Jane woke up in her bed, thinking that it had all been a dream. That there was no Hallowland or gremlins. She was almost disappointed that she was back home. Almost, that is, until she saw Mrs. Macabre sitting next to her.
"Careful, careful," she pressed a chilly hand to her forehead as she moved. "You took a nasty spill, dear."
"How long was I out for?" Jane rubbed the back of her head and moaned from a dull pain.
"Just for a couple of hours. Here," she reached for something out of view, "have some of this."
Jane followed her hand and watched her grab a bowl of soup on top of the nightstand. She looked down and saw that it was a dark, purple color, which was unlike any other soup she had seen before.
"Ugh," she said, "what's that?"
"Why it's snake and spider stew, of course," Mrs. Macabre chuckled, surprised. "It's good for the soul. Let me help," she lifted up the spoon from the bowl and moved it towards Jane's mouth. The youngest twin refused at first, keeping her mouth tightly shut, then gave in. She gulped it down and was taken aback by how sweet it was.
"You know," she said taking another sip, "the food here isn't as bad as it looks."
"Funny," the witch said, gingerly holding the spoon with each serving, "I often say the same thing about the food from your world. I'm quite fond of. . . what do you call them? Tacos?"
"Me too," Jane smiled, then she realized that there was something on her leg, it felt warm and sticky. She looked under the covers and saw a dark patch over her cut where the gremlin spike had stabbed her. "What's that?"
"An old remedy of mine. A combination of spider's web, wolfsbane, and moon dust. It should heal within a day or two."
"Oh," she paused. "Mrs. Macabre, I know those gremlins wanted to damage the house, but did we. . . did we kill them?" She thought of the one that had fallen as she clung to the side of the roof and she shuddered.
"I don't believe so," Mrs. Macabre said, reassuringly. "The gas that you used knocked them unconscious, but those barbs on their backs provide a cushion of sorts for when they fall. At the very worst, they'll wake up stuck to the ground for a bit. Fascinating creatures gremlins. I considered having one for a pet, but they can't be domesticated, poor things."
"Poor gremlins," Jane sighed. She had found the whole adventure to be both terrifying and exhausting, but she was glad none of them had been killed by their actions. After all, she assumed it wasn't the gremlins fault that they wanted to cause mischief, they were just born that way. She then remembered when she saw, or thought she saw, the bride hanging in mid-air and a chill went through her.
"You look like something is on your mind, Jane?" Mrs. Macabre raised an eyebrow.
"It's. . . " she thought about it for a moment. There was a part of her that did want to tell her about the strange vision that she had had. A dream was one thing, but out in the open was even more unusual than that, even for this place. But she decided to keep it hidden, since it very well could have been just her imagination running away with her at the moment. "It's nothing," she shook her head and smiled.
"Very well, then," she smiled back. "Jane, I must apologize for letting you and Catherine go up on the roof alone. I should have known that it was too dangerous for you. I should have been there. I thought you might be different than the last one. I guess. . ." Her voice trailed off and she shook her head and chuckled. "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, Lenore! Elvira and I will be joining you on our next errand, anyways. We might want to get going. They're waiting for us down stairs," she snapped her fingers and the soup bowl was gone.
Several minutes later, they were downstairs. Mrs. Macabre went to the kitchen and returned holding two wicker baskets.
"This will be more fun than the gremlin control," she gave her a basket. "Promise."
Jane took it and they both walked out the front door. The house had moved quite a distance from where it had been before. Several hours ago, Jane recalled seeing rolling hills, now they were in the middle of a forest. Jane turned around in a circle, surrounded by trees as far as she could see. They were all the color of ash and not one leaf stood on any of them, their branches stuck out in zig-zag formations like lightning bolts. The only distinctive features of the trees were the black apples that hung from them. The day had turned to evening and the moonlight was starting to shine on the strange fruit, giving them the appearance of glowing, black orbs. Like everything else that the Gracey twins had seen in the Hallowland so far, the trees were beautiful in their own peculiar way.
"You feeling better?" Catie asked, walking up to her carrying her own basket with Elvira strolling next to her.
"Yeah. A little beaten up, though," Jane rubbed her head and was amazed that her leg hadn't been limping. "Did I miss anything fun?"
"No," Elvira interjected. "Long trips like these are so boring," she stretched her body and yawned.
"Not everyone travels in a walking house," Catie knelt down and scratched her ear.
"Be careful girls," Mrs. Macabre said as she locked the front door. "These trees can be quite defensive." She walked down the steps and joined them.
"Defensive?" Jane asked.
"You need to pick the apples delicately. Like so," Mrs. Macabre walked over to one of the trees and plucked an apple from its nearest branch. It shuddered for a moment afterwards. "Thank you," she said and petted it, calming it down.
"Oh, right. Obviously," Jane chuckled.
"Shouldn't you be inside, Elvira?" Catie asked the cat. "It's kind of dangerous out here for animals, don't you think?"
