Le charme envoûtant du groupe ethnique Ba - le bourreau

Chapitre 17

“Yes, he’s gone,” she whispered again. “And I have to go to him. I have no choice. He’s calling me.”

The old professor glanced at the onlookers, silently gesturing for them to remain silent. He waited a while longer until he was satisfied with Mina's fascination.

He finally asked Mina softly again, "Where are you going?"

After a long while, she answered in a low voice, "I can't sleep soundly—I'm drifting, floating."

"where?"

"Go home...home".

The professor frowned, pulled down his lower lip, and pondered carefully. "What did you hear?" he asked tentatively.

Another moment of silence. "Mother of the Ocean," Mina finally said again, "I hear the crashing waves, like on a wooden boat... the surging water. The creaking mast..."

The professor, in silent elation, turned to his companion. He hissed, "Then we really have driven him out of England!"

The others also showed silent amazement, and unanimously moved closer to Howsing and his patient. Howsing glanced at Milo again, noticing that she was gradually emerging from the hypnotic trance, then clenched his fist and said in a more normal voice, “Thank God we have another lead! The Earl saw that he only had one crate left, and a group of people were chasing him like dogs chasing a fox; this London was really no place for him. This means he has boarded a ship with his last crate and left. As our friend Arthur said: awesome! Our old fox is cunning, but I am cunning too; so sometimes I can figure out what he's thinking.”

At this point, Mina's eyes opened completely again. She was listening and slowly nodded in agreement.

Jack watched from a distance and noticed that the vampire's most recent victim had become gaunt and pale, with receding gums. He concluded that the transformation process was already underway.

Chapter Eighteen

The Hucks desperately needed rest, as did the small group of men determined to protect them and avenge them. But before any of them could close their eyes in peace, they had to verify Mina's reports under hypnosis as much as possible. So at daybreak, the four men, excluding Jonathan, went to the London docks.

That evening, back in the mental hospital, Howsing reported the results of the expedition to the Hacks.

“I knew he—Prince Dracula—wanted to go back to Thursovnia; I was sure he would pass through the mouth of the Danube or somewhere on the Black Sea, because that was the route he took to get here.”

"Therefore, with heavy hearts, we began to investigate which ships had departed for the Black Sea last night. Since Miss Mina mentioned masts and sails, it was clear that she was on a sailing ship... So, on Arthur's advice, we went to the Lloyd Insurance Guild; there was a record of all the sailing ships that had set sail."

“There, we found the only ship that went with the current to the Black Sea, the Queen Catherine. This ship departed from Dolittle dock for Vana, and then went to other regions, going up the Danube. Some people also remember seeing the heavy, coffin-shaped wooden box being loaded onto the ship, and the tall, thin, pale man with burning eyes who was watching the box being loaded onto the ship.”

"Therefore, dear Miss Mina, dear Jonathan, we can rest for a while now, because our enemy is already at sea."

The Hucks exchanged a glance and nodded; the news was not unexpected.

Howsin continued, “It’s time-consuming to travel by sailboat because sailboats are slow. It’s faster for us to travel by land to get there and meet him. Our greatest hope is to catch him lying in the wooden box between sunrise and sunset, because then he won’t be able to struggle, and we can deal with him however we want.”

After so many days, the Hucks and their friends could finally sleep a little better; so the day after they were sure Dracula was gone was spent resting and recovering their strength.

Next, preparations for the next phase of the campaign began in earnest.

The instructions were all unsatisfactory. On October 5th, Howin said to Jack, “My friend Jack, there’s something we need to talk about alone—at least just the two of us at first. Later, we may have to tell others.”

Although Jack was afraid that he already knew, he still asked, "What is it, Professor?"

“Miss Mina, our dear, poor Miss Mina is changing.”

His deepest fears were confirmed, and a chill ran down Jack's spine.

Howsin added, "Because of Miss Lucy's tragic experience, we must be vigilant before things develop too quickly. I'm starting to see vampire features on her face, though still very faint. Her teeth have become sharper, and her eyes are sometimes cold."

Jack felt that the description of "very slight" might be too optimistic; but he didn't want to argue about it at the moment.

