The Traveling Vampire Show(22)
So I left it open and stepped outside.
The screen door banged shut as I followed Lee down the stairs.
Walking ahead of me, she reached behind herself and hitched up the tail of her pale blue shirt. Both the seat pockets of her shorts were bulging. From one, she removed a white tin of bandages. From the other, she took a squeeze bottle of Bactine anticeptic. She dropped them into her purse as she walked.
Over at the driveway, she pulled open the driver’s door of her pickup truck. I ran around to the other side. Still hanging on to my Coke, I opened the passenger door with one hand and climbed up.
Lee’s purse was on the seat between us.
Leaning forward slightly, she punched a key into the ignition. She gave it a twist and the engine chugged to life. Then she sped backward out of the driveway, swung into the street and started working the forward gears, picking up speed. “We’re off!” she proclaimed.
“Sure are.”
She grinned at me. “How about a drink of that?” she asked.
“Sure.” I handed the Coke to her. She didn’t wipe the bottle’s lip at all, just raised it to her mouth, tilted it high, and took a couple of swallows. Through the pale green of the glass, the Coke was a rich brownish red color.
There was still an inch of pop in the bottle when she handed it back to me. “Go ahead and finish it,” she said.
I nearly always wiped off the lip of a bottle before drinking after anyone. But not this time. I put it into my mouth, knowing her mouth had just been there. She wasn’t wearing any lipstick, but I almost thought I could taste her lips.
“So what were you three doing out at Janks Field?” she asked. “Looking for bones?”
“Looking for a vampire,” I said.
She turned her head and hoisted her eyebrows.
“I know. Vampires don’t exist. But there’s supposed to be a vampire show at Janks Field tonight. One night only. The Traveling Vampire Show. Rusty says they’ve got fliers for it all over town.”
“This is the first I’ve heard about it,” Lee said. “I haven’t been into town yet today. Danny’s off on one of his trips, so I slept in.”
“Where’d he go?”
“Chicago. One of those sales conventions. So tell me more about The Traveling Vampire Show.”
“There’s supposed to be a real vampire....”
“No kidding?” She looked at me and grinned. “I’ve never seen one of those, myself.”
“Her name’s Valeria. I guess she’s supposed to go after volunteers from the audience.”
“Cool,” Lee said.
“Anyway, we can’t go to the show. It doesn’t even start till midnight and it’s adults only and I’m never supposed to go to Janks Field at all.”
“So of course you went there anyway.”
“Yeah. You know, just for a look around. We thought we might get a chance to see Valeria.”
“In daylight? You kids need to brush up on your vampire lore.”
“Oh, we know all about that. We’re not stupid.”
She grinned at me.
“We just wanted to see what was going on. We figured maybe it’d be like a carnival and we could watch them setting up for the show, something like that. And maybe we’d get a look at Valeria.”
Gorgeous! Beguiling!
I decided not to mention that Valeria was supposed to be a stunning beauty.
A blush suddenly spread over my skin.
Oh, God, don’t let Lee find out about our wager!
“Thing is,” I said, “we didn’t seriously think she’d be spending all day in a coffin. You know? I mean, the whole thing’s gotta be a fake-out. We figured we might actually see her wandering around in the daytime. Then we’d know she’s a phony.”
“So, did you see her?” Lee asked.
“I guess we got to Janks Field ahead of the show. Nobody was there except us. And that dog.”
Chapter Ten
Lee drove down Route 3 at a safe speed just slightly over the limit but after the turn-off, in the seclusion of the dirt road, she poured it on. This didn’t surprise me. I’d ridden with her many times before and knew all about her reckless streak.
I couldn’t complain, though. She’d never crashed.
So I held my peace—along with the dashboard and door handle—while she ripped over the narrow, twisty road. The force of her turns sometimes bumped me against the door, sometimes threw me toward her.