Chapter 10

"Urien!" Barnabas held him in his arms. "Who did this to you?"

Urien did not answer. He could not. Barnabas looked around, at the books thrown over the place, at the bare shelves..

He turned Urien's head, and at the back of the neck he saw the imprint of fingers...

Damn it, damn it! He knew that something like this would happen. It had been like that before. And Urien's stupor was not so strange. The effects of the hand were usually damaging, even if unpredictable in their expression.

Urien's stupor might wear off by itself, or it might lapse into a coma. He'd better take him to the hospital. He did not think that the hospital could cure Urien, but at least they could hook him to an IV so that he did not die of thirst and hunger. Then he'd figure out what to do. Of if there was something to be done... The gypsies had the hand again, and if the trio had been restored, then there was nothing else to do.

Quentin arrived just as he was getting into the car, to take Urien to the hospital.

"What happened to him?" Quentin asked.

"The hand attacked him. Whether by itself, or commanded by the gypsies when they came for it."

""Are you sure?"

"Look at the back of his neck. You'll see the finger marks."

Quentin looked at them and shivered.

"I did not mean for him to get hurt. I only wanted Angelique to help us, to help Adam."

"You did not wish it, but it happened. Too many things happen around is."

"I had to help Adam. And I had gotten Sebastian involved. I owed it to him to try to find a way out. Damn it, why did this have to happen?"

"At least it was not worse. That is what I keep telling myself, that it was not worse."

Quentin got in the car next in the back seat, holding Urien. Barnabas drove away

"Do you think that this is really over..."

"I think it is. The gypsies got their property back, and they know how to control the hand. You, Adam and Sebastian are now under Munsungan's protection... You saw him in action, didn't you?"

'Yes. By the way, shouldn't Carolyn be told about Adam, about what happened to him? Shouldn't she know why he left her? That it was not because he did not love her, but because he felt going out of control? That he was mind-napped by the people he went to ask for help?"

"She is out of town now. In a vacation of sorts to Boston. But you can contact her when she comes back."

Quentin grimaced. "It might be awkward for me to say it. I am, after all, her ex-husband. It does not put me in the position of a matchmaker."

"I'd contact her myself, but I am not sure where I stand in her good graces. Well, we can wait until she comes back from Boston, and then we'll flip a coin to see who notifies her."

"How did she take it, Adam's desertion? Or what she took as desertion?"

"She almost became a drunk. But she pulled herself together and decided to have a social life more satisfying than the one she had. That's why she went to Boston. More people at her level to socialize with."

"I am glad that she is doing OK."

"I am a bit amazed at you, Quentin."

"Why?"

"I am not accustomed for you to show so much concern for others Genuine concern."

"What can I tell you? I have done a lot of growing up since I left Collinsport. It feels as if my eyes and ears have been unstoppered. I don't know how to explain it better. Suddenly I see and hear things I never noticed before. Suddenly I find it impossible not to care, the way I used to. I feel myself tempted to go back to what I used to be, but the temptation passes quickly. I can say what it is right, and what is wrong... I am unwilling to let someone else suffer for my convenience. And I don't feel that I am cheating myself when I deny myself. I feel strong. I wanted to be the Master of Collinwood. Now I'd settle for being the master of myself."

"Yes. you have grown up a lot. Well, here's the hospital. I hope that they'll keep Urien stabilized until he recovers."

"And if he does not recover?"

"Then I'll ask for Munsungan's help."

"Vicky, I got you some customers." George brought the ragged family forward. "They were almost freezing in their car. They are passing through, and their money ran out..."

Vicky sighed. Another family trying to survive the economic disaster. Looking for work, running out of money, running out of food... She handed then bowls of soup that they devoured with relish. She felt tears form as she looked at the two children. Today they would eat... tomorrow.?"

"I will put them up for the night at the jail. It is warm and safe there. Tomorrow I will look for better accommodations. And a way for them to earn money."

"Ask Barnabas, he's likely to know of something."

"I keep thinking that the Old House could make a good homeless shelter. Except."

"Except for two things. Lack of electricity, and the presence of Barnabas. A resident vampire is not going to make people want to go there."

"Well, we'll come up with a solution. I imagine that some farms here might want some helping hands... Some elderly people who need strong arms in order to keep their place running. This way they do not have to sell them and can stay in their homes."

"Yes, that would be a solution."

The children had finished the bowls. One of them looked shyly at Vicky, offering her the bowl?

"Please sir, can I have more?" George recited, remembering Oliver Twist.

"Yes, he can." Vicky dipped the ladle once more and refilled the bowl.

It had started. The fire would rage about. It would strike the hand and the hand would strike back, hurling the fire back and the source, and pieces of it would be scattered all over...

The white man's town would be consumed by the fire. So would the red man's home. Red man, white man, burning in the same flame...

Munsungan saw it, most vividly. The hand had not left Collinsport. It was hiding somewhere in town, carrying death and destruction with it, ready to be unleashed.

He remembered Laura, not so long ago. It was not her this time, but very much like her...

"Come here, Redwolf." he instructed the younger man. "tell me what you see."

"What is there to see? Fire?"

"Look closely. Look with your inner eyes."

Redwolf strained. What was there to see in the fire? Flames, flames, and more flames.

And something else.

"Have you seen it?'" Munsungan asked him.

"The hand. And the woman who looks like Laura... can it be Laura? Could she be trying to escape again?"

"I sense that it is not her. Whoever she is, she will fight the hand of the dead man. And the fire will come and destroy us unless we stop it."