Chapter 4: Hanging Around

After Jack had finished speaking with Dr. Finklestein, he sought out Coraline in the kitchen, where the young girl was helping Jewel make some toadstool soup. "I'll have to ask my daughter about teaching me some recipies for human food," the kindly lady said. "That way, I can cook for you when you visit."

Coraline smiled, liking Jewel and liking how the monsters understood that humans couldn't eat most of the foods that the monsters could. It was like they understood her and still accepted her, treating her like one of their own. She then saw Jack and grinned. "Hey, Jack," she said.

"Hey, yourself," he said with a smile.

Jewel smiled. "Well, with my little helper, dinner is in the pot," she said with a smile, hugging the little girl. "You can come visit anytime, dear."

"Thank you, Miss Jewel," the young girl said before going up to Jack, who smiled and held out his hand to her, which she took without hesitation.

"Well, we best be going," he said. "I'm meeting the Mayor at his home and some of the other residents will be around."

Jewel nodded. "Take care, you two," she said pleasantly.

When the pair headed through the gate and back into town, Coraline smiled. "I like Miss Jewel and Dr. Finklestein," she said. "They're nice."

"I'm glad you do," Jack said, pleased that the child felt at ease with her new grandparents. He took a deep breath. "Ah, the day is a pleasant one."

"Yeah," she said before something gently yanked her away from Jack, startling her. "Jack!" She cried out before laughing as she felt something tickling her sides and neck.

The skeleton had whirled around in surprise at his daughter's cry, but just as he was about to call up some pumpkin fire, he saw a familiar face and chuckled as he saw why his daughter was laughing.

The Hanging Tree had snuck up behind them and two of his hanging men had grabbed Coraline and were playfully tickling her. She tried to escape as she laughed, but squealed when one playfully poked her belly button. "Oooh! She's a ticklish one!" One of the skeletons said.

"And very cute too," said another as they stopped the tickle torture. Hanging Tree reached up and accepted the girl from them. The child looked surprised, but amazed at the same time.

"A talking tree?" She asked.

"Hanging Tree, at your service," he said with a half bow. "And these are my Hanging Men. I hope they didn't scare you too much."

"Oh, no," Coraline said. "I was just surprised."

"As was I," Jack said with a chuckle. "You got me good too, Hanging Tree."

The tree chuckled before looking at Coraline. "How are you settling in, Coraline?" He asked politely.

"Very good, thank you," she said before looking nervous. "But...she's still out there."

"She won't get into Halloween Town," Hanging Tree told her. "We'll chase her away if she dares."

Clown came up to them and Coraline blinked before jumping with a start when he tore away his face, but looked to be okay. He chuckled as he put his face back on, still grinning. "Spooked you, huh?" He asked.

"A little," she admitted before shuddering. "I...I thought for a moment...,"

Clown realized his prank had just reminded the child of the monster she had escaped from. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "Maybe I'll hold on that until that creature is taken care of."

Jack smiled at Clown. "Thank you, Clown," he said, glad that his friend was being considerate of the girl's feelings. He looked at Coraline. "Are you alright, my dear?"

She nodded. "I'm good," she said before seeing Clown balancing well on his unicycle. She blinked. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Clown asked curiously.

"Balance so well on your unicycle."

"Well, you have to find your center of gravity and then try to find the right balance for your weight," he said. "If you'd like, I can teach you sometime."

"That'd be cool," the girl said.

One of the vampires came up. "Jack, my brothers and I have some ideas for some scares we were hoping you could look over and see if they'll be good," he said, handing Jack a list. "Could you look them over and give us feedback when you have a moment?"

"Of course," Jack said with a smile.

The vampire noticed Coraline. "Ah, greetings, little one," he said, giving her a half bow in respect. "Jack was telling us about your bravery. Should you need refuge, our mansion is open to you."

"Thank you," she said politely, a little curious about why he bowed to her, but deciding to worry about it later.

Jack smiled again. "Everyone is happy to meet you," he said. "It's not everyday we get a visitor, especially one who is brave."

She smiled. "This town is actually the nicest town I've ever been to," she admitted. "It looks different, but in a good way, and everyone is so friendly." She paused. "Although...the vampires won't take a bite out of me, will they?"

"No," he soothed. "No one here will hurt you. You have my word."

Just then, the wind blew and the leaves formed a picture of Jack, Sally, and Coraline. The girl looked curious. "What's this?" She asked.

"I think Wind is saying that you belong here," the skeleton said. "And it thinks you, me, and Sally should be a family."

Coraline looked at the picture before looking away, looking uncertain. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "Coraline, I know you just met us, but Sally and I would be more than happy if you wanted to be part of our family," he said. "But we're not going to force you to join our family if you don't want to. We'll leave the decision up to you."

She turned to look at him before she trembled. "W-What will you do if I...accept?" She asked, looking afraid.

The skeleton cocked his head to the side. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked.

The child bit her lip. "She...She wants to sew buttons on my eyes," she said.

Jack saw at once what the child was scared of and shook his head. "No," he said soothingly. "We won't change anything about you and we certainly won't alter any part of your face or body."

She looked up at him and he smiled, placing a gentle finger on her lips in a gesture of 'shh'. "The decision is yours to make, Coraline, but don't rush it and don't make your decision just to make me and Sally happy. Make the decision that makes you happy. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded at his gently-worded question. "How long will I be allowed to think on it?" She asked.

