The three children walked through the streets of Halloween Town, weaving their way through the residential area. Shock led the pack, carrying black roses in a black lace sleeve. They were eager to set their plan in motion. When they got to the square, they saw the doctor and grinned at each other. Shock hurried over.
"Doctor? Have you seen Sally?" she asked gaily.
"She was heading home with some sewing supplies," Dr. Finkelstein said. His gaze sharpened and acid filled his voice. "Why? Does Oogie want to see her?"
"Oh, no," Shock said happily, pretending to be oblivious. "We just got her flowers to celebrate!"
The doctor paused. He took off his glasses and polished them on his coat, squinting at them with watery grey eyes. "Celebrate what? It's not her creation day. That's not for a couple of months."
Shock beamed, her insides squirming with glee. "Didn't she tell you? Jack proposed at dinner the other night! Oogie congratulated them with absinthe, but we don't like the taste of that stuff. So we got her flowers! Roses! And not just any roses, but black ones! We had to travel to the far west to get them, near the bogs in the Twilight Gardens. But I think Sally will like them."
A green flush rose in the doctor's cheeks, and rage flashed in his eyes. "Is that so?" he asked icily. "No, Sally might have forgotten to mention that. So they're engaged? Got a date set yet?"
"I don't know. They started talking about boring grown up stuff so we went to play games," Shock said. She held out the flowers. "Would you give these to Sally? Tell her they're from us to congratulate her."
The doctor took the bouquet of black roses and studied them. The thorns pricked through his gloves as he squeezed the stems, but no blood came out. The doctor was just as dead as everybody else in Halloween Town, but the children knew it still hurt. He bared his teeth in a smile that was more of a grimace.
"Thank you, children. I'm sure she'll love them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be getting back home."
"Have a good day, Doc!" Barrel called.
The three children watched him go then burst out laughing. They leaned against the fountain as they reveled in the mischief they had just perpetrated. Jack walked by, talking with the Mayor, and he paused and looked over the children.
"And what are you three up to?" he asked pleasantly.
The children grinned at him and shrugged.
"Eh, just having fun," Lock said, his green eyes dancing.
Shock smiled prettily, her brown eyes gleaming. "Such a nice day. Chilly and yet pleasantly sunny. We just wanted to see what was going on."
Barrel giggled, but there was unease in the pit of his stomach. Though Jack had no eyes, he seemed to see everything. Out of the three of the children, he was the one with the most doubts about all their plans. He'd always run with them—they were the only ones who had accepted him when they were alive after all—but he had always been less inclined toward naughtiness. Still, he couldn't let them down, so he just waved his fingers at Jack.
"Got any candy?" he asked.
Jack tapped his chin as the Mayor shifted from foot to foot, uneasy about being near "Boogie's Boys" as he called them. Jack finally smiled and reached into his pocket. He pulled out three old gold coins and handed one to each of the children. Shocked, they blinked up at him then looked down at their treasure.
"Get something at the Witch's Shoppe. My treat."
Barrel was the only one who spoke, stammering out a shy, "Thanks, Jack."
"You're most welcome. I suggest the cakes. They just baked them fresh," he said jovially. With a wink and a wave, Jack turned back to the Mayor and began talking again.
The three children stood stock still, surprised by Jack's generosity. There were several currencies in Halloween Town, and old-fashioned gold coins were some of the best. They could each get several items at the shop for this kind of money. Barrel shifted and looked up at the others.
"Should we tell him what we did?" he asked in a small voice.
Lock and Shock glanced at each other and sniffed.
"It'll serve him right to get yelled at," Shock said, her nose in the air.
"Yeah. You worry too much. We'll have Oogie back for ourselves. And that snooty Pumpkin King would stop us from having all our fun, anyway!"
Barrel looked back at his coin and curled his small fingers around the pretty gold. He thought of Jack, smiling and friendly, of Sally, so pretty and kind, and of the rage that filled the doctor's eyes at the news. He swallowed, afraid of what they had done. He didn't deserve a treat. He shoved the gold in his pocket and kicked at the stones with his bare feet.
"Let's go and get something!" Shock exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Lock crowed. "Like a big slice of Elda's apple pie!"
Barrel nodded and followed his friends, his stomach in knots. He hoped that the doctor wouldn't be too angry at Sally and Jack. They didn't deserve to be yelled at. 'But I do,' he thought glumly.
Riker Finkelstein was none too happy about the news that his daughter was engaged to Jack Skellington. Rage bubbled in his veins and clouded his mind as he wheeled up to his home, across the great acid moat he'd created. How could Sally do this to him? It was like she was rewarding Jack for becoming friends with Oogie again! What had he done to deserve such treason?
Rolling up the walkway, he opened the door and slammed it shut after going inside. He looked down in the flickering electric lights at the bundle of roses in his lap and he threw them aside. His hand ached from the thorns, but the sting started to lessen as soon as he wasn't squeezing them to death. A benefit of being dead was that healing was quick. No blood, no mess, just flesh filling in holes or gashes. Sure some things were difficult to heal, but it still took much less time than the living.
