1

To say that Sally was disliked, or even unpopular, in Halloweentown would not be wholly accurate. If one had asked every monster and ghoul in the vicinity what they thought of her, one would have gotten a variety of answers running the gamut from "Jack's nice girlfriend" to "Jack's accursed whore." The responses would have tended, for the most part, to fall along gender lines. Oddly enough, if one were to have taken the same poll a week before that pivotal Christmas, most would have answered "Sally who?"

The last thing on Sally's mind that Christmas morning was how the town might react. Despite the adult nature of her evening with Jack, she remained an innocent in most ways. Jack hadn't considered the matter much either. He exited his house as he had so many other mornings, but then looked back inside and beckoned. Smiling, Sally took his hand and followed him out to the square. The band members, who had been playing a jaunty dirge, squeaked to sudden silence. Holiday preparations ground to a halt. Jaws dropped. While Sally hadn't understood the reaction, Jack realized his naivete almost immediately. Everyone had seen him walk Sally into his house the previous night. Now he was walking her out the following morning. He hadn't counted on his townsfolk to put two and two together so quickly, but it seemed that they had. Halloweentown was unique in many ways, but this was not one of them. The remainder of the day saw Jack deflecting questions and enduring pats on the back from his male constituents. Initially gleeful, they soon grumbled with disappointment at his refusal to divulge even a single word. The Mayor had been just about the only male unhappy from the start. He revolved to panic at the first sight of the couple in question and remained that way for the rest of the day. While Jack's day had been tedious, Sally's had been practically unbearable. It's one thing not to be spoken to because you aren't even seen, but quite another to endure silence accompanied by the most hostile of glares. Hostile from the women in any event. The men now looked at her too but in an entirely different way.

So things remained, everyday the same to varying degrees. Each morning Sally steeled herself, took a breath, and touched her locket before heading outside. Today was no exception. At the manor gate, she glanced across the square hoping to catch sight of Jack. By his side, she was safe. Facing the town square alone was a peril of sleeping late. Jack was nowhere to be seen. Sally straightened her dress, raised her chin, and walked defiantly to her sewing area. She settled at her machine, and went to work replacing the red linings for the vampires' capes. The old ones were worn and threadbare from countless nights of blood searching.

In another part of town, Jack was indeed busy. He was hard at work on his own project that had little to do with the holiday. He arrived at the workshop of the Behemoth. The Behemoth was Halloween's best artisan for things wood and metal, as well as the only one in town who could make pumpkins grow to near mythical proportions. The Behemoth was a man of few words. Whether this had anything to do with the large ax permanently imbedded in his skull was unclear. He was surprised to see Jack again so soon, as he had just completed a funny shaped, little, silver, necklace for him several weeks earlier. Jack seemed to be slightly nervous, but in a happy mood just the same. He approached the work table and placed the small circle of thread before the Behemoth. Jack spoke:

"I need a ring."

The Behemoth examined the thread in his massive fingers.

"That's the size I need," said Jack.

"Tiny," said the Behemoth. "For machine?"

Jack scratched his skull.

"Well, no. It's not a machine part. It's for Sally. Actually, it's an en-," he stopped himself. "It's a jewelry ring, you know?"

The Behemoth nodded.

"Fancy?" he asked. Jack thought for a moment. Sally certainly deserved the best, but she wasn't one for decoration.

"Not too fancy. But beautiful. Perfect. And with a setting for a stone."

The Behemoth nodded again, and began measuring the thread. Jack patted him on the back and turned to leave. He stopped for a moment at the door. "Don't breathe a word of this, my friend. And, if all goes well, I'll be commissioning two more rings from you!" With that, Jack was off. The Behemoth watched him go with absolutely no idea what he was up to. Jack was a mystery at times.

Two doors down the street, mysterious Jack dropped in on the witches in their general store and apothecary.

"Hello ladies!", he called upon entering. The witches were beside themselves with joy. A visit from Jack! They stood on either side of him hugging his legs. He had been a regular fixture in their store before Sally came along, but they'd seen comparatively little of him since then. Sally was adept at formulating most things he might need, given her ability with herbs and potions.

"Oh Jack! What can we do for you? Sit down! We'll get you something to eat or drink! whatever you want!"

Jack gingerly tried to extricate himself from their hands. His skull pondered the immeasurable behavior differences between females.

"Ah, no. Don't trouble yourselves with food or drink. I just came by to ask a favor."

The smaller witch remained ecstatic.

"Anything Jack!"

The taller of the two exclaimed:

"We're so honored you would choose us to help you Jack. Us in particular," she added rather pointedly.

"Well, you two are really the only ones who can. I need a diamond. I was hoping you could make one for me."

"A diamond?" the tall witch said. "Diamonds are just wonderful for saws and blades. They'll go through anything. However, if you're making a blade I'd recommend diamond dust."

Jack shook his skull.

"It's not for a blade. It's for more of an ornamental use, I guess you could say."

The witches were perplexed. Diamonds were ugly and sparkly. Wouldn't he rather an onyx or bloodstone? Jack noted their confusion, but said nothing. He wasn't about to share news of his plans with them. He knew how they felt about Sally. His chances of getting a pristine diamond for the ring were much better if they didn't know who it was for. "It really needs to be a diamond.", Jack pressed.

The pair conferred and said it wouldn't be a problem. Simple chemistry with a little magic for good measure. It would be ready in a day. Jack thanked them profusely and was on his way.

"He asked us to make that for him," sighed the small witch.

"Yes," her friend agreed. "Us. That little rag girl is decent enough with flowers and leaves but she couldn't do anything like this. Maybe he's finally getting sick of her."

The sewing machine clicked away without pause all morning and on until lunch. Sally lost herself in the work. Her thoughts were finally interrupted when the witches walked by with the Mayor. He was checking in with them about their holiday work.

"We'll be a little behind schedule this week, Mayor. We're doing a very special personal favor for Jack," one of them said loudly. Sally wrinkled her nose but continued sewing.

"They do that to bother you. You're smart enough to know that much, aren't you?", said a feminine, yet strangely deep, voice. Sally jumped like a scared animal. She swiveled to her right side. The fishgal gazed at her expectantly. She had never spoken to Sally before. She was a frequent companion of the witches and that fact alone was enough to make the ragdoll want to hide. Still, Sally composed herself and turned back to the sewing machine.

"I know.", Sally said nonchalantly.

"Alright then. I wasn't certain that you did. I was told that you aren't very smart, but then, I thought to myself, you would have to be at least a little bit smart."

The fishgal's tone was almost thoughtful at this. She scratched lightly at her chin with a filmy, flipper hand. Sally gaped for an instant before asking:

"Why?"

The fishgal rolled her yellowy eyes.

"Well, you figured out what Jack wanted, didn't you?."

"I-I...I didn't...", Sally stammered. The fishgal closed her eyes and held up a hand in deference.

"I don't judge. Some others, they judge. I don't." She sighed and made a vague gesture to Sally's body. "The doctor said that's pretty much all you've got going for you. Not that it matters. Turns out, that was all you needed. You used what you had, and you got what we all want." The creature nodded resolutely. "Fair play to you", she sniffed, then disappeared into the fountain. Sally stared at the water for several seconds wondering if the fishgal was going to reemerge, but she did not. The conversation, such as it was, was over.