| Halloween this year falls on a Saturday, with a full moon none the less. The folks of Biddlesvale like to decorate. All week scarecrows and pumpkins seemed to multiply on the front porches on every street. Farmer John from Mt Dell had sold many pumpkins in this town, there were carving parties nearly every night. The hard cider kegs had been tapped and sampled in private ceremonies to check that the year�s aging had the desired effect. A few domestic disturbances for the sheriff to handle proved that this year�s batches were potent and the towns Golblin Fest on Saturday would be spirited. Seems someone started the pranks a night early. Saturday morning light revealed toilet paper strewn in the trees along Main Street, pumpkin remains in gutters, a ten-foot cross burned in the lawn of the Biddlesvale Park, and Lefty�s pigs running loose downtown. The Mains surmised it was the doings of those undisciplined children of the jerky factory workers. Mildred Main immediately called Sheriff Bumbler and told him to �arrest them punks.� The sheriff gets similar calls from the Main�s every few months. He politely takes the details, knowing that finding the perpetrators of such random acts unlikely. With such unbridled destruction of private property the crotchety Mains feel it acceptable not to decorate their house on any holiday. Biddlesvale Park is between the funeral home and the town cemetery, on the highest point in town. Each year the townsfolk gather there for a night of howling fun. This year�s event will be larger due to the weekend alignment. A large fire pit with a black caldron warms the mulled cider for the kids. The caldron hangs from a long steel beam supported by two lone stone monuments, their writing long eroded flat by weather. The Mayde sisters use spices from their store and garden to turn the fresh cider into warm goodness. The town handyman, Lefty, provides the firewood for events as he does to most homes in town as well. The kitchens around town permeate with fall baking smells all afternoon. The results of the efforts are laid on the tables set up in the park for the after trick-or-treating fest. The hard cider kegs are now lifted onto their stands under the large maple tree, ready for nightfall. This year Gil Parker, the postman, and his wife Fran would provide the entertainment by playing the banjo and fiddle. Fran has the loveliest voice. She even had a budding singing career until she married Gil and settled into Biddlesvale. The church bells ring 5 o�clock and the people setting up in the park head home for dinner and trick-or-treating. Goblin Fest started at 7 o�clock, just after dark. The townsfolk gathered quite quickly after the church bells rang out. Everyone was present with the exception of the Mains, the never-seen Taylors, and the patrolling sheriff. Gil and Fran picked away at a ditty to to the costumed crowd. The kids quickly started comparing candy bags, trading pieces like stocks with values assigned to each brand. The Mayde sisters relentlessly stirred the caldron of mulled cider chanting �Evil Stay Home� eerily over and over in a deep low tone. The cookies, cakes, and pies were going down quick. The hard cider was going down quicker. Lefty�s sons Bobby and Aaron were the finalists in the bobbing for apples contest and were squaring off when the quake struck. Everything went quiet for a moment except for the Mayde sister�s chant, which continued unabated. Then the shaking stopped and everyone continued their conversations. The quake was a mild one like all are in this mountainous area, and oddly frequent enough so residents didn�t give them much notice. Biddlesvale must be on a fault line because neighboring communities never had quakes. Ted and Jayne Burns, costumed as Barney and Betty Rubble, met a few more of the townsfolk. Unknowingly, the couple got glares when they talked to Marilyn Monroe-costumed Bambi Forest. Apparently the town woman feel single Bambi is too flirtatious with their husbands. Bambi works at the local diner for the breakfast and lunch shifts. Through conversation, it was learned that she is also licensed massage therapist. Her clingy daughter Fawn is as bubbly as Bambi, and apparently is extra happy now that she learned she will soon have a baby brother to play with. Ted and Jayne like Bambi�s positive aura and decide to invite her to the house for dinner sometime during the upcoming winter. Next the Burns ran into Robert Ragstone, Jr. He publishes the weekly Biddlesvale News which recently ran an article announcing Ted and Jayne�s arrival into town, complete with a detailed history of their past. They wondered where Robert got such information, but when queried all he would say is �I�ve got my sources.� They got the creeps from talking to this inquisitive, greasy haired, shifty eyed, short talking man costumed as a Mafioso. Maybe it was just the costume. Maybe not. Around 9:00pm the women and families went home, leaving only the men and the chanting Mayde sisters in the moonlit park. Around 11:45pm a scuffle broke out. Henry Suin, the now drunken lawyer, declared his keg tasted better than the one made by Lefty. Then Lefty slurred �your keg tastes like the -hic- milk from your cows, sour.� Gil remarked �as sour as your wife is to you in bed.� Then Lefty laughably screamed to Gil �and as sweet as your wife is to me when I deliver wood.� �Now there�s a story for next weeks paper� blurted out Robert Ragstone. To which Gil, spotting the bright red Marilyn Monroe lipstick kiss on Robert�s neck, yelled �shudup rich boy, go home to your daughter Fawn.� It was like spontaneous combustion, fists started flying everywhere all at once. Ted Burns silently ducked out, wondering what type of town he had moved into. Herman Diggums, the funeral director, had passed out around an hour earlier and continued snoring in his lawn chair. The Mayde sister seemed unfazed with the brawl, continuing their odd work at the caldron. The Mayde sisters threw a handful of mysterious powder on the fire as midnight rang on the church bells, bringing a bright flare-up of flames and silencing the unruly bunch. In the end Henry had a black eye from Lefty�s left hook, Gil lost his last front tooth, Lefty was hobbling on his left leg, and all that remained of the banjo were twisted strings. Suddenly someone yelled �the sheriff is a coming, we�ll fin� the best -hic- tasting cider �morrows night.� Another managed to get out �bottoms up.� To that the men stumbled out of the park with their mugs, gravity drawing them down the hill home. The Mayde sisters toned down the fire to a safe size, woke up Herman Diggums, and headed home via the path at the back of the park. The park went silent, the shadows of the flames throwing shadows up into the maple tree. The sheriff never came. The next morning Bobby Slot, Lefty�s 12-year-old son, was dead. |
| Biddlesvale A hillbilly town with more secrets than residents (c) 2002 Brian Walker |
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| Episode 2: Goblin Fest |
