The Vampire's Vacation Page 2

  Mr. Linkletter squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. He tapped a long finger against the countertop. “Describe this person, please.”

  “He’s dressed in black,” Dink said.

  “Black hair all slicked back,” Josh added. “And his skin is real pale.”

  “Ah,” said Mr. Linkletter. “That would be Dr. Cula.” He looked at his register. “A. Cula, a doctor from New York City.”

  “Is he in his room right now?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Mr. Linkletter looked down at Ruth Rose. His mustache twitched, as if he might smile. “You know I can’t tell you that,” he said. “Shangri-la guests pay for privacy, and I make sure they get it.”

  Mr. Linkletter shut the register with a soft thud. “Was there anything else?”

  “No thanks,” Dink said, looking up at Mr. Linkletter. Then his mouth fell open.

  Three inches to the right of Mr. Linkletter’s Adam’s apple was a small, round Band-Aid.

  “Th-thanks a lot, Mr. Linkletter,” Dink stammered.

  He hurried Josh and Ruth Rose out of the hotel. “Did you see Mr. Linkletter’s neck?” he whispered when they were on the sidewalk. “He had on a Band-Aid just like Ellie’s and Mr. Paskey’s!”

  “Are you sure?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Dink put a finger on his own neck. “It was right here!” he said.

  “Now do you guys believe something weird is going on?” Josh croaked. “A vampire is stalking Green Lawn! He’s drinking everyone’s blood! We gotta call 911!”

  “Josh, calm down,” Ruth Rose said. “There could be a lot of reasons for those three Band-Aids.”

  “Name one,” Josh said.

  “Mr. Linkletter could have cut himself shaving,” Ruth Rose suggested.

  “Okay, but Ellie didn’t cut herself shaving, did she?” Josh retorted.

  “It’s strange that all three of them needed Band-Aids on the same day,” Dink put in.

  “Yeah, and the people wearing them are acting strange,” Josh said. “Mr. Link-letter never gives out the names of his guests, but he did today!”

  Josh squinted his eyes. “I’ll bet if we looked under those Band-Aids, we’d see fang marks!”

  Ruth Rose grinned. “Are you going to go back inside and ask Mr. Linkletter to take off his Band-Aid?”

  “No, but we have to find this guy,” Josh said. “He’s already turned Ellie and Mr. Paskey and Mr. Linkletter into vampires! We have to save Green Lawn!”

  “Josh, calm down,” Dink said. “I agree that something weird is going on around here, but I don’t think that guy is a vampire. And even if he is, what could we do about it?”

  “Run him out of town!” Josh said.

  Ruth Rose shook her head. “Run him out of town? How?”

  Just then a shadow fell over the kids. A voice asked, “What’re you guys whispering about?”

  The kids jumped, and Josh let out a moan. But it was only their friend Livvy Nugent. She worked as a maid in the Shangri-la.

  “Hi, Livvy,” Ruth Rose said. “How are Nicole and Ned?”

  “Growing like weeds and eating like lion cubs,” Livvy said. “So what’s up?”

  “Do you know Dr. Cula?” Dink asked. “He’s staying in the hotel.”

  Livvy nodded. “He checked in last night from New York. Wears all black, right?” she said.

  “That’s him,” Josh said. “Have you been inside his room?”

  “Sure I have,” Livvy said. “When he checked in, I took him up in the elevator.”

  “Um, did you happen to notice anything weird?” Josh persisted.

  Livvy shook her head. “Not really,” she said, starting to enter the hotel.

  She stopped and turned around. “There was one strange thing,” Livvy said. “As soon as we got in the room, Dr. Cula lay down on the bed. He asked me to turn up the air-conditioning to extra cold. I did, and asked him if he wanted another blanket. He said no, he’d brought his own.”

  Livvy lowered her voice. “When I turned around, he was lying there with his eyes closed, wrapped in a black cape!”

  The three kids stared at Livvy.

  She shook her head. “Poor guy must have been exhausted,” she said. “He fell asleep so fast I thought he was dead!”

  Livvy waggled her fingers good-bye and entered the lobby.

  “Vampires sleep in cold coffins,” Josh moaned. “And they wear capes!”

