as well. You say the vampire spoke as if the two of you had previously met, correct?"
Cora nodded. "He must be out of his gourd. I ain't never come across no nosferatu before."
"You're sure of this?"
"I think I'd remember it," Cora said. "Ain't every day I get chatted up by a man while he's laying dead at my feet."
"Of course," James said, removing his glasses. Cleaning them with the end of his necktie, he continued. "So then, we have only two reasonable options left to explain these eccentricities. The first of these is to assume that the nosferatu mistook you for another of his victims and drew on those memories while taunting you."
"Makes the most sense to me," Cora said, not wanting to hear the other possibility.
James raised a hand. "The second is to conclude that you did indeed encounter this creature in your past and have somehow forgotten the incident."
Cora shook her head. "Ain't possible. Like I said, I'd recollect it if I had."
"There are ways of inducing forced memory loss," James said. "If this nosferatu has sufficient knowledge of the Black Arts, he would be able to wipe your memory clean of him." Even as he spoke, James began doubting the idea. "Of course, had he done so, he would not have expected you to remember him. Perhaps the memory loss is due to other influences."
"I don't see how," Cora said, tapping her forehead. "My cracker barrel ain't got no leaks."
"I don't mean to imply that it does," James said. "However, certain traumas can have adverse effects on the memory, causing holes in an otherwise sound mind. Such maladies commonly afflict soldiers on the battlefield, for example. A man may be able to tell you what he ate for his breakfast on the morning of a battle, yet not recall how or when a friend died in that same battle. Given the nature of your work, I don't believe it is too outlandish to suggest that something similar may have happened to you."
"I ain't fought in no battles," Cora said. "At least, I ain't fought no wars. Ben fought the Yankees when we was both sprouts, but he quit the service when General Lee surrendered. We stayed out of them Indian wars, too, so I don't see how I could have lost my memories."
"It isn't only war that can cause such trauma." James looked at her, his eyes kind and sorrowful behind his glasses. "The loss of a loved one may also create a lapse in memory."
Cora began to feel the thread of hope slip from her. "I ain't lost no loved one, either."
James looked back at the fire for a moment, gathering his resolve. "Perhaps there is another way to be sure," he finally said, not looking away from the crackling flames. "You said the vampire made several allusions to your prior meeting occurring ten years ago. Can you remember an incident in your past that might correspond with that time frame?"
Cora studied the Winchester's barrel while she thought. A scream had been building inside of her for the past hour, and it took most of her concentration to hold it in. Part of her wanted to throw the rifle through one of Harcourt's big glass windows, unleash a torrent of obscenities at James, and storm out of the retreat to continue her search. This was all a waste of time, anyway. While she stood here with James Townsend trying to solve riddles, Ben was no doubt waiting for her back in their hotel room, fretting about the growing vampire threat. The longer she stayed here, the harder it would be to find the rogue nosferatu and put an end to him before the night was out. Still, James was only trying to help her.
Finally, she looked back up at him. "Sorry, George. I can't come up with a single one."
James sighed. "Perhaps it will come to you."
"Maybe so," Cora said, "but I can't wait here for it to show up."
"Where must you go?"
"Back to town," Cora said. "As you might recollect, there's a vampire on the loose down there, and I don't expect he'll just sit quiet tonight."
"You won't stay to bolster our defenses here?" James asked.
Cora shook her head. "You boys should do all right for yourselves if them critters in the mine come calling. No, I'm more worried about the town. All they've got is that touchy marshal and his band of halfwit deputies. Me and Ben will be more use there, I reckon."