The famiar chant echoed throughout the room as the lights went out once again leaving the room brighly lit up by all the ghosts. The little gargoyle jumped off of Stephen's shoulders and moved into the center of the circle where it was picked up by Mr. Worth who held it like one would hold a cat or a puppy. The little creature seemed grateful to feel safe as the demons once again lurked outside the house. Courage huddled close to Muriel who stood in between Eustace and Alden. Arie, Caleb, Shane and Kiel stood close to the edge of the circle as if standing guard over those in the center. Noises could be heard outside on the porch. There was a sound of splintering wood as the the alarm on the back door began to shriek. The sound of the alarm from the back door was joined by the sound of the alarm on the cellar door and the alarm on the front door.

Noises could be heard from inside the kitchen. Suddenly, a large shape appeared in the kitchen doorway. Before anybody really had time to react, the front door burst open to reveal another large shadowy shape standing there in the doorway. Muriel shrieked and jumped into Eustace's arms. Courage's eyes grew to ten times their normal size then popped like balloons before returning to normal. Mr. Worth moved closer to the edge of the circle as if to protect the children.

Arie nodded over to Caleb who moved outside the circle to face the creature at the front door. Arie then nodded over to Kiel who moved outside the circle to face the creature standing in the kitchen doorway. The two demons' eyes began to glow bright red as the ghosts moved closer to them. Finally the demons backed away. The demon at the front door slowly backed outside glaring at Caleb as the ghost pushed the badly broken front door closed behind the demon. Caleb then glided over to stand beside Kiel. Together they followed the other demon out into the kitchen then pushed the broken back door closed behind the evil creature as it backed up until it was outside glaring at them every step of the way. Moments later, the lights came on again.

The children weakly glided over to the couch. Mr. Worth handed the gargoyle back to Stephen who seemed to be fading out a little. Noticing how drained the children and their teacher were becoming, Arie glided over to them. "Why don't you all get some rest. We'll awaken you if anything goes wrong."

Mr. Worth shook his head. "At least one of us should remain awake so there will be somebody to summon us."

Arie insisted. "The dog can summon you can't he? You need rest."

Mr. Worth hesitated.

Arie could sense Mr. Worth's fear. "David, we won't hurt any of you. I promise. We are all indebted to you and the children for saving us from being put back into those stones. We are at your service. You have nothing to fear."

Mr. Worth nodded, feeling a little guilty for not trusting Arie and the others. "Okay, we'll rest. But wake us up if you need us or when you need rest okay?"

Arie nodded.

Mr. Worth smiled weakly then sat down on the couch surrounded by the children. Together, they all faded out to rest.

Arie turned to Shane who had glided up behind them. "Were you able to get to know them well enough?"

Shane nodded. "I have a spell that should work perfectly."

Arie smiled. "Good. Now lets see what the others are up to."

Kiel was busy helping Eustace with the cellar door while Alden and Caleb worked to fix the front door. Still several more hours until daylight and the doors were all in bad shape. Arie busied himself trying to get the back door fixed. The alarm on the back door had been destroyed so Eustace took the one off of the cellar door and put it on the back door. Although he had actually bought several of the little alarms, there was no way he was going out to the barn tonight to get another one. He would bring them all in to the house tomorrow morning. Finally, all the doors were fixed so that they could be locked and everybody returned to the living room.

Courage and Muriel finished cleaning up the kitchen. Muriel had made another pot of coffee which she brought into the living room. "Where's David and the children?"

"They were fading out so I told them to get some rest." Arie replied as he gratefully filled his cup with coffee. "You and your husband might want to get some rest too Muriel. It's only 2:00am and tomorrow might be a very long day if you don't get some rest."

Muriel sat down in her rocking chair. "How can a person sleep with those things runnin' around out there?"

"We'll keep watch." Arie assured her.

Muriel wrapped herself up in her quilt and closed her eyes. Courage curled up at her feet intending to stay awake because there was something about the four ghosts that he just didn't trust yet. Eustace sat down in his chair and fell right to sleep. Only Alden remained awake with the ghosts for a little while then he went upstairs to search for a pillow. He returned to the living room with a pillow and a blanket and made himself comfortable on the rug. Soon he too, was fast asleep. Courage watched as the four ghosts positioned themselves in seperate corners of the room as if keeping watch. Soon the little dog's eyelids became unbearably heavy.

The pink dog was awakened about an hour later by Kiel who motioned for him to keep quiet. "I need you to wake David up." Courage rubbed his sleepy eyes to find that the room was once again dark. He fumbled in his pocket until he found the piece of metal but it was too dark for him to see it. Kiel moved closer to give him a little more light. Courage could just barely make out the words as he read them aloud. A few seconds later, Mr. Worth reappeared.

Kiel glided over and spoke to him for a second as the other three spirits formed a sort of triangle around them. The three spirits began to quietly chant something as Mr. Worth and the children weakly moved to the center of the triangle with Alden. Courage trembled in fear as loud noises from the front porch drowned out the sound of the chanting. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, all was quiet outside. The ghosts stopped chanting but the lights were still out and the now familiar creepy feeling hung in the air like a black cloud.

