Imogen watched them go. Maybe she shouldn’t have loaded them up with sugar before they’d even started.
TWENTY-NINE
Saturday 31 October
‘I don’t think I want to go,’ said Lara.
She was standing in the hallway, dressed as a vampire, bag clutched in her hand. It had been hard to persuade her to still enjoy the Halloween fun – after all, she was the only one not invited to Rosie’s party.
Nancy looked at Beth, who had come over for the evening as her husband Martin was on shift. She’d turned up on the doorstep earlier that afternoon fully dressed in a tight bat costume and Nancy and Lara had giggled as she’d regaled them with the looks she got from other drivers on the journey over. Nancy had hugged her friend – she’d told Beth in advance of Lara’s disappointment and loved Beth for her attempt to cheer Lara up.
Beth crouched a little so she was at Lara’s level, her bat wings draping on the floor. ‘Because this other girl left you out and you don’t want to see them all out there?’
Lara nodded. ‘I’m on my own.’
‘Now that, my darling, is untrue. Have you any idea how long it took me to get into this lycra outfit?’
Lara gave a small smile. ‘A hundred years?’
‘You cheeky little...’ laughed Beth.
‘Yeah, but you’re not going to be knocking on the doors with me, are you?’
‘No, but then that’s probably a good thing as I’d take all the sweets before you got a look in.’ Beth stood. ‘Come on, half an hour. What do you say?’
Lara thought. ‘OK.’
Thank God, thought Nancy and flashed Beth a grateful smile.
THIRTY
Saturday 31 October
It was a cold, clear night and Imogen watched as the kids hurried along, blowing out cold breaths in the air and laughing at the clouds of vapour, pretending they were smoking. The streets were busy, children spilling into the road, parents keeping them from being run over, trying to work out in the dark which were their charges for the night from the assortment of mini ghosts and ghouls that covered the ground like worker ants. Many of the houses were decorated and the younger children stopped wide-eyed at the skeletons hanging from gate posts, the giant spiders in gardens, unsure of whether to approach. But the lure of the lit pumpkin won out in the end; the promise of sweets was enough to persuade even the most timid child to brave the gauntlet of the front path.
Imogen’s group were already racing ahead, knocking on the first door, holding their buckets and bags, plunging their hands into the offered bowl of sweets.
Then the kids moved on, disappearing into the shadows and Imogen quickly followed, trying to keep sight of aScream ghost mask and a clown amongst the dozens of other children that seemed to have swarmed down this end of the street. Then she saw them, hurrying up another path with a lit pumpkin outside the front door. She smiled. They were working their way methodically through every property that had a pumpkin outside. As long as she did the same she wouldn’t lose them.
THIRTY-ONE
Saturday 31 October
‘It’s dark, isn’t it,’ said Beth as they left the house, peering into the blackness.
‘Ta-da!’ Nancy switched on the torch she’d put in her pocket and the driveway lit up.
‘Get you. You’re becoming quite the countryside expert.’
It was a surprise to Nancy just how dark it got up here. She had never even considered the need for a torch in London – or any other city for that matter – but here in the deepest countryside, especially where she lived, there were great stretches of road with very little lighting. Now the nights were drawing in, it was something new she was having to adjust to. It became properly dark, pitch black so you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
‘It goes with my other recent purchases of warm wellies, a decent waterproof coat and plenty of bread in the freezer,’ she said. There was no late-night corner shop to nip to here, like there had been in London.
They walked up the lane, Lara holding the torch. They began to catch snippets of children’s voices in the distance,the babble of excited chatter, screeching, then getting closer still, glimpses of figures moving in huddles, some running along the pavements. Nancy’s mouth dropped as they came to the high street.
‘It’s like an attack of the zombies,’ she said, looking at the crowds of children streaming up and down the front paths, whooping whenever they got sweets from the inhabitants inside.
‘Good God,’ said Beth. ‘It’s terrifying.’
