The racket of hammering, sawing, and bickering swelled to fill the dead air. Two witches hovering near the roof of the Town Hall struggled to balance an unwieldy beam of wood between them.
"A little further to the left," the taller of the two ordered her companion.
The short, squat companion obeyed, sending them both into a giddy half-spiral.
"MY left!" squawked the taller witch, tipping nearly off her broom.
The shorter witch wobbled like an egg that's been set down on a kitchen counter, struggling to hold up her end of the beam. On the ground, the man with the axe in his head pushed a wheelbarrow full of bricks past the Harlequin Demon and the Mayor, as the latter held boards in place while the former hammered in nails. The Mayor shrieked as the hammer came down squarely on his thumb. Several townspeople turned towards the source of the piercing complaint. Testy from working under the hot jack-o-lantern sun, the bipolar politician shook the offended digit in the Harlequin's face.
"My thumb is not a nail!"
Every bit as crabby as his workmate, the Harlequin sneered, "Well, I can't help it if your fingers are fatter than mallow pumpkin candies!"
Straining to steady a ladder that the Behemoth was precariously perched upon, the Wolfman snarled, "Thumbs don't even really count as fingers!"
The demon threw down his hammer; the Mayor screeched and immediately began hopping around clutching his foot. "Yes they do!"
"Rrr- no they don't!" the Wolfman insisted, his back legs straining as his feet scraped to stay put.
As the quarrel continued, Sally gingerly picked her way through a minefield of nails, splashes of paint, and various discarded tools of all shapes and sizes. Her eyes roved uncertainly over the workers, looking for anyone who wasn't either flying off the handle or engaged in a task that required uninterrupted hand-eye coordination. Her tiny hands folded, then unfolded, then folded again. The tear-away-face clown veered towards her, clasping several cans of paint in his arms. His unicycle teetered at an impossible angle.
"Looking for Jack?"
"Yes. Have you seen him?"
"Last I saw, he was back that way." The clown pointed with a blue can of paint to the west.
"Oh. Thank you."
"Sure!" The creepy clown sped around to the back of the hall. His disappearance was followed very shortly by a crash and several metallic clunks. Sally winced. As it happened, Jack found her before she found him. He hailed her, a smile brightening his skull as he waved.
"Sally!"
The redheaded ragdoll smiled and waved back. The Pumpkin King met her halfway to his work area and offered her his arm. "Be careful- there's nails."
"I know." She took his arm. "Thank you."
Something in her expression caught his attention, and he stopped walking. "What's happened?" Then, out of the corner of his sockets, he noticed the three tiny shapes slouching in the shadow of the Mayor's hearse. * * * *
Every kid in the pews looked up as the Undersea Gal pulled the hall's side door open. The trio shuffled in quickly, keeping their heads down. A small mummy and a corpulent corpse boy hastily scooted down about half a pew. Lock led his cohorts to the freed space, and they all reluctantly sat down.
Shock picked moodily at a thread that was poking out of her black leggings. "'Go watch a movie with the other children', he says."
"Like we're too little to help with the repairs," Barrel added.
Lock glared at the television that had been set up on the stage at the front of the room, not really looking at the unnaturally colored animated figures on the screen.
"He was getting rid of us," the devil boy muttered darkly.
None of the three were really in the mood for a snack when the Undersea Gal started passing around napkins loaded with greasy stove-popped popcorn. * * * *
Jack and Sally sat on the front steps, deep in thought.
Jack frowned, tapping the side of his skull. "I can arrange for the tree house to be rebuilt, but starting from scratch like that will take some time."
"Maybe they could stay with the Corpse family, or someone else who has children," Sally suggested.
A spluttering emanated from the break tent as Mr. Corpse choked on his cup of refreshing lemonade. Other parents within earshot made themselves as small as possible.
Jack coughed awkwardly. "Good idea. Let's make that Plan B." He kneaded his lower jawbone with thumb and forefinger, frowning thoughtfully. "What about a human foster home?" he wondered, thinking out loud.
Almost instantly, both he and Sally declared, "No."
"That wouldn't be fair to the humans," Jack sighed.
The two were quiet for some time, mulling over their options.
"Well," Sally ventured, after a while, "Wherever they end up staying will have to be big enough for the original tenants to put some space between themselves and their guests, and vice versa."
Jack nodded. "Definitely. And a yard big enough for getting energy out is also a must."
"The owners will have to have a lot of food."
"And enough authority to keep the three in line, like Oogie used t…." Jack trailed off. He looked at Sally and saw that she was already on board. The skeleton king rested his chin in one hand. "Fiddlesticks." * * * *
By the time the movie ended, most of the damage caused by the earlier storm had been repaired. As the other children left the hall with their parents, Jack and Sally met the trio in the center aisle.