  “Magicians and Salvation Army peo-ple also wear capes, Josh,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Dr. Cula could be a magician,” Dink said. “That might explain how he escaped from Ellie’s Diner and the Book Nook without us seeing him.”

  “And does he also make Band-Aids appear on people’s necks?” Josh asked. “I’m going home.” He started walking up Main Street.

  “Why?” asked Dink. “I thought you wanted to find Dr. Cula.”

  “I do!” Josh said over his shoulder. “But first we need protection.”

  Ruth Rose looked at Dink. They both caught up to Josh. “What kind of protection?” she asked.

  “Garlic!” Josh said.

  “Garlic?” Dink and Ruth Rose repeated, staring at Josh.

  “Vampires hate garlic,” Josh said. “We have to hang some around our necks.”

  “Around our necks?” Dink said. “Josh, garlic stinks!”

  Josh rolled his eyes. “Duh! That’s what keeps the vampires away!”

  A few minutes later, the kids reached Josh’s house. Josh marched around the house to the backyard.

  His twin brothers, Brian and Bradley, were playing with blocks on the picnic table. Under the table, Josh’s dog, Pal, was sound asleep.

  “Where’s Mom?” Josh asked the twins.

  “I’m out here!” came a voice from the vegetable garden.

  Josh ran toward his mother, yelling, “I need some garlic!”

  Ruth Rose shook her head. “Do you think Josh is serious about this vampire stuff, or is he just fooling around?” she asked Dink.

  Dink shrugged. “I think he really believes that guy is a vampire,” he said.

  “What do you think?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “I don’t believe in vampires,” Dink said. “But what about those Band-Aids?”

  Dink and Ruth Rose sat at the table with Brian and Bradley. The twins each had a pile of letter blocks and were trying to make words.

  “What are you spelling?” Dink asked them.

  “Our names, but we don’t know how to spell!” Bradley said.

  “I’ll help you,” Ruth Rose said. “Do you know what letter your names begin with?”

  “B!” both boys yelled. They each picked out a B block.

  “That’s right,” Ruth Rose said. She selected four more blocks to spell out B-R-I-A-N.

  “That spells Brian,” she said. She chose some more blocks and spelled B-R-A-D-L-E-Y.

  Josh came and sat down with them. He had an armload of green stalks with white bulbs on one end.

  “Ew!” cried Brian. “Smelly!”

  “Yuck!” yelled Bradley. The two boys raced away from the table holding their noses.

  “So this is what garlic looks like when it’s growing,” Dink said, sniffing one of the stalks.

  Ruth Rose held her nose. “Did you tell your mom why you want the garlic, Josh?”

  Josh grinned slyly. “I didn’t tell her about Vampire Man,” he said. “I just said I needed garlic for an experiment.”

  Josh started weaving stalks together.

  “I think I’ll pass on the garlic,” Dink said.

  “Okay, but don’t try to steal mine when the vampire sneaks up on you,” Josh said.

  “I wish I could remember where I saw him before today,” Ruth Rose said. She spelled out Dr. Cula with blocks.

  “You forgot his first initial,” Dink said. He picked up an A block and slid it between the R and C blocks.

  Suddenly Josh dropped his garlic stalks. The blocks spelled D-R-A-C-U-L-A.

  Dink and Ruth Rose stared at the word.
To Dink, it seemed as if everything froze. Pal stopped his snoring.

  “Now do you guys believe me?” Josh whispered.

  “Well, okay,” Ruth Rose said after a minute. “The letters in Dr. Cula’s name also spell Dracula. But that’s just a coincidence.”

  Dink let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “The Band-Aids on Mr. Paskey, Ellie, and Mr. Linkletter could be a coincidence. And anyone could own a black cape. But this …”

  Dink ran a finger along the seven blocks that spelled Dracula. “This can’t be a coincidence!”

  Ruth Rose sighed. “Okay, I guess I agree that this is all a little spooky,” she said. “But I still don’t think Dr. Cula is a vampire. I don’t believe in vampires, like I don’t believe in ghosts.”

  “I don’t believe in ghosts, either,” Dink said. “But I do believe what I see. I think we should go talk to Officer Fallon.”

  “Okay, let’s go see if he believes in vampires,” Ruth Rose said.

