23

Tiger’s idea will put her in mortal danger.

“When it gets dark I will steal down to the shack and push a note through a crack in the door telling him that we were here in the Orkneys, that we tracked him and know where he is, and that we have left the islands to tell the authorities who he is and what he has been doing. We’ll simply follow him when he flees. He’ll have his guard down too.”

“Good idea, but I’ll do it,” says Jonathan. “It should be me, in case the note bearer is discovered. I’ll have the rifle. Let’s have your pen and some of that paper you bought at the train station, Edgar.” He gets to his feet. But Tiger doesn’t.

“It’s best it’s a female,” she says. “You would be too loud, too obvious.”

“Then I should do it,” says Lucy. “I’m the smallest.”

Edgar doesn’t like anything about these ideas.

“Your plans are too dangerous. He will hear you, any of you, and kill you. And if whoever takes the note survives, he won’t flee. He’ll come after us! He’ll wonder why we’ve warned him. Why would we do that? He will know we are either still here or have just left and he will be on us almost immediately. There are no authorities of any real consequence until you get to the mainland.”

“But—” say Jonathan and Tiger at the same time. They don’t continue, however, because they know he is right.

“Thank you for destroying our last hope, old chap,” says Jon. “Now we have zero options. You have always been such a charming fellow.”

“There is another way,” says Edgar.

Lucy doesn’t like the look on his face. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll go down to the shack.”

“No,” says Tiger, “why would that be any better?”

“Because I won’t try to sneak; I’ll speak to him.”

“No, you won’t,” says Tiger. “That is not going to happen. And besides, it would be worse. He’d—”

But Edgar interrupts her. “I’m the only one who can do this, and I’ll tell you why and exactly what I will do.”

He lays out his plan. The others sit stone-faced as he speaks. They know almost immediately that he is presenting them with the only chance they have. Still, they argue about it. Edgar can barely believe he is volunteering for this. But a strange feeling had come over him when Tiger and the others offered to go. It was terrible fear, yes, but it concerned his friends, their well-being, not just himself. A half hour later, after a long argument, they agree to let him go.

Jonathan turns his back on Edgar and sits on the far side of the hill, staring out over the water. Tiger crouches nearer the crest, watching her dear friend walk away, memories of their lives together flooding her mind, making her want to break down in tears. But she holds firm. Edgar Brim has always been the one for her and now he may be going to his death. She wants to move closer to Jonathan, but she doesn’t. Lucy positions herself nearer the shack, closer to Edgar, tears welling in her eyes.

Edgar strides toward the building in broad daylight, the gun loaded and at the ready, already pointing it at the door. When he gets there he turns the butt toward it and pounds hard. There is silence for a moment and then the door opens slowly.

“Ah, Edgar! Lovely to see you! I had the feeling that you might be about. That was an awful thing that your uncle tried to do to me back in London, simply awful. Why would one try to burn another human being alive? There is no need to point that gun at me.”

The yellow pallor of the creature’s skin is almost translucent and patches are burned to the bone, the eyes are watery and the lips black. There are remnants of rips on his face and big scars like zipper marks around his neck and crisscrossing his skull, now apparent through the wisps of black hair that weren’t burned off in the fire. One thumb and the tip of a second finger are severed and the stumps are gray. There is a look in this wretch’s eyes that Edgar has never seen before in a human being…a sort of wildness.

Edgar has stepped back from the door a bit, somewhere between five and ten feet, to a place where he thinks he might be able to get off a shot, right into a spot directly above the creature’s nose.

“You are shaking, my boy. For that, I wish I had feelings, I think. I believe it is something called sympathy, concern for others. I have the sense, however, that I might not thrive with such an emotion. It might slow down my research. Such sensations are, I would contend, enemies of science and progress. I must eliminate you now. You are in possession of a most dangerous secret! It does not seem an intelligent move on your part to appear here, certainly not scientific. But I know you are not a stupid boy, so I am guessing that you calculated that you could kill me at this distance. Think again, Edgar. I can seize the gun from your hand the instant I see your finger press the trigger. If you back up any farther, I shall simply, as you know, dodge the bullet.”

“I am willing to test your abilities.”

Godwin lets out a bolt of a laugh. “I believe that is humor, or is it?” Then his face grows grim. “You do not want to play games with me, child.”

Edgar lowers the gun.

“That’s a good boy. Take your medicine, your death, like a man.”

“That is an old-fashioned idea, Godwin. And I’m not planning to die today anyway.”

“Oh?”

“I am here to make a deal with you, a rational one; we might even call it a scientific one. You are an intelligent man, so I suggest you listen.”

“I am all ears. Well, not exactly, I am numerous different body parts.” He lets out a genuine laugh and it startles him. “My God, I think that was humor!”

“I came here with the other three. We followed you to this shack.”

“And?”

“After we surveyed the situation, we realized that it would be almost impossible to kill you here, and I’m guessing you had some sense that we might be nearby and boarded up the windows in this building because of that.”

“You are correct.”

“So, the others wanted to leave the islands and tell the authorities about you and what you are trying to do and your exact location. I didn’t feel that would work. I felt the authorities would think our story was ridiculous and we were insane. My friends also had the idea that we might leave you a note saying that we were informing on you, so you might at least leave here, thus ensuring our safety. But I said you would not believe that or would just quickly follow and kill us all.”

