Page 25 of The King of Halloween
Logan’s head shot up from the paperwork, and he looked him over.
Turning the flyer around, Raj pointed to the festival. “Right? Isn’t that what I’m here to do? Schmooze? Be a part of the town?”
“We seem to have that under control. We’ve got the permits. Our time is probably better spent getting everything set up here.”
He thinks he won. Sure, I might be getting hosed in the masks, and the tacky costumes are barely coming in over cost, but you haven’t bested me, Adam Stein. This isn’t over.
Slipping a hand into his coat sleeve, Raj kept nodding at Logan. “I should be there. The festival. For advertising!”
“Isn’t that what the masks are for?” Logan asked.
“Get on the mayor’s good side.” Raj rammed his arm back twice before realizing he completely missed the hole. Spinning around, he finally managed to get his coat on.
“You already are,” Logan said.
“Make sure our haunt’s on all the banners and signs…” He took a step when he caught a haze of yellow in the reflection and pulled the hard hat off of his head.
“We are. We kicked in a couple grand for a donation and…”
Raj wrapped the scarf around his neck in the most insouciant way he could manage.Watch that bastard’s jaw fall at how cool and casual I am. Like I belong there.
“See you later, Logan,” Raj shouted as he dashed across the floor.
“What about…?” Logan sighed. “Have fun.”
Raj yanked open the door to face the autumn sunlight. As he took a step out, a gargoyle tumbled from the roof. Its wings shattered on the steps. “We’ll fix that later,” he shouted, leaping over the broken statue.
?
Raj couldn’t stop messing with his stupid scarf. First, he wound it too tightly, which made it look like a snake was strangling him. Then, too loose, which only widened his already wide body. The last time, he managed to tie a knot in the end that wouldn’t get out.
He was so distracted, he wandered into the park without looking up until a band struck up and he found himself in the middle of Midsommar. People wore hair crowns made of mums and corn stalks. Children were playing some game involving rings and pumpkins. Gourds of every size, color, and kind lined the sidewalks up to the grand bandstand. Balloons shaped like that creepy scarecrow hung at face height. They bobbed on the wind, looking like an army of straw men.
Raj stumbled to a crawl at the balloons. People pushed in behind him, laughing and carrying their prize pumpkins. Vendors shouted about apple cider, both the kid and adult varieties. Others sold salted nuts and sausages with a straight face. His skin prickled with goosebumps. It was like he fell back into not only another time but a place that never existed—like old Halloween cards where petticoated witches rode their brooms across the moon, or children lived in twenty-foot tall pumpkins. It was unnerving and intoxicating at the same time. One of the scarecrow balloons shifted, drawing Raj’s eye back as he realized it’d flown loose.
He reached over to catch it, and his hand hit straw instead.
Heart lurching, Raj leaped out of his shoes. Instead of the balloon, the real scarecrow stood before him. A burlap sack covered his face, hiding away all their features but the black yarn stitched over the mouth.
It’s a guy in a costume.
“Oh.” Raj breathed slowly. “You startled me. I thought… Boy, this town really does love scarecrows.”
Whoever was in there cricked his neck. It wasn’t an inhuman move, but the speed caused Raj to gulp. “Could, um…? Do you know where the committee is? For Halloween things?” He put on his best smile.
The scarecrow lifted a hand. Only the sound of straw ruffling in the air answered him. Raj bowed his head. “Thanks. I’ll…um, enjoy the festival. Oh, and be sure to visit the Heartbreak Hotel.”
There, he advertised to a seriously skinny man in a costume. With his job done, Raj followed the scarecrow’s direction. A lot of the kids and parents wandered off to the east toward the band. But further to the north, he spotted a hint of people gathered around a canopy. He’d never have thought to look there first.
Rounding the edge, Raj caught sight of the mayor talking to a woman who looked exactly like him despite them having none of the same features.Probably his wife.Then he gulped.
He’d expected a suit. Maybe a gaudy one with a jack o’lantern pattern on the coat, but no. This bastard knew how to work every angle. He’d dressed for the occasion, and it stole all the breath from Raj’s body. The jacket was gone. Instead, he’d put on a corn silk colored shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It wasn’t easy to make out at first, but as Raj pivoted, he could take in the whole vest.
On anyone else, he’d probably laugh or roll his eyes. The vest boasted a green field, not quite emerald but not olive either—somewhere in an autumnal middle. Embroidered across it were all manner of gourds resting in a perfect field. The final touch was the scarecrow sitting just below his left breast—Stitches himself. It was haunting, evocative… Raj could smell the cold wind rattling the field of corn stalks just looking at him. He was harvest itself.
“Mr. Chowdery!”
Raj braced himself to watch Adam’s smile falter, then fall. He couldn’t explain it, but the thought churned his stomach. So, as the dapper man turned and flashed his haunting eyes at Raj, the last thing he expected was for a little flare to spark across his face. He nodded as if he’d expected this eventuality.
