Lock's yellow eyes snapped open at the distant crow of the skeletal rooster and he immediately jumped out of bed, threw off his pajamas and pulled on his costume, then hurried out into the hall. Today was the big day and he was excited to get started on their adventure. He smelled something delicious and unfamiliar wafting from the kitchen - apparently Shock was already awake and preparing breakfast. He stopped at his younger cohort's room and pounded on the door. "Hey Barrel! Wake up!" he shouted, and before waiting for a reply he flung open the door and leapt right on top of his sleeping comrade and his wadded up nest of blankets. "Wake up!" he yelled again with a huge grin on his face as he started smothering the little ghoul with one of his own pillows, and Barrel was jolted unpleasantly awake and immediately began fighting back.
"Okay, okay, I'm awake already!" he muffled through the thin, lumpy pillow, and he managed to punch Lock in the ear but the little devil barely reacted.
"It's time to go get Sandy Claws!" Lock yelled, lifting the pillow off of his cohort's face and Barrel grinned up at him, equally excited to go bag that fat old man. "C'mon, slowpoke! Let's go see what Shock made for breakfast, it smells good!" Lock said happily as he jumped to his feet and threw the pillow back at Barrel's head, and Barrel actually managed to catch it this time before scrambling to his feet as well. He hurried out the bedroom door right behind Lock to see what their eldest cohort was cooking - getting dressed could wait until later, especially since it seemed likely his costume would still be damp from being washed the night before.
Both boys entered the kitchen just in time to see Shock taking a shallow iron cauldron off the stove top and placing it on the kitchen table. "What is that? It smells so good!" Barrel asked eagerly as Shock took the heavy lid off of the cauldron and set it aside.
"It's those little fluffy yellow birds from Easter Town that we caught. I cooked them with some mandrake and rye biscuits." she said proudly, taking off her thick, protective oven mitts.
Lock looked down into the cauldron and inhaled deeply, and it smelled so good that without even thinking about it he said, "This is amazing!" It was rare for him to be so openly complimentary of her cooking, so clearly this new recipe was a winner and it seemed likely that many more trips to Easter Town were in their future.
"I know, right?" Shock said with a smug little smile, but Lock was so focused on trying some of this new meal that he just stuck his tongue out at her without taking his eyes off of the steaming cauldron. "I figured we're probably going to have a long day so we need to have a really good, big breakfast! Plus it's supposed to be really cold in Christmas Town so hopefully this will help us stay warm."
Barrel rushed over to the silverware drawer and pulled out three tarnished spoons and a bent ladle while Lock retrieved three big bowls. The chicken-and-dumplings tasted just as great as it smelled and each child had several large servings while they chattered about the next order of business. Suddenly Barrel noticed something he hadn't earlier and asked:
"Why's my costume up there?"
Lock turned his head to look and saw that Barrel's little skeleton suit was dangling from a couple of nails in the wall above the stove instead of on the clothesline.
"I thought that the heat from the stove would help dry it out. We don't need you getting all cold and slowing us down in Christmas Town because your costume ices over or something." Shock said through a mouthful of breakfast, and once again Barrel was amazed by his older cohort's cleverness. "Anyway," she continued, "We'll take some of the kebabs from yesterday, a few of the extra biscuits and some Easter Town candy with us for lunch. You two send the traps down to Oogie Boogie and go load up the tub with everything else we'll need while I get the food packed. Got it?"
"Sure thing, bossy." Lock snickered and Shock threw a chunk of biscuit at him, but he had quick reflexes and easily caught it and popped it into his mouth with a grin. It was too delicious to waste on a food fight.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, gotten dressed, sent down the traps and packed up everything they needed into their walking bathtub, they all three took their dose of Sally's anti-allergy potion and headed out the back door and off into the woods. Several hours (and several fights) later they arrived at the ring of holiday trees and Barrel brought the tub to a stop right in front of the door that they now knew was shaped like a Christmas tree. Apparently the humans dressed up these strange green trees with little lights and baubles and used them as a sort of altar that Sandy Claws placed the presents beneath in exchange for milk and cookies. Shock said she thought that was a pretty lopsided arrangement and Lock agreed with her, saying that Sandy Claws must be a real sucker to let himself get ripped off like that. But Barrel thought that cookies in exchange for delivering presents didn't seem like too bad a deal, especially since according to the books Sandy's little helpers did most of the work making the toys anyway.
