Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A few minutes later, the kids reached Josh's house. Josh marched around the house to the backyard. His twin brothers, Brian and Bradley, were playing with blocks on the picnic table. Under the table, Josh's dog, Pal, was sound asleep. "Where's Mom?" Josh asked the twins.

"I'm out here!" came a voice from the vegetable garden. Josh ran toward his mother, yelling, "I need some garlic!" Ruth Rose shook her head. "Do you think Josh is serious about this vampire stuff, or is he just fooling around?" she asked Dink. Dink shrugged. "I think he really believes that guy is a vampire," he said. "What do you think?" Ruth Rose asked. "I don't believe in vampires," Dink said. "But what about those Band-Aids?" Dink and Ruth Rose sat at the table with Brian and Bradley. The twins each had a pile of letter blocks and were trying to make words. "What are you spelling?" Dink asked them. "Our names, but we don't know how to spell!" Bradley said. "I'll help you," Ruth Rose said. "Do you know what letter your names begin with?" "B!" both boys yelled. They each picked out a B block.

"That's right," Ruth Rose said. She selected four more blocks to spell out B-R-I-A-N. "That spells Brian," she said. She chose some more blocks and spelled B-R-A-D-L-E-Y. Josh came and sat down with them. He had an armload of green stalks with white bulbs on one end. "Ew!" cried Brian. "Smelly!" "Yuck!" yelled Bradley. The two boys raced away from the table holding their noses. "So this is what garlic looks like when it's growing," Dink said, sniffing one of the stalks. Ruth Rose held her nose. "Did you tell your mom why you want the garlic, Josh?" Josh grinned slyly. "I didn't tell her about Vampire Man," he said. "I just said I needed garlic for an experiment." Josh started weaving stalks together. "I think I'll pass on the garlic," Dink said. "Okay, but don't try to steal mine when the vampire sneaks up on you," Josh said.

"I wish I could remember where I saw him before today," Ruth Rose said. She spelled out Dr. Cula with blocks. "You forgot his first initial," Dink said. He picked up an A block and slid it between the R and C blocks. Suddenly Josh dropped his garlic stalks. The blocks spelled D-R-A-C-U-L-A. Dink and Ruth Rose stared at the word. To Dink, it seemed as if everything froze. Pal stopped his snoring. "Now do you guys believe me?" Josh whispered. "Well, okay," Ruth Rose said after a minute. "The letters in Dr. Cula's name also spell Dracula. But that's just a coincidence."

Dink let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "I don't know," he said quietly. "The Band-Aids on Mr. Paskey, Ellie, and Mr. Linkletter could be a coincidence. And anyone could own a black cape. But this …" Dink ran a finger along the seven blocks that spelled Dracula. "This can't be a coincidence!" Ruth Rose sighed. "Okay, I guess I agree that this is all a little spooky," she said. "But I still don't think Dr. Cula is a vampire. I don't believe in vampires, like I don't believe in ghosts." "I don't believe in ghosts, either," Dink said. "But I do believe what I see. I think we should go talk to Officer Fallon." "Okay, let's go see if he believes in vampires," Ruth Rose said. "Wait a sec," Josh said. He had fin-ished weaving a loop of garlic stalks. It was too small to slide over his head, so he plopped it on top of his hair, like a crown. "How do I look?" he asked. "Like a smelly salad," commented Dink.

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