Dudley followed Joel along the Highway. The blind dreamer sniffed the air as he went. He paused at an exit and listened. He sniffed the air again. He nodded to himself.

“They left the Highway here, and headed down to the surface,” said Joel. “I feel they turned left at the bottom and kept going.”

“The sign says Vania,” said Dudley. “I can't say that I have been there.”

“I don't think I have either,” said Joel. “We're still on track to find the truck. I wish we had something faster than our feet.”

“If we call in, they'll yank my license and just axe any thought of recovering my rig,” said Dudley. “There's no telling what would happen to you.”

“I'll probably get turned in for violating the hitchhiking law,” said Joel. “The law would be used with full force against me.”

“So we should look at this Vania and see if the truck stopped there,” said Dudley. “Why would a vampire want what I was carrying? They usually only go after cargo for monster hunters.”

“Your company probably had something hidden and involving the material world,” said Joel. “Maybe our vampire wants to escape the Land of Dreams for some place eaiser to exist.”

“It's been a long time since that has happened,” said Dudley. “I didn't have horns the last time before they shut things down.”

Joel nodded. He turned left and started down the route to Vania. His stick tapped against the asphalt as he went. Dudley followed quietly behind. If they came across some kind of transport, that would make things a little easier.

Dudley had some things in his tool bag. A couple of them might work on a vampire. It would be better if he could take the guy by surprise and drop him before he was ripped apart.

“You were doing good against that vampire until he threw you off the truck,” said Dudley.

“I could hear him,” said Joel. “How did he get inside the cab?”

“He cut the power somehow, and then ripped the door off,” said Dudley. “He must have loaded up on blood to get that much strength.”

Joel nodded. It was a common thing that monsters were as strong as the belief in them. They wandered dreams, and fed off fear. The small percentage that couldn't be scared died in their sleep, or became monster hunters.

Dream weapons versus dream monsters quickly stirred up the sleeping world. That created shared landscapes where humanity sometimes became an awful monster in its own right.

Dudley didn't want to be caught in that kind of chaos. Attacks on truckers were twice as bad in his experience. He needed to get his cargo before they were caught up in the Highway turning into a nightmare of destruction.

“Are we still on the right path?,” he asked after walking for what seemed like miles. His short body wasn't built for this.

“The smell is still going this way,” said Joel. “It's hard to tell how much longer we have before it fades away completely.”

“We need a car,” said Dudley.

“We need something a little faster,” said Joel. “How's your horseback riding?”

“Terrible,” said Dudley. “Why?”

“I hear horses,” said Joel. “Maybe there's a ranch where we can borrow horses, or a buggy of some kind.”

“I can see a buggy,” said Dudley. “I'm not great with horses.”

“Neither am I,” said Joel. “Still something is better than nothing, and I have feeling that your truck is the only machine around.”

“I can believe that,” said Dudley. He couldn't see anything but grass to the horizon.

“I hear voices,” said Joel. “Let's see if they noticed your truck coming through. They might even know the vampire we're looking for.”

“That would be great,” said the driver.

Joel led the way across the grass. His stick didn't make a noise as he moved now. He shifted his head to let his ears point him in the right direction.

“I see a ranch house in the distance,” said Dudley. “This is a big ranch.”

“Maybe they didn't see your truck,” said Joel. “We can still ask them for help.”

“I don't see any people,” said Dudley. “I expect to see some guys with pitchforks at least.”

“I can still hear animals,” said Joel. “Do you see a barn?”

“Not really,” said Dudley. “It might be behind the house.”

“You don't think the vampire got rid of the people, do you?,” asked Joel.

“I don't know, and we should at least look for something to help us,” said Dudley. “If we run into ghouls, we'll run instead of fighting.”

Joel nodded.

Classical ghouls ate the dead. That didn't stop them from trying to kill their prey and burying it for later. They were tough, but not as tough as their overlords. In general, a bullet to the face was a cure for their particular problem.

Monster hunters loved dropping them by the score when they showed up in the more shadowy parts of the dream lands. It earned them a small measure of respect for dealing with carnivorous vermin.

