FOREVER ENDLESS NIGHT by L.A. Wood

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 

     The following night Carmen and Ben waited in her room for Toby. 

Just hours after sunset Toby finished his necessary business, something 

he hated, and made his way toward the Hamlin estate. He was always 

wary of wolves and wild dogs, but the bounty on them had either 

eliminated them or scattered them here and there. So far, luck was with 

the victim of the night. 

     He tapped on Ben's shutters, looked and listened carefully for any 

who might be about, and scurried to Carmen's window and rapped 

softly. A moment later, his Gypsy friend pushed open the shutters and 

Toby climbed in. He wished there was a better place for them to meet 

but for the time being, it seemed the very best of places. They could not 

congregate in the sitting room or the dining room; someone could come 

in at any time. He hated to think of them coming together at his lair. 

     It was early for their usual get together, but Toby O'Grady was 

anxious to begin the process, and hopefully a short course of actions that 

would lead to the destruction of the old witch. They knew she had to be 

stopped, and Toby wanted outright revenge, although at another time in 

his life he knew vengeance was wrong. 

     "You're early tonight, Mr. Toby." Ben Gavins met him at the open 

window. He offered a hand but as usual, Toby needed no help to scale 

inside. Carmen had a worried look on her face. 

     "Yes, Toby, it is very early. Did you finish what you had to do?" 

The Gypsy held the crucifix she wore around her neck, and there was a 

thin strand of garlic she had made into a necklace. Benjamin was also 

cautious and superstitious: he wore a crucifix also. 

     "Yes, Carmen. I would never endanger the two of you," he 

reassured them. It was warmer than it had been for some time. Toby 

Forever Endless Night 

190 

removed his cape and laid it on Carmen's small-framed bed. "Have you 

heard from my father or Wicks?" 

     "No," Carmen answered casually. She and Benjamin sipped at some 

brandy from a bottle Henry had left in the living room one night. She 

offered Toby a goblet but he refused for the moment. 

     "Maybe it's too early yet," Gavins suggested. 

   "Carmen, do you suppose we will need to summon them?" Toby 

suggested with a question. 

     "I don't know. I think they will come on their own volition, Toby, 

now that they know we need them." Carmen finished her drink and 

poured a small bit more into the glass.