Inside the farmhouse, everybody stared wide-eyed as the vandals waited just off of the front porch. Arie and Kiel slowly approached the front door. One of the vandals, dismounted his skeletal horse and began to take on the form of a large man with a mustache and long bushy beard. Arie stepped outside the front door while Kiel stayed inside the living room.

The vandal approached Arie and began to speak. "It seems we have a common enemy."

Arie motioned to Caleb and Shane who disappeared taking Eustace with them. The three reappeared on the porch next to Arie.

The other three vandals glared menacingly at Eustace but did nothing. The first vandal continued. "Those things dug up our graves and tried to steal what was left of our bones. We cannot go back to our graves until those demons are all destroyed and our graves put back in order. But we cannot go after them if the windmill starts running again."

Arie gave the vandal a puzzled look. "Why?"

Courage had crept up behind Arie. He quickly tugged on Arie's pantleg to get the ghost's attention. At first Courage tried to mimick the windmill blades with the strange symbols on them but he couldn't get his point across although everybody was mildly amused as the dog turned into each of the four windmill blades with the strange symbols on them. Finally, Courage tried talking to Arie. "The windmill blades have magical symbols carved into them to keep the vandals away."

"Who put them there and why?"

Courage was so suprised that somebody besides Mr. Worth could actually understand him that it took a moment for him to continue. "The original owner of the farm built the windmill back when everybody had to use waterwheels built by these guys." Courage pointed to the vandals. "When the water dried up, this farm was the only farm with a working mill. The original owner carved the symbols into the windmill blades to keep the vandals from coming to get revenge on him because they vowed to get revenge on anybody who owns this windmill."

Arie turned to the vandal. "Is this true?"

The vandal's eyes glowed an evil red. "Yes, it's true and we will get our revenge and destroy this cursed windmill someday along with whoever owns it. But for now we are willing to declare a temporary truce so that we can join forces to destroy the demons."

"How do we know that we can trust you?"

The vandal looked Arie straight in the eye. "Look sir, you need us and, as much as we hate the thought of it, we need you. You need somebody here who can help you fight and we need to be free to fight. We are all in danger if those demons continue to run wild. They are getting stronger every minute and everybody, human and spirit alike, will be destroyed by them eventually. And it's not just the town of Nowhere that is in danger. Soon the demons will get strong enough that the summoner will no longer be able to control them and then they'll move on to other towns. Nobody will be safe. We have to stop them before it's too late. The only way to do that is for us", the vandal gestured toward the other vandals, "to put aside our anger and for you to trust us."

Arie nodded to Shane. "Go take a look at those symbols and see if you can figure out how to alter the spell temporarily to allow the vandals to roam freely."

Shane nodded then disappeared to study the windmill blades. He reappeared next to Arie. "It's going to take somebody with a lot more skill than I have to come up with a way of altering those spells without removing them completely."

Arie looked down at the ground for a few seconds then back up at Shane with a look that Courage didn't quite understand. Silently he disappeared to the top of the windmill. The ghost stood there for a few minutes studying the blades then retured to the porch to talk to Eustace. "I need a way of temporarily putting some symbols on the windmill blades. I need something that will stay up there only as long as we want it to. Something that can be easily removed once this is all over."

Eustace pointed to Courage. "That dog has a computer that can print stuff on paper. We don't want to use anything too heavy on those blades because the windmill might might not turn if the blades aren't balanced right."

Arie took a moment to think things over. "We need power and the only way to do that is to start the windmill although I would rather have these guys stick around for a while."

Courage and Eustace looked at each other unable to believe what they were hearing!

Shane called Arie over to the side of the house to speak with him. The two returned with a plan. Courage would go up to the top of the winmill and make it turn by running across the top of the blades like a treadmill. Eustace would go up there with him to make sure the windmill held together and Shane would be up there to protect them. Caleb and Kiel would stay in the living room to protect Alden, Muriel and the children while Mr. Worth went up to the attic with Arie to use the computer to print out the symbols for the windmill blades.

Courage gulped staring up at the windmill. He didn't like the thought of this one bit. "Get going dog, we don't have a lot of time!" Eustace gave Courage a gentle shove toward the base of the windmill tower. The pink dog sighed and slowly began to climb the windmill tower followed by Eustace. Midway up the tower, Courage stopped and looked back down to see the four vandals glaring up at him. Shane was busy talking to Arie and Mr. Worth who looked very tired. Courage looked back at Eustace who was directly behind him and whimpered. The old farmer gave him a gentle nudge. "Come on dog move it." Eustace's said softly. They got to the top of the windmill as Shane was finishing his conversation with the other ghosts.

Courage looked up at Eustace. "I don't like this one bit!"

Although Eustace couldn't understand the words, he understood the sentiment. "I don't like it either dog, but there's no other way. Besides, something tells me that there's more than meets the eye when it comes to that Arie. I think he knows what he's doing."

