The Little Vampire (12 page)

“What an old goat!” snorted Anna. “What did you write about in the end?”

“Something I saw on the television once.”

“Did she notice?”

“No, she thought it was quite lively and realistic, and gave me five out of ten.”

“Huh!” said Anna. “You’d have got ten out of ten for a vampire story! What
about your parents? Don’t they believe in us?”

Tony shook his head. “They least of all. But they would like to meet you. You’ve been invited to tea.”

“Really?” Anna’s face lit up. “At last I’ll be able to meet your parents, Tony!” She clapped her hands and gave a little jump. “Are they as nice as you?”

“Er, I suppose so.” Tony was embarrassed.

“When can we come?”

“Next Wednesday?” suggested
Tony. It was the first day that came into his head. “Do you think Rudolph will come too?”

“I’ll ask him at once,” she said, and jumped up onto the window-sill. “Bye then – see you on Wednesday.”

“W-wait a minute,” stuttered Tony. “Are you really going to come?”

“You bet!” she smiled, and vanished.

Final Preparations

“Come on, Tony,” said his mother the following Wednesday. “Help me whip this cream.”

“It’s much too early still,” protested Tony.

“Nonsense! It’s almost five o’clock.”

“That makes no difference. They always have an afternoon rest.”

His mother gave him a searching look. “I’m sure even you don’t really believe that.”

“Yes, I promise it’s true. It’s good for their health.”
What a business it all was! He did not think vampires ever got up before sunset, and that would mean they might not arrive until eight o’clock! And Mum was already putting the kettle on and heating the milk for the cocoa!

“Er, Mum,” began Tony. “I think I ought to explain, er, they might not come until eight o’clock.”

“Come on now, Tony,” said his mother. “It’s almost your bedtime at eight.”

“I know,” replied Tony.

“Well – don’t Rudolph and Anna have to go to bed as well?”

“No,” said Tony, trying not to laugh.

“Funny way to bring up kids,” grumbled his mother. “What’s going to happen to all the tea?” She waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the kettle and the pan of milk. “Everything’s nearly ready.”

“We could have our tea now, and then have some apple juice later on,” suggested
Tony.

“What about getting up for school tomorrow morning?”

“Oh, come on, Mum, just this once,” pleaded Tony.

“Well, all right,” she conceded. “But I’m not at all pleased, and I’m only saying yes because I’m dying to meet these strange friends of yours.”

Tony gave a quiet sigh of relief.

“What about all these cakes?” she went on.

“I’ll eat them,” offered Tony. His mother had bought cream
buns again, and this time there were eight of them! At least it would make up for the last time, when Nigel had scoffed the lot, and he had not had any.

“You may have two,” said his mother. “Then we’ll have the rest later this evening.”

“Great!” Tony could hardly believe his luck. Not only had his mother agreed to let him stay up late, but now he was getting two extra buns as well!

“Here, you
can have some cocoa too,” said his mother, handing him a steaming mugful.

“Mmm, thanks.” Tony took the mug and the buns and went off to his room. He had already finished his homework, so he could read in peace – and in just about three hours, the party would begin!

A Lively Evening

S
HORTLY AFTER EIGHT, THE
front door bell rang. Tony had been looking at the clock every few minutes for the past half hour, and now a shiver of expectancy ran through him. He hoped all would go well, and that Rudolph really had come as well. What would his parents say? Tony was so excited that his legs nearly would not carry him out of his room.

His parents had already opened
the door. “Good evening,” he heard Rudolph say in his grating voice, followed almost immediately by Anna’s piping: “Hello!”

“Good evening!” replied his mother, taking a couple of steps backwards. “Come in!”

“So here you are at last!” Father was doing his best to sound welcoming, but even his blustery voice sounded rather taken aback. He had a good reason: Rudolph and Anna looked quite a sight.
They had put rouge on their cheeks and smeared red lipstick on their lips. Their faces, which were normally chalk-white, were caked with brownish powder, but it had been put on in patches, so that there were still places where white gleamed through. The penetrating smell of ‘Fragrant Earth’ hung pungently about the pair of them.

