CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Later, they all sat around the big, roaring fire in the fireplace. Everyone was there: the two fathers, Wally, Becky, Kevin, Jimmy, and, of course, Aunt Carolyn. Kevin’s dad was explaining why they turned back in the first place. “The weather was so bad, it rained almost the entire time we were out. We didn’t catch a single fish!”

“And it was just too cold,” Mr. Grimaldi added, “so this morning we packed up our gear and headed back, and that’s when we came across the ranger’s station, and he let us use his phone.”

Kevin’s father chuckled, grabbing a handful of hot popcorn. “Yeah, I guess we’re not exactly the greatest campers and fishermen in the world.”

“But it’s a good thing you came back when you did,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah,” Kevin added. “You really saved the day!”

“Don’t be modest, Kevin,” Aunt Carolyn said. “You’re the one who figured out the mystery, put all the pieces together, and found the hidden gold. That was clever of old Count Volkov. Stashing the gold in a coffin, and hiding it behind that painting of the forked tree.”

“And that’s really something, isn’t it?” Kevin’s father observed next. “The old local legend, in a way, turned out to be true. Count Volkov had the townspeople believing that he really was a vampire, so naturally they wouldn’t dream of coming near the lodge to try and steal his gold.”

“And since Bill Bitner grew up in this area,” Aunt Carolyn said, “he was obviously familiar with the legend too, so that’s why he offered to work for me. And no wonder this place got to looking so rundown. Bill was out in the woods every day looking for the treasure when he was supposed to be fixing up the lodge!”

“And he had me digging out there too,” Wally said, “lying to me about some broken water pipe. I knew there was something funny about that guy.”

“Well, now that Mr. Bitner’s gone,” Aunt Carolyn said, “I hope that you’ll stay and continue to work for me as my maintenance man.”

“Sure,” Wally said. “I’d be happy to.”

Becky, of course, wasn’t saying much of anything. She was sitting right next to Wally, all gussied up in one of her best dresses, and she looked like she was in dreamland.

“All right everyone,” Aunt Carolyn announced and stood up. “Come over here. I have something to show you.”

They all got up and followed Aunt Carolyn to the dining room. What’s this? Kevin thought when he looked. A sheet lay across the big, hardwood dining room table, and he could see lumps underneath the sheets.

Then Aunt Carolyn pulled the sheet off, to reveal six shining gold bricks sitting on the table. “Kevin, Jimmy, Becky, Wally,” Aunt Carolyn said next. “Here’s my gift. One gold brick for each of you.”

“Wow! Thanks!” the four of them said nearly at the same time.

“Really, Carolyn,” Kevin’s father said. “That’s not necessary.”

“Right,” Jimmy’s father agreed. “It’s your gold, free and legal. You’ll need it to get the lodge repaired properly and to fix up the grounds.”

But Aunt Carolyn wouldn’t hear of it. “No, no, I insist,” she said. “I want each of the kids to have one. You can exchange the bricks for money at any bank, then you can deposit the money in a savings account for them. Each brick will easily pay for their college educations and leave them each with a nice little nest-egg for the future. Plus, a brick for your fathers. I’ll still have more than enough left to pay the repairs and refurbishment of the lodge and the camp grounds.”

Carolyn,” Kevin’s father repeated. “You really shouldn’t.”

“I told you, I insist!”

And that was that.

The mystery was solved now, and it was Kevin who had solved it.

“But one thing, Kevin,” Aunt Carolyn added, smiling. “I hope by now you understand that there really are no such things as vampires.”

“You bet!” Kevin exclaimed as everyone around him laughed. Then he looked at the gold on the table again, and all at once it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him when he realized:

We’re all rich!