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  Kristy’s friend had gone home. So Kristy walked me next door to Druscilla’s house. I walked as slowly as I could.

  When we were standing on the front steps, I announced, “I am not going in there without Hannie and Melody.”

  Kristy sighed. She rang the doorbell.

  Eeek! Morbidda Destiny answered it.

  But guess what. She was wearing a Halloween costume. She was dressed like a fat pumpkin. She did not look scary at all.

  “Happy Halloween, Karen,” said Mrs. Porter. “Come inside.”

  I peeked around Mrs. Porter. In the hallway behind her were a bunch of kids. Hannie and Melody were with them. They did not look sick. Or bewitched. They looked like they might be having fun.

  “Do you want me to come in with you?” Kristy whispered.

  “No, thanks. That’s okay. I think I can go by myself.”

  “Okay. Have a good time.” Kristy walked back to the big house.

  I stepped inside. I walked by Mrs. Porter. Druscilla ran to meet me.

  “Hi, Karen!” she called. Druscilla was wearing a pumpkin costume, too.

  Well, for heaven’s sake. There was nothing scary here.

  The party was held in the living room. Orange streamers hung from the ceiling. Smiling pumpkins sat on the floor. On a table were bowls of pretzels and potato chips and candy corn. And a pitcher of juice. Some kids were bobbing for apples.

  “Do you want to bob for apples?” asked Druscilla. “Or paint pumpkin faces? Everyone gets their own pumpkin. You can paint over there. See those paints? You can even wear a smock, if you want.”

  “We each get our own pumpkin?” I repeated.

  “Yup,” said Druscilla.

  Amazing.

  Hannie and Melody and I chose pumpkins. We painted faces on them.

  “This is fun!” said Melody.

  Yeah. Too much fun. Where were the mushroom cakes? Where were the herb cookies? Where was the witch’s brew?

  “Time for cupcakes!” Mrs. Porter said then.

  “Aha!” I hissed. “They’re enchanted cupcakes. I just know it.”

  Hannie and Melody and I ran to Mrs. Porter. We examined the tray of cupcakes she was carrying. The cupcakes were decorated to look like jack-o’-lanterns. “Just as I thought,” I murmured.

  Melody and Hannie did not pay any attention to me. They each took a cupcake.

  “You’ll be sorry,” I warned them.

  But my friends just said, “Oh, yum!”

  So I ate a cupcake, too. If it put a spell on me, I did not know about it. Nothing happened. I felt fine. (I ate a second cupcake.)

  After cupcakes, we played musical chairs. Melody won. Mrs. Porter gave her a pencil with a silly ghost where the eraser should have been.

  Then we ran around and played hide-and-seek.

  Before I knew it, Mrs. Porter was saying, “Children, it’s nine o’clock.”

  Halloween Night

  Nine o’clock! That meant the party was over. How could it be over so fast? I felt as if I had just arrived.

  The doorbell rang then. Mr. Korman had come to pick up Melody. Other parents began to drop by. Soon Daddy arrived.

  When I saw him at the door, I ran to him. “Daddy!” I cried. “We had so much fun! We painted pumpkins! Look!” I dragged Daddy into the living room. I showed him the row of painted faces. “There’s the one I did,” I said proudly. “And I get to bring it home.”

  I picked up my pumpkin. Mrs. Porter handed me a small goody bag.

  “Thank you,” I said. “And thank you for the nice party.” I turned to Druscilla. “Do you want to come over and play tomorrow?” I asked her.

  Druscilla grinned. “Sure!”

  “Goody. Come in the morning, okay?”

  “Okay. ’Bye, Karen.”

  “ ’Bye!”

  Daddy and I walked through the cold, dark night. “Halloween is over,” I said. “Over for a whole year. That spooky feeling is gone.”

  “Are you glad?” asked Daddy.

  “No! I like being scared. Sort of.”

  When we reached the big house, I went to my room. I flopped on my bed. I began to take off my Pippi costume. I felt sort of sad. But I was not sure why.

  Then I realized something. I felt the way I sometimes feel on Christmas night. The holiday was over. The excitement was over.

  “No more Halloween until next year,” I said to myself. I wished it were a week earlier. Then I could look forward to Halloween all over again.

  I picked up Moosie. “What do you think I should be for Halloween next year?” I asked him. I held him to my ear. “What?” I said. “A witch again? Well, maybe I will do that. I miss my witch costume.”

