Chapter Seven

“Oh, good,” Agatha said as she watched Tim approach.  “We were just coming to ye.  It has been decided that we will go to Edwin’s family cabin on the Canadian border.”

“Right now?” Tim asked with surprise.

“Aye,” Agatha replied.  “We must make haste.”

“I don’t know about…,” Tim began before Edwin interrupted him.

“You can hunt just as easily in New Hampshire,” Edwin said.

“That cabin gives me the creeps,” Tim admitted.

“It’s not creepy, it’s rustic,” Edwin said playfully.

“When was the last time you were there, brave ass?” Tim grumbled.

“It’s been a while, but it’s fine,” Edwin assured him.

“I don’t have a hunting license for New Hampshire,” Tim pouted.  “None of us do.”

“We must leave,” Agatha urged.

As they made their way to the SUV, Kira stopped and expressed her concern about getting into such a foreign mode of transportation.  She questioned if it came from the devil. Agatha assured her that she’d inspected the vehicle for demonic presence prior to knocking on the cottage door and it was clean.  Even so, it took some coaxing to get the young vampire seated in the back seat with Edwin on one side of her and Agatha on the other.  It required even more effort to keep her calm for the first few minutes after they picked up speed on the highway. 

The men – mostly Edwin-  spent the next few hours of driving time relieving fears and updating Agatha and Kira on the changes that occurred over the three centuries they’d been dormant.  Kira listened – wide-eyed and silent- while Agatha probed them with questions they found intelligent and astute. 

When Edwin broached the topic of their mode of speech, he did so carefully so as not to offend them. To his surprise and relief, Agatha was eager to update her vocabulary. It was agreed that they would assist her with that at every opportunity.

The women’s attire was another concern.  Since it was the Thanksgiving holiday week, should anyone see them and question Agatha and Kira’s clothing, they could get away with saying they’d just left a play or celebration.  After the week was up, they would have to update their wardrobe.  The men decided it would be best to shop via the internet for starters until the women were more acclimated to the twenty- first century.

As time passed, Kira began to warm up to the occupants of the vehicle and gave an occasional smile or giggle to something that Edwin said. Due to Kira’s acute hearing abilities and sensory sensitivities from a long-time dormancy and – on a conscious level, at least – newness to vampirism, Edwin addressed her in a low tone, that was difficult for Tim and Mark to hear properly. 

Later, when they were alone together, Tim and Mark discussed the impressive and unusual bravery Edwin showed in assisting subduing the vampire.  Although they’d never found their friend to be a coward, this was a vampire he was dealing with! More caution should be used than he was displaying.  They were very concerned that he’d been placed under the witch’s spell.

They reached the private road that led to Edwin’s family hunting lodge. It was, in actuality, an old log cabin that was in the family for generations and was listed with the historical society as a landmark. Even so, it was a private facility that was used by his family alone; and then on very rare occasions.

“It’s lucky there are so many evergreens lining this drive,” Tim said as they bounced up the snow laden drive. “Does this place ever get plowed?”

“I couldn’t say,” Edwin said matter-of-factly.  “I usually come in the summer or early fall; and, then, it’s been years.”

“Doesn’t your family have a caretaker?” Mark asked in surprise. “This place is a landmark or something, isn’t it?”

“There’s a local handyman who keeps an eye on it.  I guess he’d be considered a caretaker, but nothing like what Tim’s uncle has,” Edwin explained.

“Hell, that isn’t much,” Mark grumbled.

“Be fair,” Tim said.  “He did manage to plow the drive so that you could get the SUV out and you had clean sheets on your bed.”

“It just seemed like he was negligent on so many things,” Mark mused.

“We all have different standards and expectations,” Edwin said patiently.  “Perhaps Tim’s newly acquired uncle isn’t as anal as you are, my friend.”

“Anal?  You’re calling me anal?” Mark said in a half-serious, half-joking manner.

“This is a saying I do not understand,” Agatha said thoughtfully. “Should I make note of it for the future?”

“Absolutely not,” Mark said just as they hit a very deep rut in the drive. Tim managed to maintain his seating because he was holding the wheel and the occupants in the back were sitting so close together that they escaped much jostling.  Only Mark suffered as his head slammed into the window; for which he bellowed, “Damn!”

“I see the cabin,” Edwin said assuredly as he pointed in its direction. “Do you see it through the trees?”

“’Tis lovely looking,” Kira said softly.

Edwin gave her a warm smile of gratitude. He knew the cabin was far from lovely. It was old, rundown, and primitive. In comparison to the cabin they’d just left, it was a shanty.  Even so, it offered warmth and protection from the elements until they could figure out what to do to escape the impending confrontation with a very old and very irate vampire.

It was late afternoon and the sun hung low over the tree line when they pulled up in front of the cabin.

“We have just enough light to gather some wood and start a fire,” Edwin said as he swung his arms and blew on his gloved hands to keep warm. “It feels even colder here than it did in Massachusetts.”

“We’re at a higher elevation,” Tim offered.

“I’ll check inside to see if there is any wood left from the last visit,” Edwin said as he unlocked the padlock that secured the door and pushed it open.

“If I remember correctly, this place has no electricity,” Tim said as he surveyed the outside for wires leading to the cabin.

“Hell, that’s right,” Mark groaned. “There’s no toilet either.  Just a pump in the kitchen.”

“What is this toilet you speak of?” Agatha asked.

“I guess you would call it an indoor privy,” Tim said as he stood next to her. 

Now that he’d had an opportunity to move past the shock of what happened since she’d arrived on their doorstep that morning, he was able to appreciate her beauty and essence.  He found her more than desirable.

“An indoor privy?” she said with confusion.  “Does it not stink?”

“Water is pumped into the privy to wash it clean after use,” Tim said with a smile.

“I find this incredible,” Agatha gasped.

“You will see it soon enough. After we leave here, of course.  This place has a pump to get water without having to find a creek or spring, but the privy is outside,” he said.

“As it should be,” Agatha muttered as she walked with determined confidence into the cabin.

Tim wore a grin on his face as he followed her into the antique dwelling.  Educating her on the modern world was going to be anything but dull.  He had to admit, if only to himself, that it was just the type of diversion he needed.  Until Agatha entered his life, things was starting to feel stifling and dull.