"As long as you need," Jack said, gently pinching her left cheek in affection. "Now then, I need to go see the Mayor. Would you like to come?"

Coraline nodded, taking his hand that he held out and they walked towards a house that was certainly quite tall and maybe in some slight disrepair, but at the same time, she liked how it looked. She then noticed that the cobblestones at hers and Jack's feet had a mosaic patterns that looked very unusual. "What's this?" She asked, pointing down at it.

The skeleton chuckled. "The key to the Mayor's house," he said. "If the key is in place, then he's home."

He knocked on the door and it was opened by a man that had a huge smile on his face. "Jack! What a pleasant surprise!" He said before his face turned to his worried face, which made Coraline jump. "I'm going to pieces figuring out what to do for a new scare!" The Mayor said in worry.

Jack remained calm. "Calm down, please, Mayor," he said gently. "Why don't you show me what you have already and we'll go from there?"

The Mayor's face turned to his happy one. "Oh, thank you!" He said gratefully before letting them into his home.

Coraline swallowed. "Um, is that normal for him?" She asked in a whisper. "The...turning his head?"

"Oh, yes, all the time," Jack said with a chuckle, keeping his voice at a whisper too. "The Mayor gets rattled rather easily, but he won't hurt you."

She took a deep breath, deciding to trust him on that. The Mayor handed Jack a paper before he looked at Coraline and smiled. "Greetings, Coraline," he said in respect. "Please forgive me for not greeting you properly. I'm afraid I forgot my manners temporarily."

"It's okay," she said, deciding to be gracious as the man was being polite and he wasn't scary.

He smiled. "I hope you'll like it here in our town," he said.

She smiled. "It's very interesting," she admitted.

The Mayor then turned serious. "Coraline, if you should ever be in danger, use these," he said, handing her four items that looked odd. She looked up at him. "These items form the key to my house," he explained. "The vampires usually always handle the parts of the key, but this one is a spare for you. Study the mosaic carefully as you leave and if you ever need refuge, put the parts of the key in the proper places and it will open the door."

She nodded, holding the items tightly in her hands. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

Jack came up to them. "Mayor, I looked over what you have and I was thinking perhaps a flurry of bats would add to it too?" He asked.

"Ah, yes! Thank you, Jack," the Mayor said. "I knew I could count on you for the best ideas."

"Happy to help, Mayor," the skeleton said with a smile.

As they left the house, Coraline studied the mosaic at her feet, looking at the items of the key she had and comparing them to the picture she saw. She immediately noted it was the Mayor's happy face and she nodded, putting the items away and taking a deep breath. Feeling hands rest on her shoulders, she turned to look at Jack, who looked concerned about her. "Coraline, are you truly alright?" He asked gently.

She sniffled. "Honestly, I'm really scared, Jack," she admitted, biting her lip as tears filled her eyes. "What if...What if she does find me and kidnaps me?"

"Then I'll hunt her down and get you back," he promised. "You have my word as the Pumpkin King. I will hunt down the Beldam and save you from her."

She sniffled again and hugged him before an idea entered her mind. "What if I found another family, one that would adopt me?" She said. "Would that stop her?"

Jack was thoughtful for a moment as he remembered something. The Beldam couldn't prey on happy children, because those children wouldn't be sad and wanting to be away from their family for a bit. "It would have to be a family that you would love and they would genuinely love you back," he said. "Your happiness would stop her, especially if your happiness was because of a new family that you loved and you didn't want to run away from."

Coraline nodded as she then looked up at him. "Jack, you said that you and Sally would take me in if I decided I wanted to be part of your family, right?" She asked.

"I did," he said with a nod.

As she opened her mouth again, Jack gently placed a finger over it, stopping her words. "I did, but I don't want you to make the decision just because it would make me and Sally happy," he continued. "I want you to make the decision for your happiness. Give yourself a few days to think it over and see how things go."

She looked thoughtful before looking up at him. "Why are you insisting that I wait?" She asked.

"Because I care about your happiness, Coraline," he said gently. "I want you to make a decision that makes you truly happy."

She smiled at him. "You know, you're acting a lot like a Dad," she said.

Jack blinked at that before smirking. "Is that so?" He asked before darting his hands to her sides and tickling her.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Stahahahahahahahap!" She pleaded.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle," he cooed in her ear, his hands going for her stomach and tickling her there, making her laughter climb a few octaves before he let her up, picking her up and standing to his full height.

Coraline giggled as she settled down. "Okay, I promise I'll think about it for three days," she said. "But at the end of three days, you have to listen to my answer. Deal?"

"Deal," he said in agreement before walking towards home, carrying the child, who rested her head on his shoulder trustingly, hoping that if she asked him to be her dad, he'd say yes.

Okay, so fun fact, while the Mayor's house is never shown in the movie (at least I don't recall it ever being shown in the movie), in the game "Oogie Boogie's revenge", you need to get the pieces of the key to his house in order to save him. The level is quite a doozy, but fun too. :)

And it looks like Coraline might just have picked a couple to be her parents. Wonder how she'll react when she finds out that they already adopted her? :)

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GoldGuardian2418