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.
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:
CHAPTER EPILOGUE
They drove back home the next morning. It was a crisp, clear autumn day without a raincloud in the sky. “It figures,” Kevin’s father said when they pulled up in the driveway to their house. “The day we leave is the day the weather turns perfect for fishing.”
“And kite flying,” Kevin added.
Oh, well. But going to Aunt Carolyn’s had turned out to be fun in spite of the lousy weather. Fun—and exciting, if not a little
Becky pouted as they got out and began to remove their luggage. “Wally was just so cool,” she lamented. “I guess I won’t see him again till next year.”
“Boo-hoo,” Kevin mocked, hoisting his suitcase.
“Shut up, you stupe!” Becky yelled.
“Becky,” Kevin’s father ordered, “don’t call your brother a stupe.”
Kevin silently stuck his tongue out at her.
Later, Jimmy came back over, and he and Kevin took the opportunity to finally fly their kites in Kevin’s big back yard.
The day was perfect for it, a good wind and—for once!—no rain or lightning.
“This is great, isn’t it?” Jimmy celebrated, pulling on his string. Their kites must’ve gotten up to several hundred feet.
“It sure is,” Kevin said.
“But it’s too bad we can’t be out on the bluffs.”
“Yeah, but we’ll get to go next year.”
Their kites rose even higher in the clear sky. And just then, Becky came out the sliding door into the long back yard.
“Hey,
Kevin fumed. “I told you not to call me that! What do you want?”
“I just wanted to let you know that there’s a vampire movie coming on right now.”
And then the rest of the thought fell off. “Watch it yourself,” he told Becky. “I’m going to stay out here and fly my kite some more.”
Edward Lee has had more than 40 books published in the horror and suspense field, including CITY INFERNAL, THE GOLEM, and BLACK TRAIN. His movie, HEADER was released on DVD by Synapse Films, in June, 2009. Recent releases include the stories, “You Are My Everything” and “The Cyesologniac,” the Lovecraftian novella “Trolley No. 1852,” and the hardcore novel HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD. Currently, Lee is working on HEADER 3.
Although primarily known for his adult horror, this is Edward Lee’s second young reader novel. If you enjoyed this book please check out his other young reader novel,
Edward Lee lives Tampa, FL. Visit him online at:
www.edwardleeonline.com
