Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Johnny chuckled when Megan opened DeSotos’ front door. The little girl was dressed as a dinosaur. Dinos were the little girl’s passion at the moment, so JoAnne had made her a pink t-rex costume.

Megan frowned at Johnny’s laugh, then held up her hands. “I’m gonna eat you up!”

Johnny held up his hands and widened his eyes. “Please don’t eat me, Miss T-Rex!”

Megan grinned. She darted forward and grabbed Johnny around the leg, then pretended to gobble him up.

“No, no! Not my leg!” When Megan accidentally sank her real teeth into Johnny’s shin, Johnny bent down to pick her up.

“That hurt, sweetheart. What do you say?”

“Sorry, Uncle Johnny.”

JoAnne came down the stairs with D.J. in her arms. The baby was dressed as a cow; JoAnne was dressed as a farmer. “Johnny, where’s your costume?”

Johnny shrugged. “Don’t have one. Halloween kinda snuck up on me this year. I forgot about it till Roy invited me to go trick-or-treating after our shift ended this morning. Where’s Chris?”

Jo’s forehead wrinkled as she looked him over. “He’s off trick-or-treating with his Boy Scout troop. There’s a teacher workday tomorrow, so they’re having a sleepover. I think I can come up with something. There’s a party at the neighbors. You have to wear a costume.”

Twenty minutes later, Johnny was a marionette. JoAnne had fastened strings to his shirt and then attached the strings to a cross made of popsicle sticks. She used brown eyeliner to make lines on his face to make it look like he was made of pieces of wood stuck together. “There! It’s perfect!” She grinned. “You look great!”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “I feel a little silly to be honest. But it is a great costume.”

Roy finally came out of the kitchen. JoAnne had dressed him up like a scarecrow. “You feel silly?” He scratched at his neck, where some hay was attached to his shirt collar. “This costume is drivin’ me nuts!”

“Oh, come on, honey. It’s not that bad!” JoAnne kissed him. “You look great too.”

Roy shrugged and wrapped Jo in a hug. “All right, JoAnne Mine. I’ll do anything for you. Come on. Let’s go. Candy’s waiting. Got your pillowcase, Megan?”

“Uhhuh!” Megan held out her pillowcase. It was the best bag for collecting candy.

The family stepped out their front door and walked down the street. They stopped at one house after another for the kids to collect candy. When they got to the big two-story house at the end of the block, Megan’s eyes went wide. “We can’t go to that one, Daddy! That’s where the witch lives!”

Roy scratched his neck for the tenth time. “Jennifer Megan DeSoto, what makes you think a witch lives there?”

Megan shrugged. “I saw her riding a broom one night. She flew right past my window. And the other kids told me she’s a witch. Chris says she changed Harry’s big brother into a frog!”

JoAnne rolled her eyes. “Harry never had a big brother, honey. And there’s no such thing as witches. Go on. It’s OK.”

Megan frowned. “Only if Daddy and Uncle Johnny go with me.”

Roy and Johnny took Megan’s hands and walked him up to the door. Roy rang the bell. When the door opened, a woman in a mouse costume answered. “Oh, just what I need!” She handed Megan some candy, then looked at Roy and Johnny. “Young men, I need someone to help me move some heavy furniture. Will you come in just for a minute? I’ll pay you.”

Megan pulled away and ran back to her mother, who was carrying D.J.

Roy looked at Johnny. “We can help, right? No need for pay, ma’am.”

Johnny would have preferred to go on their way, but he wasn’t going to say no. “Sure, we’d be glad to help you.”

Roy turned to call to JoAnne. “We’ll be right back. We’re going to move some furniture for Mrs.—” He looked at the neighbor lady.

“Ms. Hex.”

Johnny’s forehead wrinkled. That was a weird last name. It sure sounded like a witch’s name. Still, they had promised to help. The two men stepped into the house and the door slammed behind them.

It was dark in the front room. A couple of bats hung from the ceiling. They looked a little too real for Johnny’s comfort. A cage full of mice sat by the front door.

John hated bats. The mice did him in. “Uhhh, I think I changed my mind, ma’am. If you don’t mind.” He turned towards the door, expecting her to open it for them.

Her eyes glinted. “You changed your mind. Now I shall change you!” Then she started reciting strange words. It wasn’t a language Johnny had ever heard before. “Abraca, abraca, riselka garsh!” Something strange happened. Johnny could no longer feel his legs. He couldn’t feel anything. In fact, he couldn’t move.

Roy looked at him and his eyes widened. He touched Johnny’s face. “Uh, John, you’ve turned into wood. Your face is painted on.”

Johnny could hear and see Roy, but he couldn’t respond. As he watched through unblinking eyes, Roy began to change too. He turned into a real scarecrow, with a head made of twisted straw and buttons for his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Ms. Hex laughed and laughed. “Oh, this is so much fun. I always change someone into their costume every Halloween. I would have loved to turn that little girl into a real dinosaur, but she ran away too fast. Of course, I could change her from a distance, but it’s not as much fun.”

She touched Roy’s button eyes with one hand and his mouth with the other. “I must let you see and speak, or you won’t be able to go back to your wife and tell her what must be done to restore you.” When she pulled her hand away, Roy’s button eyes could see.

“You—witch!” Roy talked as if he had a wad of straw in his mouth. John realized suddenly that he did.

Ms. Hex shook her head. “Sorceress is the term I prefer.”

John was terrified. A spell had been cast on him, and he could do nothing to help himself.

Roy sputtered. “Wh—what—you do us?”

“Careful now,” Ms. Hex said. “I could just take you down to my basement and add you to my collection as you are.” She reached towards Roy’s eyes again. “I could take away your sight and your voice and shrink you so you fit on my shelf, and you will be nothing but straw for the rest of time. I wonder what your wife would think of that. Maybe I’ll call her in and let her see you. Then I could change the girl too.”

“No!” Roy was emphatic about that. “Just—tell—what—we do?”

Ms. Hex looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she started to sing. Her voice was pleasant, a rich alto. Johnny found that it calmed his fears. Or maybe his humanity was slipping away, and he couldn’t feel fear anymore. By the end of the first verse, his hearing was gone.

The puppet watched the scarecrow. Somehow those button eyes were full of emotion. The puppet wasn’t sure how that was possible. What was it like to feel emotion? He no longer felt anything, and his memories were fading. Had he ever been anything other than a wooden puppet?

His world started to go dark. He couldn’t think anymore. He had become nothing but a life-sized wooden puppet.

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Roy listened intently. Something told him the sorceress’s words were vitally important for him to remember. The problem was, by the time one verse ended, it had slipped out of his mind, and he struggled to understand her words.

“Bathe the puppet in bat wing stew,
Make the scarecrow a new heart,
And a crown of hawthorn leaves,
This is where your tasks must start.

Set the scarecrow in a field,
Leave him there for seven days,
Make the puppet dance on stage,
With a girl he’ll love always.”

She stopped singing suddenly. “Wait right there. Don’t go anywhere!” Then she skipped away. When she returned, she was holding a small marionette, dressed in a skirt and a blouse that buttoned up almost to the top of her neck. She hung it over Roy’s braided straw arm. “There. The girl. She must dance with him.” She cackled and started to sing again.

“Scarecrow, you must learn this song,
Sing it to your darling wife.
Do these tasks and you’ll return
To your boring humdrum life.

If to eleven days you come
And just one task is incomplete,
Scarecrow and puppet you shall be
Forevermore, my trophies sweet!

Then you’ll come back to my home,
Take your place upon my shelf,
And, my dear, you will forget
Your life, your voice, your very self.”

She laughed again. “Of course, now you have scarecrow brains. They aren’t particularly clever. That’s better than the puppet—he has no brains at all. But the song will stay with you. I’ll see to that.” She touched Roy’s forehead. “There. You won’t forget it. Yet. But you can only speak to your family and me. Around anyone else, you’ll be dumb as a post.”

“Scarecrow brains,” Roy echoed. His mind was muddled. He could hardly put two thoughts together.

“How they dance?” Roy asked, patting on the girl marionette.  “He big. She small.”

“Not for long.” Ms. Hex didn’t make it clear what she meant by that. She handed Roy the strings that would control Johnny, then opened the door. “Go back to your wife, Scarecrow. You’ll have to learn to work the puppet.”

In the end, Roy simply yanked on Johnny’s strings, causing him to topple. He dragged the giant marionette through the grass after him until he got back to JoAnne. He stood before her, silent, not sure what he should say.

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Jo couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A living scarecrow stood in front of her, dressed in the plaid shirt and overalls she had given Roy. On the ground next to him lay a giant marionette, dressed in Johnny’s clothes. But it wasn’t a costume anymore.

“The witch got them, Mama!” Megan said. Jo shushed her.

“So’ceress changed.” Roy’s voice came out of the pile of straw. “Scarecrow brains. John wood. No brains.” He pointed to the puppet on the ground. Then he launched into a song.

Some other trick or treaters came along and the scarecrow went silent. They stared at him. “Wow, he looks real!” a little kid said. “That’s cool!”

The group of strangers moved on. “Not cool,” Roy muttered. “Scarecrow brains. Not cool. Talk fam’ly only. Scarecrow brains. Not clever.”

“Tell me again what she said, honey.” Jo was managing remarkably well. Mostly, she was trying to keep it together so the kids wouldn’t panic. Inside, though, she was terrified.

Roy repeated the song. JoAnne listened carefully. She pressed her hand to the side of his straw face. “She can’t do this. I’ll—I’ll call the police.” Then she shook her head. “They’ll never believe me. You can’t even talk to them. We’ll just have to do what the song says.” She brushed her fingers over the button eyes. “Can you see through those?”

“So’ceress make see.” He touched her shoulder, then pulled his hand away. “Home, please.”

JoAnne nodded. “Yes, home. No party for us tonight.” Her heart went out to the man she’d married, the man she loved more than anything, and to her little brother. Somehow, they had to figure this out. She put her hand in the crook of Roy’s arm and guided him back home, uncertain if he would remember the way. He pulled the marionette behind him.

Once inside the house, Jo settled them both on the sofa, noting that Johnny seemed several inches shorter than he had been. “Go upstairs and get ready for bed,” she told Megan, who was weeping. “Honey, we’ll get your daddy and Uncle Johnny back. Don’t you worry.”

Somewhat calmer, Megan trotted upstairs. JoAnne kissed Roy. His straw made her mouth itch. “I’m going to put D.J. and Megan to bed and then we’ll figure out what to do. Don’t go away. I’ll be right back.”

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Roy sat obediently on the sofa. “Bat wing stew, new heart, hawthorn crown,” he muttered. He put a straw hand on Johnny’s knee. “Junior.” He didn’t see any sign of recognition in the painted eyes. “No brain, no thoughts,” he whispered. “My fault.” He vaguely remembered telling Johnny they had to help Ms. Hex.

When JoAnne came back, she sat next to Roy. “I can’t do all this alone. You can talk to family, so I’ve called Hank, Chet, Marco, and Mike. I just told them we had an emergency situation. They’d never believe the truth without seeing you. They’ll be here soon.”

She kept talking. Roy’s brain couldn’t make sense of all the words coming out of her mouth. He wished he could close his eyes but he couldn’t. Finally, he touched her shoulder. “Stop,” he said. “Too much. Hold me.”

She wrapped her arms around him. He could feel the warmth of her, though he wasn’t sure how. She rested her head on his shoulder. “We’ll get you back, Roy. I promise.”

The doorbell rang. JoAnne got up to walk to the door. She looked through the peephole to make sure it wasn’t trick-or-treaters. She saw Hank and the guys on the doorstep, so she opened up. “Come in. You’re not going to believe this.” She led them into the living room.

“What’s the emergency?” Hank said as he entered. His eyes flashed. Jo could tell he was irritated.

“Cap,” Roy said from the sofa. “So’ceress change. Scarecrow brains. John wood.”

“They went in to help her move furniture. This is how they came out,” JoAnne explained. “Roy can only talk to family. That’s why I called all of you.”

Chet’s eyes got big. “No way!” he said, moving in and inspecting both Roy and Johnny. “We gotta change ‘em back!”

Marco crossed himself and murmured a prayer. “How can we help them?”

Mike piped up, “Whose bright idea was it to help out a sorceress anyway?”

“We didn’t know she was a sorceress,” JoAnne said. “She asked for help. They’re good, kind men. Or they were.” A tear streaked down her cheek. “Roy, sing the song. It tells us what we have to do.”

Roy sang Ms. Hex’s song again. He couldn’t keep most things straight, but the song was stuck in his mind. Mike pulled out a notepad and pencil and started writing.

Suddenly the puppet shrank. He lay on the sofa, nothing more than a wooden marionette, about eighteen inches tall.

JoAnne shrieked. “Johnny!” His clothes had shrunk with him. The face painted on him looked just like Johnny’s face. He had tufts of yarn sticking out of his head in place of his hair. Jo picked him up and handed him to Hank. She felt terribly guilty about her choice of a costume for him.

“My fault,” Roy muttered. “Scarecrow brains.” He tugged at his straw head. Pieces of straw broke away.

Mike looked over his notepad. “Bat wing stew. That sounds gross. Not sure how we’ll manage that. And hawthorns are deciduous. They won’t have leaves now. We’ll have to figure that out.”

Roy held up the girl marionette. “John dance her. So’ceress house, bats.”

Mike looked up. “There’s bats at the sorceress’s house, Roy?”

“Yeah. Hang ceiling.”

“Maybe she has some dried bat wing in her pantry,” Chet suggested.

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Hank sat on a recliner, holding John in his lap. He felt distinctly uncomfortable. None of this made any sense. He listened to the others talking.

“We have until the tenth. Or is it the eleventh?” Chet asked.

Mike replied. “I believe we have until midnight on the tenth.”

“The tasks are impossible. How will we ever manage it?” Tears flooded JoAnne’s eyes. “And we can’t go to anyone else for help. No one will ever believe it.”

“Don’t give up,” said Chet. “It’s not impossible. We can do this, JoAnne. I promise.”

Hank was pleased with his men. They were doing their best to encourage JoAnne and figure this out.

“Do this,” Roy echoed. “Promise promise promise.” He slumped forward. “So tired. Too much words. No sense.”

“He’s having trouble understanding,” said Marco. “Keep things simple for him.” He put a hand on Roy’s shoulder. “We’ll get you back, amigo. I mean pal.”

“JoAnne, can you show me where the witch’s house is?” said Chet. “I’m going to sneak in and look for dried bat wing.”

Marco grimaced. “We don’t need her to change you too, Chet. You’d probably come back as a leprechaun or something.”

“She won’t.”

Hank set John carefully aside and stood up. He had to be authoritative. “Absolutely not, Chet. You are not going anywhere near that place!”

Chet sighed. “Well, Cap. How do you plan to get bat wings, then? We can’t go out and catch one. It might have rabies.”

Hank thought about it for a minute. “Maybe buy some from some specialty shop or something?”

Chet rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll walk down to the corner sorcery market and ask for bat wings. Great idea there.”

Hank had half a mind to put Chet on latrine duty for a month for getting snappy with him. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

Chet shook his head. “Yes, I am, Cap. I’m going to her house and I’ll find the bat wings.”

