The Vampire's Vacation (5 page)

“Jellybeans? What are you talking about?” Josh asked.

“I think Ruth Rose wrote this list,” Dink said. “And she used Nate’s Party Purple crayon.”

“Oh, yeah, now I remember,” Josh said. “But why would
she
make the list?”

“I don’t know,” Dink said. “And why did Mr. Linkletter let us come up here without giving us a hard time? Why was the door left partly open?”

“Unless Mr. Linkletter and this vam-pire guy are trying to pull something,” Josh said.

Suddenly Josh grabbed Dink’s arm. “Maybe Dr. Cula captured Ruth Rose and forced her to write this list!”

“I suppose that could have happened,” Dink said. He picked up the Band-Aid box and emptied it onto the table. Each Band-Aid was wrapped in thin paper, but Dink could see the round shapes through the paper.

“You know what I think?” Dink asked.

Josh shook his head. “I can’t think at all,” he said. “My brain feels fried.”

“I think these Band-Aids belong to Dr. Cula,” Dink said. “And I think he gave one to Ellie. Then he gave Mr. Paskey and Mr. Linkletter theirs, too.”

“After he bit their necks?” asked Josh.

“I don’t think he bit anybody,” Dink said.

“Then why would he give them Band-Aids?”

“Good question,” Dink said. He set the box on top of the purple list. “And I think we’ll get the answer when we find Ruth Rose.”

Josh scratched his head. “But … that doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “How could Ruth Rose know anything? She’s just as confused as we are about what’s going on.”

Dink shook his head. “No, her phone message said she’d figured it out,” he said.

“So where is she?” Josh asked. “And where’s the guy who checked into this room, whoever he is?”

“Well, they’re not here,” Dink said, glancing around the room. “Let’s see if we can get any more information from Mr. Linkletter.”

Just as the boys stepped through the door, they heard the ping of the elevator.

Dink yanked Josh back into the room. He shut the door, and they bolted
toward the closet. The two boys jumped into the closet and pulled the door closed.

Inside the dark closet, Dink hid behind the cape, tugging Josh with him.

With their backs to the wall, they listened. Next to him, Dink felt Josh shaking.

Dink could hardly hear anything other than his own racing heartbeat. Then he heard a door open and close. Feet whispered across carpet. Something creaked, a chair or the bed. Then only silence.

“They’re not here,” Dink heard a voice whisper.

“Unless they’re hiding in the closet,” a different voice responded.

Dink tried to push through the wall behind him. He tried to shrink. He closed his eyes and willed himself to become invisible. Nothing worked.

Suddenly the door was yanked open.

“Come on out, you two,” said a familiar voice.

Dink opened his eyes and peeked from behind the vampire’s cape.

Ruth Rose was standing in the open closet doorway with a big grin on her face.

Ruth Rose backed up as Dink and Josh stepped out of the closet. Behind her, five other people were in the room.

Ellie was leaning against the wall, wearing her uniform and apron.

Mr. Paskey and Mr. Linkletter were sitting on the edge of the bed.

Officer Fallon was sitting in the big chair in the corner.

The fifth person was Dr. A. Cula, dressed all in black. He had taken off his dark glasses and was sitting on the floor, leaning against the desk.

Everyone was smiling at Dink and
Josh and watching their faces.

“What’s going on?” Josh asked.

The man in black stood up and stuck out his hand. “I’m Jimmy Jett,” he said. “Hi, Dink. Hi, Josh.”

Confused, Dink and Josh shook the man’s hand.

“He’s an actor, not a vampire,” Ruth Rose said. She held up a magazine. It showed a picture of Jimmy Jett wearing the same black clothes. A caption read: JIMMY JETT JUMPS AT CHANCE TO PLAY DRACULA.

“I have a new movie coming out,” Jimmy Jett said. “I play Dracula.”

“Remember I said he looked famil-iar?” Ruth Rose asked. “I saw this when we were helping my mom with the old newspapers. I totally forgot until I saw Jimmy on TV when I went home after we talked to Officer Fallon.”

Dink had a hundred questions, but he didn’t know which one to ask first.
He did ask, “Can we sit down? I don’t know about Josh, but my legs feel all wobbly.”

Mr. Linkletter made room on the bed. “Sit here,” he said.

After Dink and Josh were comfortable, Officer Fallon took over from Ruth Rose.

“When you kids left me, I came over here to meet this mysterious man in black.” He waved at Jimmy Jett, who grinned. “I found him and Mr. Linkletter together, chatting like old friends. That’s
when I learned that your ‘vampire’ was an actor from New York.”

Jimmy made a little bow. “I’m sorry if I scared you kids,” he said. “I was on my way to Vermont for a little vacation. Green Lawn looked like a nice place to stop, so I did. I went into the super-market to buy a few things. When I saw you following me, I decided to have some fun.”

“You knew we were following you?” Dink asked.

