“Hey, Tony!” The vampire sounded hurt. “We’re friends, remember?”
“Y-yes,” stammered Tony, and in his confusion he tripped over his school satchel and sprawled full length on the floor.
The vampire helped him up. “Do you really think I’d do anything to you?” he asked, looking at Tony steadily.
“N-no,” blushed Tony. “It’s just ... well, maybe the cloak might ... but it’s all crazy!” he added bravely.
“Come on,” encouraged the vampire. He picked the cloak up off the floor and held it out to Tony. “Put it on!”
For a moment Tony thought he might be sick, but he gritted his teeth and pulled it over his head. The vampire watched him with glowing eyes.
“Now you can fly!”
“Fly? Me?” asked Tony.
“Nothing easier!” laughed the vampire and jumped onto Tony’s desk, spreading his arms wide. “Just imagine your arms are wings. Move them up and down, slowly and steadily. Up, down, up, down ...” He had hardly moved them once, before he was gliding round the room. “See?” he said gleefully, landing on the bed. “Now you do it!”
With unsteady legs, Tony clambered onto the desk and stretched out his arms.
“Now – fly!” ordered the vampire.
“I can’t!”
“Yes. Just believe that you can!”
“Can’t!”
“Can.”
“Oh, all right.” Suddenly, Tony didn’t care if he fell on his head on the floor – he’d show the vampire who was right! Humans just can’t fly! So he flapped his arms and jumped and – flew! The air was supporting him. It was like swimming under water – only much, much better!
“I can fly!” he crowed.
“Of course,” growled the vampire. “Now, come with me.” He was already sitting on the window-sill and looked round at Tony impatiently. “We’ve got a lot to do tonight!” He stood up and took off into the night. Tony’s fear suddenly seemed to melt away, and without a moment’s hesitation, he followed him out of the window.
Goings-on at the Graveyard
“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” asked Tony as they flew along.
“Home, to get the books,” replied Rudolph.
“And where – I mean, where exactly are they?”
The vampire grinned. “In my coffin of course! Where else?”
“Oh!” gulped Tony. “So we’re going to the cemetery?”
“Yep. Scared?”
“Me? NO!”
“Don’t need to be,” reassured the vampire. “My family will all be out and about.” Tony gave a sigh of relief. The wall of the cemetery was already coming into view. “Ssh!” hissed the vampire, and caught Tony’s sleeve. “We must go carefully.“
“Why?” asked Tony, but the vampire did not answer. He seemed to be listening for something.
“Is someone there?” asked Tony anxiously. He guessed they must be somewhere on the far side of the cemetery. Last summer, the wall around it had been painted white, but here the stones were grey and crumbling, and moss was growing over them in places. “Is it one of your relatives?” he asked.
The vampire shook his head. “The Nightwatchman doing his rounds,” he hissed. “Come on, let’s land.”
They had hardly hidden themselves behind the wall when they heard a loud wheezing. “That’s him!” whispered Rudolph. He looked worried. “He’s looking for us, you know.”
“Us?” cried Tony. He was frightened too now.
“Ssh! Us vampires, of course.”
“Why?”
“Because he can’t stand us. What do you think he carries around in his pocket? A hammer and a wooden stake!”
“How do you know?”
“How do I know?” The vampire grew paler. “Because he drove a wooden stake through the heart of my poor old Uncle Theodore.”
“Ugh!” exclaimed Tony.
“And all because Uncle Theo wasn’t very careful one night, and was sitting on his tombstone just after dusk playing patience. The Nightwatchman simply marked which grave it was, and the next day, when it was light ...” He paused and listened again. All was quiet. “And ever since,” he continued, “he hasn’t left us in peace.”
“Couldn’t you just ...?” suggested Tony, and he snapped his teeth to indicate what he had in mind.
“Not him! He chews garlic from dawn to dusk.”
“Yuk!” exclaimed Tony. “Garlic.”
