The Aldens walked slowly to Mr. Hudson’s house on Whittaker Street.
“I don’t understand why he would take Benny’s book,” Jessie said.
“Maybe it was an accident,” Violet offered. “Maybe the book dropped out of Benny’s bag and the man found it.”
The children had no more time to talk. As they turned the corner onto Whittaker Street, they saw police cars in front of Mr. Hudson’s house!
“There they are! They’re the ones who did it!” Mrs. Fairfax stood on the sidewalk pointing at the Aldens.
The police turned to look at the children. A tall officer with black hair held a pad and a pen. “Excuse me, but who are you?” he asked.
“We’re the Aldens,” Henry said. He introduced himself and his sisters and brother. “Is something wrong, Officer?”
Officer Franklin wrote their names on his pad. Then he looked up. “Someone vandalized this house last night.”
“Oh, my!” Violet cried. A number of Mr. Hudson’s beautiful flowers had been ripped from the ground and were lying across the walkway.
Benny was the first to see the words written across the porch boards in bright red letters. “‘Leave … me … to … rest … in … pea … pea …’” He turned to Henry for help.
“Leave me to rest in peace,’” Henry read. “‘Or you will be sorry.’”
“It was those children who did it!” Mrs. Fairfax said. “I saw them here last night. They were right there on the porch.”
Officer Franklin looked at Henry. “Were you here last night?” he asked.
“Yes, officer,” Henry replied. “But we sure didn’t do this.”
“Then what were you doing here?” the officer asked.
Just then the front door of Mr. Hudson’s house opened. Josh rushed out.
“Thank goodness you children are here!” he said.
“You know them?” Officer Franklin asked Josh.
“Of course!” Josh replied. “These are the Aldens. Mr. Hudson told me that they would be stopping by today.”
“And you don’t suspect that they could have caused this damage?” the officer asked.
“What? No! Of course not. Mr. Hudson trusts them and so do I. He asked them to look after his place while he was away.”
“Sorry, children,” Officer Franklin said. “I hope you understand that it is my job to ask questions.”
“We understand,” Henry said.
Mrs. Fairfax banged her cane against the ground. “Seems to me you don’t ask enough questions!” she said. “This used to be a nice, quiet street until that realtor and those children started coming around. They’re up to something. You need to investigate them!” She stomped back to her house.
Josh ran his hands through his hair. “What am I going to do?” he asked. “The Bensons will be here in a few hours to look at the house. When they see this, they will never want to buy it.”
“We’ll clean it up,” Jessie said. “We’ll start right away.”
“No,” Josh said. “We can’t clean it up. It is evidence. The police might need it. We should leave everything just the way it is.”
Officer Franklin overheard them. “It’s okay for you children to clean up the mess,” he said. “We have taken pictures of everything. That is all we need.”
Josh bit down on his lower lip and kicked at one of the upturned plants. “Are you sure?” he asked. “We want you to find the person who did this.”
“I’m sure,” Officer Franklin replied. “We have all the information that we need.”
The police officers left and Josh dropped onto the porch steps. “This is too much,” he said.
“What do you mean?” asked Henry.
“Don’t you see?” Josh asked. “It’s the vampire!”
“But there’s no such thing,” Jessie said.
Josh’s face was white. “It’s right from the book,” he said. “I’ve read it.”
“The Legend of the Vampire?” asked Benny.
“Yes,” Josh answered. “In the book, a vampire has his coffin hidden in the basement of an old home. A lonely old man lives by himself in the house. There is a cemetery behind the house. The vampire only comes out at night when the old man is sleeping. But one day the old man decides to sell the house. The vampire does not want his peace disturbed. He bites the neck of anyone who comes to live in the house.”
Violet shivered. “What a terrible story!”
“What happens in the end?” Benny asked.
“No one will live in the house,” Josh said. “The vampire has it all to himself.” Josh looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “And the vampire still roams the cemetery every night!”
Jessie put her arm around Benny. “But it’s just a story!” she said. “Everyone knows that vampires are not real.”
Josh looked down. “I guess you’re right, Jessie,” he said. He grabbed an uprooted plant that was sitting on the step and tossed it angrily onto the lawn.
Violet picked it up.
“We should get to work,” Henry said. “I need to cut the lawn.”
“I’ll replace the flowers the best that I can,” Violet promised.
Jessie stared at the red letters on the porch. “I’ll take care of cleaning that.”
“What about me?” asked Benny.
Henry put his hand on Benny’s shoulder. “Come with me, Benny,” he said. “You can rake up the grass as I cut it.”
“And I’ve got to make some phone calls.” Josh stood and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He pointed to the front lawn. “Can you believe that someone stole the ‘For Sale’ sign again? I’m running out of signs. I’m not sure that I even have any left.”
The Aldens walked around to the shed to find the tools they needed. After the bright sunshine, the shed seemed very dark.
“Ouch!” Henry cried.
“Are you okay?” asked Jessie.
“Yes … I just stubbed my toe on the bike,” Henry said.
“I don’t remember the bike being in that spot yesterday,” Violet said.
Henry wheeled the bike to the corner. “You’re right, Violet. I think it was on the other side of the shed yesterday. That’s odd.”
Violet felt something fall down her neck. She cried out.
“What is it, Violet?” asked Jessie. “Are you okay?”
Violet laughed. “Yes,” she said. “I guess I’m a little jumpy. It’s the chain for the light bulb. I must have backed into it. It tickled the back of my neck.” Violet pulled the chain several times. It clicked, but nothing happened.
