The same day, after school. Prunella and her sister Rubella are at the mall, shopping for Halloween decorations. They walk into a store called So Scary You'll Puke. A large sign says, "Two Days until Halloween." Prunella points to a life-sized, grotesque zombie statue. "Let's get that one!" she suggests.
Rubella examines it closely. "No, I don't think so--unless you want to throw off the feng shui completely."
The two girls start browsing through the shelves of Halloween masks. "These don't look convincing at all," Rubella remarks.
Prunella covers half of her face with a white mask. "I am The Phantom! Muwahahahaha!"
"It doesn't fit your nose," says Rubella.
In a nearby aisle, Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong and their daughter, Sue Ellen, are browsing the costumes. "These are really cool," says the little cat girl, "but why do they put blood and stuff on the faces?"
"That's to make them look scary, dear," replies her mother.
"They don't scare me." Sue Ellen sees an item that intrigues her. "Wait, look at this!"
A child-size black ninja costume hangs on a rack before her. She grabs it, but Prunella, who has wandered into the aisle, takes hold of it at the same time. They struggle over it briefly.
"Let go!" Prunella demanded. "I touched it first!"
"No, you didn't!" Sue Ellen insists.
Prunella yanks the costume from Sue Ellen's hand, then pulls it off the rack and examines it. "Six years," she observes. "Oh, well, it's too small for both of us." She replaces the costume on the rack.
"People are rude in America," Sue Ellen remarks to her parents.
"You're not from America?" says the surprised Prunella.
"We're Americans," Mr. Armstrong answers, "but this is her first time in this country. We've been living overseas."
Mrs. Armstrong sorts through the other ninja costumes, and pulls one out. "Here's one your size, Sue Ellen."
"She likes anything to do with martial arts," Mr. Armstrong goes on. "She's quite an avid tae kwon do student."
"My name's Sue Ellen Armstrong," says the red-haired girl, extending her hand.
Prunella shakes hands with her. "I'm Prunella Prufrock. It's nice to meet
you. And you really do have a strong arm."
Sue Ellen tries to withdraw her hand, but Prunella grips it and examines the palm. "Hmm...that's a peculiar line," she mutters. "It means either that something precious to you will be destroyed in a fire, or you will...get your goose cooked?"
"What are you talking about?" asks Sue Ellen.
"I read palms," Prunella explains. "I'm not very good at it yet, but Rubella is teaching me everything."
"That's me," says her sister, who has just appeared in the aisle. "I'm Rubella. I'm a fortune-teller. She grabs a card from her pocket and hands it to Mr. Armstrong.
"And I'm a diplomat," says the cat man.
"And I'm a homemaker," says his wife. "Except we don't have a home here yet, but we're looking for one."
"There's one for sale on Third and Bradley," Rubella tells her.
"If you live in that one, then you can go to my school!" Prunella tells Sue Ellen.
"Awesome!" says the little girl. "Can we, Mom?"
"We'll see, dear."
"I don't see anything in this store I want," says Rubella. "Shall we go, Prunie?"
"Yeah, let's." Prunella waves at her new friend. "It was nice to meet you, Sue Ellen."
As the two rat girls search the mall for another Halloween store, Prunella remarks, "Such a nice girl. It'd be a shame if she ended up in The Rat's class."
Suddenly Rubella stops walking and places her fingers on her temples.
"What? Are you picking up something?"
Rubella responds in a trance-like tone of voice. "Someone is talking about you..."
TBC
