Stoker's Wilde by Steven Hopstaken

Author:Steven Hopstaken
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2019-04-29T11:54:09+00:00

Second letter from Robert Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt, 26th of June 1879

Dear Theodore,

As I write this we have the foul creature in our custody!

My cheeks are still ruddy with the thrill of the hunt. I feel twenty years younger and recall the time you and I fought off that grizzly bear!

The sun was still low in the eastern sky but shining brightly when we broke down the door at Irving’s apartment, scattering unclaimed post that was piled under the mail slot. Armed with wooden stakes and crosses, we slowly crept through the front hall and entered the sitting room, wrenching open curtains as we went to wash the rooms in as much blessed sunlight as possible. However, by the looks of the place, no one had used it for quite some time. A layer of undisturbed dust covered rich furnishings and the air was stale and stifling. A thorough search of the remaining rooms yielded no sign that the creature was there or had been recently.

After working myself up into a state of determined readiness en route, this was anticlimactic to be sure. Undeterred, Stoker spoke two simple words: “The theater,” and we were off again.

As manager of the Lyceum Theatre, Stoker has complete access and authority. As it was by now mid-morning, the theater was a beehive of activity. The stage was dressed for Cleopatra, adorned with Egyptian gods, mummies and the like, and many craftsmen were about, putting on the finishing touches.

Stoker ordered everyone out of the building to make our search easier and safer. Staying together, we covered much ground as quickly as we could – the attic, the catacomb of backstage rooms and the cellar – to no avail.

“Perhaps there are clues to another location in his office,” Dr. Hesselius suggested.

This triggered a revelation in Stoker. “Of course! He has a secret passage leading to the alley from his office. Perhaps there are more such passages.”

We ransacked the office, pulling books from the bookcase, tapping the walls and turning over furniture. In addition to the passage Stoker had known about, we found a trapdoor hidden beneath the rug.

Upon opening it, all that could be seen was darkness. A stale, musty smell wafted up from the narrow passage, with a hint of cold, damp dirt behind it. Stoker lit a lantern and lowered it a bit into the passage, revealing a ladder attached to one of the walls, but how far down it went I didn’t know, for we could not see the bottom. We knew we must descend, for surely our quarry must be at ladder’s end.

After acquiring another lantern, Stoker descended first, followed by me, then Dr. Hesselius.

Through the very walls of the theater we crept downward. All of us were surprised at the depth the ladder was taking us.

“We are far below even the cellar now, I should think,” Stoker said after we had been descending for several minutes.

Suddenly his foot broke one of the rungs and he dropped his lantern. It crashed below, its light briefly illuminating the bottom.

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