The next night, just before sunset, we gathered together once again. Everyone had done everything possible to prepare for the journey and for the final confrontation when we reached Galatz.
When the usual time came, Mina prepared herself for hypnosis.
This time, Van Helsing had to work much harder than usual before she finally entered the trance. Normally, she could speak after only a few gentle suggestions, but tonight he had to question her repeatedly and firmly before she answered.
At last, she spoke.
“I can see nothing. Everything is still. I don’t hear waves against the boat, only the steady movement of water against a rope. I can hear men calling to one another, some close by and some farther away. I can hear oars moving in their locks.”
“A gun has just been fired somewhere. The echo sounds very far away.”
“There are footsteps overhead. Ropes and chains are being dragged across the deck.”
“What is this?”
“There is a little light now. I can feel air blowing against me.”
She suddenly stood up from the sofa and lifted both hands, palms facing upward, as if she were carrying something heavy.
Van Helsing and I exchanged a knowing look.
Quincey raised his eyebrows and watched her closely.
Jonathan’s hand instinctively closed around the handle of his kukri.
We all understood what was happening. The brief period when Mina could speak freely was almost over.
There was nothing we could do but wait.
Suddenly Mina sat down again. She opened her eyes and smiled sweetly.
“Would any of you like some tea? You must all be exhausted.”
We agreed at once because we wanted her to remain happy and calm.
Mina hurried away to prepare the tea.
As soon as she was gone, Van Helsing spoke.
“You see, my friends. He is very close to land. He has left his earth-box, but he has not yet reached the shore.”
“If he remains on the ship during the night, he can change his form and fly or jump onto land, just as he did at Whitby.”
“But if daylight comes before he reaches the shore, he will be trapped.”
“Unless someone carries him, he cannot escape. And if someone does carry the box ashore, the customs officers may discover what is inside.”
“So everything depends on whether he can reach land before sunrise.”
“If he fails, we may arrive in time. During the day he will be trapped inside his box, unable to show himself without being discovered.”
There was nothing more to say.
We waited through the night.
At sunrise, we tried again to learn what Mina could sense.
This time it took even longer for Van Helsing to bring her into the trance. The sun was almost above the horizon before she finally responded.
“All is dark,” she whispered. “I hear water moving beside me. It is level with my ears. I can hear wood creaking against wood.”
Then she stopped.
The sun rose.
We had to wait until sunset.
We are now traveling toward Galatz, filled with terrible anticipation. We were supposed to arrive between two and three in the morning, but we are already three hours late at Bucharest. We will not reach Galatz until well after sunrise.
That means Mina should be able to give us two more hypnotic messages.
Either one might tell us what is happening.
Later that evening, sunset came and went.
Fortunately, we were not at a railway station when it happened. We needed complete silence and privacy for Mina’s hypnosis.
But tonight she resisted the trance even more strongly than she had that morning.
I am beginning to fear that her ability to sense the Count’s experiences is disappearing just when we need it most.
Until now, her messages have always been simple descriptions of what she could hear or feel. Tonight, however, her imagination seemed to be becoming involved.
That frightened me.
If her connection with the Count disappeared completely, perhaps it would be a blessing. But I was afraid that his influence over her might remain even after her ability to learn anything from him had vanished.
At last she spoke, but her words were strange.
“Something is leaving. I can feel it passing me like a cold wind.”
“Far away, I hear confused voices. Men are speaking in strange languages. I hear rushing water and wolves howling.”
She suddenly shuddered.
The trembling grew stronger and stronger until her whole body shook violently.
Van Helsing questioned her again and again, but she could say nothing more.
When she finally woke, she was cold, exhausted, and weak.
Yet her mind was completely alert.
She remembered nothing of the trance.
“What did I say?” she asked.
We told her.
She thought about her words for a long time without saying anything.
The following morning we were close to Galatz.
Everyone was desperate to hear Mina’s sunrise message.
Van Helsing began his hypnotic passes earlier than usual because he knew how difficult the trance had become.
Nothing happened until the usual moment.
Even then, Mina resisted until only a minute remained before sunrise.
