Chapter 7: Lock, Shock and Barrel to the Rescue
It was nearing two 'o clock in the land of Halloween, and the pumpkin sun was started to move ever so slowly towards the horizon. Soon it would set, and when the sun goes down the citizens of the town enact their holiday upon the world. Normally at this point in time everyone would be celebrating…but instead they were dreading Halloween night.
"Not much time left," said one of the witches, looking up anxiously at the clock on town hall.
Wolfgang nodded. "Jack had better get here soon."
Peter was oblivious to their dismay. He hopped here and there, checking on the progress of everything and even fixing some of the details himself. Oh, the humans are going to love this! He thought to himself with a big smile. This would truly be a Halloween to remember.
"Whew, that was close," said Lock, now safely hidden in the town hall.
"Yeah, lucky for you the people in Easterland are nice and stupid," said Shock. Then she noticed something weird—that door, across the room…
The three approached slowly. It had been blocked very thoroughly with many large pieces of furniture. It seemed that the citizens of Easter did not want whatever was in there running around their town. The trick-or-treaters' curiosity was now piqued and they climbed over one another trying to get to the door. In no time at all the barricade had been cleared and Barrel hurriedly opened the door.
Jack and Sally were sitting on the floor, leaning against each other, but at the sound of the doorknob being turned their necks quickly snapped to see who it was.
"We found them!" Shock screamed excitedly.
Jack leapt to his feet. He never thought he'd be so happy to see those three.
Lock laughed. "My, Jack, you're looking rather colorful. How long were you guys in there?"
Sally slowly stood up. "Too long."
"So, you guys have been in there all this time? Alone?" Shock smiled mischievously at the two.
Jack frowned but let the comment slip. "We've got to get back to Halloweentown fast, Peter's taking over Halloween."
Then they heard a voice outside. It boomed, as though someone was speaking into a megaphone.
"This is the mayor of Easterland. We know you three are in there. Come out with your hands up."
"What did you do now?" said Jack, shaking his head in disgust. Some things never changed.
"We didn't do anything, honest," said Barrel. "We escaped and then we went looking for you."
Lock nodded. "Yeah, what he said. These people are crazy!"
Jack was already heading for the door. These are rabbits, he thought. I can surely handle them.
The people of Easterland waited outside eagerly for the three little kids with the funny faces to appear, but when the door opened Jack was standing there instead.
Screams arose from the crowd as it scattered quickly. Well, that wasn't too hard, thought Jack. The mayor of Easterland stood, shaking, looking up at him.
"How…how did you get out?"
Lock, Shock and Barrel quickly appeared behind Jack.
"Oh."
Jack leaned down to talk to the rabbit, which was growing more and more nervous. "Listen, Peter's trying to take over Halloween. We've got to get back to try and stop him."
The mayor looked shocked. "What? Peter would never try to do such a thing! Has he gone mad?"
"Probably," said Lock, but Sally quickly gave him a disapproving look.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"I don't know, that's why we've got to get back as soon as possible," said Jack.
"Yes, fine," said the mayor. "Get out of here, all of you, just as long as we get Mr. Cottontail back in one piece."
Jack smiled reassuringly. "You will."
"Oh, and don't forget your bathtub."
Lock, Shock and Barrel said "thanks" in unison as they jumped into it and then they were all off to the forest. They didn't have much time at all.
Time almost seemed to be speeding up in Halloweentown as the air became colder and a breeze played with the leaves lying in the street. Everyone stood around Town Square idly, counting the minutes until the celebration was scheduled to begin. They wouldn't be able to scare anyone this year, which was one of Peter's new rules. But scaring was what they did best, they'd told him, but he'd have no part of that. Instead he continued to speak of happiness and bringing joy to the masses.
"I don't think Jack's going to make it," said Wolfgang sadly.
The others remained silent. It was something they hadn't wanted to admit, but now it seemed like a reality.
Peter stood on the steps of the Town Hall watching them. Why did they seem so upset? Oh, he knew that they wanted to scare people, but face it, scaring is just not nice. He'd asked them several times to show some enthusiasm about the wonderful things they did get to do—hand out candy, sing "Here Comes Peter Cottontail," dance the bunny hop—but they just didn't seem to care.
Oh well, he thought. I can do this without them if I have to. Peter, this is going to be your night to shine!