“This is for you,” said Rudolph, holding out a bunch of greenery
to Tony’s mother.

“Thank you,” she murmured, fingering the stems gingerly. They had clearly been torn from a hedge somewhere.

“Aren’t they pretty?” said Anna. “There are plenty like that growing at home.”

“Ssh!” Rudolph hissed at her furiously. It was clear even to Tony that the sprigs were from the box hedge which grew in the cemetery.

“I’ll go and put them in water,” said his mother, disappearing
into the kitchen.

“Where is Tony, I wonder?” said Dad.

“Here,” replied Tony, who had been watching their meeting from a distance.

“Tony!” said Anna, her face reddening. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” said Tony, and he blushed an equally deep crimson.

“Hello, Tony,” said Rudolph, shaking him by the hand. Rudolph’s hand felt cold and knobbly, like the hand of a skeleton. It was the first time
that Tony had ever touched Rudolph’s hand, and it made him shiver. Perhaps it was because they both looked so strange and unfamiliar tonight. They must have come straight from the vault, in which case they could not have had anything to eat. In fact, Rudolph was looking pretty drained and weak.

“Er, are you hungry?” Tony asked cautiously.

“Yes,” said Rudolph. “Very.”

“Come on in then,” said
Tony’s father, trying to sound jovial. “Everything’s ready. There are some buns and fruit juice.” He led the way into the living room.

“Is there milk as well?” whispered Anna. Tony nodded.

His parents had laid the table with the best china, and decorated it with paper napkins and candles – everything looked lovely … except the two visitors. The same thought must have occurred to Anna, who looked
rather embarrassed and wandered uncertainly round the table.

“How pretty it looks!” she said. “We never have anything like this at home.”

“Ssh!” frowned Rudolph.

“Why shouldn’t I say that?” argued Anna. She turned to Tony’s father and said, “It’s true. We always eat out.”

“Do you?” said Tony’s mother conversationally, returning with the box sprigs in a vase. “It must get very expensive to eat out all the time.”

“Actually, it’s quite cheap.” Rudolph
could not help smiling, and for a moment his pointed teeth were revealed. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

“That box does smell odd,” remarked Tony’s father. “Shall I open a window?”

“No, I’d rather you didn’t,” said Mum. “Otherwise those moths will get in.”

“Moths?” giggled Rudolph. “I love moths!”

“Well, I don’t,” said Tony’s mother firmly.

“Bats are even better. They have such
sweet faces.”

“Ugh!” shivered Tony’s mother.

“Or vampires!” Anna could not resist the suggestion, and this time it was too much for Rudolph. He broke into a peal of laughter, but as he still had his hand over his mouth, he soon ran out of air and began to choke.

“Are you all right?” asked Mum, but Rudolph could only cough.

“Wait a minute!” said Tony’s mother, and ran to the kitchen, returning
with a glass of water. “Drink this – you’ll feel much better.”

By this time, Rudolph was coughing so badly that he did not notice that Tony’s mother was holding a glass to his lips. But he had barely tasted the first drop before he sprang up, and ran into the hallway, sneezing and spluttering.

“You poor thing!” said Tony’s mother, hurrying after him.

Anna looked at Tony and grinned. “What can
you expect?” she said. “Water on an empty stomach ...”

At this point, Tony’s mother came back. “He’s locked himself in the bathroom,” she said, “and there are the most terrible noises coming from inside!”

To soothe her, Anna said calmly, “It’s only because he’s so hungry.”

This did not seem a very adequate explanation to Tony’s mother, but his father asked: “Haven’t either of you had anything
to eat then?”

Anna shook her head.

“Well, come on, come on.” He held out the plate of cream buns, and Anna took one.

“Go on, then,” urged Tony’s father. “No need to wait!”

“I, er, don’t like cake,” she said.

“Oh. Well, just eat the cream then,” said Tony’s father.

“Would you like some apple juice?” asked Tony’s mother.

“No thank you. It gives me a tummy ache.”

“What do you like to drink
then?”