Lock hopped out of the tub, turned the shiny golden doorknob and peered inside, but it was just as dark as all the other doors they'd been through and he couldn't see a thing. "Ready?" he called as he clambered back into the tub and held on tightly.
"Ready!" his cohorts said together, and the tub lurched forward and down into the darkness. After visiting and returning from Easter Town two times already they pretty much knew what to expect during this part, but it was still an exciting thrill ride and they all shrieked happily as they fell down into the faint blue light below. Soon the air became rather chilly and flurries of white began swirling around them before they landed on a mound of cold, glittery white stuff which they had since learned was called 'snow'. The holiday doors behind them were all tall evergreens like Christmas trees, their branches weighed down by the snow and the children took note of the Jack-o-Lantern door that would take them back home. The sky was a bright, deep blue with greenish lights over the horizon, and the trio had to admit that the lights were actually kind of neat looking. Way down in the distance they could see the faint glow of what they assumed was the town and they started the tub off in that direction - though it moved much more slowly than usual through the deep drifts of snow with it's cold-stiffened joints.
"It really is cold here." Shock mumbled between her chattering teeth. She always ran a bit on the cool side anyway and this crisp, freezing air wasn't helping.
Being a devil, however, Lock always ran hot and he rolled his eyes at her. "You're such a wimp. It's not that bad."
For his part Barrel didn't usually feel too affected by whatever the temperature was unless it was quite extreme, though he generally preferred it to be a bit cooler. Christmas Town was considerably chillier than he would have liked, but it wasn't bothering him much at the moment because there were so many other things competing for his attention in this strange new world. All three children looked around in wide-eyed wonder, for even though they were a bit more prepared for Christmas Town than they were for Easter Town it was still rather overwhelming to be in such a radically different place. While they didn't quite understand Jack's enthusiasm for it, it certainly did feel like the polar opposite of their own world. The tub pushed through the snowdrifts and crested the hill, then they saw the town down in the valley… and if they thought Jack had gone overboard decorating their own town, it was nothing compared to the real thing: the brown buildings were absolutely covered in colorful little lights and evergreen garlands, their pointed roofs draped in thick blankets of snow, and all of the trees near the town were decorated with lights and little baubles, too.
"Well, at least it doesn't stink like flowers." Lock said as he sniffed the air. All he could detect was the scent of the evergreen trees all around them - which wasn't great, but it was still better than flowers.
"Where is everyone?" Barrel wondered out loud, for they didn't see a single soul out and about.
"Probably all inside because it's stupid cold out here!" grumbled Shock, and even though Lock didn't think it was that uncomfortably cold out, he thought that perhaps she might be right about everyone being inside.
"They must be… let's go down there and get a closer look. It's not Christmas yet so they can't all be in the Human World already."
As they drew nearer to the town they finally saw some creatures and they crouched low in the tub and peeked over the side. The tub was somewhat camouflaged against the snow, but the trick-or-treaters stood out like sore thumbs except for Lock and Barrel's stark white faces.
"What are those?" Barrel wondered again, for he didn't recall seeing little black and white bird-things that walked around on two legs with flipper-like wings in any of the Christmas books he had looked at.
"I don't know, but I bet Oogie would want to eat one!" Lock said eagerly, for these waddled about quite clumsily and seemed like they would be much easier to catch than those quick, four-legged woolly beasts from Easter Town. Plus if they tasted as good as the fluffy yellow birds they'd had for breakfast that morning then Lock might like to eat one himself.
