Before she could decide whether the form was real or a product of her imagination, a large, savage dog darted from inside the gatehouse. His low growl warned her it might be dangerous to attempt to pass.
“Come back!” Louise called anxiously. “He’ll tear you apart!”
Though no coward, a second glance at the dog convinced Penny that the animal had been trained to guard the property. Rapidly, she backed away.
Her hand was on the latch of the gate, when in the gatehouse doorway, she beheld a grotesque, deformed human figure.
The sight so startled Penny that for an instant she forgot the dog.
Plainly silhouetted against the gray stone was a hulk of a man with large head and twisted back made unsightly by a hump.
Though his eyes were full upon the girl, he remained motionless, speaking no word.
“Call off your dog!” Penny said sharply.
Only then did the figure move from the doorway into the moonlight.
“Quiet, Bruno!” he ordered in a rasping voice. “Lie down!”