Mystery At Riddle Gully by Jen Banyard Page B

She sprang from the rocks! Forgetting about aiming for his heart, she swung the stake wildly. With a quick thrust of his hand von Albericht caught the end of it. He and Pollo looked at one another for a second, then each began pulling at their end of the stake in a frantic tug of war.
    â€˜Go back to Transylvania!’ screeched Pollo. ‘I won’t let you kill Sherri!’
    Abruptly von Albericht stopped pulling, sending Pollo flying onto her backside in the dirt. His mouth was open, his eyebrows knitted. He leaned over Pollo. ‘You think that I—’
    He didn’t finish the sentence. From out of the scrub a hard plastic bottle, heavy with holy water, whizzed through the air. It caught von Albericht square on the temple to a loud ‘Howzat?!’ from the bushes.
    For several moments, von Albericht teetered from side to side like a bowling pin. Then, slowly and silently, the tall man crumpled to the ground.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

    Sunday 19:10
    Will, his face still smeared with blood, dashed from his hiding place to join Pollo. Von Albericht lay sprawled on his back. His deliriously deep brown eyes were closed.
    â€˜What did you do to him?’ squeaked Pollo.
    â€˜What you asked me to,’ Will croaked. ‘He’s not dead, is he?’ He nudged von Albericht with his toe.
    â€˜I don’t know.’ Pollo crouched beside the fallen man, taking in his plaster-white skin, his long bony fingers, his placid expression.
    â€˜He doesn’t put up much of a fight for a vampire,’ said Will. ‘Aren’t they meant to be super strong? My mum could have licked him without too much trouble.’
    Pollo didn’t know what to think. She held her palm close to von Albericht’s mouth. ‘He’s still breathing.That’s good ... maybe.’ She looked up at Will. ‘You were supposed to throw the holy water on him, not at him.’
    â€˜Holy water?’ said Will. ‘So that’s what it was. I get it now!’ He smiled. ‘Same result, wouldn’t you say?’
    â€˜Afraid not,’ said Pollo. ‘A vampire needs to get wet from it for it to kill him.’
    Will picked up the bottle of holy water from the dirt and brushed it off. He wrinkled his nose at all the flecks of slime floating around in it.
    â€˜We probably shouldn’t leave anything to chance, should we?’ said Pollo. ‘I mean, we’ve still got the holy water. It’s ready to go.’
    â€˜I dunno,’ said Will. ‘Maybe just a little bit.’
    â€˜A few drops,’ said Pollo. ‘A test patch.’ She got to her feet and nudged Will. ‘Go on.’
    Will unscrewed the lid and, holding it loosely against the mouth of the bottle, trickled a stream of grimy liquid onto von Albericht’s outstretched palm. The palm twitched, then went still.
    Will looked at Pollo. She nodded. He stepped across von Albericht’s torso and wet his other hand. This time he groaned. Will and Pollo sprang backwards.
    Suddenly von Albericht began to drag both hands across the ground towards his head. His eyelids started to flicker.
    Pollo’s nerves were jumping like electric sparks. ‘Maybe they take longer to die in real life!’ she squawked. ‘Here, gimme that!’ She grabbed the holy water fromWill. ‘Hold him down!’
    Will planted a foot on von Albericht’s chest while Pollo stood over his head. Von Albericht gave another, much louder, groan and his eyelids fluttered open. As his eyes began to focus, Pollo, with deadly accuracy, upturned the rest of the slimy holy water onto his bewildered, and then alarmed, face.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

    Sunday 19:15
    Pollo was shaking out the last drops when a familiar voice cut across the clearing.
    â€˜Apollonia di Nozi! What in God’s name are you doing?’ Sherri rushed across the clearing to where her picnic companion lay spluttering. She knelt beside him and glared at