  “Wait a sec,” Josh said. He had fin-ished weaving a loop of garlic stalks. It was too small to slide over his head, so he plopped it on top of his hair, like a crown. “How do I look?” he asked.

  “Like a smelly salad,” commented Dink.

  Josh called Pal and clipped the leash to his collar. “Mom, I’m going into town with Dink and Ruth Rose!” he called toward the vegetable garden.

  His mom’s face popped up. “Okay, but please don’t stay long,” she said. “I need you to watch the twins while I dash to the market later.”

  “Are you wearing your garlic to see Officer Fallon?” Ruth Rose asked.

  Josh grinned. “Oops, I forgot.” He laid the garlic crown on the picnic table. He broke off one garlic bulb and stuck it in his shirt pocket.

  “No vampire dude is getting me!” Josh said.

  The kids cut through the elementary school grounds to reach Main Street. Then they took a right on Oak Street and passed People’s Pond on their way to the police station.

  Pal tugged Josh toward the pond. He took a few laps of pond water, scaring a frog. The frog plopped into the water and disappeared.

  They found Officer Fallon washing his cruiser behind the police station. He had removed his shoes and socks and rolled up his pant legs.

  “Hey, kids. Hey, Pal,” the police chief said. He dropped a sponge into a bucket, walked over to a bench, and sat down. “Have you come to help me wash my car?”

  The kids sat on the lawn near the bench. Pal crawled under the bench and sighed.

  “Your cruiser doesn’t look very dirty,” Ruth Rose observed.

  Officer Fallon grinned. “It doesn’t really need washing,” he admitted. “I just wanted to come out here and get my feet wet.”

  He wiggled his toes in the grass. “Say, what’s that smell?” Officer Fallon looked under the bench. “Has Pal been rolling in something?”

  “It’s garlic,” Josh said. He pulled the bulb out of his pocket.

  Officer Fallon raised his eyebrows. “What’re you trying to do, keep vam-pires away?” he joked.

  Dink nudged Josh’s leg with his foot. “Tell him, Josh.”

  Josh put the garlic bulb back in his pocket. “We saw this creepy-looking guy in town,” he said, then began telling Officer Fallon the story.

  As he listened to the three kids, Officer Fallon leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “This man in black went into Ellie’s, but didn’t come out again. And then you saw a Band-Aid on Ellie’s neck?”

  “The same thing happened when he went into the Book Nook,” Dink said. “The guy had vanished, and Mr. Paskey had a Band-Aid on his neck!”

  “We found out he’s staying at the Shangri-la,” Josh went on. “And guess what? Mr. Linkletter had on a Band-Aid, too!”

  “The guy we saw signed into the hotel as Dr. A. Cula,” Ruth Rose added. “And that spells Dracula!”

  Officer Fallon’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Well, I’ll be darned!” he said.

  “That’s why we think he’s a vam-pire!” Josh continued.

  Officer Fallon let one of his hands fall on Pal’s head. He rubbed the dog’s ears while he thought.

  “I think I saw the same fellow in town,” Officer Fallon said after a min-ute. “He looked familiar, somehow.”

  “I thought so, too!” Ruth Rose cried. “I could swear I’ve seen his face before today.”

  Officer Fallon stood up. He emptied his bucket and began hosing off his car. “Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll try to find this Dr. Cula and have a talk with him. Will you kids be around?”

  “I’ll be at home,” Ruth Rose said. “I promised to help my mom clean up the basement.”

  “I have to baby-sit the twins,” Josh said. He poked Dink. “And Dink is going to help me.”

  “I am?” said Dink.

  Officer Fallon shut off the hose. “Okay, I’ll let you know what I find out about your vampire,” he said, winking at the kids.

  Dink and Josh walked Ruth Rose to her house on Woody Street. Ruth Rose’s cat, Tiger, was lying on her front porch. Pal tugged on his leash and whined.

  “If you hear anything from Officer Fallon, let me know,” Ruth Rose said, picking up her cat.

  “You too,” Josh said. He patted the garlic bulb in his pocket. “Sure you don’t want to borrow this?”

  “No thanks,” Ruth Rose said. “Tiger here will protect me.” She kissed her cat on the nose and opened her front door.

  Dink, Josh, and Pal headed up Farm Lane. They were at Josh’s house a few minutes later, and Josh let Pal off his leash.

