Eddy was in agreement. It took another half an hour of tramping through the snow to reach the castle. The crumbling edifice loomed starkly against the sky. It was a gothic structure of towers and high walls that perched high on an outcrop of rock. The roofs were faded crimson red, but the walls were white like bone. Vast chasms surrounded the castle with only a single thin stone bridge spanning the void.
If she hadn't known better, Jane would have thought the place was abandoned. One tower had collapsed, and many of the windows were open to the elements.
'So that's it,' Eddy said. 'Dracula's home.'
'Can't say much for his style,' Porter snorted.
'Not a homemaker,' Jane agreed.
Crossing the stone bridge to the castle, they hovered under the wide entry archway. Before them lay a courtyard blanketed with snow. A balcony surrounded the circumference. Again, there was no sign that anyone lived here, but then Jane observed that some of the torch holders still held extinguished firesticks. No doubt Dracula used them at night. She pointed this out to the others.
'He's here all right,' Porter said. 'I can feel it in my water.'
Snow gently floated down from the sky.
'It looks safe enough,' Eddy said.
'We must keep our wits about us,' Porter said. 'It may be daylight, but you never know what Dracula has planned.'
They started into the courtyard.
Then Jane had a sensation of falling. Her vision tilted upwards, and she saw the balcony. The sky. Falling snow. The side of a deep pit. Then she glimpsed sharpened spikes and twisted as she fell. Her left foot struck the bottom of the pit, and she shrieked with pain as she fell sideways against a great metal spike.
She cried out, but there were other screams as well. It was only now that she understood what had transpired. They had crossed into the courtyard and stepped onto the cover of a square pit. The cover had been made from woven mesh and hidden under snow. Breaking under their weight immediately, they had plunged a dozen feet straight down. Lining the base of the pit were rusting metal spikes, spaced two feet apart and the same height.
Jane had been lucky. Doctor Porter, not so much. The doctor had been skewered through one leg. She was in immense pain but already struggling to extricate herself from the ancient spike. The doctor was using vocabulary Jane had never heard before, but she was sure it was common around the docks.
It was Eddy who had fared worst. Jane cried out when she saw him. Hobbling, she weaved through the spikes. Eddy had landed on them like someone swimming backstroke at the beach. One spike had gone straight through his chest, and another through his pelvis. Miraculously, he was still alive but would not remain so for long. He was bleeding profusely and shuddering and panting for breath.
'Eddy,' Jane cried, gently taking his hand. 'Don't move. We'll get you help—'
'No time for lies, miss,' he gasped, blood leaking from his mouth like a jug. 'I'll see…my wife and daughter…a blessing really…'
Jane took his hand and wept. 'I'll pray for you, Eddy.'
The driver's head drooped, and he said no more. Jane cried and gave his hand one final squeeze. Saying another silent prayer, she navigated through the deadly maze to Porter. The woman was ashen. Her blue eyes stood out even more than ever. She had also sliced her shoulder on a spike, but it was the one through her leg that was very bad.
'Doctor,' Jane said, staring at the damage. 'What should I do?'
'Normally,' Porter grunted, 'a hospital would be a good idea, but I didn't bring one with me.' She reached into her coat and dragged out a roll of bandage. 'Get me off this spike. Then wrap the bandage firmly around the wound. I'm bleeding like a stuck pig.'
The doctor was right. There was blood everywhere, but Jane couldn't focus on that right now. She gripped Doctor Porter's leg. 'Stay strong,' she said and counted to three before lifting the leg. The doctor cried out, and Jane quickly lay her down and wrapped the bandage around the limb. Jane tore the end into two and tied it together. 'That's slowed the bleeding.'
'You're a good nurse,' Porter said, grunting at the pain. 'We could have played doctors and nurses together if things had been different.' Turning her head, she peered over at the coachmen. Her voice caught as she said, 'Oh, Eddy, my dear friend. I'm sorry.'
Jane surveyed the top of the pit. It was too far to reach, and they had no way to get out without help. 'We knew what we were getting ourselves into,' she said. 'We knew it could come to this.'
'Don't give up yet. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve.'
Jane thought the tricks would need to be quite something to get them out of this predicament. 'I'm not giving up.'
'That's a girl,' Porter replied. 'But promise me this: if it looks like Dracula has the better of me, then finish me off first.'
'Don't speak that way.'
'Promise me.' The woman lay back and peered up at the falling snow. 'I don't want to be one of them.'
Jane thought of spending the rest of eternity as one of Dracula's slaves. It truly was a fate worse than death.
'I promise,' she said.