I am less worried about the cultists than about the beastmen right now...
Hurrying through the darkness, racing through fields and over hills, Dunwich becomes smaller and smaller behind you and after about 30 minutes you can't make out its lights anymore. Breathing heavily you try to orient yourself.
To your left lie the dark woods where Reggie's aunt was burned - the supposed cult place of the goatmen, somewhere ahead of you is the Whateley house now and to your right the mountains loom in the darkness.
See that? the professor breaks the silence and points ahead, about 1500 ft away two lights dance through the darkness, most probably a car on the road that connects the Whateley farm and Dunwich.
"Might be our ticket out of here"
Murphy pushes onwards!
"Do we want to stop the car?"
Reggie casts about for a log or something to block the road with.
You're lucky, there's a tree, once struck by a lightning, nearby and you can easily rip large branches off it to block the road if you hurry.
We should not endager the driver?!
Reggie hurries to pull the large branches across the road.
"This road only runs between Whatelys farm and Dunwich. Whoever the driver is they will not be a great loss to the nation."
And if it is a stranger who came to Dunwich, someone like us or like Cummings?
Or someone from Dunwich who isn't part of the cult and wants to warn Whately, your poor aunt wasn't one of the believers, surely there are others who aren't.I agree with the professor. Let's not endager the driver if we can avoid it.
"So how to get their attention safely eh? Just dont step too far on the road, they might run you down if not so innocent strangers"
Using the tree is not so bad with that Daniel starts ripping off brances just make it big enough he sees it before crashing into it
The professor nods and helps Daniel and Reggie - just in time the driver notices the obstacle and with screeching tires manages to stop his car before it runs into your makeshift barricade.
A man in his thirties, wearing a cheap brown suit and a crumpled head, throws open the door of his car and shouts
What are you crazy people doing here? his voice is a bit coarse and his movements lack control - he's probably drunk.
Reggie starts to move the branches out of the way.
"Saving your life, or stealing your car. Depends on how you look at it I suppose."
Reggie picks up his shotgun from where he left it on the road.
"Or both, but we ain't got time to chat about it now"
Believe it or not, we are not madmen out for your life. Now just get on the backseat, be calm and you will probably get out of this very unfortunate situation unharmed, you will even get your car back, once we are safely in a town a bit away from here
:
The man stumbles backwards as he spots the gun in your hand
You're highwaymen? his voice is a mixture of real fear and a bit of exhilaration What about a deal? I give you my money, but you leave the car here? You knwo, I just drove past some weird looking guys with long legs and strange voices who followed me, shouting all the time, for about half a mile - they didn't look very friendly and I wouldn't want to meet them here in the hills...at night...
Reggie smiles. "Ah so you've met them. We are also seeking to avoid them and they run very fast. So keep you money and get in the back. Between our guns and your automobile, we just might make it to morning."
The confused and slightly drunken man turns around and peers into the darkness...
Ok, better with you, than being alone, I guess - so where do you want to drive to?
You remember seeing a road that went past the Whateley House into the hills, most probably it will later meet with larger roads leading to Boston.
I want to get out of here, but I am afraid we might end up being pusecuted for Millers death.
Wh...what? Who's Miller?
the man pales and backs away from the car and you.
Calm down, we did not murder him. He was one of a band of lunatics holding that town in a grip of terror. They tried to kill us, and they will try to kill you if they get you, so come with us if you want to live - they are not too keen on strangers. Let us hurry. We can talk in the car, whether we drive to Boston or just to that house!
:
or maybe not...
If he can try again acting, he tries to really get into the role, imitating movement and posture, perhaps the man recognizes it on some level:
Even though he's drunk, the man notices that something is wrong with you. He raises his hands, backs away some more steps and says
No problem, whatever you say is cool with me. Just take the car, I will walk to the next village and won't tell anybody about you, I promise!
Do not go to the village we came from. They will kill you without remorse. Why do you think we are this desparate? Please. Come with us, we will not harm you!
:
You people are crazy...I...oh feck...ok, I'll join you. Who drives?
Reggie climbs in behind the wheel.
"I can."
Reggie hands the shotgun to someone who won't need to steer and climbs behind the wheel. Once everyone is inside he excutes a textbook three point turn and begins to motor away from Dunwhich.
He taps the fuel gauge and turns on the lights. "This is a good car sir, well taken care of. You should be proud."
"We should be nearing the goat-men soon. I hope they don't know enough to pull down a tree."
Reggie draws the spare pistol from his pocket and tucks in between his legs.
Murphy is glad of how this is unfolding, and quietly gets in the back.
