by Ron Roy
“Ghouls don’t live in caves,” Ruth Rose said.
“Yeah, they live in graves!” Candy said, raising her voice.
“Hey, Candy, you made a poem!” Adam said.
Dink laughed and lay back in the hay. Suddenly something flew toward the wagon out of the darkness. Dink tried to burrow down into the hay. “Watch out!” he yelled.
“IT’S A WITCH!” Ruth Rose yelled, laughing at the same time. “Watch out, Josh, she’s gonna put you in her pot and boil you with a bunch of frogs’ eyes!”
“Yummy!” Josh said. “I love frog stew!”
All six kids began laughing and yelling.
The witch flew low over the wagon. She wore a black hat and a flowing cloak. As suddenly as she had appeared, she was gone.
“How did he do that?” Andy asked as they all sat up again.
“Who?” his brother asked.
“The driver,” Andy said. “He made those bats attack us, too.”
“Maybe he’s a magic ghoul!” Josh said.
Everyone laughed.
But they stopped laughing when the wagon pulled up next to a small cemetery. Moonlight and shadows made the place look spooky.
The six kids looked over the side of the wagon. There were only about a dozen tombstones. Most were broken and crumbling on the ground. But there was one new-looking grave marker. The stone stood at the head of an open grave. A pile of dirt was mounded next to the hole.
“This is new,” Adam whispered. “There was no grave last year!”
“I don’t like this,” Candy whispered.
Dink didn’t like it, either. He figured the bats and the witch had been jokes, but this felt different.
Dink started to turn toward the driver, but something caught his eye.
A hand was rising out of the grave! Then came an arm, covered in filthy rags. A second hand and arm appeared, then a face, blotched with dirt. Some of the flesh was peeling off. The hair was ragged, half missing from the awful head.
“I want to go home!” Josh wailed.
The terrible creature crawled from the grave and staggered toward the wagon.
Dink thought he was going to faint. He tried to move, but he had turned to stone.
The man from the grave reached the wagon and jumped onto the ladder.
The kids all screamed as the monster stretched out a hand. He grabbed Dink’s ankle and yelled, “FEED ME!”
The driver turned around and bonked the man on the head with a wooden pole. The man fell off the wagon, onto the trail. He sat up, rubbed his head, and called out, “I’m sooooooo huuunnngry!”
The kids watched the man lurch back toward the open grave.
The wagon continued moving.
“Cool!” Andy said. “Did you see that awesome mask?”
“Mask? Was that another trick?” Josh asked.
“Sure,” Andy said. “All this stuff is planned, just to scare the heck out of us.”
“But he really grabbed me,” Dink said. “I could feel his fingers!”
Just then the driver started laughing. He laughed so hard, he had to put down the reins. The horse stopped walking.
The driver rocked in his seat, holding his head and laughing. Suddenly his head flew off his shoulders and landed in the hay between the kids. Red gooey blood oozed from the neck.
The six kids screamed and tried to back away from the head.
“Wait a minute,” Adam said. “That’s not a real head. It’s just a hollow pumpkin!”
“He’s right,” Josh said. “Look, it’s been painted to look like a face!”
“And that’s fake blood!” Ruth Rose said.
“That’s right,” a voice said. The kids looked at the driver. A smiling man was looking back at them. “I’m Officer Klevor. Hope my buddy back there didn’t scare you too much.”
“That guy from the grave was your friend?” Dink asked.
The driver nodded, grinning. “Yep. That’s Officer Reilly. We’re both police officers. Ready for the party?”
CHAPTER 4
Officer Klevor flicked the reins, and the horse and wagon began to move again. Minutes later, they came to a wide clearing in the woods. Small lights hung in the trees. Dink could see two other hay wagons parked off to the side. The horses had been unhitched and were grazing. A police cruiser was parked not far from the wagons. The shiny chrome gleamed in the moonlight.
