Greg smiled and nodded his head. "Very good, though we seem to have come at a bad time."
Alwin laughed and patted Greg's back. "Not at all. The berries on the bushes are big and bright this year."
I blinked at the two insane men. "With the hell are you-" A hand grabbed my sleeve and gave a polite tug. I looked and saw it was the woman.
She smiled at me and shook her head. "Don't mind them too much. Sometimes they speak for hours about nothing else but the color of the sky."
"Yeah, but Erik-" She pressed a finger to her lips.
"We must be inside," she whispered. Her eyes flickered to the bushes along the lane.
It was then that I realized the hidden meaning in Alwin's talk of the bushes. No place was safe, even on his estate. I stopped talking and was led inside.
CHAPTER 6
The interior of the home was plain but elegant. There was a small entrance hall with rooms on either side and a hallway that led to the rear of the house. Alwin let us into the right-hand room and I saw it was sitting room. The plush furniture was carved from a rich, dark oak and polished to a smooth, bright shine.
The woman took Greg's backpack and disappeared into the hall while Alwin seated us on a small couch. He closed the curtains and took a seat in a chair opposite us. His smiling demeanor slipped into a frown and he clasped his hands in his lap.
"Are the rumors true about rebellion in the marketplace?" he questioned us.
Greg nodded. "Yes. My Master was recognized by one of the more vocal leaders and taken to the Braille. The Guards attempted to stop the crowd, but they were overwhelmed."
"And Greenwood thought it best that he agree to his capture to lessen the trouble?" Alwin guessed.
"Exactly," Greg agreed. "If custom holds, there's to be a trial on the morrow. Am I correct?"
Alwin leaned back and snorted. "You are, but it will be a mockery of one, if there is one at all." He quieted when the woman returned and took a seat in the corner of the room. "Is Eva back?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, but she says the horses are nervous."
Alwin frowned. "That means spies among the bushes. The red berries are more eyes than delicious treats these days."
"Spies for whom?" Greg asked him.
The Councilman shook his head. "If I had that information I would bring it to the Council in a moment, but I don't. All I know is that anyone who speaks up for the lords and Council find their livestock plundered and their house ransacked, or worse."
I raised my hand. "Could we drop the Mission Impossible spy stuff and find out how we're going to get Erik out of this brick place?"
"Braille," Alwin corrected me.
I furrowed my brow. "Like that thing for blind people?"
He nodded. "Yes. It's called that because the cells are underground and in complete darkness. Not even our senses can pick up enough light to see without a lamp. The only way to move around is by feeling the walls, and there's only one entrance. A set of stone stairs that lead down to a door made of iron."
"So where is this Braille place?" I asked him.
He nodded out one of the windows. "On the far side of the town near the cliffs. It was put there so if someone did manage to escape they would have one less direction to flee. However, in its three hundred years of existence no one has ever escaped the Braille. The walls are solid stone and when a prisoner is present the entrance is guarded by at least two people at any one time."
I jumped to my feet and threw up my arms. "So what you're telling me is this place is impossible to rescue somebody from?"
He bowed his head. "I'm afraid so."
"There may be a way," the soft voice of Alwin's wife spoke up. All eyes turned to her in surprise, most especially Alwin's.
"What way do you know?" he asked her.
"There is someone on the island who knows the caves and paths better than anyone, and who wouldn't find the darkness any trouble. He might be able to help," she explained.
"One of the fishermen?" Alwin guessed, but his wife shook her head.
"No, someone Lady Greenwood and I found several years ago. He called himself a relic of the past, so we gave him the name of Methuselah."
Alwin frowned. "I don't know this man. Who is he?"
"A vampire."
Greg and Alwin started back. I blinked at the wife. "Seriously? A vampire?" I asked her.
A small smile slipped onto her lips and she nodded. "Yes, seriously. Lady Greenwood and I found him on the rocks barely clinging to what little life that species holds. We took him to a cave and fed him-"
"Shannon!" Alwin gasped. Even Greg looked aghast.