The moment she entered the trance, Van Helsing began questioning her.
“All is dark,” she said. “I hear water swirling beside my ears. I hear wood creaking against wood.”
“Far away, I hear cattle.”
“There is another sound. Something strange, like—”
She stopped.
Her face became pale.
Then even paler.
“Go on!” Van Helsing cried. “Go on! Speak! I command you!”
Despair showed in his eyes as the rising sun began to color Mina’s face.
She opened her eyes.
We all stared at her.
Then, in a sweet and completely ordinary voice, she said,
“Oh, Professor, why are you asking me to do something you know I cannot do? I don’t remember anything.”
She looked from one face to another.
“What did I say? What did I do?”
“I remember nothing except lying here half asleep and hearing you say, ‘Go on! Speak! I command you!’”
“It sounded so funny. You were ordering me around as though I were a naughty child.”
Van Helsing smiled sadly.
“Madam Mina, if there were ever proof of how deeply I love and respect you, that would be it.”
“You are asking me to do something for your own good, yet you find my words strange because I am ordering the woman whom I am proud to obey.”
The train whistle sounded.
We were almost in Galatz.
We were all burning with impatience.
When we arrived, Morris took Mina to the hotel where our rooms had been reserved by telegram.
He was the easiest one to spare because he did not speak any foreign languages.
We divided the work much as we had at Varna.
Lord Godalming went to see the Vice-Consul. His title would hopefully make the official take our urgent request seriously.
Jonathan, Van Helsing, and I went to the shipping agent to find out what had happened to the Czarina Catherine.
Lord Godalming returned later.
The Consul was away, and the Vice-Consul was ill, so a clerk was handling the ordinary business.
Fortunately, the clerk was extremely helpful and offered to do whatever he could.
At nine o’clock, Van Helsing, Seward, and I went to the offices of Mackenzie & Steinkoff, agents for the London firm of Hapgood.
They had received a telegram from London asking them to help us in every possible way.
They were extremely courteous and immediately took us aboard the Czarina Catherine, which was anchored in the river harbor.
There we met the captain, Donelson.
He told us that he had never experienced such a fast and easy voyage in his entire life.
“Man,” he said, “it was so easy that it frightened us. We expected we’d have to pay for such good luck with some terrible misfortune later.”
“It isn’t natural to sail from London to the Black Sea with the wind pushing you along the whole way as if the Devil himself were blowing behind your sails.”
“And all the time we could see almost nothing.”
“Whenever we came near a ship, a port, or a headland, fog would suddenly appear and follow us. When it finally lifted, there was nothing to see.”
“We passed Gibraltar without being able to signal anyone.”
“Until we reached the Dardanelles, where we had to wait for permission to pass, we were never close enough to speak to another vessel.”
“At first I thought about slowing down and waiting for the fog to clear. But then I thought that if the Devil wanted us in the Black Sea quickly, he would get us there whether we liked it or not.”
“A fast voyage wouldn’t hurt the owners or the business. And if the Old Man had some purpose of his own, perhaps he would be grateful that we hadn’t gotten in his way.”
Van Helsing listened with great interest.
“My friend,” he said, “that Devil is cleverer than some people think. But he also knows when he has met his match.”
The captain seemed pleased by the compliment.
“When we passed the Bosphorus, some of the men began complaining,” he continued.
“Some of the Roumanians came to me and demanded that I throw a large box overboard. It had been brought aboard by a strange old man just before we left London.”
“I had seen them making strange gestures at him with two fingers, as if they were protecting themselves from the evil eye.”
“The superstitions of foreigners are ridiculous.”
“I sent them back to work.”
“But then the fog closed around us again, and I must admit that I began to feel uneasy about the box myself.”
“We continued sailing. The fog lasted five days, so I simply let the wind carry us.”
“If the Devil wanted to go somewhere, I figured he’d get there.”
“And if he didn’t, we’d keep a close watch.”
“We had deep water and a good current all the way.”
“Then, two days ago, the morning sun finally broke through the fog, and we found ourselves in the river opposite Galatz.”
“The Roumanians went crazy. They demanded that I take the box off the ship and throw it into the river.”
