Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 06 by A Matter of Taste

Author:A Matter of Taste
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 10

It was Angle who picked up the phone first when Joe called Maule's apartment to report the results of his talk with Kaiser. She was able to tell Joe, in turn, some interesting bits of information regarding blood chemistry in vampires, that she'd picked up from listening to the old man's tape. She and John had decided that Joe ought to be told, whatever the possible eavesdroppers might make of the information.

It was about four in the afternoon when that call was completed. Sunset was still more than an hour away, but the cloudy sky, its brightness very gradually diminishing, made nightfall seem imminent.

Joe on the phone had been modestly reassuring, but he had been as insistent as ever that they stay in the apartment and remain on guard, crushing any hope that their problems might be over.

Within two minutes after Angie hung up the phone, the front door chime sounded, for the first time in many hours.

John and Angie were both in the old man's room at the time, occupying chairs, one on each side of his bed, and exchanging hopeful comments to the effect that he might soon be able to talk to them. His appearance, they agreed, had continued to improve, gradually but definitely. But he hadn't yet managed to say anything intelligible.

When the door chime sounded, the old man grunted. Both John and Angie, after uttering quick reassurances to their host, hurried to look at the front-door viewer.

Angie frowned at the small, bright image. "It's the lady we ran into last night," she said. "Isn't it?"

"What lady?" John sounded lost.

"The heavyset one who was just getting out of the elevator when the three of us were going up to the restaurant. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Maybe it is her. What does she want?"

"Better find out."

He flipped on the speaker. "Hello?" he inquired cautiously.

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"Mr. Maule? It's Mrs. Hassler from down the hall." The voice was bright as a robin's, cheerful and enthusiastic though somewhat distorted by the speaker. It seemed to have as little connection with vampires as any sound that Angie had ever heard.

She and John looked at each other doubtfully.

The screen image spoke again. "Mr. Maule? Are you all right? I wanted to make sure you remembered the Residents' Association meeting tonight."

An incoherent groan drifted into the living room, from the direction of Uncle Matthew's chamber.

John whispered: "I wonder if there's some way that she can tell he's home?"

Angie hissed back: "Search me. But you answered her, now she knows there's someone here."

Again there was a faint sound, this time as of an intelligible voice, from the old man's bedroom. His two guardians looked at each other wide-eyed. A moment later, they were bursting in on him again.

He was sitting bolt upright in his bed, glaring at them, and to their great joy they heard him utter a few coherent words: "… admit… no one…"

"We won't!" Angie hastened to be reassuring. "We haven't let anyone in. No one but Joe. You know, Joe Keogh? He was here, but he's gone now to try to get help.

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