Pumpkins and Potions

by Tegan Maher

  Chuckling, Tony held up both hands. “Whoever said Ghostbusters aren’t supposed to look sexy never met my wife.”

  “Ohh, geez,” cracked Flynn, rolling his eyes. “It’s gettin’ deep in here now.”

  “You’re just jealous, Prescott,” chuckled Tony. “You don’t have a wife as hot as mine.”

  “Well, considering I’m not married, you’re right.” Flynn laughed, then clapped his hands together. “Well, now that we’re all here, Sweets, Jax, are we ready for the big reveal?”

  Jax’s eyes widened. “Yes!” She let out a big squeal. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks!”

  “Oh no. What did you do now, Shorty?”

  Tony wrapped an arm around Alba’s waist. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna love it, I promise. I helped Prescott with it.”

  I shot Flynn a curious glance. “What do you have up your sleeve, Flynn?”

  “Trust me, Red, you’re gonna love it too. Come on.” Flynn led the way through the kitchen and the foyer and outside onto our front porch. The sun was just beginning to set and the streetlights had already popped on.

  “Ta-da!” he said, gesturing towards our driveway, where a long white hearse was parked. It had a big round Ghostbusters magnet on the door and a red stripe along the side. The boys had even gone so far as to install a blue police light on top as well as a roof rack and they’d added a bunch of gear to make it look like the real Ectomobile.

  “Shut up!” Alba’s eyes had grown round as a slow smile poured across her face. “Tony! You and Shaggy did this?!” She raced down the front steps to check out the car.

  “We’ve been working on it every day after work for the last couple of weeks,” he admitted. “Pretty awesome, huh?”

  “Awesome?!” said Alba. “This is…this is beyond awesome.”

  Flynn looked at me. “What do you think?”

  I laughed. “I think it’s pretty awesome too. Where’d you get a hearse?”

  “It was in this salvage yard on the way to work. I’d actually seen it a while back and mentioned to Tony it reminded me of the Ectomobile. So when Jax and Sweets told us they were planning Ghostbusters costumes for Halloween, I knew we had to get the hearse.”

  “But…it’s all fixed up. How?” asked Alba.

  “There’s a guy at work—I told you about him—Carl,” explained Tony. “His brother owns a garage in town. He let us work on it there after-hours.”

  “That’s why you’ve been coming home late?” I asked. The boys had told us they’d been picking up some extra shifts at work.

  Flynn’s head bobbed. “Yeah. The secret’s been killing us, hasn’t it, Tone?”

  Tony rolled his eyes. “I hate secrets. It’s been rough.”

  Sweets nodded. “It’s been tough for me too. I knew you girls were going to love it. Now, we should go. I don’t want to be late for the party.”

  I looked at Flynn. “After all this work, are you sure you two don’t want to come with us?”

  Flynn shook his head. “No, way. We’d ruin the effect without costumes. Maybe if there’s a Halloween party on actual Halloween we’ll join you. Tony can go as the Marshmallow Man, and I’ll be the sexy secretary or something.” He laughed.

  Holly frowned. “No way, Flynn Prescott. You can have my costume. I’m going as the sexy secretary!”

  Flynn laughed and waved at us. “Have a good time, Ghostbusters!”

  10

  “Oh, girls, I can’t wait to show off our costumes to the town,” said Jax on our way to the fire hall.

  Holly rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Not me. This is so embarrassing.”

  “I think we’re gonna win best group costume.”

  I quirked a brow. “They’re giving out awards?”

  Shrugging, Jax let out a giggle. “I don’t know. I was just saying. If there is a contest for best group costume, we’ll win, hands down.”

  Alba tossed her hands up. “I don’t even know why we’re going to this party anyway. Not when there’s a perfectly good police sting happening across town.”

  “Because Sweets and I went to a lot of trouble to get us these costumes and I want people to get to see them!” said Jax.

  “They can see ’em after the sting, Shorty.”

  “Alba, quit. We promised Detective Whitman we’d stay away from the sting.”

  “You promised Whitman we’d stay away. I didn’t promise anything.”

