CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kevin decided not to tell Jimmy about the secret door and passageway—Jimmy sometimes had a big mouth, and Kevin thought it best to keep things to himself, at least until he could find out more about what was going on. So instead he came right back to the kitchen and helped Jimmy put away the rest of the dishes.

“Did you find anything back in that hallway?” Jimmy asked him, hanging up the dish towel.

“A couple more weird paintings,” Kevin said, and that was where he would leave it for now. “It sounds like the rain has finally stopped. Let’s go walk around outside.”

“Okay,” Jimmy agreed. “Not much else to do right now.”

They pulled on their coats and headed for the front door, but as they passed the big hearth room and the crackling fireplace, they noticed Becky sitting on the couch, talking to Wally, who was stoking up the fire with an iron rod. Becky had a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes as she listened to Wally.

“Looks like your sister is in love,” Jimmy said when they stepped out onto the front porch.

“She falls in love every week,” Kevin complained. “Thinks she’s the greatest girl in town. But I’m sure Wally the Lover Boy will find out what a nag she is real soon.”

Outside, a chill wind gripped them, brushing across their faces and blowing down their collars. The night sky was full of cloudy black murk; not a single star could be seen, and of course there was no sign of the moon either. Leaves fell steadily from the high trees around the lodge.

“How come your aunt seems to disappear all the time?” Jimmy asked as they rounded a stand of floodlit hedges.

That’s a good question, Kevin thought, but he kept it to himself. “I guess, like she said, she’s got a lot of stuff to do around the lodge, you know, upkeep and stuff like that.”

“But there aren’t even any guests,” Jimmy observed, “except for us.”

“Yeah, I know. But there’s still lots of stuff to do, I guess, probably a lot of paperwork and taxes, things like that.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

More bright floodlights lit the side of the lodge as they walked around. When they looked up they could see smoke pouring slowly out of the tall brick chimney. They continued to walk around, their hands jammed down in their coat pockets. Kevin expected the back of the lodge to be lit up by floodlights too but he found he was wrong the minute they turned the corner.

The back was pitch-dark.

Wind rustled the leaves in the trees. They glanced up at the back of the building, noticing only a few windows lit up.

“Look,” Kevin said. He pointed up the great dark face of the back of the lodge, to the far corner of the second floor. There, they could see the lit french doors and balcony. “There’s our room.”

Jimmy peered up, squinting. “Oh, yeah, you’re right. I guess they only have the balconies on the corners.”

Just then, though, both Kevin and Jimmy flinched. Several small, barely seen shapes seemed to flutter past their faces.

“What was—”

`”—that?” Kevin finished.

A chittery sound could be heard very faintly above them, like a rapid squeaking noise. Then the shapes fluttered past a second time.

“Are those… birds?” Jimmy asked.

“No,” Kevin finally realized. “They’re bats!”

“Run!” Jimmy shouted.

And they ran, all right. They ran as fast as they could back toward the side of the lodge where the bright floodlights glowed. But before they could make it completely out of the darkness, and with the circles of bats still squeaking above their heads—

A tall, dark figure quickly stepped out in front of them, blocking their way…