“What a miserable night.” Amos took another bite of cereal. “I can’t believe it turned out so bad.”
Dunc sat at the other end of the table, looking equally depressed. “I know. We were so close to catching the Dragos, and we let them slip right through our fingers.”
“Who cares about that? Melissa will never speak to me again.”
“She never spoke to you before. Tell me again how you got your antler stuck in the trash compactor.”
“Amy. She followed me to the party and tried to carry out her threat. She would have made it too if Melissa’s dad hadn’t walked in.”
“What happened?”
“She told him I had escaped from a mental institution, so he called the police. They had to saw off one of my antlers to get me out. I spent the rest of the night downtown.” He yawned. “All I want to do now is sleep.”
“You can’t sleep, Amos. What about the vampires?”
Amy stuck her head into the kitchen. “Someone’s at the door and he wants to talk to you two barfwads.”
Dunc walked past her. “Amy, did anyone ever tell you that you were totally prepollynosis?”
“No, but if I find out you called me something bad I’ll flush you.”
“That was a good one,” Amos whispered. “What did you call her?”
“Nothing. I made it up. I figure she’ll spend all day trying to find out what it means.” Dunc led the way to the front door. Mr. Simpson, the man who had given them the note at the library, was standing on the porch.
“Hello, boys. Mr. Watson would have come by himself, but he’s on his way to California chasing after the Dragos.”
“They’ve already left?” Dunc asked.
“Early this morning. Apparently they dropped this note off at the motel desk. It’s for you. Sorry to have to run. But I’ll miss my flight.” The tall man walked hurriedly down the sidewalk and stepped into a waiting cab.
Dunc ripped open the envelope.
Dear Mr. Culpepper and Associate.
“Hey!” Amos yelled. “What’s this ‘associate’ stuff?”
“Let me read the letter, Amos.” Dunc continued:
Nice try. Too bad you didn’t know my family and I have spent most of our lives building up an immunity to garlic.
Better luck next time. Perhaps we will visit your town again one day.
Regards,
C.D.
“Did you hear that, Amos? We nearly did it. Let’s go over to my house and study. Next time we’ll be ready for them.”
Amos walked out the front door.
“Wait up, Amos. Don’t you want to get prepared?”
Amos started running.