Shane appeared just as Eustace finished talking, startling poor Courage out of his skin and off of the windmill! The ghost quickly reached out to grab the skinless dog to keep him from falling and set him down next to his skin. Courage gave the ghost a toothy grin and giggled sheepishly as he put his skin back on.

Arie and Mr. Worth went back into the house followed by Caleb. Arie glided up the stairs with Mr. Worth who entered the attic ahead of him and went to the window to signal Courage to start the windmill. Courage climbed up on the blades and began to run across the top of them. Instantly, the four vandals turned into a mist which quickly disappeared.

Mr. Worth sat down in front of the computer and turned it on. A sarcastic sounding voice greeted him. "Not you again! Whatever happened to that twit of a dog?"

"He's busy keeping the power on so you can be a pain in the ---. Now, quickly, open up your paint shop program." Mr. Worth answered impatiently.

"Well!" The computer sounded almost insulted. "If you will keep your shirt on .. oh that's right, you're a ghost. Well, then don't get your chains all rattled." The machine snickered at its own joke.

Mr. Worth glared at the computer. "If you want to keep your RAM where it belongs, I suggest you watch your words. Besides, that crap about chains is only in storybooks."

Arie looked down at Mr. Worth. "Umm maybe not just in storybooks David." The other ghost grinned as he pointed to the three glowing chains that he wore around his waist. "Although these have nothing to do with the storybook myth."

"Great, all I need is two of you." The computer scowled. "Oh well, here's the program you asked for."

Mr. Worth began to work at recreating the symbols that Arie needed. The symbols were fairly complicated and each windmill blade needed a different one. Because of this, the ghost made sure to save the progam every few seconds knowing that the power would be going off and on as Courage took some much needed rest breaks.

Outside the farmhouse, Courage paced himself as he hopped carefully from blade to blade. So far, so good the little dog thought until the one blade that Eustace hadn't attached securely to the windmill earlier broke off and dropped to the ground taking poor Courage with it. Shane quickly appeared at the base of the windmill to help Courage out of the dog-shaped pit in the ground. The vandals, who had reappeared the moment the windmill stopped, chuckled and watched Courage with glowing red eyes as the poor dog staggered around for a few seconds. Once he had recovered, Courage reached out to take Shane's hand and they disappeared taking the windmill blade with them to the top of the tower. While Eustace worked to re-attach the blade so it would hold, the four vandals moved over to circle the farmhouse as if keeping watch.

Inside the attic, the ghosts began to talk while they waited for the power to come on again. Mr. Worth ask the question that he was almsot afraid to ask. "Arie, you must have walked this earth for a very long time to have the kind of power you have. How long have you been here?"

Arie glided over to the cot and sat down. "I have been here for nearly 2000 years David."

Mr. Worth's jaw dropped. He could tell that Arie was a ancient spirit but he had no idea... "If you don't mind my asking, why are you still here?"

"Because I commited a great sin David. You see, in life, I was once a great prophet. Many people depended upon me David and I always tried never to steer them wrong. Our Lord's voice was clear in my head and I was faithful to tell the people exactly what I heard and what I was shown. But, I convinced myself that I could be an even greater prophet if I learned how to do things such as heal people. Then I learned how to control weather so that I could bring rain in times of drought. But my intentions weren't completely pure. I soon learned how to use my new found powers to attack my enemys. In time I became completely immersed in magic and sorcery. I had changed and the people no longer trusted me. They cast me out into the wilderness. I had become a great prophet and powerful sorcerer but had lost everything. Late one night I prayed for forgiveness but was told that I would have to walk the earth until the end of time as punishment for my sins. The next day, I was killed and eaten by wild animals."

Mr. Worth listened wide-eyed with amazement at what he was hearing. "Weren't you angry?"

Arie shook his head his eyes filled with regret as he spoke. "No David, I was not angry, just very sorry."

The power came back on and the computer started up again silently opening the paint shop program. Mr. Worth finished the next symbol without interruption then had to wait a few more minutes while Courage rested.

Outside, the vandals reappeared once again. The pink dog stared down at the ghostly figures circling the farmhouse as he stood there on top of the windmill blades panting heavily to catch his breath. He didn't trust those vandals but, somehow, he was beginning to trust Arie. He just hoped that Eustace was right and that Arie knew what he was doing. Once he had caught his breath, Courage began to run in place again on top of the windmill blades slowly turning the windmill.

Inside the attic, the two ghosts were chatting while they waited for the power to come back on. "So, is Shane a sorcerer too?" Mr. Worth asked.

"No, Shane was a psycic medium in life and has become a sort of 'spellcaster' in death. He is not evil but is condemned to walk the earth for reasons that I cannot speak of because he wants these things to be kept private."

"How old are the others?" Mr. Worth turned toward the computer as the power came back on.