Jimmy grinned. “Oh, yes. I thought
you recognized me and that you knew about my new Dracula movie.”

“But we didn’t know,” Josh said. “I thought you were a real vampire biting people’s necks. We saw the Band-Aids!”

Jimmy nodded. “I always pack Band-Aids when I travel, in case I nick myself shaving,” he said. “When I spotted you following me, I got an idea. That’s why I went into Ellie’s Diner.”

Jimmy looked at Ellie. “You want to take over?” he asked.

Ellie smiled. “There I was, polishing my glass case,” she said. “I looked up, and Jimmy Jett was standing in my diner! I recognized him right away and asked for his autograph.”

“Instead, I handed her a Band-Aid,” Jimmy said, cutting into Ellie’s story. “I told her three kids were following me and I wanted to play a prank about being a vampire.”

Ellie laughed. “I let Jimmy leave
through the back of the diner, and I stuck on the Band-Aid just as you kids walked in.”

“The same thing happened to you, right, Mr. Paskey?” Dink asked.

Everyone looked at Mr. Paskey.

“That’s right, Dink,” he said. “Jimmy came in, explained who he was, and handed me a Band-Aid to put on my neck. He left through my back door just as you kids came in through the front.”

Josh laughed. “Boy, were we fooled,” he said to Jimmy.

“What about that book,
Vampires Among Us
?” Dink asked.

“I thought that would be a nice touch,” Mr. Paskey said. “I lent the book to Jimmy, making it look as if he had taken it off my shelf and left the money for it.”

“You guys are awesome!” Josh said.

Jimmy made a little bow. “The last step was when I got back to my hotel,”
he said. “Mr. Linkletter already knew who I was. I had signed in as Dr. A. Cula because I use that name in the movie.”

Dink looked at Ruth Rose. “What about that list?” he asked. “And Nate’s purple crayon?”

Ruth Rose laughed. “When I finally figured out who Dr. Cula really was, I came right here to the hotel,” she said. “I had Nate’s crayon in my pocket.”

“And she forced me to tell all,” the actor said with good humor. “I asked her if she’d like to help me with my prank.”

“That’s when I made that phone call to get you here,” Ruth Rose said. “I wrote the list of names to scare you into thinking we were next!”

“And it worked!” Josh said.

“So you were all in it together,” Dink said, looking at Officer Fallon. “Even you!”

“Only at the very end,” Officer Fallon
said. “After Ruth Rose left her message on Josh’s machine, I got Ellie and Mr. Paskey to join us here. Mr. Linkletter hid us all in his office until you’d gone up in the elevator.”

A small smile appeared under Mr. Linkletter’s mustache. “Will you boys forgive me?” he asked.

The long black limo pulled up in front of a theater in New York City. The driver came around and opened the passenger door.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“Please wait here for your escort,” the driver told the kids. “I’ll be back after the movie to pick you up.”

The kids thanked the driver and watched him pull the long limo back into traffic.

“This is so cool,” Josh said. All around him people were streaming into
the theater. Over their heads a large marquee announced the name of the movie:
DRACULA’S DAUGHTER
.

“It was nice of Jimmy to invite us,” Ruth Rose said.

“And feed us!” Josh said, patting his stomach. “I never had a picnic in a limo before.”

“Maybe this is our escort,” Dink said as a woman in a red uniform approached them.

“Are you Mr. Jett’s friends from Connecticut?” she asked.

“Yes!” said Ruth Rose.

“Great, then follow me,” the woman said. She led them into the theater and then to a bank of elevators.

“You’ll be sitting in a special viewing box,” the woman said as their elevator rose.

The elevator stopped, and the kids followed the escort down a quiet carpeted hallway to a small door. “Right in here,” she said, and pushed the door open.

The kids walked into a small room with four seats. From here, the kids could see the screen and the rest of the audience.

“Enjoy the movie,” the woman said. She closed the door and left them alone in the box seats.

The kids sat in the comfortable seats and looked around. On both sides, vel-vet drapes separated them from people in other box seats.

“I just can’t believe we’re actually
here,” Josh whispered with awe.

“We wouldn’t be if you hadn’t seen Jimmy Jett in the supermarket,” Ruth Rose said.

“Admit it,” Dink said to Josh with a grin. “Did you really think he was a vampire?”

Before Josh could answer, the theater lights dimmed. Down below, the audience became quiet.

The curtain in front of the screen slowly parted, and creepy music began to play.

Behind the kids, the small door opened again. A man in a black cape entered the box. He sat down in the fourth seat, which happened to be next to Josh.

Josh turned. “Is that you, Jimmy?” he asked.

The man smiled, revealing long white fangs.

Dink gasped, and Ruth Rose giggled.

The man took out his fake fangs. “Yeah, it’s me,” Jimmy Jett said. “I brought these for you.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out three sets of vampire fangs.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose slipped the fangs into their mouths just as the movie started.