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.But Billy would take them as metaphor of some kind; odd, how easy it was for some kinds of truth to remain hidden."Judy, Goddam, Judy." Joe on the other hand tended to swear a fair amount.The phone now made his anger tiny."I'm just trying to look out for your own best—""It seems to me that he once let himself get involved in some pretty serious file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,.d%20-%20Dracula%2004%20-%20Thorn%20[v1].html (133 of 263) [2/5/2004 12:19:42 AM]Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 04 - Thorn (v1.0) (html) trouble that we were having."For a few moments the long-distance buzz had the line to itself.Joe's voice when it came back was decently troubled."I know, we owe him a lot.After what he did for Kate and me, I'll stick my neck out.But how do we know what he's involved in? I'm just trying to get you to stay clear, kid, for your own good.This other young lady who was blown up and killed in his car was probably on good terms with him too, and—""Thank you." Judy got the two words out in an acceptable voice, and then quickly hung up the phone.She hoped Joe heard them and really appreciated that she understood and was grateful for his desire to help.Joe really did mean well.It was just that right now Judy was too mad to talk to him any longer.Billy was still in the doorway, with concern for Judy's troubles written all over him.She smiled at him again.She didn't want to involve anyone else in anything dangerous.But she would, if necessary.Her hand still on the cradled phone, Judy closed her eyes.Feeling guilt, and love, she tried for contact.As soon as she really tried, it came.The man called Thorn was still alive, she was completely sure of that.Somewhere to the west and south of her, at some considerable distance.She thought that he was now asleep.But even in the sunny log room she trembled.She was frightened at her perception of his pain and rage.Chapter FourteenThe servant whose howls had wakened me was a weepy old woman, her past scarred, as I now suppose, with tragedy of one kind or another that must have driven her half mad.She was diligent about the house, but given at times to supernatural fantasies.Her cries continued in the middle distance as I sat there in my bed, I know not for how long, looking at that dagger on the pillow and fatalistically pondering its meaning.I did not require the noise of the ancient seeress to convince me of disaster.file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,.d%20-%20Dracula%2004%20-%20Thorn%20[v1].html (134 of 263) [2/5/2004 12:19:42 AM]Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 04 - Thorn (v1.0) (html) The only logical conclusion I was able to reach regarding the dagger was that Helen had considered killing me with it before she fled—already, somehow, I had no doubt that she was gone—but had then for whatever reason decided against my murder.Still, she wished me to realize that the topic had been under consideration, and she had left the dagger so aimed to symbolize the fact.Besides this vaguely humiliating and cryptic communication, no message from my departing wife could be discovered.As matters turned out, the old woman was screaming for no more occult reason than having been told of her mistress's defection by one of the grooms.This unusually unintelligent lad, while about his morning chores an hour or two earlier, had chanced to see Helen leaving.He reportedly belatedly how she had ridden off into the predawn mists on her white palfrey, a thin roll of clothing with a few other belongings tied up behind her sidesaddle, and ac-companied by a cloaked male figure astride another horse.The lackwit groom stuttered and stammered this story again to me, adding that it had never occurred to him to raise an alarm when he saw this.It meant nothing to him, he asserted, that his mistress should have decided to go for an early morning ride.Herein he was mistaken; it meant in fact that I paused to slit his nose for him before I took to the road myself in a frantic effort to pick up my lady's trail.It turned out that there was no trail, at least none that I could find.In a state of rage that grew ever colder and more pure, I rode at a good speed for an hour along the road that led in the opposite direction from Florence, but caught no sight of the one I sought.Nor would any of the folk I questioned in passing admit to having seen Helen ride that way with her secret lover, with that faceless, unidentifiable figure in the groom's stammered story, a man who would be glad to settle for losing part of his nose when I caught up with him.As for what I meant to do to Helen… I do not remember making any specific plan of vengeance then.But it was well for her that morning that I could not find her.Of course I might well be pursuing in the wrong direction, and after an hour I turned round.It then naturally took me another hour to get back to our Pisan cottage.I had sent some of the servants I considered most trustworthy to scour the neighborhood in other directions, and these were back before me.They file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.But