They continued along the street, pausing each time they met kids. Block after block, Vivian handed out candy bars. When her bag was empty, Helen took over.

Though they came upon teenagers as well as little kids, nobody gave them much trouble. A few smart-alecks, but most of the trick-or-treaters were nice and none assaulted them with squirtguns or other weapons. Abilene found herself enjoying the encounters and was a little disappointed when she realized that they'd walked a full block without meeting any more kids.

'I guess they've mosdy gone home,' she said.

'I'm getting low, anyway,' Helen said, and shook her sack. She was carrying the last of the candy. 'Should we start back?'

'Let's try one more block,' Abilene suggested.

Cora grinned back at her. 'You're the one who wanted to quit.'

'That's when I was wet.'

They crossed a street. And Abilene saw, near the far end of the block, a group of three small kids run from a lighted porch, laughing, their treat bags bouncing and swinging. The children joined a woman waiting on the sidewalk. They hurried ahead of her and scampered toward the next house.

'Hey, one's a ghost,' Helen said. She sounded very pleased.

Soon, they were close enough for Abilene to see that the other two were dressed as a kitten and a gremlin. From their size, she guessed that they were no older than five or six.

They were off at a house when Finley strode up to the woman and announced, 'Hi! We're the Merry Halloween Team!'

The woman laughed and shook her head. She had red hair and freckles. She didn't look old enough to have three kids.

Maybe just one is hers, Abilene thought.

'We've been going around giving stuff to the kids,' Helen said.

'Hey, that's a great idea. Sort of like trick-or-treating in reverse.'

'Just an excuse to get out and see what's happening,' Abilene told her.

The ghost, kitten and gremlin came running across the lawn.

They slowed down near the sidewalk. Then stopped on the grass. And stared.

'It's all right, kids. This is the Merry Halloween Team.'

'With treats!' Helen said. She bent over and reached into her sack. 'It's so nice to meet a fellow ghost,' she said, smiling at the spook.

'I'm not really a ghost. I'm Heather.'

'Nice to meet you, Heather. I'm Helen. But I'm a real ghost.'

'Oh, I bet you aren't really. There's no such thing. Is there. Mommy?'

'If she says she's a ghost, I guess she is.'

'But I'm a very friendly ghost,' Helen explained, and dropped a couple of Three Musketeer bars into Heather's bag.

The girl said, 'Thank you very much.'

'You're a very pretty kitty,' Helen said as she gave treats to the kitten.

'Meeeeooooow. '

Abilene grinned. 'They're really cute kids.'

'I'm Gizmo,' said the gremlin.

'Here you go, Gizmo.'

The candy bars no sooner hit the bottom of Gizmo's bag than all three girls rushed on down the sidewalk.

'Don't run,' the mother called. Then, 'Thanks a lot. Happy Halloween.'

'You, too,' Finley said.

The mother hurried after the girls. 'Wait,' she called. 'Forget that place.' Over her shoulder, she said, 'I told them, only houses with lighted porches or pumpkins.'

The girls were running toward a dark porch.

'You heard me,' she called.

'Oh, Mom.'

'Probably no one's home, anyway,' Finley said.

The mother shrugged.

The kids went ahead and climbed the porch. The kitten rang the doorbell.

'Should we start back?' Vivian asked.

'Might as well,' Helen said. 'We're almost out of candy.'

They walked toward the waiting mother. She nodded a greeting, then returned her attention to the girls.

Light spilled onto the porch as the door swung open.

A tall, thin man loomed over the girls.

In unison, they chanted, 'Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!'

'Scat!' the man snapped. 'Get outa here, ya little snots!' He slammed the door. It crashed shut with such a clap that all three girls jumped.

Even Abilene flinched. 'Jesus!' she gasped.

The girls ran. At the sidewalk, Heather wrapped her sheeted arms around her mother's waist. The kitten was crying, wiping her eyes with small, furry paws. 'I wanna go home,' whined Gizmo.

'I wanna kill the son of a bitch,' Cora muttered.

'You and me both,' Abilene said. 'Doing that to little kids.'

