As they approached the iron grillwork of the gateway, they could
see the dark, gloomy, tattered old house looming beyond. The gate
sounded like fingers dragging across a chalkboard as they forced
it open far enough to squeeze through. The front steps were
cracked and split, caving-in in spots, and creaked ominously as
they crept up onto the porch. Alex hesitated as he reached
for the massive doorknob, having second thoughts about this venture.
Jake and John showed no signs of turning tail.
Just as Alex was about to open the door, the front porch caved
in. The four children fell into a downward-sloping tunnel
and began sliding on muck and damp leaves, screaming in terror.
Abruptly they shot off into space and landed in a heap on top
of Alex. Alex scrambled to his feet, picked up his flashlight,
which fortunately still worked, and shined it around the room.
A moment later, he wished he hadn't.
Across the room hung a skeleton in tattered garments, a huge
rat perched on his grinning skull. Shawnda let out a shriek and
lunged for Alex, knocking the flashlight out of his hand. It
spun around and came to rest shining on Jake and John, who couldn't
decide whether to laugh or cry.
"All right," said Alex shakily, "let's calm down and see if we
can find a way out of here." Once again, he shined the light
around the room, avoiding the wall where the skeleton hung. On
the other side of the room was a doorway and a hall leading off
into darkness. Linking hands, they started slowly down the
hall, Alex leading.
At the end of the hallway was a staircase leading upward, thick
cobwebs blocking it in several places. Alex looked around
and found a broken chair leg. While Shawnda held the flashlight
and clutched tightly to his arm, Alex began sweeping the cobwebs
down as they inched slowly up the stairs.
A door at the top opened outward into what appeared to be the
living room. Shining his light around the room, Alex was
startled to see a face staring back at him. It took him
a moment to recover from the fright and realize that they were
looking at a portrait hanging on the opposite wall. They crossed
the room and went through a doorway into the entry hall. The
front door loomed invitingly a few feet away. It was then
that they discovered that John was no longer with them!
*****
As John had been approaching the staircase at the end of the
line, a hand had suddenly shot out of the darkness, covered his
mouth, shutting off his startled cry for help, and jerking him
backward through a secret panel in the hallway. John struggled
futilely against the larger form holding him, and was dragged
off down a side passage. Emerging into a larger room John was
able to squirm free and turn to face -- the Wolfman!
John let out a startled scream, grabbed his pulsar cannon and
fired. The barrage of ping-pong balls caught the monster
by surprise, hitting him in the snout. The flashing lights
and explosion sounds further startled and confused him, giving
John a chance to escape.
He dashed back down the passage, up the stairs, and into the
arms of -- Alex, coming back to look for him. Reunited,
the four friends ran through the house and out the door, carefully
avoiding the gaping hole on the porch. They dashed across
the yard and out the gate and didn't stop until they got to the
bottom of the hill.
Suddenly, they saw car lights approaching and a familiar-looking
van pulled up beside them. Mr. and Mrs. Butler and the Wongs
peered out at them.
"We have been looking for you all over! We expected you
back home an hour ago. What have you been doing?"
"Oh, it's a long story," said the group, climbing quickly into
the van. As they turned to look at the house one last time
as they drove away, they saw a dark figure on top of the house
and heard an eerie howl split the quiet night.
Alex decided that maybe trick-or-treating with two eight-year
olds was more than enough excitement for one Halloween.
