Chapter 4

Chapter 4 "Th-thanks a lot, Mr. Linkletter," Dink stammered. He hurried Josh and Ruth Rose out of the hotel. "Did you see Mr. Linkletter's neck?" he whispered when they were on the sidewalk. "He had on a Band-Aid just like Ellie's and Mr. Paskey's!" "Are you sure?" Ruth Rose asked.

Dink put a finger on his own neck. "It was right here!" he said. "Now do you guys believe something weird is going on?" Josh croaked. "A vampire is stalking Green Lawn! He's drinking everyone's blood! We gotta call 911!" "Josh, calm down," Ruth Rose said. "There could be a lot of reasons for those three Band-Aids." "Name one," Josh said. "Mr. Linkletter could have cut himself shaving," Ruth Rose suggested. "Okay, but Ellie didn't cut herself shaving, did she?" Josh retorted. "It's strange that all three of them needed Band-Aids on the same day," Dink put in. "Yeah, and the people wearing them are acting strange," Josh said. "Mr. Link-letter never gives out the names of his guests, but he did today!" Josh squinted his eyes. "I'll bet if we looked under those Band-Aids, we'd see fang marks!"

Ruth Rose grinned. "Are you going to go back inside and ask Mr. Linkletter to take off his Band-Aid?" "No, but we have to find this guy," Josh said. "He's already turned Ellie and Mr. Paskey and Mr. Linkletter into vampires! We have to save Green Lawn!" "Josh, calm down," Dink said. "I agree that something weird is going on around here, but I don't think that guy is a vampire. And even if he is, what could we do about it?" "Run him out of town!" Josh said. Ruth Rose shook her head. "Run him out of town? How?" Just then a shadow fell over the kids. A voice asked, "What're you guys whispering about?" The kids jumped, and Josh let out a moan. But it was only their friend Livvy Nugent. She worked as a maid in the Shangri-la. "Hi, Livvy," Ruth Rose said. "How are Nicole and Ned?" "Growing like weeds and eating like lion cubs," Livvy said. "So what's up?"

"Do you know Dr. Cula?" Dink asked. "He's staying in the hotel." Livvy nodded. "He checked in last night from New York. Wears all black, right?" she said. "That's him," Josh said. "Have you been inside his room?" "Sure I have," Livvy said. "When he checked in, I took him up in the elevator." "Um, did you happen to notice anything weird?" Josh persisted. Livvy shook her head. "Not really," she said, starting to enter the hotel. She stopped and turned around. "There was one strange thing," Livvy said. "As soon as we got in the room, Dr. Cula lay down on the bed. He asked me to turn up the airconditioning to extra cold. I did, and asked him if he wanted another blanket. He said no, he'd brought his own." Livvy lowered her voice. "When I turned around, he was lying there with his eyes closed, wrapped in a black cape!"

The three kids stared at Livvy. She shook her head. "Poor guy must have been exhausted," she said. "He fell asleep so fast I thought he was dead!" Livvy waggled her fingers good-bye and entered the lobby. "Vampires sleep in cold coffins," Josh moaned. "And they wear capes!"

"Magicians and Salvation Army peo-ple also wear capes, Josh," Ruth Rose said. "Dr. Cula could be a magician," Dink said. "That might explain how he escaped from Ellie's Diner and the Book Nook without us seeing him." "And does he also make Band-Aids appear on people's necks?" Josh asked. "I'm going home." He started walking up Main Street. "Why?" asked Dink. "I thought you wanted to find Dr. Cula." "I do!" Josh said over his shoulder. "But first we need protection." Ruth Rose looked at Dink. They both caught up to Josh. "What kind of protection?" she asked. "Garlic!" Josh said. "Garlic?" Dink and Ruth Rose repeated, staring at Josh. "Vampires hate garlic," Josh said. "We have to hang some around our necks." "Around our necks?" Dink said. "Josh, garlic stinks!" Josh rolled his eyes. "Duh! That's what keeps the vampires away!"