“I had to argue with them using a handspike.”
“Eventually I convinced them that, evil eye or no evil eye, my owners’ property was safer in my hands than at the bottom of the Danube.”
“They had actually dragged the box onto the deck, ready to throw it overboard.”
“But it was marked ‘Galatz via Varna,’ so I decided to leave it there until we unloaded the ship.”
“We stayed at anchor that night.”
“Then, about an hour before sunrise, a man came aboard with an order from England to collect a box addressed to Count Dracula.”
“He had all the right papers.”
“I was more than happy to get rid of the cursed thing because by then I had begun to feel uneasy about it myself.”
“If the Devil had any luggage aboard my ship, I’m thinking that box was it.”
“What was the name of the man who took it?” Van Helsing asked, trying hard not to show his excitement.
“I’ll tell you.”
The captain went to his cabin and returned with a receipt.
It was signed “Immanuel Hildesheim.”
The address was Burgen-Strasse 16.
That was everything the captain knew, so we thanked him and left.
We found Hildesheim in his office.
He was a Jewish businessman dressed in a fez, and he was very interested in money.
A little bargaining soon convinced him to tell us everything he knew.
His story was simple, but extremely important.
He had received a letter from a man named de Ville in London.
The letter instructed him to collect a box from the Czarina Catherine before sunrise, so that it could avoid customs inspection.
He was then supposed to hand the box over to a man named Petrof Skinsky, who dealt with Slovak traders moving goods down the river to the port.
Hildesheim had been paid with an English banknote, which he had exchanged for gold at the Danube International Bank.
When Skinsky came to him, Hildesheim took him to the ship and personally handed over the box.
That was everything he knew.
We immediately went looking for Skinsky.
We could not find him.
One of his neighbors, who clearly disliked him, said that Skinsky had left two days earlier and nobody knew where he had gone.
His landlord confirmed the story.
The previous night, someone had delivered the key to the house along with the rent he owed, paid in English money.
It had happened between ten and eleven o’clock.
Once again, we had reached a dead end.
Then someone came running toward us.
“The body of Skinsky has been found!” he gasped.
“It was inside the wall of St. Peter’s churchyard. His throat has been torn open as if by some wild animal.”
Everyone around us rushed toward the churchyard.
Some women cried out,
“It was a Slovak! This is the work of a Slovak!”
We quickly left.
We did not want to become involved in the investigation and risk being detained.
On our way back to the hotel, we could reach no definite conclusion.
We were all certain that the box was being transported by water.
The only question was where it was going.
We returned to Mina with heavy hearts.
Once we were together, we had to decide whether we should finally tell Mina everything.
The situation had become desperate.
It was dangerous to involve her, but it might be our only chance.
As the first step, I was released from my promise to keep certain things from her.
They were exhausted, discouraged, and barely able to think.
So I told them all to rest for half an hour while I recorded everything that had happened.
I was deeply grateful to the man who invented the Traveller typewriter, and to Morris for obtaining one for me.
Without it, I would have felt completely lost trying to record everything by hand.
When I finished, I looked at Jonathan.
My poor, beloved husband was lying on the sofa as though his whole body had collapsed.
He hardly seemed to breathe.
His brow was tightly furrowed, and his face was drawn with pain.
He was thinking so intensely that every line on his face seemed deeper.
If only I could help him somehow.
I asked Van Helsing for all the papers I had not yet seen.
While the others rested, I carefully studied everything.
I tried to follow the Professor’s example and look at the facts without emotion or prejudice.
Then I realized something.
I believe, by God’s grace, that I have found the answer.
I fetched the maps and studied them carefully.
The more I examined them, the more certain I became.
My conclusion was ready.
I called everyone together.
“Listen,” I said. “You can decide whether my reasoning is correct, but we cannot afford to waste another minute.”
I began with the basic question:
Dracula’s problem is simple.
He needs to get back to his own castle.
He cannot get there by himself.
If he could move freely, he could travel as a man, a wolf, a bat, or in some other form.
But he clearly cannot do that while he is trapped inside his wooden box between sunrise and sunset.
So someone must carry him.