Mike frowned. “I don’t wanna hafta go in after you and get turned into somethin’ weird, Kelly. Why are you so sure she won’t do something to you?”

“You won’t have to. And I can’t tell you that. I’ll be fine.”

“We do need the bat wings,” said Marco.

“Yeah, but what if he gets caught?” Hank hated the risk Chet was taking.

“I’m going. And I’m going alone.” With that, Chet turned on his heel and walked to the door.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet couldn’t tell the others his secret. His grandmother had placed a protective spell over each of her grandchildren the day they were born. Anyone who tried to harm him with a hex would find the spell working on themselves instead. Even Granny was bound to it. He hadn’t convinced the others, but there was no other way to go about it. They needed the dried bat wing so JoAnne could make the stew.

His grandmother always had dried bat wing on hand. She used to make Chet eat the foul stuff. He hadn’t seen her for years. He’d distanced himself from her ever since his ninth birthday. She had become cruel, and he wanted nothing to do with her.

He could find the house on his own. The Phantom would help him. The spirit that had been his companion from childhood guided him to the big house on the corner lot.

When he saw the house, Chet knew who the sorceress was. He had vague memories of the place from his childhood. He’d never seen it here, though. His grandmother had moved away from the family when Chet was about ten years old, taking her house with her. She was angry that they had all cut her out of their lives. Chet used to spend every summer with her, but Granny had destroyed most of his good memories when she started practicing dark magic.

He would never forget the day she’d turned his dog into a mouse as punishment for barking at her cat. The cat had then eaten the mouse. It was the last time Chet visited her. Today he would confront her. She had to be stopped.

You’ll never stop me, his grandmother’s voice said in Chet’s head. I feel you outside. Come in, Grandson. It’s been far too long.

The first thing Chet did before entering the house was to force walls up around his mind and heart. He knew she was prepared to fight and she would fight dirty. He cut off his emotions and concentrated on his task.

“I can’t hex you,” the voice said, “but I can hex the things around you.” The earth under Chet’s feet began to shake, throwing him off balance.

She couldn’t hex the Phantom either. His magic kept Chet on his feet. Chet stayed calm and determined as he rode out the earthquake.

Soon, the ground stilled. The door swung open. Chet’s grandmother stood there, her eyes sparking with malice. “There’s my special boy,” she hissed. “So much anger over one stupid dog.”

Chet just stared at her, refusing to take the bait.

The floor opened up under his feet and he dropped to the basement. The Phantom cushioned his fall. Along one wall was a shelf full of figures. A robot raised and lowered metal arms and made beeping noises. A stuffed dog with remarkably human eyes whined. A teddy bear stared out through lifeless eyes. A ballerina music box rotated on her platform. So many figures. Too many. Had they all been humans at one point, like Roy and Johnny?

Granny came down the stairs. “Oh, you found my collection. I’ll be adding a scarecrow and a marionette to it before long.”

Chet grimaced. “Not if I have anything to say about it, you won’t! Those are my friends you hexed!”

“Why so hostile, Chester?” She reached to stroke his hair. “I’m going to keep you here and train you to take my place. I grow weary of this world, but I don’t want my magic to die with me. You were always the most sensitive of my grandchildren to the magical world.”

At her touch, flames flared from Chet’s hair, and acid blistered Granny’s fingers. She cried out from the sudden pain. “I never should have let the Phantom go to you!” She blew on her fingers, watched the blisters heal, then grinned. “You know, he was once your grandfather. He scolded me, so I turned him into a ghost and made sure everyone forgot him.”

Chet had always wondered why the senior Chester B. couldn’t tell him anything about his father. The spell must have affected Chet’s memory, too. He couldn’t remember anything about time with his grandfather. Now, though, he was pleased to know the true identity of the Phantom and grateful for his protection. He was not about to lose his grandfather again.

Grandmother went back upstairs, locking the door behind her. She removed the hole in the ceiling so Chet could not escape by climbing. Chet tried kicking the door down, but she’d made it hard as stone and he was pretty sure he’d broken a toe or two.

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The Phantom slipped into the keyhole. Most ghosts couldn’t manipulate items, but he kept the skill after he was made a ghost. He could focus on an item and think it into moving.

He was glad Chet finally knew his identity. They had been companions ever since the boy turned nine, ever since Alassë had changed her husband. That had been a difficult day. Robert Kelly (Alassë had kept her maiden name) had chastised his wife for turning Chet’s dog into a mouse, and she had taken umbrage. That night, he awoke to the sound of her chanting.

He had never thought she would harm him, or he would have woven a spell of protection around himself, just as he’d done for his children and grandchildren. Chet thought his grandmother had done that, because he had forgotten his grandfather.

Alassë’s spell had separated Robert’s spirit from his physical form. He watched as his body crumbled to dust. Everyone forgot him after that. The Phantom floated into the boy’s bedroom. Chet was still crying about his dog. His grandfather longed to comfort him. He slipped into Chet’s dreams that night and eased his sorrows. The next day, Chet had called his parents and asked to go home. The Phantom had gone with him. He had no reason to stay where he was not appreciated. The pair had been partners in good-hearted mischief ever since.

Now he focused his attention on the locking mechanism and willed it to move. It was an easy job. The lock clicked. The door opened. Chet limped through.

The Phantom glided about the house, eager to protect his grandson. He would fix Chet’s foot when they were out of this place. Whenever he saw Alassë, he made himself a shield for Chet. He would find a way to counter every hex she tried. He sensed the location of the dried bat wing. Swirling through Chet’s mind, he guided him in that direction. Soon, Chet found what he needed. He pulled a couple tins of the odious stuff out of the pantry, stuck them in his pocket, and headed to the front door.

Alassë tried to bar the door, but the Phantom shielded it from her magic. Even in his ghostly form he still possessed the ability to work magic. He set a spell around the house, forbidding his former wife to leave. If she tried to pass through, she would melt into nothing, like the evil witch on The Wizard of Oz.

If I could, he whispered in Chet’s mind, I would remove the spell from your friends. But I cannot. Only your grandmother or her heir can do that. But I will help you along the way.

“I know, Grandpa.” The name coming from Chet’s lips warmed the Phantom through. He had never told Chet who he was, as it was too hard a thing for a child to understand. Over the years, he’d accustomed himself to being the Phantom. It was enough. But to hear his proper title spoken so lovingly was a blessing.

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Outside of his grandmother’s house, Chet found Hank, Mike, and Marco waiting for him on the sidewalk. They all sighed in relief at the sight of him. “Jo told us which house. It’s good to see you got out. Was she there?”

“Oh yeah,” Chet said, “But the Phantom protected me.” He limped down the driveway.

“She hurt you,” Marco growled.

Chet nodded. “Turned a door into stone. I kicked it without knowing. I think I broke my toes.”

“Drat,” said Hank. “Roy can’t treat you. He won’t know how. He’s deteriorated since you left—he just sings that song and talks about scarecrow brains.”

“Did you get the bat wings?” said Mike.

Chet pulled the tins out of his pocket. “Yeah. Here they are.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “You can never have too many bat wings after all.” His deadpan remark helped ease the tension just a little.

“Is JoAnne ready to make the stew?” Chet asked. “At least we can get that task done with.” He wrinkled his nose. “I can already tell ya, it’s gonna stink.”

Marco nodded. “It's not like she has a recipe for it so she's just going to go for it.”

Chet shrugged. “It’s like beef stew, but you put in bat wings instead of beef. Easy, now that we’ve got the ingredients.” He vaguely remembered the taste of bat wing stew. Nasty stuff.

Cap looked at him inquiringly. “How do you know so much about this, Chet?”

“Uh—just guessing, Cap.” Chet was afraid he had revealed too much. He didn’t want any more questions he couldn’t answer.

“Nope.” Cap shook his head.  “Doesn't sound like a guess to me. Spill. That's an order.”

Chet frowned. “We’re not on shift, Cap.” Then he sighed. Cap knew him too well. “Fine. Alassë Hex is my grandmother. I hadn’t seen her for almost twenty years. The whole family cut off contact when we found out she was working dark magic.”

“And she just let you walk right in and take some bat wings—”

“No. She tried to lock me in the basement. But I had the Phantom helping me. He—he was my grandfather. She turned him into a ghost.”

Marco crossed himself. Under his breath he muttered, “Madre de Dios!”

“I’m still me, Marco,” said Chet. “I believe like you do. I won’t have anything to do with my grandmother after this. But I had to go in there to help Roy and Johnny.”

“I know this, amigo, and I'm very glad you're okay.  But we should get back, no?” Marco’s accent was noticeably heavier. Chet chalked it up to a bad case of nerves.

“Yeah,” Cap said. “Let’s go.”

The four men walked back to the DeSoto house together. Chet was very quiet, lost in the past. He could feel the Phantom in his mind, whispering to him about the things they used to do together, and he wished he could remember it for himself. The others were quiet too. The Phantom whispered in Chet’s mind that they were all wondering what they were facing. As they walked, Chet realized his toes no longer hurt. The Phantom must have taken care of them.

When they got to the DeSoto house, they found Roy standing out in Jo’s flower garden. He now had a red quilted heart stitched onto the bib of his overalls. He was muttering to himself. “Scarecrow brains. Not clever. All my fault.”

Mike calmly walked up to Roy. “It will be okay, I promise. Not your fault, okay?”

Roy ducked his head. “Don’ know.” His white button eyes gleamed in the lamplight. He wrapped straw fingers around Mike’s hand. “Thanks, pal.”

Mike, who was usually the least demonstrative among them, suddenly hugged Roy gently and said, "I gotcha, pal.” Then he let him go and helped him straighten his straw.

Several chunks of straw were missing from Roy’s head, where he had been pulling at it. His hand went there again and started to tug. He was scared and anxious and confused. “Hate scarecrow brains.”

“Don't pull on your head like that or you won't have a head at all!” said Cap.

“Yeah. We don’t know how that would affect you getting all fixed up,” Chet added. “That sorceress always likes to make things difficult for everyone.”

Roy pulled his hand down quickly. “No pull, no pull.” He turned in a circle and kicked at a rabbit that was just starting to nibble on his foot. The rabbit startled and hopped away.

Roy’s antics provided a much-needed laugh just before they got to the house.

“Come on inside, Roy,” Chet said. He linked arms with the scarecrow. “It’s safer in there.”

“Job. Scarecrow job.” Roy refused to budge.

Cap looked at him, “What job Roy, what job do you mean?”

“Scare birds. Am—an—” He couldn’t quite manage the word. “Aminals.”

Jo came outside and took him by the arm. “But honey, you're not a real scarecrow. I know it's hard to understand, but you need to come into the house now. Come with me.”

All Roy’s stubbornness seemed to melt away at JoAnne’s touch. He walked with her into the house. He loved her and would do just about anything she asked. Chet wondered what it would be like to love a woman that much.

Jo had a pot of vegetables stewing on the stove. She said, “I didn't really know how to make the stew, so I winged it, no pun intended. Will this work?”

Chet handed her the tins of bat wings. “Yeah. Just add these in. They’re diced up already. You have to cook it overnight. Fair warning, it’ll stink to high heavens.” He frowned, worried about how Jo would react to the secret he’d just shared with the men. But he felt the need to tell her. “Jo, I’m—I’m so sorry about this. The woman who did it, she’s my—my grandmother.”

JoAnne put down the tin of bat wings she had just been about to open. She pulled Chet into a hug. “Listen to me, Chet. It isn’t your fault. I know how much you care about Roy and Johnny.”

Chet shrugged. Even now he couldn’t admit to his affection for his fire department brothers. “I just don’t want to break in a new Pigeon.”

Jo glanced at Chet as she pulled the lid off the bat wings. Chet could see the doubt in her eyes. Did she really trust him? Her face wrinkled up as an awful smell filled the kitchen. “Ewww!”

“I warned you.” Chet’s nose twitched. “It’s ghastly stuff. She made me eat it when I was a kid.”

“Oh, Chet. I can’t even imagine!” JoAnne dumped the bat wings in the stew pot, then  backed away. “I could swear the roses on the wallpaper are wilting. Let’s go in the other room while this cooks. We need to get away from the smell.”

There was no getting away from the smell. It followed them out of the kitchen. The whole house was full of it. Hank, Marco, and Mike looked positively green. Megan came down from her bedroom crying. “Mommy, something stinks!”

“Oh honey, I’m sorry. It’s just something I need to do to help Daddy and Johnny.” Upstairs, D.J. was bawling. “Maybe I should take them to their grandmother.”

“How are you going to explain Megan's tales to her grandmother?” Cap asked.

“Megan has always been wildly imaginative. She knows that.” JoAnne frowned. “But maybe she should come see them for herself. Roy could talk to her.”

Hank shook his head. “No, the fewer people involved, the better. Do you have some menthol rub?”

“Yes. In the medicine cabinet.” Jo went to the bathroom and got the rub.

“Put a little of that on Megan’s chest and she won’t smell the bat wings any more,” suggested Hank.

“We could all use some,” said Jo. She took Megan back upstairs and treated her with the menthol rub. The little girl calmed down and climbed back into bed.

The rub wasn’t good for children under two, though. JoAnne couldn’t use it on D.J., who was not quite two. “I’ll take him to Harriett’s. He can’t tell any tales.” She carried the crying baby downstairs. “Will you stay with Roy while I take him to his grandmother?”

“Of course,” said Hank. “We’ll keep him out of trouble.”

Jo made a phone call. She told Harriett that Roy and Megan were both sick, and she wanted D.J. away from the germs. Harriett willingly agreed to keep the baby for as long as necessary. She and D.J. were fast friends.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

When Jo returned, she found the men had put a little of the menthol rub under their noses. She did the same. It burned a bit, but it helped cover up the stench. Still, Jo couldn’t help worrying that she would never get that smell out of the house.

Roy, at least, seemed untroubled by it. Jo wondered if he even needed to breathe now. He sat on the sofa, cradling the marionette in his arms. “I got ya, Buddy.” He patted John’s back. “They fix us.”

“We all have vacation time accrued,” said Hank. “We’re going to request to use it now.” He paused, his forehead wrinkling. “Can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but someone will have to forge Roy and Johnny’s signatures on the request.”

“The Phantom can do it, Cap,” said Chet.

Cap frowned. He still wasn’t convinced the Phantom was anything more than Chet’s overactive imagination. “I don’t know, Chet.”

“Jo,” said Chet, “get me something with Roy’s signature on it. And a pen and a blank piece of paper.”

Jo brought him the items. Chet said, “Go ahead. Show them, Grandpa.”

When the pen rose up off the table, Jo gasped. While everyone watched, Roy’s signature appeared on the blank paper. It was a perfect copy.

“He’s real, Cap,” said Chet.

Hank just stared. “Uh—I—I can see that,” he spluttered.

Hank sat next to Roy. “Jo, does Roy keep a stockpile of forms here? Maybe he’s got enough copies that we don’t have to go home to get them.”

For a moment, he thought Roy might respond, but he didn’t. Apparently, he had checked out. He didn’t talk and barely moved. He just sat there staring through his button eyes and holding the marionette John in his arms.

“He does,” Jo said. “In his desk. I’ll get them. There should be enough for all of you.”

