“Look at this!” Benny did not even need his flashlight. In the light of the moon, the children could clearly see a set of muddy footprints leading right up to Mr. Hudson’s front door!
Henry put his hand carefully on the doorknob and turned. It was not locked. He entered the house. “Hello! Mr. Hudson! Are you home?” Henry turned to the others. “There’s no one here.”
“Let’s get Benny’s book and get home,” Violet said.
Jessie flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. “The lights are out!”
“It’s probably the circuit breaker,” Henry said. “Sometimes a storm can shut it off, especially in an old house like this. I know where the switch is. Mr. Hudson pointed it out when he was showing me around the house. I might be able to get the lights back on.”
Henry and Jessie carefully walked down the stairs into the basement. Violet and Benny waited by the front door.
“Did you hear that?” Violet asked, looking over her shoulder.
Benny cocked his head. “Yes. It sounds like footsteps. Do you think it could be Henry and Jessie?”
“No,” Violet whispered. “I think it is coming from outside. I wish Henry and Jessie would hurry up.”
“You don’t think it could be the vampire, do you?” asked Benny.
“There’s no such thing,” Violet said, but her voice was shaking. She turned and shut the front door, quickly turning the bolt.
A shaft of moonlight was shining through the window and it fell across the carpeted floor. The rest of the house was dark. As Violet and Benny watched, a dark shadow flitted slowly across the moonlit carpet.
“What was that?” asked Benny, grabbing Violet’s hand.
“I’m not sure,” Violet answered. “Maybe it was a cloud passing in front of the moon.”
“But it was shaped like a bat!” Benny cried.
Violet didn’t want to frighten Benny, but she knew he was right. A large bat had just slowly passed by the window.
Suddenly the lights flashed on. Henry and Jessie pounded up the basement stairs.
“It was only the switch, just as I thought,” Henry said, coming through the door. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the kitchen. Sitting on the table was a glass of milk and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich. Next to them was Benny’s library book, The Legend of the Vampire, open to page 136.
Violet gasped. “Someone was here!”
“You’re right, Violet.” Henry walked to the table. “And whoever it was left in a hurry. This glass of milk is still cold.”
“And here is the missing key!” Jessie picked up the key from the kitchen counter.
“I think we should go,” Violet said.
Henry agreed. “We need to let Mr. Hudson know that someone has been inside his house.”
“And it wasn’t a vampire,” Benny said, nodding at Violet, “because vampires don’t eat sandwiches.” He picked up his library book and stared at the front cover. “They only like blood!”
“Benny and I heard footsteps outside while you were in the basement,” Violet explained. “We need to be very careful.”
The children stepped outside and peered up and down the street. Jessie locked the door tightly and put the key into her pocket. She left the porch light on. The children hurried home as fast as they could.
CHAPTER 9
A Mysterious Photo
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 ov
er 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.”
CHAPTER 10
Caught!
The next morning after a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit, the Aldens jumped on their bikes and quickly rode to Mr. Hudson’s house. But there was a police car in front! It was just driving away as the children walked up the front steps.
Jessie knocked on the front door.
“Come on in, kids,” Mr. Hudson called from the living room. He was sitting on the couch, his suitcase dumped on the floor beside the coffee table. His hair was uncombed and there were dark circles under his eyes.
Josh stood in the corner with his hands thrust deeply into his pockets.
“Is everything all right?” Jessie asked. “We just saw the police car.”
“The police were here looking for fingerprints,” Mr. Hudson said. “Someone has broken into my home!”
Josh stepped forward. “No locks or windows were broken,” he said. He stared at the Aldens. “Someone must have left the door unlocked. And it wasn’t me!”
Mr. Hudson looked at the children. “I don’t blame you,” he said. “I even forget to lock the door sometimes. I know you meant well.”
“But we did lock the door!” Jessie insisted. “We are very responsible. The person who broke into your home knew where the key was hidden. He took it from the shed and let himself in. We found the key last night on the kitchen counter.”
Mr. Hudson looked up sharply.
“You must have told some of your friends where that key was,” Josh said accusingly. “Who else could know where the key was hidden?”
“I can promise you that we did not tell anyone,” Jessie answered.
Mr. Hudson ran his hands through his hair. “Someone was in the shed,” he said. “My plane came in very early this morning. When I got home, I heard noises coming from the shed. I called the police right away. The person in the shed ran away through the cemetery when the police arrived. The officers chased him. I don’t know if they caught him yet or not. Perhaps he found the key by accident and let himself in when I was away.”
The Aldens looked at each other.
“Was the person who ran from the shed as tall as the vampire that you have been seeing in the cemetery lately?” asked Henry.
“What?” Mr. Hudson sat up very straight. “The vampire? Josh, have you been telling stories?”
“It’s not just a story,” Josh answered. “You told me yourself that you saw something strange in the cemetery at night.”
“I saw a person,” Mr. Hudson explained to the children. “He dressed and acted like the vampire from my book, The Legend of the Vampire. Whenever I tried to call out to him or to catch him, he ran away.”
“Do you think the person in the shed could have been the one who acted like the vampire?” Henry asked.
“I suppose so,” Mr. Hudson answered. “He was about the same height. But who would want to do such a thing? I don’t understand.”