"Later. Let's leave the tub here and go case the joint." said Shock, and Barrel flipped the faucet and they trundled behind a small grove of trees to park since it was much easier to be stealthy on their feet than in the big, bulky tub. Shock took her knife and some rope, Lock took the hatchet and a firecracker, and Barrel took their Sandy-Claws-catching sack and his lollipop and they crept down the hill, staying as close to the trees as they could. Some of the black and white little flipper-birds looked at them curiously, but the children still didn't see any humanoid creatures and they once again wondered where everyone was. Before long they came across what could only be described as a fortress made of snow with several piles of snowballs on either side. It reminded them strongly of the stone wall back home that they used as a barrier when they threw rocks, skulls and shrunken heads at one another while playing war games, and Lock was immediately itching for a fight. Why else would there be such a set up? He slid quickly down the snowy hill behind the fort, stuck his hatchet into the side of it for safekeeping and picked up a snowball… then he lobbed the snowball at Barrel, beaning him right in the face and Shock couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey!" spluttered Barrel, wiping the cold, wet snow out of his eyes and he just barely managed to dodge the second snowball that Lock sent his way. The little ghoul ran down the hill towards another pile of snowballs, and he was actually able to walk and stand easier on the snow than his cohorts because his wide feet acted almost like snowshoes. Meanwhile Lock threw a snowball at Shock and it hit the top of her hat and exploded, covering the brim with snow.
"Oh no you don't!" she giggled as she slipped and slid her way down the hill to join in, her instinct to play temporarily overpowering their mission. Lock aimed a second snowball at her, but before he could launch it he was struck in the back by a snowball from Barrel so he quickly turned around and threw it at his younger cohort instead. While Lock's back was turned Shock scooped up a snowball and threw it at him, nailing him right in the back of his head. Lock then narrowed in on her instead of Barrel and she stuck out her tongue as she hurried around to the other side of the fort, squealing and laughing as both boys pelted her with snowballs.
"You're gonna get it now!" Lock hollered, and Shock was too caught up in the fun to remember to tell him to be quiet. Lock started forming a snowball of his own, packing the snow tightly with his hands to make one even bigger than the others. He planned to throw it right in Shock's face and hopefully knock her over, but Barrel decided to take this opportunity while Lock was distracted.
"Hey Lock!" he giggled, and when the little devil turned to look he smacked him right in the face with a big, wet snowball, and even Barrel was surprised because his aim usually wasn't that good.
"Why you…!" Lock spluttered, and he decided to heck with just throwing the snowballs. He chased after his younger cohort and by the time Barrel turned around to run it was too late - Lock grabbed him by the costume and shoved a huge handful of snow right down the back of his pants. Barrel tripped and landed face-first with his pants halfway down his rear, his little bare backside as white as the snow and Lock laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe for a few seconds.
"Ew!" Shock giggled when she poked her head around the side of the fort to see what was going on and why Lock was laughing so hard. Lock pantsed Barrel on a semi-regular basis so it certainly wasn't the first time she'd seen part of his butt, but that didn't make it any less gross. Fortunately for Lock - but unfortunately for Barrel - Lock was much more difficult to pants because his tail helped keep them in place, but that didn't stop Barrel from trying anyway. He struggled to get up but Lock jumped on top of him, holding him down and cramming more snow down his pants until Barrel was finally able to roll over. He made a grab for Lock's clothes with one hand and got a snowball with the other, and despite the distraction of Lock shoving snow in his face Barrel finally managed to yank the little devil's pants down just enough to stuff the snowball in them. Hot-blooded though he may be, even Lock found the snow directly against his naked skin quite unpleasant and he doubled-down on trying to get as much snow under Barrel's clothing as possible in retaliation. Much as Shock really didn't want to see any part of her cohorts's bare bottoms, it was still pretty hilarious and she continued to throw snowballs at them both as they rolled around on the ground. "Boys are so gross!" she cackled, but she really should have known better because all that did was cause Lock and Barrel to team up against her.
"Let's get her!" said Lock with a wicked look on his face, and Shock's eyes widened and she made a run for it as they both got up and pulled their pants all the way back on so they could pursue her. Barrel caught up to her with his wide, snowshoe feet and he tackled her around the middle, sending her hat flying as she fell to the ground. "Hold her down!" Lock yelled gleefully as he caught up to them both, and Shock shrieked and struggled but it was no use. Lock yanked the collar of her dress away from her neck and shoved as much snow down her back as he could, and she swore at the icy cold snow against her bare skin and flailed wildly, then managed to punch him in the jaw and kick Barrel in the leg, dangerously close to his crotch. Barrel decided it would be wise to get off of her before she actually managed to get him where it hurt the most so he rolled away and stood up, bracing himself for an attack from either of his cohorts.
