As the Scots said: I would not buy goods without seeing them first.
Like grave robbers, we arrived at the cemetery before dawn. Gravestones stood everywhere. I stumbled along behind Van Helsing and Dr. Self, with Mrs. Harker's son Arthur added to our party now. He followed behind me, carrying the shovels for us.
Two yew trees had been planted at the far end of the cemetery, while two rows of pines marked the boundary between the graves and the path. With mist swirling around us, I kept thinking I saw white things flying back and forth.
"Is this the one?" Van Helsing shone his lantern on a gravestone for Dr. Self to inspect.
"Yes, I think..."
Before Dr. Self could finish, Van Helsing took a shovel from Arthur and, as I had expected, began digging.
"Quickly!" Van Helsing told us. "Before dawn."
I picked up a shovel as well and began digging alongside Van Helsing. Dr. Self stepped aside. Perhaps out of professional ethics, he did not take part in what we were doing.
After watching for a moment, Arthur joined Van Helsing and me. None of us spoke. The only sound was the scrape, scrape of shovels biting into the soil.
A bell rang in the distance, telling us it was four in the morning. At last, we reached the coffin. Before opening it, Van Helsing tied a handkerchief over his face. I thought it might at least block the stench of the corpse, so I did the same.
"Give me the candle," Van Helsing said to Arthur.
After taking it, he held the candle over the dull metal nameplate on the coffin. Drops of wax fell onto the lid, hardening into pale blotches. The age-faded wood was covered in mud.
Once he had confirmed that it was