"How was the movie?" Jack asked, kneeling down.
Barrel shivered. "All aboard the nope train!"
He, Lock, and Shock jogged in a circle, chanting in unison, "Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga NOPE NOPE!"
Jack chuckled. "Well, maybe next time we should show something G-rated."
Shock cut to the chase. "What is it, Jack?"
Jack clasped his hands. "I have some news for you." * * * *
"Whaaat?" Shock and Barrel yelped.
Lock's eyes snapped. "No way!"
Jack looked like he was developing a headache. "I know that this is going to be a big adjustment, but it'll only be for a little while- until we can get you settled into the tree again."
Lock's tail lashed. His fists tightened involuntarily at his sides. "You can't make us!"
The Pumpkin King's sockets hooded. "Actually, I can."
Lock scowled at his foot as it squeaked across the aisle's slick surface.
Shock elbowed him, as if to say, 'Good job, moron!'.
Lock shoved her, and Barrel took a step back. Shock's eyes narrowed, and she kicked Lock so hard that he squeaked.
Barrel yanked on Shock's arm. "Stop it!"
The witch girl whipped around and punched him in the nose. The tension that had been building inside them all afternoon exploded, and the three transformed into a screaming tangle of limbs and teeth. It happened so fast that Jack only reacted when the screams started.
He darted forward. "Hey hey hey!"
Barrel shrieked. Lock's tail audibly thwacked on someone's flesh. Shock's teeth and nails flashed. Sally hurriedly hobbled to Jack's side, and both grownups reached into the fray. Jack didn't discriminate; he just grabbed two scruffs and pulled. He held Shock and Barrel as far apart as his arms would stretch. Sally scooped up Lock and restrained his arms as best she could. He continued to thrash and kick. Shock was screeching and Barrel was yelling and crying.
Jack's sockets narrowed. "That's ENOUGH!"
Upset as they were, all three trailed off into silence and fell still. Jack drew himself up to his full height.
"We're going back to Skellington Manor, and you three are not to touch each other or say a single word unless I tell you otherwise!" Every one of his pointed teeth was bared. "Have I made myself perfectly clear?"
Three little nods.
Jack set Shock and Barrel on their feet. Sally lowered Lock to the ground. The walk back was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Barrel. When she noticed that the skeleton boy was limping, Sally picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to the manor. More than halfway into the trip, Lock got his nerve up and raised his hand. Jack nodded once and acknowledged him. "Yes?"
The devil boy wrung his tail in one hand. "What are you going to do with us?" he muttered.
Jack's brow knitted. "Well, for starters, you're going to help clean up the messes that you've made."
For once, not one of the three had a thing to say. * * * *
Shock pulled the guest bed's sheets tighter around her. Not three feet away, Lock tried to get comfortable on an overstuffed chaise lounge. Barrel lay curled up like a dead bug on an air mattress in the corner. The manor was so quiet that they could hear ghosts moaning off in the distance. Lock tossed and turned and punched his pillow. Shock turned over onto her tummy. Somewhere in the massive old place, a pipe creaked. The trio lay still as the manor settled eerily around them, feeling their separate aches and pains. All three were significantly bandaged and taped up. They had yet to break Jack's earlier speak-unless-spoken-to rule.
Something creaked across the floor, thumping periodically as it went. Shock twitched as her mattress juddered. She rolled onto her side and sat up on one elbow and noticed that the chaise lounge was now pressed flush against her bed. Lock's yellow eyes met her green ones. Without a word, the witch girl slipped out from under the covers and slid down to the floor. Her tiny feet barely made a sound as they hit the floor. She crept to one end of the air mattress and Lock to the other. Without a word, they dragged the air mattress to the guest bed and pressed it against the foot.
Barrel's head came up. The other two only met his eyes for a second before looking away and climbing back onto their respective mattresses. The skeleton boy was still for another minute. Then, without a word, he crawled into the guest bed and joined Lock and Shock in the middle of said bed. The three curled up in a knot of limbs and pillows. Shock reached out and pulled a comforter over them. Then, without a word, the trio closed their eyes.
A/N: Hello, dear readers! Hope you liked! I shall update whenever inspiration hits, and inspiration is a fickle creature. Therefore, weekly updates shall be tried for, but cannot be promised. ..if that makes any sense. Did you know that every time you review, an author gets its wings? Please leave a review, whatever you're thinking so far…they really do mean the world.
P.S. The kids watched Coraline.