It did not take me long to realize that there was only one person Vampire Max could have bitten--Aunt Tabby. Brenda and Barry were always safely locked in their bedroom by ten o'clock, but Aunt Tabby had been watch- ing vampire movies in the furry bathroom when we started the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Expedition. And she had the door open.
"Uncle Drac, Uncle Drac!" I said. "We've got to find Aunt Tabby before it is too late. " "Shh, " said Uncle Drac, who was still kneeling beside Vampire Max. He looked up and said, "I don't think finding Tabby would be a very good idea, Minty, " he said. "Now you must both be quiet and we will take Max back to bed. It's dangerous to wake people up when they are sleepwalking. " "Sleepwalking?" I gasped. "He's not sleep- walking. He's vampiring. " "Shh!" said Uncle Drac again, rather sharply. I was shocked. Uncle Drac even looked annoyed and he never looks annoyed. But Aunt Tabby was in danger and I had to get him to understand, so I said, "Max is a real vampire, Uncle Drac. He bites people. Look at his teeth. Look at the blood. He has bitten Aunt Tabby. "
"Shh, Minty, " whispered Uncle Drac. "You mustn't believe all those old stories. No one bites people anymore. Not even my mother, ha ha. " "But he's got really sharp biting teeth, Uncle Drac. Like little needles. " "And so did I at his age, Minty. That's how they come through. They'll soon get blunt. Now we must get Max back to bed without waking him. " Usually I believe what Uncle Drac tells me, but not this time. He was just making excuses. What about the blood dripping from Max's mouth--how did he explain that? Uncle Drac picked up Max and carried him along the basement corridor like he was a sleeping baby rather than a horrible little vampire brat.
Wanda and I trailed after him, up the basement stairs, and as we trooped past the clock in the hall I saw Uncle Drac glance at it with a worried look. It was nearly one o'clock. He speeded up and Wanda and I had to run to keep up with him. As we got close to the furry bathroom I could see the flickering light of the movie streaking across the passageway out of the half-open door. But Uncle Drac did not care about Aunt Tabby one bit. He stormed right past the furry bathroom and did not even look inside--in fact I am sure he speeded up. "Come on, Wanda, " I said, pulling her toward the half-open door. "We have to go and rescue Aunt Tabby. " Wanda did not seem keen. "Do we have to?" she whispered.
"Yes, " I told her. "Now come on--quick!" But Wanda would not budge. She hung on Q tight to the doorknob. Finally, I managed to pull her into the room. It was weird in there. The vampire movie was still playing, but because of the head- phones there was no sound, just the whirr of the projector. The movie was getting to the really exciting part. The vampire, who looked very elegant and handsome, was creeping along the roof of a snow-covered castle in the middle of a forest. You could tell he was head- ing for the window that the heroine was des- perately trying to latch closed. You just knew that she would not be able to. In fact you wondered why she bothered to try in the first place, but heroines always do. I could see the back of Aunt Tabby's head and the weird shape of the headphones over her ears.
The half-finished box of mint candy was on the floor beside her feet and it looked like nothing had happened at all. But that is how it is with vampires. They act so fast that you do not see them coming. And of course Vampire Max was really small--so Aunt Tabby wouldn't have seen him coming any- way, even if he hadn't been a vampire. Suddenly I felt just like Wanda--I didn't want to rescue Aunt Tabby either. I was really scared by what I might find. But someone had to rescue her, and since there was no one else to do it, it would have to be me. I took a deep breath; then I marched over to the sofa and made myself look at Aunt Tabby. She was staring ahead at the movie screen with vacant eyes-- like people always do when they have been bitten--so although I couldn't see any blood, I knew that Vampire Max had done his worst. "Aunt Tabby!" I yelled, shaking her really Q hard. "Oh, Aunt Tabby,wake up, wake up!" Aunt Tabby jumped like she had had an elec- tric shock. She leaped to her feet, threw off her headphones, and screamed, "Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!" My ears went funny. Aunt Tabby stared down at me as though she was trying to figure out what was happening, and then she yelled really, really fast so that all the words sounded stuck together: "OhmygoodnessAramintawhatare- youdoing? You nearly gave me a heart attack! Why aren't you in bed?" It was then the clock downstairs struck thirteen and Aunt Tabby looked at her watch. "It's one o'clock in the morning, " she gasped. "What are you doing up so late? And where is Drac?"
Aunt Tabby obviously did not realize what a lucky escape she had had. Uncle Drac came rushing in. "Tabby, " he said, really worried--at last. "Tabby, what's the matter? Are you all right?" "Only just, Drac, " said Aunt Tabby, her voice sounding a bit trembly. "Araminta crept up on me and gave me the fright of my life. I really don't know what has gotten into her. " She sat down on the old sofa and began fanning herself with the top of the box of mint candy. "Oh, Minty, " sighed Uncle Drac, "what are we going to do with you?" He smiled a tired- looking smile, gave me a big hug, and said to Aunt Tabby. "Minty has got it into her head that young Max is a vampire. " "What?" gasped Aunt Tabby.
"He's been eating those cherry candies again. " "But I promised your mother I wouldn't let him near red candy, " groaned Aunt Tabby. "Well, he obviously has a secret stash somewhere, " said Uncle Drac. Aunt Tabby gave a sigh. "So I suppose he's been sleepwalking?" she asked. Uncle Drac nodded. "Don't worry, Tabby. He's fine. He didn't wake. And now he's fast asleep in the Tuesday bedroom. Couldn't face that rope ladder contraption. " Huh, I thought. So Vampire Max has got the Tuesday bedroom now as well. Before long we'll be spending the whole week in the Friday bedroom--if he doesn't get that as well. The reel of film suddenly came to an end and started whizzing around the projector.
Uncle Drac leaped up to rescue it. Aunt Tabby fixed Wanda and me with a classic Aunt Tabby look and said, "Bed!" We scooted off to the attic. We tiptoed by the Tuesday bedroom and by the door was a scrunched-up paper bag. I picked it up because Aunt Tabby says, "If you see litter don't just leave it lying there, Araminta. Pick it up and put it in the garbage. " I picked it up, but I did not put it in the garbage. Certainly not. There was something in the bag and I knew what it was. "Look, Wanda, here're Max's cherry can- dies. Do you want one?" I knew she would take one because Wanda never says no to candy. She rooted around in the bag like she always does to find the biggest one and put it in her mouth.