disappointment and slumped in his chair, reaching for a bowl of grapes on a crate beside his chair.

“It’s something much, much better than an icebox. Get into your costume, and I’ll tell you.” She thrust a garment bag into his paws.

The doorbell rang. Kit bounded to the door. Waiting outside were the other members of the Jungle Aces Secret Midnight Club: tan hyena Ernie, grey hippo Felix, brown rabbit Sam, white crane Burt, and beige bear Oscar dressed respectively as Bullethead, a pirate, a ghost, a mummy, and a football player.

“Ready to be scared, Kit?” Ernie asked, pushing his Bullethead helmet back on his head.

“You bet!” Kit replied.

“You bet!” Molly jumped down from Kit’s shoulders.

Ernie looked Molly up and down with a scornful smirk. “Don’t tell us she’s coming, too!”

The boys’ protests overlapped each other.

“We have to drag a little kid with us?”

“Oh, no!”

“That’s no fun!”

“Whose idea was that?”

“She’ll slow us down!”

“What a baby! She’s got a dolly.”

“Lucy’s my sidekick!” Molly cried indignantly.

Kit grimaced as he self-consciously tugging at the collar of his flight jacket. I knew this was a bad idea. “Sorry, guys, but I promised my mom that I’d take her trick-or-treating with us.”

“Can she handle the haunted houses?” was Ernie’s snide remark.

“Yeah!” Burt, Felix, and Sam said in unison. “Can she?”

Molly glowered at the older boys. “Danger Woman isn’t afraid of anything!”

“C’mon, guys, you won’t even know she’s there,” Kit turned to Molly, saying pointedly, “will they, little sis?”

“Nope,” Molly chirped brightly. “Danger Woman’s a master of stealth.”

Oscar, who hadn’t said anything so far, smiled kindly at Molly through his football helmet. “I like your costume.”

“I like yours, too.” Molly grasped Kit’s hand, whispering, “I like Oscar. He’s just my size, and he’s nice.”

Ernie glanced scornfully at Kit and rolled his eyes. Kit knew it was because Molly was holding his hand. He dropped Molly’s paw, resulting in a confused, hurt expression to appear on the little girl’s face.

“You forgot your sacks, kids.” Rebecca handed them a small brown paper sack each. “Remember to look both ways before crossing the street, don’t talk to strangers, or eat any candy before I look at it, and stay together!” she called after the retreating cubs.

Baloo descended the stairs dressed in a dark green velour shirt with a matching green hat that sported a jaunty red feather on the left side. “Becky, I look like a flyin’ fool in this getup. Why’d ya pick Robin Hood an’ Maid Marian anyways?” Frowning, he swatted at the feather tickling his ear.

The bearess, who was clad in a matching green floor-length dress with a low, clinging bodice, clenched her teeth. “I’ve told you a thousand times, Baloo. This was the last couples ensemble that Fran’s House of Finery had. If you don’t like it, you pick out the costumes next time! And another thing - I’m so sick and tired of you complaining about everything that I do or don’t do! It’s enough to drive a saint stark raving mad!” she snapped, her eyes blazing.

“Easy, honey, don’t go gettin’ yerself all upset.” Baloo wrapped a placating arm around her shoulders. “Ya might lose yer lunch again.”

Rebecca immediately thawed and placed an affectionate paw on his chest. “Darling, about that...”

She was interrupted by a noisy car horn honking insistently.

“Cab’s here, Becky.”

Rebecca found herself being hustled outside. All the way to the party, Baloo chattered on in high spirits about the mambo contest that he had won at Louie’s that afternoon. An enormously irritated Rebecca couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

Across Cape Suzette

The sun was sinking low in the horizon as the Jungle Aces and Molly arrived at the haunted house set up in the high school gymnasium. They snaked their way through a crowd of children and parents in costumes. A set of triplets - two girls and a boy - about five years old were crying on the steps. Their frazzled mother was trying to calm them down with offers of candy and ice cream.

“Maybe you oughta stay with those crybabies, Molly,” Ernie suggested, snickering.

Molly scowled. “Kit!”

“Leave her alone, Ernie,” Kit said. “Stay close, Molly; you don’t want to get lost in the maze.”

“I won’t,” Molly proclaimed confidently, brandishing her spatula. “You better stay close to me, big brother. Danger Woman will protect you from the goblins and ghosts!”

The children waited in line for a few minutes before they were ushered into a smoky tunnel. Cobwebs brushed their faces. A tinny wolf’s howl sounded in the distance. They faintly heard the rattling of chains and the screams of other children.

“Wha...what was that?” Oscar stammered, drawing closer to his friends.

“Your knees knocking,” Ernie jeered.