  “Yeah, Jax. I didn’t promise anything either,” I agreed. “I feel like we should be over there helping the police in any way we can. If these are magical beings that are smashing these pumpkins, the police could run into real problems. They don’t have a magical task force helping them out.”

  “Red’s right. Sweets, turn the car around. We’re heading over to Willow Acres.”

  “Don’t listen to her, Sweets,” instructed Jax, pointing straight ahead. “Fire hall as planned.”

  Sweets kept her eyes glued to the road. “I don’t think we should interfere in the police’s sting either,” said Sweets. “My vote’s to go to the fire hall.”

  “We’re deadlocked,” I said.

  We all looked at Holly.

  She frowned. “What?!”

  “You’re the tiebreaker, Holl,” I said. “Should go to the fire hall or help the police?”

  Holly sighed. “Is home an option?”

  Alba rolled her eyes. “No.”

  “Fine. Then I’d rather help the police than be forced to show up at the fire hall dressed like the garbage man.”

  Alba pumped the air with a fist. “Yessss! Turn the car around, Sweets! We’re headed to Willow Acres!”

  ❖

  “Wait? Did I miss the turn?” Sweets squinted into the darkness.

  To save time, we’d taken backroads towards Willow Acres, and now we weren’t exactly sure where we were.

  “I told you you should’ve taken the main road, Sweets,” said Jax from the back seat of the Ectomobile.

  “But then we would’ve had to go all the way back through town. This was a shortcut,” said Alba.

  “Some shortcut,” complained Holly. “It’s taken us twice as long as it should have and now we don’t even know where we are!”

  “And I have to pee,” Jax whined.

  “Yeah, I kind of have to go too,” said Holly.

  Sweets shook her head. “Would somebody please Google Map where we are? I seriously can’t tell if I missed my turn or not.”

  “I think you did, Sweets.” I pointed up ahead. “Why don’t you pull into that driveway and turn around.”

  “Turn around?!” Jax whined again. “Nooooo. Just go straight. We have to run into the main road sooner or later, and I can’t hold it much longer.”

  “Just pull over to the side of the road, Sweets. Shorty can go in the ditch,” said Alba.

  “Alba! I’m not going to pee in the ditch!” said Jax.

  “Ewwww,” cried Holly. “That is not happening. I’m from California. California girls don’t pee in ditches, Alba.”

  “They pee in the oceans. Like that’s better? At least here you don’t have to swim around in it after you’ve gone.”

  Holly wrinkled her nose. “Alba, you are so gross.”

  Alba shrugged. “I’m not the one that swims in urine.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Sweets, just pull into the driveway up ahead and turn around. Jax and Holly can hold it a little longer. They’re not two-year-olds.”

  “That’s questionable,” scoffed Alba.

  Sweets turned into the driveway. “What in the world is this?” She looked up at a large metal arch spanning the width of the driveway.

  I peered into the darkness. “Put your brights on, Sweets.”

  Sweets flicked on her high beams, illuminating the archway, and read the sign aloud to the car. “Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium.”

  “Pumpkin Emporium?” we all repeated.

  “I’ve never heard of Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium. Have you girls?” asked Sweets. />
  “Not me,” said Alba.

  “It looks dark and creepy up there,” said Holly.

  “Is there an office or something?” asked Jax. “Maybe they have a bathroom.”

  “If they do, they certainly aren’t open,” I said. “It’s late.”

  “Maybe they have a port-a-potty,” Jax suggested. “Like the Beasleys have.”

  “I am not going to the bathroom in a port-a-potty in the dark,” said Holly.

  “Please, Sweets. I really have to go. Holly, you don’t have to go here, but I do.”

  Sweets drove further down the driveway, keeping her high beams on. At the end of the road, her lights pointed at a decrepit building next to the remains of a burned-down house.

  “Looks abandoned,” said Alba.

  “And no port-a-potty, Jax,” said Sweets.

  Jax let out a whine. “It’s okay. There’s gotta be a bathroom in that building. Keep your high beams on, Sweets. I’m gonna see if the front door’s unlocked. Someone want to come in with me?”

  Holly sighed. “I really don’t want to, but I have to go too.”

  “Mercy, you want to come too and be our lookout?” asked Jax.