A few minutes later, she brought the forms back and distributed them. The men started filling them out. She also had a postcard with the signature, “John Gage” on it. Something for the Phantom to copy.

“I’ll fill out Roy’s and John’s forms,” said Hank. “The Phantom can sign them.”

The men got to work. “How long should we ask for?” said Chet.

“Through November eleventh. That gives us an extra day after the time runs out.” said Cap. It didn’t take long to fill out the forms. Soon, they were all signed. “I’ll turn in the forms tomorrow morning.” Cap checked his watch. “Damn. I need to get home.”

Mike agreed. “Me too. Beth is probably wondering where I’ve gotten to.”

“I can stay here tonight,” Marco said. “If Jo wants me to. That way she’s not on her own.”

“Yes, please,” said Jo. “I need to sleep, but I’m worried about Roy.”

“I’ll stay too,” said Chet. “Marco and I can sleep in shifts. The Phantom will help too.”

Hank patted Roy on the back. “We’ll work things out, pal. I promise.” His eyes went to the puppet with Johnny’s face, and he shook his head. “It just doesn’t make sense.” With that, he walked to the front door. “I’ll see you all tomorrow morning, right after I turn in these requests.”

Chapter Text

Throughout the night, Roy mostly sat still on the sofa. On occasion, he would pace the floor babbling, a burst of activity born out of his fear. The Phantom proved to be good at calming him. He flitted into Roy’s mind and talked to him there, encouraging him. Then Roy would sit again and be still for a while.

Roy was frightened. He was starting to forget things. He knew that the man with red hair and the man with black hair were his friends, but he couldn’t remember their names. And the woman—he loved her, but her name was a mystery to him. He found that he was struggling to understand their words. Gradually, he was turning into a real scarecrow. Moving was harder than it had been. By morning, he couldn’t move at all.

His friends could stand him up or lay him down, but on his own, he just stayed in whatever position they put him in. He wanted to talk to them, but he couldn’t make his mouth work anymore. He couldn’t even sing the song. He was terrified that he and Johnny would spend the rest of their days as part of the sorceress’s collection.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

“Marco,” said Chet. “He’s getting worse. The Phantom says he’s confused and scared and can’t understand us. What should we do?”

“I guess the only thing we can do is work as quickly as possible.” Marco put a hand on Roy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I guess we gotta follow the song.” Chet worried about something. Alassë Hex wasn’t known for keeping her promises. He worried that she didn’t intend to keep this one. Most likely, she just wanted to increase her collection. “I just hope—” His voice trailed off.

Marco looked over at Chet. “What?”

Chet’s voice dropped. He was pretty sure Roy couldn’t understand him, but he didn’t want to discourage him. “I hope Ms. Hex keeps her promise to restore them once we complete the tasks.” He refused to call her Granny ever again.

Jo came down the stairs, Megan trailing behind her. “I hope the stew is ready now. I want to get that smell out of the house. I guess we should do the first task. Maybe outside?”

Marco wrinkled his nose. “I think outside is a good idea.”

Chet watched as Megan climbed up on the sofa and laid her head in Roy’s lap. She patted his knee. “I’m sorry the witch gotcha, Daddy.”

“The neighbors might complain.” Jo sighed. “I just don’t know.” She blinked her eyes. “I’m this close to breaking down.”

Chet shrugged. “Blame it on a sewage leak.”

“Yeah.” Jo’s voice trembled. “Everything just seems hopeless today.”

Megan started coughing. “Daddy makes me itch now!” She sat up. Her face was covered with hives.

Jo gasped. “Oh no! I forgot Megan is allergic to straw!” She picked up the little girl and moved her away from Roy. Weeping, she sat down and put her arms around her husband. “I’m so sorry, Roy, honey! You shouldn’t have to go through this!”

Roy didn’t move. Gradually, Jo got her emotions under control. She sat up and looked at Marco and Chet. “I’m sorry.”

Marco shook his head. “No need to apologize. You have been through nearly as bad an ordeal as Roy.”

“Thank you for staying the night.” She reached into her pocket for a tissue and wiped tears from her face. “He can’t move any more, can he?”

“I don’t think so,” said Chet. “And he’s stopped talking. The Phantom says he can’t understand us anymore.”

Jo blinked back tears. She gripped Roy’s hand. “If only we could tell the police what happened, but they would never believe it.”

Chet reached to take Johnny out of Roy’s arms. Roy had been clutching him tight when he stopped moving, and it was difficult to pry his fingers away from the puppet. After a few minutes, though, Chet managed it. “We’ll take care of him now. We may have to leave him outside, though, once he’s had his bath.”

Jo frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that. I can’t stand the idea of him being all alone outside. What if someone steals him?”

“He’ll stink too bad for that,” said Marco. “Nobody will want him.”

Chet hoped Johnny didn’t hear that.

“Bring the stew,” Chet said. “Let’s go do this. Jo, we can take care of it if you want to stay with Roy.”

Jo nodded. “Thank you.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Marco grabbed the pot of bat wing stew and turned off the stove. Chet carried the marionette. “You gotta pull off his clothes,” Marco said.

Chet turned bright red. “I don’t know about that—”

Marco rolled his eyes. “He’s just wood. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. He’ll be annoyed if he’s restored and his clothing stinks.”

“Fine.” Chet pulled off the jeans, t-shirt, and underclothes Johnny was wearing and laid them on a lawn chair. He held out the marionette.

Marco lowered the puppet into the pot of stew. “Man, this stinks.” He looked up at Chet. “Think we need to scrub him with it or something?”

Chet shook his head. “I think it’s enough if we just let him soak for a minute. Don’t forget to stick his head in it. Ms. Hex will know if you don’t. Then we’ve gotta get him out and try to get rid of the stench.”

Marco dipped the puppet’s head into the stew, then pulled it out. Him, he told himself. Not it. This is my brother, my friend, even now. “Let’s put him under the patio and let him air out. That should help.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet watched as Marco put Johnny in a safe place under the patio deck. “Now we have to find a hawthorn tree.”

Marco shook his head. “Where? It’s like she wanted to make this impossible. Hawthorn trees won’t have leaves this time of year.”

“Yeah, I know.” The ghost of an idea flitted through Chet’s mind. He wondered if the Phantom had put it there. He shook it away. He didn’t have his grandparents’ magical powers, in spite of what Alassë Hex said. “Maybe a greenhouse or something?”

“We could go to the craft store and get fake hawthorn leaves,” Marco suggested.

Chet shook his head. “No. She won’t accept fake leaves. She’ll insist on real ones.”

“All right, then. I’ll check the yellow pages and make some calls.”

The two men went inside. The house still stank of the bat wing stew. JoAnne was peeling off the kitchen wallpaper and stuffing it in trash bags. “It absorbed the smell,” she explained as the men came through the back door. “And it’s something I can do. I—” Her eyes grew wet. “I can’t bring myself to sit in there with him. He really loved this wallpaper, too. He picked it out for me.”

Chet and Marco both hugged Jo. “We’ll get them back, Jo,” Chet promised. “You’ll choose new wallpaper together.” Chet took her by the shoulders and guided her to the door. “I’ll work on this. Marco is going to make some phone calls. You go spend a little time with Megan.”

JoAnne nodded. “OK.” She grabbed the menthol rub and dabbed some under her nose, thrust the container at Chet, then hurried upstairs.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet was still working on the wallpaper when Marco started cussing in Spanish. He slammed the phone down.

“Better watch out or Mama Lopez will stick a bar of soap in that mouth,” Chet called from the kitchen. Marco didn’t cuss often, but when he was really mad sometimes a few words escaped that his mother would never approve. “I take it you haven’t had any luck.”

“All the greenhouses I reached either grow flowers or fruit trees. No hawthorns, and no leads on who might grow them.” Marco sighed. “One guy said he knew of a hawthorn grove on the central coast, but we’ll have to wait for spring to get leaves. We don’t have that long!”

The idea pulsed in Chet’s brain again. He dismissed it. He didn’t have the first idea how to go about something like that. “I’m sorry,” he murmured to the Phantom. “I can’t do it.”

But you can, the Phantom whispered in his thoughts. Chet peeled off another piece of wallpaper and stuck it in the trash bag. He tried to shut the Phantom out.

Cap and Mike arrived about twenty minutes later. “Our vacation time is approved,” said Cap. “I gave the forms directly to Chief Houts.” He wrinkled his nose. “It still stinks in here.”

Chet handed him the menthol rub. “You wouldn’t know where to find hawthorn leaves, would you, Cap?”

Hank shook his head. “No. Can’t say that I do. So, Roy has to stand in a field for seven days. I think a couple of us should go camping and take him with us. The others can keep looking for hawthorn leaves and take care of John.”

Chet glanced out the back window. “Oh no!”

Cap’s forehead wrinkled up. “What’s wrong, pal?”

“Gus has Johnny!” Chet ran outside. Roy’s dog was running around with the puppet hanging limply from his mouth. He had chewed off the yarn hair, leaving John completely bald.

Cap and Mike followed Chet outside. “Gus! C’mere, Gus!”

The dog seemed intent on making it a game of keep away. He dodged Chet every time the man got close. Finally, he settled down in the corner of the backyard, but he would move when Chet, Cap, or Mike drew near. He was gnawing on Johnny. Before long, he had pulled off an arm.

JoAnne came running outside with a handful of treats. “Leave it, Gus. C’mon, Gus. Come here. Mama’s got yummies for you.” Gus looked at her, dropped the puppet, and trotted obediently to Jo.

Chet retrieved Johnny and his missing arm. “We can fix him, can’t we?” He handed the puppet to Mike. “You know about woodworking.”

“Yeah, I can fix him.” Mike rubbed his hand over the gouges in Johnny’s head. “Not sure I can fix that, though. I could sand it smooth, but I’m afraid that might be bad for Johnny when he’s restored.”

Cap frowned. “What about gluing in some wood to fix the gouges?”

Mike looked Johnny over. “Yeah, I could try that. It would have to be the right shade of wood, though. This looks like hickory. I’ll see what I can find in my workshop.”

“All right,” said Chet. “Take the girl marionette too. We should keep them together. I’m going to the central coast to look for hawthorn leaves. Marco found out about a grove up there. Maybe we can use fallen leaves instead of fresh ones. Cap, can you and Marco take Roy to a field? And Mike can take care of Johnny.”

Cap nodded. “Sure. I told Emily we were going camping. I’ve got sleeping bags, a tent, and food in the car.”

“Great.” Chet sighed. “Somehow, we’ll manage this.” They headed inside, where Chet talked with Marco and got the location of the hawthorn grove. He also found out where Cap was planning to camp so that he could join them when he had hawthorn leaves.

Then he said goodbye and hurried to his car.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

“Roy, buddy. Time to go.” Hank bent over Roy and tapped on his shoulder. The scarecrow did not respond.

“I don’t think he can move anymore, Cap,” said Marco. “He stopped sometime in the night.”

“Well, then. We’ll have to carry him to the car.” Hank picked Roy up. “At least he’s lighter this way.”

Jo ran down the stairs. “Wait!” She hurried over to take Roy’s face in her hands. “I love you, Roy.” She brushed her lips against his straw face, then stepped back. “OK. You can take him now.”

Cap carried Roy to his car, and he and Marco laid him gently on the back seat. Marco frowned. “I wonder if I should sit back here with him, in case he falls off?”

“Up to you,” said Cap as he slid into the driver’s seat. “You could buckle him in.”

Since Roy wasn’t bending very well without losing straw, Marco contrived a sort of harness out of the seatbelts and managed to buckle him onto the seat lying down.

“He’s on his side, right?” Cap looked in the backseat. “He likes to sleep on his side.”

“Yeah, he’s on his side. I tried to make him as comfortable as I could.”

“I sure wish we could know how much he’s aware of at this point. Guess he can’t tell us anymore.” Cap sighed in frustration.

“This whole thing is just creepy.” Marco adjusted his own seatbelt next to Cap.

“Well, we’ve got about an hour of driving ahead of us.” Hank started the car and drove down the street. “A friend of mine has a farm near Santa Clarita. He says we can camp in one of his fields. I figured a farm field might be the best option.”

“Good idea,” Marco agreed.

Cap started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Marco settled back for the drive. He was struggling internally with all that had happened. Magic was very strong in his culture, but he had never been comfortable with it. He prayed silently for guidance through the mess they were in.

“Crazy that this happened,” Cap muttered. “I never imagined this sort of thing was real.”

Marco let out a wry chuckle. “I never imagined that my best friend’s abuela could be a bruja, a witch!”

Cap nodded. “Yeah. Chet’s been holding out on us with that one.” He shrugged. “Then again, I don’t blame him for not sharing that detail.”

“True. I hope it’s not hereditary!”

Cap shook his head and chuckled. “Chet’s a good man. He wouldn’t do something like this. He’d just use his powers to make more effective water cannons.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Marco nodded. “Chet doesn’t have an evil bone in his body. This must hurt him deeply.”

“So, what do you think about the Phantom being his grandfather? I always thought Chet was the Phantom.” Cap turned on the radio but put the volume on low.

Marco scratched his head. He’d been wondering about that since he found out yesterday. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think. Chet and his grandfather must be kindred souls.”

“He’s told me a couple times that the Phantom saved him in a fire,” said Cap. “I’d like to know more about that.”

Marco was quiet for a minute. “I can think of one time the Phantom must have saved us both.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It was a couple years ago. Remember that chemical factory fire on Broadhurst, the one that went to four alarms?” Marco had had nightmares about that fire ever since it happened.

“Oh yeah.” Cap’s tone was suddenly somber. “That was a nasty one.  I sent people in to find you, but it was too hot for them, and they had to come out. I thought we’d lost the two of you.”

“Yeah, we were pretty much thinking the same thing. We got lost in that maze of hallways. We had marked the doors, but the paint broiled on a lot of them, and we couldn’t find our way out.” Marco shuddered. Talking about it almost made him feel like he was back there in the heat. “Madre de Dios, it was so hot, I thought I was melting! Anyway, Chet was in the lead, and suddenly a breeze came out of nowhere and blew a path through the flames, opening the way for us to get out. It practically pushed us through to the front of the building!”

Cap nodded. “And then you appeared out of nowhere.” He shook his head. “Wow. I guess I’m glad the Phantom is on our side.”

Marco smiled. “Me too, Cap. Me too.”

When they got just south of Santa Clarita, Hank exited the highway and turned onto a dirt road. It was bumpy, so he took it slowly. “Jim said to drive to the end of the road and we can park there. That’s where the field is. No one will bother us while we’re there. Jim left this morning on vacation.”

“Just out of curiosity, who’s taking care of his farm while he’s gone?”

“They’ve already harvested and won’t plant again till spring. His son will check on the livestock every day, but he won’t come back here.”

“Okay, good. Just making sure. Now all we have to worry about is birds picking on Roy!” He said this half-jokingly, but he really was a little concerned.

“Isn’t a scarecrow supposed to scare birds away?” Cap asked. “If they do trouble him, we’ll take care of them.”

“My abuela used to hang pie tins in her trees to scare birds away. I don’t suppose we have any pie tins?”

Cap chuckled. “Funny you should ask. Emily made us a few apple pies. They’re in the picnic basket, tins and all. We’ll just have to eat them first thing.”

