The Two and Only Kelly Twins (5 page)

“That’s because your teacher had everyone make cards in class to give out to all the other kids.”

“We had a class post office,” Arlene remembered. “I wonder if we’ll do that now.”

“Probably not,” said Ilene. “Don’t forget, we’re in second grade. We’re not studying about community helpers like the letter carriers and the people who work at the post office.”

Arlene nodded. “Anyhow, Valentine’s Day is a long way off,” she said. “Now is the time to think about Halloween.”

“I love Halloween!” said Ilene.

“Me too,” agreed Arlene. “We’ll have costumes, and we’ll go trick-or-treating.”

“I love trick-or-treating.”

“Me too.”

Ilene remembered the bag of candy she collected last year when she was dressed as a princess.

Arlene had been a princess, too, but her costume looked very different from her sister’s. Arlene had worn a long pink dress, and Ilene had had a long blue one. Their mother had made them both from old sheets.

“What do you want to be this year?” Ilene asked her sister.

“I want to be a witch.”

“A witch!” cried Ilene. “Me, too. I’ll be a witch, too.”

“I said it first,” Arlene reminded her sister.

“I said it loudest,” said Ilene. “Besides, lots of kids dress like witches. We can both do it.”

Arlene thought for a moment. “Okay,” she agreed. “We’ll both be witches, but I did say it first.”

“I said it last, but it doesn’t matter.”

They ran off to tell their mother the good news. “We want to be witches for Halloween,” they both shouted together.

“Let me see what I can do,” Mrs. Kelly said. Halloween was not her favorite holiday. There were the arguments with her daughters about how many pieces of their Halloween loot they could eat after supper each evening. She thought one was a good number. The girls thought ten was better.

Last year she had said, “Let’s compromise. How about two pieces each?”

Neither Arlene or Ilene had known about the principle of compromise, but they had figured it out quickly.

“How about nine pieces?” said Arlene.

“Absolutely not,” said Mrs. Kelly. “You will rot your teeth.”

“Eight pieces?” said Ilene.

“No, no, no,” said Mrs. Kelly.

“Seven pieces,” pleaded Arlene.

“That’s still too many. You are going to make yourselves sick,” their mother said.

In the end, it was agreed that the girls could have three pieces each. But not one piece more.

Mrs. Kelly went to a fabric store in town and purchased a few yards of cheap black cloth. Then she set to work making outfits for her daughters.

“We’re lucky not to have triplets or quadruplets,” she told her husband.

“You’re lucky that Halloween only comes once a year,” he reminded her.

On October 31st, the costumes were ready. Arlene and Ilene put on their outfits and admired each other. It was better than looking in a mirror.

The girls had arranged with other kids on their street to go trick-or-treating together after supper. Besides Monty and Joey, there was also a girl named Lucy who was in fourth grade and lived on the corner. There were two brothers, in fourth and fifth grade, named Hank and Mike who lived on the far end in the opposite direction. All together they represented two witches, a bride, an astronaut, a cowboy, a ghost, and a monster.

Joey’s mom had agreed to accompany the children, and Mrs. Kelly said she would, too. Mr. Kelly was going to stay home to open the door to any other trick-or-treaters. Children often came from neighboring streets with bags they hoped to fill with candy. There was a box of treats waiting to be given out.

“Seven children coming to a door at once seems a bit much,” Mrs. Kelly said when they were all together at the corner. “I think we should split up. Half of the children can come with me and we’ll do this street. And the other half can go with Mrs. Thomas around the corner. Then we’ll switch streets and ring the bells of the other people.”

“Girls,” Mrs. Kelly said to her daughters, “I think you should split up. No need for two witches to arrive at someone’s house at the same time.”

“Okay,” said Arlene. “It really doesn’t matter. We’re all going to the same homes, and we’ll all be getting the same stuff.”

So Joey, Monty, and Ilene went off in the dark with Mrs. Thomas.

And Arlene, Lucy, Hank, and Mike went with Mrs. Kelly.

Off they went. At the first house, while Mrs. Thomas waited on the sidewalk, they rang the doorbell. A mother holding an infant in her arms opened the door.

“Trick or treat!” the three children shouted.