'Let's have a word with him,' Vivian said. She strode across the lawn, heading for the porch, her black gown flapping in the wind. Then Cora was at her side. Finley rushed after them. Helen and Abilene followed.

Glancing back, Abilene saw the mother hurrying away down the sidewalk, the three girls clustered close around her.

The dirty bastard, she thought. Her throat felt tight.

The little kids had been out having a wonderful time. It had been ruined, now. They'd been scared half to death. For the rest of their lives, they would probably always remember tonight and the horrible man who'd yelled at them. Halloween would never be quite the same for them. It would always be tainted.

Thanks to one thoughtless, selfish bastard.

She trotted up the porch stairs as Vivian jabbed the doorbell button. She heard the bell jangling inside the house. Again and again.

The door swung open.

The man standing in the lighted foyer was not an old grouch. He was young, probably no older than thirty. He looked perfectly normal in his plaid shirt and jeans, his short hair neatly combed. But his eyes were narrow, his lips twisted with a sneer.

'What the hell do you want?'

'What the hell is the matter with you?' Vivian demanded. 'We saw what you did to those little kids. There's no excuse for that kind of behavior.'

'It's Halloween, for Godsake,' Cora said.

'They were just trying to have fun,' Abilene said.

'Shouldn't have rung my bell, should they?'

'If you don't like it, you shouldn't have opened the door,' Abilene told him. 'Why'd you have to scare them like that!'

'It was really shitty,' Finley said.

'Awwww, I'm so sorry.'

'You should be,' Helen said.

Leaning forward, he raised his upper lip high enough to bare his gums. He turned his head slowly as if inspecting a group of repulsive but somewhat amusing lepers. 'Get out of here. Fuck off.'

With that, he slammed the door.

At a twenty-four hour convenience store several blocks away, they bought a dozen eggs, a can of shaving cream, and a pair of rubber dish-washing gloves. As the clerk loaded the items into a paper bag, Cora helped herself to a couple of free matchbooks.

On their way back to the man's house, they found a pile of dog waste in the grass beside a tree.

'Allow me,' Finley said.

Cora emptied the bag. Finley put on the rubber gloves, picked up the rank, gooey pile, and dropped it into the bag. She tossed the gloves in after it.

They arrived at the house.

Its porch was still dark, but faint light glowed through the living room curtains.

Cora took the bag from Finley. Helen, Vivian, Finley and Abilene crouched down beyond a corner of the porch. From there, they watched Cora through slats in the railing.

Abilene trembled. She gritted her teeth to stop her chin from shaking as Cora climbed the stairs.

Crazy, she thought. This guy might be dangerous.

But he'd asked for it. And he's gonna get it.

Cora slid the welcome mat out of the way. She placed the bag just in front of the door. Squatting, she struck a match. She touched its flame to the crumpled paper. As fire crawled over the bag, she sprang up, poked the doorbell a couple of times, and rushed down the stairs.

Reaching the middle of the lawn, she whirled around in time to see the man throw open his door.

'Shit!'

He leaped over the threshold and stomped the blazing bag. Embers flew. Abilene heard a soft splat. His ankle, bare above the top of his house slipper, went dark.

'Yeeeuug!'

But he kept stomping until the fire was out. Then he lifted his foot and looked at it. Then he looked at Cora.

'Trick or treat!' Cora called.

'Cunt! ' He lurched across the porch, gasped when his clotted slipper skated sideways, but kept his balance and raced down the stairs.

Cora took off.

The man dashed after her.

He was hot on her tail by the time she reached the sidewalk. There, she ducked her head and sprinted. The guy went after her. A moment later, they were both out of sight.

'Man, was he ever pissed,' Finley said.

'What if he catches her?' Helen asked.

'He won't,' Finley said.

'Come on.' Abilene rose from her crouch. She led the way along the front of the porch and up the stairs toward the open door. Her legs felt weak and shaky. Her heart pounded.

'I sure hope nobody else is here,' Vivian whispered.

'Who would live with a jerk like that?' Abilene said.

'Another jerk, maybe,' Helen suggested.