"Shane is just over 1000 years old. Caleb is nearly as old as I am. He is here for the same reason the children are. An unfortunate death brought about the scattering of his body. Some of his bones are perfectly preserved in several different places. Kiel is only about 500 years old and and is here for the same reason as Caleb and the children."

Mr. Worth continued to work on the third symbol until the power went out again as Courage struggled to catch his breath at the top of the windmill.

Arie glided over to the window to look up at the dog standing on the windmill blades trying to catch his breath. "Poor pup. He's exhausted. By the way David, why didn't you leave this earth when you were given the opportunity?"

Mr. Worth looked surprised. "How did you know I could have left?"

Arie smiled over at him. "I am a prophet David. I know these things."

"I promised the children that I protect them and would never leave them. After all, it is my fault they died the way they did and I will not leave this world until they are able to leave too."

Arie stared Mr. Worth straight in the eye. "It is not your fault David. It is nobody's fault. Things happened that day the way they were intended to happen. The best thing you can to is let go of that guilt. Those children need you, David. You're not only a teacher to them, you're a father to them as well. The anger and the guilt that you hold on to gets in the way of that."

Mr. Worth gazed down at the wooden attic floor. The power came back on and he turned his attention back to the computer to quickly finished the third and forth symbols before Courage became too exhausted to keep the windmill going.

It had only taken about 45 minutes for Mr. Worth to get the symbols printed out but, to Courage, it seemed like hours. The poor dog collapsed falling from the windmill the moment he saw Mr. Worth and Arie come out of the farmhouse. Arie raised one hand and a strong blast of wind formed an air cushion to break Courage's fall. The pink dog wagged his tail gratefully even though he was a little frightened by this display of power.

The vandals reappeared glaring menacingly at Courage as they surrounded the base of the windmill. Arie floated to the top of the windmill and placed the paper symbols on the blades, each piece of paper magically sticking to its blade as the ghost recited a spell. Then Arie turned and nodded to Eustace who quickly finished the final repairs on the windmill which started up again with a gentle humming sound.

The vandals looked anxiously up as the windmill blades started moving but relaxed as soon as they realized that they were not going to disappear. Courage shrank back against the base of the tower looking up at the ghostly nightmares. The vandals looked menacingly down at him. One of the vandals raised his sword laughing as poor Courage cowered against the base of the windmill in fear.

Arie appeared between Courage and the vandals. "Let's get one thing straight. I would like for us all to work together buI I will not allow you to hurt or torment Eustace, Muriel, or Courage. Is that understood?"

The vandal put away his sword and nodded. The one vandal who had spoken with Arie earlier got off of his horse and turned into human form. "We need to come up with a plan for the rest of tonight. My men can guard the outside of the house but, if too many of those demons come around, then we could be sitting ducks. My idea is for two of us to guard the back door of the house and two of us to guard the front porch. We will need at least one of you to keep watch on either door from the inside. It might be better if both doors are kept open since those things seem to have no trouble breaking down doors anyway. This way we can all keep watch over each other."

Arie nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. When do you think you and your men will need to rest?"

"We will all take a short rest once it is daylight. Then two will stay awake while two sleep. This way we will all have a chance to regain our full energy."

Arie nodded and called Shane over. They all talked few more minutes then everybody headed toward the farmhouse. Courage walked just behind Eustace followed by Arie, Shane and two of the vandals who took their places on either side of the open front door. Shane left the kitchen door open as he glided over to open the back door. The other two vandals had already taken their places on either side of the back door. Arie convinced both Eustace and Muriel to try to get some sleep then glided over to talk to Mr. Worth for a moment. After talking with Arie, Mr. Worth and the children faded out. Kiel glided over to talk with Arie then moved to stand guard inside the front door. Alden curled up on the floor wrapped comfortably in a blanket leaving only Courage, Arie and Caleb still awake.

Arie called Courage over to him and handed him a piece of paper that he had asked Mr. Worth to print up on the computer. "Courage, I want you to be able to summon us if you ever need us. There is a seperate spell by each name. This way you call upon whichever one of us you need to. I trust you will keep these spells safe Courage and use them wisely."

Courage nodded and put the piece of paper into his pocket.

Arie smiled. "Now, Caleb and I will be fading out to rest. You should sleep too, Courage."

The pink dog looked nervously at the open front door then over at the kitchen door.

"There is nothing to fear, Courage. Those demons won't be back tonight. There are too many of us and they are not quite strong enough to fight us all." Arie walked over and sat against the wall behind Muriel's rocking chair. He called Courage over. "You can sleep over here with me, Courage. I'll protect you."

Courage curled up next to Arie and was suprised to find that, even when Arie disappeared, he could feel the ghosts presence. For the first time in several days, Courage actually felt completely safe and relaxed. Soon he was sound asleep.