Jessie put her hand on Mr. Hudson’s shoulder. “Mr. Hudson, was there anyone at all besides you who knew where you hid the spare key?”
Mr. Hudson was quiet for some time. “Besides you four children, there might be one other person,” he said. “But it couldn’t have been him.”
The Aldens weren’t so sure. “Mr. Hudson,” Henry said. “We think it may have been your brother Francis who took the spare key and let himself into your home.”
“Francis? What? How do you know that name?” Mr. Hudson’s eyes were wide with surprise.
Benny took the folded photo from the pages of the book and handed it to Mr. Hudson.
Mr. Hudson drew in his breath sharply. He cradled the photo gently in his hands. “Where did you get this?” he finally asked.
“We found it,” Benny replied, “stuck between the pages of The Legend of the Vampire.”
“This is a picture of my brother and me!” Mr. Hudson cried.
Just then there were heavy footsteps on the front porch. Two police officers opened the screen door and brought in a man in handcuffs. He was dirty and disheveled. He looked almost exactly like Mr. Hudson.
Mr. Hudson jumped to his feet. “Francis!” he cried. He threw his arms around his brother.
The officers looked confused.
“Please, officer,” Mr. Hudson asked. “Take those handcuffs off. This has all been a big misunderstanding. This is my brother.”
“You’re not going to press charges?” asked the officer. “He has already admitted that he broke into your home.”
“No, no, of course I’m not going to prosecute,” Mr. Hudson said hurriedly. “There has been no crime here. My brother is welcome in this house at any time.”
The officer shook his head disapprovingly, but he removed the cuffs. Mr. Hudson thanked the police for all their help and showed them to the door.
After Francis was comfortably seated in a chair with a glass of lemonade and a clean shirt borrowed from his brother, the Aldens explained what they knew.
“While you were away,” Henry said, “Benny ran into a man at the library fair who looked exactly like you.”
“I thought it was you at first, Mr. Hudson,” Benny said. “But then I realized that the man was too …” Benny paused.
“Messy.” Francis finished the sentence.
“Yes,” Benny agreed, his face coloring. “Mr. Hudson is always dressed so neatly.”
“We may look alike,” Francis said, “but other than that we are as different as brothers can be.”
“We are very different,” Mr. Hudson agreed. “And I’m sorry to say that it led to quite a few fights when we were younger.”
“I’m sorry about those fights, Charles,” Francis said.
“I am, too.” Mr. Hudson looked at the Aldens. “Francis and I loved each other, but we disagreed about many things.”
“Charles was fussy and neat,” Francis said. “His half of the room was always clean and organized. I was a lot a messier and I drove him crazy sometimes.”
Mr. Hudson smiled. “And Francis was a great athlete, but I couldn’t even run without tripping over my own two feet. Francis liked to go sleep early, especially before big games, while I liked to stay up late reading. He used to be so annoyed with me for keeping the light on.”
Both brothers laughed at the memories.
“After our parents died, we fought a lot more often,” Francis said.
“I wanted you to stay in school and get a good education,” Mr. Hudson remembered.
Francis nodded. “And I wanted to quit school and work in my friend’s carpentry shop. One day, after a particularly big fight, I got very angry and I left home without a word. Since then, I’ve traveled all around the country. I’ve lived and worked in many different states. My life has been very interesting. But throughout all those years, I always missed my home and my brother.”
“Why didn’t you call or write?” asked Mr. Hudson. “I always wondered where you were.”
“I thought you might not want me back,” Francis explained. “I know that I was quite a troublemaker. I was afraid that we would just start fighting again. Then, a few months ago, I finally decided to take the risk and come back and see you. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized how much my family and my old home mean to me. I was going to surprise you. But when I saw the sign on the lawn that said that the house was for sale, I became angry. You weren’t ever supposed to sell this house, Charles. Our parents wanted us to keep it in the family as long as we were alive. But I had been gone for so long. I knew I couldn’t demand anything from you.”
“So you decided to scare away the people who came to buy the house?” Henry asked.
“Yes.” Francis hung his head. “I admit it. I pretended to haunt the graveyard at night. I wore a cape and I even sprinkled fake blood on tombstones and people’s back porches. I tried to do all the things that the vampire did in the stories you used to tell me when we were growing up. I knew it would start people talking and word would get around. I thought that no one would want to buy a house with a vampire in the backyard.”
Henry pulled a small vial from his pocket. “Was this the blood that you used?”
“Yes!” Francis exclaimed. “But it is only colored water. Where did you find that?”
“You dropped it when we bumped into each other at the library fair,” Benny explained. “I tried to catch you to give it back, but you ran away.”
“I was worried when you called me ‘Mr. Hudson’,” Francis said. “I thought you might know who I was. I didn’t want Charles to know I was in town until I had finished scaring away all the buyers for the house.”
“Did you take The Legend of the Vampire from my backpack?” asked Benny.
“I did,” Francis said. “I saw you put it in there on that first day that you met my brother. I needed more ideas for my vampire haunting. I knew I could find them in the book.”
“And then you left the picture in the book,” Jessie added.
“Yes. I was so surprised to see young Benny there at the diner, that I jumped up and left, leaving the book behind. Imagine how surprised I was to find the book on the kitchen table later that night.”
Boxcar Children Spooky Special Page 15
