I am sorry that has carried on past Halloween. I had orginally planned on finishing it before then but had found myself plagued by technical difficulties. I hope you are all sticking with this. I do appreciate your reading and leaving comments.

Dean made sure he sat by Tucker on the hayride back to the front of the farm. Knowing he had a short time to set the story Dean started as soon they took off. "Hey, have you all heard of the great pumpkin," he asked?

"What? Like Charlie Brown," Tucker scoffed.

"Well, I know y'all have heard about that," Dean relied, "But do you know where the idea came from?"

Tucker rolled his eyes and sarcastically answered, "Charles Schulz, duh."

The urge to slap Tucker on the back of his head was strong and Dean was amazed that he had the strength to resist. "Well, yes and no. Where the story got its real start from is an old legend. You see the great pumpkin wasn't always a benevolent being, one who brought candy to the good kids who believed in him and all that. No, that is just what we're being told now. It's really the demented soul of a twisted being conjured up by a witch out of revenge for the death of her child. You see back in the 1800's there was this group of kids who enjoyed bullying other kids. They had decided to bully this one boy so severely that he took his own life. His mother, a witch, became so bereaved that she conjured a demon to take revenge on those who had tormented her son. But you see the demon didn't really have anything to do with pumpkins. No. The demon tormented the boys and then he chased them into a pumpkin patch where he turned them into scarecrows with jack-o-lanterns as heads. The irony being that since they liked to bully and scare, they may as well do something useful. The townspeople hung the witch before she could cast the demon back; thus, setting him free upon an unsuspecting world. Like everything else the story got watered down to what it is today. Make no mistake, though, the demon still walks the Earth looking to punish those who deserve it."

Sam groaned and turned pleading eyes to Dean. Dean just smiled and shook his head. Having made his mind up Dean wasn't going to be swayed from teaching Tucker a lesson. Sam realized it was a lost cause and he turned his attention back to Allen and the map of the maze he had picked up. Once they had placed their apples and pumpkins on the bus, they made their way to the maze.

To Sam's utter horror Dean had invited Sheryl to walk with them under the guise that since Miss Carlson couldn't, because of the race, he could help her with her group. Sam tried to talk Dean out of it but, Dean wouldn't budge. He told Sam that Josie needed to see what was going to happen and that it would be good for James and Allen as well. Sam resigned himself to the fact that it was going to happen, and he prayed the fallout wouldn't be as bad as Richland.

The children were allowed into the maze and the race began. Sam and his group didn't waste anytime pulling well ahead of the others even though Sam was distracted by what he knew was about to happen. He kept listening for the whispers and it didn't take long for them to start. At first, they started out low and distant but soon they became louder and much closer. Tucker, Chip and Tommy crowded closer to Sheryl, who in turn had crowded closer to Dean. Josie, James, and Allen nervously crowded closer to Sam who had pulled up closer to Dean as well.

"You hear that," Tommy whispered, "Can you hear what it's saying? It sounds like it's saying our names."

"Yeah, I hear it," Tucker fearfully answered, "You hear it Chip?" Before Chip could answer a pumpkin rolled out in front of him causing the frightened boy to shriek in such a manner as to make a Scream Queen jealous.

At the sight of the pumpkin and the rustling of the corn stalks all three boys took off as if the devil himself were on their heels, their screams drowning out the hysterical laughter of those who had borne witness.

Josie reached out and tugged on Deans shirt sleeve drawing his attention to her. "That was awesome," she laughed out, "mean but awesome."

"Yeah," Allen stated, "they so deserved that."

"It's about time someone did something to them," James chimed in, "Thank you."

Sam stood and stared at his brother and friends. He didn't like Tucker, that was true, but he felt that the prank had gone to far and didn't find it as funny as the others. He had seen the terrified look on the boys faces and had noticed the wetness that had formed on the front of their pants. Despite the cruelty they had shown him, Sam really believed, this had crossed a line.

The group pulled themselves together and went on to win the race. They picked up their prizes and headed off to lunch. Sam sat in sullen silence, embarrassed over what had happened. Turns out that Tucker and the other two boys had been so traumatized over what had happened they had to be taken back to the school. Josie, James, and Allen also felt bad, however; they had endured more at the hands of Tucker and his bullies and wanted to enjoy the moment.

Their enjoyment was short lived. Miss Carlson had come over at the end of lunch and informed them that they would not be allowed to participate in any of the other activities and would have to sit in the cafeteria until it was time to go home. She informed Dean that she had made a call to his principal and that his future held many weeks of detention. She also told the group that calls had been made to their parents and that they were aware of what had happened. She made it clear that she knew whose idea it was and that even though her kids hadn't come up with it, they were complicit and could expect to be punished.

Josie was the first to speak up after Miss Carlson left. "It's worth it," she calmly said a smile crossing her lips, "Tucker has been so mean to everyone. It's worth getting in trouble to see him get his. This is something I will never forget." James and Allen nodded in agreement.

Sam folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them. His eyes filled with tears and he found himself turning away from the others. All he wanted was to spend one day doing normal things with normal people, this was anything but. He found himself in trouble and he had begun to worry what his dad would do once he found out about what they had done. If this was anything like Richland he shuddered to think.

Dean could sense Sam's unease and knew that he was worried about their dad. He wrapped an arm around his brothers shoulders and pulled him close. "Don't worry, Sammy," he said, "Dad'll know you had no choice but to go along with this. I promise I won't let you take any of the heat. He'll know you tried to stop it, but I wouldn't let you. So much for him not finding out."

"I told you he would," Sam flatly replied, "He always does."