Ghost Granny (8 page)

It appeared that
everyone on Main Street was also closing up for the evening. Jill
waved to her as she passed the restaurant’s large front
window.

When Catherine
rang the bell near the top of the hill, she was startled to hear a
loud howling, as if wolfs were calling to each other, instead of
the usual bell to summon a ride.
Very nice
touch
.

“Hi mom!” Cody’s voice startled her. “Cody,
hi, you guys done hauling to the Rec Center?”

Sebastian, Max and Cody joined her at the
top of the hill. “Not by a long shot. You have good timing, we are
just going back for another load. I meant to warn you about the
bell change, sorry I forgot.” Sebastian said.

“No problem, it scared me a bit, but that is
what Halloween should do.” Catherine laughed.

The little group got into the wagon and road
over the wooden bridge. Caramel and Ace were roaming in front of
the house and Cody ran up to pet them. “Why don’t you two go in and
change clothes and then meet us at the house in about a half hour.
We have a lot of work to do and I know Isabel is already setting up
our work stations. It will be hard work, but it should also be a
lot of fun.” Sebastian said.

“How long do you usually work into the night
when you have the make and bakes for the Halloween parties?”
Catherine asked.

“This is our first Halloween here.”
Sebastian said.

That surprised Catherine a great deal,
although she wasn’t sure why. She and Cody went into the house and
changed clothes and ate a sandwich. They made sure Twinkle had
fresh food and water before walking down the back lane to Sebastian
and Isabel’s house. When they walked in, Catherine was surprised at
the massive kitchen area that was behind and separate from the
regular kitchen that she and Cody had been served Isabel’s
stew.

Isabel greeted them and quickly gave each
person directions on what to do. Cody and Max were to place the
tiny red hots into the chocolate spiders to represent their eyes.
This while the chocolate in the molds were still cooling. Isabel
had already made a big vat of pumpkin batter and Catherine was
asked to put the orange cupcake holders in the pans and to scoop
the pumpkin batter into the cups. The batter had raisins in it and
another vat had walnuts in with the pumpkin.

Sebastian was busy in the corner carving the
biggest pumpkin Catherine and Cody had ever seen. They were going
to have the kids participate in a pumpkin carving contest tomorrow
with much smaller pumpkins, but this one would sit at a place of
honor as a centerpiece.

When Cody and Max had run out of red eyes
for the spiders, they were given the task of using the pumpkin
shaped cookie cutters and cutting out cookies and putting them on
the baking sheet so Catherine could place them in the oven for
them. After they were baked and almost cooled, the boys would then
sprinkle them with orange sprinkles. Isabel was baking pumpkin pies
and also cutting up apples to make apple pies.

“Sebastian, did you guys remember to take
the big punch bowl over to the Rec Center?” Isabel asked her
brother.

“It was already there, but I did make sure
it was clean and the ice cream that will be a part of the punch is
in the freezer over there already. The boys and I set up the tables
with the orange and black table clothes, the monster plastic plates
and the plastic punch glasses. We have to get as much stuff over
there yet tonight as we can. I need to get there early tomorrow
morning to get the grills all going so they will be nice and hot
for when the hamburgers and hot dogs are grilled.”

“Are you doing all of this by yourself,
Sebastian? “ Catherine asked. “It sounds like an enormous amount of
work.”

“You would be surprised at how much Luna has
accomplished in the last two days. I’m telling you that it is
amazing what they have set up over there. During the day everyone
will be outside. That is where the pumpkin carving contests will
happen, the three legged race, various other fun games for the kids
and the adults. “

“When all the messy type of games are over,
like bobbing for apples, then we will go into the Recreation Center
and everyone can get their grilled hot dogs or hamburgers outside
and then go inside where we will have the salads and desserts set
up. I am not sure what exactly else Luna has planned, but I am
pretty sure she has a fog machine in there.”

“A fog machine, that sounds very Halloween
like. Should be a lot of fun.” Catherine said.