"I'm gonna murder both of you!" Shock threatened through chattering teeth, but before she could enact her revenge there came a loud, musical chime of what sounded like very big bells and they all quickly ducked down behind the fort. In all the fun they had forgotten that there were supposed to be people around and it only just dawned on them how loud they were being - they could only hope those bells weren't an alarm and that Sandy Claws and his minions weren't coming to take them prisoner or worse. All three children peeked cautiously around the fort and suddenly there were many little humanoid creatures rushing through the street, jabbering excitedly together as they went from one building to another.
"There they are! Sandy's helpers. What are they called again?" Barrel whispered, even though they were clearly too far away for anyone to hear them.
"Elves!" Shock answered, keeping her sharp black eyes trained on the flow of said elves and searching for any sign of Sandy Claws himself.
"Where's Sandy Claws?" asked Lock, not bothering to whisper - then he went off on a tangent: "Hey, how cool would it be if I threw the ax at him from here and it hit him in the back? I bet I could do it! That'd take him out for sure!" He grinned evilly and ran his fingertip along the top of the hatchet blade. Barrel agreed that would be quite cool, but before he could say so Shock glared at Lock like he was the stupidest thing she'd ever seen.
"You are the biggest idiot of all time! If we kill Sandy Claws, Jack will kill us! And maybe Oogie Boogie would kill us, too, because we're supposed to bring Sandy to him after Jack!"
"It probably wouldn't kill him! He's magical, remember?" Lock protested. Honestly, Shock was such a party-pooper, always picking apart his awesome ideas.
"Being able to fly up a chimney isn't the same as not dying when someone sticks you with an ax, stupid!" she snarled. Honestly, Lock was such a moron, never taking the time to think for two seconds before spouting off some dumb idea. Lock stuck his tongue out at her, but inside he had to admit that she was right. The trio continued to observe the citizens of Christmas Town, but they didn't see anyone who looked like they might be their target and before too long all of the elves had disappeared into buildings once more. "Weird, I wonder what that was all about?" puzzled Shock.
"Maybe they went to get lunch!" Barrel suggested, for his own growling tummy was telling him it was about that time. They walked back up the hill to where they'd stashed the tub and hurriedly wolfed down their meal of kebab, biscuit and Easter candy - walking through the cold snow used up a lot of energy and their impromptu snowball fight used up even more, so it was fortunate that they'd packed plenty of food. Just as they were headed back down to town the same loud, melodious bells rang out and the trick-or-treaters hid behind the snow fort once more as the elves exited their homes and headed back to wherever they'd come from. It looked like the majority of them were headed in the same direction, so the children decided that was where they should follow and once the streets were empty again they pressed up close against the side of the first building they came to and poked their heads around the corner to get a good look at what seemed to be the main square.
There was a train platform with a small, jolly-looking locomotive parked at it, and not far away from that was a little carousel featuring strange animals that the children didn't recognize and a large gazebo with risers that appeared to be used for concerts. Everything was ridiculously cute and while it wasn't quite as bad as Easter Town, it was still pretty repulsive. Music was playing from what must have been hidden speakers along the streets and the trio thought they recognized a few of the songs from the Halloween Town band practicing them at Jack's behest. "C'mon…" Lock gestured to his cohorts and led them to the largest building, and they pressed their little faces up against a window to look inside.
"Whoa…" said Barrel, and although they stayed quiet, his cohorts definitely agreed. Inside was a bustling factory filled with dozens upon dozens of elves who were busily cranking out dozens upon dozens of toys - and that was just what they could see through one window. They knew in theory about how Sandy made and brought toys to all of the human children, but seeing it in action was incredibly impressive - much more so than their own town's efforts. The Halloween Town citizens may have work ethic and enthusiasm (well, Jack had enthusiasm, at least), but here was a well-oiled Christmas-magic machine… and the temptation to throw a wrench in that well-oiled machine was calling out to the trick-or-treaters little prankster hearts.