“I wish he was like the old Nightwatchman,” sighed Rudolph. “He didn’t believe in us, and besides, he had a gammy leg. He never used to come into this part of the cemetery, so we practically forgot that there was a Nightwatchman.” He looked up at the sky thoughtfully. “Such a nice man!”
“But the new one does believe in vampires?” asked Tony.
“Unfortunately, yes,” answered the vampire. “And that’s not all: he’s determined to be the first Nightwatchman in Europe to have a vampire-free cemetery.” He looked so upset that Tony felt quite sorry for him.
“Can’t you do anything about him?” he asked.
“Like what?”
“You could move somewhere else.”
“Where? Who wants to have eight vampires roosting with them?”
“Hmm,” said Tony. “What if you split up? I mean, if one of you went to one cemetery, and one to ...?”
But the vampire shook his head decisively. “Out of the question. We vampires stick together!” He stood up and peered over the wall.
“Well?” asked Tony.
“He’s gone,” said the vampire. “Now I can show you my coffin.”
Tony felt slightly uneasy when they clambered over the wall and suddenly found themselves in the middle of overturned gravestones, crumbing crosses, and thickly growing weeds. There was a deathly hush and quiet, and the graveyard looked creepy in the moonlight. Tony could not see anything that looked like a grave in use. The vampire smiled. “It’s well hidden, isn’t it? You’re almost standing on the family vault, and yet you don’t know where it is.”
“Vault?” Tony was taken aback. “I thought you each had your own grave.”
“A precautionary measure,” answered the vampire. “We put all the coffins together in one underground vault, and there is only one entrance, which is well hidden – except of course, there’s an emergency exit.”
He looked carefully around. Then he picked up a flat stone, overgrown with moss, which lay almost entirely invisible under the shadow of a yew tree. A narrow shaft leading underground was revealed.
“The entrance,” whispered Rudolph. “I’ll go first, then you follow. But don’t forget to put the stone back after you!”
Feet first, the vampire slid down the shaft and under the ground.
In the Vault
TONY HESITATED FOR A moment. Should he really follow Rudolph into the vault? How could he be sure it would be all right? But on the other hand, the vampire had never tricked him before, and it was probably much more dangerous to be left alone out here in the cemetery at night! What if one of the other vampires came back? No way! It was definitely better to trust Rudolph, who knew all the dangers in the cemetery, and to climb in after him!
Tony put his legs into the opening and let himself down slowly. At first, it seemed rather exciting to be sliding down into the earth like this, but when it came to actually letting go with his hands, his nervousness once more got the better of him. What would happen if there were quite a drop beneath him? Would he ever get out of this hole again? Then he heard Rudolph’s voice close to him saying, “Come on, Tony! Jump!” and he let go with his hands.
He landed on a platform. Above him, just out of reach, he could see the hole he had just come in by. He stood on tiptoe and pushed the stone over the gap. At first he could see nothing in the darkness that enveloped him, and it took a while before his eyes could make out the steps leading down into the inner chamber of the vault. There was only a feeble glimmer of light, and everything smelled of dankness and decay.
“Are you there?”
Tony called out anxiously.
“Yes, come on,” came the answer.
Cautiously, step by step, Tony made his way downwards, and found himself in an inner chamber. It was a low-ceilinged room, which was only half-illuminated by the slender candle burning in a niche near the entrance. Except for the coffins around the walls, it was completely empty. The little vampire was standing on the foremost coffin, a beaming smile on his face.
“Welcome to the Sackville-Bagg vault,” he cried, and then added proudly, “Well, what do you think of it?”
“I ...” began Tony, and hesitated. How could he say that he thought it was one of the nastiest places he had ever been in, and he thought the stink might make him sick at any moment?
“Not bad, eh?” enthused Rudolph.
“Why is it called the Sackville-Bagg vault?” Tony changed the subject.
“Because it’s the last resting place of the Sackville-Bagg family, of course!” explained Rudolph.
“Is your name Sackville-Bagg too?” asked Tony.
