History of the Vampire (The Vanderlind Castle Series Book 4) by Gayla Twist Read Free Book Online

dreamt of the Vanderlind Castle. Or at least I had a dream about a castle and decided it was how the castle being built on the other side of town should look. In my dream there was a fine family with a mother and father, an aging dowager, and several children of varying ages. My dark haired boy was the middle child. He was there, playing croquet on the lawn with his brothers and sisters. I wasn’t sure why I was there. Things were vague, as they sometimes are in dreams. But as the dark haired boy was lining up a shot, he looked up and smiled at me, his dark eyes twinkling in the sunlight.
    When I woke up the next morning, I took several minutes to luxuriate in my bed. I knew the memories of my dark haired boy would slip away soon enough, so I wanted to savor them while I could. It probably wasn’t healthy to pine for a boy who was only a product of my imagination, but for a few moments I decided to just indulge in my secret fantasies.
     
    My sister’s desire to spend time with Walter would brook no opposition. When, after a few days of constant pressure, pleading, and offered bribes yielded no results, Lilly realized that Walter really would have to wrangle another of his friends. I hoped for one with a smaller head, but with a bit more going on upstairs.
    And that’s exactly what Walter did. He must have combed through every boy he’d ever met to fix me up with a very studious fellow named Herschel Tuft. He was a grade above me at school and he had won the Tiburon High School mathematics prize three years running. It turned out that Walter and Herschel were second or third cousins — I wasn’t exactly sure of their family connection — but it sounded reassuring enough for Papa to agree to the date. This time it was more than just a soda at Top’s. We were actually going to walk into town to see a movie. I loved movies so I felt this date wasn’t going to be as much of an imposition on me.
    I recognized Herschel from school, of course, as soon as he walked in our front door. I distinctly remembered him accepting his math award the previous year. There was a peculiar angle to the way he held his head when he was nervous and it had stuck in my brain.
    Herschel was a pale boy, tall and slender with sandy blond hair that was straight as a pin. He didn’t have his hair loaded up with any kind of hair tonic, which I knew met with our mother’s approval. I’d never previously spoken to Herschel, or had any classes with him, but I immediately felt more comfortable being around him than I had Lev. At least he was closer to me in age.
    In contrast to Lev, Herschel said as little as possible while the four of us walked into town. I didn’t mind the silence. In fact, I preferred it to stories about football games. But I did think we should have a little conversation so I tried with, “What do you intend to do after graduation?”
    Herschel gave me a started look, as if I was a pet cat that had suddenly started speaking one day. “College,” he eventually answered.
    I nodded, waiting for more than a one word reply. When I realized nothing else was coming, I tried, “What do you think you’ll study?”
    “Mathematics,” he told me, this time without as much hesitation. I figured that was about as much as I was going to get out of him, so I let things go at that.
    There was a bit of problem when we were buying our tickets. Herschel headed up to the gal at the ticket window and purchased a single ticket. I guess that was his way of letting me know he had no interest in me romantically. Fortunately, the feeling was mutual. Unfortunately, it did lead to some awkwardness. I got in line with every intention of buying my own ticket, but then Walter insisted on treating me. I tried to argue with him, but he insisted. It was somehow more humiliating having my sister’s beau purchase my ticket than it would have been if I’d bought my own. Fortunately the film we saw was rather entertaining and I found myself laughing off the