Marco grinned. “I suppose I could force myself. Emily’s pies are legendary! We could hang the tins off of Roy’s arms once we get him set up!”

“Good thinking.” Cap couldn’t believe how pleased he was at the moment, in spite of the circumstances. “This is what I love about my crew. You’ll do anything to help each other.”

“Including eating apple pie!” Marco patted his tummy.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Roy had been vaguely aware that he was in a car. He listened to the conversation between the driver and the other man. Bits and pieces of it sounded familiar, but his memory was like Swiss cheese at the moment. He was even forgetting the song the sorceress had taught him.

He found he was comfortable being a scarecrow. I belong to the sorceress now, he told himself. I will stand on her shelf for the rest of my days.

Whatever the men who had him now intended, he took no further interest in it. He was a scarecrow, made of straw. He wasn’t supposed to think. His sight was dimming. By the time the car stopped, he could neither see nor hear. By the time the men got him out of the car, he had stopped thinking. He was nothing more than a scarecrow now, and his scarecrow brain had simply stopped working.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Beth came out to Mike’s workshop, snuffling from a cold. “What’s that you’re making, honey?” She peered over his shoulder. “That looks like Johnny!”

“Yeah, I know. I’m trying to repair him—it. It’s complicated, but I have to fix this marionette back to the way it was before a dog got hold of it and tore it up.”

Beth reached to touch the wooden puppet. Her gut twisted when she touched it. She pulled her hand back and shuddered. “Something isn’t right about this. I can feel it. You should leave it alone, Mike.” She crossed herself.

Mike turned to face her. He pulled her close. “I wish I could, but I can’t. And I can’t really explain it either. Just trust me. I have to do this.”

Beth backed away from him, horror in her eyes. “That’s really Johnny, isn’t it?”

Mike was still for a second, then gave a slow nod. “I have to fix him, or if we get him back, he’ll be badly injured.”

Many women wouldn’t have believed such a thing, but Beth knew what she had felt. There was an evil presence hanging around the marionette. Besides, she trusted her husband implicitly. He would never lie to her or make a joke about something so awful. “But honey, if you get him back, the wood you’re adding might not change.” She shivered.

Mike sighed. “There’s a chance. I told you, it’s complicated. I don’t even understand it all myself.”

Beth made the sign of the cross over Johnny. “How did it happen? Does Roy know?”

Mike groaned slightly. “Yeah, he knows, or at least, he did. Tell you what. I need a break anyway. How about fixing us some coffee and I’ll tell you everything. OK?”

“OK. I’ve already got a pot brewing. Come in five minutes.” Beth went back to the house.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Mike trudged up to the house. He had no idea how he was going to explain what had happened last night so that it would make any sense at all. Beth’s cold didn’t help matters. She couldn’t smell the remnants of the horrid stew that clung to John. He carried John with him, not willing to risk anything happening to his friend. He hoped the twins were busy with something so he and Beth could talk privately. When he got inside, he saw that Beth had set the table with coffee cups, a sugar bowl, and a platter of his favorite cookies.

Mike carefully set the marionette near the screen door where the breeze could carry away the smell. He didn’t want the boys complaining about it, after all. Luckily it was a nice day outside.

Beth poured him a cup of coffee. “All right, tell me everything.”

Mike took a deep breath. “OK, but just remember, you asked for it.” He did just as she asked. He told her everything he knew about the sorceress and her enchantments, about Chet and the Phantom, their plans for restoration, all of it.

Beth listened intently, every so often sipping at her coffee. Mike was grateful that she trusted him. “How can I help? Does Jo need me?”

Mike sighed in relief. “Just the fact that you believe me helps more than anything. Now you see why I have to repair Johnny. And I suspect Jo does need you. You might be able to comfort her better than anyone. I hope that the wood I add will change with John. It’s just a hunch.”

Beth nodded. “I just took some decongestant. It should kick in soon. When the boys are done cleaning, I’ll go spend some time with Jo. The boys will enjoy seeing Megan. Well, Ian will. Jake’s been in a foul mood lately.” She put a hand on Mike’s. “You can do this. At least now I understand why you suddenly took vacation time.”

“One word of warning. You can’t smell it because of your cold, but remember the bat wing stew I mentioned? It stinks to high heaven still—”

Beth nodded. “Maybe we’ll meet Jo and Megan at the playground. Surely she wants to get away from that smell. I’ll give her a call.”

“Once all this is over, their drapes and carpets will need to be cleaned. It’s that bad.”

“We can help with that.” Beth kissed her husband on the forehead. Mike knew she didn’t want to share her germs. Then she went to the phone to call JoAnne.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

In the end, Beth relented and told the boys to get ready to go before they were done cleaning. Jake always took forever at that task. She called out the back door, “Bye, Mike!” Then they went to the car. There was a wonderful playground about halfway between the Stoker house and the DeSoto house. Jo was already there with Megan when Beth pulled into the parking lot. She watched the boys get out. They ran to join Megan at the monkey bars. Beth sat on the bench next to Jo and put a hand on her shoulder. “Mike told me everything.”

“And you’re still sane?” Jo joked. She looked ready to cry. “Oh, Beth, I can’t believe this is happening!”

“I know, honey.” Beth hugged JoAnne. “I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

“I wish they’d never gone near that stupid house! I wish none of this had ever happened!” Tears tracked down JoAnne’s face. “What if we can’t do all the tasks, Beth? What will I do without him?” She buried her face in her arms and sobbed.

Beth wrapped her arms around Jo. “Hey, the guys are going to do whatever it takes to bring them back.”

“And then there’s the house.” Jo’s tears soaked into Beth’s sweater. “It smells awful right now! I don’t know how we’ll ever get it clean again. Chet helped me pull down the kitchen wallpaper. I think I’ll have to hire a service, and we just don’t have the money for it.”

“Listen, Jo. We’ve got a carpet cleaner. I’ll send Mike over tomorrow to take care of it. And he can deliver your drapes to a dry cleaner. Everything will be OK.”

Jo nodded. “I hope so, Beth. I really hope so.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

At ten years old, Jake thought himself vastly superior to six-year-old Megan. She was practically a baby. Ian insisted on being nice to her, though. The three were all sitting on top of the monkey bars. Jake glanced over and saw Aunt Jo in tears. He tapped Megan on the arm. “Why’s your mom crying? Did Uncle Roy get hurt in a fire?”

“No,” Megan said matter-of-factly. “A witch turned him into a scarecrow. A real one.”

Jake’s eyes got big. “No way!” He shook his head. “Dumb little kid.”

Ian frowned at his brother. “‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’”

Jake shoved his brother. “My name isn’t Horatio, idiot!”

Ian managed to catch hold of the monkey bars and avoid falling. He rolled his eyes. “For your information, Jake, I was quoting Shakespeare.”

Jake glared at his twin. What kind of dummy went around quoting Shakespeare in everyday life?

Megan folded her arms over her chest. “It did so happen, and I’m not dumb! Uncle Johnny got turned into a wooden puppet, the kind on strings. I saw it myself.”

Jake growled at Megan. “No he didn’t! It’s not possible!”

“Did too!” Megan was leaning forward, staring Jake right in the eyes. She had moved her hands to her hips instead of holding on to the monkey bars. If she’d been on the ground she would have stomped her foot. All of a sudden, she lost her balance. Ian tried to catch her but failed. Megan shrieked as she fell.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Beth was glad she had met JoAnne. Her friend needed support from another woman, instead of a bunch of guys who just didn’t get how a woman felt in a crisis situation. The guys, bless them, were all trying to fix things, but they couldn’t understand what Jo was feeling.

After a few minutes, Jo’s tears subsided. She wiped her face with tissues from her purse as she sat up straight again. “Oh, I feel a little better. Crying it out always helps. Thanks for putting up with me.”

“It’s OK, Jo.” Beth patted her friend’s arm. “It’s what you nee—”

A child shrieked. Then they heard a thud and a wail.

Jo gasped. “That’s Megan!”

The women had taken their eyes off the children while they were talking. Now they looked over to see Megan huddled on the ground in tears. She was rocking back and forth with her arm cradled to her chest. Her cheek was bleeding. Both mothers jumped up and ran to her.

While Jo checked on Megan, Beth ordered Jake and Ian to the ground. “You’re going to tell me exactly what happened,” she said, her voice hard as iron.

Jake hung his head, clearly guilty, and said nothing. Beth knew Ian would tell her the truth. “Megan said a witch changed Uncle Roy and Uncle Johnny into a scarecrow and a puppet. Jake said no way and called her a dumb kid. I tried defending her. Jake called me an idiot and shoved me. Then he yelled at Megan again. That’s when Megan lost her balance and fell.”

Beth hardened her expression. “Ian, walk your brother over to that bench.” She pointed to where she and Jo had just been sitting. “Sit down and don’t move.”

The boys obeyed. Beth bent over Jo and Megan. “Is she OK?”

Jo shook her head. “I think she has a broken arm, and she has a deep cut on the side of her face.”

“Bring her over to my car. I’ll drive you to Rampart.”

Jo picked Megan up. Beth walked with her to the parking lot, calling the twins to join them. “Ian, find your dad’s first aid kit. We need to put a dressing on that gash.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ian jumped in the back of the car. Jo slid into the front passenger seat with Megan in her lap. Soon, Ian returned with the first aid kit and handed it to his mother. Beth opened it and pulled out the gauze. She handed it and a roll of medical tape to JoAnne. “Here, put this on the cut.”

She motioned towards the backseat. “Get in, boys. Jake, we’ll talk about this later. You know better.”

She kept silent as she drove them to Rampart. Thankfully, it was only a few blocks away. They were there within minutes. When they got there, Beth dropped Jo and Megan off at the Emergency entrance, then found a parking spot where Jo could see her from the doors.

“I’m sorry for using mean words,” Jake said softly from the back seat. “I didn’t mean it. But what she said can’t be true, can it?”

Beth sucked in a deep breath. “Were you there to see the truth for yourself?”

She looked back to see Jake shake his head. “Then don’t be so sure she’s lying. There are some strange things in this world that none of us understand.”

“Yes’m.” He twisted a finger in his hair, one of his nervous habits. “That’s kinda what Ian said.”

Beth nodded. She knew better than to say that Ian was right. He usually was, but Jake would resent hearing it and his mood would just get worse. “And never, ever push your brother. If you’re upset with him, use your words, in a kind way. No name calling.”

“Yes’m. I’m sorry, Ian.”

The sound of a heartfelt apology from Jake made Beth feel she had secured a victory. She hadn’t even asked him to apologize. He would get another lecture when Mike heard what happened, but at least he realized he was in the wrong.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Inside, Jo looked around for someone she recognized. At last she saw Dixie coming out of a treatment room. “Oh, Dixie. I’m so glad I found you. I think Megan has a broken arm. Roy and Johnny are off camping and can’t help her.” She’d warned her daughter not to say anything more about what happened to them.

Dixie immediately called for a wheelchair and got Megan settled into it. “What happened to you?” she asked.

Megan whimpered. “I fell off the monkey bars. It hurts!”

“I think she might also need stitches.” Jo pointed to the gauze pad on Megan’s cheek.

“Well, don’t worry.” Dixie bent down to look Megan in the eyes. “We’ll get you fixed up just fine.”

“Thanks, Dixie.” Jo hoped that Dr. Early would be the one to work with Megan. He was patient and good with children. “Is Joe Early available?”

“He will be in a few minutes. He’s just finishing up in Treatment Three. Let’s get Megan into Treatment One and ready for Dr. Early.”

Jo nodded. She didn’t want to cut in front of anyone who needed treatment more, but her little girl was in pain. That cut to a mother’s heart. She followed Dixie into the treatment room and had a seat.

Dixie was gentle with Megan as she took her vitals and got her t-shirt off her.

“Daddy’s a scarecrow,” Megan said.

“Megan!” Jo couldn’t believe her daughter had ignored her that way. She looked at Dixie. “It was just his Halloween costume.” The lie sat heavy in JoAnne’s stomach, but what was she supposed to do?

Dixie took the little girl’s announcement in stride. “That’s interesting.”

“A witch did it last night. She changed Johnny too. He’s a puppet now, the kind with strings.”

Dixie turned to Jo. “How far would you estimate she fell?”

Jo’s forehead wrinkled. “Nine or ten feet. I’m not sure. The kids were on top of the monkey bars and started quarreling. She fell onto gravel.”

“It’s possible she hit her head. Joe will probably order a skull series just to be safe.”

Jo nodded. A concussion would explain Meggy’s wild stories. “I don’t know if she hit it. I was looking away for just a minute or so, talking with Beth Stoker. I looked back after she fell.”

Dixie gathered up her clipboard and told Jo that the doctor would be in shortly. She left the room quietly.

“Megan, I told you not to talk about what happened to Daddy,” said Jo.

“Sorry, Mama.” She sounded remorseful.

Jo supposed that was a good start. “Nobody will believe you, honey. That’s why Jake got mad at you.”

Megan straightened her shoulders. “But it’s the truth, Mama! You always say I should tell the truth!”

Jo sighed. “Most of the time, yes. But right now, this is a truth we keep secret. Got it?”

“OK.” Her little girl sounded disappointed and confused. Jo understood, but she couldn’t let her keep talking about it.

Just then Joe Early stepped into the room. “Well, hello there! I heard some monkey bars threw you off.” He moved straight over to Megan.

“Jake called me a dumb kid.” Megan was pouting now.

Joe’s eyebrows went up. “And you hadn’t done anything to him? Hmmmm.”

“He didn’t believe what I was saying.” Megan sounded so dejected, as if the weight of the world rested on Jake believing she was honest.

Jo worried about where the conversation was going. If Dr. Early asked what Megan had said, they could have trouble.

“So what did you say, anyway, Megan?”

Jo sighed. Of course he asked.

Megan slid her eyes over to Jo, but then she answered truthfully. “I told him a witch turned my daddy into a scarecrow last night, and Johnny into a wooden puppet, the kind with strings. But Mama says that’s a truth we’re supposed to keep secret.”

Joe’s eyes widened and his gaze turned toward JoAnne.

Jo was looking down at the floor. She felt Dr. Early’s eyes on her and finally looked up and shrugged. “It’s true. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it happened.”

Jo was completely unprepared for the doctor’s next words. “Sounds like the Phantom really has his hands full this time.”

“You mean, you believe us?” Jo was shocked. She hadn’t expected that at all. She sagged in her chair. “Oh, Doctor. It’s been such a rough day. The guys are trying to get them back.” Suddenly it hit Jo that she hadn’t mentioned Chet or the Phantom. “You knew the Phantom was real?”

“I’ve known all along. You see, the Phantom, when he was human, was a patient of my father’s. I met him when I was ten.”

“But Chet said she made everyone forget him.”

Dr. Early chuckled. “Oh, spells like that don’t work on me. My parents worked at a mission clinic in a country where magic was a big thing. They prayed for a hedge of protection around me when I was very young. A sorceress like Alassë Hex cannot harm me in any way, including my memory.”

“Alassë Hex,” Jo murmured, shuddering. “She’s the one who did it. Chet’s grandmother. The same one who made the Phantom. She gave us a list of things to do to save them, but I’m scared she won’t keep her word.”