I swung my head between the astonished gentlemen to the bemused lady. "Um, would somebody please tell me what's the problem here? Other than there being real vampires?"
"Vampires are our sworn enemies," Alwin explained. The tone of his voice spoke of a bitterness only centuries of animosity could create. "They feed off us to gain our strength and keep alive their unholy existence." His hard eyes didn't swerve from his wife. "How could you help one of them?"
"They're not my enemies. I came from the human world and can't hold such a grudge against them," she pointed out.
"But Eva! Don't you care for her?" he protested.
"Methuselah promised he wouldn't harm anyone. He has kept his promise and not revealed himself," she pointed out.
"But a vampire!" Alwin insisted.
Shannon smiled and clasped his hands in hers. "Do you trust me?"
His lips flapped for a while before he sputtered out a few words. "I-I do, but-"
"Then trust me on this. Methuselah wouldn't harm anyone, most especially anyone from our two families." She turned to Greg and me. "That's why I believe he'll help you. Speak Lady Greenwood's-Cassandra's-name and he will give you an audience. No one knows the caves better than Methuselah. If anyone can help you reach Greenwood without being noticed, it's him."
Greg bowed his head. "We're grateful for you in revealing this secret."
Shannon smiled and shook her head. "I would do much more to save my friend's son. Cassandra and I were-are great friends, and I wouldn't want a mother to lose her child."
"Where can we find him?" Greg asked her.
"The entrance to the cave systems under Market Island are near the cliffs. Eva can show you the way," she told us.
"Not Eva. I will take them," Alwin insisted.
Shannon squeezed her husband's hands. "You and I must convince the townspeople to release him. If they don't agree then we at least have given our friends here a distraction," she pointed out. Shannon leaned back and a sly grin slipped onto her lips. "Besides, Eva is as brave and resourceful as her father. She'll be fine."
Alwin pursed his lips, but sighed and gave a nod. "Your words are wise. Too wise, I think, but you're right." He looked to us. "We will try to convince the people to let young Greenwood go. I agree with my wife that I don't believe they'll release him. The feelings run high against anyone from Wolf Island, especially since the Guards became so overbearing."
"When did that start?" Greg asked him.
"About two months ago," Alwin revealed.
I furrowed my brow. "Two months? Isn't that when the shipment of dynamite went missing?"
Alwin nodded. "Yes, and like you I don't think there's a coincidence in the timing. There's an evil current beneath the islands. Something is happening, and I believe we're sorely unprepared for it."
Greg stood and bowed his head to our hosts. I followed his example. "Whatever happens we will always remember we have allies here."
Our hosts rose and smiled at us. "We're glad to be allies of the lords of Wolf Island," Alwin graciously replied.
"Say hello for me to Cassandra when you see her next," Shannon requested.
I grinned and saluted. "Will do."
"Now we'll skip any more farewells. You should be off," Shannon pointed out. She turned to her husband. "I'll fetch Eva."
"And I will prepare the cart," Alwin added. He
looked to us and nodded towards the entrance hall. "Follow me and I'll point the way to where you're going."
Our kind host led us outside and over to the barn. The doors were shut, but he opened them and nodded through the structure. "The path leads from the other end of the barn through the fields to the cliffs. It's a rocky place, but not much worse than some parts of Wolf Island."
"Yeah, we know about those," I quipped.
"There are a mess of caves ten yards above where the water crashes against the rocks. If she hasn't already, Shannon will tell Eva which one to take that leads to that abomination." He paused and turned to us with a steady, fixed gaze. "I must ask that you not let Eva into the caves. My wife might trust this monster and I trust that she believes in him, but I can't put any faith in-well, in other things. I've seen too much of what they can do to werewolves."
I cringed. "And what exactly can they do?"
Alwin frowned. "They can drain a werewolf of all his blood within a minute. It's a delicacy for them. They crave the power that runs through us. If they had a choice between an easy target of a human and a tough werewolf, they would choose the werewolf every time."
"Comforting. . ." I mumbled.