Dink saw a lot of other kids in the clearing. Some wore full costumes, but most just had on masks and were dressed in jeans and sweaters. He noticed several men and women, all wearing masks or costumes. He saw an Elvis, a clown, and a Humpty Dumpty. He figured they were police officers, too. They were setting up games and placing food on two long tables.
Officer Klevor hopped off the wagon. “Okay, kids, jump down,” he said. “We’ve got games and tons of food, and later there’ll be a bonfire.” He grinned. “Anyone who doesn’t have fun tonight gets arrested!”
The six kids clambered down off the wagon. They wiped hay from their hair and clothing, put on their masks, then ran toward the lights.
“Look,” Josh said. He pointed to a group of kids gathered around a boy who had been blindfolded. He was holding a picture of a man’s face.
“They’re playing pin the head on the headless horseman!” Ruth Rose said. The blindfolded boy staggered forward. Attached to a tree was a picture of a horse with a headless rider.
Everyone in the group laughed when the boy completely missed the tree. One of the police officers whispered something in the boy’s ear, then aimed him in the right direction. The police officer was dressed as a spaceman.
Another group of kids were standing around a barrel of water, dunking for apples.
Other kids were lawn-bowling. Instead of bowling balls, they used small pumpkins.
“Ruth Rose, can I borrow your phone?” Dink asked. “I’d better call my dad.”
Ruth Rose dug her cell phone out of her pocket and handed it to Dink. He dialed. “Hi, Dad,” he said a few seconds later. “Yeah, we’re here, and it’s awesome. We got attacked by bats and witches and dead guys crawling out of graves. Oh, and our driver’s head fell off! I love this place!”
Dink pushed the button to end the call. He handed the phone back to Ruth Rose. “What do you guys want to do?” he asked.
“Feed me!” Josh said. “I smell hot dogs!”
“I want to dunk for apples,” Ruth Rose said. “I’ll see you guys in a little while.” She headed for the apple dunkers.
“You coming to eat?” Josh asked Dink.
“Not right now,” Dink said. “I think I’ll try that bowling with pumpkins. It looks like fun.”
“Okay, I’ll be at the hot dog table,” Josh said, grinning. “That looks like fun!”
“Don’t eat too many,” Dink warned.
“How many is too many?” Josh asked.
Dink laughed. “For you, I’d say about twenty!” he said.
Josh made a goofy face at Dink and jogged toward the food. Dink lowered his mask and walked up to a police officer who seemed to be in charge of the pumpkin bowling. The man wore filthy rags and a mask that looked like rotting flesh.
“Hi,” Dink said. “Are you the guy from the grave?”
The man lifted his mask away from his face. “I sure am,” he said. “But I’m really Officer Reilly. Did I scare you?”
Dink nodded. “Half to death!” he said. “How’d you get here so fast?”
Officer Reilly pointed to where the cruiser was parked. “As soon as your wagon left, I jumped in and drove here.”
“Can I bowl?” Dink asked.
“Sure,” Officer Reilly said. “Just grab a pumpkin from that pile over there and get in line.”
Dink walked over to the pumpkin pile. He chose a round one, figuring it would roll better.
Holding his pumpkin, Dink stepped in the line of kids waiting to bowl. The kid in front of him was Adam, from the hayride. “Hey,” Dink said. “Have you ever done this before?”
Adam
turned around and smiled at Dink. “Yeah, my brother and I did it last year. It’s crazy! Your pumpkin goes wobbling all over the place. But you only get a prize if you knock over that little ghost statue.” Adam pointed.
“There are prizes?” Dink said.
“Yup. Last year I won a little monster that glowed in the dark!” Adam said. “It took me four tries!”
Pretty soon it was Adam’s turn to bowl. He stepped up to a rope lying on the grass. With one toe on the rope, Adam tossed his pumpkin using both hands. His pumpkin rolled off into the bushes, missing the ghost statue by five feet!
The other kids in line all laughed. Adam laughed, too, and ran after his pumpkin.
Officer Reilly pointed to Dink. “Your turn,” he said. “Good luck!”
Dink decided to try something he’d seen Josh do once when they were in a real bowling alley. He walked up to the rope, but then he turned around so he was facing away from the statue.