Dr. Early nodded slowly. “She might not. If not, you’ll have to seek your remedy elsewhere.”

“But where, Doc? You sound like you know more about this than we do.”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “From someone with power. There is always a solution.”

The door opened and Dixie stepped back in. Jo was grateful when Dr. Early changed the subject. “Now, let’s give Megan some pain medication and get some x-rays. I want a skull series, images of the arm, and then I’ll stitch her cheek.” He gave orders to Dixie.

“Thank you, Dr. Early.” Jo couldn’t believe the relief she felt, knowing he believed their story. And if something happened and the sorceress didn’t keep her word, maybe he knew someone who could help.

“Dixie,” said the doctor, “see if George is available to do the x-rays. He’s good with kids.”

“Of course.” Dixie left the room and returned a few minutes later with George. He got set up to take the images.

“Jo, Dixie. We’ll step into the hall.”

The ladies followed Dr. Early into the hall and let George do his work. It took about ten minutes for him to get the images the doctor had asked for.

While they waited for the films to be developed, Jo went back in to sit with Megan.

Dr. Early and Dixie soon returned. “All right, Megan my dear, you have a broken radius. That’s one of the bones in your forearm. There’s no concussion, but I didn’t really expect one. I’m going to put a splint on your arm for now. Once the swelling has gone down, we’ll set the bone. JoAnne, bring her back in a couple of days to take care of that.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “As for the other problem, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” He looked at Dixie. “Let’s get this young lady stitched up and send her home.”

This was the first time Megan had gotten stitches, and she was scared. She looked at both the doctor and her mother, eyes wide with fear.

Jo reached for her good hand. “Here, sweetheart. Close your eyes and hold my hand.”

Dixie drew up numbing medication in a syringe and explained what she was going to do. “Just keep still and keep your eyes closed. Okay?”

“Uhhuh.” Megan was trembling. When the needle pierced her skin, she howled. “It hurts, it hurts!”

JoAnne hugged her. “Just give it a minute, honey. It will stop the stitches from hurting. It’s going to get numb very quickly.”

Dixie was used to this reaction and kept injecting the medication.

After a couple of minutes, Megan calmed down. She kept her eyes closed and leaned against her mother.

Once the area was numb, ten stitches took care of the gash. “The scar will fade as she gets older,” Dr. Early said. “Eventually, it will be barely noticeable.”

Dixie showed Megan the stitches in a mirror. The little girl beamed. “Now I can be a pirate for Halloween ‘stead of just Chris and he’ll have to let me on his crew!”

JoAnne sighed. She wasn’t sure she was up for any more Halloween costumes.

“Here’s information on taking care of the stitches.” Dixie handed JoAnne a sheet of paper. “Don’t let them get wet for twenty-four hours, make sure she doesn’t scratch at them, and protect the wound from the sun. For now, I’m going to cover them with Vaseline and a bandage.”

“Those stitches can come out in a couple of weeks,” Dr. Early said. He rubbed Megan’s hair and handed her a lollipop. “That’s for being so brave.”

“Thanks Dr. Early.” Megan tore off the wrapper and popped the candy in her mouth.

Jo walked Megan back outside and looked for Beth’s car. She saw it a few rows down in the parking lot and walked that way. “Is she OK?” Beth asked.

“She’s got a broken radius,” said Jo. “Also, ten stitches in her cheek. Nothing that time won’t heal.”

Jake folded his hands and lowered his eyes. “I was mean. I’m real sorry.”

Chapter Text

Mike looked Johnny over. He’d done good work on the puppet. Johnny was dressed again in his small jeans and his button-down shirt. The wood Mike had chosen to fill the gouges matched perfectly, and the reattached arm only looked a little gnawed. Mike hoped that it wouldn’t be a problem when Johnny was restored. “You are coming back to us,” he said to the puppet. “We need you.”

Johnny’s eyes just stared at him. Mike held on to the wooden handle that had the strings and let the puppet drop. He moved the handle and watched as Johnny’s arms and legs responded. When he pulled a lever on the handle, Johnny’s mouth opened or closed. Mike could imagine his hand going to his chest and Johnny breaking out in a rant. He missed his little brother’s voice.

Finally, he set the puppet on his workbench. It was a safe place. No animals could get in here, and he could lock the door. No one would steal the puppet or damage him further. He looked outside and saw Beth’s car pulling into the driveway. The boys jumped out of the backseat.

Ian ran to his father. “Daddy, Jake called Megan a dumb kid and he shoved me on top of the monkey bars and called me an idiot! I didn’t fall, but Megan did, and she broke her arm.”

Mike hurried over to the car and helped Beth out, then Jo. He stared at Megan then pinned Jake with his glare. “Explain.”

“He said he was sorry,” Megan tossed in.

Jake didn’t meet his father’s eyes. “Megan was talking crazy stuff, and I didn’t believe her. But Mom says there are things we don’t understand and I’m sorry I did it.”

Mike had a good idea what “crazy stuff” Megan had said. He sighed.

“Uncle Mike, you got Uncle Johnny here, right?” Megan looked around. “Will you show Jake?”

“No. And this isn’t over, Jake. You and I will talk about this.”

“Yessir.” Jake was still hanging his head. He got out of the car and headed into the house. “Guess I oughta go to my room.”

Mike nodded. “You guessed right, Son.” He turned to Jo. “I’m really sorry about all this.”

Jo put a hand on Mike’s arm. “Megan will be fine. She’ll heal in time. And maybe she’ll learn that when I tell her not to talk about something, she should keep her mouth shut.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Later in the afternoon, JoAnne and Megan went to pick Chris up from his sleepover. On the drive to the pack leader’s house, Jo considered what she would tell her son. At eleven years old, he wasn’t much more likely than Jake to believe what had happened, and Roy was not here to show him. Still, Megan would certainly tell him about it, and the Stoker boys might tell him about the quarrel on the playground.

Finally, she decided to go with the truth. Maybe Mike would show Chris the marionette that had been Johnny. Chris, at least, was safe with a secret. Unlike Megan, he wouldn’t breathe a word of it to anyone. Jo had decided to keep Megan home from school until all of this was over.

When Chris climbed in the car, JoAnne took a deep breath. She backed out of the driveway and drove along the road, careful to observe the speed limit. There were always police along here and they were sticklers about the speed limit in neighborhoods.

“Um, Chris—” Her voice trailed off. How was she going to explain this?

“Yeah, Mom?” He looked up at her. “What’s up? What happened to Meggy’s arm?”

Jo sighed. “It’s broken. She fell off the monkey bars. I’m afraid I have bad news for you.”

His face paled. Firefighters’ children lived with the worry that something bad would happen to their dad at work. “Is Dad OK? I thought he wasn’t on shift today.”

“Dad is—” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “—Not OK. He and Uncle Johnny encountered—well—a sorceress when we took Meggy trick-or-treating yesterday. She changed your dad into a scarecrow and Johnny into a marionette. You know, a puppet on strings.”

Chris laughed. “You can’t be serious, Mom.” Then he looked at her face. “Wait. You are serious. But that’s not possible!”

JoAnne shook her head. “I didn’t think it was possible either, until it happened. There’s a list of things we have to do to get them restored. Your 51’s uncles are helping with that. They had to take your dad and stand him in a field for seven days, so I can’t show him to you. But Johnny is with Uncle Mike. If you want, we can go see him.”

She pulled into the parking lot of a Holiday Inn. She had decided to get a room there for the week instead of staying at home where the whole house stank. The neighbors were watching Gus for the night. “Part of the remedy for Uncle Johnny smells really bad,” she told Chris, “so we’re going to stay here until the carpets and the drapes are cleaned.” She intended to have the house clean and smelling good before Roy came home.

Before they could get inside the hotel, Chris grabbed JoAnne’s arm. “I wanna see Johnny. Can we go over there now?”

“Sure.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

The doorbell rang. Mike answered. “JoAnne. Chris. Megan. Good to see you all. Come on in.”

“Hi, Mike.” JoAnne followed him into the kitchen. “I was wondering if you would show Johnny to Chris. I decided he needed to know what happened.”

Jake looked up from his plate. He’d been allowed to come downstairs for a snack. “Do you mean what Megan said was real?”

Mike looked directly at his son. “Yes, Jake. It’s all real. We’re just trying to deal with it.”

Beth gave Jake and Ian a serious look. She hardened her tone, making sure the boys knew she meant what she said. “And neither of you will say anything about it at school, is that understood?”

Both boys nodded. “Yes’m. We won’t say a word.”

Jake put a hand on his father’s arm. “Can we see Uncle Johnny too? Please?”

“Okay, as long as both of you keep your promise. Not a word to anyone.”

“Yessir,” Ian said. “Not a word. No one would believe it anyway.”

“I promise I won’t say anything either,” said Chris.

Mike went out to his workshop and retrieved John and brought him in for the boys to see. He wasn’t sure about allowing them to touch, so he cautioned them to be gentle.

Chris’s nose wrinkled up. “He smells bad.”

Mike sighed. The smell had faded some but was still noticeable. “We had to wash him in bat wing stew. He soaked in the smell.”

Ian traced Johnny’s facial features with one finger, then made the sign of the cross. “I’m praying he’ll come back,” he said softly.

Jake looked the puppet over and then touched it lightly. “Me too.”

“Me three,” added Chris. He put a hand on Johnny’s head. “What happened to his hair?”

“Gus got him,” said JoAnne. “You know how he is about anything he can chew, especially if it smells bad.”

Mike looked at Beth. “Do you have something I can wrap John in? I want to put him in my backpack along with the other one.”

“I’ve got some more muslin upstairs in my sewing room,” said Beth. “But won’t that keep the smell from dissipating?”

“Good point. Go ahead and get it, and I’ll wrap him in it after he airs out a while longer.”

She ran up to get it and then brought it back to Mike. “Here. I think that should be enough.”

Mike carried the cloth and his friend back out to the workshop and turned on the fan. He set John on the worktable and placed the cloth in the backpack so it wouldn’t get lost. He left John on the table, trying hard not to think about the fact that one of his closest friends had become a small wooden man controlled by strings.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

JoAnne stepped into her house again. Three days had passed since Halloween. Mike had come over to clean her carpets and her drapes had just come back from the dry cleaners. The windows had been left open to let the place air out. It smelled almost normal now. She would light some nice-smelling candles and that would cover the remaining odor. Now she intended to wash all the clothes in the house, just in case they’d picked up the smell. She turned to Megan and Chris. “Bring me the clothes from your rooms. I don’t care if they’re clean. I’m washing everything. Chris, you help Megan.”

Megan sighed. Chris pouted. Both children responded with a reluctant, “Yes ma’am.”

JoAnne went to her room and gathered up her own clothing and Roy’s. She ran a hand over Roy’s work shirt, hoping he would wear it again. She wished she could call Cap and Marco at their campsite, but it wasn’t possible. She would just have to wait until she heard from them.

For now, she would keep busy and she would keep the kids busy. If they weren’t cleaning, they would be studying or playing outside. She had always found that busy-ness was the best way for her to deal with her nerves. She filled the washer with the first load and poured in a cup of fragrant detergent. Then she yelled upstairs. “C’mon, kids. Make it snappy!”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet was still looking for hawthorn leaves. At the grove Marco had told him about, they’d had all the fallen leaves mulched, so those weren’t available. The Phantom kept bugging him with his idea, and Chet kept pushing it away. He couldn’t do that kind of stuff.

He was exhausted, so he finally went back to the hotel and settled in for the night. Maybe tomorrow he would drive down to where Cap and Marco were camping and spend a night with them. Then again, he wasn’t sure he could look at Roy right now. He felt like he had failed his friends.

When he got to the hotel, he was surprised to find Joe Early sitting in the lobby. “Dr. Early, what are you doing here?”

“JoAnne told me what had happened. Well, actually, Megan told me. JoAnne confirmed it. She said you were staying here.” The doctor cleared his throat. “I had some vacation time coming, and I wanted to help. Can we talk in your room?”

“Sure.” Chet led the doctor up the stairs to room 214. He unlocked the door and gestured for Joe Early to go through first. Dr. Early sat in the armchair and Chet sat on the bed.

“Before we talk, Chet, I want to say hello to the Phantom. He’s an old friend of mine. He used to be a patient of my father’s. Hello, Robert. It’s good to see you again.”

He listened quietly for a minute and then chuckled. “Thanks, Robert. We’ll work on him together.”

Chet’s eyes widened. He stared at Dr. Early. “You know the Phantom? But my grandmother said she made everyone forget him!”

Dr. Early waved a hand through the air. “Oh, her spells can’t touch me. I have protection. She was able to take your memory of your grandfather because it didn’t actually harm you. But your grandfather made sure she could never harm you with her magic. He’s the one who put the protective spell on you when you were born. I was there when he did it. He said he needed a witness.”

“He did that? I always thought it was my grandmother.” Chet could hardly believe what he was hearing. For Dr. Early to remember his grandfather and be able to see and speak with him even now was beyond belief.

Dr. Early shook his head. “No. Your grandmother started her exploration of dark magic much earlier than the rest of your family realized. Your grandfather did not trust her. He remained with her for the protection of his children and grandchildren. He was away from the house when she changed your dog into a mouse. He always felt guilty over that. When he scolded her for it, she transformed him.” The doctor put a hand on Chet’s knee. “He’s weary of living in a disembodied form. He would like to move on. Your grandfather was a good Catholic who only ever used his powers to help people. He wants to do that now, by passing those powers on to you.”

Chet swallowed hard. “And then?”

“Then he would ask God to give him rest. He’s ready, Chet.”

Chet couldn’t imagine not having the Phantom with him. They’d been companions since he was nine years old. The Phantom had helped him deal with bullies. He’d helped Chet pull off fun pranks at the station. He had even saved Chet’s life more than once in fires. He blinked back tears. “I’m not ready,” he admitted. And yet, how could he deny his grandfather this final wish?

Dr. Early reached into his pocket and pulled out a seed. “It’s a hawthorn seed. As I understand it, you have seven more days before you have to give Roy a crown of hawthorn leaves. Chet, you can make this tree grow. The Phantom will help you. He’s not going to leave before your friends are restored.”

“Why can’t he do it?” Chet rubbed his sleeve over his eyes. He was trying hard not to cry. He felt the Phantom’s warmth wrapping around him in an embrace.

“He talks to you in your thoughts, right?” Dr. Early pushed the seed into Chet’s hand. “The spell to make this tree grow out of season requires an actual voice. You have to sing it into growing. The Phantom will give you enough power to make it work, while reserving some for himself.”

“Why do you believe all of this?” Most people, even Chet’s parents, thought the Phantom was his alter ego.

Dr. Early was very serious with his response. “Because of what I’ve seen, Chet. Will you try what Robert asks of you?”

After a long moment, Chet nodded. His heart ached over the thought of losing the Phantom. He hoped his grandfather would reconsider and stay with him, but to help Roy and Johnny, he would do what was necessary.

“All right, then.” Dr. Early straightened up. “Tomorrow morning, we will join Hank and Marco at their campsite. You know where it is, right?”

“Yeah.”