Billy would take them as metaphor of some kind; odd, how easy it was for some kinds of truth to remain hidden."Judy, Goddam, Judy." Joe on the other hand tended to swear a fair amount.The phone now made his anger tiny."I'm just trying to look out for your own best—""It seems to me that he once let himself get involved in some pretty serious file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,.d%20-%20Dracula%2004%20-%20Thorn%20[v1].html (133 of 263) [2/5/2004 12:19:42 AM]Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 04 - Thorn (v1.0) (html) trouble that we were having."For a few moments the long-distance buzz had the line to itself.Joe's voice when it came back was decently troubled."I know, we owe him a lot.After what he did for Kate and me, I'll stick my neck out.But how do we know what he's involved in? I'm just trying to get you to stay clear, kid, for your own good.This other young lady who was blown up and killed in his car was probably on good terms with him too, and—""Thank you." Judy got the two words out in an acceptable voice, and then quickly hung up the phone.She hoped Joe heard them and really appreciated that she understood and was grateful for his desire to help.Joe really did mean well.It was just that right now Judy was too mad to talk to him any longer.Billy was still in the doorway, with concern for Judy's troubles written all over him.She smiled at him again.She didn't want to involve anyone else in anything dangerous.But she would, if necessary.Her hand still on the cradled phone, Judy closed her eyes.Feeling guilt, and love, she tried for contact.As soon as she really tried, it came.The man called Thorn was still alive, she was completely sure of that.Somewhere to the west and south of her, at some considerable distance.She thought that he was now asleep.But even in the sunny log room she trembled.She was frightened at her perception of his pain and rage.Chapter FourteenThe servant whose howls had wakened me was a weepy old woman, her past scarred, as I now suppose, with tragedy of one kind or another that must have driven her half mad.She was diligent about the house, but given at times to supernatural fantasies.Her cries continued in the middle distance as I sat there in my bed, I know not for how long, looking at that dagger on the pillow and fatalistically pondering its meaning.I did not require the noise of the ancient seeress to convince me of disaster.file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen,.d%20-%20Dracula%2004%20-%20Thorn%20[v1].html (134 of 263) [2/5/2004 12:19:42 AM]Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 04 - Thorn (v1.0) (html) The only logical conclusion I was able to reach regarding the dagger was that Helen had considered killing me with it before she fled—already, somehow, I had no doubt that she was gone—but had then for whatever reason decided against my murder.Still, she wished me to realize that the topic had been under consideration, and she had left the dagger so aimed to symbolize the fact.Besides this vaguely humiliating and cryptic communication, no message from my departing wife could be discovered.As matters turned out, the old woman was screaming for no more occult reason than having been told of her mistress's defection by one of the grooms.This unusually unintelligent lad, while about his morning chores an hour or two earlier, had chanced to see Helen leaving.He reportedly belatedly how she had ridden off into the predawn mists on her white palfrey, a thin roll of clothing with a few other belongings tied up behind her sidesaddle, and ac-companied by a cloaked male figure astride another horse.The lackwit groom stuttered and stammered this story again to me, adding that it had never occurred to him to raise an alarm when he saw this.It meant nothing to him, he asserted, that his mistress should have decided to go for an early morning ride.Herein he was mistaken; it meant in fact that I paused to slit his nose for him before I took to the road myself in a frantic effort to pick up my lady's trail.It turned out that there was no trail, at least none that I could find.In a state of rage that grew ever colder and more pure, I rode at a good speed for an hour along the road that led in the opposite direction from Florence, but caught no sight of the one I sought.Nor would any of the folk I questioned in passing admit to having seen Helen ride that way with her secret lover, with that faceless, unidentifiable figure in the groom's stammered story, a man who would be glad to settle for losing part of his nose when I caught up with him.As for what I meant to do to Helen… I do not remember making any specific plan of vengeance then.But it was well for her that morning that I could not find her.Of course I might well be pursuing in the wrong direction, and after an hour I turned round.It then naturally took me another hour to get back to our Pisan cottage.I had sent some of the servants I considered most trustworthy to scour the neighborhood in other directions, and these were back before me.They file:///G|/rah/Fred%20Saberhagen/Saberhagen, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]