"The sooner the better"
Murphy looks pretty keen to get moving, one way or another...
Aghast Wilbur Whateley tries to interfere, but you act too quickly for him and so you are out of the door before he can protest.
You find the truck, a rusty old thing, next to the house, however, since the keys are missing you now have a new problem...after a moment of frustration, you can suddenly hear the whippoorwills sing again.
"Old truck like this, who wants to try hotwire it eh?"
Daniel looks at the truck, doubting it would do the much god, even if they had the keys.
"Perhaps we should split up, we do not know without a doubt where to look anyway, and the old lady can not be to far ahead. If we leave with three groups, one of them with the truck once it is running we could cover much more ground. I am used to walking, so I will gladly do so, however I would feel better if my companion had a firearm..."
"I have a reasonable knack with electronics and I think that should transfer rather well to the simple task of hotwiring a truck. Give me a moment and I should have it running."
James flips the cover off the engine and spends a few moments with his arms thrust deep into the trucks workings, groping for the wires to the starter motor (or whatever it is really old cars used) and messing around with a look of deep concentration.
Even though you are pretty sure you connected the right wires, the truck does nothing... Inside, the professor suddenly calls out for you
He's back! He's back!
Old Man Whateley has returned from the cellar and holds an old map in his hands.
A map of the hills, you go south search for old woman.
he says grumpily. The young goat-faced Wilbur then pipes in I'll joi-oi-oin them, okay?
Cummings arches an eyebrow turns to you and whispers
Does the truck wait for us? Please, just say yes...
"Mr. Whately, can you perhaps lend us your truck for the occasion? You could even come along, if you'd wish, but I think things would be a lot easier with you around to supervise."
Diplomacy
Whateley scratches his bearded chin and pats Wilbur on the back.
The boy will come with you...I have to feed the animals.
His deep bass voice carries a resolution that is again astonishing. Most of his utterances rather sound like laws of nature than normal statements.
Wilbur nods, curtly looks up to where your rooms are and says
Ok, fo-o-ollow me, we go on foo-oo-oot.
"Thank you Mr. Whately, you and Wilber here have been most kind."
Reggie takes the map from the old man and quickly finds the farm.
As you try to grab the map, you realize you could have also tried to break off the peak of a mountain. With iron grip Whateley has the map in his hands and gives it to Wilbur.
The boy has the map.
Wilbur nods and leads you outside. He points to the south and says
I-i-in the hills we must loo-oo-ook for her.
@ Reggie:
Checking the grass for tracks can't be done secretely on the run, five minutes of search however could unearth some clues.
"Well, good man, you have the map, you are at home here, you best lead the way!"
Since he realizes this fellow is not as simple as it may seem, Daniel will eye him very carefully, lest he may have his own plans for them. He tries to act as inconspicuous and carefree about it as possible, though.
:
:
Well, he acts so well he really believes himself he ist carefree ;)
Victor watches the back and forth with interest. Why would she leave it makes no sense. I guess we'll ask her when we see her. Looking at Wilbur he says Well lead on chap. We're burning daylight.
Checking the grass for tracks can't be done secretely on the run, five minutes of search however could unearth some clues.
"Wait a minute everyone. See how overgrown things are? See the dew on the grass? There was a professor in Berlin, he took us all out to a vacant lot one morning. It was overgrown like this and the dew was heavy like this. He asked us is we could see what was under the ground. If we could see the building that used to be there. At first we saw nothing but slowly we say places where the dew fell differently. Places that moved with the wind differently. We thought we were seeing the foundation lines of the old mansion, he said we were. A year later I saw him drunk at a symposium talking about the students he fooled into mistaking hobo tracks as foundations.
Now that story wasn't quite as meaningless as it seems because if you take a look out there you just might see the trail my aunt took in the pattern of the bent grass."
"Well, I'll be. Reggie that is some nice wisdom you just shared."
Murphy looks pretty impressed with the revelation.
@ Reggie:
The tracks are highly disturbing and you take several new attempts at judging them, since what you see just can't be true...or at least makes no sense. You clearly spot the tracks of your aunt's shoes, but they are surrounded by two pairs of goatlike tracks. But these two pairs don't belong to one animal - imagining your aunt taking a goat for a walk during the night is weird enough - but these tracks suggest that these goats were two legged and rather large. Confused you get up again.
Sanity check 0/1d2
Wilbur looks down to the ground and you can see a nervous flickering in his eyes
A-a-and?
Murphy is watching Reggie for any signs of worry or concern...
