CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Aunt Carolyn, holding the curtains open a few inches, was glancing out one of the front bay windows when they boys came downstairs. “My,” she said, “your fathers certainly picked a terrible day to go camping and fishing. I hope they decide to come back to the lodge.”

“They probably won’t, Aunt Carolyn,” Kevin said. “They’re die-hard campers. And, besides, they brought ponchos and rubber boots and lots of other kinds of rain gear.”

“Well, it doesn’t make much sense to me,” Carolyn went on. Her white hand released the heavy drapes, which fell back into place just as another spike of lightning crackled across the sky. “They could catch terrible colds in weather like this.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Kevin said.

She turned then, with a strange look on her face. Kevin couldn’t believe how pale she was, and her black clothes and long black hair made her look even more pale. “Is your sister coming down?” she asked.

“She’ll be down soon,” Kevin said. “I think she’s up there getting all dressed up.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“She’s got a crush on that Wally guy,” Jimmy said.

“Oh, I see,” Aunt Carolyn coyly remarked. “Well, he seems to be a nice enough young man.”

A nice enough young man? Kevin thought in objection. He’s creepy, just like Bill.

A few minutes later, they were all seated in the big, gloomy dining room. In the high windows, they could see the lightning flashing. Eventually, Becky came down, dressed ridiculously in one of her very best dresses, and her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail with a bow on it. Kevin and Jimmy smiled at each other.

“He’s not here,” Kevin said.

“Who?” Becky smirked her reply.

“Wally, your Prince Charming.”

“Oh, you’re so stupid,” Becky moaned, and sat down.

“And he won’t be here any time soon, either,” Jimmy said. “He’ll probably get washed away in the rain. We just saw him in the woods, digging holes.”

“Digging holes?” Becky said.

“That’s right,” Kevin added on. “In the middle of the woods, in the rain.”

“Why would Wally be digging holes in the woods?” Becky countered from her place at the table. “I’ve never heard anything so stupid in my life. You two are just making it up, like you do everything else.”

“It’s true,” Jimmy said. “We saw him out there about an hour ago.”

“You did not!” Becky exclaimed.

“We did too,” Kevin said.

“What’s this about digging holes?” Aunt Carolyn suddenly remarked, appearing from the kitchen. She set down steaming dinner plates before each other them: t-bone steaks, baked potatoes, buttered lima beans.

Becky smirked. “Kevin and Jimmy said they saw Wally digging in the woods a little while ago.”

“Not just digging,” Kevin corrected. “He was digging a big oblong hole. Coffin shaped.”

“There you go with your stupid vampires again,” Becky scoffed.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything about vampires,” Kevin came right back. “All I said was that the hole was shaped like a coffin, and it was your big lover boy Wally who was digging the hole.”

“Kevin, shut up!”

“Now, kids,” Aunt Carolyn interrupted. “The dinner table is no place to argue.”

But Becky grumbled on, “All Kevin ever talks about is stupid vampires, I’m sick of listening to him.”

Aunt Carolyn looked up very slowly and smiled. “So Kevin’s interested in vampires?”

“Well, sort of,” Kevin admitted. “I think they’re pretty cool.”

Aunt Carolyn’s smile seemed to hover before her face. “Well, then, tonight, before you go to bed, remind me to tell you about the local legend.”

“What local legend?” Kevin asked over his steak.

“The local vampire legend,” Aunt Carolyn said.