“So people wouldn’t come anywhere near the place,” Kevin finished.
“Exactly,” Aunt Carolyn said. “But when he was old and knew that he was dying, being a man of intrigue, he had to leave some clue, so that’s why he wrote the passages in the diary about the forked tree. Count Volkov has been dead for decades.”
Only now did Kevin finally understand. The Count wasn’t really a vampire. He was just a rich weirdo, he realized now. He painted the pictures himself, so people would think he was an evil vampire and stay away.
But—
“Look at all this gold!” Kevin exclaimed, looking again into the coffin. It looked like there were at least a dozen gold bricks sitting in there, sparkling in the light. It must be worth a fortune!
“There’s a lot of money in there,” Aunt Carolyn said. “It’s been a local legend for a hundred years, but you found it—”
“That’s right,” a craggy voice interrupted. “This kid found it, but I’m going to take it.”
Everyone in the room turned then, to the figure that was now standing in the doorway.
It was Bill Bitner, holding a shovel up like a weapon.
“I’ve been searching for that gold for months,” he said, his face lined with hatred and greed. “This punk kid may have found it, but I’m taking it. It’s mine.”
“It’s not yours!” Wally shouted. “It’s Carolyn’s! It’s on her property, so it belongs to her! You have no legal right to it, and you can’t take it!”
“Yeah, I can, Wally,” Bill Bitner said with his greedy grin. He looked like a maniac standing there, his clothes drenched from the rain earlier, and a crazy gleam in his eyes. Then he raised the shovel up over his head. “I’m taking it, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”
“You’re not taking anything, old man,” another voice suddenly sounded from behind.
Another figure stepped into the room and immediately snatched the shovel out of Bill Bitner’s hands.
“Dad!” Kevin exclaimed.
Yes, it was Kevin’s father who walked into the room just then, his clothes, too, as well as his fishing hat, damp from the previous rain, and his cheeks pink from being in the cold weather for the last day. “I overheard everything,” he said. Then he turned to Bill. “And you’ve been working here under false pretenses the whole time, so why don’t you just get out of here unless you want some real trouble.”
Bill Bitner glared back at them, then grumbled under his breath and ran out of the room.
“Is everybody all right?” Kevin’s father asked, setting the shovel down.
Everyone nodded, relieved to see him.
“You came just in the nick of time, Dad!” Kevin exclaimed. “Bill was going to hit Wally with the shovel and steal the gold.
“Thanks, Mr. Bennell,” Wally said.
“No problem,” Kevin’s dad said, “And I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Bill Bitner anymore.”
But then Jimmy stepped up. “Where’s my dad, Mr. Bennell?”
“After we overheard what was going on in here, he went back downstairs to call the police, Jimmy. We tried calling earlier from a ranger’s station but the phone lines got knocked out from the storm, so we rushed back to make sure everyone was okay. But the phone lines have been fixed now.”
Kevin looked out the window, and saw Bill Bitner running across the front yard. “Shouldn’t we chase him, Dad?”
“No, that’s not necessary,” his father said. “It won’t take the police long to find him and pick him up.” Then he walked up to the coffin, looked in it, and smiled.
“Wow,” he said. “Look at all that gold!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Later, they all sat around the big, roaring fire in the fireplace. Everyone was there: the two fathers, Wally, Becky, Kevin, Jimmy, and, of course, Aunt Carolyn. Kevin’s dad was explaining why they turned back in the first place. “The weather was so bad, it rained almost the entire time we were out. We didn’t catch a single fish!”
“And it was just too cold,” Mr. Grimaldi added, “so this morning we packed up our gear and headed back, and that’s when we came across the ranger’s station, and he let us use his phone.”
Kevin’s father chuckled, grabbing a handful of hot popcorn. “Yeah, I guess we’re not exactly the greatest campers and fishermen in the world.”
“But it’s a good thing you came back when you did,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah,” Kevin added. “You really saved the day!”
“Don’t be modest, Kevin,” Aunt Carolyn said. “You’re the one who figured out the mystery, put all the pieces together, and found the hidden gold. That was clever of old Count Volkov. Stashing the gold in a coffin, and hiding it behind that painting of the forked tree.”
“And that’s really something, isn’t it?” Kevin’s father observed next. “The old local legend, in a way, turned out to be true. Count Volkov had the townspeople believing that he really was a vampire, so naturally they wouldn’t dream of coming near the lodge to try and steal his gold.”
“And since Bill Bitner grew up in this area,” Aunt Carolyn said, “he was obviously familiar with the legend too, so that’s why he offered to work for me. And no wonder this place got to looking so rundown. Bill was out in the woods every day looking for the treasure when he was supposed to be fixing up the lodge!”
“And he had me digging out there too,” Wally said, “lying to me about some broken water pipe. I knew there was something funny about that guy.”
“Well, now that Mr. Bitner’s gone,” Aunt Carolyn said, “I hope that you’ll stay and continue to work for me as my maintenance man.”
“Sure,” Wally said. “I’d be happy to.”
Becky, of course, wasn’t saying much of anything. She was sitting right next to Wally, all gussied up in one of her best dresses, and she looked like she was in dreamland.
“All right everyone,” Aunt Carolyn announced and stood up. “Come over here. I have something to show you.”
They all got up and followed Aunt Carolyn to the dining room. What’s this? Kevin thought when he looked. A sheet lay across the big, hardwood dining room table, and he could see lumps underneath the sheets.
Then Aunt Carolyn pulled the sheet off, to reveal six shining gold bricks sitting on the table. “Kevin, Jimmy, Becky, Wally,” Aunt Carolyn said next. “Here’s my gift. One gold brick for each of you.”
“Wow! Thanks!” the four of them said nearly at the same time.
“Really, Carolyn,” Kevin’s father said. “That’s not necessary.”
“Right,” Jimmy’s father agreed. “It’s your gold, free and legal. You’ll need it to get the lodge repaired properly and to fix up the grounds.”
But Aunt Carolyn wouldn’t hear of it. “No, no, I insist,” she said. “I want each of the kids to have one. You can exchange the bricks for money at any bank, then you can deposit the money in a savings account for them. Each brick will easily pay for their college educations and leave them each with a nice little nest-egg for the future. Plus, a brick for your fathers. I’ll still have more than enough left to pay the repairs and refurbishment of the lodge and the camp grounds.”
Carolyn,” Kevin’s father repeated. “You really shouldn’t.”
“I told you, I insist!”
And that was that.
The mystery was solved now, and it was Kevin who had solved it.
“But one thing, Kevin,” Aunt Carolyn added, smiling. “I hope by now you understand that there really are no such things as vampires.”