Chapter 13

Hardly Harlequin

Nothing was now left of Fido except some bones and fur, and Rotten Sam and Sandy

had completed and filled several more compartments in the quilt. Now, it was big enough to

throw over the corner of one of the tables, but Sam and Sandy had imagined that they wanted

to create an even longer, wider quilt. In some places, the hideous thing was spotted or striped

with colorful patterns from Susie Pincushion's gown, and in other sporadic squares, the

material was that of Fido's fur. To one of the ends was fastened the French Doll's pretty little

lacey blue gown. Sandy had done this instead of ripping the gown to shreds because she

thought the dress too beautiful to do so.

Sam reached into their bag before filling the most recent pocket and exclaimed, "Oh,

dear! Sandy, I don't think we have much more left to work with, and I know we have yet to

ensnare everyone!". Sandy put her hands to her face, appearing shocked. "What is left in the

bag?" she asked. "Well, so far, I can only find the feet of the Penny Dolls, an arm from the

French Doll and then there are a few bones and teeth from Fido." he sighed, half disappointed.

Sandy appeared to be thinking and was counting numbers on her non-existent fingers, saying

"Well, we've gone after one… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… I think we've gone

after eight of our dear friends. That leaves-" "One toy and two humans." interrupted Sam,

cheering up.

"Oh, really?! Is that so?! Yay!" Sandy bubbled and giggled, rocking back and forth and

clapping her hands. This time, Sam had not needed to tell her that they should get back to

work, since she immediately got up to follow him out the door. This time, though, there might

be some trouble in their way, as the Gruelles were pulling up into the drive with their Ford. Sam

and Sandy stopped short and crashed to the ground so as to avoid any suspicion. They had

fallen onto their backs and had a good view of the window into the attic, where they spotted a

painted on face much like theirs, except this face was meant to be sunny and happy when the

wearer was not in the state they were now. The Harlequin watched and wondered in fear as

Sam and Sandy stared right back up at her.

As soon as the Gruelles had been in the house for some time, Sam and Sandy wearily

kept an eye on as many windows as they could as they rose to their feet and began their trek

into the house. On reaching the back wall, Sandy grabbed Sam by the collar and gestured to an

open window that she had found with it's curtains softly blowing in the breeze. "Lets try going

in through there," she whispered, "So theres less chances of them noticing us.". Nodding, Sam

carefully picked up Sandy and sat her on his shoulders so that she would be able to climb up to

the sill first and then pull him up. The Harlequin panicked on seeing the two clambering into the

house through a window. Where was she to hide, now? Now that the Gruelles were home, she

was trapped up there in the attic with no place to run unless she stopped caring about scaring

the Gruelles. However, she hated to frighten people the most and so chose to try locking

herself inside an old chest.

"I just can't believe she's gone…" sobbed Marcella's mother over the phone to her

mother in the hallway as Sam and Sandy quietly crept inside. Sandy tumbled to the floor from

the sill after Sam had already alighted and accidentally rolled over onto a creaking board.

"Shh!" Sam put a finger to his lips and looked at her with discipline, "You'll have to be more

careful than that, Sandy! Remember, we're not alone anymore.". Luckily, the noise attracted no

attention, as the house was a bit of an older one and had always made it's own noises. Sam and

Sandy both froze, at a red light, behind the couch when Mrs. Gruelle was heard hanging up the

phone and calling to Mr. Gruelle, asking what he would want for dinner.

"Whatever you choose to cook would be good, honey!" Mr. Gruelle's voice floated

down from his at-home office. Along with it came the sound of the type-writer, no doubt

audibly marking out the words on paper of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy's latest adventure

in loving memory of Marcella, who so dearly adored those stories. Sam went on ahead after

Mrs. Gruelle had passed the room, very nearly dragging Sandy along behind him by the arm.

Before leaving the room, however, Sam and Sandy double checked to see that Mr. and Mrs.

Gruelle were still both out of sight before approaching the stool beside the telephone. "Say,

Sam! I have a grand old idea! Whaddaya say you and I make a call up to the attic?" Sandy

grinned from ear to ear.

"Lovely idea, Sandy!" Sam replied as he helped her up to the phone. When both of them

were up on the stool, they reached out and leapt for the phone, knocking it down onto the soft

cushion where they stood. Sitting snugly together, Sandy at the earpiece and Sam at the mouth

piece, they concentrated. Some unseen force began whirling the dial on the hook round and

round, stopping after it had punched in three six's. After that, the phone began to ring into

their ears and also up in the attic where there was no phone. In a short time, they heard the

Harlequin's weak little "H-Hello?" and the two of them snickered to themselves.

In his deepest, raspiest, most chilling voice, Sam leaned in towards the mouth piece and

whispered, "Nostrum pilae serotina absolvo. We are coming for you." and the two of them only

just managed to put the phone back on the receiver before breaking out into hysterics and

trying to stifle themselves before anyone could hear. "Alright, she's probably so scared, she

can't move! Lets get going!" Sam sneered as he helped Sandy down from the stool and they

were once again on their way up to the attic. They stealthily snuck around the house, avoiding

any attention, until they were in the attic.

The Harlequin was so upset by the call that she was chattering and fumbling to try to get

out of the chest and save herself. This made a great rattling noise, attracting Sam and Sandy

directly to the chest. Slowly and carefully, they lifted the chest to take it with them, as neither

of them had any interest in killing their victim right then and there. They wanted to play a little

first, and both of them knew this without having to let the other know. Luckily for them, Mrs.

Gruelle had realized that she was missing a few ingredients for the dinner and left the house

with Mr. Gruelle to go grocery shopping.

Feeling movement, Harlequin curled up in a corner of the chest and kept herself from

making another peep, hoping they would think she was dead from suffocation and leave her

alone. Unbeknownst to her, Sam and Sandy were much more intelligent than that and had

decided to take the chest to the kitchen where they could find and pick up a small meat

grinder. But then, Sandy suggested a slight change of plans. "Sam," she spoke, "Don't you think

using the microwave might be more fun? We could clean up our mess and everything and be

done before they even get back home.". Sam thought for a moment before saying, "Yes, I

believe you're right, Sandy. It would be more fun to play with the microwave instead." As they

set the chest down on the floor of the kitchen.

Sam then clambered up onto a chair and stretched out his arms towards Sandy who was

about to toss the chest to him. He caught it and placed it above his head on the nearest table,

which happened to be the table that held the microwave. The Harlequin felt the motion and

could no longer keep herself from shouting and crying hysterically or kicking at the walls of the

chest. Sandy joined Sam on top of the table and taking each handle in their hands, hefted the

chest into the microwave. They zealously closed the door, set the time and clapped along with

one another, singing "Pop Goes The Weasel" as loud as they could. A minute into their song,

they heard a loud pop! and looked inside the machine to see a frightening, gruesome mess of

wood, blood, guts and organs strewn about the microwave's interior.

"Awww! That didn't even last long enough!" pouted Sandy as Sam reached in to start

scrubbing off some of the muck and to drag out what was left of the Harlequin. When

everything was shining and clean aside from the pile Sam and Sandy were now carrying in their

arms, the two happily skipped off with their prize, all smiles, back to their shed.