“Well, I must say, Edgar, that in this debate I am on your side. Your reasoning is extremely sound and theirs has holes in it like those in the cheese the Swiss manufacture.”

“We argued, long and loudly. We split up.”

“I am sorry to hear that. Well, maybe not entirely.”

“The other three have gone. They are intent upon telling the authorities. I was left here alone. I wasn’t sure what to do. Then I decided I would talk to you. I remembered the times we had together in the operating room, the kindness you showed me when I was repulsed by the dead bodies, the way you helped my adopted family when Mr. Thorne died, and your desire to have human feelings, to care…to laugh.”

Godwin looks startled. It is as if he were feeling a pain inside that he wasn’t used to. “You and I, Edgar, we are both fatherless. Perhaps we—”

“So, I decided to appeal to what might be called your better side, the side you wish you had, but also to your brain, your rational brain. You see, if the authorities do believe the story my friends tell, then your game is up. A well-equipped force will come for you.”

“But they won’t believe them.”

“Can you be sure of that? What are the odds?”

“They are calculable.”

“And you know that such odds do not have zeros in them. There is some chance, however slim, that by tomorrow morning a group much more lethal than us will be here to destroy a menace and nothing good can come of that for you, even if you escape. You will be exposed, one way or the other—if they simply see you or even if you murder them all. And if you kill me now, you run a risk too. My disappearance might give some credence to the things my friends tell the authorities.”

“Why, that is sound reasoning, Edgar, sound indeed! I am proud of you!”

“Thank you, sir. But I will take it another step or two. I believe that I can assure you that you will not be exposed if you do as I say and that what I say will be attractive to you as well.”

Godwin smiles. He looks excited and his face turns red, almost as if he were aroused. “I am fascinated. Please go on, immediately!”

“I will tell whatever authorities who might believe my friends that what they are saying is ridiculous. I will discount their statements. Thus, a barely believable claim will sound like utter hogwash.”

“I love that word!”

“In exchange, you will leave here, go far away and never return to London. Exiled, yes, in a sense, but alive. Perhaps you can find some place to rehabilitate your appearance and perhaps you can even find yourself a mate, regenerate a dead female body. I promise to say nothing of your existence as long as you do not harm anyone, no living human being. I think that you, sir, as a scientist, have a sense of honor, and that you have respect for a rational, intelligent pact.”

Edgar can’t tell if Godwin can see that he is shaking even more now.

For a moment, the creature is speechless. He narrows his watery eyes and the seared yellow flesh around the protruding brow wrinkles.

“Well,” he finally says, “I believe you have offered a most excellent proposal. I shall pack my bags.”

“A wise decision.” Edgar turns to go.

“Oh, Mr. Brim,” says Godwin, “may I shake your hand? It seems like a fitting thing for two gentlemen to do, to seal an honorable contract.”

Edgar hesitates, but then lifts a trembling arm toward him. He sees the creature’s big burned hand approaching his, the two gray stumps evident. Edgar realizes his mistake: Godwin will crush his hand, perhaps rip his arm from the socket and then kill him right here while his friends look on. Then this creature will go up the hill and hunt the others down and murder them and remove their appendages, organs and brains.

But the hand is warm and gentle.

“Thank you,” says Godwin.

Edgar feels an overpowering guilt. He turns to go up the hill where his friends are hiding, his head down.

“I saw Mrs. Shelley a second time, you know,” says Godwin. Edgar stops. “It was in the middle of the night, hours after she had glimpsed me in the forest—I went to that ominous place, the Villa Diodati, where she was staying, and I sneaked up to a window and looked inside. At first, I couldn’t find her, so I began moving around the exterior of the house, peering into the other rooms—I saw Lord Byron sleeping and Mr. Shelley and then I found Mary. Her oil lamps were lit with something thrown over them to keep the light dim, as if she were frightened to sleep with them completely out. I watched her as she tossed and turned in bed. I was so fascinated that I leaned forward and pressed my hideous face to the pane. She seemed to notice me and sat up in a start. I ducked down. And when I looked back a few minutes later, she was asleep, though her eyes were moving frantically under her lids.”

“It really is you,” says Edgar softly.

“My friend,” says the creature, “I know you offered this pact because it makes sense and I admire that deeply. It is a sound plan. But…” He pauses. “Did you at all…do it because you felt some compassion for me?”

Edgar looks into Godwin’s eyes and thinks they are more watery than before.

“Does it matter, sir?”

“No…of course not, I just thought…no, of course not.” Godwin’s voice resumes its old confidence. “Have a good life, Edgar. I wish you the best.” He smiles. “I shall fulfill my end of our deal and I know you will fulfill yours. You are, after all, human.”

When Edgar reaches the others on the far side of the hill they are surprised by his demeanor. He doesn’t seem pleased.

“It worked?” asked Tiger, looking incredulous.

“He bought it?” says Lucy. “He’s leaving?”

Edgar nods. “As soon as he can.”

Jonathan is pacing. “Excellent! We go back to the farmhouse now and buy some food, and then we follow Godwin. He’ll likely leave by boat and head farther north. We track him to wherever he goes, probably some godforsaken place where there are no people about…some place where he has no shelter, no building like here, no place else to go, absolutely killable. And he won’t have any idea that we are following him! He’ll be vulnerable. We can wait until he falls asleep, put the business end of the barrel right to his temple and blow the contents of that freakish skull to hell!”

The other two smile. But Edgar doesn’t.

“Let’s go get him,” says Tiger.