"I must say, Sally. It sounds as if you had a fantastic time while I was gone. I'm nearly jealous! You and the children had a lovely adventure, and there I was, up to my eye sockets in holiday bickering. I'm very glad to be back at your side."

"I'm so very happy you're here again too, Jack. We only have a few more days, after all."

Jack gazed happily at his wife. She sat across from him at a ghostly open air restaurant, by the sea. She wore a strapless dress she'd fashioned from some of her purchased fabric. She'd thought twice, and then a third time, about venturing from their room in something that felt to her so acutely insecure. Then again, it was more than many of the women in the triangle wore, and they appeared no worse for doing so. Besides, Sally thought, while her shoulders felt strangely chilly and exposed, the skirt flowed nearly to her ankles. Therefore, strictly speaking, she was more covered than in one of her usual dresses. That was true, wasn't it? Sally was used to her brain being filled with "What ifs?" and "Be carefuls." While such sensible thinking generally served her well, she was pleased for once to lay it to one side. She realized she'd never been able to do so before, though she'd sometimes wished she could. It wasn't clear what had changed, if anything. There were too many new variables to consider, everything from The Triangle itself, to Isabel's papers, to being anywhere other than Halloweentown. She looked out from their table to the nearby ocean. Propped up in their basket, one of the princes exclaimed musically, almost as if he'd read his mothers thoughts. Sally wriggled her fingers against his ribs, and got a squeaky giggle in reply.

"I learned so much from those papers." she said, her thought stepping back to where they'd been all day. She'd regaled Jack with insights gained from her reading since they'd awoke. "I'm sorry if I'm becoming tiresome." she said, looking at him with her brow creased. "I can't help it."

"You could never be tiresome to me, Sally." said Jack. "I'm sorry if perhaps it feels I should have said more to you, but it never occurred to me! There didn't seem to be much that you wouldn't already know. We traveled down every inch of those roads together. The trials, and the wonderful parts too. I never thought you'd need to read it all."

"It's different to see it from the outside, Jack. Different to me, anyway. It's like watching everything the way someone else would see it. Someone who didn't know me at all."

"That's another thing, my darling. I know how private you are, how much you prefer our lives to be ours alone. I'm sorry in a way, because if I wasn't who I am, we could have that."

"That may be true, but I don't feel troubled about that part. I'm The Pumpkin Queen. I know now that's different than just being me, just Sally, alone in the doctor's house."

"I'd assert that you've always been The Pumpkin Queen, my love. We just didn't know it at first."

Jack leaned his skull on his hand, studying his wife with an expression of keen interest.

"What is it, Jack?" she asked, leaning closer.

"It's nothing, darling. Only, I find myself unable to take my eye sockets from your shoulders. I'm afraid I'm rather captivated."

Sally's stitched cheeks darkened. She looked down at her lap, smiling.

"It's not the kind of thing I can wear at home, I know. Not really. But the fabric is so lovely, isn't it? And I didn't even have to even sew it!"

"You're remarkably clever, as always." said Jack. "Clever, and impossibly distracting! I'm not used to seeing your shoulders outside of our room, and it's most delightful. Also delightful is being your lucky and besotted husband, while so many of these other creatures are making eyes at you."

Sally gave her husband a quizzical expression. He took a slow sip from his wine glass, while delivering a barely perceptible gesture of direction. Sally's eyes returned to her lap, before castive a furtive glance to the side. Jack was correct. Some distance away, a table of well dressed, pale creatures regarded her longingly. Sensing her attention, they quickly turned back among themselves.

"I don't understand..." Sally whispered to Jack. "They're vampires, but it's the wrong time for that."

"Come again?"

"I only mean, the vampires at home used to stare sometimes. You know. Once every moon cycle they'd stare at me, but then, I think they realized what it was, and they stopped. Or they just got used it, I suppose. Maybe these vampires aren't used to girl things, but then, some of them are girls, too. Perhaps vampires are different. I'm not sure about that."

"Oh! No, no." Jack said with a gentle laugh. "They're staring because you're attractive, my darling. Very attractive. I tell you that all the time, but maybe you'll believe it with some outside proof."

Sally slid her eyes once more to the vampires. They were mostly engaged with the goblets of glittering crimson that had just arrived on their table, but one or two still looked, obviously trying to be subtle about it. As Sally considered this, a werewolf crept by on the way to his table. Less sophisticated than the vampire quorum, he did a clear double-take upon passing, and very nearly tripped into another dining party. It was then that Sally realized where she'd previously witnessed such behavior: Isabel and her friends, mooning over Jack.

"Are you alright, love?" Jack asked, laying his hand on hers.

"I am." Sally replied. She squeezed his fingers.

oOo

After dinner, Jack carried the twins' basket on one arm, while Sally held fast to his other one. All these many years later, he remembered the twisting pathways and hidden trails of the island from when he was a skeleton boy. He lead his family deftly through what seemed to Sally impenetrable darkness, until they emerged at last from the trees and leaves onto an isolated stretch of silver sand.

"Here we are!" Jack announced in a pleased sing-song. "I'd hoped it was the same. It's not as if I'm the only one that comes here, but this stretch of beach is a measure more out of the way than others. Not worth the trouble for most. We'll return to the inn in due time, but we'll rest her for a spell, and take in the quiet. The children can eat, and if we're lucky they'll fall asleep."

The King and Queen sat side by side in the cool sand. Jack stretched his bones, inhaling the misty night air. Sally was silent for a long spell as she tended to their sons. She stared out over the waves. The water tumbled into itself again and again, never ending. Each wave left a lacy necklace of froth on the sand, soon replaced with another, and another.

At last, Jack took his sons and settled them one at a time in the basket. Nicholas had indeed nodded off by the time his brother was laid beside him. Jack junior blinked his huge eye sockets up at the starry sky, but his lids were heavy.

"We may be in luck." Jack whispered. "They'll surely both be out before we're back to our room."

Jack extended a hand to help his wife up. She took it, but instead pulled him firmly back toward the sand.

"We have a little time before sunrise, don't we Jack? And if they're asleep..."

Her husband raised a brow in question.

"We do, yes, but - "

Sally smiled.

"Then, come back to me, Jack. Just for a few minutes. Since we have time."

"But, someone could come... Probably not, it is far from the worn path, but..."

"I think it would be okay, Jack, wouldn't it? I only mean, well, it's not as if we aren't allowed. And it isn't like home, where everyone is everywhere."

"You're quite serious, Sally?", Jack asked again. She nodded, smiling up at him.

"Well, then. Aren't you fun in The Triangle!" he laughed, and allowed her to pull him down.