“Thank you! Thank you, Min!” cried Ruby, and she threw her arms around Min’s waist.
The girls gathered at the table at the back of the store.
“Ruby, you have to stay out of trouble,” said Flora. “Really. I don’t think Min will put up with much more.”
“I don’t do these things on purpose,” said Ruby.
“Then you have to start thinking about what you do. You have to pay attention.”
“You sound like Mr. Lundy.”
“I can’t help it. Seriously, Ruby, you need to concentrate. On something other than your lines and your music.”
Ruby sighed. If only she could memorize dates and facts as easily as, say, a new song. Just the other night, when she was supposed to be working on division problems, she had discovered that she knew the entire second verse to “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music. It was Ruby’s dream (one of her dreams, anyway) to play the part of Brigitta in The Sound of Music. Gretl was actually a better part, as far as Ruby was concerned, but Ruby thought she was too old to play Gretl. And it made her feel quite sad to think that at age nine she had already missed a great opportunity.
“Ruby?” said Flora. “Ruby? See, you’re not paying attention now. I’m talking to you about paying attention and your mind is … where is it?”
“With Gretl in The Sound of Music.”
“Ahem,” said Nikki. “Could we please get back to the party? I can’t stay very long this afternoon.”
“All right,” replied Flora with one last glare in Ruby’s direction. “Here’s the big news. Yesterday when Mrs. Walter came into the store I talked to her about a pet for Olivia.”
“Ooh, what did she say? Did she think it was a good idea?” asked Nikki.
“Yup,” said Flora, rolling a spool of thread across the table. “But she said it has to be a small pet, not a dog or a cat.”
“You mean like a hamster or something?” said Ruby.
“Yes. And what Mrs. Walter thinks Olivia would most like is a guinea pig. So — and this is the great part — if we buy a guinea pig for Olivia, her parents will get the cage and other supplies. Then all Olivia will have to buy is its food.”
“Excellent!” cried Ruby.
Nikki caught the spool of thread as it rolled by her, and she peered at it with great interest. “How much,” she said, “do you think a guinea pig will cost?”
Flora glanced at her sister. “I’m not sure. But I don’t think it will be very much. And Min might help us out. Also, Min promised to give us supplies from the store for making gifts and decorations. So we shouldn’t have to pay for much stuff at all.”
“Okay,” said Nikki, relaxing.
“So,” said Flora, “the invitations have gone out.” (Ruby had made the invitations on her computer.) “Let’s just hope everyone can keep the party a secret.”
“It’s a good thing the party is going to be held here,” said Ruby, “because if we had it at our house, Olivia might get suspicious.”
“It’ll be easier to decorate here, too,” added Flora. “Olivia doesn’t come into the store as much as she did before school started.”
“So what should we do today?” asked Nikki. “Work on decorations or on the presents we’re going to make Olivia?”
“Presents, I think,” said Flora. “They’ll take more time. Do you guys know what you’re going to make?”
“I do,” said Nikki, “but I might need you to help me, Flora. I want to make Olivia a bag to carry all her school stuff in. I saw a really pretty one in the window of Flare last week when I was waiting for Tobias to pick me up, and I thought, ‘I could make that.’ But I do think I’ll need a little help.”
“What did the bag look like?” asked Flora.
“Sort of patchworky. But otherwise it was just a plain bag with a handle. It was the fabric that made it so special.”
“Oh!” said Flora. “That’s a great idea. You get a pattern for a simple tote bag, but you piece together different fabrics to make the sides. I could help you with that. We can take fabric from the scrap bin.”
“Do you think there’s any velvet in the scrap bin?” asked Nikki. “That’s one of the things that made the bag so fancy. Velvet.”
“There is,” replied Flora. “But velvet is hard to work with because of its nap. It makes it kind of slippery. You know what’s much easier to work with and looks almost as nice? It’s this kind of very fine corduroy. I think it’s called featherwale. I’m not sure, but I know Min and Gigi have some. We could use that. Or velveteen.”
“This is going to be fun,” said Nikki.
“What about you?” Flora asked Ruby. “What are you going to make?”
