Chapter Three: The Ribbon Basket
That afternoon was an unusually quiet one for the three trick-or-treaters. The usual chatter had been replaced by only the scuttling sound of beetles under the furniture and around the wooden framework of the tree house. The fifteen candles that surrounded the "bug pipe", as they had taken to calling it, were all snuffed out. Consequently, the only light came from the light bulb that was hooked to the cage-like elevator and the afternoon sunlight filtering in through the assorted windows. The later proved problematic, as the sun was constantly fleeting in and out of the darkening clouds. The limited light cast more shadows than light, if anything, but it provided enough illumination to be able to read the graffiti modifications of "L, S, and B" to "sLug, Stupid, and Brat" on the tally board they had painted on the wall.
The trio themselves were situated around their hybrid couch, which was made up of a normal, battered sofa and an elegant, mahogany leather chair. Well, they were situated as best as they could and as they pleased, anyway. Shock had lain down on the couch so that she took up most of the space, watching one of her scorpions scurry around on the fabric of her dress over her stomach. It paused at intervals only when she ran a gloved finger over his scaly back, to which he uttered a weird, almost metallic noise. Barrel was lying on his stomach on the floor, skewering stray toffees with the prongs of his trident. Lock was seated next to him with his head flopped back on the couch by Shock's shoes, staring up at the ceiling.
"This is boring," The devil declared suddenly, running a hand through his own cherry red hair that was splayed on the couch. Barrel only tugged a yellow candy off of his trident and stuck it in his mouth, and Shock made no acknowledgment of him at all. "Thanks for caring," Lock muttered scornfully.
Silence returned to the tree house as soon as he shut his mouth. A soft orange glow from the sun filled the room once again, spilling over the décor, furniture, and dirty floor. A large beetle cautiously peaked out from under the couch, and then madly ran out towards the cannon, only to get abruptly impaled by a spade of the metal trident. The youngest of the Boogie's Boys lifted the weapon to his face, watching as the insect thrashed helplessly on the head of the middle spike. His metallic eyes followed the bug's every movement with an only mildly interested look on his face.
"I'm going for a walk," Shock announced, sitting up, accidentally kicking her devilish friend in the head as she did.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, shooting a fierce look at her.
"Why?" Barrel asked, looking over.
"To get away from you morons," She replied, slipping her pet scorpion back into its box.
"Yeah, that's us!" Lock growled with sarcasm through his shark-like teeth, rubbing his skull, "Lock and Barrel: Shock's stupid friends." Barrel started to snicker, but quickly stopped.
"Oh, cry me a river," The witch retorted, rolling her eyes. She stepped into the makeshift elevator and closed the door behind her. After a moment, the cage jolted before automatically beginning to descend downward, turning slowly as it went so that she would be facing the bridge. The land got dim again as a cloud swallowed the sun. The oversized cage lurched to a stop, and it took a moment for her to realize that she was no longer moving, but as soon as she did, she threw open the door and stepped out onto the bridge. Shock began to cross the bridge, heading for the land on the other side of the abyss surrounding the tree house, grumbling to herself. She didn't notice the obstacle in her path until she reached solid ground. The tip of her shoe caught it, and she was flipped forwards over the object. Rubbing her knee, which she had landed on, the trickster stood and turned to examine the cause of her fall.
It was a wicker basket. It was very simple, with no designs or otherwise flamboyant distractions. The only thing that came close to it was a small chartreuse ribbon that was tied neatly on the top of the handle. She had tipped it over when she had hit it, so with curiosity nipping at her, she picked it up. The contents had somehow managed to not fall out with the sudden jolt. Upon further inspection, she discovered a small note that had been stuffed in the rag that was folded in the basket. She pulled it out and opened it, immediately noting that whoever had written it had very shaky handwriting. It only had a few words, which was a relief, as she could not read the unfamiliar writing very easily.