The next question is how he can be transported.
There are only three possibilities: by road, by rail, or by water.
By road would be extremely difficult.
There would be too many people.
People are curious. If anyone became suspicious about what was inside the box, Dracula would be exposed.
There might also be customs officers or local authorities inspecting the cargo.
And his enemies could follow him.
That is what he fears most.
In fact, he has already pushed me away as much as possible because he knows that I might reveal where he is.
Rail is also dangerous for him.
Nobody would be personally responsible for protecting the box.
It could be delayed anywhere along the route.
With us following him, any delay could be fatal.
He might escape at night, but what would happen if the train left him somewhere unfamiliar?
He would have no safe place to hide.
That cannot be his plan.
Water is safer in some ways, but more dangerous in others.
While on the water, he is powerless during the day.
At night he can influence the weather and summon fog, storms, snow, and wolves.
But if the boat were wrecked, the living water itself could destroy him while he remained trapped inside his box.
He could force the boat toward land, but if the land were hostile or unfamiliar, he would still be in great danger.
We already know he traveled by water.
So the question is: which waterway?
First, we need to understand what he did in London.
Then we must work out what he has done since reaching Galatz.
In London, Dracula was under pressure and had very little time.
He had to arrange his escape as quickly as possible.
I believe he originally intended to reach Galatz.
The shipment was falsely listed as going to Varna because he wanted to mislead us about his route out of England.
His immediate goal was simply to escape.
The strongest proof is the letter sent to Hildesheim, instructing him to collect the box before sunrise so it could avoid customs.
There must also have been some letter or message for Skinsky, because Skinsky knew to come to Hildesheim.
So far, Dracula’s plan worked perfectly.
The Czarina Catherine made an extraordinarily fast voyage.
The captain himself became suspicious.
But his superstition and his practical desire to keep the ship moving worked in Dracula’s favor.
The wind and fog carried the ship rapidly all the way to Galatz.
Dracula’s arrangements were carefully planned.
Hildesheim cleared the box.
He removed it from the ship.
Then he handed it to Skinsky.
And that is where we lost the trail.
All we know is that the box is somewhere on the water again.
The customs officers have been avoided.
Now we must ask what Dracula did after reaching land at Galatz.
The box was handed to Skinsky before sunrise.
Once the sun rose, Dracula could leave the box in his own form.
So why did he choose Skinsky?
Jonathan’s journal says that Skinsky worked with Slovaks who transported goods down the river.
And when Skinsky was murdered, people immediately blamed a Slovak.
This shows that Dracula wanted to use someone who could keep his movements isolated from ordinary people.
I believe Dracula decided in London that the safest way home was by water.
He had originally been brought from his castle by the Szgany, who probably handed the boxes over to Slovaks.
Those Slovaks then transported them to Varna, where they were shipped to London.
So Dracula already knew which people could provide this service.
Once the box reached land, Dracula could leave it after sunset or before sunrise.
He would meet Skinsky and tell him where to take the box next.
Once everything had been arranged, Dracula killed his own agent to erase the trail.
I studied the map carefully.
The two rivers most suitable for Slovak traders are the Pruth and the Sereth.
During my hypnotic trances, I heard cattle lowing.
I heard water moving beside my ears.
I heard wood creaking against wood.
That suggests the Count’s box was on an open boat traveling along a river.
The boat was probably being moved by oars or poles because the riverbanks were close.
It must have been moving against the current.
If it had been drifting downstream, the sounds would have been different.
Of course, I cannot be absolutely certain that it was the Pruth or the Sereth.
But we can investigate both.
The Pruth is easier to navigate.
However, the Sereth joins the Bistritza at Fundu.
The Bistritza runs toward the Borgo Pass.
And that river’s course comes remarkably close to Dracula’s castle.
That may be the route he has chosen.
When I finished reading my conclusion, Jonathan took me into his arms and kissed me.
The others shook both my hands.
Van Helsing smiled warmly.
“Our dear Mina has once again become our teacher.”
“She has seen what we could not see.”
“We are on the trail again.”
“This time we may succeed.”
