Richard Laymon - The Traveling Vampire Show

“Well, he broke his left arm and cracked a few ribs. He also hit his head on the windshield hard enough to break it. The windshield, not his head.” She laughed, but it sounded a little tense. “You know how hard your father’s head is. Anyway, he apparently was knocked unconscious for a while. But then he came to and drove himself over to County General.”

“Why County General?” I asked.

“Well, he feels it’s better equipped, and he was almost as close to it as…”

“Where was he?”

“Out on Route 3.”

On Route 3 and a dog ran out in front of his car?

A chill scurried up my back and the skin on the nape of my neck stiffened with goosebumps.

“Anyway,” Mom said, “he’s fine, but they’re going to keep him overnight.”

“What for?”

“Just as a precaution. Because of the head injury, mostly. They want to keep an eye on him till morning.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Anywhoooo, I thought I’d like to stay here at the hospital with him.”

“All night?” I asked.

“I don’t have to stay….”

“No, it’s fine.”

“If you’d rather not stay by yourself, I could come home.”

“No, you don’t have to do that.”

“Or I’m sure you could spend the night with Rusty or one of your brothers.”

“Danny’s out of town.”

“Well, Lee’s home. Or go over to Stu’s.”

“I’ll be okay here,” I said.

“That’s fine. You’re certainly old enough to stay by yourself. There’s ground beef in the fridge. You can make yourself a hamburger if you want. We were going to grill them on the barbecue tonight….” Her voice trembled and stopped and I knew she was weeping. After a while, she sniffed and said, “If you’d rather get take-out, there’s money in the drawer….”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. Tell Dad hi for me, okay?”

“I will, darling. Oh, he said I should let you know that he missed the dog.”

“He should’ve hit the dog and missed the tree,” I said.

I heard Mom laugh softly. “I’ll tell him that. And I’ll give him your love.”

“Thanks.”

“Anything else before we hang up?”

“Not that I can think of.”

“Okay then, honey. You can call us here if anything comes up.” She gave me the hospital’s phone number and Dad’s room number. Then she said, “I guess that’s about it for now.”

“Guess so.”

“Okay, we’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you then,” I said.

“Be good.”’

“I will.”

“Bye.”

“Bye,” I said, and hang up.

So he’s pretty much all right?” Slim asked when I turned around. Nodding, I realized she’d heard only my side of the conversation. I wasn’t sure what she knew and what she didn’t. So I explained, ”They’re keeping him overnight because he hit his head, but… other than that, he broke his arm and cracked some ribs.”

“But his head’ll be all right?”

“They think so.”

“He missed a dog and hit a tree?”

I smiled. It must’ve looked strange, because it brought a frown to Slim’s face. “He was out on Route 3,” I explained, “and a dog ran out in front of his car.”

Slim made a face as if she were smelling something horrible but amusing. “A one-eyed dog?” she asked.

“I didn’t ask.”

“Woo.”

“Yeah.”

“When did this happen?”

“I don’t think it was that long ago.”

“Our dog’s been dead since about noon.”

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “Had to be a different dog.”

“Maybe the one that chewed up my Dracula.”

“The very same,” I said.

She grimaced.

I grimaced.

“Maybe we’ve got ghost dogs,” she said.

“Or someone wants us to think so,” I said, which got her laughing. “Anyway,” I continued, “it wasn’t a ghost or a dog that chewed up your Dracula.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. For one thing, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Are you sure?”

She was seeming very playful.

“Pretty sure.”

“Don’t be.”

“Anyway, if there are ghosts, they can’t bite stuff. They don’t have any…”

“Teeth?” she asked.

Grinning, I shook my head. “That’s not what… I mean, they’re just… like spirits. They don’t have substance.”

“A matter of opinion.”

“Anyway, ghost or not, a dog would’ve had to paw the Dracula off your bookshelf. Or bite it out. Either way, it would’ve messed up your other books. But they were all in a neat row. That could only be done by a human.”

“Or a vampire,” she added, “speaking on behalf of our absent Russell.”

I laughed. “Daylight,” I reminded her.

Her smile evaporated. “Which leaves us with humans. I’m glad we’re out of my house.”

“My mom isn’t coming home till tomorrow morning, so I guess there’s no reason you can’t stay here.”

“No reason you can’t go to the vampire show tonight, either.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to miss that.”

“I might.”

“Oh? You’d rather stay home and watch television?”

“Maybe. If you’ll be here.”

“I’ll be here unless you throw me out, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t throw you out.”

“What about Rusty?” she asked.

“What about him?”

“He really wants to see that show.”

“He’s probably grounded.”

“He’ll find a way to get out.”

“Maybe.”

“He will. And then he’ll show up here, all rarin’ to go.”

“I almost hope he doesn’t,” I said.

We suddenly ran out of words, so we stared at each other. Again, we both seemed awfully aware of being together in an empty house. Nobody to see us. Nobody to tell on us. Nobody to stop us.

We were only a few feet apart. A couple of steps forward and I’d be close enough to put my arms around her, pull her up against me, kiss her…

I couldn’t move.

She wasn’t moving either, just gazing into my eyes. She looked solemn and hopeful.

I ached to take those steps and hug her, feel her body against mine, feel her lips….

A smile broke across her face and she said, “Maybe we’d better eat.”

Saved! But disappointed.

“Good idea,” I said. “Cheeseburgers sound okay?”

“Cheeseburgers sound great.”

“We can do ’em outside on the grill.”

“Why don’t you get the fire started and I’ll make the patties?”

“Great.”

I hurried to the refrigerator, found the package of ground chuck, and gave it to Slim.

“How many you want?” she asked.

“I don’t know, how many do you want?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“Do you make ’em thick or thin?” I asked.

“Thin’s better. I don’t like them raw in the middle.”

“Me either. So if you’re making them thin, I’ll have two.”

“Okie-doke. Maybe I’ll have two, too.”

We both smiled like idiots.

Slim set the package of meat down on the counter, then stepped over to the sink and started to wash her hands. I watched her standing there, bent over slightly, the bottom of her T-shirt hanging crooked across the rear of her cut-off jeans. Her rump filled the seat of her jeans. A fringe of threads brushed against the backs of her thighs. Her legs were smooth and tanned all the way down to her ankles.

She looked over her shoulder. “What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

She smiled. “Nothing, huh?”

“Just looking,” I said, and blushed.