  I groaned. “No. But I will.”

  “I’ll go too,” said Alba. “I wouldn’t mind seeing what’s inside.”

  Sweets’ jaw dropped. “Seriously, girls? You’re all going into the creepy-looking building and leaving me all alone?”

  “You can come too, Sweets.”

  “But leave the lights on on the car,” Jax instructed.

  The five of us piled out of the Ectomobile and raced up to the building. The moon shone down on the rickety front porch and it creaked when we stepped on it. An owl hooted in the distance.

  “This place gives me the heebie-jeebies,” said Holly.

  “Me too.” Jax tried the front door. “Aww, it’s locked.”

  “I saw another door on the other end.” I walked down to it and found it locked, but the window in the door was broken. I reached a hand through the hole and unlocked the door. “Girls, down here!”

  Squealing, Jax raced down to my end and was the first to zip inside. Using her phone as a flashlight, she hollered over her shoulder. “Come on, Holl, let’s go find the bathroom!”

  Holly raced past me, leaving Sweets, Alba, and I behind to explore the abandoned building. Inside, the place was full of cobwebs and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Not far inside, there was a long counter along the wall.

  “Girls, check this out.” I pressed a button on an old-fashioned cash register on the end of the counter. The drawer popped open.

  “Any money?” asked Alba.

  I peered into it. “Nope. Empty.” A large bulletin board covered the wall behind the counter. I turned around to look at the pictures tacked to the board. They were all pictures of Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium in its heyday. There were children smiling in all of the pictures, sitting on hay bales, holding pumpkins, and riding in hay wagons.

  Next to me, Sweets and Alba perused the pictures as well.

  “Wow, this place reminds me of Beasley’s,” said Sweets.

  “Definitely,” agreed Alba. “I wonder who owned the place.”

  A picture and an article at the end of the wall caught my attention. “Girls, come check this out.” I pointed at the article. “Harvey and Wayne Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium,” I read aloud. “Girls. Arnold! It says Arnold on that old man’s mailbox that lives down the street from us.”

  Sweets looked surprised. “The one we saw at Beasley’s the other day?”

  “Yes! Jax and I just spoke to him this morning when we took Chesney for a walk. He told us his name was Harvey. This must be his place!”

  Jax reappeared then. “Ohh, girls, I feel so much better.” She walked over to us. “What are you looking at?”

  “Jax, you’ve gotta see this article. You’ll never guess who owns this place?”

  “Who?”

  “Remember that old man we were talking to this morning on our walk with Chesney?”

  Jax’s eyes widened. “Harvey? No way?”

  “Yes, look. There’s even a picture of him and his brother, Wayne.”

  “The one who was visiting him at his house today?” asked Jax.

  I shrugged and pointed at the article on the wall. “I don’t know.”

  “Oh wow. Girls. You have got to see this.” At the far end of the bulletin board, Alba pointed at another article. “It’s dated exactly twenty-five years ago. Listen. Wayne Arnold, son of the late John and Beatrice Arnold, was killed in a fire late Saturday night at Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium. The blaze started in the family’s pumpkin crop and spread to the Arnold family home. Because the fire took place the night of the annual firemen’s costume party, it took longer than normal to extinguish the blaze, and by the time the firemen arrived on the scene, there was little left of the family home. Arnold was found deceased inside. Police suspect arson, and have ruled out Harvey Arnold, Wayne Arnold’s brother and the co-owner of Arnold’s Pumpkin Emporium, as he was not in Aspen Falls the night of the fire.” Alba scanned all the way down to the end of the article. “Wayne is preceded in death by his parents, John and Beatrice Arnold, and one infant sister, Patricia. He is survived by his brother, Harvey Arnold, of Aspen Falls.”

  “Wait a minute. His only brother’s dead?!” balked Jax. “But he said his brother was staying with him! Remember, Mercy? We heard someone in there.”

  My heart thumped in my chest as a sinking feeling hit me. “Oh, girls. I think what we heard was Wayne Arnold’s ghost in that house!”

  Jax clung to my arm. “His ghost?!”

  “Yes.”

  Holly clung to my other arm. “Girls, I think it’s time we get out of here. This place is really starting to freak me out.”