They continued through the labyrinth. Suddenly to their right was a fiery red glow spotlighting a blood-spattered table. On the table reposed a silver serving platter, large enough to house an entire roast pig. The platter’s lid was lifted by nearly invisible fishing line to reveal a gruesome, disembodied head. The head’s bloodshot eyes rolled grotesquely. Its ominous chuckling evolved into maniacal laughter.

“Ah!” screamed the boys.

They hurried on past the head, laughing nervously, nudging each other playfully.

“You were scared.”

“No way! You were.”

They turned right and left and right, stumbling through the darkness. In front of them was a graveyard illuminated in hazy blues and greens where a host of ghosts floated. Seeing the children, they drifted towards them, arms outstretched, moaning.

“Whoa!”

“Aah!”

“Here they come!”

“Here I go!”

“Boring!” Molly stated loudly. She ruffled one ghost’s costume with her spatula to reveal a pair of legs. “You can tell they’re people in ripped up sheets.”

“Molly, don’t spoil the fun,” Kit hissed.

“This is fun? I want candy.” She gestured to her empty sack. “That’s what Halloween is really about. Lots and lots of candy.”

“You’ll get your candy later.” Exasperated, Kit grabbed Molly’s paw and dragged her behind him.

Continuing on through the dark, misty tunnel, they encountered a witch stirring a bubbling brew in her cauldron. “A hex upon you! May you never have recess again!” she screeched, stretching a warty, green hand towards them. “Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!” the hag cackled in a high-pitched, nasal voice. She slowly advanced towards the frightened children.

“Help!” Oscar yelped, pressing up against the cardboard frame of the maze. The wall began to teeter precariously.

“I’ll save you!” Molly cried. She furiously swung her spatula back and forth under the witch’s nose. “You leave us alone, you old witch!”

The witch’s olive green rubber mask caught on the spatula and flew off to reveal a pretty high school-aged girl. “Aah!” exclaimed the ‘witch’ in a sweet, breathy voice.

“Ha! Ha! I scared the witch,” Molly laughed triumphantly.

“What a stupid little kid,” Ernie said derisively.

“Molly...” Kit said through clenched teeth. He pulled his sister aside. In his best older brother voice, he scolded, “You can’t hit at every ghost you see. It’s just pretend.”

“I know it’s pretend. I’m not stupid, Kit.” She crossed her arms, correcting smugly, “Besides, that was a witch, not a ghost.”

“Whatever. Stop ruining everyone’s Halloween.” When he walked away, Molly heard him mutter, “Wish Mom didn’t make me bring her here. It would be tons more fun without her tagging along.”

Molly’s chin quivered. Tears pricked her eyes. It hurt that her revered, beloved big brother didn’t want her around. She didn’t know what she had done to make him act so mean. He’d never treated her so horribly before.

“Hurry up, Molly, or we’ll leave you here!” Kit snapped.

Brushing big teardrops from her cheeks, Molly blindly, miserably blundered through the rest of the maze behind her brother and his friends. She didn’t see any of the ghosts or goblins along their path, and she didn’t care about the small bag of candy corn that was dropped in her goody sack at the end of the maze.

The Spruce Moose

Baloo and Rebecca had arrived at the Pilot’s Halloween Ball, which was being held on the Spruce Moose - the hulking Howard Huge designed aircraft shaped like a moose’ head.

As the medieval-clad duo swept up the red-carpeted ramp towards the Spruce Moose, Baloo commented, “What better place ta have a Pilot’s Ball than on a plane?”

Arm in arm they entered the ballroom/cargo hold teeming with pilots and their guests dressed in every costume imaginable. The ceiling was decorated with flying bats and crisscrossed with streamers of black, yellow, and orange. Topping each circular table was an authentic jack-o-lantern; their spooky faces were illuminated by flickering candles. Clustered around the jack-o-lanterns were bowls of jelly beans, candy corn, peanuts, popcorn, and pretzels. A long buffet table ran along the right side of the room. On stage, a band of ‘dead musicians’ was belting out a loud, fast swing tune.

“Baloo, about the doctor...” Rebecca began.

“Check out the buffet (he pronounced the ‘T’) table, Becky!” He gawked at the table laden with hors d’oeuvres, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and beverages. “They went all out this year!” Off he sped to grab a paper plate, leaving his wife standing in the doorway by herself.

“Oooo, that bear! He’s going to need a doctor when I get through with him!” Rebecca muttered under her breath. She stomped to an unoccupied table with an indignant swish of her taffeta skirts and sat down. Chin propped in her hands, she glowered at Baloo piling food on his plate. It made her even more furious to see him joking and laughing with his pilot buddies and the servers. “I might as well not be here for all the attention he pays me. The most important news of our lives, and

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