Disheartening, that's what it was.
They'd gone all night without sleep, racing to take Abraham to the surgery, getting him home, barricading the house against a potentially furious and vengeful vampire. Once awake, Abraham hadn't screamed at them, hadn't ranted and cursed them, but it was clearly only due to the effort of substantial willpower and heavy painkillers that he had been able to refrain.
They'd taken a pair of horses, and gone immediately to the Harkers. Mina and Johnathan were handling the homes to the east, Seward and Godalming to the west.
By noon, they'd been "talked to" by a pair of constables, who had seemed ready to arrest THEM for being crazy until John produced his license and convinced them that he didn't belong in the asylum, he ran it. They were on the lookout for a crazed albino who attacked and bit women, and had nearly killed someone previously...at least, John hoped they were. It was the most realistic warning they could contact in the huddled debate before the two teams had left Abraham's house.
At the least, if the locals encountered Alucard (Dracula, now?) they'd know who to contact.
As they got further and further from Van Helsing's estate, they stopped asking if anyone had seen the vampire...instead, they warned. Warned of a crazy person with red eyes, violently and criminally insane, but who, in his madness, was convinced he was a vampire instead of a mere albino. That meant that he could potentially be driven off with holy symbols and garlic, if the people wielding them could be convincing enough. His madness also made him very strong and reckless, willing to ignore a gun or a knife. They might not be able to convince people that a vampire was hunting them, but they might be able to convince them of a bizarre madman.
It was a ridiculous story, and both men felt a fool as they told one skeptical housewife after another this story. If John hadn't been the doctor at the asylum and Godalming a respected Lord, it would have gone worse. As it was, they raced to contact all the little towns and scattered homes along the direction the vampire had fled, and simply hoped that it had continued to run that direction.
If it had turned aside, their preparations were in vain.
Lacking time, telegrams were sent to the asylum and to the Westenras, warning them and advising them of what to do. These could be more open, though the men still had to conceal the actual content. Had they sent a telegram detailing how to prevent the vampire from entry into the homes and warning that the vampire was now at large, the telegraph office wouldn't have sent it. Instead, they'd have sent for the local constabulary to arrest the crazy men. But a warning could still be sent.
And so they found themselves in telegraph offices, sending information to the asylum, the Westenras, even Arthur's own home. The telegraph boy looked faintly amused as he entered in their little speech.
"Count Dracula is back in England and may be stopping by for a visit. Please prepare for his arrival, possibly as soon as tonight. Remember his sensitivity to garlic and how it can prevent him from enjoying his dinner. I recommend showing him any religious items you may have, he has an unusual interest in such things."
They simply hoped it was enough information; the telegram was far wordier than the typical one, but even reduced to the simplified form of a telegram, it still conveyed the information.
"Count Dracula back in England. May visit by tonight. Remember sensitive to garlic, interest in religious items."
The boy showed them the reduced form, and after a short debate, they sent it as written, adding on to the end, "Contact at Van Helsing's tonight."
Then off to ride again, going from house to house, wearing out their horses and their patience. As the sun began to drop, they turned, forcing the tired horses into a canter, to reach the asylum and then Van Helsing before dark. The asylum, to make sure it was fortified against the beast...and then Van Helsing to huddle in protective safety until dawn.
x x x x x x x x
Seward's cursing left Arthur gaping in shock for a moment. As soon as they'd entered the gates of the asylum, an assistant had rushed out to them with a handful of telegrams. After reading them himself, Seward thrust them at Arthur, sitting on his horse, near tears. After a few moments, Arthur felt the same.
If only they'd come to the asylum first, they could have had the vampire safe and captive already. The first telegram, timed from early that morning, stated that an "Alucard" was staying with Father Jacobs, and an address. Plus a request that they contact him soonest and possibly return Alucard to the Van Helsing estate.
Another telegram had come from Arthur's estate. The estate had received the same information, the same telegram, and had attempted to reach Arthur at the asylum.
A telegram later that afternoon, from the same priest, wondering where they were and when they'd arrive, asking for the contact information for Van Helsing so that a telegram could be sent to him.
The vampire would be awake and active in the next hour. There was no chance to reach him, now, before dark. Had they simply checked in, a single time, with their respective homes, they could have spared themselves an exhausting day and captured the vampire while it was weak.
They were horrified at this, dispirited that their entire day of effort had failed to accomplish a single thing other than household gossip at their expense, disgusted that through their foolishness, not only had the vampire escaped but they had lost their chance to capture it.
And so, they rested only briefly, checking on the preparations (garlic on windows, crosses around necks) that the doctors and keepers had already managed, then mounted their tired horses to spur them on to Van Helsing...where they would report on their continuous failure to Van Helsing himself.