“Our enemy is weakest while he is trapped in his box.”
“If we can reach him during the day, while he is still on the water, everything will be over.”
“He has a head start, but he cannot move quickly.”
“He cannot leave his box while the Slovaks are carrying him. If they discover what they are transporting, they may simply throw the box into the river.”
“He knows that.”
“So now, gentlemen, we must hold our council of war and decide exactly what each of us will do.”
“I’ll get a steam launch and follow the river,” Lord Godalming said.
“And I’ll get horses and follow along the bank,” Morris added. “If he lands somewhere, we can catch him.”
“Good,” Van Helsing said. “Both plans are good.”
“But neither of you can go alone. We may have to fight the Slovaks. They are strong, rough men, and they may be carrying weapons.”
Everyone smiled.
Between us, we had enough weapons to arm a small army.
“I’ve brought several Winchesters,” Quincey said.
“They’ll be useful if we run into a crowd. And don’t forget that the Count seemed to have made other arrangements that Mina could not clearly hear.”
“We must be prepared for anything.”
“I think I should go with Quincey,” Seward said.
“We have hunted together before. With both of us well armed, we should be able to deal with anything we meet.”
“Art must not travel alone.”
“If we have to fight the Slovaks, even a simple knife could ruin everything. We cannot take any chances this time.”
“We will not stop until the Count’s head has been separated from his body and we are certain he cannot return.”
He looked at Jonathan.
Jonathan looked at me.
I could see the terrible conflict inside him.
Of course he wanted to stay with me.
But the boat might be the very thing that gave us the chance to destroy the Vampire.
Jonathan remained silent.
Van Helsing finally spoke.
“Jonathan, you must come with us for two reasons.”
“First, you are young and brave, and you can fight. We may need all the strength we have when the final moment comes.”
“And second, you have the right to destroy the creature that has brought so much suffering to you and your family.”
“Do not worry about Mina.”
“If I am able, I will take care of her.”
“I am old now. I cannot run or ride as I once did, and I am not the man for a long chase or a physical fight.”
“But I can serve in another way.”
“And if necessary, I can die just as bravely as any younger man.”
“My plan is this: Lord Godalming, Jonathan, and I will travel quickly by steam launch up the river.”
“John and Quincey will guard the riverbank in case the Count is brought ashore.”
“As for me, I will take Mina directly into the enemy’s country.”
“While the old fox is trapped inside his box and carried helplessly along the river, Mina and I will follow the route Jonathan once took from Bistritz through the Borgo Pass.”
“We will reach Dracula’s castle.”
“Mina’s hypnotic ability should help us find our way after sunrise when we are near the castle.”
“There is much work to be done there.”
“That nest of evil must finally be destroyed.”
Jonathan suddenly burst out,
“Professor Van Helsing, are you saying you intend to take Mina into the very heart of Dracula’s trap?”
“Not for anything in the world!”
“Not for Heaven or Hell!”
He could barely speak for a moment.
Then he continued.
“Do you know what that place is?”
“Have you seen that horrible den?”
“The moonlight itself seems full of evil shapes there.”
“Every speck of dust in the air seems capable of becoming a monster.”
“Have you felt the Vampire’s lips against your throat?”
Then Jonathan looked at my forehead.
He saw the scar.
He threw up his arms.
“My God! What have we done to deserve this?”
He collapsed onto the sofa in misery.
Van Helsing’s calm voice slowly brought us back to our senses.
“My dear friend, it is precisely because I want to save Mina from that terrible place that I intend to go.”
“God forbid that I should take her inside the castle.”
“There is terrible work to be done there, work that she must never see.”
“All of us except you, Jonathan, have seen what must be done before that place can be made clean.”
“Remember how desperate our situation is.”
“If the Count escapes us now, he is powerful, clever, and patient.”
“He could choose to sleep for a hundred years.”
“And when he finally wakes, our dear Mina—”
He took my hand.
“—could come to him and become one of those creatures you saw.”
“You told us about their hungry mouths.”
“You heard their terrible laughter when the Count threw that moving bag toward them.”
“You still shudder when you remember it.”
“And you have every reason to.”