“I was thinking of making her a beaded necklace and bracelet. But I might need some of your beads, Flora.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you,” said Ruby. “And what are you going to make?”
“Well, I’ve been planning this for a while now. I decided to make Olivia a wish pillow.”
“What’s a wish pillow?” asked Nikki.
“Something I made up.” Flora reached for a pencil and began sketching on a piece of paper. “See, I’m going to divide a pillow into nine sections by sewing down rows of ribbon and rickrack. And then in each square I’ll sew a button or something that’s meaningful to Olivia. The pillow is going to be off-white, and the ribbons will be purple. I’m also going to put a purple satin ruffle around —”
“Oh! Oh!” cried Nikki. “I just thought of something. I’m sorry to interrupt you, Flora, but this is a really great idea.”
“What? What is it?” asked Ruby.
“Well, I was thinking about the guinea pig. I mean, I was listening to you, Flora, I really was. But I was also thinking about the guinea pig, and how great it would be if Olivia could choose the exact one she wants.”
“But it’s supposed to be a surprise,” said Flora.
“I know. And this is the great part. I thought, what if we go to the Cheshire Cat with Olivia one day after school? We’ll say we just want to look around. And then I could stand in front of the guinea pig cage and say, ‘Aren’t these cute? If you guys could have one, which would it be?’ And then we could each choose one, and that way we’d know which one Olivia wants.”
“And we can ask Sharon to hold it for us until the day of the party!” exclaimed Flora.
“Who’s Sharon?” asked Nikki.
“She owns the Cheshire Cat. I know she’ll do this for Olivia.”
“Maybe we can go tomorrow,” said Ruby.
“I’ll call Olivia tonight,” said Flora.
Then, with the guinea pig plan taken care of, the girls got down to the business of making Olivia’s birthday presents.
When school let out the next afternoon, Flora, Olivia, and Nikki met up with Ruby, who said casually, “I don’t have any rehearsals this afternoon. Let’s go walk around town. Can you come, Nikki?”
“Sure. And you know what? I’ve always wanted to look in the Cheshire Cat, but I never have.”
“Well, let’s go there,” replied Flora. “Okay, Olivia?”
“Okay. I love the Cheshire Cat.”
“Goody,” said Flora, who had stopped in the pet store the day before and told Sharon their plan.
Olivia, Nikki, Flora, and Ruby jostled one another and giggled on the short walk from Camden Falls Elementary to Main Street. They ran into Needle and Thread and stayed long enough to greet Min and Gigi and to dump their schoolbags behind the counter. Then they left for the Cheshire Cat — Nikki, Ruby, and Flora exchanging meaningful smiles and pleased glances, hoping Olivia wouldn’t notice anything unusual.
The Cheshire Cat, which sold pet supplies and small animals such as fish and birds and hamsters and mice but not cats or dogs (“Because there are plenty of cats and dogs in shelters who need homes,” said Sharon), was located across Main Street and a few stores down from Needle and Thread.
“Let’s look at the guinea pigs first!” cried Ruby as
the girls charged through the door.
Nikki elbowed her. “You’ll give it away!” she said in a loud whisper.
But Olivia was already standing in front of the guinea pig cage and exclaiming, “Ooh, they are cute. They are so, so cute. I wish, I wish, I wish I could have one of my own. See how fuzzy they are?”
“If you could have one, which would it be?” asked Nikki, crouching next to Olivia for a better look in the cage. “I like that brown-and-white one.”
“Mmm, I like that one,” said Olivia, pointing.
“The all tan one?”
“Yup. And I know what I would name it, too. Sandy. Isn’t that a good name for a tan guinea pig?”
“It’s perfect,” said Flora.
The girls wandered around the store then and looked at all the animals and toys and treats and supplies. Before they left, Olivia returned to the guinea pig cage and took one long last look at Sandy. Then she opened the door to the Cheshire Cat and headed outside, followed by Ruby and Nikki. She didn’t notice that Flora hung back just long enough to whisper to Sharon, “The all tan one, the one in the corner.” Sharon nodded and said, “He’s all yours. I won’t let anyone else buy him.”