"Sally!" Riker roared. "Where are you?"
Sally's voice came from the second story, the floor below his lab with their bedrooms. "I'm in my room!"
Sally heard the whir of her father's wheelchair echoing in the tower as he began to come up the ramp. She knew something was wrong. He rarely sounded so angry anymore, not since he'd relaxed the rules and allowed her freedom. She braced herself for his anger, but she stayed seated on her bed, calmly stitching a new patchwork dress.
It took several minutes for him to reach her room, and he shoved the door open so hard that it bounced off the metal wall. A note reverberated through her room, and she looked up to see rage etched into the features of the doctor. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his cheeks had a green flush, such as most of the dead residents had when embarrassed or angry.
"Is something the matter?" Sally asked warily.
"You! How could you accept? And how dare you not tell me!"
A niggling suspicion filled Sally's head, but she stayed relaxed. "What are you talking about?"
The doctor straightened in his chair and bellowed. "You're engaged to Jack!"
Sally nodded. "Yes. He proposed two nights ago. And I said yes."
"Unacceptable! You will break off this engagement at once!"
"No."
Riker's face was even darker green now. "What do you mean no? I created you! I gave you life! I cared for you and provided for you and fed you! And now you're betraying me by going off and getting married to the first man who asks? What kind of daughter would do this to her father?"
Sally sat still, her new dress in her lap. "You were fine with it last year. Jack asked for your blessing and you gave it. Unless Jack lied and you didn't give him your blessing."
Riker paused and looked conflicted. Sally knew that she'd stunned him. He had given his blessing, and now he had changed his mind. She had several guesses about why, but she said nothing else as he stewed.
"Things change!" he finally spat. "Now, you will break off this engagement! Am I understood?"
"And if I don't?"
"Then you will leave this house!"
Sally didn't move as her father wheeled around and tugged her door closed. She could tell that he thought he'd won. Picking up the needle and thread, she continued to stitch at her dress as she thought. She wasn't going to give in and break off the engagement. But where would she live?
Jack's house was the one that came to mind, but that would be inappropriate. They were engaged after all, and Jack was very traditional. So where could she go? She wasn't close to many of the people in town. Then she paused. Oogie might take her in. He had plenty of room in his Treehouse.
With a place in mind, Sally finished her new purple patchwork dress then began to pack. She packed the sewing supplies, her new dress, two older dresses, and a few odds and ends. Snapping the suitcase closed, she leaned on it for a moment. Was she really doing this? What if Oogie didn't take her in? Could she sleep in the cemetery perhaps? Whatever she did, she would not give in to her father's whims.
Heaving the suitcase up, she opened her door and made her way down the ramp. Nerves made her feel as if electricity danced under her skin, and she mused that if she were human, her heart would be thundering like it had when Jack had found her with the wolves. She set the suitcase by the door then walked down to the kitchen and started the doctor's supper. This was the last thing she would do for him until he relaxed again, she told herself.
After the rodent casserole was done, she made him a large plate and carried it back up to the main floor then up the ramp to the second. She buzzed the elevator for the lab, and it descended. Stepping onto the round metal plate that was a makeshift elevator, she waited patiently as it carried her up into his lab.
"I brought dinner," she said evenly.
The doctor nodded and gestured for her to set it down. She did. Then she took a deep breath.
"I've considered what you've said. And I've come to a decision."
The doctor nodded. "It's for the best. You don't know what Jack is like around Oogie. He's wild. Uncivilized. You'll find somebody else."
"No. You don't understand. I have thought about what you've said. But I haven't changed my mind. I will marry Jack. No matter how much you complain or what you say, I'm going to marry him. So I'm leaving home as per your instructions."
The doctor jerked his head around and gazed at his daughter in astonishment. "What?"
Sally remained poised on the outside as panic and terror clawed at her. "I've moved all the kitchen supplies back to how it was before I was made. You should be able to reach whatever you need. I don't know when I'll see you next, but I hope you change your mind."
Sally turned and walked back over to the elevator, feeling light-headed from her gall. As she sank back down to the second floor, she saw her father staring in dismay at her. She kept his gaze until he was out of sight then she shivered.
She made her way down the ramp, looking around one last time. When she reached the door, she picked up her suitcase and mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. She could feel her father staring at her back, silently demanding that she stop. Standing tall, she opened the door and walked out. She hoped Oogie would be accommodating as she made her way across the metal walkway that spanned the acid river. If he wasn't, she'd be sleeping in the cemetery that night.
Riker stood still as the door closed behind his daughter. He was reeling from the news that she was moving out. Where would she go? What would she do for food? Terror slowly began to wrap around his heart. Everything was crumbling. He'd lost Jack. He'd lost the security of their friendship. And now he'd lost Sally. Oogie was taking everything away from him! He had to do something before it was too late! He just didn't know what that something was.
