Chapter 1: The Hidden Cemetery

"Aw that was fun wasn't it girls?"

"It sure was Maggie," Grace agreed, feeling half tired. "That was the best Autumn Festival we've ever been to, much better than last year's as far as I recall. We only got three days left till Halloween and these trees are starting to come alive."

Grace had glanced over her shoulder, shivering at the sight of the few trees casting creepy shadows under the moonlit night. It was at this time of the evening that the cows Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway were on their way home from visiting the Autumn Festival over at Chugwater Town. While passing by houses, Grace being the one with a vivid imagination saw a few houses, trees, and cornfields as strangely ghostlike, rising up through pale wisps of fog, their dark shadows extending longer and farther throughout the valley with no end. With the cornfields silhouetted there in the twilight, a scarecrow perched above had its hideous face flickered at her in the sputtering glow of a jack o lantern. Then there was a long, low whine of autumn wind; as dead leaves spattered across the fields. Grace instantly turned away from the awful scarecrow and tried to focus on the road back home, despite her legs feeling suddenly cold.

"Alive?" Maggie gave Grace an odd look. "I knew we shouldn't have stayed in that last tent to hear the rest of that guy's campfire tale. Look what it's done to you. Trees coming to life, that's ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as sneaking off the farm when we should have been in bed three hours ago," Mrs. Calloway snorted, eyes half closed. "Suppose Pearl woke up to check on us and find that we were missing. Think of how she must feel."

"Aw come on Calloway, we all know you agreed to come with us for the festival," Maggie tried to smile for her. "Besides somebody once told me it ain't so bad having a little fun when the owner is not around. And I don't mean that in an ungrateful sort of way if you know what I mean."

"No, I suppose not," Mrs. Calloway couldn't argue with that tonight, being overcome with fatigue.

"You know Mrs. C, I do have to agree," Grace yawned, stretching her neck sideways. "It wouldn't be autumn without having fun off the farm to see the largest pumpkin contest. Or the dancing and the ghost story…" Grace instantly bit her lip, unable to finish her sentence, spooked by the memory of the story teller's words about the ghost riders that haunt the western skies.

"What's the matter Grace," Maggie teased, trying to sound scary as she turned her head slowly to give Grace an eerie kind of stare that shone in the moonlight. "Afraid of the ghost riders coming your way tonight?" She saw how Grace froze for a few seconds, swallowing hard.

"Now don't start Maggie," Mrs. Calloway thundered against her for Grace's defense. "If Grace is scared enough of that silly story she heard, there's no need to make it worse for her than ever."

"But I'm not scared," Grace denied, shaking her head. "I was just um…" she broke off, not knowing what else to say.

"Sure you were Grace," Maggie didn't let her finish. "Sure you were. Just watch out for the…"

"Maggie!" Mrs. C said sternly.

"Oh wait I forgot already."

The three cows kept on walking, still tired from the excitement, yawning and wondering how long it would be until they reach Patch of Heaven. From the looks of it, the road was stretching farther on and on without any end. To make matters worse, a damp wind blew across the prairie, and the girls were now shivering as they kept moving. Trees crowded close on all sides, closing in behind the girls, and everything else was choked with weeds and numerous dead leaves. All anyone can see was bare brown ugliness from all sides, making all sightings unfamiliar and it was becoming spookier for Grace. Twenty minutes later, fog was rolling in.

"Hey is it me or do these roads back home take longer than expected?" Maggie moaned in frustration.

"It's probably just another one of those autumn fogs that roll in every year at this time," Mrs. Calloway assured, hoping not to sound nervous. "As long as we stay on the road and keep going, we'll be home in no time."

Maggie frowned. "Are you kidding? We've been going on for twenty minutes and I'm dying to catch some shut eye. I say we take the shortcut."

Mrs. Calloway looked at Maggie, alarmed at the thought. "What! Absolutely not. We will do no such thing. There is no shortcut going through Patch of Heaven. Even if there was, there is simply too much fog to walk through at this time of night. We're sure to get lost quickly."

"Relax Calloway. I know this area like the back of my hoof. The fog's not that thick anyway. And aren't you tired as well? The moonlight will guide us straight back home like it always does."