“You’re bowling backward?” some other kid asked. “How are you gonna see where your pumpkin is going?”
Holding his pumpkin in both hands, Dink bent over and looked backward through his legs. He could see the statue clearly, but upside down. Then he aimed his pumpkin and hurled it through his legs. It shot straight toward the statue. But at the last second, the pumpkin hit a rock or a bump and flew off in another direction.
“You almost made it, kid!” Officer Reilly said.
Dink lifted his mask and chased after his pumpkin. It had rolled into some bushes growing between a bunch of trees. He finally found the pumpkin in some weeds. As Dink picked it up, he heard a voice somewhere ahead of him. He looked up and saw two dark figures over by the wagons and horses. Even though the moon shone down on them, Dink couldn’t make out the men’s faces. They must be more cops, and they’re wearing masks, Dink thought. The men were patting the horses and talking to them.
Dink noticed something shiny on the ground where the men’s feet were. When one of the men moved, the shiny things moved, too. Dink wondered if there were fireflies here at the end of October.
Dink grabbed his pumpkin and trotted back to the clearing. He got in line behind a girl in a Miss Piggy mask. Before it was time for him to bowl again, Josh appeared, chomping on a hot dog.
“Dink, come on, they’re starting the bonfire!” Josh said. Dink put his pumpkin back on the pile and followed Josh. The cops had made a circle of tree stumps for the kids to sit on. In the middle, they had piled logs and dry tree branches. An officer lit the pile, and soon it was crackling.
Dink and Josh found Ruth Rose, and the three sat on stumps.
“Did you get an apple?” Dink asked her.
“Yup, and I ate it!” she said. The neck of her sweater and the tips of her hair were wet.
The officer dressed as Elvis passed out marshmallows and pointy sticks. “Wait till the flames die down,” he instructed.
It took about five minutes for the dry wood and branches to burn down. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose left their masks on the stumps and stepped up to the fire. They reached toward the coals with their marshmallow sticks.
“Guess how many marshmallows I can fit in my mouth at the same time,” Josh said.
“A hundred,” Dink said. He watched his marshmallow to see that it didn’t get too burned.
“Nope. Seventeen,” Josh said. “I did it at the twins’ birthday party last year. Mom was grossed out. It was so cool!”
“Well, don’t do it here,” Ruth Rose said. “I don’t want to be embarr—”
Just then a girl on the other side of the circle yelled, “Oh my gosh, look!”
Everyone stared at her. No one knew what she was yelling about.
“No, over there!” the girl cried. She pointed into the woods where Dink had chased his pumpkin.
Through the trees, they could all see flames shooting into the sky!
“The hay wagons are burning!” one of the officers yelled.
CHAPTER 5
Everyone started yelling. All the kids jumped off the stumps. Dink saw Officer Klevor yank a cell phone from his pocket. “Fire department, quick!” he yelled into the phone. Then he charged into the woods toward the flames.
The kids all started to follow. Officer Klevor turned around and spread his arms. “No, you kids stay here. We’ll take care of this!”
The kids gathered in a group. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose found Candy and her two brothers in the crowd. Everyone was talking at once. Josh ate the marshmallow off his stick.
“This is amazing!” Andy said. “This never happens in New York City!”
“I wonder if a spark from the bonfire started the hay on fire,” Ruth Rose said.
“I bet it was some weirdo who did it just for kicks,” Adam said.
Dink suddenly remembered the headless horseman who had ridden past their cabin. He was carrying a jack-o’-lantern. Had it been lit with a candle? Had the horseman come here and burned the wagons?
“What happened to the horses?” Josh asked.
“They must have run away when the fire started,” Ruth Rose said.
“How are we supposed to get back to our cabin?” Josh asked.
Even standing where they were, yards from the fire, Dink could feel the heat and smell burning hay and wood. Some of the smoke drifted their way, making his eyes sting.
Then Dink thought about the two men he’d seen near the horses when he’d chased his pumpkin. At the time, he’d thought they were police officers. But were they really cops? Had those men set the fire?