“Milk, if you have any.”

“Of course,” said Tony’s mother. “I’ll fetch some.”

As she went into the hall she let out a cry. “Rudolph’s disappeared!” she exclaimed, and Tony heard her hurrying around anxiously, opening all the doors. “How could he have got out of the flat?”

“Through the front door?” suggested Dad helpfully.

“No!” wailed Mum. “We would have noticed him.”

“Perhaps we just
weren’t looking at the right moment?”

“Don’t be silly!” insisted Mum. “He would have had to have gone right past the living room door.”

“Well, he must have flown then,” said Dad crossly.

“Who knows?” said Mum. “Tony’s bedroom window is open.”

“What?” exclaimed Tony. He had not opened it! But of course, he must not let the others know that. “Oh, yes, I left it open,” he added hurriedly.

“There
you are! A perfectly reasonable explanation,” said his father.

If only he knew. Mum had nearly hit the nail on the head, as usual.

“I suppose I just haven’t looked in the right place,” said Mum in a small voice, sitting down once more.

Dad turned to Anna. “Your brother can’t fly, can he?” he asked.

“Of course not!” said Anna.

“I knew it! You see, Hilary? The things you dream up!”

Tony’s
mother looked at Anna warily. Tony wondered if she was suspicious; his father would never notice a thing, but Mum was different ...

“May I have my milk?” asked Anna.

“Oh, of course. I’d forgotten,” said Tony’s mother. “Tony, be a dear and fetch it.” Grudgingly Tony got to his feet.

“Milk is very good for you,” said Anna. “It makes you strong.”

Tony returned with the milk, and put the glass
down in front of her. “Thank you!” She smiled, and emptied the glass in one gulp.

For a moment, nobody said anything. Then Dad remarked, “So you have a fancy dress costume too?”

“Yes,” nodded Anna, not at all abashed.

“Where do you hold all these Halloween parties?”

“In private,” said Anna, looking smug. Tony looked at her admiringly. He would never have thought of such a good answer on the
spur of the moment like that.

“I would like to see what you look like without your fancy dress costume on,” said Tony’s father.

Tony’s heart nearly stopped beating, but Anna simply shrugged her shoulders casually and said, “Oh, not much different. Perhaps a bit prettier.”

“Prettier?” Tony’s father laughed hollowly. “You’re certainly not vain, anyway!”

“No,” agreed Anna.

“Or shy.”

Anna looked
at Tony. “Sometimes I am,” she said.

“So you and your brother always go to these parties?”

“Yes. We do nearly everything together.”

“Don’t you ever quarrel?”

“Of course. He has a very old-fashioned outlook on certain things.”

“Really? Such as?”

“Oh – anything to do with girls. He thinks boys are tougher than girls.”

“Aren’t they?” asked Dad.

“Don’t tell me you agree with him?” said Anna
crossly, her face turning quite red.

“No, no,” soothed Tony’s father, “but you must admit most girls would rather wear pretty dresses than go off climbing trees and getting themselves in a mess.”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong!” said Anna fiercely. “Why do girls wear pretty dresses? Only because their mothers like to dress them up. And then they don’t climb trees because they are not supposed
to get their clothes dirty.”

“Exactly,” agreed Tony’s mother.

“But what about boys?” went on Tony’s father. “Boys play with cars, and girls play with dolls.”

Anna looked exasperated. “You just don’t understand,” she said.

“What do you think, Tony?” asked his father.

Tony hesitated. “I think girls are stupid who are always giggling and get knocked over, even when they’re just playing netball!”

“Well, I think boys are silly who never let girls play football with them!” declared Anna.

“Is your brother like that?” asked Tony’s mother.

Anna nodded. “Even though the first of our line was a lady.”

“What did you say? The first in your line? Are you just stringing us along?” joked Dad.

Tony went hot and cold all over. Now Anna really had gone too far. But no, she was not so easily disturbed.
“I meant our first ancestor,” she explained. “She was called Cleo Hermione Victoria Charlotte Sabina Sackville-Bagg, the vampire.”