The professor continued, “Now this is what worries me. If she can tell us what the count saw and heard under our hypnotic trance, then can’t the count, who first hypnotized her, then drank her blood, and then made her drink his own blood, force her mind to reveal everything she knows to him?”

Jack reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Yes, including our plan to hunt him down."

“Then what we must do is not let her know our intentions, so that she cannot say what she does not know. This is a painful task, but it must be done. When we meet, I must tell her that for some unspeakable reason, she can no longer participate in our meetings, but she will be under our protection.” The professor wiped the sweat from his brow: the thought that he might inflict more pain on that poor, already tormented soul made him break out in a cold sweat.

However, when the time came for the strategic meeting in Jack's study that day, Mrs. Huck asked her husband to bring a message down to Dracula's other enemies.

As soon as Jonathan entered the room where everyone was waiting for him, he reported, "Mina told me that she believes it's better for her not to participate in our meetings for now. She said that way we can discuss all actions freely without feeling awkward because of her presence."

Howin and Jack exchanged a glance; both doctors felt a sense of relief.

With this problem resolved, the meeting immediately proceeded to discuss the battle plan. Howsin presented the facts to everyone:

"The Queen Catherine left the Thames yesterday morning. At top speed, it will take at least three weeks to reach the port of Varana on the Black Sea; then it will have to cross the Atlantic and the entire Mediterranean. But we can get to the same place by land in as little as three days."

"Now, let's say we reduce the voyage by two days, given our knowledge of the weather influence the Count can summon; and then I'll add a possible one-day-and-one-night delay for ourselves, giving us at least nearly two weeks. Therefore, for safety's sake, we must leave here no later than October 17th. That way, we'll arrive in Vana a day before the ship arrives; of course, we should be fully armed—to fight that evil thing, we need not only physical weapons but also spiritual ones."

On the morning of October 6th, Mina woke her husband early and asked him to fetch Dr. Hausin. Hark, thinking this would be another hypnosis session, immediately went to find the professor.

Upon arriving at Hawsing's room, Huck found the professor already dressed and the door slightly ajar, as if he had anticipated his visit. He immediately followed Huck back to his room and asked Mina if they should also call the others.

“No,” she said succinctly. “There’s no need. You can tell them again. I have to go with you.”

Howsing and Hark were equally surprised. After a moment of silence, the professor asked, "Why?"

"You must take me with you. I'll be safer with you, and you'll be safer too."

"But why, dear Miss Mina?"

"It is sunrise now, and I can tell you; perhaps I will never be able to again. I know that when the Earl controls my will, I will go to him. If you leave me in England, then when he tells me to go to him secretly, I will—deceive and mislead in every way—even Jonathan."

When she mentioned Jonathan, she looked at her husband with an expression full of courage and love. Huck, his eyes brimming with tears, could only hold her hand tightly.

“Miss Mina, you’ve always been so insightful. Come with us, let’s complete the mission together.”

The professor's insightful gaze lingered, while Mina calmly met his. What she had just said was only part of the truth; the whole truth also included her fervent desire to be reunited with her vampire lover. Sometimes she found herself shamelessly prepared to abandon her husband, even her life, just to be with Dracula.

On the morning of October 12, Dracula's six pursuers finally left London, took a connecting train, arrived in Paris that evening, and then transferred to the Orient Express.

Three days after leaving Paris, they all boarded a private train and slowly traveled east across Bulgaria toward the port of Vana on the Black Sea. Mina was now mostly listless during the day, sometimes even falling into a drowsy state. At sunrise and sunset, when she was most susceptible to being hypnotized by Hausin, she would murmur incoherently, still pointing out that the Count was continuing to approach his homeland by sea.

She woke up around 10 a.m. today and found that the train had stopped. She thought to herself that this was in line with the plan; they would now be on the siding near Vana, waiting for the latest news on the Count's movements.

At this moment, Mina and Jonathan were alone in their shared cubicle. Jonathan looked out the window, holding a curved knife in his hand, constantly sharpening it with a whetstone, producing a monotonous and grating sound.

