A terrible wind began to blow past us. I heard the vicar cry “No!” Tekela sprang up from his shoulders, wings beating.
Turning my head, I saw that the Gateway was closing.
There followed a roar Growler would have been proud of as Larry leaped at the vicar. They rolled upon the ground, passing right over the Count, knocking the icon from his breast. Then the mighty wind caught them and they were carried toward the closing Gateway and on through it. Jill looked puzzled as she continued to wield the closing wand, hair and cloak streaming forward. Jack had braced himself. Then his arm moved, hand dipping into the satchel and out, emerging quickly, casting the wine bottle of slitherers into the Gateway, to gunk it up. He grinned at me. “Any port in a storm,” he observed. I felt the wind pushing me forward. Nightwind was trying to get behind a rock.
Then the experiment man came up and halted before us and the pressure was suddenly eased.
“The, Count?” he asked. Had Graymalk sent him after our ally?
“The man on the ground!” I replied. “Take him away!”
He continued past us, swaying but holding his own against the wind. He stooped and caught hold of the supine figure, raised it in his arms. I glanced at the Gateway. It had already grown somewhat darker. The fire, scattered, flamed at a dozen small points, glowed from as many more. A few of these faded and winked out as I watched.
Jill stared at the wand that she held, and I could read the realization coming into her expression.
I heard Graymalk’s voice from the shadows:
“Come on!” she called. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
Bubo had already ducked back out of sight into Jack’s pocket as we moved to take her advice.
A single note, as of a crushed crystal goblet, filled the air. The stone was blank again. Abruptly, the wind ceased. The voices had already died away.
We made our way northward toward the slope. Overhead, the moon seemed enormous.
“Let’s go!” Graymalk urged, as we came up beside her. And she was right. The hilltop would remain dangerous till dawn.
I turned and looked back in time to see the experiment man start down the southern slope, carrying the Count.
“Hi, cat,” I said. “I’ll buy you that drink yet.”
“Hi, dog,” she said. “I think I’ll let you.”
Jack and Jill went down the hill. Gray and I ran after.