Vampire Lodge Read Free Page A

times, and he’d never heard of anyone with those
names.
    “ Aunt Carolyn?” he asked.
“Who are Bill and Wally?”
    “ Oh, of course, you’ve
never met them,” she said. “They’re my new assistants. They take
care of the lodge and the grounds.” Then, oddly, Aunt Carolyn
turned to Kevin’s father and said in a much lower voice, “I had to
let my regular maintenance people go, unfortunately. They charged
too much, and with the decline in guests over the past few years…
well, you know. But Bill and Wally work for a lot
cheaper.”
    And then Kevin’s father nodded
silently, like he understood exactly what Aunt Carolyn meant. Kevin
felt sure they were referring to what he’d heard earlier, about his
aunt not having enough money to keep up the lodge.
    They all followed her into the lodge
then, which was dark and a little dusty. Their footsteps on the
wood-tile floor echoed up through the high foyer and reception
area.
    “ Kind of messy,” Kevin
whispered to Jimmy when they walked in. He could swear that dust
actually drifted up from the floor as they walked in.
    “ It’s a dump, like I told
you,” Becky said. Her frown now seemed to be a permanent part of
her face, and she fussily held her hands up as though touching
anything in the lodge would get her dirty. “My nice new dress is
going to get all dusty and gross.”
    “ You’re the one who’s
gross,” Kevin muttered under his breath.
    “ What!” she said and
glared. “What did you say to me?”
    “ Nothing,” Kevin
muttered.
    “ Hey, Dad,” Becky
complained. “Kevin just said that I was gross!”
    “ Kevin,” Mr. Bennell
scowled. “Don’t call your sister gross.”
    Kevin sighed.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “ I’ve reserved the best
rooms for you,” Aunt Carolyn said.
    “ How many guests do you
have staying right now?” Mr. Grimaldi asked.
    “ Well,” Aunt Carolyn said,
and then she paused as if she were embarrassed. “None at the
moment. Thanksgiving weekend is never a good time for
business.”
    Again Kevin sensed that
Aunt Carolyn was making excuses. He knew that fishing and camping
was big business in most places except for the coldest months of
winter, and, again, this only reminded him of what his father had
hinted at early, that Aunt Carolyn wasn’t making enough
money. Going bust, he thought.
    “ So I guess you and your
friend Mr. Grimaldi will want to be hiking out to the lake, is that
right?”
    “ Yes, we’re looking forward
to it,” Kevin’s father said.
    “ Well let me tell you, it’s
still some of the best fishing you’ll ever find in these
parts.”
    “ Sounds great,” Mr.
Grimaldi said. “I haven’t been to a good fishing spot in
years.”
    “ Hey, Dad?” Jimmy asked.
“How come we can’t go fishing with you and Mr. Bennell?”
    “ Well, son, because the
lake is a good ten-mile hike through the woods, and Mr. Bennell and
I will have to camp out for several days.”
    “ But you kids will have a
great time here at the lodge,” Mr. Bennell added. “With Aunt
Carolyn.”
    “ Oh, yes!” Aunt Carolyn
agreed. “The kids and I will have a wonderful time together.
There’s plenty to do around the lodge. And I hope you boys brought
your kites.”
    “ Yes, Aunt Carolyn,” Kevin
told her. “We got brand-new ones last week.”
    “ Oh, wow, neat!” Jimmy
interrupted when they stepped into the hearth room. The hearth room
had lots of big soft couches arranged around the giant brick
fireplace which was full of burning logs that crackled and popped.
“Look at all the animal heads!” Jimmy said.
    Mounted above the fireplace mantle
were the heads of deer and bears and foxes, and even one moose
head.
    Aunt Carolyn explained, “When I bought
the lodge years ago—twenty years ago, to be exact—it was mainly a
hunting lodge that had sat vacant for a long time, but I don’t
really like the idea of hunting. So I changed it to a fishing and
camping lodge.” Then she pointed to the next wood-paneled wall,