"Dangerous?" Elvira scoffed. "I'll have you know that I've been drowned, burnt, frozen, buried, kicked, thrown out of an extremely high window, and very recently, had my back broken by one of your automotive machines. I think I'll save my final life for something worthy of it, thank you very much."
"Cats have nine lives?" Jane asked.
" Yes," Elvira sighed, "and you only have one. So, I suggest you two be careful."
"That's enough chit-chat," Mrs. Macabre interrupted. "I'd rather get this done in time for dinner. Black apple pie requires some preparation, you know," she picked another apple. "Thank you."
Jane walked over to a tree and carefully grabbed the apple on its lowest hanging branch. Very slowly, she pulled it and the apple snapped off of it. The branches shook, startling her. "Th-thank you," she said and softly rubbed its trunk.
She then saw something that nearly made her cry out in shock. Several yards away from her, was the bride. Jane shook her head and blinked, making sure that it wasn't just her imagination this time. She looked in that direction for several seconds and the shadow was still there, her dress swirled around her in tattered curtains, her feet did not touch the ground, but floated inches above it. She turned to see if anyone else had noticed, but they continued to pick the apples from the trees. Jane looked back at the bride, and with a black boney hand, the figure placed a finger to her veil where her mouth was. Jane did the same to hers, unconscious that she was mirroring her. It was almost as if she was hypnotized by the bride, drawn to her, wanting to learn more about her and what she had to say, if anything at all. All of the sounds and the visions of the forest slowly vanished and it was only the strange, mysterious figure looking back at her.
"What are you looking at?" A voice snapped her out of her concentration, making her jump. She looked down next to her and it was Elvira.
"Nothing," she said, catching her breath.
"Huh," Elvira said. "Humans."
Jane looked back and saw that the bride had disappeared once again. Am I going crazy? She thought to herself. Had the Hallowland somehow infected her mind with some sort of virus that Mrs. Macabre wasn't telling them about? And if so, why hadn't Catie said anything about seeing strange visions, either. Perhaps, she was and she was keeping it a secret from Jane in fear that she might think she was going crazy. Whatever it was, it was not a coincidence, she was sure of that. Something weird was going on and she was determined to figure it out. But first- apples. She stood on her toes, placing a hand on one of the higher branches and, just as she picked it off, she heard something again. At first she thought it had been the tree, a cry of some sort, but it happened again and she noticed that it was far off.
"Did you hear that?" Elvira asked, her ears perking up.
"Yeah," Jane said, relieved that she wasn't the only one. She looked behind her and both Mrs. Macabre and Catie were searching for the source of the sound.
"Help!" A voice yelled in the distance. "Someone! Please!"
"We'll have to worry about the apples later, girls," Mrs. Macabre said, "Someone is in need of assistance. Immediately." She hung her basket on her arm and marched forward. Jane, Elvira, and Catie went with her.
They continued to follow the pleas for help. As they moved deeper into the forest, the calls grew louder and clearer, along with something else. Mixed in with the screams was a strange snapping sound, as if dozens of branches were scratching against one another. They too grew louder until they finally stumbled upon the sound's origin.
At first, the Gracey twins weren't quite sure of what they were looking at. They did know, however, that two of the trees were fighting with one another over which one would get the person that was screaming. Person was the only term that the two girls could think of to begin with, because that was the closest that they could come to in finding a frame of reference. The person had arms, legs, and a torso, that was evident enough from the thrashing about that he (or at least, they presumed it was a he) was doing as the branches pulled and twisted him this way and that. But his limbs and body were far too thin for an average human. He wore clothes that appeared to be made of patchwork and wool of some sort, his head was bulbous and orange. Then it hit them- this wasn't a person at all- this was a living scarecrow. Everything came into sharp focus as if they had been looking at an abstract painting that had suddenly been made clear to them. Bits of straw came loose from the sleeves of his coat and pants, his arms twisted in unnatural ways, and his face was carved into a pumpkin like they would see every Halloween night, a candle light glowed from within. Though his face was immobile, it was clear that the scarecrow was terrified.
"It's Jack Lantern!" Mrs. Macabre said, almost sounding excited.
"Who?" Jane and Catie said in unison.
"A friend of mine. Last I saw him was-"
"We can talk about all that later!" Elvira interrupted. "We need to help the poor thing before he gets eaten!"
"Hello, Jack!" Mrs. Macabre called to him. "We've come to help!"
"Mrs. Macabre?" Jack stopped his screaming and turned his head towards them, the glowing in his skull pulsed as he spoke every word. "Oh, I am so, so, happy to see you!" His voice shook, as if he was about to burst into tears. "Help me! Please!"
"Can't you magic him out, Mrs. Macabre?" Jane asked.
"These are nightmare trees," she said, sadly, "there are some things even my magic can't get through.. They look hungry."
"What are we going to do?" Jane looked up, panicked. She was terrified that Jack was going to be eaten in front of her very eyes and he seemed like such an innocent scarecrow.