Flora grinned and ran outside to join her friends.
“Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween!”
On the last day of October, a morning that dawned chilly and gray and gloomy, Flora was awakened by Ruby, who was bouncing on her bed, crying, “Happy Halloween!” She was already dressed in her costume.
“Ruby?” Flora rubbed her eyes and yawned widely.
“What time is it?”
“Six-oh-five.”
Flora groaned. “Ruby.”
“What?”
“It’s too early, that’s what. We don’t have to get up yet.”
“But aren’t you excited? It’s Halloween.”
Flora considered this. Was she excited? She was pleased with her costume and pleased with the other costumes she and Min had helped make. Alyssa’s candle costume, for instance. And she was looking forward to the party in Mrs. Mandel’s room that afternoon. But she couldn’t help remembering past Halloweens, and all of them involved her parents, especially her father, who had enjoyed Halloween even more than Flora and Ruby had. The costumes he had made for himself to wear as he handed out candy had been the talk of the neighborhood, particularly since Mr. Northrop had kept each costume a secret until Halloween. No one, not even Flora’s mother, had known what the costume would be until he put it on in time to greet the first of the trick-or-treaters.
But this year will be different, Flora told herself. No one would be handing out candy from Min’s house, and although she and Ruby would start their trick-or-treating at the Row Houses, they would finish up in town, going from store to store. And they would spend the evening with Olivia and Nikki instead of Annika and Liza and Ruby’s friend Polly.
“Well, aren’t you?” asked Ruby again.
Flora sat up and looked at her scarecrow costume, which was draped over the armchair in the corner of her room.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m excited.”
Although Min worried that the day was too chilly for trick-or-treating, Ruby said, “But it’s perfect Halloween weather. It’s all windy and gray. Kind of spooky.”
By late in the afternoon, when Ruby and Flora and Olivia were putting on their costumes at the Walters’ house, the day had grown even windier. And darkness had fallen early.
“It’s like you could almost expect to see a real ghost,” said Ruby, shivering as she peered out the window. “Or a witch.”
“Don’t scare me!” exclaimed Olivia.
“Come on, you guys. Put on your costumes,” said Flora.
“I need help,” said Olivia, who was the Tin Man and had the most complicated of the costumes. She and Flora and Min and Mrs. Walter had worked hard to create a silvery costume, complete with a funnel for a hat. “Where’s the silver makeup? We have to cover my face with it.”
Flora’s scarecrow costume was the next most complicated, since she wanted real straw to show at her wrists and ankles and neck. Nikki, as the Cowardly Lion, would be wearing a brown bodysuit and a hood with a mane attached. Ruby was to be Dorothy.
“If I can’t play Dorothy onstage, then at least I can dress like her,” Ruby had said.
“Is everybody ready?” asked Mrs. Walter, poking her head into the kitchen.
“Almost. But don’t let the boys in here. Ruby’s in her underwear,” said Olivia.
“The boys have already left,” replied her mother. She helped Ruby put on her dress and checked pinafore. “Wow,” she said, stepping back. “You girls did a fabulous job. You look as if you could have stepped right out of the book. Where are you going to meet Nikki?”
“In town,” said Olivia. “We’re going to trick-or-treat on the way and then meet Nikki at … where did we say we would meet her?” she asked Flora.
“We didn’t. We just said we’d find her somewhere. Nikki didn’t know what time Tobias would be able to drive her and Mae into town.”
“Well, have fun,” said Mrs. Walter. “Oh — let me take a picture of you before you leave. I wish I could get one with Nikki, but you three look pretty fantastic.”
The picture she took, which Flora still has — stuck on the corner of the mirror in her bedroom — shows a grinning Scarecrow, a grinning Tin Man, and a grinning Dorothy, their arms thrown around one another.
“Okay. Come on!” said Olivia. “I always start at Mr. Pennington’s because he gives out regular-size candy bars.”
Laughing, Flora and Ruby and Olivia ran outside and into the Camden Falls nighttime.
