THE NEXT DAY TELLET AND WILMA TRAVELLED TO Bistritz, and on the way there Tellet—an old police officer—mentioned that he’d called upon one of his leading colleagues from home, Barrington, to help them.312 It was now certain they’d stumbled upon a complicated conspiracy, and that it was likely the old Count Dracula313 was one of the criminals holding the reins. It would be a very difficult case to crack, but if Barrington couldn’t get to the truth, certainly no one else would.
When they arrived in Bistritz they went to the same guesthouse where Harker had lodged three and a half months earlier. Wilma spoke with the innkeeper’s wife, and the old lady remembered well the “fine English gentleman” who had stayed with her. She also mentioned that she’d tried to persuade him to change his mind about going to Castle Dracula, and that she’d given him her cross as a talisman to protect him.
She could not—or would not—reveal anything about the Count himself, but Wilma could tell from her manner that something ungodly was to be expected.
It wasn’t long before Barrington arrived in Bistritz, and with him Hawkins, the old solicitor.314 Wilma was overjoyed at their arrival. After they’d enjoyed a good night’s rest from their journey, they all embarked for the town of Zolyva, as Tellet believed the intelligence315 he’d received that Thomas Harker had come from there—but the stories Tellet had been told turned out to be nonsense. From Zolyva, it was only an hour’s trip to Castle Dracula. They settled in a guesthouse in town and pretended to be travelling for leisure. From the inn, they embarked on their first outing to Castle Dracula, as a pleasure ride.316
Their driver was very reluctant to take the road to Castle Dracula, which climbed through a landscape of wooded mountains, and when they came to a peak from which one could see the castle, the man refused to go any further.
The drawbridge was down and the gate stood open. When they reached the courtyard, they split up and started looking around, in an effort to see whether any living creature could still be found there.
They found nothing, except Wilma believed she was being attacked when she entered the castle. She cried out, and in the same moment she was hurled to the ground. Upon seeing this her companions came to her side. She had hurt one of her legs.
They decided to leave right away, and on Barrington’s advice—he was the only one of the party who understood the local language—the driver was asked to take a different route than before.