  Sweets nodded. “I agree. Let’s go!”

  11

  We’d just gotten back onto the road and headed in the direction we’d originally come from when a big black cloud in the distance caught Alba’s eye. She pointed up ahead. “Hey, girls, is that smoke up there?”

  We all stared at the dark sky until we could see the puffs of smoke blanketing the moon.

  “It totally looks like there’s a fire up there,” I said, nodding.

  Jax sucked in a breath. “Oh no, girls! Tonight’s the firemen’s ball. All of the firemen are busy. Just like they were the night the Arnold’s family home burned down.”

  A ripple raced down my spine, chilling my flesh. And just like that, I knew where the smoke was coming from. “Girls, I have a really bad feeling about this. We have to get to Beasley’s Pumpkin Patch—now.” I Google Mapped the directions, instructing Sweets where to turn along the way until finally, we found ourselves face-to-face with a giant blazing fire spreading through acres of pumpkin patch.

  At the forefront of the blaze, a bright, glowing ghost hovered in the sky while next to it stood an old, shrunken man. They held hands, their heads leaned back, facing the sky.

  “I knew it,” I whispered. “Girls, it’s the Arnold brothers.”

  “And they’re burning down Beasley’s Pumpkin Patch!” said Alba.

  Jumping out of the car, we stood staring, motionless—unsure of how to stop the fire. Finally, Alba surged forward. “I’ll take care of the old man, you four figure out how to stop that ghost!”

  Wasting no time, Alba threw her magic at Harvey Arnold, lassoing him around the arms. Forcing him to let go of his brother’s hand, she managed to restrain him. Though he struggled against her force, Alba’s magic was much stronger than the frail old man.

  His brother’s ghost continued to hover. Lifting his arms into the sky, the flames burned higher, brighter, and hotter than they had just a moment ago.

  Sirens wailed in the distance.

  “He’s burning the entire place down! We’ve got to stop him!” I yelled over the sound of the roaring fire.

  “But how?!” asked Holly. “I don’t know any ghost-stopping spells by hea
rt. How do we stop a ghost?”

  Jax looked over at us. She smiled as an idea hit her. She pulled her proton gun from her shoulder and aimed it at the ghost. “We’re Ghostbusters! That’s how!”

  “Jax, but they don’t work. They’re just props,” said Sweets.

  “Not for long!” Jax scrunched up her face, wiggled her nose, and let out a loud “Aaaachooo” on her proton pack and the prop ghost trap. Then she did the same to each of our proton packs, sneezing on them in turn, bringing all the objects to life with her magic.

  Fanning out, we all aimed our guns at Wayne Arnold’s ghost.

  “We ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” Jax hollered before firing her proton blaster at him.

  When Wayne felt the first burst of energy hit him, he wheeled around to face us. He laughed like it had merely tickled. But when Holly fired her gun, Sweets fired hers, and I fired mine, he stopped laughing. Our energy blasts surrounded him, binding his limbs.

  He struggled against our magic, and we quickly realized he was a very powerful ghost. It took everything we had to keep a tight hold on our guns.

  “Mercy! Throw out the ghost trap!” Jax hollered, holding her gun firmly with two hands. “We can’t hold him much longer, he’s too strong!”

  “Just a minute, hold him tight!” I hollered, dropping my gun so I could throw out the trap and open it. The second I stomped on the trap’s button, it opened up and a bright green light burst up into the sky. The ghost was drawn to it like a magnet.

  “Noooooo!” he screamed into the night air.

  When Harvey saw his brother getting sucked into the trap, he called out, “Wayne, noooooo!”

  “Harvey!!!! Help me!”

  “Hold him, Alba!” I yelled.

  “I’m trying!”

  “Just a little longer!” The bright green electrical energy surged suddenly and the sky lit up bright, and then, just like that, Wayne’s ghost was sucked into the trap.

  I pulled my foot off the portal button and it tumbled down onto the grass, little wisps of smoke curling around it like an extinguished candle.

  Jax, Holly, and Sweets all fell backwards onto the grass.

  “Wayne, noooo!” screamed Harvey as the sound of the sirens got closer. “My brother! You witches took my brother!”