Free Castle on the Edge by Douglas Strang Page B

were in attendance and truly enjoying themselves at the Halloween festivities and not suspecting anything out of the ordinary…other than what Mary and I had told them.
    Besides, I thought to myself, it’s past eleven and since the atmosphere in the rec. room was filled with such gaiety and mirth, why not keep the party going? After all, it would last for at least another hour or so under normal conditions. Also, it would allow us a little time, maybe, to get a grip on what was happening.
    Mrs. Dudley gathered all the candles she could find to have on hand in the event of it being necessary to replace the ones currently burning. The long tapers gave off a sinister glow that was most conducive to a Halloween party and, of course, that went over well with the thespian branch of our residents.
    “Oh, what a great atmosphere.” Miss Hopkins blurted out with rich fervor. “Are you sure you didn’t ‘stage’ this blackout, Doctor Ramsey? Because if you did, I think it was simply marvelous…even though it upstaged me. But never mind, because, as Shakespeare said, ‘All life is a stage and we are the players therein,’ or words to that effect.”
    “No, Miss Hopkins, I assure you this wasn’t any of my handiwork.”
    “Oh well then, I thank Providence for supplying a most appropriate effect for our party.” She then abruptly made a one hundred eighty degree turn and ethereally crossed to the other side of the room.
    I did a thorough head count of everyone in the room here. Then I motioned Mary, Miss Hathaway, and Mrs. Dudley to come out in the hall. I said in a low voice, “Listen, the staff, residents, everyone, are in the recreation room except the four of us here and…
    “Mister Strutmire isn’t, Alex. He’s upstairs in his room,” Mary interrupted.
    “That’s my point, Mary. Mister Strutmire is the only one who is not here. That is, if we don’t count our four missing ones, of course.”
    “Oh my goodness, is it four, now?” Mrs. Dudley chimed in.
    “That’s right. Now we can add Doctor Lederer to the missing,” I answered.
    “Actually five, if we count the so-called mystery patient Doctor Calloway mentioned,” commented Miss Hathaway.
    “Indeed, if there’s such a patient at all,” retorted back Mrs. Dudley.
    “Nevertheless, Mister Strutmire is still up there,” I stressed, “and we have to bring him down here…whether he likes it or not. It’s too dangerous for him to be alone. I believe we’re in a perilous situation that is being deliberately orchestrated and for the safety of all of us, including Mister Strutmire, we should all be together in the rec. room.”
    Miss Hathaway sarcastically said, “Hum, good luck on getting him to cooperate with you.”
    “Look, Miss Hathaway, you and Mrs. Dudley go back in there and keep the party going,” I said, “and act like everything is fine and don’t, I repeat, don’t let anyone leave the rec. room. Mary and I will go up to Mister Strutmire’s room now and drag him down here, if we have to.”
    “Oh, wait, Doctor Ramsey,” Mrs. Dudley swiftly said, “you can’t go traipsing through the Castle with that half-dead pencil torch of yours in all this darkness. I’ll get my husband to go with you; he’s got a big torch, you know. Besides, he won’t be of much use at all if I don’t get him away from the whiskey he’s been adding to his punch.”
    “That’s a good idea, Mrs. Dudley; we’ll wait here for him.”
    While we were waiting for Mister Dudley, Mary said, “Alex, you can feel it, can’t you?”
    I knew what she meant because I felt it, too; there was a malevolent presence in the vast still blackness of the Castle. Save for the merriment in the rec. room, the ominous tranquility was like the quiet before a great disaster…such as an earthquake or storm, as Doctor Lederer had said before, wherever he is. It not only surrounded the Castle but it was washing over all of my senses like a high tide. Deafening silence pounded my