Shane looked over at Arie. "There are at least three of them out there this time."

Arie nodded then moved to the center of the room. Kiel moved over to the spot where Arie had been standing then he, Shane, and Caleb continued the chant as Arie looked on. Courage noticed that there was something different about Arie but he couldn't put his finger - or rather paw - on it. Somehow the ghost made Courage feel slightly uneasy. Maybe it was because Arie was obviously much more powerful than Mr. Worth. Maybe it was because the other three ghosts answered to him as if he was their leader. Maybe it was because Courage could not get a sense of whether Arie was actually good or evil. Arie seemed to sense what Courage was thinking. The ghost looked right into Courage's eyes and smiled gently at the little dog. A voice echoed in Courage's mind, "There is no reason to fear me, Courage. I am a friend." Courage stared up at Aire who winked back at him. Courage gulped and whimpered softly. Arie grinned at him then turned his attention to the erie silence that now filled the room. The other ghosts had stopped chanting and now stood with their heads bowed. Somehow the room felt safe even though the demons were right outside the house.

A loud shriek from outside broke the silence waking both Muriel and Eustace up. Courage jumped up into Muriel's lap and huddled close while Eustace got up from his chair to stand next to Muriel's rocking chair. There was another loud shriek followed by loud crashing sound then more silence.

After a few moments Arie glided over to the front door. "They're gone."

Eustace looked puzzled. "Are you sure? If they're gone, why haven't the lights come back on?"

Courage felt sick with fear as he thought about the crashing sound. He jumped up from Muriel's lap and landed on the floor hopping from one foot to the other to get everybody's attention. As soon as all eyes were upon him, the little dog turned into a perfect image of a broken windmill.

"Eustace!" Muriel exclaimed as she jumped to her feet, "That loud noise! They must have broken the windmill!"

The old farmer's heart sank as he stared open mouthed at Muriel . They needed to get that windmill fixed and fast! Courage looked outside excitedly then ran around in a panicked circle. He knew what would happen if that windmill didn't start running again soon.

Arie looked at Courage then at Eustace and Muriel unable to understand why they all seemed so afraid. "The windmill can be fixed in the morning. We can provide light if you don't have any candles."

"You don't understand", Eustace said in a panicked voice, "the windmill cannot stop! If it does then they come around!" The old farmer raced to the kitchen where he had left his toolbox tripping over chairs and running into things as he fumbled around in the darkness..

"Oh my!" Muriel was saying, "What are we going to do?"

"We'll have to fix it fast." Eustace replied as he came back into the living room carrying the toolbox.

Arie gave the other ghosts a puzzled look then turned to Eustace and asked, "Who are they?"

The ghost's question was answered by the sound of galloping horses and clanging weapons outside. Kiel and Caleb shut off the alarm and opened the front door. They closed the door quickly at the sight of four ghostly skeletal vandals armed with swords, axes, and other weapons riding on ghostly skeletal horses. "What the ----?" Kiel asked as he looked over at Eustace.

Muriel collapsed in her rocking chair. "Now what are we going to do? If Eustace doesn't get the windmill fixed, the windmill vandals will get us all."

Shane looked at the others. "We'll have to go outside with Eustace to fix the windmill."

Arie looked down. "That's exactly what the demons want. They broke that windmill hoping to lure some of us outside to divide us up to make us more vulnerable."

The sound of the horses and clanging metal was getting louder as the ghostly windmill vandals closed in on the house. Arie considered the situation carefully before speaking. "Caleb, you're strong enough to fight off at least two demons on your own. You and Shane go with Eustace to fix the windmill. Kiel and I will stay inside to protect everybody else. But be careful, we have no idea exactly who or what those windmill vandals are so don't try to fight them directly."

Caleb and Shane joined Eustace at the front door then they all stepped outside on the porch together closing the front door behind them. Eustace gasped as he saw the condition of the windmill. Only one blade remained on the body of the windmill which had fallen to the ground. Two of the other blades were on the ground next to the broken machine at the base of the windmill tower while the third blade was several yards away. The wooden tower was still standing but several boards were either broken or loose and it looked very shaky. Shane grabbed Eustace's arm as the windmill vandals approached. A second later, he and Eustace were at the base of the windmill tower. While Caleb distracted the vandals, Eustace quickly began to repair the wooden tower climbing up toward the top of the tower as he worked. Soon, Eustace was up at the top of the tower. Caleb turned into a bright light and floated over to the third windmill blade then turned back into human form long enough to pick the blade up before disappearing. He joined up with Shane at the base of the windmill tower. Eustace called for one of the ghosts to bring him the toolbox. Shane picked up the toolbox and joined Eustace at the top of the windmill tower while Caleb dodged the vandals who were circling around the windmill swinging their weapons menacingly at the ghost.

