Dr. Herkeimer dreamt. He had fallen asleep in his high-back chair. He moved uncontrollably. First, his head would jerk to the right then left. He gritted his teeth. His hands were white knuckled from grasping on the chair’s arms. He mumbled.
“I’m going to get you…”
His eyes closed tightly. “I will find you…”
“You cannot hide…” He was angry.
“You
will die when I get you…”
Fulop Farkas had crept into the room, watching and
listening. He didn’t like what he saw or heard.
Dr. Herkeimer displayed anger even in his sleep. Fulop began to fear that
helping the Doctor and his obsessive pursuit of the book was a bad idea. As he had done in the past, his allegiance
began to sway in another direction. Now
he started to think the Time Travelers were the ones to go to.
Slowly leaving the sleeping Doctor, Fulop had to make
a decision that could mean his death. He
stood for a few moments contemplating his options.
I could go to the Club. Even better the old lady… What’s her
name? Fulop fidgeted, rubbing his
fingers against his temples.
Her name is…
Come on… You’ve heard it…
Steed. No. Stein.
No. Steers. That’s it.
Steers in Connecticut... I must
get to her. She’ll be able to protect
me.
Fulop heard the Doctor scream out. “You will pay!”
With that, Fulop headed back to the basement where had
been working night and day trying to create potions from the book. He would have to move fast. In the lab, he gathered up his notes about
the incantations that he had been working on.
Shoving them in a knapsack, Fulop had one more thought.
“The book. I
should take the book. I knew they will
want it.”
Fulop knew where it was stashed in the Doctor’s
bedroom upstairs. He had learned its
location by accident, spotting Dr. Herkeimer putting it in its no-longer-hidden
location.
“It will be a terrible gamble.” Fulop rubbed his temples again. Determination set in. He grabbed the knapsack and scurried quietly
back up to the main hall.
Creeping over to the doors to the library, he listened
for the Doctor. He could hear him in
there, still talking in his sleep. This
would be his chance. Fulop headed up the
stairs into the Doctor’s bedroom. Flipping
on the light switch, he glanced around the immaculately clean and tidy
bedroom. Once inside, he went right to
the bookshelves.
“The top row, the last book on the left… Here it
is. The Time Machine.” Fulop pulled the book off the shelf and opened
the cover. It was a hollow. A fake book serving as a shell for hiding
treasure. Inside was Dr. Herkeimer’s raggedy
copy of Namvelt’s book. The back cover
was missing. The leather cover was
almost gone. Fulop could tell pages were
missing. He put the fake book back on
the shelf and tucked the worn book into his knapsack.
Fulop turned off the lights and cracked the door
open. He looked out in the hallway.
Pulling the door closed as quietly as he could, he walked to the top of the
stairs. Bruno was coming up. Thinking quickly, he stepped across to the
opposite door and pretended that he was coming out of the room.
Bruno spotted him.
“What are you doing?”
Fulop realized that it was a bathroom. “And what do you think?” Fulop nodded towards
the bathroom.
“Sorry,” nodded Bruno and walked on down the
hallway. Fulop watched Bruno enter his
room at the far end of the hall.
Running as fast and quietly as possible down the
stairs, Fulop slipped out the front door and ran across the driveway. “I have to get to Connecticut. Wherever that is,” he muttered
Outside, the sun had set beyond the trees. Twilight had arrived in the clear sky. Soon, it would be dark. Fulop headed into the woods to get as far from
the house as possible. Struggling through
the underbrush, Fulop kept looking back to see if anyone had seen him leave. Fulop tried not to think about it and just
kept working his way through the woods.
As he came into a small clearing, he stopped to catch his breath and
orient himself before he got too far.
Huffing and puffing, wishing he were in better shape,
Fulop panted. "Good so far. Connecticut... Connecticut... Which way is
Connecticut..." He began to doubt
his plan would work. It wasn't going to
be easy.
From behind him, he heard a rustling. Someone stepped
out from behind a tree.
“Oh, what are you doing here?” said Fulop,
surprised. He soon realized he was in
trouble with no one to help him. With no
chance of escaping, he found himself being gagged and tied up.
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