“Cassie said Eric came up with that idea,” Mimi added. “Dancing out there on the Lambspun corner lawn near the intersection. Hundreds of cars pass by there.”
Kelly grinned. “Yeah, I took a look through the corner window in your office, Mimi. Skeleton Cassie and Frankenstein Eric are having a blast dancing around out there. Somebody found those funny old Halloween songs from decades ago, like ‘Monster Mash.’ It’s hilarious listening to them playing from the front bushes.”
“Watch it! That’s my generation you’re making fun of,” Farmer Burt said. “Listen, Pete and I decided since all the people will be in the café eating Halloween treats, I’d better stay in there with them and make a big EXIT sign so they will leave out the other café door. That will keep them from bumping into newcomers. Keeps the traffic moving.”
“Hey, did you drop in on Hilda today?” Kelly asked Burt. “Lisa says she’s adjusting to the hospital’s new ReHab Center. It’s supposed to be really nice.”
“Yes, Hilda had her first session today. According to Lizzie, therapists got her sitting up and doing some arm exercises. Hilda rolls her eyes but she does them.”
Mimi smiled. “Excellent. I’ll go see her tomorrow.”
“By the way, I’m going to make a video of the spooks downstairs tonight. I thought Hilda and Lizzie would get a kick out of it.” Burt glanced out the window. “Hey, Kelly, I’m about to let the folks in now, and you don’t have your disguise on.”
“That’s right, Kelly. You’ve refused to show us this wig you found. You’re not too scary in that black dress.”
“Okay. But turn around while I do,” Kelly said, reaching under the front counter for the backpack she’d stashed there.
Burt and Mimi dutifully turned their backs, and Kelly withdrew the Medusa wig, wiggling rubber snakes and all. She pulled it on over her hair, then gave her head a shake. The snakes began to dance. Wiggling, writhing and darting in all directions above her head.
“Okay, Medusa’s ready.” She grinned and waited for their reaction.
Burt and Mimi turned around, took one look, and their mouths dropped open. Then they burst out laughing.
“Oh, my word!” Mimi laughed, pointing at Kelly. “They’re awful. Hideous.”
“Love it, Kelly. It’ll be a big hit with the kids.” Burt chuckled.
“I hope they don’t get scared. I figure I’ll let them pat the snakes, and they’ll see they’re just rubber.”
Burt clapped his hands together. “Okay, I think I’ll tell Steve and Curt and Jayleen that it’s “showtime.” You let the spooks downstairs know, Kelly. Mimi will welcome them at the front door, and you and Steve can take turns taking people inside in small groups so it doesn’t get too crowded. I’m betting they won’t stay long.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s seriously spooky dark down there with only those tiny green lights. Get ready for the screams.”
Kelly headed toward the corridor and the door to the Haunted Cellar. Mimi and Burt had the stairs brightly lit to prevent falls. Kelly stared toward the bottom of the stairs and saw only darkness—a greenish black. She went halfway down the steps. No spooks in sight.
“Attention all Spooks! We’re letting the kids and parents in now. Get ready!”
Zombie and Dracula peered around different corners. “Gotcha! Hey, great snakes!” Greg said.
“Veddy niiiiiiice,” Marty said, mimicking the Count’s accent.
“Oooooo, I love it!” Nurse Wretched said from another candle-lit room. Scalpel in hand she paused above patient Pete who lay on a table, bloody intestines dangling over the edge and onto the floor.
“Cool, Kelly,” Pete said, then let out a moan. “Help me, please!”
“You need a hand?” Wretched said, then took a severed hand from her pocket and waved it at him.
Kelly laughed. “You guys are great. Love it,” she said as she climbed the steps. “Spooks are alerted,” she declared to Mimi.
“Excellent. We’ll stay in the foyer. I can welcome people inside, and you and Steve can take them downstairs.” Mimi beckoned Kelly toward the front. “Come along, it’s showtime!”
Steve walked inside the foyer then, red gash showing bright on his cheek. “Okay, Burt’s ready to let the first group inside. What the—? Whoa, Medusa! That is seriously ugly.”
“Thank you, kind sir,” Kelly said, giving her head a shake. The snakes began their dance.
Steve laughed. “Gotta tell you, I am not taking that to bed tonight.”
“But they’re so cute,” Kelly teased.
Burt cracked open the front door and leaned inside. “Here come the folks!”