"We will be careful, and Eva won't accompany us any farther than the cave entrance," Greg promised.
Alwin nodded. "That's all I ask. Oh, and you may leave your bag of provisions here. They'll only get in the way." He glanced past us at the house. "Here they come."
We turned and saw Eva and Shannon exit the house and hurry over to us. Eva was dressed in a dark cloak that was the color of the rocks. Two other cloaks like it were slung over Shannon's arm. She presented them to us.
"To help protect you from the berries," she told us with a wink.
We put them on and Eva grabbed one of Greg and my hands. She smiled and pulled us through the barn. "This way. It isn't far."
CHAPTER 7
Eva led us through the barn and out into the open field that lay beyond the building. The time of day was now afternoon and storm clouds on the horizon threatened to ruin what remained of the day. A faint mist helped to cover us from prying eyes, and our new cloaks finished our camouflage. Eva wasn't very tall and she had a tight grip on our hands, so we were forced to stoop. The tall grass of the field therefore covered anything else of us that remained to be seen.
The field was a hundred yards across, and the perimeter was fenced with an old wooden fence. We reached the far end. Eva ducked under and we climbed over. The grass from the pasture grew ten yards farther until it hit the rocky bareness that made up most of the perimeters of the islands. Scraggly trees grew up from beneath boulders and brush tried their hardest to cover a trail that led through the rocks. It was an old trail, judging by the smoothed stones where feet had long-trodden, and wound its way leisurely down a slope to the aforementioned cliffs. Far off came the sound of waves crashing violently against rocks.
Eva skipped down the path as spry as a mountain goat and we hurried after her. The path stretched for another forty yards before we came to the edge of nothing. The ground came to an abrupt end at the edge of the rocks and we now had a clear view of the crashing waves. The lake sat twenty yards below us. A harsh wind blew the water against the rocks and created swells and pools among the many stones. Unlike Wolf Island, there was no flat spot to the cave entrance. There was only a narrow, jumbled mess of boulders and stones beneath the cliffs. The gap between life and death was maybe five yards.
I leaned forward and caught a glimpse of some dark depressions in the cliff wall below us. Those must have been the cave entrances.
Eva waved to us from the edge of the cliff to our left. "This way." She hopped off the side of the rock and disappeared from view.
"Oh shit!" I yelped.
Greg and I hurried forward, but we were only halfway to the rescue when Eva popped her head up over the edge of the ground. She had a wide, devilish grin on her face.
"I've always wanted to do that to someone," she admitted.
I clutched my heart and glared at her. "Don't try it on someone with a weak heart or you'll end up in the Braille," I warned her.
She giggled. "We're almost there." She ducked down out of sight.
Greg and I walked over to the edge and saw she'd stood on a flat rock four feet below the edge of the cliff. The flat rock was the beginning of a series of rock steps that led down to the boulders and water below. Our guide was halfway down the steps and she waved to us. We hopped down and slowly followed her. The steep steps were slick from the moist air and one false move would find us a flat decoration on the large rocks below us.
The steps wound around to the front of the cliff on which we just stood. The last dozen steps gave us a good look of the cliff wall and I saw my assumption was correct. The dark depressions were cave entrances, and I could see why we'd need Eva's hand to point the way. There were a dozen cave entrances, all different sizes and angles. Some seemed to lead back up to the cliff, and others pointed down to the bowels of the island.
Eva led us to one that was of medium size with a straight direction into the cliff. It would be an easy stoop for us adults. Then she pointed up.
"That's the one you need."
I followed her finger and saw she pointed to another cave entrance ten yards above us. The mouth was only four feet tall and three feet wide.
"You're joking, right?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "No, Mama said it was that one, and I've seen him come out of there before."
"Were you supposed to out here after dark?" I asked her.
"I wasn't out here at night. He came out on a cloudy day," she explained.
I cringed. "Great. A vampire who doesn't mind a little sunburn."