Mina stared silently at her husband, remaining silent for a long time. The Jonathan before her was so different from the young lawyer she had been betrothed to—it seemed like a lifetime had passed between them. She felt that his hair, at the roots and temples, was turning whiter day by day. This process had begun the moment he found her lying in the vampire's arms.

Mina suddenly cried out emotionally, "My poor Jonathan, what have I done to you?"

Jonathan turned away from the window in surprise, put down the knife and whetstone, and tried to comfort his wife with tenderness and concern.

"No...no...no...it's my fault that we're both in this together." Even as he spoke, his imagination continued to torment him, showing him the three lewd and terrifying women who were both seducing and humiliating him.

He forced himself to think about something else; anything, just not that thing.

He asked, "Where is he now?"

Mina closed her eyes, her voice both helpless and desperate: “He’s in the sea—somewhere. Whenever the professor hypnotizes me, I can still hear the waves crashing against his boat. The wind is strong.” She paused, then said somberly, “He calls to me.”

Thinking of this, her husband swallowed hard and then made a solemn vow to his wife: "Mina, if you die, I will never let you go into the unknown world alone."

In another compartment of the same train car—the larger central room, which included a small lounge—Jaco sat uneasily gazing out the window at the somber autumn colors of the Bulgarian countryside and the outskirts of Vana. Meanwhile, Quincy Morley, dressed in winter western attire—including a sheepskin jacket—was busy preparing for the final stages of his hunt.

At that moment, Quincy was sharpening several wooden stakes, each as thick as his wrist, with his military knife. This compartment, like the others on the train, emitted heat from a wooden stove in the corner, with a metal chimney venting the smoke outside, secured with wire to prevent tilting. Quincy had lit a large fire in the stove to char the tips of the stakes to a sufficiently hard black.

In another corner of the room, four Winchester repeating rifles were piled up; Quincy had already cleaned and oiled them, and prepared ammunition.

In the center of the room, under the chandelier on the ceiling, there was a large table with a map, a train timetable, notes, several telegrams, and an accurate pocket watch on it.

The door opened; Arthur walked in, waving a newly arrived telegram, delivered by a special messenger from the British Embassy near Vanaa to the train. Arthur said, "We've arrived in Vanaa before the Queen Catherine and its demonic cargo!"

Jack, who had been lounging in his chair, immediately snatched the telegram and began to read it carefully. He noticed that the sender was Ruff Smith of the Loyd Insurance Society in London, and the recipient was the ambassador from Vanuatu, forwarded to Lord Godwin.

Hark, who was holding his scimitar as usual, entered the room. While the others eagerly awaited news from him, he somberly reported, "Mina's condition is deteriorating."

These people exchanged glances and murmured the words of sympathy they could think of.

Huck seemed not to hear him. “Even so,” he said, gazing out the window, “I am no longer afraid of this demon. I will kill him with this knife myself.”

He sat down next to Quincy, near the window, took out a whetstone, and began sharpening his knife again.

Just minutes later, another messenger reined in his horse beside the stopped train. Soon after, Arthur opened another telegram from the Lloyd Company; this one brought bad news.

Arthur read the telegram aloud to his companions in an annoyed tone. The telegram said that Dracula had managed to deceive his pursuers and get the ship carrying him past Vanaña at night, heading towards Gorats, a port city on the Black Sea but further northeast.

The group—except for Mina, who hadn't joined them yet—soon gathered around the large table with maps and plans.

Huck kept pointing with his index finger to Dracula's possible location, near Goraz, and also to their own location—just outside Vana. The two points were at least two hundred miles apart.

Arthur instructed the messenger to wait aside and hastily write the necessary letter so that their private train could continue its journey to Goraz as quickly as possible. This journey would take them through the capital, Bucharest.

At this moment, Hack, who looked even more haggard and whose hair was becoming increasingly white, said enthusiastically to the others, "As soon as we reach Goraz, we'll ride up the river and follow that bastard—we'll intercept him. We absolutely cannot let him reach the castle!"

After finding a locomotive to connect their carriages, the next leg of their journey began. The group meticulously planned that when they could no longer travel by train, Jack and Quincy would continue on horseback, while Huck and Arthur would rent a motorboat to travel up the river; Arthur was extremely experienced in driving motorboats. Of course, the most important thing was that they had to stay on the right route.