"I've got it," Catie said with the assurance that she always had whenever she had an idea. "Jane, I need you to lift me up."
"What?"
"That tree is too high," she pointed to the left tree that was attacking Jack, "I need to stand on your shoulders."
"What are you going to do?" Jane's eyes narrowed, worried that her sister was going to say something dangerous.
"Just trust me," she said.
Jane hated whenever her sister would keep plans from her. Every adventure, every surprise party, would be prefaced with trust me. Why couldn't people just tell her what they were thinking? But she knew that if she asked any further questions, she'd start arguing with her and poor Jack would certainly be dead by that point. And Catie knew it bothered her as well, judging from the faintest hint of a smile on her face. "Fine," Jane said and walked over to the tree, cautious that it was going to hit her.
"I'll make sure and catch you if you fall, dear," Mrs. Macabre planted her boots on the ground, ready for anything.
"And I'll. . . " Elvira said, pausing for a moment. "Be moral support."
"Good kitty," Catie said and took off her shoes. She walked over to Jane. "Ready?"
"Just don't die," Jane said bending down and cupping her hands together.
"I'll try not to," Catie placed her hands on her sister's shoulders, she stepped into her palms and Jane lifted her up.
"Ow," Jane said as Catie's foot stepped on her head.
"Sorry," she grunted as she shimmied her way up the tree, swaying back and forth along with it. Jane took a few steps back and watched as her sister continued to climb. The cracking of the branches seemed to grow louder and Jack's shrieks deafened, or that could've been her fear's doing.
"Careful!" Mrs. Macabre called out to her, keeping her stance.
"Hold on-" Elvira began, but was cut short once the tree rocked so hard, it nearly sent Catie slipping off.
She placed a foot firmly onto the bark and pulled herself up, as if she was getting onto a horse. Finally, she made it to the spot where Jack was being held hostage.
"Help! Please!" Jack cried out to her.
"I'll try!" Catie yelled back. "That candle in your head, can you make it brighter?"
"What?" The scarecrow asked as his arms and legs were being pulled in different directions.
"Can you make your head hotter without hurting you?"
"Yes," he replied nervously.
"Great! Now, what I need you to do is make it so hot that you start a small fire, then I think the trees will let you go! Can you do that for me?" She smiled, trying to encourage him.
"I don't think so."
"Why not?" Her smile turned into a frown.
"Because I'm . . ." he paused. "Because I'm. . . "
"Get on with it!" Elvira said.
"Because I'm scared!" He blurted out.
"Because you're what?" Both of the Gracey sisters said together, stunned. Jane looked at Mrs. Macabre who only shrugged and shook her head hopelessly.
"Fire scares me," Jack said, embarrassed.
"But you have to do it, Jack!" Catie said, trying to keep her footing.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"How do you know if you don't try?"
"What if I hurt you?"
"You think I came all the way up here without knowing that? I came up here to make you feel safe."
"What if-?"
"Just! Do it!" Catie yelled as the tree swayed again, nearly throwing her off once more.
Jack took a deep breath and his head erupted with fire as if it were a stove that had been turned all the way up. The red-orange flames blended in with his pumpkin head. The branches of the trees roared with a huge crack and they swayed apart, releasing him.
Catie was sent flying into the air and was soon caught by Mrs. Macabre like a quarterback catching a football with both hands. Jane rushed to her side. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"At least I didn't faint," she groaned, but smiled at her.
"Help me with him!" Elvira called and ran towards Jack.
The scarecrow's limbs were scattered about in every direction. His arms to the west, his legs to the south, his torso to the east, and his head to the north. "Am I alive?" He said, the inside of his head still glowing, smoke rose from it.
"Yes," Mrs. Macabre said, retrieving his right arm. "You'll live to get yourself in trouble another day, my friend."
"How'd you get into this mess, anyway?" Jane asked, picking up his head.
"Last we saw him was in the fear fields," Elvira chimed in.
"Yes," Jack said, "I was exiled from the fields recently."
"Why?" Catie lifted his torso up and slung it over her shoulder.
"For being too scared. I would sit on my pole in the fields and scream because it was too high up. Everyone would laugh at me," he replied, sadly. "I was walking along through the forest and I got hungry. I thought I'd have an apple, but the trees didn't like that at all." He paused then let out a sad sigh. "Imagine me, a scarecrow being afraid of everything. I'm a failure."
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Macabre said. "We only fail when we stop trying. Besides, I've never met a scarecrow that feels fear, which makes you unlike anyone I've ever met."
"But I'm so alone."
"No you're not," Jane said. "Everyone is afraid of something. Mrs. Macabre, can we take him with us?"
"Brilliant idea, Jane Gracey," the witch said with a smile.
"I wouldn't want to bother you all," Jack said.
"We insist," Catie said.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" The pumpkin head glowed brightly from within. And so, carrying the pieces of Jack Lantern and their baskets of black apples with them, they made their way back to the manor.