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Author note: Hi all. Again, thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. They cheer me up immensely. Updates are coming more slowly now as I have more to work out, but I'll try not to make the wait too long. Oh, and if you had read chapt 7 right after I posted it, you may wish to reread. I made a change as there was one element that I meant to put in there and forgot. That's one thing that is difficult about writing stories in this format. I hate changing something that's already been posted, but sometimes you just have to. Anywho...
Diffused by clouds, the jack o'lantern sun sank slowly into the western sky over Halloweentown. It was almost time for the meeting. Sally waited at home for Jack so that they could walk to the hall together. Where was he? It was hardly like him to be late, especially on a night like this. Sally brushed her long hair and put on a dark green, dress which she had only recently finished making. Mere weeks after Christmas, Jack brought her home bolts of fabric with which to make a new wardrobe. Other gifts soon followed: fabric and flowers and silver sewing needles, spools of tattered satin ribbon, ancient lace by the yard, and a box of over one hundred kinds of buttons. Overwhelmed, Sally told him it was all too much. Her sole possessions prior to their cohabitation were her sewing machine and her comb, unless one counted the clothes on her body. Jack argued that he had never before had such an opportunity to woo a lady. He had centuries of stored up romance within his bones which had previously known no release. True to his dramatic nature, Jack embarked upon their newfound love, imagining himself in a Shakespeare sonnet.
Sally touched her necklace. It lay hidden inside her neckline. After a moment's thought, she pulled it out into the open and let it rest against the green bodice of the dress. She stood before a full length mirror. Quite suddenly, she didn't care a whit about what any of the townsfolk thought.
"Keep looking, keep looking. What about over here?", said Jack. He glanced at his pocket-watch and growled. Flustered, the Mayor dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief.
"I don't know, Jack! I don't know! I can't be expected to keep track of these things!"
The pair were yet again in the Mayor's office. Jack knelt on the floor, rifling through folder after folder of messy paperwork. The folders were stuffed into cabinet drawers which hadn't been forced closed in years.
"If you think Mayor, just think back, what is it that the doctor could have been referring to? He said that you had a paper which would prevent Sally from marrying me. Can't you remember anything like that?"
The corpulent man rubbed his temples, his eyes squeezed shut. Jack sighed. He set the folders aside.
"I can't find a single thing about Sally in any capacity.", he said in a quiet voice. "She's not listed anywhere. I've looked and looked. I can find mention of just about everyone else in town, even creatures who just passed through, but I can not find a single word about my dear Sally."
The Mayor patted Jack's shoulder. They stood in silence for a moment, then the Mayor's face suddenly revolved. He motioned for Jack to wait, and began digging in yet another file drawer. At last, he held up a paper.
"Here! I can't imagine why it didn't occur to me! This must be what Dr. Finklestein meant."
Jack received the paper and looked it over.
"What does this mean? I don't understand, Mayor."
"Er, well it's a simple thing really. We're an ordinary town here after all, and very few of the citizenry have what you would call, well, er, 'riches' for lack of a better word. Nevertheless, sometimes someone has something of value and wishes it recorded here. Why, I have notes about the Vampire brothers antique, Transylvanian, samovar, and my hearse, I'm the only one in town with a car, you know. The band members have their instruments documented..."
"Yes, but, what does any of this have to do with Sally?", Jack asked, trying hard to contain his impatience. The Mayor did his best to explain while remaining optimistic.
"By official documents, Sally has never been a citizen of Halloweentown. She's... well, she's property to put it bluntly."
Caught off guard by this news, Jack's jaw fell open.
"What on earth do you mean by that?! Property? What does that mean?"
The Mayor continued, forlorn once more:
"It's coming back to me now. Dr. Finklestein asked for this back when he created her. He made her, and as such, she belongs to him. She ran away to be with you, but as records indicate, she is still his. Before you can be married, you'll need the Doctor to officially release her from his ownership. Then, I can draw you up a marriage certificate. You'll have to hope his feelings concerning you and Sally improve, Jack."
The King was incensed. Jack rarely, if ever, pulled rank, but it seemed this might be the time for it.
"I'm the Pumpkin King! Doesn't that make any difference? How on Earth could we let something like this happen in our town?"
The Mayor shook his head.
"Jack, who could have foreseen how this was going to turn out? When he made Sally, she wasn't allowed outside at all. It was a long while before she even talked! It didn't seem necessary to register her as a voting citizen. The Doctor said she was very valuable to him, and that he wanted her recorded as such. That was all I did. Looking back, I, I suppose it was a mistake, but I didn't know. I'm sorry Jack."
Jack felt like crying, but he would never in a million deaths let the Mayor see him cry. Instead he glowered angrily at the table top. The Mayor patted Jack's bony arm.
"Now just go talk to him again. He'll come around, I'm sure. In the meantime...don't let it bother you! You know she's of no use to him anymore. It makes no sense for him to want to own her now." Jack swallowed. He hadn't told the Mayor anything about the problems with Jewel, or about why the old man needed Sally to remain his. In truth, Jack could barely bring himself to think about such a thing, let alone say it out loud. In any event, he appreciated the Mayor's well-meaning support, even if it was less than helpful.
