you manage it? Surely she didn’t volunteer.”
The creature had his moments of wit. “Hardly! Propitiously, she is a native of Jersey and has relatives who did not flee before the invasion. She will provide the information I ask, to protect her family left behind.”
“You don’t have the power to protect them!”
“She believes I do.”
Schmidt had to smile. There was a reason, other than his age, that the mortals at Adlerroost chose Weiss as their leader. He was devious, focused, and implacable. Not that Schmidt felt sorry for the duped cook, or the damned Inselaffen. But he made a mental note to never earn Weiss’s enmity. “Excellent!” He meant it too. Eliminating Churchill would definitely leave the country in chaos and was the perfect opening for the Vampires to take the upper hand. “You will kill him?”
“Quite possibly.”
“Only possibly?” What did Weiss have in mind?
“Eliminating him would send the country into confusion, which would be admirable, but if we could control him it would be even better.”
Better but far riskier. But Schmidt would keep that to himself. “Do we have instructions?”
Weiss raised an eyebrow. “We followed instructions before and look what happened to Eiche and Bloch.”
In point of fact they did not know what had happened. “You are convinced they are dead?” If such a word was precise enough to describe the extinction of an immortal creature.
“It appears they are no more,” Weiss replied, “and that, in itself, is worrying. I intend to find out what happened to them while you ready the way for Mr. Churchill.”
He might have guessed this was coming. “And I do what?”
Weiss smiled, always a bad sign. “The undergardener at Wharton Lacey had a most unfortunate accident early this morning: multiple fractures to his left leg. Tripped, careless man. He will be incapacitated for weeks, and you, my dear Schmidt, will fill the position.”
Just like that? “How do we manage that? I’m an ambulance driver.”
“Not any longer. You are now the good cook’s cousin, who had his lungs severely damaged through childhood pleurisy and therefore cannot serve in His Majesty’s Armed Forces.”
Marvelous. Working as a laborer by day and a rescue worker by night. The things he did for the fatherland. “Wharton Lacey is a good distance away. How am I supposed to get back and forth, and where do I live?” He did not want to sound desperate, but a Vampire needed shelter and if he was expected to work out of doors…
“Your dear aunt, the cook, will arrange for that.”
Indeed. “And have you considered the daylight factor?” Most likely not.
“Of course, my dear Schmidt. Firstly, I do consider your age. The Crusades, wasn’t it, when you were turned? You can endure a little sunlight. If you’re not impaled on a tree.” Nasty that, but he’d let it pass. “In any case, sunshine is so unusual at this time of year and the days so short, I think you need not worry. You are in chronic poor health. The mortals will expect you to be weak.”
There was something wrong with this entire scenario. Several somethings in fact. “How close is this Wharton Lacey to Brytewood?”
Another smile. A good reason to be cautious. “Four miles, my dear Schmidt. Four of their English miles. Distant enough for you?”
It was going to have to be. The last thing he needed was encountering that good Samaritan doctor. “I hope so. Doubt I’ll have any reason to go into the village anyway.”
“Better you do not,” Weiss replied, “unless summoned. I will be there, from time to time, investigating this Vampire killer.”
A shiver snaked down Schmidt’s back. Not many things gave a Vampire anxiety, but those with power to destroy could. “Anything else?” Might as well hear the lot while he was here.
“Not altogether.” Which meant there was. “Except…that Fairy creature who works for our masters?” So Weiss had noticed too, had he? “Has been conspicuously absent, hasn’t she?”
And he hadn’t missed her poking in his mind one little bit. “Yes. I wonder why?”
“Most likely they killed her.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Beats me. I can’t read mortal minds. Perhaps she refused to cooperate. Maybe her powers waned over time. How should I know?” Or care. “If she’s not prying into our minds, the less the mortals in Adlerroost know about us.”
“Damn good thing too, if you ask me.” Not that Weiss had or was likely to.
Weiss stood. A clear signal the summons was at an end. “You have ambulance duty tonight, I believe. I suggest you miss it and use your time to study your new cover.” He nodded at a thick envelope on the table. “Should be simple enough.”
Paul Schmidt stood and picked up the envelope. Weiss wasn’t telling him everything, that was a given.
He wished Weiss luck in that village that had already consumed two Vampires, Eiche and Bloch. Still, with Weiss occupied, he’d have the field clear for his own ambitions.
Chapter Two
Brytewood
“Here you are, Nurse, with Lady Gregory’s compliments,” Edith Aubin, the cook from Wharton Lacey, said as she handed Gloria a large hamper.
“This is so incredibly generous,” Gloria Prewitt replied, as she lifted the lid and saw two roasted chickens, a good-sized ham and an almost complete Cheddar cheese. No wonder Miss Aubin had needed the driver’s help to carry it into the village hall from the car.
Miss Aubin nodded in agreement. “Not too much for a returning hero,” she replied. “Lady Gregory said to let me know if you’re short on bread or tea.”
“We should be alright, Mr. Whorleigh has donated tea.” From under the counter, Gloria suspected, but she wasn’t going to quibble over that. “Bread, someone is fetching from Leatherhead.”
“Of course,” Miss Aubin nodded. “Your baker disappeared, didn’t he?”
He’d disintegrated at Gloria’s hand, or rather under her teeth, when she’d been in fox shape, with a little help from Andrew Barron, her intended. Not that she was ever mentioning that to anyone who didn’t know already. “We certainly miss having fresh bread.” But disposing of a Vampire of nefarious intent made the whole of England safer.
“Would you believe it, he did a moonlight flit?” Mrs. Chivers, mainstay of the Women’s Institute and Mrs. Burrows’s knitting circle, added her ha’pennorth. “Shocking, just walked out and left. Obviously forgot there’s a war on.”
No, he certainly hadn’t. He’d been a very real part of the war but that, too, Gloria kept to herself. She was keeping a lot to herself these days.
But despite the war, the heavy black curtains that covered the windows and doors, and the scrimping and saving to put together the wartime equivalent of a groaning board, Brytewood was ready for a party.
No doubt the women in ancient Greece or Babylon put on feasts to welcome home returning warriors. And here they were, following the ways of countless women who waited and wept and wondered if their sons and brothers and lovers would return from the wars.
She was getting positively maudlin. Her lover, fiancé and light of her heart, was brushing aside the blackout curtain that covered the door.
“Andrew!” She restrained the urge to rush across the hall and wrap her arms around him. Didn’t need to really, just meeting his eyes and knowing that smile was hers was enough.
“Hello, Gloria.”