Caleb disappeared then reappeared over by the barn. The ghostly vandals followed. Shane grabbed Eustace's arm and they disappeared from the top of the tower then reappeared at the base of the windmill tower by the broken body of the windmill. The two quickly picked up the large metal machine and struggled up the tower with it. Caleb continued to taunt the vandals distracting them until Eustace and Shane got to the top of the windmill tower. Finally, Caleb quickly disappeared again as the vandals got close to him then reappeared at the base of the windmill tower just long enough to grab all three blades before joining the others at the top. The four angry skeletal vandals stopped their horses at the base of the tower and glared up at them.

A few yards away, three shadowy figures appeared on the front porch of the farmhouse. They stood there for a few moments watching the commotion over at the windmill. Although the demons seemed to be a little worried by the unexpected presence of the vandals, the vandals were too distracted to notice the demons so the shadowy creatures turned their attention back toward the farmhouse. Inside the farmhouse, Arie could sense the presence of the demons. He quickly turned to the others. "Stand behind me. David, you stand in front of the children but keep quiet and do not drain your energy. Alden, Muriel, Courage - you stand behind David and the children. Kiel, you stand next to me."

Everybody did as Arie told them and waited anxiously. A few seconds later, the ulocked front door oened to reveal three shadowy creatures. One by one the demons entered the living room which was softly illuminated by Arie and Kiel. Alden moved protectively in front of Muriel and Courage who huddled close together while the children moved closer to Mr. Worth. Kiel seemed a little nervous but stood his ground next to Arie. Only Arie didn't seem to be afraid. The ghost stared the demons in the eye as they stood inside the doorway.

Outside, Eustace had finished putting the body of the windmill back in its place on the tower and was frantically attaching the windmill blades as the vandals began to attack the base of the windmill tower. Caleb floated down to grab an axe out of the hands of an angry vandal then floated away with it. The four skeletal nightmares quickly forgot about the windmill and began to chase the ghost who disappeared dropping the axe as they got close. A second later, Caleb rejoined Eustace and Shane at the top of the windmill. Eustace had two of three blades re-attached to the windmill. He was working on getting the final blade attached when a shriek from inside the farmhouse startled him so badly that he dropped the blade into the middle of the angry vandals who had gathered once again at the base of the windmill.

Inside the farmhouse the demons were inching closer to Arie and Kiel causing Muriel to let out a frightened shriek. Without turning his head, Arie quietly spoke to the others. "Try not to let yourselves be afraid. They feed off of your fear. You really have nothing to fear anyway because I won't let them hurt you."

Courage looked up to see that Mr. Worth was now completely calm as he quietly reassured the children who were gathered close around him. The little dog looked back over at Arie who also seemed totally unafraid of the three demons who were aproaching him. The ghost glowed brightly as he stood his ground for a few more seconds then moved forward toward the demons who shrank back. Kiel moved to stand behind Arie in case any of the demons tried to get around him. The demons hissed evilly at the ghost but moved back as if they were afraid of Arie. Arie continued to move slowly toward the demons, his eyes glowing a bright green color as he focused his energy. One of the demons backed out the open door but the other two held their ground just inside the living room.

Outside, four angry vandals circled the windmill as one of them held onto the windmill blade that Eustace had dropped. On the porch of the farmhouse a shadowy figure was backing away from the front door its glowing red eyes focused on what was going on inside the farmhouse. The demon did not notice that the four angry vandals had stopped circling the windmill but they certainly noticed him. One of the skeletal vandals who had been circling the windmill had stopped in his tracks as he looked towared the farmhouse to see the demon. The other three vandals also stopped to stare at the shadowy figure. Now they quietly approached the demon leaving the blade of the windmill on the ground behind them. By the time the demon turned around to see the four vandals coming toward him, it was too late. All four vandals attacked the demon, ripping it to shreds with their weapons. Caleb quickly dropped down from the top of the windmill to grab the blade that the vandals had dropped then reappeared at the top with Eustace and Shane. All three stared wide-eyed as the vandals turned the demon into several tiny pieces that disappeared into a cloud of thick black smoke.

Inside the farmhouse, the other two demons turned to watch as the third demon was hacked into pieces. Arie continued to move closer to the demons who turned to look at him then back to the ghostly windmill vandals who waited just outside glaring angrily at them. Both demons were visibly afraid not knowing which way to run. Finally, one of the demons bolted through the kitchen door looking for a way to escape. The other demon hesitated looking to Arie then to the nightmare that awaited it just outside the front door.

Outside the farmhouse Eustace, Caleb, and Shane watched as the vandals waited by the front porch weapons ready. A moment or two later the alarm from the back door could be heard as the door flew open. The vandals quickly galloped around to the back door just in time to catch the escaping demon. Within seconds, that demon was also turned into tiny pieces which disappeared. While the vandals were distracted the remaining demon quickly darted out the front door and flew away. The vandals came charging back toward the front door once they were finished with the second demon but the third demon was already gone.

Eustace was nearly finished putting the third blade on the windmill but Caleb put one hand on his shoulder. "Wait a minute." He said quietly gesturing toward the front porch of the farmhouse where the vandals now gathered as if waiting for something.