Yeah, It's a Ford, good car, very reliable! My uncle, Jim, he bought a Ford when they were pretty new, the car never let him down. He was in Flanders during the war, part of the US motor corps, and he also had a Ford there - funny, eh? Yeah, and when he came back, he was all freaky and...
the man talks and talks - most probably his way to cope with the situation.
You follow the small road for about half an hour unchallenged, then after a knoll, you can make out the yellow lights of the Whateley farm.
and my nephew, a good boy, he wants to work as a mechnaic and I told him...oh, the Whateley house!
You know the people who live in that house?
Oh yeah, I'm a Hoover salesman - met the old man this noon, very friendly, but sadly he didn't need a Hoover. By the way, my name's Frank, Frank Willard.
he puts his hand forth and fishes a Hoover brochure out of his jacket.
Daniel Tauber.
Daniel shakes the strangers hand, then takes the broshure, pretending interest, just to bring some resemblance of normality into this frightening night.
"Pleased to meet ya Frank"
Murph is just happy being in a car, preferably one leaving town.
Whateley farm would be an idea, might be more gas there!
You know Mr. Whateley, too? Weird fellow, eh? All these strange books and drawing on the walls, heh....a rather nervous laughter...
"Much as I would love to talk wilber and his Pa I say we keep driving. We may not get out of the hills before the tank runs dry but we will be well away from Dunwich and neither the Whateley's not the Believers will know where we are. By the time they fond us we will be back in civilization and talking to the state authorities."
Oh yeah, good idea!
Franks says like it was his own idea - Reggie keeps on driving and quickly you pass the Whateley Farm which looks like a bulbous blain in the darkness.
The car rumbles down the road and more than once you fear that the front axle will break when you hit the next pothole. But Frank was right, his ford is a good car and after about two hours of driving through the dark hinterlands of Dunwich you reach a larger road with street lights.
A road sign reads
Left: Arkham/ Right: Kingsport
"Arkham"
"Sounds safer somehow" Murphy adds.
"Which is closer? Not to confident in the amount of petrol we have."
We probably will not make either, so I say Arkham. Professor Armitages word will surely carry some more authority there and in case we are questioned we will need that boon.
"Arkham it is"
Yes, Arkham is a good choice. I'm teaching at the university there - Kingsport is a place for tourists in summer, we won't find much help there.
the professor explains. He seems quite relieved now and yawns.
Uah...these were the worst two days of my entire life...
The drive to Arkham stops about ten miles away from the town - at least that is what Armitage guesses. It's about three hours to dawn and you are surrounded by dark farmlands. You haven't met a single car on the road since you left the Dunwich hinterlands.
Ten miles is not too bad. I wonder however, if we should move the car to the edge of the road and stay inside until dawn...just in case those goatmens habitat is bigger than just Dunwich...
Reggie indulges in a jaw cracking yawn. "Car....side...sleep. At least for a couple of hours. Not sure I could manage a ten mile hike right now."
I agree, let's rest here... the professor says and joins you on the backseat of the car...quickly you all fall asleep, a sweet dreamless sleep, something your body has longed for...suddenly you are all woken up by the siren of a fire engine zooming past you...then follows another one and another one, all from the Arkham firefighter department.
"That would be the believers destroying the evidence, and my aunts house unless I miss my guess. There is nothing more for us here.
Reggie looks out into the night.
"They won."
"They didn't win, it wasn't a game... it was their life for who knows how long. A small miracle for us that we made it out of that living Hell in one piece, and a lot of the others we arrived with weren't so lucky... we did what we had to do and there's no shame in that, the Divine Creator surely smiled upon us"
"Besides, I still have all the photos"
If they do destroy the evidence, why would they risk calling the firefighters? I think there is something else...the Whateley farm for example.
The fire engines pass, but the professor reacts quickly as a red bus is the next vehicle that follows the road towards the Dunwich. He races over to the centre of the road and forces the car to stop. Quickly he exchanges some words with the driver before the car moves on.
As he retrurns to you he seems disappointed
They were called by a policeman from Dunwich, the sawmill is ablaze - most probably because of some wild camping tramps, who didn't take care with their fireplace...
But...all those cars, the tunnels...that cannot just disappear with this one fire! And the Firemen...what will happen to them if they see something? That makes no sense!
The tunnels? what do you think will the firemen do if...IF they find the tunnels? No one will investigate that...maybe archeologists, but surely not the police, they will tell them something about Indians and blabla...and the cars? They will tell just everyone that it is the village dump...I fear no one will ask many questions in Dunwich.