Victor looks at the ground and says Have you found something?
Daniel seem anxious to get on with the search, impatiently looking over Reggies Shoulder, stretching to watch the horizon in whatever direction Reggie is facing at that particular moment.
"Now this makes no sense." Reggie squats to look at some tracks.
"Look at this. Here is my Aunt's footprint, you can even see where she was using the walking stick. But look here. These are goat tracks. So my Aunt went gamboling with goats in the gloaming? I could believe it if we were on Alexanderplatz but this is rural new England. Some things are just not done. Nonetheless see here where her track covers part of the goat track, and here where the goat covers hers. She was walking with them."
"And look at the tracks! See how deep they press inth the soil. I am No Dr. Einstien but even my smattering of physics tells me these would have to be very heavy goats."
"Now this is just silly. Look at this. The goats never seen to cover their own track. The hind legs are walking exactly in the path of the forelegs and what is more the fore and hind hooves are exactly the same shape."
"This has to be a joke. Goats that walk on two legs and weigh more than two men took my aunt off for a frolic in the moonlight? This has stopped being funny."
Reggie truns to the Whately's. His voice is flat with anger. "Care to offer an explination gentlemen?"
Murphy watches the scene carefully while slowly placing his hand inside his coat...
Wilbur looks nervously from Reggie to the tracks and again to Reggie
We...we shou-ou-ouldn't follow them then, ok?
Cummings kicks a stone away, he seems utterly frustrated This is just .f+#!ing crazy! An old lady abducted by goatmen?? We should follow her quickly...I mean...these kidnappers must have used some sort of strange shoes, right?
The professor seems mheanwhile absorbed in thought Goat tracks...mhm...I've read of that before...I did...yes....I wonder if ...
"Why wouldn't we follow the lady? What sort of strange goats are you growing out here anyway?"
I don't kno-o-ow. Maybe dangerous...maybe he rea-ea-ead the tracks wrongly?
Wilbur seems to get more and more nervous.
Or he just appears to do so...you notice that the shaking of his hands is rather intentional...
Sense Motive -
Maybe, but the ones of hisaunt on the other hand..."
"Lets get after her"
"We cannot just ignore the tracks, they are our only lead to the whereabouts of Mrs. Hobbes and she definatly deserves us lookig under every rock to find her!"
"If you are afraid of some goats whatever they look like, you are free to stay here!"
Victor nods his head in agreement. She risked herself for us, we could not call ourselves men if we did not do the same for her. We continue on.
"I say a bullet will do much the same to a goat on two legs or four and agree whole heartedly that we must find Mrs Hobbes, it would be entirely ungentlemanly not to do so."
James retrieves his briefcase from where he had set it down to fiddle with the engine and stands ready to depart.
"By all accounts these two legged goats and Mrs Hobbes have quite a headstart, so let us be off before the trail goes entirely cold."
You begin to follow the tracks in the rosy light of the dawning sun. The sky is clear and the temperature is still very tolerable, but you know it will get very hot over the course of the day. After you have walked about two miles following the tracks, Reggie has lost them in the high grass.
Sense Motive
Charlie gulps nervously, but nods in agreement with the others as they continue to follow Reggie down the goat track-ridden trail.
Raggie maintains a good pace. Seeing the tracks peter out under the warmth of the sun he turns to Wilber.
"I think it is time to see if that map is worth anything. What does it say is down this way?"
Reggie is curt to the cringing Whatley.
"Pull yourself together. You are safe and in a large group. What is there to be afraid of so close to your own home?
Wilbur hasn't to look at the map to answer your question. The witches' pla-a-ace. Abou-ou-out one more hour in this direction.
There the witches met until Jakob Bloom, the witch hunter, ended their doings here in Dunwich about 200 hundred years ago. The last one that was burned was Elana Blessenville. adds the Professor.
Hey Murphy, isn't it getting better and better, eh? asks Cummings mockingly while he skitters down the slope of the hill.
Wilbur hasn't to look at the map to answer your question. The witches' pla-a-ace. Abou-ou-out one more hour in this direction.
"Witches, I suppose they abstracted my aunt from your house with the help of their allies Sinterklass and the Tooth fairy."
Come on, that is as good a place to start as any."
Reggie, how come you are such a good tracker? Cummings takes his hat off and wipes some beads of sweat from his forehead. It's beginning to get hot again, I hope this place is close to the river.
"Every time something happens, this place gets stranger. I am starting to develope a morbid curiosity as to what will happen next. I just hope your Aunt is allright."
