Live and Let Drood

my way cautiously along the narrow winding way. There were too many blind corners, too little good light and far too many dark shadows for my liking. It was like driving out of the day and into the night, with the surety of bad dreams ahead. This was a private road, part of Crow Lee’s private world, and like everything else he owned, he’d put his stamp on it. The dark greenery of the high hedgerows seemed to stir slowly, right on the edge of my vision, only to fall still again the moment I looked at it directly.
    We rounded a final long sweeping corner and I hit the brakes hard as the road ended in a set of heavy black iron gates. They blocked the road completely from side to side, and gave every appearance of being very definitely locked. I couldn’t see any chains or padlocks, but I had no doubt there were other, more dangerous, protections in place. Itapped my fingertips thoughtfully on the steering wheel while I considered my next move.
    “Have you noticed… ?” said Molly. “All the natural sounds have stopped. The birds aren’t singing here.”
    “Do you blame them?” I said. “In a place like this? Do you feel like singing?”
    “Don’t you get snappy with me, Eddie Drood!”
    “I never get asked to sing,” the sat nav said sadly.
    “Well, colour me surprised,” said Molly.
    “I do a great Bruce Springsteen!”
    “Hush, children,” I said. “Daddy’s thinking.…”
    The more I looked over the tall iron gates, the less I liked them. Long, vertical, parallel bars painted black as sin, and overlaid on them a stylised figure of a huge dragon. With great fangs and claws and sweeping wings, its outline stretched across both gates.
    “I think we’re looking at the first layer of protection,” I said. “At the first sign of trouble, that dragon shape probably comes to life and goes all flamethrower on whoever’s calling. Or maybe…this was a real dragon once, and Crow Lee trapped it in this form to be his own personal attack dog.”
    “No,” Molly said immediately. “I’d See that if it were there. It’s just a gate. Nice workmanship, though.”
    “Spend enough time tracking down crazy in the head villains, and you end up thinking like them,” I said. “Those gates do look very thoroughly locked. I suppose I could just reverse, build up some speed, and crash right through them.”
    “Don’t you dare!” said the sat nav. “You’ll scratch my paintwork and dent my grille!”
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Molly said sweetly.
    “Philistines!” howled the sat nav. “There will be a reckoning. Oh yes…”
    “The gates are bound to be reinforced,” I said reluctantly. “And this is a loaner from the Regent.…”
    I turned off the engine and got out. Molly was quickly out of herseat, too, and we moved forward together to study the tall iron gates, while being very careful to maintain a respectful distance. I raised my Sight and had to fight down the urge to retreat several steps in a hurry. Layer upon layer of protections hung in the air: protective screens and force shields, magic and science combining to create a defence greater than the sum of its parts. They crawled slowly over one another, glowing with the kind of attenuated soft colours you find sliding across the surface of soap bubbles. Only more dangerous. There were enough defensive energies stored in the shields to rule out any thought of defusing them. Get one step wrong and the resulting blast would wipe out half the surrounding countryside.
    “Told you,” I said.
    Molly gave me a thoughtful look. “It’s really up to you, Eddie. You can stop being Mr. Snotty, or I can punch you somewhere painful.”
    “The gates are electrified,” I said, staring straight ahead. “Touch any of those bars and there wouldn’t be enough left of you to bury.”
    “I had noticed that, thank you,” said Molly.
    “Would you like me to reverse some distance back down the road?” said the sat nav. “Suddenly I don’t feel as safe as I did a moment ago.”
    I looked back at the Plymouth Fury. “You can drive yourself?”
    “Damn right, I can. In emergencies. Which this is looking more and more like, all the time.”
    “You stay where you are,” I said sternly.
    Molly peered past the gates at the grounds beyond. “There are two really high stone walls leading off from the gates to surround the grounds. We could climb over…Ah. No, we couldn’t. More protections.”
    “Touch any part of those walls, and