“Yes! Rudolph Sackville-Bagg, if I may introduce myself!”
He made a funny little bow, and Tony noticed how thin and wrinkly his neck was. “And now,” continued Rudolph, springing down from his perch, “I’ll show you around the coffins!”
He picked up the candle, took Tony by the arm and went with him right into the vault. The flickering light of the candle threw ghostly dancing shadows on the walls. Tony’s mouth grew dry with suspense.
“Here you see my dear grandmother’s coffin,” announced Rudolph, pausing in front of a large coffin which was decorated with many woodcarvings. “Sabina the Sinister Sackville-Bagg.”
“Why was she sinister?” asked Tony.
“Well, she was just called that in the old days,” replied Rudolph. “She was the first vampire in the family, and had to make a name for herself.”
Tony looked at the coffin and shuddered. Just think what lay in it during the daytime!
“And this one,” went on the vampire by the next one, “is William, my grandfather. Sabina of course bit him first, and so he quickly took after her and was a very enthusiastic help to her on her nightly forays. In those days, he was known as William the Wild,” he giggled, as an afterthought.
“Did he have to, er, make a name for himself too?” asked Tony.
“No, not exactly. But he was renowned for his appetite,” answered Rudolph.
Tony felt as though a cold hand were running down his spine. “Whose is that?” he asked hurriedly, moving on to the third coffin.
“That’s my father’s,” replied Rudolph. “Frederick the Frightful Sackville-Bagg, the eldest son of Sabina and William Sackville-Bagg. Next to him is my mother, Thelma the Thirsty. My father was already a vampire when he married her, although my mother never knew anything about it. It was only when he brought her home to the family castle that ...” He did not finish, just grinned and smacked his lips. “And that,” he continued, “is my coffin. You can get in if you like.”
“No, thanks,” murmured Tony. “I’d rather not.”
“Why not?” cried the vampire, and opened up the lid. The inside was lined with black silk, which looked a bit worn out in places. At the head there was a small, black cushion, on which, Tony noticed, lay his two books.
“Is that all?” he asked, somewhat disappointed.
“What did you expect?” asked the vampire.
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Tony. “I thought coffins were a bit more comfortable.”
“Comfortable?” The vampire sounded surprised. “What do you mean?”
Tony realized he’d said something wrong again. “Well, a bit more roomy,” he hedged.
“Roomy?” cried Rudolph with feeling. “There’s plenty of room. There’d even be room for you in here with me.” He got in and lay down, pushing the books to one side. “See? Plenty of room for both of us.”
“Yes, I see now. But still, I don’t think ...”
“Stop thinking, then, and just get in here,” said the vampire impatiently.
“Ah – er,” said Tony, quickly going on to the next coffin, “I’ve been longing to know who this sweet little one here belongs to.”
The vampire peered out of his coffin. “My little sister,” he said. “But come on in here.”
“And what about this one behind here?” continued Tony, ignoring him. Nothing was going to get him into a coffin at the same time as a vampire.
“That’s my brother’s, Gruesome Gregory Sackville-Bagg,” said Rudolph, grinding his teeth.
“What’s your sister called?” asked Tony, trying hard to divert the vampire. But at that moment, he heard a soft knocking sound, that seemed to come out of one of the coffins. He stood stockstill with fright. Were they not alone in the vault after all? Had Rudolph tricked him? But the vampire looked just as surprised and horrified as he did!
“Ssh!” he whispered, climbing nimbly out of his coffin. “That bodes not good for us. You must hide!”
“Hide?” cried Tony. “Where can I?”
The vampire pointed to the coffin, whose lid still stood open. The knocking noise came a second time, but now it was louder and stronger, and they could recognize clearly from which coffin it was coming. “Aunt Dorothy!” gulped Rudolph, sounding really frightened now. His face had paled even more than normal, and his teeth were chattering as though he had frostbite.
“Quick, you have to get in my coffin,” he whispered. “If Aunt Dorothy finds you here, you’re for it.” Tony did not have the strength left to argue, and let himself be led to the coffin and helped in.
