The Snow Vampire Read Online Free PDF

“about—ohh, when was it Ferenc? Five, six years ago now? He wandered off and was never heard of again.”
    “He was a simple boy,” I said by way of explanation. “Always getting lost. He should not have wandered off. He was probably lost in the dark, in the snow. That is all. It does happen sometimes.”
    “It was a clear night,” Grandmamma countered. “There was plenty of moonlight to see by.”
    “Did they find—you know—a patch of red up in the courtyard?” Hendrik asked, morbid curiosity filling his tone.
    “No,” I replied, giving Grandmamma a smug, triumphant look. “They found nothing up there.”
    “They found his scarf,” Grandmamma said in reply.
    “They found an old scarf,” I corrected. “It was tattered and torn. Looked as though it had been there for a dozen years. And no one could say it was his.” I was angry now, angry at Grandmamma, though I did not know why.
    “Well, come, Ferenc. I am sure you have been to the place many times yourself….” But before Hendrik could even finish his question, the look on my face betrayed my answer. “You have not?” he asked, a wolfish grin covering his handsome visage. “Surely, at least once you and the other boys in town have…. Never?”
    “He is wise,” Grandmamma said, sticking up for me and wagging her finger at Hendrik once more. “Any boy who goes there with mischief on his mind…. Heaven help him, I say.”
    Hendrik was still looking at me, saying nothing, and when he finally spoke, it was Grandmamma he addressed. “I must say, Mrs. Tichy, that you are an admirable storyteller. I have not enjoyed such a yarn in many years.” He gave her a soft smile. “Thank you.”
    Grandmamma’s features softened. Hendrik had a charm about him when he wished to apply it; that was certainly plain to see. To my surprise, Grandmamma opened her arms and enveloped Hendrik in a deep hug. To my even greater surprise, Hendrik returned the embrace, a gesture of spontaneous but sincere affection.
    “We are family,” she said quite simply to him, as if by way of explanation. Then she let him go. “Now, you two promise to be good boys,” she directed as she left, tousling Hendrik’s hair one last time as she exited the kitchen and up the narrow back staircase.
    “You must take me up the mountain tomorrow, Ferenc,” Hendrik said the second Grandmamma left, a giant grin covering his face. “I cannot come all this way and leave without seeing the ‘lair’ of the snagov vrolok .”
    “You should not mock that which you do not understand,” I gravely intoned, though I could not prevent myself from smiling as well. Still, the idea of going to the ruins gave me pause, and I leaned my elbows on the kitchen table, hesitating before I would agree to Hendrik’s demand.
    Perhaps Hendrik sensed my hesitation, or perhaps he was only determined to have more fun at my expense. But he placed his elbows before mine, and put his face into his hands, an exact replica of me. To be so enticingly close to him, to smell the faint odor of cedar and paprika that seemed to come off him, was more than I could bear.
    “Please, Ferenc?” he said in a high-pitched impersonation of a petulant child. “Pretty, pretty please?” I looked into his eyes and laughed. How I longed to make him happy.
    “Very well,” I said, smiling as broadly as I could through my unease. “Tomorrow, we go up the mountain.”
     
     
    W E LEFT after daybreak. Hendrik had prepared as if for an expedition to the South Pole; he even had Mamma pack a lunch. I laughed to see such planning, but I supposed for a city youth, a journey up the mountain was as wild an expedition as Hendrik had ever experienced, so I kindly held my tongue. The day was warm and sunny, and we traveled as swiftly up the mountain as our beating hearts would take us. Still, the journey was long and rough in spots. The trail to the monastery had been reclaimed by the wilderness many decades ago. We had to climb over fallen