The mother was prepared. She dropped two miniature chocolate bars in each of the bags that were held out to her. “Just think,” she said. “In a few years, my little Peter John will be out trick-or-treating with you.”

Ilene wasn’t sure about that, but she kept her mouth closed. By the time Peter John was four years old, she would be in sixth grade and in middle school. She might be too old to go trick-or-treating by then.

At the next house, a short, bald man had a large bowl of pennies. He put his hand in the bowl and then dropped a few coins in each bag.

“Pennies.” Ilene made a face as they walked away. “You can’t buy anything with pennies.”

“It depends how many you have,” Monty pointed out.

Soon the bags were filled with chocolates, miniature candy bars, small boxes of raisins, lollipops, coins, and chewing gum. There were other groups of children walking down the street, too. Because of the costumes and the masks that some of them wore, they couldn’t recognize one another. They didn’t live on this street, but it didn’t matter. Ilene’s group reached the end of the block just as Mrs. Kelly came with the trick-or-treaters she had been accompanying.

“How much do you have?” Arlene asked her sister as they met up.

“It’s great,” Ilene said. “Every single person opened the door.” She was remembering last year, when some doors had remained shut. Either no one was home or someone was inside but pretending not to be there. It wasn’t a very friendly way to behave on Halloween, but that’s how some people were.

Mrs. Kelly waited on the sidewalk while Arlene, accompanied by the monster, the ghost, and the bride, rang the first doorbell.

“Trick or treat!” the children called out as the door opened.

The white-haired woman who answered looked at the characters before her. She put a candy bar into the monster’s bag, the ghost’s bag, and the bride’s bag. She didn’t give anything to Arlene.

“You forgot me,” Arlene said.

“No,” the woman said sharply. “You have enough. I can’t give you anything more.”

“That’s not very nice,” Lucy the bride said to Arlene.

“Maybe she’s running out of candy,” Arlene said. She made a point of pushing her way in front of the others when they rang the next doorbell.

“You again!” said a teenage girl. She put a lollipop in each bag but ignored Arlene.

“What about me?” asked Arlene.

“Don’t be so piggy,” the teenager said, and she banged the door shut.

It wasn’t until the third house, where again she was denied any treats, that Arlene and her mother realized what was happening. “Everyone thinks you’ve been to their house already because you look exactly like Ilene,” Mrs. Kelly said.

“That’s not fair,” protested Arlene.

“You’re right,” her mother agreed. “I’ll explain at the next house.”

So she did, and Arlene got her share of candy but also a few suspicious looks.

“People on this street don’t know you have a twin sister,” Mrs. Kelly said. “Maybe next year, you and Ilene can pick out different costumes.”

In the end, everyone received a large assortment of candies. And even though Ilene had also been turned down by some people, Mrs. Kelly said the two girls should pool all their treats. Together they would have more than anyone.

Instead of going off to still another street, Mrs. Kelly invited everyone to come home with her. The children sat down and examined the stuff in their bags.

“Who wants to trade me their gum for this box of raisins?” asked Hank.

Soon there was a lot of trading going on.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kelly filled a tub with water. Then the children bobbed for apples.

Before long there was a damp bride, astronaut, cowboy, monster, ghost, and pair of witches eating the apples they had succeeded in getting. Then, since it was getting late, they each took their bag of goodies to go home. At the door, Mrs. Kelly added a small tube of toothpaste to the contents of each bag.

“This is a weird treat,” said the monster. The others all agreed.

“Not at all,” said Mrs. Kelly. “You need to brush your fangs after you eat your candy,” she told him.

When everyone was gone, Arlene said, “Next year I want to be a ballerina.”

“Me too!” shouted Ilene.

“I said it first,” said Arlene.

“I said it loudest,”said Ilene.

“I say get out of your wet clothes and get ready for bed,” said Mrs. Kelly. “Next Halloween is a long way off. You have plenty of time to figure out what you want to be.”

“Soon it will be Christmas!” remembered Arlene.

“I love Christmas!” shouted Ilene.

“Don’t forget Thanksgiving,” said Mr. Kelly, walking into the room.

“I love Thanksgiving,” said Arlene.