The Little Vampire by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg Page A

Tony. “I think I ought to explain, er, they might not come until eight o’clock.”
    “Come on now, Tony,” said his mother. “It’s almost your bedtime at eight.”
    “I know,” replied Tony.
    “Well – don’t Rudolph and Anna have to go to bed as well?”
    “No,” said Tony, trying not to laugh.
    “Funny way to bring up kids,” grumbled his mother. “What’s going to happen to all the tea?” She waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the kettle and the pan of milk. “Everything’s nearly ready.”
    “We could have our tea now, and then have some apple juice later on,” suggestedTony.
    “What about getting up for school tomorrow morning?”
    “Oh, come on, Mum, just this once,” pleaded Tony.
    “Well, all right,” she conceded. “But I’m not at all pleased, and I’m only saying yes because I’m dying to meet these strange friends of yours.”
    Tony gave a quiet sigh of relief.
    “What about all these cakes?” she went on.
    “I’ll eat them,” offered Tony. His mother had bought creambuns again, and this time there were eight of them! At least it would make up for the last time, when Nigel had scoffed the lot, and he had not had any.
    “You may have two,” said his mother. “Then we’ll have the rest later this evening.”
    “Great!” Tony could hardly believe his luck. Not only had his mother agreed to let him stay up late, but now he was getting two extra buns as well!
    “Here, youcan have some cocoa too,” said his mother, handing him a steaming mugful.
    “Mmm, thanks.” Tony took the mug and the buns and went off to his room. He had already finished his homework, so he could read in peace – and in just about three hours, the party would begin!

A Lively Evening
    S HORTLY AFTER EIGHT, THE front door bell rang. Tony had been looking at the clock every few minutes for the past half hour, and now a shiver of expectancy ran through him. He hoped all would go well, and that Rudolph really had come as well. What would his parents say? Tony was so excited that his legs nearly would not carry him out of his room.
    His parents had already openedthe door. “Good evening,” he heard Rudolph say in his grating voice, followed almost immediately by Anna’s piping: “Hello!”
    “Good evening!” replied his mother, taking a couple of steps backwards. “Come in!”
    “So here you are at last!” Father was doing his best to sound welcoming, but even his blustery voice sounded rather taken aback. He had a good reason: Rudolph and Anna looked quite a sight.They had put rouge on their cheeks and smeared red lipstick on their lips. Their faces, which were normally chalk-white, were caked with brownish powder, but it had been put on in patches, so that there were still places where white gleamed through. The penetrating smell of ‘Fragrant Earth’ hung pungently about the pair of them.
    “This is for you,” said Rudolph, holding out a bunch of greeneryto Tony’s mother.
    “Thank you,” she murmured, fingering the stems gingerly. They had clearly been torn from a hedge somewhere.
    “Aren’t they pretty?” said Anna. “There are plenty like that growing at home.”
    “Ssh!” Rudolph hissed at her furiously. It was clear even to Tony that the sprigs were from the box hedge which grew in the cemetery.
    “I’ll go and put them in water,” said his mother, disappearinginto the kitchen.
    “Where is Tony, I wonder?” said Dad.
    “Here,” replied Tony, who had been watching their meeting from a distance.
    “Tony!” said Anna, her face reddening. “How are you?”
    “Oh, I’m fine,” said Tony, and he blushed an equally deep crimson.
    “Hello, Tony,” said Rudolph, shaking him by the hand. Rudolph’s hand felt cold and knobbly, like the hand of a skeleton. It was the first timethat Tony had ever touched Rudolph’s hand, and it made him shiver. Perhaps it was because they both looked so strange and unfamiliar tonight. They must have come straight from the vault, in