"Thank you for your assistance," Greg spoke up. He took Eva's hand and bowed his head to her. "We will be fine from here on out, and your parents need you to watch the house while they're away."
Eva smiled and curtsied to him. "It was my pleasure. Good luck. Oh, here." She handed Greg a flashlight. "You'll need that. The caves are nearly as dark as the Braille. Bye!" She scampered back up the path like a billy goat and was soon out of sight.
I trained my eyes on the cave entrance. "I think we're going to need it. That cave's a little bit out of my reach."
"But not outside your werewolf ability to climb," Greg assured me.
"So are werewolves part spider now?" I mused.
He chuckled and shook his head. "No, we merely have a good grip and balance. Do as I do and you'll reach the entrance." He raised his hands and my eyes widened as I watched his fingers lengthen into claws.
I pointed a finger at his hands. "So I can do that?"
"Yes."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not in the least."
"So-um, how do I do that?"
"Hold up your hands and concentrate on transforming your fingers. Instinct should do the rest," he assured me.
I breathed out. "Okay, here I go." I raised my hands and concentrated on my fingers. They did-nothing. Lots and lots of nothing. I glanced past myself and at Greg. "I think my instinct is broken. Is there some sort of a cheat code I can use?"
A sly smile slipped onto his lips. "There is. Hold still and I'll show it to you."
The look in his eyes was all I needed to see to know he meant trouble. I held my hands in front of me and backed up. "Oh no. Whatever you're planning leave me out of IT!" Greg picked me up and lifted me over his head so I was on my back. I flailed and kicked the air. "Let me go!"
"As you wish," he replied.
Greg tossed me at the cliff wall. I flew fifteen yards up the air and hit the hard rock above the entrance. My hands dug into the cliff wall and I clung shivering to the rocks. I glanced over my shoulder at the ground far beneath me. Greg stood at the foot of the rocks and had his hands don the wall. The world spun in circles, so I shut my eyes and hugged the rocks.
"Get me down!" I yelled.
"Use your instincts," he called back.
 
; "Right now they're telling me to kill you!" I growled.
He chuckled and began his ascent towards the cave entrance and me. "Use your other instincts. The ones that allow you to cling to the wall as you are."
I opened my eyes and looked at my hands. They were long claws now, and they clung easily to the various rocks that protruded from the wall. My feet sat atop more rocks beneath me. "You're-you're right! I did it! I did it!" I got a little carried away and leaned back. My fingers slipped over the rocks, but I gripped them tight and returned to my hugging of the wall. "Kind of."
"Climb down and I will assist you into the cave," Greg told me.
"All right. Ready or not, here I come."
I eased myself down and along the side of the cave entrance. Greg waited for me there. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me inside. I collapsed onto my knees and kissed the cold, hard, damp ground.
"I'm never leaving you again," I vowed to the earth.
"You may on the climb down if we find ourselves unsuccessful in acquiring the vampire's help," Greg pointed out.
I snorted. "From what I've heard about vampires and werewolves we'll be lucky to make it out with a few pints to spare. How strong are vampires, anyway?"
"Inhumanely strong. Ancient ones can defeat many werewolves at once," he told me.
I gulped. "And isn't this guy supposed to be old?"
"The name Methuselah does imply that, but we should see with our own eyes." Greg clicked on the flashlight and we shuffled forward through the low cave.
The cave led us deep into the earth beneath the farmlands. Sometimes we were forced to crawl on our knees, and other times it was tall enough we could stand straight and walk. The cave slowly descended, and sometimes it made a small backtrack on itself like a spiraling staircase, but without the useful steps. The floor was soaked by the ground water that flowed through the earth, and more than once I was forced to grab a rough stone that protruded from the wall to save myself from a nasty fall.
This was not my idea of fun. The close quarters made my heart beat like a hard rock band drummer on meth and every step was an adventure in slipping and sliding. I ducked and dodged large rocks that stuck out from the walls. My head, arms and legs scraped and collided with those I missed, leaving some nice scratches and cuts. If the vampire needed a trail to follow us, my blood would lead the way.