A/N: Here you are, loyal followers and favoriters! Sorry that this update took so long. Thank you ever so much for your support. The trio really appreciate it, too. Please review and let me know what you're thinking. It means so much that you're following and favoriting, but it's really discouraging to get next to no feedback. Reviews are love, and they are so encouraging. Please tell me what you think so far. To be honest, it's pretty thankless to upload new chapters and not hear a word. Hearing any of your thoughts would mean so much to me. …and there's a good chance that it could inspire further installments to come faster. Not trying to bribe or make anyone feel bad…just lonely typing out here all by myself. Alright, on with the show! PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE WITH SNAKE AND SPIDER STEW ON TOP REVIEW.

"Owch- you're pinching me!"

"Sorry." Sally apologized out of reflex. Mentally, she added, This would go much more smoothly if you'd hold still for longer than the space of a few blinks.

Shock scowled but extended her arm again. Sally stretched her tape measure along the length of the witch girl's arm and jotted the measurement down in a tiny, well-worn notebook.

As the gentle ragdoll tried to extend the tape along Shock's armspan, Shock fidgeted impatiently. "Can I get down now?"

If you want an outfit with an arm that's a foot longer than the other one. "Just one more minute." Sally promised.

Shock sighed gustily enough to send her tangly bangs fluttering. "Fine."

Mercifully, she held still. Taking advantage of this rare nugget of cooperation, Sally worked quickly. She took down a few additional measurements, checked others that she hadn't been quite sure about, and got a peek at Shock's hat size.

"Hey!" Shock complained, jamming her faithful hat back onto her head.

Sally made one last note in her notebook. "There! You're all done."

"Finally." The witch girl slid off the coffee table and hopped to the floor. "Alright, stinkhead- it's your turn."

Barrel trotted over to the table and obediently climbed onto it. As Sally wound the measuring tape around his waist, she noticed that there was something sticking out of his blue lips. "Is that- a popsicle stick?"

He peeked up at her to see if he was in trouble. Not seeing any indication of that yet, the skeleton boy hesitantly replied, "Yeth."

"Just a plain popsicle stick?"

He bobbed his head affirmatively. Sally felt a pinch of pity for Barrel. He was so used to parking something in his mouth all the time that he was willing to suck on a piece of wood from her craft drawer? She noted his waist measurement and moved on to his legs in silence.

Then, after a minute or so, the patchwork creation addressed both him and Shock.

"I'll tell you what. I'm going grocery shopping later this afternoon. If you come and help me, AND if you do the chores that Jack asks of you when he gets home tonight without complaining, you can pick out some candy at the store for each of you."

Both trick-or-treaters broke into toothy grins. "YAY!" they exclaimed.

Barrel's feet wriggled in a happy dance.

Sally couldn't help but smile. The smile slid away naturally as she continued to work. "I should tell Lock, too," she realized. "Where is he?"

Shock scoffed. "Oh, he's still up there pouting."

"Still?"

All of the trio had holed away in their room once they'd been dismissed from the previous night's most unpleasant house meeting. Neither Jack nor Sally had seen or heard any sign of them for the rest of the night or the following morning. Shock had been the first to emerge, slinking into the bathroom like Nightshade when she knew that Zero was nearby. Barrel had tiptoed into the kitchen around eleven. He'd stuffed his pockets and filled his mask with cold breakfast casserole and three forks, and then disappeared again without a word.

At one-thirty, Sally had tentatively knocked on their guest room door and asked if she could measure them to be fitted for some new clothes. Shock and Barrel had met her downstairs about half an hour later. She had yet to see or hear anything of Lock.

Barrel watched her working. "Are you really going to make us clothes?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Is it hard?" asked Shock.

"Not really," Sally replied, "But I've had lots of practice."

She finished with Barrel, and he climbed down. The youngest trick-or-treater peered up at her, trying to determine if he was dismissed. Shock was warily eyeing her with a similar expression.

The patchwork redhead nodded once. "You're free."

Not needing any further permission, Shock snatched Barrel's collar and spun him around to face her. Before he could reel, she towed him upstairs by the hand. With one last distrustful glance, she vanished into the hallway, Barrel in tow. * * *

"Pumpkin bread, pumpkin seeds, soap, dog biscuits, and potatoes," Shock dropped each item into the cart as she spoke its name.

Barrel toddled up to the cart. "I've got the tomatoes, the corn, the kidney beans, and the ground lizard meat!"

"Nice work," Sally praised, "That's just about everything on the list."

"Want us to go get anything else?" Barrel asked, hefting the bag of beans and the cans of corn into the cart.

Sally hastened to help him with the rest. "No, I can manage from here." She reached into her pocket, counted out several coins, and handed a few each to Shock and Barrel. "Meet me at the checkout once you're done picking out what you want."

Barrel arrived at the candy section a good ten seconds ahead of Shock. The two appraised their choices with a practiced eye. Both were flushed with the short-lived rush that came with the power to choose whatever they wanted. A burly shopkeeper paused in his shelving to roast them with an evil stare. Shock stuck her tongue out at him the moment that he turned back to his work. Barrel was too absorbed with the momentous decision before him to giggle. Soon Shock was just as deep in thought.

Naturally, Barrel selected a small rainbow of lollipops. Shock stood on tiptoe and plucked several of the trio's favorite kind of candy bar and a couple of licorice whips from their respective shelves. Then, wrinkling her substantial nose, she knelt down and picked up a box of Lemon Heads. Barrel had already added a bag of searing-hot cinnamon jawbreakers to his collection of lollipops. To the shopkeeper's bewilderment, they headed for the nearest checkout lane with nothing slipped into their pockets or stuffed down their socks. * * *

Lock turned his head halfway towards the door, attempting to convey disinterest as his comrades slipped inside. His white hand flicked out the moment that the bag left Barrel's hands. Surprise poked through the disinterest as he glanced down at the jawbreakers. Shock unceremoniously dropped the Lemon Heads into his lap and shook out her fingers as if handling the box had physically pained her.

She pulled the tail end of a licorice whip to the side of her mouth and mumbled, "Move your butt. We have to go downstairs."

Lock spared her a glance, still in the process of loading his left cheek with Lemon Heads. "Wha'? Why?"

"Jack wants us to make dinner." Barrel informed him, mumbling around a strawberry-scorpion lollipop.

Lock stared at him. "What?"

"We have to play nice in exchange for this candy," Shock explained.

Lock's hands knotted into fists. It wasn't so much the task itself as the conditions under which it had been assigned that made him explode, "He expects us to be happy about being stuck here with all these rules, and now we're supposed to cook for him too?"

Something dangerous sparked in his eyes, something that Shock and Barrel both recognized and didn't like at all.

"It's just some chili," Barrel stammered, "And Sally already helped us get started."

Lock snapped to his feet. "Chili, huh?"

He stalked from the room, accumulating speed with each stride. Shock chased after him, Barrel on her heels.

From another room, Zero whined piteously. Sally limped out of the kitchen, calling to the little ghost dog, "You didn't lose that rib again, did you?"

The devil boy darted into the kitchen and climbed onto the counter. Shock skidded into the kitchen seconds later. Barrel had a bit of trouble stopping and nearly bowled her over.

Lock unscrewed the lid from a jar of chili powder, growling, "I'll show THEM dinner!"

Then, before Shock or Barrel could climb up after him, he dumped several generous handfuls of the powder into the chili and vigorously stirred. * * *

Jack ended up spitting his first mouthful across three table places. Sally took Crampies deep into the night.