Forever Young The Beginning (41 page)

One day while walking to the inn to
dine, Ian felt a cold prickly feeling at the base of his neck. It
stopped when he got inside. While dining later it came again. It
was not the kind that went all the way down his spine like when he
was about to be attacked by a vampire. It had a cold feel to it. He
deliberately knocked over a wine goblet with his forearm as Marie
had taught him. As he apologized for his clumsiness, the feeling
suddenly stopped. He looked about the room casually and couldn’t
tell who might have been looking at him. A big man was just going
out the door. He was wearing a really wide-brimmed black hat with
an unusual feather adorning it. Ian kept looking about the room
which was full of diners, mostly men. Of one thing he was now
certain; he was not the only vampire in Lausanne.

***

A tall, heavily muscled man
sat watching a couple dining at the inn in Lausanne. He noticed
that the man clumsily knocked over a goblet of wine. He sighed in
boredom and turned away to get his coat and leave. He had heard
some idle gossip about a phenomenal ice skater recently. Curious to
see if it might be an Adept vampire, he began to nose around. He
always seemed to miss whoever it was though. He had followed this
couple inside the inn because the man fit the description he had
heard. It was always a good idea to investigate anything which
might later become a kill order. He once had stumbled across
incidents which later were proven to have been done by a vampire
who was ultimately marked for death. It never hurt to have advance
knowledge of such a one. You never knew when a kill order would
come from the
High
Council
. How much easier was it in a case
like that to already have seen the target? He thought that he might
travel on to Bern soon. When the deepest part of winter hit, it
would be hard even for a vampire to travel. His last reported
location reported to the
Council
had been Lyon, in France. He should let one of
them know where he was from time to time. Having no
Council
business to
attend to here he did want to check on a possible lucrative
arrangement in Vienna. He would definitely not let anyone know he
was there though! He needed to get going while he could still
travel.

The winter came in full force and
there were days that Ian and Anna never left her country home.
Neither one cared. She had an extensive library and Ian sometimes
would pore over books for hours at a time. He had found one about
nutrition written by an Italian whom he had never heard of. The
staff kept the walkways open for allowing maintenance for the
animals. Anna noted that Ian regularly kept his schedule of drawing
blood and looking at samples under his microscope.

She had a maid with a younger brother
by the name of Andre who had become seriously ill back in the
summertime. She had given the maid permission to bring him out of
the servant’s quarters upstairs. The chalet was so big that Ian had
seen him for the first time only recently, although his vampire
hearing had informed him that the maid and a boy lived on the 3rd
floor.

Anna’s doctor had privately told her
that the boy had ‘Wasting Disease’. He was literally wasting away,
having lost a third of his body weight. His skin was as pale as
death and he was listless. His eyes had dark circles beneath them.
The doctor didn’t give the boy until springtime to live.

Ian had taken to the boy and had read
to him often. At times when he was not with him, Anna would see him
pacing about the big country Chalet lost in thought. One night long
after Anna had drifted asleep, Ian rose and silently glided out of
the room. He went to where he had stored a package. It was a knife,
the two Pascal syringes, a knitting needle, and a towel. He had
boiled all four items thoroughly for a half hour in the barn in a
kettle. They were wrapped in another towel that was clean and tied
up neatly with a cord.

He stole silently to Andre’s room and
entered it like a shadow, coming to the boy’s bed and sitting down.
Just as he did, the boy opened his eyes. “Ian, have you come to
read?”

“
No, Andre.”

The boy smiled weakly at him, his eyes
large in his wasted face. “Andre, I’d like to try something that
might make you well again, or make you feel better.”

The boy nodded trustingly

“
I don’t know if it will
work, and it will hurt a little bit for a short time.”

Andre nodded.

“
Andre?”

“
Yes?”

“
This must be our
secret.”

He nodded. Then he said “I won’t have
long to keep a secret, will I?”

“
You’re very ill, Andre. You
are near death.”

“
I know. Yes, this is our
secret.”

He rose and produced a bottle of
vodka, laying his package on the bed. He took the vodka and washed
his hands with it, allowing them to dry in the air for a minute or
two. Then he tore a scrap from the towel he had boiled, and poured
a bit of vodka on it. He gently took the boy’s arm and washed the
inside of it. “This will hurt. You must be brave now.”

“
I will.”

“
Here it goes.”

Ian gently but firmly cut the skin and
drew a bit of blood in one the syringes. He then cut himself and
took the other syringe and drew his blood and transferred it slowly
to Andre via the incision.

“
Andre?”

“
Yes?”

“
That was very
brave.”

He nodded; tears of pain in his
eyes.

“
Now you must drink the rest
of this.”

The boy’s eyes widened. Ian smiled
gently. “I had to do this once or I would have died.”

“
Really?”

“
Yes. It is a bit salty and
warm. That is all, Andre. The worst part of it is over already.
Trust me.”

The boy nodded and Ian discharged the
contents of the syringe in his mouth slowly allowing him time to
swallow it. He held out his right hand to the boy. Andre took it.
Ian pressed his hand gently and shook it saying “Our
secret.”

“
Our secret, Ian. I’m
feeling a bit warmer now.”

“
If this works for us,
you’ll start to feel better this day. We haven’t got long to wait,
do we? Would you like for me to read to you until you sleep?” The
boy nodded so Ian went to retrieve the book he’d been reading to
Andre and began reading to him in a low voice. In twenty minutes,
the boy was asleep, so he picked up all of his equipment and glided
out of the room like a shadow.

