Bobo was not much of an actor—he got upset when children found him genuinely frightening—but when he held out the loathsome snake-covered skull and proclaimed, “Behold the head of the evil Medusa,” it was a showstopper. The least sensitive children wanted to touch the “head,” which was disgustingly slimy and slithery. Every now and then, when Fiji had a free moment, one of the snakes seemed to writhe a bit.
When the second hour of Fiji’s open house was almost at an end, a mother from Davy said, “How on earth do you get it to look like the cat is talking?”
“Oh, did it look realistic?” Fiji had to struggle to keep a smile on her face.
“It was so cute! It said, ‘Get off my tail or I’ll smother you in your sleep.’”
“Just some batteries and a CD!” Fiji said. “And isn’t that just what a cat should say?”
They both laughed heartily. When the mother left, Fiji turned and glared at Mr. Snuggly, who yawned.
At nine o’clock, Fiji went out onto the porch. The house had emptied of outsiders, but in the yard a few families and some teenagers were still enjoying the Halloween decorations. She adopted a dramatic pose on the porch, Manfred pressed “Play” on a CD player, and a fanfare rang out. When she had everyone’s attention, Fiji proclaimed, “This ends the celebration of the season at the Witch’s House!” She made a few grand passes in the air with her hands. The spiders’ eyes dulled, the cobwebs stopped moving, and the two angels bowed and retreated into the house. Fiji herself took a deep bow, to a smattering of applause, and straightened to say, “Have a safe drive home, y’all, and I’ll see you next year!”
She wasn’t spoilsport enough to turn off all the lights in the front yard, but she did lock the front door and draw all the curtains to make sure visitors knew the show was over. Fiji kicked off her high-heeled boots and collapsed into her rocking chair with a groan of relief.
“Good job!” Manfred said. He pulled down his hoodie.
“Thanks, all of you,” she said. “Anyone who wants a beer, there are plenty in the refrigerator. And there are some trays back there, if you wouldn’t mind bringing them out. I’ll get up in a minute. My feet are killing me.”
Soon all the food was assembled on one card table, folding chairs were up and in use, and everyone had a beverage. Chuy and Joe were glad to get out of the silver jumpsuits and into their normal daywear.
Those wings had to be heavy, thought Manfred, who’d been curious about their feathery appearance. He saw the jumpsuits, neatly folded in Fiji’s storeroom/guest bedroom, but the wings were nowhere in sight. Across the hall, Bobo retired to Fiji’s bedroom to pull off his tunic and sandals, and put on his jeans and flannel shirt and sneakers. The golden sparkly stuff Fiji had put in his hair was coming off everywhere. He stepped out to see Mr. Snuggly crouching before his dish in the kitchen, eating some chopped beef for his Halloween treat.
“Though,” Fiji said, raising her voice, “he doesn’t deserve it! After talking to that woman!”
“She stepped on my tail,” a muffled voice called back, and Bobo laughed.
Manfred reflected that all the inhabitants of Midnight had accepted the news that Mr. Snuggly could talk with remarkable equanimity. Even Bobo, who was the most unmagical person Manfred could imagine, had come to take the cat’s conversation for granted after a day or two of expressing wonder. And the death of Connor had become part of the life of the town. It was never mentioned. Only the Reeds had expressed shock and amazement at Connor’s confession and the vanishing act of Shawn Lovell. Teacher was working full-time at Gas N Go, according to written instructions left by Shawn, until he could sell the convenience store. And Teacher seemed very happy with that, though Madonna was predictably grumpy.
The town had closed over the Lovells’ sudden absence.
All in all, Manfred realized as he sipped a beer, he’d had an amazing time of it since he’d moved to Midnight. He felt more and more at home. As the beer took hold, Manfred found himself wondering if his selection of Midnight had been predestination? Fate? Chance? Manfred couldn’t decide and wasn’t sure he needed to. But he still regretted Creek’s abrupt departure. He withdrew into himself a little as he thought of her, letting the conversation of his new friends wash over him.
Bobo stood up, so quickly it startled everyone in the room. The silence that fell jolted Manfred out of his reverie.
“What’s up?” he asked, thinking he’d missed a cue.
“I have no idea,” Joe said. “Bobo?”
“I have something to show you all,” he said. “And I’m going to do it now while I still have the courage.”
“Where?” Fiji said. “If it’s far, I’m going to put on my sneakers.”
“Across the street. In the shop.”
“Okay, just wait a sec.” Fiji hauled herself up, wincing as she walked back to her room carrying the boots that had given her such grief. Very shortly she returned, still in her black costume but with battered Pumas on her feet. “I’m ready,” she said, and they all got up. Manfred didn’t know how the others felt, but he was kind of worried and kind of excited.
They trailed after Bobo as he crossed to Midnight Pawn. Instead of going up to the door to the stairs to his apartment, he went through the main door to the pawnshop. Olivia was sitting in Bobo’s favorite chair, and Lemuel was behind the counter reading a tattered book. They both looked very surprised that Midnight was coming to the shop.
“We’ve had no customers,” Lemuel said. “And it’s been a slow night in every respect.”
“Looks like you had a crowd over there,” Olivia said to Fiji. “Did everyone have a good time?”
“Yes,” Fiji said, but not as if she were paying attention to what she was saying. “Bobo says he has a surprise for us.”
“Really?” Olivia stared at Bobo. “I thought we’d kind of had our fill of surprises.”
He laughed. “You may like this one. I don’t know.”
He walked toward the back of the shop, pulling some keys out of his pocket as he went. When he got to the storage closet, he unlocked the padlock, then the dead bolt, and opened the door.
Manfred first noticed all the televisions on the shelves, maybe thirty—plus a small locked case full of guns and jewelry. And there was a shelf of power tools and appliances.