I thoght you mite like these
Sally
As soon as she read the name, Shock understood why the handwriting was so poor. Sally was biologically less than half of the witch's age – Shock remembered when Dr. Finklestein had first made the rag doll – and was still growing accustomed to the world. She had not even held a pen until recently, which also explained the spelling and grammatical errors. Sally had been unconscious for five days, so she clearly had finally awoken. Still, Shock couldn't help but be highly amused that she could write and spell better than an "adult". With her curiosity now peaked, she tucked the card into the side of the basket and unfolded the dull red rag. Inside were a cluster of baked bat wings, three muffins (which, judging by their scent, were made with fresh pumpkin), and a clutch of salted and roasted pumpkin seeds. Each was contained in a separate clear plastic bag. Shock was puzzled. The trio of trick-or-treaters had pushed the king's fiancée down a flight of stairs, and she gave them food? If she hadn't known better, she would've suspected that Sally had spiked the treats. After a moment, the young enchantress slid a pumpkin seed in her mouth and crossed the bridge once again, forgetting about her intended walk. She climbed in the cage, ready to inform her cohorts of her discovery.
"I don't know, Jack, it seems like so much work... maybe we should just sign documents for it?"
"Nonsense! We'll handle this just fine, don't you worry. Now, what are your thoughts on bridesmaids, groomsmen...?"
The king was struggling to pull his socks on as his soon-to-be consort was seated on a chair, hunched over a small book. She had been like that ever since she had come down the stairs; curled up reading a tip book about planning weddings while Jack ran around the house, trying to get ready for his meeting. Although she had been uneasy about it at first, he had encouraged her to jot down their ideas on the margins of the pages. She was still in her nightgown, which made her feel strangely small, when added to the fact that she could easily curl up on the armchair in the sitting room.
"I really think that maybe we shouldn't have those, Jack," She responded quietly. The skeleton looked up in surprise, hobbling on one foot as he attempted to pull his sock onto his foot.
"Why not?"
"Well, don't you think that it might spring up bias in the citizens? And I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings if we don't include them..."
"You have a good point, there. All right, no groomsmen, bridesmaids, or the like... er, write that down."
"Jack?"
"Yes, my dear?"
"Could we keep the children's places?"
"The ring bearer and the flower girl?"
"Yes, those. I'd really like to keep them, if it's not too much trouble."
"Of course. Good luck fitting Carmella into a dress, though," Jack chuckled. Sally said nothing, but forced a smile back, "Now, do you have your dress planned out?"
"Yes, I do. It's-" Sally was abruptly cut off.
"Ah-ah!" Jack corrected, slipping his shoes on, "The groom can't know what the dress looks like until the wedding, dear Sally."
"Oh," She said, blinking in surprise. She wasn't familiar with weddings, much less with the strange customs that went along with it. The master of fright smiled warmly at her.
"It's okay, you're still new to this stuff. Besides, if all goes well, you will only have to go through it once. Now, we need to write our vows, and-"
"Jack?"
"Yes?"
"What are those?"
Jack blinked. "Oh, um... I'm sorry, Sally, I forgot how much you didn't know." Sally looked down into her lap, her cheeks turning violet. "Oh, Sally, I didn't mean it like that! Listen, I have to run, but when I come back, I'll explain everything to you, okay?" She nodded, a small, glassy tear running down her cheek. He gave her a quick kiss on her ruby lips and a last, encouraging smile before exiting out the door.
Shock sat in a tree that gave her a good view of the huge graveyard later in the evening, watching the sunset. The tree was huge, and had branches that looked more like claws that any tree she had seen before it. The tree's "talons" provided an excellent seat with their size, provided that one could climb. She had dared to climb up to one of the branches in the middle, and she estimated that she was some thirty feet up, but it didn't bother her. She wasn't afraid of heights, and she could see the entire graveyard. Apparently, seeing something from the ground and seeing it from above were two entirely different experiences, as her position taught her. The young witch looked around, and was surprised to see a familiar wave of crimson hair in the distance, knelt down next to something that she couldn't see. Shock swallowed the last of her pumpkin muffin, slipped her extra jawbreakers into her hat, and clambered down from the tree. On foot, it took her longer to reach the part of the graveyard with Spiral Hill in it then she had counted on, but when she did, Sally hadn't moved. She forced down an impending giggle and crept up behind the future queen without making a sound. The bogeyman's ex-hench girl peered over the rag doll's shoulder, and raised a thin eyebrow at the sight.
