Free Vampire Brat by Angie Sage Page A

a real wolf you would not be scratching his ears,” I told her. “You would be wolf supper.”
    It was not long before we heard the eek-squeak-clunk of Sir Horace walking along thesecret passage and the walls were lit up with Edmund’s green glow. Sir Horace came around the corner and then he suddenly stopped dead. There was a small ping as something fell off him, and I held my breath in case he fell apart, but he didn’t.
    Suddenly the secret passage was filled with a booming, happy Sir Horace voice, “Fang!”
    Fang leaped up, leaving Wanda actually scratching thin air. He bounced over to Sir Horace like a huge puppy, his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out. Sir Horace knelt down—with a nasty grinding noise and an ominous clunk—and he put his rusty old arms around Fang. “Hello, boy,” he said in a whispery un–Sir Horace like voice. “Where have you been then?”
    â€œOoh, that’s so nice,” cooed Wanda. “Isn’tit, Edmund?” She didn’t ask me if it was nice because I am not as sappy as Edmund. But it was. Really great.
    Sir Horace’s booming voice still had a big smile in it when he said, “Miss Spookie, I have you to thank for the return of my faithful hound. Your midnight summons has brought him once more to my side.”
    â€œIt’s a pleasure, Sir Horace,” I said. “Anytime. Come on, Wanda.”
    â€œBut I want to stay with Fang,” she said, ruffling the ghost wolf’s ears. “He’s so cute.”
    â€œYou can see Fang later,” I told her. “In case you had forgotten we are still on a Combined Werewolf and Vampire Hunt. Come on .”
    We left Sir Horace with his faithful wolf and walked back through Uncle Drac’s cupboard—which was, of course, the hiddendoor into the secret tunnel that I always knew must be somewhere.
    â€œNow that we have found the werewolf, can we go back to bed?” asked Wanda.
    I picked up my Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Kit from where it had fallen. “No, we cannot go back to bed, Wanda,” I said sternly. “We have not found the werewolf, we have found a ghost wolf. A ghost wolf would not leave footprints, would it? And the werewolf had green eyes, not silver ghostly eyes. And have you forgotten about Vampire Max?”
    Wanda did not reply. At first I thought she was being sulky, as Wanda does big sulks, but she grabbed me and pointed to the bat poo hatch. It was open.
    Inside the bat turret there was a flickering light and bat shadows flying across the oldstone walls. I don’t mind bat shadows, since they are made by bats and bats are nice, but I don’t like scary shadows. And I particularly don’t like big scary shadows of werewolves . And there was a huge one of those inside the bat turret. Suddenly the Combined Werewolf and Vampire Trapping Kit didn’t feel so great after all—not even my hologram glasses.
    I pulled Wanda away, but it was too late. The werewolf shadow had seen us and it was coming toward us. I could hear the soft squelching sounds that footsteps make in the bat poo.
    â€œRun!” I yelled to Wanda, who didn’t seem to want to. “Come on !” The shadow was coming closer.
    I gave Wanda a massive tug and she lurched forward. “Ouch!” she yelled. “Don’t pull ,Araminta, it’s only U—”
    Suddenly I heard “Minty? Minty, is that you?”
    â€œUncle Drac!” I shouted. “I am so pleased to see you!”
    â€œI told you,” muttered Wanda.
    Uncle Drac squeezed out of the bat poo hatch holding his flashlight. He was carrying a big Werewolf-shaped sack of bat poo over his shoulder. He looked very surprised. “Goodness me, Minty, what are you doing here at this time of night?”
    â€œWe were hunting a werewolf, Uncle Drac.”
    â€œAnd a vampire, but he disappeared,” Wanda piped up.
    â€œWell, just don’t