“Well, I’ll be,” said Mr. Pennington a moment later when he answered his doorbell. “It’s Dorothy Gale, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow. What wonderful costumes.”
“Thank you,” said Olivia and Flora.
“Trick-or-treat!” said Ruby.
Mr. Pennington did indeed have full-size candy bars, an entire bowl of Three Musketeers. “Now, be sure to go next door to the Edwardses’ house. Robby’s handing out the candy this year,” he said.
“Oh, we will,” said Ruby. “We have to see the Wizard.”
When Robby opened his door, Olivia said, “Hello, Wizard of Oz. It’s me, the Tin Man. I’ve come to see if you can give me a heart.”
Robby smiled. “No, but you can have a Baby Ruth.”
“I need a brain,” said Flora.
Ruby eyed the Wizard’s case, which Robby had perched on a bench in the hallway, and said, “Oh, I don’t think there’s anything in that black bag for me.”
“Ha! That’s a good one, Ruby! Just like in the movie.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come trick-or-treating with us?” asked Olivia.
Robby looked away from the girls. “Nope. I mean, no, thank you. Thank you very much. I have a job. I’m an adult.”
“Okay, but we’re going to miss you.”
“You’re an excellent Wizard,” added Flora.
“Thank you,” said Robby again.
The girls made their way to the rest of the Row Houses — except for Min’s, of course — and then started for town. All along Aiken Avenue they passed groups of costumed trick-or-treaters, their wigs and capes and jackets and masks blowing in the wind. Some carried flashlights, some shouted. A few of the smallest children rode on their parents’ shoulders. As the girls turned the corner onto Main Street, the wind shoved the clouds away, and for an instant Flora glimpsed the Halloween moon.
Ruby exclaimed, “I just saw a witch ride across the moon. I swear I did! I saw her silhouette, and she was in flowing robes on a broomstick!”
Despite herself, Flora shuddered and looked once more at the moon, which was perfectly round and yellow but showed no signs of its path having been crossed by a witch.
“Wow!” said Ruby, her attention now drawn to Main Street. “Look at town. It’s … it’s enchanting.”
Every store on Main Street was outlined in soft
orange and gold lights. The windows were decorated with goblins and monsters and black cats and brooms and pumpkins and candy corn and cornstalks. The girls had already seen this, of course — town had been decorated for days — but now walking up and down the sidewalks were crowds of trick-or-treaters. And standing in the doorways of the shops were queens and magicians and cows and pirates and mummies, all waiting to hand out candy.
In the doorway of Needle and Thread were the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, each holding a plastic pumpkin full of candy.
“Hi, Min! Hi, Gigi!” called Flora and Ruby and Olivia.
“Hi, girls.” Gigi turned to the Northrops. “How’s your first Halloween in Camden Falls?”
“Great,” said Flora.
“We have to find Nikki,” said Olivia. “Have you seen her?”
“The Cowardly Lion?” asked Gigi. “Not yet.”
So Olivia and Ruby and Flora set off down Main Street. They stopped in store after store, and their bags of candy grew heavier and heavier, but they didn’t find Nikki.
“We should have had a better plan,” said Olivia.
“I bet she and Mae are around here somewhere and we just haven’t found them because it’s so crowded,” said Ruby.
“What time is it?” asked Olivia.
“Seven-thirty,” said Flora.
By eight-thirty, the girls were tired, their bags were full, and they still hadn’t found Nikki.
“Let’s go to Needle and Thread,” said Flora. “If Nikki’s here, she’d look for us at the store.”
In the little house at the end of the gravel driveway, miles away from Main Street, Nikki Sherman lay on her bed fully clothed. Her lion costume hung in the closet. In the bed next to her, Mae slept soundly in her princess costume. Nikki stood and tiptoed to the closed door of their room. She put her ear to the door, but very quickly she jumped back. She didn’t have to listen hard to hear the voices from the kitchen.
“You said they could go!” That was her mother’s voice, and Nikki sensed tears in it.
“Well, I changed my mind.” That was her father.
“But it isn’t fair. The kids had their hearts set on it. They have little enough as it is —”