“A blue one!” Cody said.

“A blue what?” His mother asked.

“A blue fog machine. I saw a lot of blue fog
all over there it really looked cool.” Cody said.

“Mr. Lucky and Jill are helping out too.”
Sebastian said. “Once we have enough here ready for a run, I will
load them up into the biggest of the carts and me and ole Ace will
take them to the hill where Mr. Lucky and Jill will be waiting to
help us. I am sure a lot of people will be there to help. This town
seems to go all out and it really is a group effort.” Sebastian
told Catherine.

“I am surprised to hear that you weren’t
here last Halloween, Sabastian, seems like you are such a big part
of how the town runs, and do so much for it.” Catherine said,
turning to where Sebastian had stood a moment ago. He was no longer
there.

“Catherine, could you check the pumpkin pies
in the first oven? Those six should be ready by now. We can put
them onto the wire racks and then load them directly onto the cart
with all the cookies and candy over there that is ready. The pies
can cool on their way to the hill and Rec Center. These six apple
pies are ready to go into the oven and I think the boys finished
the chocolate bats and dragons.”

“I wish I was as organized as you are,
Isabel.” Catherine told her.

“I started this morning, actually.” Isabel
said. “It takes a lot of prep work to have things go smoothly once
you get going. You haven’t seen the biggest project yet.” Isabel
teased. “A four foot statue of Luna, made out of chocolate.”

“No! Are you telling me that you carved it
yourself? That is fantastic!” Catherine said. “Did you go to school
to learn how to do all of this stuff?”

“Actually, I have always loved to be
creative with my baking and cooking, but Sebastian and I never had
much of a chance to follow our dreams. We haven’t had an easy life.
After coming here, everything just sort of fell into place and here
we are. I can honestly say I have never been as happy or felt so at
peace with my life as I have since we have been here. I think
Sebastian will agree with me.”

Catherine took a quick look around to make
sure Cody and Max were outside helping with loading the carts
before she took a deep breath and asked one of the questions that
had been on her mind for days now. One of many questions she had.
“Is Max’s mother from here? Is that what landed you and your
brother in this village?” Catherine hoped she was not over-stepping
her bounds.

“I have no idea where his mother is from.”
Isabel answered.

Just then Twinkle ran into the room and
jumped on Catherine’s arm, causing her to drop a big measuring cup
of flour she had been holding. Flour flew up into Catherine’s face
and went in her hair and onto her apron.

“Would you like to take a break, Catherine?
We have been at it for a few hours now, why don’t you go clean
yourself up some and catch your breath. I will be O.K. for a while
in here.” Isabel said.

“Well, I suppose I should. I don’t want any
of this flour getting into the white chocolate truffles. Let me
take a quick shower and I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time, I am used to this, but you
need to pace yourself, we still have a lot more work to get done
tonight.” Isabel smiled, taking a sheet of cookies out of the
oven.

Catherine walked to the big house, passing
Caramel and a couple of deer along the way. She was just opening
the back door when she thought she saw a puff of blue smoke. She
walked over to the fire place to make sure there was no fire there
that was spitting out blue embers. She quickly took a shower and
changed her clothes. Catherine had planned on going right back to
the big kitchen to help Isabel, but instead she made herself a cup
of tea and went to sit on the swing on her front porch, deciding
she deserved the break Isabel told her to take.

Although it was October, there was not much
of a cold chill or wind to the air. Catherine held her big mug of
tea with both hands and put her feet up underneath her and took a
deep breath.

It is so beautiful here, so peaceful
.
Catherine thought, looking up at the full moon and all the stars in
the sky and out towards the big pond with the wooden bridge. The
air smelled sweet from the flowers around the porch and the
delicious smells coming from the big kitchen they were baking out
of.

Catherine’s eye caught the sight of a big
box at the bottom of the stairs. Looking into it she found what
looked like feathers and bells that perhaps might be used to
decorate the carts and/or the mini ponies. Caramel walked up to the
porch and nudged Catherine’s arm, her big brown eyes looking at
her.

