A wind swirled through Halloween Town causing the edge of Sally's skirt to tickle her knees. Her long red hair cascaded down her back like a cape. In a slightly uneven gait, she made her way through the iron gates which led to Jack, the Pumpkin King's, abode. She looked up to see his spiderlike shadow in the windows. He'd been spending more time locked up again. With the ghoulish success of Halloween and near loss of Christmas behind him, he and the Mayor had turned their sights to the next Halloween's plans. But as quick as anything, Jack seemed to grow restless. He only ventured out to get supplies from Dr. Finkelstein and that was just when Sally was unable to go on his behalf. Even Sally was beginning to doubt her importance to Jack. Her big eyes rolled round and peered over her shoulder as she considered going back – to where she did not know. But her loyalty to Jack returned as quickly as it wavered and she made her way up the perilous steps to Jack's door.

"It's me, Jack," she cried as she came through the door, "Sally."

Jack was sitting behind a great desk. Books were piled high about him. He jumped up and a smile creased his face.

"I didn't notice you had gone. How silly of me…" he wringed his hands distractedly and paused before continuing. "I have been thinking… Halloween is such a long ways off – I've been reading up on some things to pass the time and well…"

Sally was looking at the books. She picked one up and read it aloud. "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir?"

"Huh? Yes, that Cheney is very interesting… and lots of people don't like him, you know!"

"Who, Jack?" her voice was quiet and obviously fraught with worry.

"Who? Why the Americans. They have a long legacy of foul politicians. And, nobody seems to be able to agree on anything. Why, it's amazing that they are able to stay united!"

"Mhmm…" Sally gave a noncommittal response; she knew he'd keep talking anyway. Her eyes fell to a poster that lay on Jack's desk.

"Most of them seem to like Lincoln – used to call him Honest Abe; perhaps it was the beard…" Jack chattered on.

Sally lifted a candle from a wall sconce and brought it close to the large paper. It had a border consisting of a red stripe and a blue stripe. In the middle was the image of an old, white-bearded man wearing a red-and-white-striped top hat. The hat had a wide blue ribbon around it with big white stars spaced evenly. A white shirt with red bowtie and blue overcoat completed the look. His blue eyes stared sternly at Sally. She let her gaze drift to the caption, which read, "UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU."

"Oh!" she gasped curiously and set the picture down as she realized Jack had gone quiet.

"You found it, I see," he addressed her and gestured towards the paper, "I was just pondering that one myself!"

"Yes, um… what do you want for dinner?" she responded.

"Oh whatever you want. It always tastes good when you cook."

"Well, I guess I must get started then." She headed toward the door.

Jack pulled out a magnifying glass and went back to looking at the poster.

Sally went out of the room and closed the door behind herself.

"Oh Jack!" She walked toward the staircase and paused. After a moment, she headed quickly downstairs and out the front door.

There were lots of people hanging around outside the gate as usual. "Hey Sally! What's up with Jack?" they asked as she hurried by.

"He's… not feeling well. Ate some bad witch hazel," she lied.

"Oh. Too bad," was all Sally heard as she raced ahead towards the observatory.

Once there, she rang doorbell and waited.

"It's open!" came a voice from within.

She opened the door and stepped into the entryway.

"Sally! You've come back!" Dr. Finkelstein peered down at her from upstairs.

"Um.. No, I mean…"

He continued to stare down at her. It always made her feel a bit nervous.

"Well, I never expected…"

"It's Jack… He's reading things… and I'm worried about him. Maybe you could talk to him?"

Dr. Finkelstein had a calculating look on his face now, but he did not respond.

"Um, would you like to come over for dinner?"

"Oh, I don't think that would be wise in my condition."

"You can bring Jewel with you," Sally pleaded. Normally, she would have nothing to do with his "new creation" or "your mother" as Dr. Finkelstein often referred to her.

"You sure?"

"Yes. We want both of you to come to dinner."

Dr. Finkelstein grinned. "Jewel!" he cried. "We're going out!"