"What is that?" Shock asked without even realizing that she had spoken. Sally jumped and wildly spun around. That set her off; Shock erupted into a fountain of high-pitched cackles, wrapping her arms around her ribcage, as if to keep it from bursting. "Oh man, Sally," She said once she had calmed down, "You're so jumpy!" Sally gave a weary smile. (Whether it was from being scared or from drowsiness, Shock couldn't tell.)
"Hello, Shock," She rag doll greeted with a small nod.
"Hey, Sal'," The young enchantress returned with a curt nod, peering over the patchwork maiden's shoulder again. "What is that?"
"What? This?" Sally asked, nodding to a small yellow flower that was sprouting out of the ground. Shock nodded, spinning slightly to the side and back on her heels, making her hair viciously whip her face like a bunch of venomous snakes. "I-It's just a flower."
"It's weird," Shock added, staring at the yellow petals as if they had gravely offended her.
"I suppose it is," Sally reluctantly agreed, "Different."
Neither of them spoke for a few moments. Then, Sally stood up, picking at a thread on the hem of her dress.
"Hey, Sal'?" The young witch asked suddenly, just as Sally opened her ruby lips to bid her "goodbye".
"I – yes, Shock?"
"Why'd you give us those treats?"
The patchwork creation was suddenly very interested in the stitching that held her hand to her wrist, "I just wanted to... help you out, I suppose. I mean, you three have been living on your own for a while now, a-and that can't be easy, so..."
"It's not really that hard," Shock countered, "We just take Oogie's old money, or steal whatever we need," Noticing the saddened look on the rag doll's face, she quickly added in a near whisper, "Thanks for the treats, though. They're really good." Sally smiled warmly, her face glowing.
"You're welcome. I could send you more when I get the chance, if you want."
Swallowing her pride with massive difficulty, Shock mumbled, "That'd be nice." Sally turned to leave, before she was stopped once again. Not by the trickster, but her own thoughts. Biting her lip, she turned to face the witch, who looked ready to leave herself.
"Shock?"
Irked at being jolted out of her thoughts, Shock snapped, "What?"
"You know how Jack and I are getting married in the summer?"
Shock sent her a suspicious look, and replied slowly, "Yes."
"Well... would you like to be the flower girl?"
That was clearly the very last thing that the female Boogie's Boy expected her to say. She looked at Sally with a disbelieving look on her face, peering at her eyes so intensely that Sally felt like she was trying to see right through to her soul.
"Why me?" Was the first thing out of her lips. The rag doll was taken aback.
"Well... I..."
"I'll think about it," Shock said, apparently having not heard her at all, or having completely ignored her. Sally nodded.
"That's all I can ask. I'll see you later, then, I expect?" Shock made no movement, but Sally decided to take it as a "yes", nevertheless.
"But, Sally?" Sally resisted the urge to sigh, and simply responded.
"Yes, Shock?"
"If you tell anybody, and I do mean anybody, that I said the 't' word..." Apparently for the lack of a proper word, the witch simply made a violent movement at her throat imitating slicing, but it got the point across.
"I won't tell," Sally assured her, forcing back a smile.
A/N: For those of you out there who haven't read "Waiting For The Next Surprise" from DarkMasterofCupcakes, she and I were talking and we decided that the Gargoyle Kid/Withered Wing Demon is female. DMC named her Carmella, so credit to her!
*Inferno Shock*