  The boys walked around to the back of the house and entered the kitchen.

  “Hi, Mrs. Pinto,” Dink said.

  “Hello, Dink. Thanks for coming right back, Joshua,” his mom said, grabbing her car keys. “The boys are waiting for you in the barn. They want a ride on Polly.”

  “Cool,” Josh said. He and Dink walked through the garden. Josh pulled up a carrot and wiped the dirt off on his shorts.

  Inside the barn, Brian and Bradley were brushing Polly the pony.

  “Yay! You’re here!” Brian yelled. “I want to ride Polly first!”

  “No, me first,” cried Bradley. “I’m a minute older than you!”

  Josh fed Polly the carrot and rubbed her velvety nose. “You can both ride at the same time,” he said.

  “But I get to ride in front!” Brian said.

  “No, I’m oldest,” said Bradley. “I get to ride in front.”

  Josh looked at Dink. “Help me,” he begged.

  “How about if I flip a coin?” Dink asked. He pulled a quarter from his pocket. “Winner gets to choose who rides in front.”

  “I’ll take heads,” Brian said.

  “So you can have tails,” Dink told Bradley. He flipped the coin in the air and caught it. “It’s tails.”

  “Good, I ride in front!” Bradley said. “I get to steer!”

  “Riding in back is good, too,” Dink said to Brian. “You get to enjoy the ride but don’t have to do any work!”

  “Thanks, Dink,” Josh said. He led Polly to an upside-down wooden box. Bradley climbed on the box, then Josh boosted him onto Polly’s bare back.

  Dink helped Brian up behind his twin brother. “Hold on to Bradley,” Dink said.

  “Let’s run fast!” Bradley yelled.

  “We’re not running,” Josh said. “We’ll take a nice walk down to the river and back. Don’t fall off, you monkeys!”

  “We’re not monkeys!” yelled Brian. “We’re cowboys!”

  Holding Polly’s lead, Josh walked her into the meadow behind the barn. Dink walked next to the pony, making sure the boys didn’t lose their seats.

  Polly clopped along, dipping her head to munch the tops of weeds. Soon they crossed River Road and stopped on a grassy bank of the Indian River.

  “Can we go swimming?” Bradley asked as Polly dipped her muzzle into the water.
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  “No, we’re going back home as soon as Polly gets her drink,” Josh said.

  He and Dink sat on the grass and watched Polly drink.

  “I wonder if Officer Fallon found out anything about Dr. Cula,” Josh said, keeping his voice low so the twins wouldn’t hear.

  The boys sat and thought about the strange man in black.

  “I’ve been thinking about those Band-Aids,” Dink said.

  “What about them?” Josh asked.

  “They were all the same,” Dink replied. “Why would three different people all have the exact same kind of round Band-Aid on their neck?”

  “That is weird,” Josh said after a minute. “You’d think one person might choose a round one but someone else would choose a regular strip, right?”

  “Right,” Dink said.

  “We’re thirsty!” Bradley yelled from Polly’s back.

  Josh stood up and gently pulled Polly’s head away from the water. “Let’s go home, girl,” he said.

  Soon they were back at the barn. Dink helped Brian and Bradley off Polly’s back, and the twins raced toward the house.

  “Let’s go call Ruth Rose and see if she heard from Officer Fallon,” Josh said as he let Polly into the corral.

  Dink and Josh walked across the yard to the kitchen door. The twins were standing in front of the open refrigerator fighting over a carton of apple juice.

  “Freeze!” Josh yelled.

  The boys turned to look at him.

  “Okay, now please hand me the juice, wash your hands, and sit,” Josh said.

  The twins did as they were told, and Josh poured four glasses of juice. He got a box of cookies from a shelf and gave each boy one.

  Josh and Dink took their snacks over to the telephone on the hall table.

  The light on the answering machine was blinking. “Maybe it’s a message from Officer Fallon,” Josh said.

  He hit the PLAY button. But instead of the police chief’s voice, they heard Ruth Rose. She said, “Guys, I figured it out! Meet me at the Shangri-la!”

  Josh looked at Dink. “Figured out what?” he asked.

  “Maybe she figured out who your mystery man is,” Dink said. “Remember, she thought he looked familiar.”