  I pulled out my bag of Halloween candy. I had hidden it under my bed. I did not want anyone to snitch from it. “Would you like a candy bar?” I asked Moosie. “No? Okay, then I will have one.” I began to peel the paper off of a Mars bar. Then I thought about what I had eaten that day. Aside from breakfast, lunch, and a small supper, I had eaten a handful of candy corn, a Snickers bar, a root beer barrel, two cupcakes, a lot of potato chips, and a few pretzels. Also, I had chewed a pack of gum.

  I put the Mars bar back in my bag. I could eat it the next day.

  I was about to hide the bag again when I decided that I should organize my loot. First I made piles for the different kinds of candy. But there were too many piles. Then I put all the big candy in one pile, and the little candy in another pile. I did not like the way that looked.

  So I threw the candy back in the bag and hid it in my closet. Then I changed into my nightgown. I climbed into bed.

  “Come say good night to me!” I yelled.

  When Daddy and Elizabeth and Kristy and Nannie had kissed me good night, I sat up. I looked out my window.

  I looked at the witch house next door. I thought of Druscilla and her grandmother dressed like pumpkin people. I could not imagine pumpkin people flying on broomsticks or casting spells. I decided that Mrs. Porter and Druscilla were probably just regular people.

  You know what? I missed having witches next door to me.

  November

  When I woke up the next morning, I remembered to say, “Rabbit, rabbit,” first thing. You are supposed to say that at the beginning of each month. Sam said so. (But I do not know why.)

  “It’s November,” I told myself. First I felt sad again. Halloween was over. But then I cheered up. If Halloween was over, then other holidays were just beginning. First would come Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. Then New Year’s Eve. And then Valentine’s Day!

  “Oh, boy!” I cried. “Turkey! Presents! Staying up till midnight! Cards and candy!” I leaped out of bed.

  I ran downstairs to have breakfast. While I poured my cereal, I said, “Do you guys know what I am going to be for Halloween next year?”

  “I can’t believe you are thinking about that,” said Sam. (Often, Sam is grumpy in the morning. I never sit near him.)

  “I am going to be a witch again.”

  “Goody,” said Sam.

  I stuck my tongue out at him.

  When breakfast was over I went back to my room. I needed to find a better hiding place for my candy. I had decided the closet was not good enough.

  I was stuffing the bag behind my bookcase when Elizabeth called, “Karen! Dru is here! She’s on her way up!”

  Yipes! I had forgotten I’d invited Druscilla over to play. I tried to get my candy hidden before Druscilla reached my room. I did not make it.

  “Ooh,” said Druscilla. “Look at all that candy. Wow. I did not go trick-or-treating. I was too busy getting ready for the party.”

  I felt bad. I handed Druscilla a chocolate bar. I took one for myself.

  Druscilla sat on my bed. Her pumpkin costume was gone, of course. She was wearing her black clothes again. She looked a little more … witchy.

  I shivered.

  “Did you like the party?” asked Druscilla.

  I nodded. “Yup. It was fun. Look. There�
�s my pumpkin. I am going to keep it on my desk until it gets smelly.”

  Druscilla smiled.

  “Um … I liked the cupcakes, too,” I added.

  “Thanks.”

  “Maybe you can go trick-or-treating next year.”

  “Maybe.”

  I thought for awhile. I wanted to ask Druscilla a certain question very badly. I really needed to know the answer.

  I took a deep breath. “Are you really a witch, Druscilla?” I hoped she was not embarrassed.

  Druscilla lowered her eyes. “No,” she admitted. “I made that up.”

  “But why?”

  “Because I thought you wanted me to be a witch.”

  “Oh…. ”

  “But,” Druscilla went on, “you can never tell about my grandmother.”

  My mouth dropped open. What did that mean? Was Morbidda Destiny a witch after all? If she was, then Druscilla must be a witch, too.

  Yipes! I was sitting in my bedroom with a little witch!

  Wasn’t I?

  I wondered if I would ever know the truth.

  About the Author

  ANN M. MARTIN is the acclaimed and bestselling author of a number of novels and series, including Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), A Dog’s Life, Here Today, P.S. Longer Letter Later (written with Paula Danziger), the Family Tree series, the Doll People series (written with Laura Godwin), the Main Street series, and the generation-defining series The Baby-sitters Club. She lives in New York.

  Copyright © 1991 by Ann M. Martin

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First edition, 1991

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-05603-7