“Forgive me for causing you such pain, but you must understand why this is necessary.”
“If someone must enter that place and remain there, then I am the one who must go with them.”
Jonathan sobbed.
“Do whatever you believe is right.”
“We are in God’s hands.”
Later, I watched these brave men prepare everything.
It made me understand once again why women love men who are sincere, loyal, and courageous.
It also showed me the enormous power of money.
Money can accomplish almost anything when it is used for a good purpose.
I was deeply grateful that Lord Godalming was wealthy, and that he and Quincey were willing to spend their money freely for our sake.
Without them, our expedition could never have been organized so quickly or equipped so well.
Within only a few hours, Lord Godalming and Jonathan had obtained a beautiful steam launch with its engine ready to go.
Seward and Quincey had six excellent horses.
We had maps, equipment, weapons, and everything else we might need.
Van Helsing and I were to leave that night on the 11:40 train for Veresti.
From there we would hire a carriage and travel to the Borgo Pass.
We carried plenty of money because we intended to buy our own carriage and horses.
We would drive ourselves.
There was no one we could trust with this mission.
Van Helsing spoke several languages, so we hoped to manage without difficulty.
Everyone was armed.
Even I had been given a large-caliber revolver.
Jonathan would not be satisfied unless I was armed like the others.
There was, however, one weapon I could not carry.
The scar on my forehead made that impossible.
Van Helsing reassured me that I was armed well enough because wolves might be more dangerous than human enemies.
The weather was becoming colder by the hour.
Snow was already appearing in brief flurries.
They seemed like warnings of what was coming.
Soon it was time to leave.
Saying goodbye to my beloved husband took almost all the courage I possessed.
We might never see each other again.
Be brave, Mina.
Van Helsing was watching me closely.
His eyes warned me not to cry.
There must be no tears now.
Not unless God chose to let them fall later from happiness.
Jonathan was writing by the light coming through the furnace door of the steam launch.
Lord Godalming was tending the fire.
He was experienced with steam launches because he had owned one for years on the Thames and another on the Norfolk Broads.
After much discussion, we had accepted Mina’s theory.
If Dracula was escaping by water, the Sereth and then the Bistritza were the most likely route.
We estimated that he would leave the river somewhere around the forty-seventh parallel and cross toward the Carpathian Mountains.
We could travel quickly upriver at night.
The water was deep enough, and the river was wide enough that we could steer safely even in darkness.
Godalming told me to sleep.
For the moment, one person could remain awake while the other rested.
But I could not sleep.
How could I, with Mina in such terrible danger?
She was traveling toward that awful place without me.
The only comfort I had was that we were in God’s hands.
Without that faith, it would have been easier to die than to continue living with such fear.
Seward and Quincey had already begun their long journey on horseback.
They were following the right bank of the river, staying far enough inland to reach higher ground.
From there they could see long stretches of the river without having to follow every bend.
For the first part of the journey, two local men were helping them lead their spare horses.
That made four horses in all without attracting too much attention.
Soon they would dismiss the men and take care of the horses themselves.
If necessary, we could join forces.
There was even a saddle with a removable pommel that could be adapted for Mina.
It was a strange and frightening adventure.
As the launch raced through the darkness, the cold seemed to rise from the river and strike us.
Mysterious sounds surrounded us.
It felt as though we were leaving the known world behind and entering a place of darkness and terror.
Godalming closed the furnace door.
The next day we continued rushing upriver.
Godalming slept while I kept watch.
The morning was bitterly cold.
The heat from the furnace felt wonderful, even though we were wrapped in heavy fur coats.
We had passed only a few small boats.
None carried anything resembling the large box we were searching for.
Whenever our electric lamp shone on the boatmen, they became frightened and dropped to their knees to pray.
By the following evening we had found nothing.
We had already entered the Bistritza.
If our theory was wrong, our chance might be gone.
We searched every boat we encountered, large or small.
Earlier that morning, one crew mistook us for a government vessel.
We realized that this could be useful.
At Fundu, where the Bistritza joins the Sereth, we obtained a Roumanian flag and displayed it openly.