"Sorry, I refuse to take such a crazy risk," Mrs. C protested. "So I say we stay on this road, even if it takes us all night to get back home."

Maggie, being too tired to argue, just stared at Mrs. C through half opened eyes and responded in a lazy tone. "Alright, suit yourself Calloway. If you wish to walk alone out here with all the howling winds and the things that go bump in the night, be my guest. The shortcut will still be open." Then Maggie walks off to take the risk of facing what she still believes to be a shortcut.

"Maggie wait, you wouldn't want to face the fearsome fog out in the open all by yourself," Grace shouted.

"Ha, you see Maggie."

"Which is why I'm coming with you," Grace concluded, taking off to join Maggie. "I don't believe in shortcuts, but I'll do anything to get home faster. Are you sure you won't come Mrs. C."

Mrs. Calloway still couldn't believe the nonsense going on. "I will do no such thing. I'm staying right on the road and that's that." She turned her head up high.

"Let's go Grace," Maggie insisted. "The midnight hour is approaching."

Mrs. Calloway stood in her spot, watching Maggie and Grace walk off into the dense fog just like that and snorted in disbelief. "Ugh; am I the only sane cow left here that just wants to get home the usual way tonight? I still stand by what I say. So nothing is going to make me move from this spot."

She stood there in her usual proper manner, trying to sound brave. Yet now the area around her hung in a thick mist blurred the outlines of the trees, muffling the world in gray. Her bravery slowly left as she threw a look over her shoulder, tensed at a clammy blast of cold wind. Mrs. C didn't want to admit to herself that she was starting to feel her skin crawl, despite having the trees rustle or limbs flailing like scrawny arms. In her mind she whispered that she did not believe in ghosts. Then a tree branch shaped alike a bony hand slapped down on her shoulder.

With a gasp, that set her off, her mind confused as she rushed off in hopes of finding her two friends in the fog.

"Maggie, Grace, wait up will you!" she cried hysterically. Luckily she found them before the mist became any thicker and caught up.

"Well look what the creepers have scared off," Maggie began to tease again. "And I thought you preferred to stay behind."

"Don't get me started anymore," Mrs. C pleaded. "Let's just follow this path and not say another word."

None of them said another word for a while, especially Mrs. Calloway who secretly stayed alert for any more unusual sounds and movements. In spite of what Maggie said, the proper cow would never admit to her friends that an awful terror seized her from being touched unexpectedly. So far, the whole area the cows walked in seemed quiet and foggy…too quiet in an eerie sort of way.

"Hey girls, I think we're almost there," Maggie spoke up, breaking the silence. "See, now what'd I tell you. Let's go before this fog gets any worse."

Maggie moved ahead of the two, believing the shadowy form behind the thick fog was Patch of Heaven. The other two were nearly surprised, thinking that this shortcut took them home faster than they thought. But when the three girls got closer, they all heard a sound. It felt like moaning. It was so softly at first that the girls thought it was only their imagination acting up. Then it turned roaring and teeth chattering, the girls' heads were full of it.

"Who's out there?" Maggie called. "Is it someone we know?"

When the winds ceased, the fog grew thicker instantly, covering the entire figure that the girls were heading straight toward.

"Maggie, if you don't mind me asking," Mrs. Calloway began, sounding terrified. "Please tell me that was not your stomach rumbling?"

Before Maggie could respond to that, the wind whipped around them again, echoing through the trees, louder and louder…not like crying, but like breathing.

"Maggie, was that you breathing?" Grace said in a panicked tone.

"No, I don't breath like that, not even when I sleep," Maggie denied. "Come on girls. Let's just keep going straight like we were supposed to."

For the cows, ignoring the unexplained breathing and howling was complicated, even for them. It was as if something waited for them in the fog, coming closer.

"Stay together girls," Mrs. Calloway encouraged. "It's easy to get lost in the fog if we stray too far apart."

All at once, the girls stopped moving and clung to each other for protection, too terrified to move another muscle while listening to the awful breathing around them. The trees shuddered violently as they heard something else shifting deep within the whispering fog.

"Don't look at it you two," Maggie cautioned, shivering from both cold and fear. "Just keep your eyes closed and whatever you do, don't look until it's gone."

