Berger slumped against the wall, and Rusty stroked Krypto's head. "You came back to me. I thought I'd lost you." He felt tears run down his cheek. Jimmy stood at his side. Before them, Berger seemed to shrink in size, growing smaller, and within moments all that was left was his clothing. There was no sign of the man.
Jimmy turned around. "Look. He's gone as well."
It was true. The dwarf had also disappeared, leaving only his small suit and the hat. Jimmy picked it up.
"Last year this was all that was left. Now we have the whole costume." He laughed, the relief spreading across his face.
"Two costumes." Rusty added. "And one big, wonderful puppy." He hugged Krypto, who licked him on the face.
"No one's ever gonna' believe this. I don't believe it." Jimmy shook his head. "And this time, it's really over."
"I'm going to return all this stuff to whoever it belongs to. And my mom, and Tommy…" Rusty hesitated. "They're free now. We're all free now."
"I wonder what he planned on doing? With us, with everything?" Jimmy pointed to the stone fragments.
Rusty shook his head. "We'll never really know. I don't think I want to know either. He was evil, from the old country. Somehow we were connected. My family, me. I guess he wanted to use us for whatever he had in mind. But I don't care anymore. I just want to go back home."
"Yeah, you're right. My dad is going to kill me…" He stopped. "After all this, bad choice of words. Oh well, I've been late before. And it is Halloween, you know. What would Halloween be like without some real tricks?"
"Safer," Rusty answered. "A lot safer."
"Maybe we should listen to our own advice from last year."
"What do you mean?"
"About retiring from raiding."
Rusty looked mischievously around him. "You mean you didn't have any fun tonight?"
Jimmy's mouth opened in surprise, but before he could reply, Krypto barked, answering for him.
Mischief Night Page 6