“The bulb must be out,” said Henry.
“It’s okay,” Violet replied. “I’ve found the trowel and some gardening gloves. That’s all I need. I’m going to go put those plants back in the ground right away. I don’t want the roots to dry out and die. I know how proud Mr. Hudson is of his flowers.”
There was a crash against the side of the shed. “I’ve found the rake!” Benny cried. “I’m all ready to help you, Henry.”
Violet carried her tools to the front yard. She decided to work on the plants closest to the porch first. She knelt down and began to dig. She could hear Josh talking on his cell phone inside the house. His voice got louder as he came closer to the screen door on the porch.
“Yes,” Josh said. “Mr. Hudson will have to lower the price now. Who will want to buy a house that has a vampire in the backyard?”
Then he laughed. “No,” he said. “I don’t really believe in vampires. But this is working out very well for us. When Mr. Hudson comes back from his trip, I will convince him that he should offer his house for much less money. Then you can buy it.”
Violet stood up. What was Josh talking about?
“Violet!” Josh said. He quickly flipped his cell phone closed. “I didn’t see you there! He walked out onto the porch.
“I’m sorry,” Violet said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was replanting the flowers.”
Josh stuck his hands deep into his pockets. He looked around the corner of the house. “Are the others still out back?” he asked.
“Yes,” Violet said.
“You shouldn’t sneak around like that,” Josh said. “Especially not with all the things that are going on around here.”
“I wasn’t sneaking,” Violet tried to explain, but Josh’s cell phone buzzed.
He looked at the number on the screen, but he did not answer it. He rubbed his stomach instead. “I am so hungry,” he said. “I think I will walk over to the diner for a sandwich.”
Henry pushed the lawn mower to the front yard. Benny pulled the rake behind him.
“This is going to be fun!” Benny said. “I wish there was a yard full of leaves for me to rake. Then I could make a big pile and jump in it.”
“You’ll have to wait a few weeks for the leaves to fall,” Henry said.
“I’m going to ask Mr. Hudson if I can come back then and rake for him,” Benny said.
Henry smiled. “I’m sure he would like that. But maybe he will have sold his house by then.”
Violet was about to tell Henry about the person Josh had been speaking to on his cell phone. But just then Henry pulled the cord on the lawn mower. It roared to life.
“Sorry for the noise, Violet!” Henry shouted. “I will try to stay away from the flowers!”
Jessie had gone into the house and found a bucket and a scrub brush. A bottle of cleaner was under the kitchen sink. She filled the bucket with hot soapy water. Then she set to work trying to clean the red words from the porch.
Violet carefully placed the flowers back into the garden. Some of their stems were broken. It made her sad. She smoothed the loose dirt around each plant. Then she found a watering can in the shed and gave each plant a drink. She worked so hard that she forgot all about the conversation that she had overheard.
Mrs. Fairfax came out on her front porch every once in a while. She watched the Aldens with a wary look on her face. But the children were careful not to make too much noise and to stay off Mrs. Fairfax’s property.
“There,” Henry said, brushing loose grass from his jeans. “I think the house looks fine now.”
“I don’t know, Henry.” Jessie shook her head. “The lawn looks nice and the flowers are beautiful. But I could not wash the letters off completely. If you look closely, you can still read what it says.”
Henry walked up the steps to the porch. “I see what you mean. The porch might need to be repainted.”
“We could never do that in time. The buyers will be here soon.” Jessie sighed.
“I know what we can do!” Benny flung the door open and ran into the house. He returned a minute later. “How about this?” he asked. He held up a small rug.
“Great thinking, Benny!” Henry said.
“I remembered that it was in the kitchen by the sink,” Benny said. “It will look nice out here, too.”
Jessie took the rug and spread it in front of the porch door. “It doesn’t cover everything,” she said. “But it is a big improvement. Way to go, Benny.”
Jessie locked the door and put the key back under the pot in the shed. Henry tied the bag of grass clippings and walked it to the curb.
“Isn’t this Josh’s car?” Henry asked.
“Yes,” Violet answered. “Josh hasn’t left yet. He walked to the diner for a sandwich about a half an hour ago.”
“What’s that in the back seat?” asked Benny.
The windows were up, but the Aldens could see something large in the back of Josh’s car. Most of it was covered with a blanket. But two black metal stakes poked out from beneath the covering.
“It looks like a ‘For Sale’ sign is under that blanket,” Jessie said.
The Aldens were puzzled.
“I thought Josh said he didn’t have any more signs left,” said Henry.
“It could be for a different house,” Violet said. “I’m sure Josh has more than one house to sell. Or maybe it is a ‘For Rent’ sign for an apartment.”
“You could be right, Violet,” said Jessie.
Just then Josh came hurrying up the street. “What are you kids doing?” he called crossly. Josh quickly stood in front of his car with his hands on his hips.
“We’re only putting the trash bag to the curb,” Benny said. “Look at the lawn. Don’t you think it looks good? I raked it!”
Josh’s face relaxed. “Yes, Benny,” he said. “Everything looks very nice again. Thank you. The Bensons should be here soon.”
Jessie decided not to tell Josh about the red letters that did not wash off the porch. He still seemed too upset. He leaned back against his car and crossed his arms. His foot tapped nervously against the curb. And maybe Josh and the Bensons would not notice the few faint words that were not covered up by the rug.
The Aldens said goodbye to Josh and headed home.
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