Joshua and Karen arrived at Davy's house to find Davy, Pat, and Yvette reading at the kitchen table. Mrs. Odell was laboring over a cake she was decorating, and the television was blasting in the next room.

“That's an awful horror movie,” said Joshua as he glanced at the television from the kitchen.      

“It sure is,” agreed Davy, who was reading a comic book.  “I can't stand it.”     

“Then why do you even have it on?” asked Karen.

“Mister Rogers is on in a few minutes,” replied Davy as he continued to read his comic book.   

“Are you ready for the Halloween Dance tonight?” asked Karen. “That's going to be a lot of fun!”     

“Pretty much.  What are you going as?” asked Davy, still not looking up from his comic book.

“We came up with a neat idea,” said Joshua.  “You'll find out this evening.”

“Let me guess,” said Davy.  “Bride and groom?”

Karen burst out laughing.  “Are you kidding?  Dad would kill us!”     

“Either that or you'd scare him to death,” snickered Joshua. 

“How about you, Pat?” asked Karen, still giggling.  “What are you going as?”

Pat glanced up.  “I'm sorry... I didn't hear you. I was just reading these Halloween stories by Fritz Wetherbee. I'm fascinated by the illustrations done by different students to create a visual presence. I especially enjoyed this one, Jerusha Halloween,” she said, holding the image up to show Joshua and Karen.

“Wow,” said Karen after she read it.  “Such a bittersweet story.”

Joshua nodded in agreement.  “I wonder what would have happened if he had agreed to marry her?”     

“I'll bet it wouldn't have lasted long,” said Davy from behind his comic book. “Their age difference probably would have doomed their relationship from the start.”

Pat giggled.  “What makes you say that?  They could be the same age, except she died much younger.”

“That's a good way of looking at it,” agreed Yvette, leaning over to view the article. 

Davy shook his head and stretched.  “The article called it a whirlwind romance. They barely knew each other before tying the knot.  She might end up nagging at him for all eternity.”  He gave a thoughtful pause before adding, “Marriage is like a deck of cards; it starts out with hearts and diamonds and ends with clubs and spades.”

Yvette considered this, then frowned.  “Nah.  I prefer to think they would be happy together.”

Davy just shrugged and turned back to his comic book.  “Yep, just what the world needs: another unmarried marriage counselor.”

“I'm almost out of white frosting again,” grumbled Mrs. Odell.  “Davy, I wish you would stop eating all of my frosting.”

“There's plenty more in the cupboard,” countered Davy.

“Chocolate frosting is not going to work on a wedding cake,” his mother scolded.  “I need you to run into town to get a few more cans so I can finish this up.”     

“Again?” Davy whined. 

“Yes, again,” said Yvette.  “Get moving, Batman.”     

“You keep out of this,” Davy said.

“You keep out of Mom's frosting!” she shot back.

“You keep it up, and I'll frost YOU!”

“Hey, I'm not the one rotting my innards eating all that stuff.”

Davy gave her a swat with a newspaper.  “That's because you're already a rotten sister!”

“Oh yeah?  That's because you're a rotten brother!” she hollered, swatting him back with a rolled-up magazine.  They errupted into a fight, squabbling at each other before they ran out the kitchen door.

“I really need more frosting,” sighed Mrs. Odell.  “Joshua dear, try to do something with Davy, would you?”

“I have the frosting right here,” said Pat as she climbed over the doorsill and into the back seat of the car that Davy had sawed the roof off of. 

Karen climbed behind her and Pat slid over.  “I'll help you guard it.”

“Geez, don't you trust me to get a few cans of frosting by myself?” complained Davy as he walked across the hood and stepped over the dashboard to slide into the driver's seat.

“We trust you to get it,” replied Joshua with a smile as he swung a leg over the doorsill.  “We just don't think you'll deliver the goods.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” grumbled Davy as he stuck a screwdriver into the ignition to start the car.  “Fort Knox has less security than this.”  As Davy pulled away, the car lurched and thumped a bit.

“Hey,” said Joshua.  “We forgot the parking brick under the front wheel.”     

“That's ok,” replied Davy.  “I can get another one.”     

“Where do you keep getting all these bricks?” asked Pat.     

“From the end of the neighbors walkway.”     

“Whose?” asked Karen.

“The serial killers.”

“The serial killers?”  Joshua puzzled over this.  “Who are they?”

“The Kings.”

Joshua laughed.  “The Kings aren't serial killers!  Where did you get such a crazy idea?”

“They live in that creepy haunted house.”

“Just because their house is old-fashioned doesn't make it haunted.”

“It does too!  And what about those prison bars all over their house to keep their victims from escaping?”

Pat giggled.  “That's just decorative wrought iron."       

“Oh yeah?  Well, they live on Blood Drive, and their house borders the town cemetery so they can get rid of their victims quick and easy, so that makes them prime suspects right there!”     

“Then why do you keep stealing their bricks?” asked Karen.

“So I'll have something to defend myself with if they come after me.”

“The Kings are actually very nice people,” countered Joshua.  “Mom does their taxes every year, and Dad is their financial advisor.”

“In that case,” said Davy, “we better get you some garlic, a stake, and a mallet.  You could be next.”