exciting and I immediately resolved to try to get Alicia to come with us.

"The cart used by the doctor is there," Poppy explained. "And, even better, it has not been touched. The ostler told me he had been instructed by the officers to leave it untouched for a month, in case they found reason to examine it again."

This was good news. Any clues on the cart would have been destroyed if it had been scrubbed clean and gone back into general use.

"The stables are just a five minute walk from here. They are expecting Lord Scunthorpe at nine tonight," continued Poppy.

"To make the owner cooperative," said Philip. "We have said that a Lord, recently arrived in Carlsbruck, is interested in a long term hire."

I took the letter out that had drawn the Doctor and his daughter to their doom, and placed it on the map, along with the latest letter from my Mother.

"Helena and I found the letter," I explained. "To my distress it seems clear that it was written by my Mother."

The letters were read and compared, my private mail being handed around the room. I realised it was probably a bad idea bringing the latest letter from Mother when Philip remarked.

"I see Elodie is enjoying her suitors," he grinned. "More intimately than your mother realises, I suspect, from the description of moans and cries of yes, yes that are coming from her room at night. And what's this about about it being a good idea to make your sister-in-law pregnant?"

"Gerda is desperate to justify her position in our family by birthing a child," I explained, very quietly. "Mother never did have any qualms about taking seed from strangers, and I think she feels Gerda should do the same, if Karl cannot get her with child."

"She is a handsome woman," said Lord Philip. "If noble seed is all that is required then I would happily help her. It would be an honour and, doubtless, a pleasure."

"I have watched her with Karl," I whispered. "She copulates energetically and with suitable oaths and curses." I went on to describe their coupling in man to man terms, still in a whisper. But at that moment everyone else paused in their discussions. The phrase 'I have watched her with Karl' and the rest of the, very explicit, description filled the room as if I'd shouted it.

Philip smiled his winning smile at Helena, Alicia, Freida and Poppy, and then said, "Just getting the low-down on Gerda, she sounds as if she needs my help."

All the ladies had read the letter and knew exactly what he was talking about, but had been too polite to mention it. There was a moment of stern faces and then the tension was broken by Alicia, of all people.

"The bloodline is everything to some families," she said. "Even if the blood is a little diluted sometimes. And too many marriages of cousins leads to defects. It is good to obtain seed from outside the noble families from time to time."

And Poppy said, "You can do it, if you like, Philip, but I insist you are back in my bed the next day. I would not want to miss out on my share of noble seed."

I had taken the opportunity over the last two days, during quiet moments between patients, to talk to Una about the comings and goings at Durishaus. I now added these notes to the growing pile on the table, explained how these had been obtained. Everyone learnt forwards over the small table to study them.

"I asked Una," I said. "To think about what had been happening at Durishaus from the date when my family knew that I had been successful in my studies. This would have been when they got the invitation from the university to attend my graduation ceremony. She remembers the letter being discussed at the dinner table. In fact she is a very observant girl and has been able to give me much detail."

Silence again descended on the room, but this time it was because everyone was concentrating on my words. My studies of people told me that they love to see into the lives of others, and the events behind the ornate doors of a noble home were particularly interesting.

"Shortly after this letter," I explained. "My father made one of his 'business trips.' He was away for a couple of days, returning at noon on the day the doctor and his daughter vanished. He and my mother were both in Durishaus when the pair were abducted or slain."

"So your father could not have done this deed himself," said Freida

"And," piped up Poppy. "Your mother might have written the letter but has an alibi for the night."

"What's an alibi?" whispered Helena.

"A proof that the person cannot have been at the scene of a crime when it happened," I whispered back.