"Oh you can say that again Miss-let's-take-the-shortcut-into-the-unknown-mist!" Mrs. C replied sarcastically. "I knew we should've stayed on the road."

"Quiet, I need to hear closely."

Being too frightened for any debate, the girls waited and waited, listening to the wind howling grew softer and softer. And the breathing was heard no more.

"Is it gone now?" Grace whispered fearfully. "Are we in Patch of Heaven yet?"

Carefully, Maggie opened on eye slowly and looked around them. With no real explanation to what had happened, this was no Patch of Heaven the girls found themselves in. It was a cemetery; possibly the real area that they were actually heading in and not their home. But if they had still been close to returning home, where did this cemetery come from?

"Maggie, are you listening?" Mrs. Calloway asked impatiently. "Earth to Maggie, wake up!"

"Um, I see…several stones sticking out from below, but no farm girls," Maggie confessed shamefully. "Look for yourselves."

Grace and Mrs. C opened their eyes and gasped at the sight, understanding what Maggie had been talking about. The girls were surrounded in a cemetery that lay before them like a ghostly garden, headstones toppled and staggered across the leaf strewn ground. Where shrubs and vines had once flowered, now there were only masses of brown stems, and trees that looked grossly misshapen in the fast-falling twilight. Light fog snaked among the headstones and old, crumbling statues stared back at the intruders through stone eyes, causing the shivers.

"What is all this?" Mrs. C demanded, both upset and fearful at the same time. "Do any of you recall Patch of Heaven standing close to a graveyard of horrors by any chance?"

"Not I," Grace shook her head. "I've never seen anything like this before. Do you Maggie?"

"Um…" Maggie tried to think of an excuse. "…maybe the fog took us off track just when we were on the right track? It's a possibility."

"We're lost, aren't we Maggie?" Mrs. C rolled her eyes.

Before Maggie can think of another excuse, her eyes became glued to a magnificent stone structure at the far end of the cemetery, wondering crazily if she could possibly be dreaming.

"Hey girls, check out the stone age structure in front of us," she said with excitement, moving closer to it.

"Maggie, don't try to change the subject. Come back here!"

But Maggie didn't stay to argue. She just kept moving closer to that tombstone out of curiosity as if she were under a spell.

"I mean it Maggie. Don't make me come over to get you. Let's go before the ghosts rise up." She clamped her mouth shut, knowing she said the wrong thing and hoped Maggie didn't hear the end of her words.

Yet Maggie stopped in her tracks, hearing what Mrs. Calloway had already said about ghosts. A smile crept slowly across her features as a plan shaped itself in her mind. Forgetting about the tombstone for a while, she whirled around to face Mrs. C with a large mischievous grin.

"Did I hear the word ghosts coming out of you?" Maggie said mockingly, still smiling.

Mrs. Calloway suddenly became embarrassed and annoyed by Maggie's mockery. "Ghosts? Did I say ghosts? I mean…what I certainly meant to say was let's go before the sky grows darker. We've wasted enough time here and we should still be in bed."

Nothing else fooled Maggie or Grace by the endless shivering of Mrs. C's legs as she tried to speak calmly and bravely in her usual behavior. She held on to that deviant smile as she crept away quietly while Mrs. C had her attention on Grace.

"If you're not scared Mrs. C, why are your legs shaking?" Grace asked, staring down at her quivering legs.

This time Mrs. Calloway was becoming upset with everything going on tonight and had enough. "Look Grace, I am not shivering because I'm scared. It's cold out here and I don't want to wake up in the morning chilled to the bone in a place like this. So don't ask me again about…where did Maggie go?"

"I don't know, she was right here a moment ago. Maggie!"

"Maggie, you come on out right now! This is no time for games! Maggie!"

Mrs. Calloway's voice came to her eerily on the wind, as if the trees had caught it in their twisted arms and thrown it back at them. There was no other sound to hear, the girls held their breath, straining to hear the sound of Maggie calling them back.

"Maggie, where are you?" Grace was getting worried for their friend.