Catherine patted her head and said “You will
look very pretty in these feathers tomorrow, Caramel.”

A sound drifted in from the lake and
Catherine looked in that direction. The night was clear, but it was
a ways to the lake and Catherine’s eyes were tired. She saw, or
thought she saw a tall man walking with a much shorter plump lady
and they were laughing. Catherine wondered who they were. Caramel
nudged Catherine’s arm and it made her drop her tea. At least this
time it did not spill on her and she was glad the mug had not
broken.

Oh well, time to get back to work anyway.
Catherine said. She picked up the mug and walked into her house to
rinse it out and then turned to go out the back door. She almost
tripped on Twinkle.

“My goodness, Twinkle!” One of us will have
to be more careful about where we are walking.” Catherine said,
going to the cupboard and taking out a couple of kitty snacks for
the cat. Twinkle looked up at Catherine and ate the snacks from her
hand and then purred and walked into the other room.

It was close to midnight when Catherine put
her arms around a very sleepy Cody and announced that they were
done for the night. Catherine was finding it hard to keep her eyes
open another minute. They had worked hard, they all had.

Sebastian and Isabel had told Cody and
Catherine not to worry about waking up early in the morning. They
were all set as far as help getting the rest of the decorations and
food to the hill and plenty of help from the town to help them from
there. Catherine did not argue. She knew that both she and her son
had been a big help and she felt good about that. She wanted to in
some way give back to the village. She was very grateful to the
town for welcoming Cody and herself and making them a part of their
community.

She also knew that she would sleep very well
tonight and even better knowing that they did not have to be up at
any pre-set hour. Cody took a quick shower and fell into bed,
asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Catherine washed her long blond hair and
then twirled little pieces of her hair around her finger and
secured it with a bobby pin, repeating the process until her hair
was all pinned into little circles. She usually wore her hair in a
ponytail or a braid, but since she had the Tinkle Bell costume to
wear tomorrow she wanted to have her hair as curly as she could get
it.
I hope no one needs me to help anymore tonight. Not with a
head full of these pin curls!

Preparing her hair for the party reminded
her to check again to make sure what she was planning to wear was
not in the fireplace. Satisfied that all was as it should be,
Catherine laid down in the big bed with the very comfortable white
down covering and fell into a deep sleep.

Catherine dreamed of the full moon and the
beautiful stars. In her dream she was on the front porch in the big
swing, only this time she was not by herself. Sebastian was sitting
next to her and had his arm around her. She looked into his green
eyes and brushed a piece of his dark brown hair out of his eyes and
smiled up at him. She felt very comfortable in the dream and just
as Sebastian was going to kiss her, the scene changed. They were in
the wagon on their way to the hill. The wagon was decorated for the
holiday and the back of the wagon was full of pumpkins.

They noticed a blue mist surrounding the
wagon and then Catherine saw Cindy standing on the wooden bridge.
She looked beautiful, magical. The moonlight was reflecting on her
beautiful long blond hair and she was wearing a long white gown
that was both simple and elegant.

In the dream, Catherine watched as Sebastian
stopped the wagon and got out to walk up to Cindy. Then the two of
them walked away from the wagon, hand and hand, laughing. Catherine
was left all alone in the wagon in the middle of the bridge. The
air turned cold and a sudden storm brought a downpour of rain and
lightning. With each lightning bolt Catherine could see Cindy and
Sebastian walking farther away. Continuing their walk to the woods,
neither of them looking back towards her.

Catherine did not know how to maneuver the
big wagon in her dream to turn it around and was not going to try
to drive it back to the house or further to the hill. She stepped
down off of the wagon. The pumpkins changed into lit
jack-o-lanterns with grotesque faces and they were all laughing at
her. Then she heard the sound of wolves howling and the air filled
with bats.

Catherine started running back towards the
house. The bats were beating their wings against her face along
with the rain drops that were large and painful.