Dr. Early stood up and reached in his pocket for the key to his hotel room. “We’ll plant the seed there. I’ll meet you in the lobby at eight in the morning.” He grinned. “I’ll even spring for breakfast.”

Chet nodded, but didn’t say anything more. He was tired and discouraged. Was it really possible that this whole recovery effort hinged on him accepting powers he didn’t want?

Dr. Early let himself out. Chet grabbed some tissues and went to bed. That night, the Phantom haunted his dreams.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

The wind at the campsite had proved a problem for Roy. It kept blowing him over. Hank and Marco had finally planted a post deep in the ground and tied him to it.

Hank wished Roy would say something, that he would give some indication that he was still there inside that pile of straw, but he remained silent and motionless. Whenever a big gust of wind came, bits of straw broke off and blew away. At last, Hank decided to use the tent as a shelter for Roy, hoping to protect him. It was a large tent, so there was still room for him and Marco to sleep in it.

They slept in shifts, neither of them willing to leave Roy alone. What if he suddenly came to, frightened about where or what he was? Someone needed to be awake to calm him. Nothing happened, though. As far as Hank could tell, Roy was simply gone.

When Joe Early drove in with Chet in his car early on Saturday morning, Hank stiffened. He didn’t want to explain to anyone else why they were out here.

But Dr. Early got out of the car and waved. “JoAnne told me what happened,” he said. “I’m here to help.”

“Where’s Roy?” Chet asked as he got out of the car.

“He’s in the tent.” Hank pointed. “Wind kept blowing straw off him.”

Chet frowned. “I’m not sure that counts as in the field. Is there any way to block the wind but have him outside?”

Hank shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

The Phantom whispered something in Chet’s mind. “The Phantom agrees. He says he’ll protect Roy. Or at least, he’ll teach me how to.”

Hank and Marco brought Roy out of the tent and stood him outside in the field. Chet put his hands on Roy and repeated words in the ancient tongue, words the Phantom gave him. The magic worked. No more straw broke off of Roy, even in the heavy gusts.

Dr. Early watched quietly. Hank thought he saw a look of satisfaction in the man’s eyes. He moved to stand next to the doctor. “What made you believe JoAnne’s story?”

“Things I’ve seen in my life.” Joe Early clapped Hank on the back. “This is comparatively minor.” He looked at Chet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have a hawthorn seed to plant.”

Hank stared after the doctor. Men transformed into a marionette and a scarecrow was minor? What the hell had Dr. Early seen?

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Mike settled in next to Beth on the couch after the boys were in bed. “I hated grounding Jake, but he’s got to learn.”

Beth sighed. “I agree. I do think he’s sorry for what he did.” She scooted in under Mike’s arm. “So what do you have to do next for Johnny?”

“We have to manipulate the two marionettes, make them dance together. But the real trick is, they have to dance on a stage. I suppose I could build one, but that’s gonna take some time.”

Beth shook her head. She reached for a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table. “No need for that. I volunteer with the drama club tomorrow. They have to learn about marionettes for the school musical. But I hope Johnny doesn’t smell awful any more. I didn’t know there was a second one.”

“The smell’s pretty much gone. There’s also a girl puppet.” He explained about that part of the song.

“You mean the witch chose a girl for him?” She shook her head. “How awful. Johnny wouldn’t like that.” She frowned. “I wonder how long the girl has been a marionette.”

“I dunno, but her clothes are really old, like from the 1800s or something but they’re in perfect condition.”

“Is she with JoAnne, or do you have her?”

“JoAnne gave her to me earlier.” He went to his backpack and pulled out a marionette carefully wrapped in muslin. He handed the doll over to Beth.

Beth removed the wrapping. She ran her fingers along the puppet’s long black hair. “Oh, she’s lovely. Johnny would have fallen for her, I’m sure, even without a spell.”

“Yeah, probably, knowing him.”

“I wonder what her name is, where she came from.” Beth liked getting the stories of people. “I wonder why the sorceress changed her like this.”

“I wonder how we’re going to get identity papers for her once this is all over,” Mike said ruefully.

Beth nodded. She thought back to their daughter Sarah, who had been kidnapped when she was only three. “Maybe we can name her Sarah. Unless she remembers her name, of course. Our Sarah had black hair just like this.”

Mike nodded. “I remember. Let’s just wait and see, okay, Babe.”

Beth blinked back tears. The guilt she felt at having turned away for just a minute had resurfaced. “OK.” She nestled closer to Mike. “Thank you for loving me.”  Losing Sarah had been a struggle, but they had survived.

Mike just held her close, relishing the moment of companionship and peace. They fell asleep that way, and only woke much later, when the room began to chill.

Beth looked at the clock. It was just after two in the morning. She wrapped up the girl marionette again and handed her back to Mike. “We should go to bed.”

Mike accepted the doll, returned her to his backpack so that nothing would damage her, and they headed to bed.

In the morning, Beth awoke early to make a good breakfast for her family. The boys were headed back to school. “Mike,” she said as she placed a platter of bacon and sausages on the table. “Will you join me at the drama club today? The boys will still be in school.”

“Yeah, I would love to, Babe. Maybe we can come closer to getting John back, and maybe freeing the girl, too.”

Beth kissed Mike. “The club meets over the lunch hour. Can you be there at noon?”

“Sure.” Mike smiled. Then his expression grew serious. “But what do we do if they come to life while they’re dancing? How do we explain that to the kids?”

Beth’s forehead wrinkled. “Didn’t Ms. Hex say that wouldn’t happen until all the conditions were met?”

Mike nodded. “Oh, yeah. Okay then. I’ll be there. Count on it.”

Beth grabbed her car keys and her purse. She didn’t like to let the twins take the bus. “All right, boys. Time to go to school.”

There were the typical moans and groans from Jake. Ian liked school, so he rarely protested. Jake was intelligent, but he would rather be outside playing football or baseball than studying.

“Come on, out the door. Stop your moaning, Jake.” Beth herded the boys to the front door, leaving Mike alone.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Mike drove over to the high school with the marionettes in plenty of time to meet Beth and the Drama Club. He’d been to the school auditorium for various neighborhood events before, so he had no trouble finding it. He walked in and placed his backpack on one of the front row seats and sat down.  He watched for a few minutes as Beth interacted with the kids. Then he decided to let her know he was there. He stood up and went to the edge of center stage. “Hey, Babe, I’m here!”

Beth looked up and smiled. “Oh, hi, Mike. Class, this is my husband, Mike Stoker. He’s an engineer with the fire department, and he brought us something fun to play with today.”

Just then, a tall boy walked across the front of the auditorium. He grabbed Mike’s backpack from the seat and then ran towards the doors. Beth’s eyes got big and worried. “Mike! Your backpack!”

Mike whirled towards the entrance at her words. He immediately sprinted after the boy. “Oh no you don’t, kid!”

Mike had been a star starter on his track team in high school, and as a firefighter, he was in excellent condition. Now, anger and fear fueled his steps.

The boy ran through the lobby and out the front doors of the school, laughing as he looked back over his shoulder. He ran across the grassy field between the school and the football field.

Mike was right behind him. He was determined the kid was not going to get away from him. Finally in desperation, Mike leapt after the boy in a flying tackle and grabbed the boy around his knees, flinging him to the ground. Mike held on tight. He was not going to lose that backpack.

The kid twisted around, his arms flailing. “Get off me, Mister!” He managed to move around, balled up a fist, and punched Mike hard in the jaw.

Grimly, Mike held on and strengthened his hold by grabbing the kid’s belt with one hand and the backpack with the other. At this point, all he wanted was the backpack. He really didn’t care if the kid got away. He pulled himself up and used his body weight to pin the kid down. He finally got a good hold on the backpack, and he jerked it loose.

A heavyset man wearing a suit bent down and grabbed the kid by his collar. “Evan Broadhouse, what am I going to do with you? You stole this man’s backpack, didn’t you?”

Evan dropped his gaze. “Yeah,” he admitted.

 Mike stood up, staring at the kid. “You’re in for a major disappointment, kid. There’s nothing in there but a woodworking project and this.” He pulled out his badge and ID, showing them to both Evan and the man holding onto him.

The man shook his head. “Mr. Stoker, I’m Principal Levine. I’m going to put Mr. Broadhouse here into detention. Not to mention, he’s off the football team.”

“Aww, man.” Evan groaned. “It’s not like I stole money!”

“You have no idea, kid.” Mike said. As the adrenaline rush deserted him, Mike’s jaw suddenly began to hurt in earnest. He blinked and moaned slightly, rubbing the sore spot.

“Are you ok, Mr. Stoker?” The principal looked him over. “You’re looking a bit pale suddenly.”

Mike shrugged. “I’ll be okay. Dumb kid got in a lucky shot and punched me in the jaw.”

Mr. Levine shook Evan. “That’s it. In-school suspension. You know better.” He offered his hand to Mike. “I apologize on Evan’s behalf.”

Mike rubbed at his jaw. “I accept on one condition. I want to talk to his parents about this incident. Seems like it’s not his first time in trouble.”

“No, it isn’t.” Mr. Levine sighed. “He’s been a source of trouble all year. I’ll call his father and have him in the office this afternoon if that suits you.”

With a nod, Mike agreed. “It does. Thank you.”

“Are you joining Mrs. Stoker at the drama club today?” said Mr. Levine.

“Yes. That’s where I was when all this started.” Mike frowned at the kid and rubbed his jaw again.

“Come by the office when you’re done, then,” said Mr. Levine. “The school secretary will let you know when Mr. Broadhouse is coming in.”

“I’ll do that.”

Mike tested out his jaw on his way back to the auditorium. It was sore and probably bruised, but he was sure it wasn’t broken. For that much he was grateful. They had enough to deal with without that. He checked on the marionettes. They were fine, too.

Beth was waiting for him on the stage. She gasped when he came in. “Oh, Mike!” She was staring at his jaw. “That has to hurt.”

Mike smiled gingerly. “Yeah, it does, but I got the backpack back and the marionettes are okay. That’s the important thing.”

“Class,” Beth said, “you’ve heard that the school musical this  year is Sound of Music. You’ll have to learn to work with marionettes. I have two here today. You must be very careful with them. One is quite old.”

Mike pulled the two muslin wrapped packages out of his backpack and handed them to Beth. “There ya go.”

Beth unwrapped Johnny. “Here. This one is named John. He’s a friendly fellow.” She held him so that she could manipulate him. “Here’s what you do. You move the strings and his limbs move.” She handed the puppet to one of the girls. “Carla, you try it. Remember to be careful with him.”

She unwrapped the girl and handed her to another student. “Lisa, this is Sarah. You can tell from her clothing and the faded paint that she’s quite old. Be careful. We don’t want her broken. What I want you to do is have the puppets dance together on the stage.”

She moved over next to Mike. “They’re the two most careful students in the group. They won’t do any damage to them.”

Mike watched, fascinated at how quickly the two students picked up how to properly maneuver the marionettes around the stage.

Soon the girls had them dancing together as they sang a song from The Sound of Music. “One little girl in a pale pink coat heard, lay dee odl lay dee odl lay hee hoo. She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd, Lay dee odl, lay dee odl ooh.” Both girls had pleasant voices.

A few of the other students clamored for a turn, but Beth cut them off. “I’m sorry, but it’s time to go to your next class. Maybe next time, when we have the puppets for the musical.” She collected the puppets and handed them back to Mike. “Thanks, honey.”

Mike grinned. “My pleasure, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary hat to her. He placed the marionettes back in his backpack, snug in their muslin wrappings. He gave Beth a kiss and headed to the school office. A condition set by the witch, or sorceress as Roy had called her, had been met. Hopefully Chet and the others were doing as well.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

The Phantom swirled about in Chet’s mind, giving him instructions for the planting of the hawthorn seed. He told him the words he should sing and the proper tune for the song. Then he lent his magic to Chet’s voice, allowing him to sing the spell properly.

Chet cupped his hand over the seed, which he had covered with dirt. He sang the song the Phantom had given him. The words meant little to him, but he sang them anyway. He could feel the connection between himself and the seed. As he sang, he could feel the seed cracking, sending out a shoot. He could feel the roots reaching down into the earth while the shoot grew upwards.

Excellent, the Phantom whispered. This is what good magic is, the connection between you and the earth, between you and those you care about, between you and the good you hope to do.

When the hawthorn shoot broke through the earth, responding to Chet’s song, he felt a burst of joy go through him. The hawthorn had somehow become a part of him. He sang it into growing taller and taller. He sang until his voice was hoarse and he couldn’t get another note out. By this time, the young hawthorn was about two feet tall. The problem was, it hadn’t put out leaves yet. It had, however, put out thorns. Chet had to take care when he touched it. The thorns were sharp.

Joe Early knelt next to Chet and placed a hand on his shoulder. “There is danger and there is blessing in your powers. Blessing, because you can do good for others. Danger, because they can tempt you as they did your grandmother. Then they ravage your heart as the thorns on this tree can pierce your skin.”

“I don’t want powers,” Chet croaked. He was barely able to whisper at this point. “Can I give them up after John and Roy are back?”

“Rest your voice,” said Dr. Early. “You still have to sing leaves out of this tree.” He nodded toward the tent. “You look exhausted. Go get some sleep.”

It was just after noon, but Chet fell asleep as soon as he lay down. His dreams were full of the hawthorn tree, as if it couldn’t grow unless he grew. In his dream, he became the hawthorn shoot and his grandfather was singing over him, drawing him out, helping him become what he was meant to be.

But what am I meant to be? It wasn’t a question a nap full of dreams could answer. All he ever wanted was to be a fireman. As he dreamt, his grandmother’s collection of figures marched through his mind. He saw the robot, the dog, the ballerina, the teddy bear. He also saw human faces that seemed distinct at first and then melded into the figures. Eyes that had once been full of life and emotion went lifeless. They needed to live again. Alassë wouldn’t save them. Could Chet?

You can, the Phantom insisted. Accept your inheritance from your grandmother and use the power as it was meant to be used, for good instead of evil.

Chet shook his head in his sleep. He didn’t want these powers. Making a tree grow was one thing. Remedying all of Alassë’s evil spellcraft was quite another.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Mike met with Evan’s father at one thirty in the afternoon. The man was apologetic, but Mike could see the lack of sincerity in his eyes. “Evan’s had a hard year, Mr. Stoker. His mother left us, and he’s struggling to adjust.”

“Has he faced any consequences for his behavior?” If either of Mike’s twins had behaved as Evan did, he would have known quickly that such behavior was inappropriate. Neither Mike nor Beth spanked their children, but they knew how to impress on them the importance of good behavior.

Evan’s father threw up his hands. “I’ve left that to the school. I can’t do anything with him at home.”

Mike frowned. He had hoped to avoid bringing charges against the boy, but now it seemed necessary. “Well, Mr. Broadhouse, you should know that I’ll be pressing charges against your son.”

“I’ve already put in a call to the police,” said Mr. Levine. “Your son punched a man. I’m surprised Mr. Stoker didn’t end up with a broken jaw.”

“Well, that man tackled him. I’d say Evan had reason to get physical.” Mr. Broadhouse frowned. “Do you usually go around tackling kids, Mr. Stoker?”

