Andy stood by the hole in the small wooden fence just behind the old witch’s house for fifteen minutes. It was dark. With the overgrowth hiding the moon — it was almost pitch black. He was waiting for the signal from Brad. He had become jittery. He wasn’t able to stand still for more than a few seconds. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his body. He had known they would make him do something…he just didn’t realize breaking and entering was part of the plan. He guessed neither Steve or Marvin had to jump through such hoops. That was okay because he planned on proving he was better than them anyway.
His phone beeped at him from his jacket pocket.
Andy grabbed the phone from his pocket and looked at the front screen. There was a message from Brad. It was blank. That was the signal.
He had decided long ago that when the time came, he would just do it. Do it before too much thinking talked him out of it. He set his backpack against the fence and with a deep breath, he stepped inside the yard.
Andy ran up to the back door of the house. He could hear the knocking on the front door.
It was a much shorter time between knock and the door opening. No time for Steve to back out.
He didn’t know what he was expecting to see when the door opened — maybe a lady with green skin, a black dress and along pointy hat? He was somehwat shocked to see an average old lady. She could have been the Hollywood depiction of an old lady. The witch had gray hair around her shoulders, a light blue dress that could have doubled as a nightgown and a face full of wrinkles. Her speech was slow and her movements even slower.
“Can I help you, boys?” she asked. She stood in the doorway with one hand on the door, ready to shut it at the sign of trouble.
“Trick or treat…” Brad said. He stumbled on the words. Steve thought he was just as shocked that she wasn’t an actual witch as he was.
“Halloween?” the lady asked. “Halloween?”
She began to cackle.
“I haven’t had trick-or-treaters since I came here,” the old lady said. “I guess because everybody thinks I’m a witch.”
She looked around at the three trick-or-treaters. Two of them had half-heartedly painted their face, the other had a mask on with his shirt inside out.
“Not much in the line of costumes,” she said “but I suppose it’s good enough. I’m afraid I’m not prepared much for trick-or-treaters. Let me go back into the kitchen to see what I can find.”
Andy wasn’t surprised the door to the back porch was unlocked. The door was warped from years of neglect, she probably couldn’t lock it if she wanted to. He was surprised that the door from the porch to the kitchen was unlocked. These old folks usually locked their stuff up well.
As soon as he heard the front door open, he stepped into the kitchen as quietly as he could.
He wasn’t actually expecting a black cauldron to be boiling up some spell in the middle of the kitchen, but what he got might have been the modern day equivalent. A huge pot sat on a burner on the stove. It was covered but her could hear the water inside beginning to stir.
Beside the stove, was a shelf with three tiers. On the shelf were jars that Andy associated with the honey jars Winnie the Pooh always covetted. Each jar had a cork keeping it shut. One the sides were some quirky things like VACATION PLAN, EYE OF NEWT, GOBLIN FEET, BLACK CAT PAWS and RAINY DAY FUND. It was the same type of stuff that Andy had seen in souvenir shops when he went on vacation with his parents. This old lady had quite the collection.
Next to that was a wooden table with a thick cutting board that held the remains of some radishes, but it was what was next to the cutting board that interested Andy. A bottle of vodka stood there with just a shot or two taken from the top. He reached out and grabbed the bottle, amazed at how easy things had gone.
“Let me go back into the kitchen and see what I can find…”
He had heard a bit of chatter coming from the front of the house, mostly blurry background noise — but he heard that line loud and clear. He also heard the creak of footsteps on an old wooden floor.
His eyes darted to the door and he wondered if he could get out quick enough.
We should put some candy in the bag so it doesn’t look suspicious.
That was actually Marvin’s idea before they started this game. Turns out, it was one of the very few good idea’s Marvin ever had.
The old lady turned around to go into the kitchen and Steve knew he had to do something fast. He turned over his bag of candy onto the porch. The selection of candy bars, Tootsie Rolls and candy corn fell all over the porch.
“Crap!” Steve said.
The old lady turned back towards the kids.
“Oh dear,” she said. “Did you get a hole in your bag?”
Steve crouched down and started scooping up candy. Brad and Melvin did the same.
“No,” Steve said. “I’m just a clutz. I drop everything.”
“He really does,’ Brad said.
“Well, maybe I can…” the old lady started.
“You know what,” Steve said, standing back up with his bag of candy back in place. “I think we should just call it a night. We’ve been out for awhile.”
“Oh, but I didn’t give you any treats,” the old lady said. “I don’t want to put myself in a position to be tricked.”
The three boys laughed.
“No worries,” Brad said. “We’re not the tricking type. Have a good night, lady.”
The three boys turned to walk off the porch.
“Boys,” the old lady called to them.
They stopped and gave her their attention.
“My name is Ethel,” she said. She smiled. “Ethel Weiss. Come Spring I may need a helping hand around this place. As you can see, I’m not very good with the upkeep. Perhaps you boys could earn some extra cash helping me out. Unless you think I’m a witch.”
“Sure thing,” Steve said. He returned her smile.
A block down the street, Andy met up with his friends.
“Mission accomplished?” Brad asked.
“In the bag,” Andy said. He lifted his backpack out in front of him.
“Excellent!” Brad said. “Are you ready to find the secret spot?”
“You better believe it.”
“I feel bad,” Steve said. “Ethel was really nice.”
“Oh, she will probably just think she misplaced it. An old broad like her shouldn’t be drinking this stuff anyways,” Brad said.
“And we can go back in the Spring and help her out,” Marvin said through his mask.
“Sure,” Brad said. “Secret spot. It’s in the woods. You’re not scared, are ya, Andy?”
“Fuck off,” Andy said. “Let’s go.”
A block behind the three boys, Digs sat in the passenger of Cass’s car. Cass was in the driver’s seat with Satchmo and Rod in the back. He took a hit from his cigarette.
Cass opened the driver’s side door.
“Trains come to a complete stop,” he said. “That’s our mark.”
“Think they’ll put up a fight?” Rod asked.
“Not if they know what’s good for them,” Cass said. “Who’s in?”
No one said anything, but all four got out of the car. They followed Andy’s group down the street.
