The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman

Author:Kim Newman [Newman, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Steampunk, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780671854515
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 1996-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

21

The Castle

With Prussian insouciance, Oberst Kretschmar-Schuldorff dangled a Turkish cigarette from his lower lip. Smoke filled the car, wavering as they took the uphill road to the château. The officer sat opposite Poe and Ewers, sharp eyes glittering beneath his peaked cap, suggesting obscure amusement. None of the three cast a reflection in the dark windows. The driver knew his way by night, but the road was not of the best. Poe feared for Ewers's luggage, which was roped to the roof.

'We're not much used to visitors at Malinbois,' Kretschmar-Schuldorff admitted. 'So our facilities are primitive.'

Poe was prepared to be gracious. Any accommodation was likely to be an improvement on the ghetto. Ewers, irritability increasing by the hour, was less inclined to accept without complaint what life presented him.

'The château is ancient,' the officer said. 'There was a fortress on the site when Caesar divided Gaul. The current structure dates in part from the tenth century. It is of historical interest to vampirekind. It is named for the Sieur du Malinbois, an elder destroyed in the 1200s.'

'A sergeant at the station told us it was an evil place,' Poe said.

Kretschmar-Schuldorff shrugged without disturbing the smoke. A sardonic smile seemed always to underly his affectation of cool.

'Like your famous House of Usher, perhaps? Who is to say what is evil? In some, old feelings run deep.'

'He was not a true patriot,' Ewers said. 'He should be reported and demoted.'

'A man might be a patriot and not care for Malinbois,' Kretschmar-Schuldorff said. 'Who knows, Herr Ewers? You may not care yourself for our château.'

Through the windows, Poe saw the outlines of tall, broken trees pressing close on the road. The country here was dreary and uninviting. There was a centuried air of desolation, overlaid by the devastation of the last few years.

'There is a lake near the château,' said Kretschmar-Schuldorff, smiling more broadly, 'but it is not like the tarn of Usher. I think it unlikely that our quarters will crumble and pitch us all into stinking waters.'

'What an amusing thought,' Ewers said, trying to be cutting.

it is the duty of all intelligence officers to have only amusing thoughts. Our primary responsibility is morale.'

Ewers looked as if, at this moment, his morale was at its lowest. Strangely, Poe took heart. He wondered if his own comparative lightness of feeling was sparked by the warm girl's blood seeping through his undead body.

'When we round the next corner, Herr Poe, you'll be able to see the château.'

The car strained and made the turn. Poe saw the castle with the moon behind it: a black shape with towers and battlements. In the silhouette, only one light burned, high up in the highest tower.

'Is that for us?' he asked.

The Oberst shook his head, it is for the fliers.'

They drove along the shore of a placid lake. Beside it was a cleared space Poe took for the airfield.

'Don't they tend to crash their aeroplanes into the tower?'

Kretschmar-Schuldorff laughed, musically. 'Herr Poe, you will be greatly surprised by many things.

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