Kelly hurried to the edge of the central yarn room where Steve stood, letting Bo Peep Mimi have center stage in the foyer. Burt held the Lambspun entry door open as a man and woman and three children entered. The youngest looked about six years old, Kelly thought. They all had big smiles.
“Welcome to our Halloween Hospital Fundraiser!” Mimi said with her bright smile. “Who would you like to escort you into the Haunted Cellar, Bad Bart or Medusa?” Mimi pointed towards Kelly and Steve with her shepherd’s crook.
Kelly shook her head again and listened to the parents laugh and the kids make noises. “Eeuuuu, gross!” the youngest declared, pointing at Kelly.
“Bad Bart!” the older one grinned.
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Steve whispered to Kelly then stepped toward the waiting family.
* * *
“How are those baked goods holding out?” Kelly asked Skeleton Cassie who was munching a chocolate chip cookie just inside the main knitting room.
“Two more plates of chocolate brownies, but lots of chocolate chip cookies left. All the cupcakes and pound cakes are finished. So Pete asked Julie to slice all the pies in the fridge.” Cassie smiled around the half-eaten cookie. “The line was starting to thin out until a few minutes ago. That’s when Eric’s friends from Loveland showed up.”
“Good, Zombie Greg will be happy more junior high kids are coming. I tell you, your softball team nearly ran over me as I was going back up the stairs.” Kelly started to laugh. “Loud screams when Zombie Greg lurched out of the dark in the first room. They all screamed and laughed and a couple of girls ran out. Then Vampire Marty lunged out of the dark with his ‘Good Evening!’ Red cape spread wide and fangs out. There was a roar of screams then, and they all stampeded out of the room. Marty raced after them crying, “But I vant to drink your blood!” Kelly laughed. “I swear, I nearly fell over the railing as they stampeded past me.”
Cassie laughed her musical higher-pitched laughter. “I know! It was awesome! They yelled at me outside that they were gonna text all their friends to come over.”
Eric walked over, a chocolate brownie in one hand and two cookies in the other. Frankenstein head dangling behind his shoulders.
“Hey, Frank. You two fueling up for another session outside?” Kelly teased.
“Oh, yeah. Grandpa Curt and Jayleen are gonna take me home tonight. Mom and Dad said I could stay out later since it was Halloween, and it was for charity. Besides, tomorrow’s Saturday.” He grinned then bit into the brownie. “Whoa, these must be Megan’s.” He closed his eyes, obviously enjoying the chocolate treat.
“Burt said we might not have to go outside anymore. It’s nine o’clock, and there’s still a line out there.” Cassie said.
“Hey, high school kids like to be scared, too, and they’re just getting out of football games,” Kelly said. “You two might as well take advantage of your free pass to stay out late on a Friday night.”
A shrill chorus of screams drifted through the café then. Cassie looked over at Eric with a grin. “I bet that’s your 4H group who yelled at you when they drove up.”
“Gotta be,” Eric said after devouring the rest of the brownie.
Kelly gestured toward the back door of the café which was closer to the Lambspun corner lawn. “I think they’re playing your song, guys,” she said with a grin.
&
nbsp; Cassie and Eric both laughed and headed toward the door, adjusting their costumes as they left. Kelly watched them scamper toward the corner lawn. Showtime!
THE END
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About the Author
Maggie Sefton is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Kelly Flynn Knitting Mysteries. UNRAVELED, 9th in the series, made the New York Times Bestselling Hardcover Fiction List after its 2011 release. YARN OVER MURDER, 12th in the series was released June 2014. All of the mysteries in the successful series have been Barnes & Noble Top Ten Bestselling Mysteries and several have been New York Times Bestsellers as well. Maggie also has a Political Suspense trilogy set in Washington, DC. DEADLY POLITICS (2012), POISONED POLITICS (2013), and BLOODY POLITICS, November 2014.
Maggie was first published in historical fiction in 1995 with ABILENE GAMBLE under the pen name Margaret Conlan. She had written over a million words of historical fiction before she ever wrote the first mystery. DYING TO SELL, with real estate agent sleuth Kate Doyle, was published by Five Star Mysteries in 2005. DYING TO SELL and ABILENE GAMBLE (E-Book title: ABILENE GAMBLER) are available online from major E-Book retailers.
A new Historical Mystery set in 1890 Washington, DC—SCANDALS, SECRETS, AND MURDER: The Widow and the Rogue Mysteries—came out on E-Books in March 2014. Trade paperback edition is now available online from Amazon.
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