"Let's get in there and mess something up!" snickered Lock, but as fun as that sounded, Shock wasn't sure it was the right time.
"Hang on, we gotta be careful! There's enough elves in there to mess us up if we get caught!" she murmured. She was picturing elves attacking her and her cohorts like a swarm of piranhas and she wanted to wait and watch for just a little bit longer to try and determine where all the exits were for this building and how the elves seemed to move around within it, then perhaps they could find the right place and the right time to sneak in without being seen…
"Jack said he lives in the biggest house, so he's gotta be here!" Lock insisted, interrupting her train of thought.
Barrel scratched absently at his little pug nose. "This isn't really a house, though, is it? More like a factory or something."
"Shut up, dummy! Like you know anything!" Lock sneered, but Shock was ignoring them both.
"Look, that building over there is just as big, we need to look in that one, too." She pointed across the street to an equally large building with many chimneys that were pumping out lots of smoke.
"Yeah, maybe Sandy Claws practices going up and down the chimneys in there!" Barrel said, feeling quite proud of his deductive reasoning, but Shock rolled her eyes.
"You're so dumb. Sandy Claws has been going up and down chimneys forever, why the crap would he need to practice?"
Lock snickered and added, "Yeah, just because you stink at everything and have to practice all the time doesn't mean everyone else does."
"I do not!" Barrel pouted, following along begrudgingly behind his cohorts as they made their way over to that second, many-chimneyed building, but he immediately cheered up when they looked in the windows and found another factory - but this one was cranking out cookies very similar to the ones Sally had made for them several weeks ago. "Oooh! Let's go in this one! Sandy Claws likes cookies, so maybe he's in here!" he said gleefully, rubbing his hands together both out of excitement and trying to keep them warm. Secretly he was hoping they could steal some cookies, and fortunately his cohorts agreed with him this time. They snuck around to the back of the building and found what looked like an emergency exit and Lock pulled his handy lock picking set out of his pocket, but the door was already unlocked. When they cracked open the door they were immediately hit with the incredibly strong - and incredibly delicious - scent of gingerbread and peppermint and all three of their mouths began to water. The elves were so focused on their tasks that it was quite easy for the trick-or-treaters to sneak around - though Shock did leave her tall, pointy hat outside to make it easier for her to stay out of sight - and they made their way over to hide behind one of the very large brick ovens that was cranking out a seemingly endless flow of cookies. The bricks were radiating a cozy, comfortable heat and Shock and Barrel stood right up against it to dry the melted snow from their clothes and warm up. Lock stayed just close enough to the bricks to dry out his costume, but before long he was starting to feel a bit too warm and the cookies smelled so good that he was tired of waiting.
"Let's set off the firecracker to distract everybody and then we can steal some cookies!" he whispered.
"Plus maybe Sandy Claws will come and check out the damage!" added Shock, fluffing out her finally-dry dress.
"Yeah, that too!" said Lock, though really all he was concerned about at the moment was acquiring the cookies. Barrel stayed near the conveyor belt where the freshly-baked cookies came out of the oven while Lock and Shock crept over to a machine that was producing a lot of steam to hide behind. She aimed the rocket at a window across the room and Lock pulled a match out of his pocket, lit the fuse, and then the rocket went screaming across the room and broke right through the far window, shattering glass all over the sparkling clean tile floor. Not all of the elves stopped working, but the resulting chaos was enough for Barrel to grab several good handfuls of cookies before all three of them slipped right back out the door and out of sight behind a neighboring building. They ate the cookies while they watched for Sandy Claws, but apparently one broken window wasn't enough to call the king to investigate so eventually they gave up.
"Let's go back to the toy factory, maybe he's in there making sure his slaves aren't slacking off." suggested Lock as he licked the cookie crumbs off of his fingers, and his cohorts nodded in agreement. Then they all three snuck back to the toy factory once again, hoping to coax Sandy Claws out into plain view so they could bag him.