The Traveling Vampire Show

I said, “Make it holy water.”

“There’s an idea,” Slim said.

Rusty frowned. He didn’t get it. So we both tried to explain to him about vampires and holy water while we crossed to the sidewalk and turned toward my house.

When we finished, he said, “I knew that.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

Mom’s car was gone from the driveway. The house seemed empty when we entered it, but I called out anyway and got no answer.

“She must’ve gone somewhere,” I muttered. It seemed odd that Mom would leave the house this late in the afternoon.

“Maybe she went to the store,” Slim suggested.

“Maybe.” That didn’t seem likely, since she’d done her grocery shopping that very morning. But maybe she’d forgotten to pick up buns or something, and decided to make a last-minute run.

On the kitchen table, I found a note in Mom’s handwriting.

Honey,

Your father just called from the hospital He has been hurt, but he tells me it is nothing to worry about. I am going to be with him. Don’t know when I’ll be back Go ahead and eat without us. Burgers are in the fridge. I’ll call when I can.

Try not to worry, your dad’s fine.

Love,

Mom

Slim and Rusty watched in silence while I read the message a couple of times. It gave me a cold lump in my stomach. When I finished with it, I said, “My dad’s in the hospital.”

Slim winced. “What’s wrong with him?”

Shaking my head, I handed the note to her. Rusty stepped up close beside her and they read it together.

“He can’t be very bad,” Slim said. “He was in good enough shape to phone your mom.”

“But he can’t be that good,” Rusty said, “or he wouldn’t be at the hospital.”

Scowling, I shook my head.

Slim put down the note. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered.

“Want us to go away?” Rusty asked.

“No. Huh-uh.” I pulled out a chair and sank onto it. “Why couldn’t Mom tell me what’s wrong with him?”

“She said he’s fine,” Slim pointed out.

“He can’t be fine.”

She picked up the note and stared at it for a while. “Your dad got hurt,” she said, “but he’s fine. That’s what it says.”

“Doesn’t make any sense,” I muttered.

“‘Got hurt,’ ” Slim said. “Your mom wouldn’t have worded it that way if he’d had something like a heart attack. Sounds like maybe he had an accident.”

“Or got shot,” Rusty suggested.

Slim gave him a dirty look. “Whatever happened,” she said, “it’s nothing really serious but he does need some sort of treatment.”

“Why couldn’t she just tell me?” I blurted. “He must’ve told her.”

“I don’t know,” Slim muttered.

“Maybe she thought it’d scare you,” Rusty said.

“But it’s not supposed to scare me not being told?” Slim put her hand on my back. It made me feel better, but not a whole lot. “We don’t have to wait for your mom to call. Why don’t we phone police headquarters? I bet somebody there can tell us what happened.”

I checked the kitchen clock.

“Dolly’ll still be on duty,” I said.

“So?” Slim asked.

I shook my head. Much as I hated the idea of talking to Dolly, I stood up and headed for the wall phone.

Rusty met my eyes. He looked as if he were in pain, himself. “Or you could call the hospital,” he said.

“How do we know which one?” Slim asked.

While the town of Grandville had a hospital of its own, the county hospital over in Clarksburg was better equipped for major emergencies. In nearby Bixton was a Catholic hospital staffed mostly by nuns. People from our area could end up in any one of them, depending on one thing or another.

“Start with the nearest,” Rusty suggested.

“Easier to ask Dolly,” Slim said.

We hadn’t gotten around to telling her about our run-in with the vicious little dispatcher. Under the circumstances, however, I figured Dolly would be sympathetic. Even if she couldn’t stand me, she liked my dad. For good reason; anyone else would’ve fired her a long time ago.

“Guess I’ll call her,” I said.

Just as I reached for the phone, it rang. I jumped and jerked my hand back, my heart pounding like mad.

Before the second ring, I snatched the phone off its hook. Hardly able to breathe, I said, “Hello?”

“Dwight?”

It was a mother, but not mine. And she didn’t sound happy.

“Is Russell there?”

“Yeah. Yes. He’s right here.”

“Please send him home right away.”

“Would you like to talk to him?”

Teeth bared, Rusty put up his hands and shook his head.

“I’ll talk to him when he gets here. As for you, young man, I must say I’m terribly disappointed in you.”

I felt my own lips peel back. My stomach suddenly felt even worse than before.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You ought to be. Elizabeth has always been very fond of you.”

“I’m fond of her, too.”

“You have a strange way of showing it.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.

“Send Russell home immediately, please.” With that, she hung up.

Rusty and I stared at each other.

“You’re supposed to go home right away,” I said.

“Shit.”

“Bitsy must’ve told on us.”

“Told you she would, man. Shit. The little bitch.”

“Hey,” Slim said.

“Well, she is. I knew she’d spill her guts.”

“What’d you guys do to her?”

“We sort of ditched her,” I said. “She wanted to go with us to look for you. We tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t