Later that night the Aldens sat in the living room each with a mug of hot chocolate and plate of cookies. Henry opened The Legend of the Vampire to Chapter One. He began to read.
The cemetery on Whittaker Street was dark and cold. Martha stood by the gate and pulled her coat close around her body. She wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck. A chill ran down her spine, and she turned just in time to see a strange man in a long, dark cape gliding toward her neighbor’s quaint little house. At first she had hoped that it was Francis, coming home after all these years. But when she saw the pale, white skin, the blood red lips, and the piercing black eyes of the stranger, she knew that it was not Francis. Those eyes held her for a moment and as they did, Martha felt the blood pounding through her veins. Was it fear or excitement that made her heart flutter so violently? Just as suddenly as he arrived, the stranger disappeared into her neighbor’s basement, so quickly that it seemed he simply melted himself through the walls.
“Oh my!” cried Mrs. McGregor standing in the doorway. “What a frightening book to be reading before bed. It would give me nightmares!”
Benny rubbed his eyes and yawned. “We’re looking for clues to a mystery in the story. Strange things are happening at Mr. Hudson’s house.”
“I’ve heard about it,” Mrs. McGregor said. “Oh yes, and a man named Josh called a few minutes ago. He said Mr. Hudson is coming home tomorrow. It seems he didn’t need to stay as long as he’d planned. Also, Josh said you left milk on the table and mud on the porch.”
The children looked at each other.
“We’ll go over there first thing in the morning.” Jessie said.
Henry nodded. “We need to tell Mr. Hudson someone was in his house.”
Mrs. McGregor held a bag of mini marshmallows in her hand. “Also, I thought you might like to have some of these in your hot chocolates. Goodnight, children.”
They all thanked Mrs. McGregor and wished her a good night.
Jessie reached for the marshmallows and sprinkled a few on the top of her hot chocolate. “Josh must have been at Mr. Hudson’s house tonight.”
“But why would he go over there so late?” wondered Violet.
Henry shrugged. “It does seem odd. I doubt he’d to show the house to a buyer late at night.”
Benny dropped a few marshmallows into his mug and a whole handful into his mouth. “Maybe he was looking for the vampire.”
Henry stood to take a cookie from the platter and The Legend of the Vampire fell to the floor. When he picked it up, he saw something sticking out from the pages. It was an old black-and-white photograph. The edges were a little crumpled, and a crease ran down one side.
“Look at this!”
Jessie, Violet, and Benny crowded around the photo in Henry’s hand.
“That’s Mr. Hudson’s house!” Violet pointed to the home that was in the background of the photo.
“Who do you think those two boys are?” asked Benny.
Two young children were posed in front of the porch. One looked to be about Henry’s age, fourteen, and the other one seemed to be a little younger than Benny The younger boy had his hand resting on the seat of a shiny, new bicycle.
Violet gasped. She pointed to the older boy. “That must be Mr. Hudson.”
“I’m sure you’re right!” Jessie exclaimed. “And the other one must be his little brother.”
Benny’s fingers were sticky from the marshmallows, so he did not touch the photo. But he pointed at the two boys. “They sure do look an awful lot alike.”
“Yes,” Violet agreed. “If they were the same age, I would think they were twins.”
“But how did the picture get in the book?” Benny wondered. “Do you think it was stuck in that book in the library for all those years?”
Henry turned the photo over in his hand. “No. I don’t think it was in the book before today. See this crease mark? I think the photo was folded and carried in someone’s wallet for a long time.”
Henry pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He slid the picture in and out of the billfold. “See? When it is folded at the crease, this photo fits perfectly in a wallet. You wouldn’t need to fold it if you were going to keep it in a book.”
“That makes a lot of sense, Henry,” Violet said.
“Look, there’s some faded writing on the bottom.” Jessie took the picture and held it up to the light. “It’s hard to read.”
Benny ran from the room and quickly returned with a magnifying glass that he had gotten as a gift on his last birthday. “This will help!” he cried.
“Thanks, Benny.” Henry held the magnifying glass over the faded writing. It helped the children see the faded ink. Slowly, the Aldens puzzled out each letter.
“‘Charles!’” Jessie exclaimed. “The first word is “‘Charles!’”
“Mr. Hudson’s first name is Charles,” Violet remembered.
“A … n … d,” Benny read. “‘And!’ I know that word.”
Violet smiled. “Good job, Benny.”
The last word was the most faded. Before long, though, the Aldens had spelled “F-r-a-n-c-i-s.”
“Francis must be Mr. Hudson’s younger brother,” Jessie said.
Henry was paging through The Legend of the Vampire, checking to see if any more pictures could be stuck between its pages. He did not find any. He paused at the dedication page. “Look at this.”
Jessie read aloud: “‘This book is dedicated to my dear brother, Francis.’”
“We didn’t even have to read the book to find clues in it!” Benny exclaimed.
Henry set the book back on the table with the picture carefully placed inside. “We’ll have a lot to tell Mr. Hudson when we see him tomorrow morning.” |