"I suppose I'll fetch Sally for the meeting.", Jack sighed. The Mayor smiled and nodded happily, hoping that this seemingly insignificant problem would blow over like an afternoon storm.
Jack stuck his skull into the parlor doorway. His heart felt heavy on what should have been a joyous night.
"You look so beautiful, Sally. I apologize for my lateness. Are you ready to go?" Sally smiled and twirled into Jack's arms.
"Yes!"
They kissed, then Jack gathered his notes for the meeting in an old snake-skin folder. The newly engaged couple held hands and joined the crowd at the hall.
Sally took her seat in the front row, off to one side. Lock, Shock, and Barrel slid in beside her.
"Hiya, Sally!" they chorused.
"How are you, Sally?" asked Lock in a mockingly earnest voice. Sally smiled shyly at them. Lock always made her a little uneasy.
As the crowd settled into their seats, Jack and the Mayor stood at the coffin podium. The Mayor began reviewing the usual business while Jack kept things running on track. Sally could barely hear what they were talking about, she was so excited.
The Mayor calculated pumpkin patch output for the upcoming season. Jack stifled a yawn. Next there was a vote on who would oversee candy production for the third quarter.
"Ooooh! Me! Me!" chirped Barrel. He bounced in his seat, arm up, like an excited pupil.
"Get serious, stupid! We don't need to oversee it, to steal it!" hissed Lock. He clocked Barrel on the head. Meanwhile, it was decided the clown would take over as candy boss.
"Is that it for business?" the Mayor asked. "Then, Jack has a little announcement to make. It's all yours, Jack." The Mayor stepped aside as Jack took center stage. He looked out at his subjects. The witches hovered on their brooms up around the ceiling beams. The Doctor had come after all. He sat in his wheelchair back against the rear doors. The room was still and expectant. Jack looked to his fiancé. Sally gazed back at him, smiling. Jack began:
"I have an announcement. As most of you are aware, Sally and I have been together a great deal as of late. We have become...quite close. We had a long talk about the future of our relationship last night. I asked Sally if she would marry me."
There was an audible gasp in the hall. All eyes turned to the little rag-doll in the first row. She smiled, but looked down self-consciously.
"She said 'yes,'" said Jack. "We are going to be married! Halloweentown will soon have a Pumpkin Queen!"
To both Sally and Jack's surprise, the majority of the town burst out in applause. They all loved Jack, and it was wonderful to see him so obviously happy. Mrs. Corpse and the Behemoth even shed some spooky, happy, tears. True, the witches were shooting daggers with their eyes at Sally, but they always did that anyway. In the back of the hall, the Doctor gave Jack a hateful look that made his bones shiver slightly. If Sally had seen it, she would have known that look.
Jack stepped off of the stage and embraced his bride-to-be with a long kiss. The Mayor blanched and considered stopping them, but it seemed that most of the town didn't mind at all. They were actually a bit fascinated. It wasn't everyday they got to witness such bizarre behavior.
--
Humans who encountered the great Pumpkin King in the wee hours of Halloween night, would have been considerably less frightened had they the opportunity to see him off-duty. The screaming, leaping, fiend who made blood run cold and who appeared to defy gravity with effortless climbing and contortions was a wholly different sight in his coffin-shaped, bathtub. Tonight, Jack had some difficultly suppressing his inner turmoil as he sat in the steaming bath water. His bride-to-be faced him across the tub.
"What is it Jack? I thought the meeting went so well... Everyone was much nicer than I had expected."
"They were, that is true.", said Jack. "People here are set in their ways. It takes a bit for them to get used to anything new."
"Then, what's wrong? You've been so quite today."
Jack looked up, misery filling his eye-sockets. Why was nothing ever simple? It simply wasn't fair. There should be no unhappiness in a world where one has a love to share one's bathtub. He considered telling her everything right then, but couldn't. How could he worry Sally with such a horrible thing? If he was truly to play the part of the romantic hero, he would need to fix this himself. Otherwise, what good was he? Anyone could give gifts, thought Jack. His damsel was in distress and needed saving. He'd done it once before, though in all reality he believed she had risked far more for him. Jack smiled at her.
"It's nothing to worry about, Sally. Paperwork problems, boring and tedious."
"You don't usually worry yourself with papers.", Sally said, a thread of doubt in her voice. She crept forward in the tub, closing the distance between them.
As they lay in bed that night, Jack indulged himself some rare vulnerability. He cuddled against Sally in the manner which she generally did to him. If Sally noticed that their positions were reversed, she did not say.
"The doctor was at the meeting this evening.", she murmured. "I saw him leaving, when I stood to go. I've not yet talked to him about whatever he wanted to ask me."
"Don't.", Jack answered quickly. "I don't think it was anything."
Jack rested his skull on her breast, listening to the stead beating within.