Vince left Florida on the first available flight for his home in Dallas, Texas. His first stop was his house to recover his pickup truck and then to the large storage facility where he stored all his equipment. He then began the arduous task of checking and packing it all for its overseas flight.

Chief among these was a device of his own making that he had named "Buddy". It looked like moon rover but was much narrower, it could easily traverse any hallway. Buddy was outfitted with powerful electric winches on the front and back that could easily pull over four hundred pounds. It was also equipped with powerful lights that lit up any darkness as though it was high noon.

Then came the hundred feet of special ropes, harnesses and the anchors for Buddy. The battery pack was double and triple checked and a spare was packed just in case.

Special flashlights and spare were also packed. Remembering the story that Ben had told him about his injury he also packed a military grade ballistic vest and a motorcycle helmet.

Then came his camera and recording equipment along with all the necessary tools needed in case one needed repair. The last thing he packed was a medical kit used by those that were familiar with combat medicine as he was.

Vince prepared a list of emergency contact numbers that he would give to the mayor, a similar list was placed inside Buddy. He then contacted various air cargo carriers for the cost of transporting himself and all his heavy equipment back to Wales.

Vince had to also arrange for a truck to transport all his equipment from the airport to the castle.

His final meetings were with Otto, his business agent and Miles, his lawyer. Otto was advised not to book him for any lectures or book signings until he returned. He and Miles made sure that his last will and testament were up to date. He spoke to the head of the publishing firm and advised them of his trip and a book that would follow.

The preparations took almost a month and the journey seemed to take forever, but finally he stood before the iron gates of Castle de Winter. The mayor of the town unlocked the gates and had some of the city workers wheel Vince's packing cases inside the throne room.

He was then handed a key ring containing old fashion looking keys. He was told that they would grant him access to the door leading to the dungeons and the cells themselves.

"Now you know that in case of an emergency we will not venture past the doorway leading to the dungeons, so yelling will do you no good. It's not that we are heartless and don't care, but we have had rescue workers severely injured in the past attempting to aid an explorer," the mayor informed him.

"Yes, I've been told," Vince responded.

"Then you are also aware that we will not come looking for you. If we don't see you for a few weeks, we will assume that the cursed castle has claimed another victim."

Vince nodded his understanding and the mayor shook his hand and bid him good luck.

Vince began the methodical unpacking of his equipment while he mentally prepared a plan. He would anchor "Buddy" to the doorway and venture about five hundred feet at a time. If he didn't encounter anything, he would move "Buddy" and anchor him to another passageway and venture even further.

He took many photographs of the throne room as it had not been seen by many people .He then checked his water and energy bars before he uttered a small prayer for his safety and began his journey.

He unlocked the door, made it down the long staircase leading to the dungeons without incident. He then retraced his steps and moved "Buddy" a little closer and anchored him to the doorway.

He moved slowly and cautiously down the narrow stone-walled corridor and had not been traveling but a few minutes when he encountered his first skeleton, by the condition, it had been down here a while.

The notes warned him of a trigger hidden under one of the floor stones and the fluorescent orange paint on the wall and floor told him where the attack would come from and what stone activated it.

Vince dropped flat to the floor and with all of his strength he depressed the paving stone in front of him. A long wicked looking spear shot out from the wall about a foot above his prone position for about a second before it retracted, he had survived his first trap.

Vince took pictures and recorded his progress on his video camera before he moved "Buddy" closer to him. "Buddy' was not as heavy as a man, but he took no chances. He returned to the throne room and recovered one of the heavy wood sheets he had ordered.

These would be used to crate his discoveries for the trip home. He laid one sheet across the trigger stone and then slowly advanced "Buddy", the trap remained still. He glanced at the notes and was informed that the doorway into the castle's bowels was located through a cell door at the end of a corridor.

The doors to the other cells were closed and Vince wondered if they contained anything of value inside, he would check them later. The notes informed him that the doorway also contained a lethal trap and the door was not to be pushed open by hand, there was no other clue on how to enter.

Vince used one of the old keys to unlock the door and then laid on his back on the floor and gave the heavy door a quick kick with both legs.As soon as the door opened wide enough to allow someone to enter, a large war axe swung down from the ceiling. Had he been standing it would have struck him in the chest. Vince had avoided another deadly trap.