Mike’s eyes blazed. That kid was taller than he was! “Only when they steal my belongings,” he said through gritted teeth.

Mr. Levine leaned forward, hands folded in front of him. “Evan got Mr. Stoker’s fire department badge and name tag. He could have misused those. I’d say Mr. Stoker was perfectly within his rights.”

Evan had sat silently, listening to the whole conversation. When Mr. Levine mentioned the police, his face paled. “Don’t let them arrest me, Dad!”

Mr. Broadhouse patted his son’s arm. “No one is taking you anywhere, Son.”

Ten minutes later, a police officer arrived. He took a report from Mike and from Mr. Levine and took photographs of the bruise on Mike’s face. Then, ignoring Mr. Broadhouse’s protestations, he snapped handcuffs on Evan and led him to the squad car.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Alassë Hex was anxious to add the marionette and the scarecrow to her collection. The scarecrow was too far away to be under her control just now, but the marionette was closer. She could feel him, just a few miles away.

She could not leave her house to fetch him, thanks to the spell the Phantom had placed on her, but she could call him to her. She wanted the girl marionette too. She would always keep them together. Hyacinth Kelly had been her first victim, Robert’s younger sister. She had promised to restore her if Robert Kelly married her and remained her husband for fifty years. She knew he never loved her, but she was willing to do whatever was necessary to win him.

Of course, before they ever reached their fiftieth anniversary, Robert had disappointed her. He took her to task for changing little Chester’s dog into a mouse and feeding it to the cat. That dog had been a nuisance. It deserved what it got! And Robert deserved what he got.

So now Hyacinth would remain a part of her collection, along with John. Yes, Alassë knew his name. She knew everything about him. She had gathered all his memories into her own. When she retrieved the scarecrow, she would gather his memories as well. He wouldn’t need them anymore.

Alassë had set the conditions for restoration of the two men so that they would be impossible to achieve. There was no way Roy’s wife would find hawthorn leaves at this time of year. Alassë would only accept fresh, green leaves for the crown. Besides, even if they managed to find them, Alassë had no intention of keeping her promise. The marionette and scarecrow belonged to her forever.

She didn’t intend on a long forever, though. She was growing weary of this life. She needed Chester to return to her, to take up his inheritance, to accept his powers and take over her collection. Then she would happily fade away, content to know that her spells would not fade with her.

She had extended her life with magic. Only she knew it, but she was now a hundred and fifty years old. Robert would have been a hundred and twenty this year if she hadn’t disembodied him.

“Come to me, puppets,” Alassë sang in the old tongue. “Forever be mine.” As she sang, she watched in her mind what was happening in a certain Long Beach workshop in the backyard of a non-descript house. A backpack unzipped itself. The two puppets slipped out of their wrappings, moving jerkily. Then they faded from view, appearing suddenly in Alassë’s front room.

She picked them up and crooned over them. “Ahh, they left you to languish in that old workshop. All wrapped up and trapped in a backpack. My shelf is a much better place for you both.” She caressed John’s bald head. “What did they do to your lovely hair? It was your best feature.” Images flashed in her mind of a dog running about with the puppet in its mouth. Anger filled her. She uttered a spell and the dog a block away changed to stone. At least the puppet had been repaired. She could have given him new hair, but she decided to leave him as he was. Bald men were frightfully handsome. Not that he would ever be a man again, but she could imagine.

She stroked his cheek. Maybe she would grant him human form for one night. She would have to make herself look young and beautiful so that he would adore her. Then she sighed. No, I’d better not. She would never be able to fade away if she did that.

She carried the puppets downstairs and placed them on a small stage on the side of the room. She arranged them so that John’s arms were wrapped around Hyacinth’s waist. “You danced together today. I can see it now.” She stroked John’s face. “My dear sweet goatherd. Perhaps you both need a change of costume.” She twitched her fingers. Suddenly, John was dressed in lederhosen with a green feathered cap and wooden shoes. Hyacinth’s old-fashioned dress turned into a dirndl that perfectly matched the one worn by the marionette in The Sound of Music.

“Dance for me, children,” she commanded, waving a hand. The strings raised up in the air as if pulled by unseen hands, and the two marionettes began to dance. They only stopped when Alassë lowered her hand. She picked the puppets up and set them on her shelf. “Every day you will dance for me.” She arranged them so it seemed that John was kissing Hyacinth.

“Hmm. How is it that song ends?” She picked up the teddy bear. “Soon the duet will become a trio.” She murmured soft words and the teddy bear transformed into a wooden infant, also on strings, also dressed in lederhosen. Alassë laid the infant in between John and Hyacinth. This wooden child had been her oldest. He was deficient, born without magical powers. Robert had loved him, but Alassë could not accept him. She had changed him on the first day of his life. Now he would belong to John and Hyacinth. With his dark hair, he looked enough like his aunt to be her son. Alassë brushed her fingers over William’s face. A hint of regret haunted her thoughts, but she hardened her heart against it. She pushed remorse away and smiled. Everything was going according to plan.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

When Mike awoke in the morning, he was grateful to find that Beth had made him oatmeal for breakfast. His jaw was still too sore for chewing, but oatmeal went down easily and was filling, and with the maple syrup and brown sugar Beth added, it was also delicious.

When he had finished eating, he kissed Beth. “I’m going to go check on the puppets.” He had locked his backpack in the workshop before going to bed.

When he unlocked the door, he found the backpack open and the muslin wrappings lying on the ground. The puppets were gone. There was no sign of anyone breaking into his workshop. Anyone who picked the lock wouldn’t have been able to lock the door again. That required a key. The windows weren’t broken. That could only mean one thing. “Ms. Hex got them.” She had to have used some sort of spell to get them through the locked door.

When he got back inside, Beth was on the phone. Mike could hear JoAnne crying. Beth handed him the receiver. “Hey, Jo. What happened?”

Jo sniffed. “Gus is gone. I let him out in the night and he never came in. This morning, Megan found—” She sobbed. “Megan found a stone dog in our backyard. He looks just like Gus.”

“Ms. Hex,” Mike muttered. “Damn. She got Johnny and the girl marionette, too.” He sighed heavily. “I’m not going to risk going to get him back from her. Listen, I’m going to drive up to see how the guys are doing with Roy. We may just have to wait till our time is up to get Johnny back. Why don’t you come spend the day over here?”

“OK,” said JoAnne. “Can Megan come too? I’m keeping her home from school till this is over.”

Mike looked at Beth and she nodded. “Sure. Bring Megan. Our boys will be at school, but she can still have fun here.”

“Thank you. We’ll be there soon. Goodbye.” The line clicked. Mike hung up the phone.

He pulled Beth into a hug. “Take good care of them. I’m going to camp with the guys for the rest of Roy’s seven days. At least we did everything we had to for Johnny before Ms. Hex took him back.” He headed upstairs to pack his bag.

Chapter Text

Chet started coughing in the night. It was a heavy, wet cough. By the time he woke up in the morning, his voice was completely gone. He couldn’t even whisper. His throat hurt and he had chills running up and down his back. The Phantom couldn’t make an illness like this go away.

“Amigo, you look kind of grey.” Marco backed away. “I’ll get Dr. Early to check on you. He was up at six to take a walk.”

A few minutes later, Dr. Early came into the tent. Chet motioned to his throat. Dr. Early held the back of his hand to Chet’s forehead. The coolness of the doctor’s skin made Chet shiver.

Dr. Early sighed. “You probably picked up a bug at the hotel. I’ll get my bag out of the car.” He left the tent for a moment, then returned with his bag and a cup of water. “All right, I’ve got aspirin for your fever. It should also help relieve your sore throat.” He handed two tablets and the cup to Chet. He opened the zipped-up window of the tent to let the sun shine in. Then he pulled out a tongue depressor. “Open wide. I won’t ask you to say ahh.”

Chet opened wide. Dr. Early pressed his tongue down and looked in his throat. “Wow, that’s awfully red.” He felt Chet’s neck. “Swollen lymph nodes. And it looks like you’ve got a viral rash. I think this is a bad cold or possibly the flu.”

When Chet started coughing again, he could hardly breathe. Dr. Early put some extra pillows behind him, then looked through his bag. “Let’s see, I have some decongestant that should help.” He opened the package and passed it to Chet. “It’s a good thing I brought another tent. I don’t want this to spread.” He patted Chet on the shoulder. “Get some rest. I’ll check on you in a little bit.” Then he slipped out of the tent.

Chet closed his eyes. He felt like a failure. He should be out there, singing that hawthorn tree into growing leaves. Instead, he was lying here thinking it would feel better to be dead than to be this sick.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

When Mike arrived at the campsite, he was surprised to find a young hawthorn tree growing. He was even more surprised when Cap and Marco told him that Chet was responsible for it, that the Phantom was training him to use magical powers.

Chet, alas, was in bed in the tent, sick with a bad cold or maybe the flu. And along with whatever virus he had, he now had laryngitis. Thankfully, Dr. Early was here and taking care of him.

The four men sat around the campfire and talked while Chet slept. According to Dr. Early, the Phantom was there with them as well. Sometimes Dr. Early would talk with the Phantom. He always called him Robert.

“What I want to know,” Cap said, “is whether Ms. Hex is responsible for Chet’s illness. Did she somehow figure out what he was doing?”

Dr. Early shook his head. “No. She can’t harm him. Robert put a protective spell around each of his children and grandchildren the moment they were born.” He stopped for a moment, appeared to be listening, and then corrected himself. “I’m sorry. He says he didn’t do it with his first child, a son named William. William was born without any magical powers and Ms. Hex changed him into a teddy bear the first day of his life.”

Cap narrowed his eyes. “Her own son?” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. There’s something really wrong with that woman.”

Mike hadn’t yet admitted his failure to the other men. “She took Johnny back. And the girl marionette. This morning, I unlocked my workshop door and they were gone. She also turned Gus Pup to stone.”

He felt a wisp of something stroking his cheek. Was it the Phantom? Then a voice spoke in his head, a voice with a charming Irish accent. You could not have stopped her. She would have harmed you if you’d tried.

“He’s right, Mike.” Joe leaned over the campfire, his hands out to soak up the warmth. “You would probably be a stone figure in your workshop, and we would have someone else to worry about restoring.” He frowned as he looked closer at Mike. “What happened to your jaw?”

“A kid at the high school tried to steal my backpack that had Johnny and the girl marionette in it. I chased him and tackled him. He punched me pretty hard in the jaw. I’m just glad it isn’t broken. Still, it hurts too much to chew.”

Dr. Early frowned. “Well, I still want to x-ray it when we get back. It’s possible you’ll develop a temporomandibular joint disorder because of that punch.”

Mike groaned and rubbed his bruised jaw. “At least they arrested the kid. He’s a troublemaker with a father who doesn’t do anything about it.”

Dr. Early nodded, his face grave. He waited a few minutes before speaking again. “Robert says the girl marionette is his sister Hyacinth Kelly. Ms. Hex promised him she would restore the girl if Robert remained married to her for fifty years. But she turned him into the Phantom before they reached their fiftieth anniversary. He hopes that Chet will take up his inheritance and restore her along with Roy and Johnny.”

Mike had kept his eyes off the scarecrow. He hated seeing Roy like that. Now he looked up, and his gaze went to the scarecrow’s button eyes. The sight made his stomach sick.

Dr. Early put a hand on his back. “Robert says he’s gone. He doesn’t see or hear anything anymore. His soul is out there somewhere, and when his body is restored, it will come back to him. Until then —” His voice trailed off.

Mike quailed at the thought. “Until then, he’s lost to us.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Roy was at home. The last thing he remembered was that he had been trapped inside the scarecrow in the back of Cap’s station wagon. He wasn’t in bodily form, but at least he was where he belonged. He had been swirling about for several days, trying to figure out how to let JoAnne know he was here.

No one was home right now. Chris was at school. Jo and Megan had gone somewhere together. Roy had noticed the cast on his little girl’s arm. He flitted into the backyard, hoping to find Gus there. All he found was a stone figure of a dog. Then he felt something snuffling at him. He looked around and saw Gus’s spirit. Gus was free of his prison, just as Roy was.

“Where’d they go, boy?” he asked.

Gus barked, and to his surprise, Roy understood him. “They’re at Mike and Beth’s?”

It was easy enough to go to the Stoker’s house. He slipped through the closed door and found JoAnne weeping in Beth’s arms. He floated around her, then found his way into her mind. I’m here, honey. I love you. He hoped she could hear him.

She stopped crying and looked up. “Roy is here. It’s like — like with Chet’s Phantom.”

Roy wrapped himself around her, hoping that she could feel his love for her. Then he went in search of Megan. His little girl was looking through one of Jake’s books. Roy settled over her, flitting into her mind and telling her, Daddy’s here, Meggy Moo.

Megan smiled and looked up. “Daddy? Is that really you?”

Yes. I’m here with you. I’m watching over you.

“Daddy, the witch got Gus.” Megan’s lower lip jutted out, and her eyes filled with tears.

I know, darling. I saw him. He’s like me now. He told me where I could find you today.

Megan grinned. “I went and told him before we left. Mama said I could. You mean he really heard me?”

Yes, he did. Now, I’m going to see your mother. I love you, Megan. He whisked himself back downstairs, happy that he could comfort his family. He spent a little more time with JoAnne, then went to Chris’s school. His son was sitting on the playground, not playing with any of his friends.

Roy swirled into his mind. I’m here, Chris.

Chris sat up straighter. His face lit up. “Dad?”

Yes. Why aren’t you off, having fun with your friends?

Chris sighed. “I’m sad. I miss you.”

Well, I’m here now. Go play. And know that I love you very much.

“I love you too, Dad.” Then Chris got up and ran to the field, where his friends were playing kickball.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Johnny, meanwhile, was not so happy. His spirit had been imprisoned in Ms. Hex’s basement from the beginning. He could see other spirits there as well, but he couldn’t speak with them, and he couldn’t move. He felt like he was crammed into an invisible cell somewhere along the ceiling.

He spent his hours watching the puppets dance. His keeper commanded them to dance for her over and over again. He wished he could move like the puppet did. There was something about the girl puppet. She was beautiful. He felt himself falling for her, even though she was nothing more than wood. It wasn’t the right time for anything like that, but he couldn’t help it.

I want to go home. He couldn’t help the thought. He wasn’t even sure where home was or who he was. He didn’t remember anything before this place, but he was certain he hadn’t begun here.

His keeper looked up at him and grinned. “This is your home.”

So, he could communicate, but only with his keeper. It wasn’t worth it. He tried to close his eyes, but he couldn’t. There was nothing else for him but to watch the puppets dance for the amusement of the witch.

She turned angry eyes on him. “It’s sorceress! I am a sorceress, not a witch!”

For the amusement of the sorceress, then. He heaved a silent sigh. This was not how he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

It was the ninth of November before Chet was able to croak out any words. At least he was feeling better. The Phantom hadn’t been able to heal him but had kept him apprised of all the news. He knew that Ms. Hex had stolen Johnny back. He knew that the girl marionette was his Great Aunt Hyacinth.

She has forgotten who she is, the Phantom told him. Alassë stole her memories. When she is restored, she will start a whole new life. Perhaps it’s better not to tell her about her past.