“And no grumbling,” warned the vampire sternly before he shut the lid. Then Tony was alone. Darkness black as pitch enveloped him, and the smell almost made him sick. He could hear Rudolph’s voice outside in the vault: “I’m just coming, Aunt Dorothy.” A coffin lid creaked open, and then a deafening row broke loose.
“What manners!” shrieked a shrill, high voice. “Leaving me here in my coffin to starve. Another ten minutes and I’d have died of hunger!”
“But Aunt Dorothy,” said Rudolph, trying to calm her, “why didn’t you open the lid yourself?”
“Why?” she scolded. “Because I am so weak and exhausted that I could only knock. A minute more, and I would have passed out with hunger!”
From the heavings and groanings that now followed, Tony guessed that Aunt Dorothy was getting out of her coffin. “Oh, I’m so weak and feeble,” she moaned. “If only there were something to eat!” But suddenly her voice altered to a low hiss. “What’s this?” she cried. “I smell humans!”
Tony’s heart nearly stopped beating. What if she found him in here?
“Oh, Auntie,” reassured Rudolph. “You must be making a mistake.”
“I never make mistakes,” declared his aunt. “But I suppose it could be coming from outside.”
“Perhaps it’s a man taking his dog for a walk,” suggested the vampire helpfully. “In any case, you should hurry up, before he gets away.”
“Yes, you’re right!” Aunt Dorothy’s blood was up! “I must be off!”
Tony heard her gallop up the steps and push the stone to one side. Then everything was quiet. He held his breath and waited. Had Rudolph gone with her?
But then he heard soft footsteps coming back down the stairs, and straight away, the coffin lid was opened.
“Hello!” said the little vampire, grinning.
Tony lifted his head cautiously and asked: “Has she gone?”
“Yes. She’s off after that man who’s walking his dog.”
Tony sat perched on the edge of the coffin. He suddenly felt dead tired.
“Well, you don’t look very appetizing!” said the vampire cheerfully.
“I want to go home,” said Tony in a small voice.
“Home? Why, the night’s only just begun.” The vampire sounded surprised. But Tony had made up his mind.
“Oh, O.K. then,” grumbled his friend. “We’ll fly back together. But don’t fo
rget your books.”
Barely ten minutes later, Tony was back in his own bed. He looked across at the window, which he had taken care to shut behind him, and the night looked black and scary outside. Then he shut his eyes, and fell fast asleep.
Rude Awakening
WHEN TONY WOKE UP the next day, the smell of lunch was already creeping round the flat. Tony sniffed: macaroni cheese, browned and crisped in the oven. Yum!
He wondered why he had slept so long, but then remembered that it was very late when he had eventually gone to bed, and the events of the night before went spinning through his mind like a film. He wondered where the cloak was. He was sure he’d put it with his other clothes on the chair, but it wasn’t there any more. Perhaps his parents had found it! The thought of that made Tony suddenly very wide awake. He could hear the sound of the washing machine, and his heart sank. He jumped out of bed, and ran into the kitchen, where his father was sitting at the table peeling apples.
“Morning, Tony,” he greeted him cheerfully.
“Morning,” mumbled Tony.
“Still tired?” grinned his father.
“No-o,” said Tony, and cast a sidelong glance at the washing machine. It was certainly washing something, but the lather made it impossible to recognize what!
“Are you looking for something?” asked his father.
“No, no,” said Tony nonchalantly. He went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of milk.
“What’s in the washing machine?” he asked, taking a gulp of milk so that his father should not realise how concerned he was.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because ... I had some things that needed washing too,” he said with a rush. If only his father would turn off the machine for a moment, he could find out whether the cloak was inside, and if necessary, he could surreptitiously remove it.
“What needed washing exactly?” asked his father.
“Socks,” said Tony firmly. “My white socks.”
“Well, well, your white socks,” echoed his father, and it was obvious he was laughing about something.
Little Vampire Page 3