Taking the syringe with the
blood sample he was soon viewing it on a slide under his
microscope. He noticed that it didn’t look healthy based on how
blood from a healthy goat looked. Soon he was viewing his blood
mixed with Andre’s. He watched for several minutes, then he noticed
that the blood sample began to slowly transform to one which looked
healthier. It seemed to have more red cells than before. He watched
a while longer to confirm what he was seeing; then he sat back from
the microscope and closed his eyes.
My
God, what’s happening here? Can vampire blood be a universal blood
cleanser? Can it be a universal disease-healer?

After everyone had awakened Ian asked
Anna what fruits and vegetables she had in her root cellar. She
named the ones she could think of, and the only fruit was apples.
He nodded and asked for a flour sifter, a bowl, and a place to work
in the barn. She got him what he wanted and looked at him
questioningly. “It’s for Andre.” is all that he said.

Ian washed his hands in the kitchen.
Then he took the sifter and the produce to the barn and he began to
crush the apples, beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, and a bit of
garlic. He would simply crush them in his powerful hands and allow
the juice to run through the strainer. Then he would take a board
and hammer the pulp on a sheet of copper to get more juice. He
worked until he had a half gallon of juice in the large bowl.
Feeding the pulp to his goats, he took the juice to the kitchen and
instructed the maid to keep it covered and cool. He took a small
cup of it to Andre and gently supported him while he drank it. “You
will drink this four times a day, Andre.” Anna and the maid watched
from the doorway.

The boy nodded and smiled. He looked
at Liridona, the maid and said “Three more of these today Liri,
understood?” She looked at Anna who nodded, and then said “Yes
Monsieur. But where will I get it?

“
From me, of course. And you
may call me Ian.” The maid curtsied. “And one more
thing.”

“
Yes, Monsieur….
Ian?”

“
Take him to the big south
window and let him lie in the sun as long as there is sunshine at
that window. He is to wear only his underwear. This is to be done
every day that there is sunshine until he’s well.”

“
Yes, Ian.”

“
Anna?”

“
Yes.”

“
I think the roads are
passable. Shall we go skating today?”

***

Celeste finished practicing her
musical scales and her instructor left. She had been depressed
somewhat at learning that Ian was not coming due to being in the
Swiss Confederation No longer did she know anything new about Ian.
In fact, since her body began to change, she no longer had her
intuitive powers. Her Aunt Caryn explained it by telling Celeste
that she was ‘becoming a young woman’.

She was going to sing in an event
planned for springtime and had sent a note back to Marie telling
her that and just a few things about some of her lessons in
mathematics and general science.

The Lafayettes ran a bi-weekly courier
service to the banks and businesses that Marie and Henri owned, and
they used that to communicate with Caryn Rochelle and Celeste.
Marie had generously furnished private tutors for her who came to
the Rochelle home at regular appointed intervals. Her time was well
filled with top quality instruction and she was learning fast. Her
instructors all said that she was an exceptionally bright student.
She wondered if her gift of prescience would ever
return.

***

Within three days of Ian’s clandestine
blood transfer, everyone in the Chalet now could see that Andre was
getting better. The speed of his recovery was simply miraculous.
The spirits of everyone in the chalet were lifted measurably.
Andre’s sister Liridona noticed the tiny wound on the inside of his
arm and queried him. He said that Ian took a blood sample and that
was the end of it.

The winter passed in no time it seemed
and Ian felt far better than he had last autumn. Andre healed
completely and had nearly gained back all of his weight. Ian had
become a local ice-skating legend by now and Anna was skilled
enough that by now she could skate backwards herself. They always
attracted a sizeable crowd now when they skated. Ian had worked all
winter long on an oil portrait of Anna and it was now complete. She
was more than pleased with it and hung it in her
bedroom.

A few days later he was with Anna and
saw a musical instrument that he had never seen before. It looked
like a harpsichord. The proprietor told him it was a piano, and had
been made in Italy. The name on the piano was Silbermann. Ian asked
to play it for a short while, and did so. He really liked the tonal
quality of the music it produced. One thing led to another and
within the hour, Ian had purchased a Silbermann piano to be sent
from Italy to Marseille in care of Marie and Henri
Lafayette.

It was springtime and the passes were
open, so Ian announced that he was going to Paris to meet with the
Lafayette’s bank manager there and to see Celeste. He intended to
go to Scotland after that and asked Anna if she wanted to accompany
him. She was enthusiastic and agreed to go. Andre and Liridona were
especially loving and emotional towards Ian in their
farewell.

It was an enjoyable trip, but quite
cool until they got down from the mountain passes nearer to Lyon.
Ian stayed silent for a good while after they passed the site of
the former Francoise mansion.

They arrived in Paris in the middle to
later spring time. It was magnificent and Anna just loved it. She
had been there as a younger woman. They spent two weeks there with
Celeste and Anna couldn’t help but notice the bond between the two.
They spent every day touring the city and taking in the sights.
Celeste knew her city better than Ian did by far and took them
somewhere different every day. Ian got permission to take her to
Scotland to meet his parents and they departed three days
later.

Going to the Netherlands first they
both met Ian’s grandparents. They offered their condolences when
informed that Ian had lost Cosette due to a tragic accident. Anna
liked them very well and they really liked her, in spite of their
surprise that the two weren’t married. They were especially
impressed with Celeste.

Staying a week in Amsterdam they said
their goodbyes and departed for Scotland then and the crossing was
not real bad for the North Sea. Anna thought it was frightening at
times, but she noticed how Ian perked up once they were out to sea.
Celeste was fearless no matter the situation as long as Ian was
there. Anna grew to love the child greatly, and Celeste loved her
more every day. This was pleasing to Ian and he had to admit that
he was healing well from the cruel way in which Cosette was taken
from him