From that moment on, every boat we stopped treated us with great respect.
Nobody questioned our authority.
Some Slovak boatmen told us that a large boat had passed them at unusually high speed.
It had apparently carried a double crew so that it could travel without stopping.
But the men had seen it before it reached Fundu.
They could not tell us whether it had turned into the Bistritza or continued up the Sereth.
At Fundu, nobody had seen it.
It must have passed during the night.
I was exhausted and desperately sleepy.
The cold was beginning to affect me.
Eventually the body demands rest.
Godalming insisted on taking the first watch.
God bless him for everything he has done for Mina and me.
The next morning, daylight had returned.
Godalming had not awakened me.
He said it would have been a sin to disturb me because I had been sleeping so peacefully and had finally forgotten my troubles for a while.
I felt guilty that he had watched all night while I slept.
But he had been right.
I felt like a new man.
While he slept, I could manage the engine, steer the boat, and keep watch.
My strength and energy were returning.
I wondered where Mina and Van Helsing were.
They should have reached Veresti around Wednesday noon.
It would have taken them some time to buy the carriage and horses.
If they had traveled without stopping, they should now be somewhere near the Borgo Pass.
May God guide them and keep them safe.
I was afraid to think about what might happen.
If only we could go faster.
But the engines were already working as hard as they could.
I also wondered how Seward and Quincey were doing.
Many small streams flowed down from the mountains into the river.
At this time of year they were not very large, though they must become dangerous during winter and when the snow melted.
The horsemen probably had not faced too many obstacles.
I hoped we would meet them before reaching Strasba.
If we had not caught Dracula by then, we would need to decide together what to do next.
We had now been on the road for three days.
There was still no news.
Even if there had been, we barely had time to record it.
We rested only as long as the horses required.
Fortunately, both of us were holding up remarkably well.
Those old days of adventure and hard travel were proving useful now.
We had to keep moving.
We would never feel at ease until we saw the steam launch again.
At Fundu, we finally learned that the launch had continued up the Bistritza.
I wished the weather were warmer.
There were signs that snow was coming.
If heavy snow fell, it could stop us completely.
If that happened, we would have to find a sledge and continue in the Russian manner.
The next day we heard that the launch had been delayed by an accident.
It had been trying to force its way through a rapid.
The Slovak boats could pass because their crews knew how to use ropes and navigate the current.
Some of them had gone through only a few hours earlier.
Fortunately, Godalming was something of an amateur engineer.
He had evidently repaired the launch himself.
Eventually, with help from local boatmen, they managed to get through the rapids.
Then they continued the chase.
But we feared the accident had damaged the launch.
The peasants told us that once the boat reached calmer water, it kept stopping and starting as long as they could still see it.
We had to push forward harder than ever.
Our help might soon be needed.
We reached Veresti around noon.
Van Helsing told me that at dawn he had found it almost impossible to hypnotize me.
The only words I had been able to say were:
“Dark and quiet.”
He had now gone to buy a carriage and horses.
He also intended to purchase more horses so that we could change them during the journey.
We had more than seventy miles to travel.
The countryside was beautiful and fascinating.
Under different circumstances, I would have loved to explore it.
If Jonathan and I had been traveling here alone, I would have wanted to stop at every village, meet the people, learn about their lives, and fill my memory with the colors and beauty of this wild country.
But sadly, we were here for a very different reason.
Van Helsing returned later with the carriage and horses.
We ate a large meal and prepared to leave within the hour.
Our landlady packed an enormous basket of food for us.
It looked as though she were feeding an entire company of soldiers.
The Professor encouraged her.
Then he quietly told me that we might not find proper food again for a week.
He had also been shopping.
He had bought an astonishing amount of fur clothing, coats, blankets, and other warm things.
There was little chance that we would freeze.
We will soon be on our way.
I am afraid to think about what may happen.
We truly are in God’s hands.
Only He knows what lies ahead.
I pray with all the strength left in my sad and humble heart that He will protect my beloved husband.
Whatever happens, I want Jonathan to know that I have loved and respected him more deeply than words can ever express.
And whatever my fate may be, my final and truest thought will always be for him.