“I hear voices,” said Joel. “I can't tell what's being said, but I think they are talking about us. It doesn't sound friendly.”

“It's too late to walk away,” said Dudley. “If we do that, they'll chase us down out here in the open.”

“Understood,” said Joel. “Let's see if we can persaude them to be friendly.”

Dudley doubted that would happen. A short demon trucker and a blind dreamer wasn't much of a threat to nightmares. They would be wary, but mostly they would be thinking about how they could kill the travelers instead of loaning them a horse and buggy.

It never hurt to try to talk before a fight broke out.

They might decide that Dudley was too tough, and decide to let them pass.

Hope for the best, get ready for the worst.

Three minotaurs walked toward them. They wore Western hats and clothes. Old style revolvers rode in holsters at their hips. They didn't have boots on. The trucker could see that would take special work since their feet were hooves.

“How are you doing?,” Dudley asked. He waved his hand in greeting.

“It looks like we have a couple of trespassers on our land,” said the lead minotaur. He snorted smoke from his snout.

“We run into a hijacker, and we were wondering if you saw my truck going by,” said Dudley. “It's a turbo fan hover transport.”

“Hijacked?,” said the minotaur. “What kind of hijacker was this?”

“A vampire,” said Dudley. “He ripped the driver's door off with his bare hands.”

“Sounds like Boss Twill,” said one of the other minotaurs. “Your truck is gone. Better move on back to where you came from and forget about getting it back.”

“What would Boss Twill want with a truck?,” asked the lead minotaur.

“I don't know, but he's the only one I know that can rip a tough door off its hinges,” said the other minotaur. “How big a door we talking about, shorty?”

“Three inch armor,” said Dudley. He held his hands up to show the thickness of the door.

“Yep, Boss Twill,” said the other minotaur. “You ain't getting that truck back with just the two of you.”

“You guys want to help us?,” asked Dudley.

“No,” said the lead minotaur. “What do you think he can do to us if he did whatever to your truck with his bare hands.”

“Do you know where we can find this Twill?,” said Dudley. “I have to get that truck back.”

“Twill lives up in the hills,” said the third minotaur. The other two stared at him. “We might as well let him try. It doesn't mean a thing to us if he gets killed.”

“Thanks,” said Dudley. “Any hill in particular where we should look?”

“There's seven of them with a castle in the center,” said the minotaur. “When you get close enough, you'll see it.”

“You better hurry,” said the second minotaur. “If he ripped your door off in the daytime, you don't want to meet him at night.”

“This has all been good advice,” said Dudley. “Thanks.”

“If you kill Twill, let us know,” said the lead minotaur. “We'll throw a party.”

“It'll be my pleasure,” said Dudley. “Nice talking to you.”

The lead minotaur waved him on with a hoofy hand.

Dudley led the way from the trio. He didn't like them at his back, but he had to show a little trust. The last thing he wanted was bullets flying everywhere. He and Joel would not be able to fight their way out of that.

He wondered if Joel could dodge bullets. He had held his own against Twill on the top of a moving trailer.

“The gruff guy is telling one of his lackeys to let Twill know we're coming for the truck,” said Joel. “They'll get some extra consideration for letting him know.”

“That's all right,” said Dudley. “Do you think this castle is where the truck is?”

“I don't know,” said Joel. “I didn't hear them lying about it. That doesn't mean the truck is there.”

“So we'll have to take a look and hope the three bullys don't follow us and hinder us when we actually try to make a move,” said the trucker.

“Do you want to turn around and deal with them?,” said Joel.

“We won't gain anything if we do that,” said the trucker. “I would rather just look at this castle and see if we can take the truck back. Maybe ask for help if we're desperate enough. If we do have to take on those guys, it'll be because we can't get in the castle on our own and need them to help us talk our way inside.”

“They won't agree to that,” said the blind dreamer.

“As long as they don't start shooting at us while we're walking away, I'll put that in the win column,” said Dudley.

“One of them is following us,” said Joel. “I can hear him moving in the grass.”

“We'll have a talk with him when we're far enough from the ranch house,” said the trucker. “We don't want him to let his friends know where we are.”

“Sounds easy enough,” said Joel.