One week before Halloween, the three youngest Skellington children sat in a close circle at the edge of the pumpkin patch. Guy made impressions in the dirt with his fingertips. Using pumpkin seeds as markers, he did his best to teach his younger brother Arthur a simple sowing game. Hazel looked on. She delivered animated report on the gameplay to her favorite doll. Guy gave an involuntary shiver, The Beldam could have learned all there was to know about any of them, if she'd made a facsimile for Hazel. The Beldam. Guy hoped that playing a game with Arthur would be a distraction, but it provided little more than background noise. Even with the doll locked away, he knew she was still after him. He'd seen the door. Rather, he'd seen the dim rectangular halo of purple-green light which seeped around the door's edges. It was set against the back wall of an old hearth in his room. He could see it best peripherally, out of the corner of his eye sockets. When he looked directly at the soot shadowed bricks, the light slowly faded. A look away, then a quick sidelong glance back, served to reaffirm its existence. Guy finished a turn at the game, gesturing to Arthur to take a go. Several townsfolk rolled massive orange pumpkins out of the field, in the direction of the town square.

While it may not have appeared so to the uninitiated, but Halloweentown was an incomparably safe place for its children. Every little one was known to every grown creature. This was doubly true for the Skellington children. They found protective eyes upon them at almost every turn. Guy and his siblings had been warned about strangers, but in terms far more theoretical than was necessary for most human youngsters. Anything capable of reaching Halloweentown was at least likely to be a known quantity. When it came to these threats, Guy had been thoroughly briefed by his parents. He knew about divs and pale men, kappas, and changelings. He also knew about The Beldam. His older brothers asssured him that if you had to have a malevolent entity take an interest in you, The Beldam was less worrisome than most. "She can't hurt you unless you cooperate with her." Jack jr. repeatedly reminded Guy. "She catches human kids easily, because they don't know anything about her." "But then, why is she even here?" Guy had asked one night. "Why wouldn't she just stick to humans?" Jack jr. provided no good answer, only looked sheepishly at his more intellectual twin, hoping for a believable explanation. Even Nicholas faltered for a second or two, ultimately choosing to dodge the question entirely: "It doesn't matter why she's in Halloweentown, Guy. You must have been complaining a lot lately or you wouldn't have caught her attention." Jack nodded in agreement, adding:

"Clearly."

Am I that unhappy? I don't think I am... Guy puzzled. He took another turn at the game, noting that there were suddenly too many seeds on the board, as well as several extra divots of varying depths, straggling off to one side.

"What're those?" he asked.

"Bobbin's playing." explained Hazel. She held her doll up, waving its tiny stuffed hand in front of his eye sockets.

"Haaazel..." Guy groaned. "Two people play! It doesn't work with three! Bobbin can't play."

"We'll play with four. Waffles wants in too." said Arthur. He began digging more hollows on the board to accommodate a thermal cloth stuffed spider, cradled in his lap.

"It only works with two!" repeated Guy. He realized immediately that his pleas were futile. Arthur had already added nearly a dozen new spaces to the board. Hazel brought more seeds. She began arranging them in decorative swirls around the edges of the holes.

"I'm going to get some water for a moat. Be right back." said Arthur. Hazel nodded in agreement.

"There's no moat in this game! Arthur, come back!" called Guy. Arthur was already over the hill, out of sight.

"Oh! I don't like playing with you two!" growled Guy, slumping his skull against his bony hands. "But Nicky and Jacky are too old, and Mama and Dad are busy with the holiday, and I don't have any friends, and...and..."

"You always say that kinda stuff, Guy." said Hazel. Her lower lip pouted out, as she pulled Bobbin to her chin.

"Do not." Guy grumbled.

Although, he realized - his sister had a point.