A Walk on the Water

They didn't have to wait long. Dutch blew out air impatiently, tossed his head around neighing with impatience. He stamped his feet, and then walked forward a bit to see if the brake was engaged. You could tell from his movement that Dutch felt no resistance, and began walking forward. Sensing no objection from the two humans he knew were nearby, he began walking towards home, slowly taking Dominic's mount along with him.

Using the noise that the buggy was now making as cover, Dominic quickly led Alannah further into the darkness of the forest. Alannah was blind in the dark, and very much afraid, she had to completly rely on Dominic and the pressure of his hand on her arm to lead her. For all she knew, they could have been walking about aimlessly in circles, until they crested a hill and she saw a light off in the distance.

"There is the Chateau," Dominic told her. "We will circle around and approach from the south side where the Chateau is in total darkness."

They were drawing closer to the Chateau when a shadow detached itself from some bushes near the house. There was a flash of light as the man lit a match momentarily illuminating his face. The man then threw the match on the ground, and smothered it with his boot.

"That's the man I met on the boat!" Alannah said in a hushed yet paniced tone, "The one who told me about Storm Haven Island."

Dominic's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow, and then as if responding to the panic in Alannah voice, "Stay here, do not move from this spot, not for any reason," he said. Then, as silent as a cat chasing after a mouse, he moved away from Alannah to where the man was standing. Dominic had completely melted into the shadows, Alannah could no longer see him, all she knew is that he was there somewhere. Moments later there was a muffled thud as Dominic surprised the man with a blow to the head, knocking the man unconcious, Dominic then dragged him off into the darkness and away from the house. He returned to Alannah with something in his hand. Alannah shuddered involuntarily, clamping her hands over her mouth as she caught a glint of the pistol that Dominic now brandished. The air was still, and held the promise of violence hung in the air like fog.

Dominic moved to the side of the house to where an iron trellis rest against the stone wall. Within seconds he had managed to climb to the second story of the Chateau, he forced open a window, and disappeared inside.