Reggie, how come you are such a good tracker? Cummings takes his hat off and wipes some beads of sweat from his forehead. It's beginning to get hot again, I hope this place is close to the river.
To Cummings. "I'm not. City boy born and bred. I suppose it's luck, and maybe all that focus on color and texture paying off. My professors always tell me I have a good eye."
"Every time something happens, this place gets stranger. I am starting to develope a morbid curiosity as to what will happen next. I just hope your Aunt is allright."
"She had better be. My father may not love her but my mother does. He owns a good chunk of Boston and he will move heaven, earth, and the General court of Massachusetts to make her happy."
Here reggie turns to look at Wilber.
"So it would be best for everyone's peace and quiet if we can just gather her up and leave people to their own interests."
Interesting! I spoke to Prof. Dyer last week, a colleague at the university, a geologist, about the importance of a good eye. says the Professor as he slowly descends the hill.
Dyer? Isn't that the guy who plans this expedition to the North Pole? I read about him in the Advertiser, I think.
South Pole, Mr. Cummings, South Pole. corrects the Professor.
At the foot of the hill Wilbur points to the south
There, can you-ou-ou see the standing stones atop the hi-i-ill?
The way to the hill leads through a dense fir tree forest and does not look really inviting...
Heading for the stand of trees if that is where the tracks lead.
"The South Pole. The light off the ice, the clean cold dark of the stars. I don't think there is an artist alive who would turn down a chance to go. Pity the days of explorers taking artists on their expiditions sems to have vanished with the victorians. Now days we can manage Paris but that is a far afield as we get, pity."
I bet you also know the paintings of Nicholas Roehrich, Reggie? I especially like his Himmalayan series, The Range for example. says the Professor with scholarly interest.
never heard of that guy, Professor, but if we make it out of Dunwich in one piece I'll accompany you to any exhibition you like. Cummings chimes in.
As the scene begins to unfold, Charlie says "Maybe we should try a quieter approach?" He crouches slightly as they continue forward--leading the way if nobody else is willing.
Stealth
Perception
Again, Daniel assumes a pose from 'Long Trek down to Texas', as 'Theobald "Teddy" Cooper' was able to sneak into an Injun camp to free his loves father...ah, the good memories, and follows Charlie.
"Well I've never met the man but I do love his use of colour. He has the gift of using seemingly simple tones to suggest the thousands of colours he cannot paint. I am less sanguine on his writings about the artistic value of Russian Icons. Lovely to lok at and valuable historical peices but I am not sure what they have to say to modern times.
I fear he may be looking backwards to a mythic past rather than trying to shape the future."
The future, the past...well Reggie, that would only be true if we imagine time as a thing that is in perennial progression, a concept that is highly disputed at the moment, and if you ask me...
Shh! Professor, please, it's not the time for such discussions.
Sorry Mr. Cummings, you're right.
Cummings winks to Charlie and together you follow Daniel into the woods.
After about ten minutes, Wilbur suddenly stops Bea-ea-ear!
A large black bear has broken through the undergrowth and eyes you now cautiously...you're not sure who is more surprised and intimidated - you or the bear.
Reggie freezes in terror. Animals belong in well managed zoos and far off places. Thugs he can understand even wierd goatmen seem to have some form of thought and direction, but this is an unreasoning beast, emotional and unpredictable.
"Stranger by the minute Cummings, not sure I like the direction its headed neither"
Murphy spots the bear, keeping his distance he thinks on what to do...
Handle Animal (untrained)
Murphy tries to move the bear on, ready to draw his pistol and unload on it should the animal start arguing back
Dr. Alden had his pistol out to begin with and keeps it at his side, silently flipping the safety off.
Murphy is able to pass the spot the bear is defending, but he is unable to drive the creature off.
We should all try to pass the bear as slowly and cautiously as possible. whispers the Professor.
He Wilbur and Cummings follow Murphy and make it past the bear.
Daniel is so spellbound by the bear's presence that he slips and curses. The bear rises, growls and prepares to charge the hapless actor, as you all suddenly hear Wilbur shouting
in a guttural, strangely staccato like language. His voice however, sounds like the rolling of an ocean wave, the rustling of leaves, the howling of a mountain wind, the moaning of a dying person at once.
An instant later the bear comes crashing down to the ground, yelps painfully and flees into the forest.
Open mouthed the Professor look at Wilbur and Cummings whispers
Oh my god, the birds have stopped singing.