Chapter 8: Dangerous Shoes

When Amanda put on her fortune-teller costume that afternoon, she was pleased with the full skirts that swirled as she turned around in front of the mirror. The scarves were a colorful addition that made her look more exotic, and the gold hoop earrings were a nice touch. It was only the shoes that her mother had bought to go with the outfit that gave her pause.

Amanda hadn't given any thought to wearing special shoes with the costume, but her mother had surprised her at the last minute with a pair of spiky-heeled shoes in an unusual shade of purple. It was a thoughtful gift, but the heels were unusually high. Amanda wobbled unsteadily as she took her first steps in them.

"How is the costume, dear?" Dotty asked as Amanda came downstairs.

"It's beautiful, Mother, but I think these shoes were a mistake," Amanda said as she teetered on the stairs, hanging onto the banister for dear life. She knew that she was going to have to be careful not to turn an ankle in these things.

"Nonsense! They look beautiful, Amanda."

"But I feel like I'm about to break my neck. How do you walk in these things?"

"It just takes practice. I once practiced for two hours in shoes just like those because I was going to a dance with your father, and they were the only shoes that I could find in his favorite color . . ."

"Did you get the phone earlier?" Amanda interrupted. "I thought I heard it ringing."

"I missed the call. I was trying to stop the Great Pumpkin War going on in the kitchen. Do you know those boys are still fighting over those pumpkins we bought the other day?"

Amanda could hear the argument going on in the next room. "Calm down, boys!" she called to them. "If you can't carve your pumpkins without fighting, you won't get to carve them at all!"

The argument didn't stop, but the boys lowered their voices to stage whispers.

"Don't worry about them," Dotty said. "I'll make sure it doesn't escalate to bloodshed."

"I was afraid that Mrs. Kelly might be calling. She's supposed to pick me up soon."

Mrs. Kelly had called Amanda earlier that afternoon and insisted on giving her a ride to the school so that she would "be on time." Amanda hadn't wanted to accept, but Mrs. Kelly had hung up before she could tell her that the ride wasn't necessary.

"Maybe I should change shoes before she gets here," Amanda said.

"But those shoes are so perfect for that outfit," Dotty said. "I saw a movie with a gypsy woman in it who wore shoes just like that, and she did this dance . . . oh, your ride is here!"

Sighing, Amanda reluctantly grabbed her purse and hurried out to the car. At least, she hurried as fast as her wobbly shoes would let her.

Amanda pulled the front passenger door open and saw Mrs. Kelly giving her lipstick a last-minute check in the vanity mirror. She wasn't wearing her costume yet, which wasn't surprising because it included a hoop skirt that would have made it impossible for her to drive. Amanda could see the dry cleaning bag on the backseat. Although the bag covered the dress almost completely, Amanda knew what it was because Mrs. Kelly had bragged about it repeatedly to anyone who would listen.

Mrs. Kelly glanced at Amanda as she took her seat.

"That's a very nice costume, Amanda," she said.

"Thank you," Amanda said, surprised by the compliment.

"Looking at you, I have no difficulty believing that you tell fortunes out of a tent for a living," Mrs. Kelly continued.

Amanda gritted her teeth.

"Where are your children, Mrs. Kelly? I thought that Jason and Sandra would be with you."

"They're coming to the carnival later with friends. Now, I want you to take these," Mrs. Kelly said, handing Amanda a paper bag decorated with little stars and moons. "There are Groucho Marx glasses in here to hand out to anyone who visits your tent without a costume. There are also a dozen shriekers. I want you to give these out to the first twelve children who come to your tent. Hopefully, their friends will see them and want some, too. In fact, you should keep a couple of them on the table next to your crystal ball. This pink one is for you to keep. You can turn it on sometimes to attract attention and get people interested in getting shriekers of their own."

"Oh, yeah, that will get attention alright," Amanda thought. "But people will be a hurry to leave the area, not buy more of these. I just hope the kids' parents won't hate us for giving them these things."

Amanda accepted the paper bag from Mrs. Kelly with a small smile. She studied the bright pink skull that Mrs. Kelly gave her to keep and tried to decide whether the color made it look less scary or more scary.

Mrs. Kelly spent the drive to the school carrying on a one-sided conversation about her husband and their important friends.

"It's such a nuisance having the carnival this weekend," she said. "Of course, I know that the carnival is traditionally held the weekend before Halloween. Having it on a weekday would still be an inconvenience, but if it hadn't been this weekend, my husband and I could have gone to Senator Parker's party. My husband and Mr. Goreman, the president of his company, are both very good friends of Senator Parker. The Parkers were devastated when they found out that we couldn't attend."

"I'll bet they were," Amanda thought, although she didn't actually say it. More likely, the senator was really friends with the president of Goreman Electronics and the Kellys were only invited as a favor to him.

"It reminds me of the time when Senator Carstairs and his family . . . Well, you've heard of the Carstairs family, haven't you? Well, anyway, Senator Carstairs . . ."

Amanda stopped paying attention and let her mind wander. She wondered what Lee was doing now. Probably something a lot more interesting than listening to Mrs. Kelly boast.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Amanda's station wagon was still in the driveway, so Lee was hopeful as he circled around behind the house. He carefully positioned himself under the kitchen window and listened to the conversation taking place inside. Dotty and the boys were in the kitchen, and they were talking loudly about something.

"That's my pumpkin!"

"No, it's not!"

"It's the one I picked out!"

"No, I picked this one!"

"Boys!" Dotty said firmly. "Calm down! Those pumpkins look the same to me."

"No, they're not," one of the boys protested. "That one is—"

"They're both very nice, and they'll make fine jack-o-lanterns. Now, hurry up and carve them. Remember, we've got to get everything cleaned up in time to meet your mother down at the carnival."

The carnival! Lee groaned inwardly, scuttling out of Amanda's garden and back to his car. Amanda must have already left to help set up. She'd probably gotten a ride from one of the other PTA ladies. One of these days, he'd have to seriously consider putting a tracking device on her.