They also considered the various unforeseen events that might occur before the four met.

Needless to say, their final decision depends on which route Dracula—or the ship carrying him—will take.

When they were devising these plans, Mina joined them and, as usual, received a polite but not particularly enthusiastic welcome.

Hausin then assured the others, “Don’t be afraid of Miss Mina; I will take care of her. My legs are not fast enough to run, and I am not used to riding a horse for so long to catch up, or fighting with deadly weapons. But I can fight in different ways, and if necessary, I can die, just like a young man.”

“I will take Miss Mina straight to the heart of the enemy’s homeland, while that old fox is tied to his wooden crate, adrift in the turbulent river and unable to land—because he dares not open the coffin lid lest he perish. We will follow the path Jonathan once took, from Beatrice to Bogo Pass, and then find our way to Dracula’s Castle. There is much to be done there to clear out that den of vipers.”

For the first time in a long time, Huck showed his emotions and asked in astonishment, "Professor, are you saying that you are going to take Mina, who is afflicted with the devil's disease and is both pitiful and pathetic, and send her into his death trap?"

Howin raised his chin as if accepting a challenge. "Oh, my friend, I'm going there to rescue Mina from that horrible place. Remember, as she herself warned us, if she's left alone, he might call to her."

“If the Earl escapes from us again this time—he is not only very powerful but also very cunning—he may choose to sleep for a century, and then our dear Mina—” Hausin said, taking Mina’s hand as she stared at him in despair—“will be summoned to accompany him, and become like those, Jonathan, the sorceress you have seen.”

"Forgive me for causing you so much pain, but it is necessary. My friend, for this, if necessary, should I risk my life? Don't worry about Miss Mina. She will protect me."

In a state of desperate confusion, Jonathan could only stare at the old professor for a long while. Then the suffering husband shrugged helplessly.

"Do as you say. We are all in God's hands. May God deliver him into my hands so that I may send his soul into the burning hell!"

Chapter Nineteen

The chase continued relentlessly—

Using the highest influence of his title—through the embassy and by telegram—Arthur managed to connect their private carriages to another train within hours. The explorers set off for Goraz faster than expected. They anxiously studied maps, planning to travel from Varana to the city by rail. Although the train would have to stop in Bucharest, the route seemed the shortest—but they had no idea that early in the morning near the capital, some railway problems would cause delays that money and influence could not resolve.

The next morning, they finally arrived in Goraz, and were surprised to find it to be a rather modern city. Some areas of the docks were already lit with electric lights, and many streets were paved. Upon arrival, the Hucks took charge of arranging for their luggage and renting several rooms for the group at a hotel; the others quickly got to work. It seemed unlikely they would catch Dracula here, yet they dared not rule out the possibility.

Arthur and Howsing quickly persuaded the London-based agent of the Haigu Company, Maisher Macon & Stan Company, to allow them to board the Queen Catherine, which was moored at the river mouth.

Captain Dunathon of the Queen Catherine was Scottish, and he did not object to hosting the visitors. He told them, as if eager to recount a miracle, that the weather conditions since departing from London had been absolutely amazing.

Yes, the captain certainly remembered the cargo that the travelers were interested in: a large box that looked like a coffin. This cargo had indeed been loaded onto the ship, but had been unloaded a few hours earlier and handed over to a man named Emmanuel Sidsan in Goraz.

When they found the man in Xi Deshan's office, he said that he had previously received a letter from a Mr. de Ville in London, asking him to pick up the box and then transport it by riverboat to a Slovakian merchant named Petro Skinski who lived in this Black Sea port.

Xi Deshan's London client paid him his fee with a British bank draft, which had been cashed in gold coins at the Danube International Bank.

The hunters went to find Skinsky again, but couldn't find him. One of his neighbors said he had left two days earlier, a claim confirmed by Skinsky's landlord. As they returned to Xi Deshan's office to discuss the matter, a local ran in and said that Skinsky's body had been found in the cemetery of a nearby church, and that the victim's throat had been ripped open, as if by the sharp teeth of some wild animal.