The Princess Bride

Chapter Thirty-Three: Scream Of Death

It was much worse than the scream of the wild dog. In the first place, the dial for the wild dog had only been set at six, whereas this was more then triple that. And so, naturally enough, it was more than three times as long. And more than three times as loud, But none of this really was why it was worse.

It was the scream from a human throat that made the difference.

In her chamber, Elsa heard it, and it frightened her, but she had not the least idea what it was.

By the main door of the castle, Cluster heard it, and it also frightened him, though he couldn't imagine what it was either.

All the hundred Brutes and fighters flanked by the main door heard it too, and, to a man, they were bothered by it, and they talked it over for quite a while, but none of them had any sound notions as to what it might have been.

The Great Square was filled with common people excited about the coming wedding and anniversary, and they all heard it too, and no one even made the pretense of not being scared, but, again, none of them knew at all what it might have been.

The death scream rose higher in the night.

All the streets leading into the Square were also filled with citizens, all trying to crowd into the Square, and they heard it, but once they admitted they were petrified, they gave up trying to guess what it might have been.

Aster knew immediately.

In the tiny alley that he and North were trying to force there way through, he stopped, remembering. The alley led to the streets that led to the Square, and the alley was jammed too.

"I don't like that sound," North said, his skin, for a moment, cold.

Aster grabbed the giant and the words began pouring out: "North-North-that is the sound of Ultimate Suffering- I know that sound- that was the sound in my heart when Count Black slaughtered my wife and I saw her fall-the man in black make it now-"

"You think that's him?"

"Who else has cause for Ultimate Suffering this celebration night?" And with that, he started to follow the sound.

But the crowds were in his way, and he was strong but he was thin and he cried, "North-North-we must track that sound, we must track that sound, we must trace it to its source, and I cannot move, so you must lead me. Fly, North; this is Aster begging you-make a path-please!"

Well, North had rarely had anyone beg him for anything, least of all Aster, and when something like that happened, you did what you could, do North, without waiting, began to push. Forward. Lots of people began to move. Out of North's way. Fast.

The death scream was starting to fade now, fading In the clouds.

"North!" said Aster. "All your power, NOW."

Down the alley North ran, people screamed and diving to get out of his way, and in his footsteps Aster kept pace, and at the end of the alley was a street and the scream was fainter now but North turned left and into the middle of the street he went and he owned it, no one was in his way, nothing dared block his way, and the scream was getting just so hard to hear, so with all his might North roared, "QUIET!" and the street was suddenly hushed and North pounded along, Aster right behind, and the scream was still there, still faintly there, and into the Great Square itself and the castle beyond before the scream was gone...

* * *

Jack lay dead by the machine. The prince kept the dial by the twenty mark long long after it was necessary until the count said, "Done."

The Prince left without another look at Jack. He took the secret underground stairs four at a time. "She actually called me a coward," he said, and then he was gone  from sight.

Count Black started taking notes. Then he three his quill pen down. He tested Jack briefly, then he shook his head. Death was not of any intellectual interest to him at all; when you were dead, you couldn't react to pain. The Count said, "Dispose of the body," because , even though he couldn't see the albino, he knew the albino was there. It was really a shame, he realized as he mounted the stairs after the Prince. You just didn't come across victims like Jack every day of the year.

When they were gone, the albino came out, pulled the cups from the corpse, decided to burn the body on the garbage pyre back behind the castle. Which meant a wheelbarrow. He hurried up the underground stairs, came out the secret entrance, moved quickly to the main tool shed; all the wheelbarrows were buried back at the rear wall, behind the hoes and rakes and hedge trimmers. The albino made a hissing sound of displeasure and began to pick his way past all the other equipment. This kind of thing always seemed to happen to him when he was in a hurry. The albino hissed again, extra work, extra work, all the time. Wouldn't you just know it?

He finally got the barrow out and was just passing the false and deadly supposed main entrance to the Zoo when "I'm having the devil's own trouble tracking that scream" was spoken to him, and the albino whirled to find, there in the castle grounds, a blade-thin stranger with a sword in his hand. The sword suddenly flicked its way to the albino's throat. "Where is the man in black?" the swordsman said then. He had a giant scar slanting down each cheek and seemed like no one to trifle with.

Whispered: "I know no man in black."

"Did the scream come from that place?" The fellow indicated the main entrance.

Nod.

"And the throat it came from? I need this man, so be quick!"

Whispered: "Jack."

Aster reasoned: "A sailor? Brought here by Black?"

Nod.

"And I reach him where?"

The albino hesitated, then pointed to the deadly entrance. Whispered: "He is on the bottom level. Five levels down."

"Then I have no more need for you. Quiet him a while, North."

From behind him the albino was aware of a giant shadow moving. Funny, he thought-the last thing he remembered-I thought that was a tree.

Aster was on fire now. There was no stopping him. North hesitated by the main door. "Why would he tell the truth?"

"He's a zookeeper threatened with death. Why would he lie?"

"That doesn't follow."

"I don't care!" Aster said sharply, and, in fact, he didn't. He knew in his heart the man in black was down there. There was no other reason for North too find him, for North to know of Black, for everything to be coming together after so many years of waiting. If there was a God, then there was a man in black waiting. Aster knew that. He knew it. And, of course, he was absolutely right. But again, of course, there were many things he did not know. That the man in black was dead for one. That the entrance they were taking was he wrong one, for another, a false one, set up to foil those, like himself, who did not belong. There were spitting cobras down there, thought what would actually come at him would be worse. These things he did not know either.

But his wife had to be revenged. And the man in black would figure out how. That was enough for Aster.

And so, with an urgency that would soon turn to deep regret, he and North approached the Zoo of Death.