“Somebody will come and get us,” Ruth Rose said. “They won’t leave a bunch of kids stranded in the woods on Halloween night!”
“It’s probably just another trick,” Andy said. “The cops faked it to get us real scared. In a minute, they’ll probably all bust out laughing.”
“You think those burning wagons are fake?” his brother asked. “Get real, Andy!”
Just then they heard a siren in the distance.
“That must be a fire engine!” Josh said.
“They’ll never get here in time,” Dink said. “Those wagons are burning to the ground.”
A few minutes later, two fire engines roared into the clearing. Some of the cops ran to meet them. Dink saw the officer dressed as a spaceman. Every time he took a step, the heels of his sneakers lit up.
Dink’s mind flashed again to the two men he’d seen in the woods. One of them had something shiny on his feet. Was this officer dressed as a spaceman one of the two men? Had they burned the wagons? Dink shook the questions away. He must have seen fireflies.
One of the firefighters jumped from his truck to the ground. “What’s going on?” he asked the cops.
“Hay wagons on fire,” the officer dressed as a space guy answered. “Did you bring water? There are no fire hydrants out here.”
“Yeah, we have a full tank,” the firefighter said. He climbed back into his truck and drove toward the burning hay wagons.
Officer Klevor came running out of the woods. “That fire is no accident!” he said to the spaceman. “It was deliberately set!”
“How do you know?” his companion asked.
“We found matchbooks on the ground,” Officer Klevor said.
Dink and all the other kids watched the firefighters pull hoses and fire extinguishers from the trucks. Minutes later, the flames were gone, replaced by smoke, steam, and a damp smell in the air.
Officer Klevor walked over to the kids. His face was streaked with ashes. “Pretty exciting, eh?” he said. He smiled, but Dink could tell he was upset. His hands shook as he wiped soot from his face. “Let’s go back to the circle, kids.”
The kids sat on stumps, and Officer Klevor joined them. “The wagons burned up,” he said. “But don’t worry, we’ll get you all home.”
“What about the horses?” Josh asked.
“They ran into the woods,” Officer Klevor said. “Officers are out looking for them.”
“Who did it?” Adam asked.
O
fficer Klevor shook his head. “I don’t know, but whoever it was is a real jerk,” he said.
“Officer Klevor?” Dink said. “I may have seen who set the fires.”
Everyone looked at Dink. He felt himself blush.
Officer Klevor asked, “What’s your name, son?”
“I’m Dink Duncan,” Dink said. “You picked us up at our cabin.”
“Oh yeah, you’re here with your dad, right?” Officer Klevor asked. “Staying in Haunted House?”
Dink nodded.
“What did you see?” Officer Klevor asked.
“I was bowling, and my pumpkin rolled into the woods,” Dink said. “When I went after it, I saw two men over by the wagons.”
“Two men? What did they look like?” Officer Klevor asked.
“I couldn’t really see their faces,” Dink said. “I think they had Halloween masks on. I thought they were officers, like you.”
“What were the men doing?” Officer Klevor asked.
Dink thought back to what he had seen. “They were petting the horses,” he said. “At least I think so.”
“So you didn’t see these men actually set fire to the wagons?”
Dink shook his head. “No. I thought they were just checking on the horses.”
Dink decided not to mention that he thought he’d seen something shiny on one of the men’s feet. Or that the officer dressed as a spaceman had sneakers that lit up.
Officer Reilly joined them. “We have a problem,” he said to Officer Klevor.
“Another one? What is it, Billy?” Officer Klevor asked.
“My cruiser’s tires are all flat,” he said. “Some crackpot let the air out! So we have no wagons and no car. None of us can leave here.”
“You mean we have to stay out in the woods all night?” Josh asked.
CHAPTER 6
Officer Klevor put his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you back to your cabins,” he said. “I called the dispatcher. They promised to get some cars out here as soon as they can.”
Officers Klevor and Reilly walked toward the smoldering fire.