IX
What Do You Dream?
Harvey didn't mention what had happened at the lake to anyone-not even Lulu-in part because he felt stupid for falling in and in part because the House tried so hard to please him in the days that followed that he almost forgot about the accident entirely. That very night, in fact, he found a piece of colored string with his name tag on it at the base of the Christmas tree, and followed it through the House to find a new bike-even more splendid than the one he'd lost two years before-waiting for him.
But that was just the first of many fine surprises the Holiday House sprang in quick succession. One morning, for instance, Wendell and Harvey climbed up into the tree house to discover that the branches around it were swarming with parrots and monkeys. Another day, in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, Mrs. Griffin called them through into the living room, where the flames of the fire had taken on the shapes of dragons and heroes, and were doing fiery battle in the grate. And in the heat of one lazy afternoon, Harvey was wakened from a doze by a chorus of shouts and found a troupe of mechanical acrobats performing clockwork-defying feats on the lawn.
The greatest surprise, however, began with the appearance of one of Rictus's siblings.
"My name is Jive," he said, stepping out of the early evening murk at the top of the stairs. Every muscle in his body seemed to be in motion: tics, jigs and jitterings that had wasted him away until he barely cast a shadow. Even his hair, which was a mass of oiled curls, seemed to hear some crazed rhythm. It writhed on his scalp in a knotted frenzy.
"Brother Rictus sent me along to see how you're doin'," he said, his tones succulent.
"I'm doing fine," Harvey replied. "Did you say Brother Rictus?"
"We're from the same brood, loosely speaking," Jive said. "I hope you call your family now and then."
"Yep" said Harvey. "I called them yesterday."
"Are they missin' you?"
"Didn't sound like it"
"Are you missin' them?"
Harvey shrugged. "Not really," he said.
(This wasn't strictly true-he had his homesick days-but he knew if he went back home he'd be in school the day after, and wishing he'd stayed in the Holiday House a while longer,)
"You're going to make the most of bein' here then?" said Jive, practicing a weird little dance step up and down the stairs.
"Yeah," said Harvey. "I just want to have fun."
"Who doesn't?" Jive grinned, "who doesn't?" He sidled up to Harvey, and whispered: "Speakin' of fun..."
"What?'' said Harvey.
"You never did get Wendell back for that trick of his."
"No, I didn't," said Harvey.
"Why the heck not?"
"I could never think of a way."
"Oh I'm sure we could cook something up between the two of us," Jive replied mischievously.
"It has to be something he'll never think of," Harvey said.
"That shouldn't be difficult," said Jive. "Tell me, what's your favorite monster?"
Harvey didn't have to think hard about that. "A vampire," he said with a grin. "I found this great mask-"
"Masks are a good beginning," Jive said, "but vampires need to swoop out of the mist " he spread his arms, curling his long fingers like the claws of some eye-gouging beast "-swoop down, snatch up their prey, then rise up again, up against the moon. I can see it now."
"So can I," said Harvey. "But I'm not a bat."
"So?"
"So how do I swoop?"
"Ah," said Jive. "We'll have Marr work on that for us. After all, what's a Halloween without a transformation or two?" He consulted the grandfather clock on the landing. "We've still got time to do it tonight. You go down and tell Wendell you'll meet him outside. I'll go up on to the roof and find Marr. You meet us up there."
"I've never been up on the roof."
"There's a door on the top landing. I'll see you up there in a few minutes."
"I'll have to get my mask an' coat an' stuff."
"You won't need a mask tonight," Jive said, "trust me. Now you hurry up. Time's a-wastin'."
It took Harvey only a minute or two to tell Wendell to go on ahead. He was sure Wendell suspected something, and was probably preparing some counterattack, but Harvey knew he and Jive had something up their sleeves even Wendell-expert on shock tactics though he was-couldn't anticipate. With the first part of the plan laid he hurried upstairs again, found the door Jive had mentioned, and climbed up onto the roof.
Heights had never bothered him; he liked to be up above the world looking down on it.
"Over here!" Jive called to him, and Harvey took off along the narrow walkways and up the steep roofs to where his fellow conspirator stood.
"Sure-footed!" Jive observed.
"No problem."
"How 'bout flyin'?" said a third voice, as its owner stepped from the shadows of a chimney.
"This is Marr," Jive said. "Another of our little family."
Unlike Jive who looked nimble enough to walk on the eaves if the whim took him, Marr seemed to have slug blood in her somewhere. Harvey almost expected to see her fingers leave silver trails on the brick she touched, or see soft horns appear from her balding head. She was grossly fat, her flesh barely clinging to her bones. Wherever it could-around her mouth and eyes, at her neck and wrists-it collapsed in clammy folds. She reached out and poked Harvey.
"I said: what 'bout flyin'?"
"What about it?" Harvey said, pushing her hand away.
"Done much?"
"I flew to Florida once."
"She doesn't mean in a plane," Jive told him.
"Oh..."
"In dreams maybe?" said Mart.
"Oh yeah, I dream about flying."
"That's good," Marr replied, grinning with satisfaction. She had not a single tooth in her mouth.
Harvey stared at the empty maw in disgust.
"You're wondering where they've gone, aren't you?" she said to Harvey. "Go on. Admit it."
Harvey shrugged. "Well yes. I am."
"Carna took them, the thieving brute. I had fine teeth. Beautiful teeth."
"Who's Carna?" Harvey wanted to know.
"Never mind," Jive said, hushing Marr before she could reply. "Get to it or he'll miss the moment."
Marr muttered something beneath her breath, then said: "Come to me, boy," extending her arms in Harvey's direction. Her touch was icy.
"Feels weird, huh?" said Jive, as Mares fingers floated over his face, brushing it here and there. "Don't worry. She knows what she's doin'."
"And what's that?"
"Changin' you."
"Into what?"
"You tell her," Jive said. "It won't last long, so enjoy it. Go on, tell her about being a vampire."
"That's what I want Wendell to see," Harvey said.
"A vampire..." Marr said softly, her fingers pressing harder against his skin.
"Yeah, I want to have fangs, like a wolf, and a red throat, and white skin, like I've been dead for a thousand years."