October is a wonderful month to hike. The crisp autumn air is exhilarating. There are hayrides and bonfires and bobbing for apples. So, the decision to have a Halloween Party at Billy Bump’s old barn that was in the woods…was made. Chet was so excited about the upcoming festivity and its rustic location that he he declared that this time he was not going to be costumed as the Lost In Space Robot…but as Friar Tuck from Robin Hood. Sally decided to leave her favorite costume of ‘Sally on Peanuts’ and become Maid Marian. Billy B. would be coming as Robin Hood. The evening would be a three part affair. The first event would be the hayride through the woods to the haunted barn. The second would be the candy and bobbing for apples. The third would be the Ghost Hike.

Jane and Buddy joined the Hayride. Jane reminded Billy B. of last year when they had taken a Hayride to a haunted house and she had suddenly fainted when she saw the glowing orange head that looked both like and Jack-O-Lantern…and a human… Buddy was dressed like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The carriage driver was the tallest and thinest man that Chet had ever seen…and on top of his head was a Stovepipe Hat…and his nose was so long that it touched his chin. He looked around…slowly…at Chet…and winked. The hay was soft and scratchy at the same time. Jane passed around, from the thermos that she carried, hot apple cider with, what she called, a touch of spirits…for the occasion… Suddenly the carriage toppled to one side and everyone held on for dear life. Billy B. assessed the Halloween revelers and decided that they would be able to walk the quarter of a mile to the Haunted Barn. Chet watched as the carriage driver untethered one of the coal black horses and jumped on top of his back and rode off. When Chet walked around to the front of the conveyance…there was the Stovepipe Hat on top of the head of the driver…with the long face and the extremely long nose, now bent to one side from its fall from its home on the shoulders of the peculiar chauffeur, smiling and saying…’Do not worry…he knows the way back.’

Lanny was mixing the punch that the apples were floating in when Billy B. entered the barn door. He grinned and told Billy B., ‘This Punch is my special Halloween recipe.’ Buddy, or as he preferred to be called, Hunch, was especially good at apple bobbing. Sally told Billy B. that Daryl had just came in…although she did not see him on the hayride. Daryl was dressed as the Mummy. When Chet greeted him…he simply motioned with his hand…but did not speak. For the dance Billy B.’s mom had chosen the Chubby Checker number one song, The Twist. As everyone began to ‘Twist the night away,’ Sally accidentally stood on a loose bandage on Daryl’s Mummy costume…and he began to unravel rapidly…as he twisted enthusiastically… Before those assembled…lay the Mummy’s bandages on the dirt floor…but no Daryl…

‘Lets hike quick…while we still can, said Jane. So the intrepid group of 10 year olds proceeded into a brilliantly lit full moon night. ‘You look like you need a shave…if you were old enough,’ said Billy B. to Chet. Chet responded, ‘When the moon is full…I like to howl…’