The gates to the town were not very far away from the treehouse, therefore the Baudelaires did not have to walk far to get there. As they drew closer, they could see that the buildings they saw from the graveyard were quirkier than they thought.
"Wow, who or what do you think lives here?" Violet asked.
"Whatever or whoever does, I hope they're friendly." Klaus replied.
"Oooh." Sunny squeaked in amazement as she looked at the many buildings in the town.
Finally, they arrived at the main gates into the town. Taking deep breaths, the children managed to squeeze themselves through the bars and into the town square. It was here that they had their first real look at the residents.
They saw a fat clown riding around on a unicycle who would randomly tear off the front of his face. There were two witches discussing what potions they would make, one short with black hair and the other tall with white hair. A small mummy with one eye was playing with a small, fat corpse boy by pretending to strangle him with a noose. Three vampires stood with umbrellas over their heads to shield themselves from the sun. A fish like creature was relaxing in the green looking water of the fountain in the center of the town square.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny grew extremely nervous as they slowly made their way into the town. They could feel the stares of everyone on them and heard the whispers of the residents pointing out these three mortal children that came to their town.
"They look funny." the corpse boy whispered to the small mummy.
"What are these mortal children doing in our land?" the tiny witch whispered to her taller companion.
"Uh, Violet. I get the feeling that we're not welcome here." Klaus said nervously.
"Oh, but of course you are!" a voice called out and the Baudelaires whirled around to see who it was.
They found themselves starting at a very tall, very skinny skeleton. He wore a black suit and a bat bowtie. Standing next to him was a woman who appeared to be a ragdoll of some kind, as she wore a patchwork dress and had stitches all over her body. As soon as the residents realized that they were in the town square, they immediately gasped and wondered what they were going to do to the children.
"What? Who are you and what are you doing here?" Violet asked the skeleton.
"I am Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King. And it is my honor to welcome you three to Halloweentown." Jack said and gracefully bowed in front of the Baudelaires.
"Pleased to meet you." Violet said, putting forth her best manners and giving a slight curtsey. She nudged Klaus to do the same things, so he bowed to show his respect for this weird king. Sunny, being just a little toddler, waved hello to Jack.
"And this is my lovely wife and Pumpkin Queen, Sally." Jack said, indicating the ragdoll next to him and gave her a small kiss on the lips.
"Nice to meet you three." Sally said and shook hands with all three of the Baudelaire siblings. "And who might you be?"
"Oh my name is Klaus Baudelaire." Klaus said, introducing himself. "And these are my two sisters, Violet and Sunny." he said as he introduced his sisters.
"Siblings! They might be hear to cause trouble just like Boogie's boys!" one of the vampires cried out, but another vampire nudged him to get him to shut up.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny realized that the vampires were talking about the three costumed children they had seen climbing into the treehouse earlier. No way where they as bad as those three obviously were, they were good children despite all the nasty, cruel rumors Count Olaf and his cronies had spread about them back home.
"Now, calm down everyone. I think we should give these three a chance to explain themselves." Jack said, addressing everyone who was in the town square.
"Oh, that's gonna take a long time I'm afraid. My siblings and I have a lot to tell." Violet said.
Jack and Sally put thoughtful looks on their faces as they began brainstorming a way that these three siblings could tell their entire story to Halloweentown. As the two stood and thought of what they could possibly do, a short, fat man wearing an extremely tall hat waddled up right next to Jack and Sally. He had a look of pure amazement and happiness, which was rare for him considering that he was the town mayor and was usually worrying about something.
"Jack, I have a great idea!" the mayor exclaimed.
"What is it, mayor? Tell us." Jack said to his friend.
"Why not call an official town meeting tomorrow night and have these children tell their story there?" the mayor said.
"Mayor, that's a brilliant idea!" Jack exclaimed and Sally smiled in agreement.
"What? You want us to tell our whole story to the whole town here?" Klaus asked in amazement.
"Why not? We all want to know why you're here and what brought you three here." Sally said.
"Well, we should warn you that our story is pretty sad. In fact, we're orphans." Violet told Sally.
The mayor's face instantly turned from the happy face to the sad face that he almost always had displayed. Jack and Sally looked stunned, having had no idea that the Baudelaires were in such a terrible situation. The other residents began mumbling amongst themselves again about what Violet had just said.
"Orphans? I'm so sorry, we had no idea. You don't have to present yourselves at the town meeting if you don't want to." the mayor said.
"No,no. We'll still do it. Our story is also pretty interesting as well." Klaus said.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked.
"Yes, my siblings and I are pretty sure. Anyone who hears our story seems to find it interesting." Violet said.
"Naba!" Sunny shrieked which meant something along the lines of "I myself find the story of our lives to be interesting."
"It's settled then." Jack said and walked over to the front steps of the town hall building to formally announce the meeting for tomorrow night.
"Attention, citizens of Halloweentown. Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. sharp, Sally and I request your presence at an official town meeting to learn about the three visitors who entered our town today. Do not arrive any later than the requested time." Jack announced to all the citizens standing in the town square.
A cheer broke out among the crowd gathered and the Baudelaires looked around at everyone. They were nervous about telling their story, since it was so sad and miserable, but they knew that these citizens would also be interested in hearing it as well.
"Come with me and Sally, you three will spend the night in our mansion." Jack said to the Baudelaires.
As Violet, Klaus and Sunny were lead towards the mansion of the royal family of Halloweentown, their thoughts were turned away from getting to Hotel Denoument for the moment and towards their presentation at the town hall meeting the next night.
"Nervous, Klaus?" Violet asked.
"Yes, but we'll be fine." Klaus said to his sister.