But the two girls might have been the only living beings left in this graveyard of horrors, the evening lay so gray and empty around them. Nervously, Mrs. C glanced behind her at the Iron Gate entrance from where she believed they must have accidentally entered. Only one light was visible upon them from the orange moonlight that resembled a pumpkin ready to smile. Mrs. C cautiously tried to peer through the headstones, moving deeper into the dense fog, seeing no sign of Maggie.

"Maggie, I know you're here somewhere. So stop playing around and let's get going!" she called out sharply.

"You know Mrs. C, she might have been looking for a way out," Grace suggested. "Only she forgot to tell us about it."

"We'll see about that Grace."

Mrs. C kept moving deeper, convinced that Maggie must be playing some kind of trick to get her to admit that she's scared. Her thoughts whirled as she searched. Could this be where Maggie really had disappeared into? Was she somewhere in this set of graves? In her worried mind, in the dark, it was impossible to remember how long it has been since she took her eyes off Maggie. Drawing a shaky breath, she was now admitting to herself in secret that she was afraid to go any deeper into the graveyard. It made her stop in confusion, thinking that pressing on will get her lost the same way as Maggie, meaning Grace would be all lost and alone from where she was at. Quickly, Mrs. C turned around on alert for whatever might be…

"BOO!"

Mrs. Calloway screamed and collapsed against a larger headstone, hoof to her heart from the sound behind her. Next thing she had heard was uncontrollable laughter coming from…Maggie. By the looks of it, it was Maggie that had made her jump like that, seeing the way she collapsed backwards on the ground, laughing like a mischievous school kid.

"You should've seen the look on your face Calloway!" Maggie cried, still laughing all the way. "You were so scared!"

"Maggie, if you think for one second that was funny, I'd think again!" Mrs. Calloway shouted angrily, trying to get up. She took a deep breath, then another, hoping to get her breathing back to normal. "That was the most childish stunt you ever pulled!"

Maggie had been laughing so hard, tears were coming out of her eyes. She was too caught up in her little prank that she had barely listened to what Mrs. Calloway told her. "Oh come on, you looked scared the moment I surprised you. Wait till the whole farm hears what happened!" Then she started laughing all over again.

Angrily, Mrs. Calloway managed to get herself up, glaring at Maggie as she tackled her. Embarrassed and annoyed by Maggie's childish prank, Mrs. C had her cornered against a twisted tree, having both hooves on her shoulders in hopes of strangling the foolishness out of her for choosing the wrong time to play boneheaded jokes in a place like this. It made her feel like a complete fool in front of Grace…if she did in fact see what had happened.

"I was only kidding!" Maggie gasped when Mrs. C started shaking her. "I didn't mean it that way!"

Even though Maggie could have pried the proper cow off of her when she wanted to, she was taken by surprise once being tackled, nearly forgetting that she should have known better than to play a prank on someone like Mrs. Calloway. And now look what had happened. But she didn't blame her for it. Silently to herself, Maggie vowed never to do it again, if she was able to get the words out of her mouth right now. The shaking soon stopped, but not long before Mrs. C raised her hoof as if preparing to throw a punch, which Maggie had her eyes closed.

All of a sudden, there came a scream.

Both girls suddenly turned to the high pitch scream that possibly came from Grace on the other side.

"Grace, we forgot all about her!" Mrs. C cried, getting herself off of Maggie. "Get up Maggie. We'll talk more about this later!"

Maggie did not say a word, thinking it was better to remain silent instead of aggravating her with any more stupid jokes. They had recently found Grace unharmed, asking her what had happened that made her scream like that. The blond cow pointed toward a gnarled hand touching down on the largest tomb.

AN: I know that I said there would be no more Halloween fanfics. But the idea for this story came from a dream I had that often had me debating with myself on whether or not I should upload and turn it into a story. So after a talk with one of my friends yamimakai3, I gave it a try and decided to credit him for helping me out with ideas to the story. My other two Halloween stories had only Grace traveling. But this time the girls will be altogether, but I will not reveal the rest until later chapters. Even when the day after Halloween comes and goes, the spirit will still be left in me all through the year. Oh, I forgot to mention at the beginning of this story that all characters; except the ones I created are of The Walt Disney Company. I don't own any of them, although I almost wish that I did.