“What about Johnny? Will she steal his memories too?” Chet’s worry for his friend increased at this new danger.

You can give them back to him, if you accept your place as Alassë’s heir.

“It’s too much temptation, Grandpa.” Chet had mulled over the possibility a lot while he was sick. “I don’t want that kind of power.”

Hush, now. Don’t talk. Tomorrow you must sing. The Phantom wrapped himself around Chet’s throat.

The next day, Chet’s voice was back. He got up and went to the tree. It hadn’t grown at all while he was sick. He touched it gingerly. A thorn poked his hand and drew blood. He didn’t care. He needed to get this tree to grow leaves as soon as possible.

He started singing. He sang until he was hoarse and then drank some warm apple cider that Dr. Early had prepared. The Phantom wrapped around his throat again. Soon his voice returned.

Chet relished the connection between himself and this new life. As the afternoon wore on to evening, leaves finally appeared. Chet kept singing. He sang and sang until there were enough leaves to make a crown. Then he stopped. His throat was getting sore, but he had accomplished his purpose.

As each leaf was plucked from the tree, Chet felt it. It was like they were plucking hairs from his head. Cap broke off a supple tree limb. Chet shuddered. That hurt like a bone breaking. For a long moment, he couldn’t use his right arm. But when the Phantom wrapped around it, the pain ceased, and use returned.

Cap twisted the limb into a crown shape and the men wove the leaves into it. They placed the thorny crown on Roy’s head, grateful that he couldn’t feel the thorns poking into him.

“Get him in the car,” Cap ordered. “We have to get him back before midnight.”

Chet rode with Dr. Early. They would pick up Chet’s car at the K-Mart in town. Mike drove his truck. Marco rode with Cap and Roy.

Chet reached the DeSoto house a little after eleven at night. Cap, Marco, and Mike were already there. JoAnne was standing outside with them. Chris, Megan, and D.J. were nowhere to be seen. Chet figured Beth must be keeping an eye on them over at Mike’s house. Together, the men pulled Roy out of the back of the car and made sure his hawthorn crown was securely in place.

“All right, let’s take him over there,” said Cap.

 As a group, the men carried Roy down the street to the house on the corner.

Chet rang the bell. A voice sounded in his mind. The Phantom must lift his spell, or I cannot open the door to you.

The Phantom confirmed to Chet that he had removed the spell. Then the door opened.

“Ahh,” Alassë smiled. “You’ve brought me my scarecrow. What a lovely hawthorn crown. Wherever did you come by the leaves?”

Chet stepped forward. He wasn’t about to tell her anything. “We did everything you asked. You promised to restore them.”

Alassë chuckled. She waved her hand and the scarecrow shrank down to about the same size as Johnny had. He floated through the air right into her hand. Her eyes sought Jo’s. “His spirit is with you, isn’t it?” She reached a hand through the air to stroke JoAnne’s cheek. “I’ll take him now. He’ll join the other prisoners in my collection.”

JoAnne burst into tears. “Please! No!”

Alassë touched her again. In that instant, JoAnne began to change. She turned into a scarecrow just like Roy, shrinking in a matter of seconds down to Roy’s size. “You didn’t bring the child with you. It would have been nice to have a family of scarecrows. But I suppose she’ll be happy wherever she is.”

“Stop!” Chet protested.

One by one, she changed each of the men. They all became tiny firefighter figures. Soon, only Dr. Early and Chet remained. Alassë brushed her fingers through Dr. Early’s grey hair but quickly pulled her hand away. “You have protection, just like my grandson. I will consider restoring them all if my Chester accepts his role as my heir. I must have someone to pass my power on to before I fade away.”

Chet frowned. He didn’t want it. But he couldn’t just leave his friends like this. The Phantom whispered encouragement to him. “Fine. I don’t want it, but I’ll do it. For them.”

“Is that a promise, grandson? You must know you cannot break a promise made to a sorceress. If you do, you will spend the rest of your life as a prisoner in my basement.” Alassë touched his cheek. This time, there were no flames. The Phantom was holding back.

Chet dropped his eyes. “Yes, it’s a promise. I’ll take my place as your heir so that you can fade away.”

“Excellent, Chester. Excellent.” She stroked his hair. “I’ve always loved you, Grandson. Let me hear you call me Granny one more time.”

Chet grimaced. “Can we get on with it, Granny? You said you would restore them.”

She grinned. “I said I would consider it. I’ve done so. I like them as they are. Their spirits are already confined in the basement. I’ll let you be the one to take their memories.” She waved her hands and the figures floated up into the air. They preceded Chet and his grandmother into the house and down the basement stairs where they took their places one by one on the shelf.

Chet blinked back tears. He should have come alone with Roy. He followed Alassë down to the basement. The Phantom came with him.

“Kneel, Chester,” Alassë commanded.

Chet dropped to his knees. Then he felt his grandmother’s bony fingers touching his head. As she held onto him, he felt all her power passing into him. When she let him go, he looked up. She was fading away to nothing. He heard her spirit wailing as it vanished.

The Phantom stood near him. This time, when he spoke, Chet could actually hear his voice. A low gentle voice, kind and loving. “She has gone to the only place that would have her. She won’t know anything about what you do now. Most likely, she’s feeling some heat at the moment.”

Chet sought his mind for words of restoration. They came to him quickly. He freed the imprisoned spirits from their confinement. Then he spoke the words to give life again to the figures in his grandmother’s collection. One by one, each figure was restored to human flesh and bone. Chet sought Gus, Roy’s dog, in his mind and found him. With a word, he released the dog from its stony prison.

As quickly as they had shrunk, the figures grew to their normal height. Except for Johnny and Hyacinth. They remained marionette-sized. So did the baby. Hyacinth bent over and picked up the little one. Chet watched as the Phantom swirled around the pair for just a moment. Johnny wrapped his arms around Hyacinth and whispered something in her ear.

Chet could hear it, even though Johnny kept his voice low. “I love you,” he said. The sentiment caused Chet some consternation. He had released Johnny from that spell. Johnny didn’t know Hyacinth well enough to love her. He didn’t even know her name!

“Can’t you feel it?” the Phantom asked him. “Use the bond between you. Can’t you tell his feelings are real? They have nothing to do with the spell.”

“But he doesn’t even know her.” Chet probed deeper. He had no business reaching inside Johnny and testing what he felt. It wasn’t his place. Still, Chet found that Johnny’s feelings were real. He watched as Johnny bent to kiss the baby on the forehead and rub his tiny fingers through the infant’s hair.

“He’ll be a good father for my son,” the Phantom whispered in Chet’s ear. “They’ll grow in time. Remember, it took some time for Johnny to shrink. We were there when it happened. He probably needs the same time to grow again.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Roy looked for JoAnne. Now that he was back in his human form, he couldn’t wait to wrap his arms around her. His memories had come back along with his human mind. Apparently, Ms. Hex hadn’t gotten around to taking them yet. He had vague memories of what had happened to him and Johnny, but the guys and Jo would have to fill in a lot of the details. He found Jo bending over a teenager. Of course she was trying to help someone. She straightened up and turned toward him, her smile stretching from ear to ear. He pulled her close. “JoAnne Mine.”

“My dear Roy.” She blinked her green eyes and pressed her lips against his. “I’m so glad to see you as you again.” She ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, your hair. It’s patchy now.” He’d picked at his head too much while he was a scarecrow.  “I don’t care, though. You’re the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.” She glanced over at the teenager. “This young man doesn’t remember his name or anything about himself. Can we help him?”

Roy frowned. He wasn’t exactly clear on how he’d been restored. His attention had been focused on JoAnne the whole time. He knew she’d been imprisoned with him. For several long, tense moments, they had been able to see each other but unable to communicate. Now he could touch her and talk with her, feel her warmth against him. He had some ideas about what he wanted to do as soon as they got home.

“I think whoever brought us back has to help him. Or maybe the police. I can’t do it.” He pressed his lips to hers, leaning into the kiss, deepening it until he had to pull back and breathe. “I just want to go home.”

JoAnne shook her head. “Roy, have you forgotten Johnny?”

Guilt swept through him. He had been so happy to be with JoAnne again that he had forgotten. “Let’s find him.”

When he turned around, he saw Johnny standing close to Chet. He was wearing a costume like the goat herder marionette in Sound of Music, and his arm was wrapped around a girl who was dressed like the ‘one little girl in a pale pink coat’ marionette. “Why is he so small?” Roy tried to remember.

JoAnne put her hand in the crook of his arm. “Maybe it will just take time for him to get to his full size again. It took about an hour before he shrank.”

Roy was about to walk over to Johnny, but he noticed Chet kneeling to talk to him. He decided to hang back and just watch.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet bent down on one knee. “Johnny?” The tiny man didn’t look up. That’s when Chet realized that his Pigeon didn’t remember anything. All his memories were in Chet’s mind. Chet laid a hand on his friend’s bald head. He closed his eyes and focused on restoring Johnny’s memories. He didn’t want them. He tried not to look at them as they flowed back into Johnny. They weren’t any of his business.

He knew when he was done. There was a connection now between him and Johnny that had never been there before. He could tell that Johnny had a whopper of a headache. And no wonder. The wood that Mike had used to fill the gouges hadn’t changed with the rest of him. Chet brushed his hand over Johnny’s head and said some words in the ancient tongue. As he did this, the wood changed to flesh. He also caused Johnny’s hair to start growing. He knew his friend would hate being bald. Johnny was proud of his hair. It would be regulation length before they got back to the DeSoto house.

Johnny looked up at Chet. “Why am I so small?” he asked. His voice was squeaky high. His tiny fingers flew to his chest. “What is this place? It stinks. My arm hurts. Can we get out of here?”

Chet laughed. The time would come to explain to Johnny what had happened to him, but it wasn’t here and now. “Sure. I’ll carry you.”

“Don’t forget —” Johnny paused, and his forehead wrinkled. He pointed to the young woman. “Her and the baby.”

Chet felt torn as he picked up Hyacinth, who was cradling the baby to her chest. He could tell Johnny her real name. But the Phantom didn’t think she needed to know her past. Maybe she should have a new name to go along with her new life. He would have to tell the others before they talked to her.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Chet was ready to put this place behind him. He was also ready to give up his powers, if there was any way to do so. All he wanted was to be a fireman.

“Wait,” the Phantom whispered. “Make sure Mike’s family is well before you lay down any power.”

Chet’s stomach flipped. “Fine.”

“You talkin’ to me, Chester B.?” said Johnny.

Chester frowned. He hated the name Chester. It was the name his grandmother had always used for him. “Don’t call me that,” he growled.

He could feel Johnny’s hurt. It filled him with guilt. Johnny didn’t know, he couldn’t understand. Would they always be connected like this?

“The bond will fade in time,” the Phantom reassured him.

“That’s good to know,” Chet said.

“What do you mean?” Johnny said.

“I was talking to the Phantom.” Chet didn’t explain any further.

Johnny shook his head. “I thought you were the Phantom.” He settled down in Chet’s arms. “Are you ever gonna tell me why I’m just a little over a foot tall? I’m supposed to be taller than you.”

“When we get to Roy’s house, we’ll sit down and talk. It’s just down the block.” As they left his grandmother’s house, Chet decided he was going to have the place torn down. Maybe he would build a new house, a place to make happy memories. A place where his grandmother’s shadow wouldn’t haunt him.

Everyone went back to Roy’s house. Not just 51’s A-shift, but also the others Chet had restored. The teenager who had been dressed as a robot, the woman in the ballerina tutu, the child in the puppy dog costume, and several more. On that short walk, Chet realized he was holding a lot more memories that he needed to give back. The teenaged boy was named Justin. He had spent five years on Alassë’s shelf. He was fifteen when he disappeared, and he was still fifteen now. The small child in the puppy costume was Sylvia, and the ballerina was her mother, Carlotta. Right now, neither of them knew each other. They had spent fifty years on the shelf and hadn’t aged even a day in that time.

Back at Roy’s, Chet pointed to the sofa. “Sit here,” he said to Johnny. “I’ll come talk with you in a bit. I’ve gotta do something first.”

He spent the next thirty minutes restoring memories. Soon, Carlotta was holding Sylvia close and asking him what she should do. She had nothing. She doubted her husband had stayed in their house, and what use would it be to go back to him now? If he was still alive, he was in his seventies. She was in her twenties with a four-year-old child.

Justin was eager to go home. He wondered if his parents were still looking for him. “Will they believe I’m me?” he asked. “I’m just a kid. I ought to be twenty by now.”

Chet wished he had answers. He asked Dr. Early to talk to them and help them figure things out. “I’ve gotta talk with Johnny. He’s waiting.”

“Go on. We’ll work things out.” Dr. Early took Mike and Cap with him to talk to the people who were trying to figure out how to go about their lives now that they were free.

Chet went back to Johnny and sat next to him. “Hey, Johnny. This is a crazy story, but it’s true.”

“What happened?”

“My grandmother was a sorceress. You encountered her on Halloween. Do you remember a Ms. Hex?”

Johnny’s brow furrowed. “Hmm. The last thing I remember was we were going to help her move furniture. Everything else is a blur.”

“She turned you into a marionette, a wooden puppet on a string.” He took a deep breath. “She gave me her powers, and I brought you back.”

Johnny’s forehead wrinkled up. He stared at Chet. “That’s not possible.”

Chet rolled his eyes. “How else do you think you got to be eighteen inches tall? I hope you’ll get back to the right height eventually.” He put a hand on Johnny’s head. “Do you want to see what she did with you?”

Johnny stared at him. After a moment, he nodded his head.

“Close your eyes.” Chet showed him himself and Hyacinth as marionettes, dancing on a stage. He showed him Roy turning into a scarecrow and staked out in a field. “It was real, John.”

Johnny sat stunned. He looked at Hyacinth. “What about her?”

Chet breathed out a long sigh. The Phantom was drifting nearby. He spoke so only Chet could hear him. “It’s been too long. Her memories are of a time that has come and gone. It would serve no purpose to give them back to her.”

Chet looked at his great-aunt. “I don’t know.” He wondered if Johnny could sense that this wasn’t exactly the truth.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Mike had been watching Chet talk with Johnny, listening to everything that he said. A sudden idea struck him. It made him wonder if perhaps the Phantom had been talking to him. He sat down next to the young woman and reached for her hand. “She’s my little sister, Sarah Stoker.”

“I am Sarah?” the young woman asked. Her forehead wrinkled and her eyes got big as she looked up at Mike.

“Yes.” Mike put an arm around her shoulders. It was easy for him to adopt a sister. His parents had both passed on, and Beth’s parents had no contact with them. They had disowned her because they disapproved of Mike. As an only child, Mike had often wished for a little sister. Now he had one.

Johnny frowned. “I didn’t know you ha —”

Mike cut Johnny off with a hand on his back. He shook his head. Chet could explain later, when Sarah wasn’t around.

“What about the baby?” Johnny asked.

“You and Sarah get to name him,” said Chet. “I kinda think he looks like a William.”

Johnny brushed his fingers through the infant’s hair. “William?” He looked at Sarah.

She nodded. “I like that.”

Johnny looked at Chet, confusion in his eyes. “Is William my son? You didn’t show me anything about that.” He shrugged. “I don’t even know how long it’s been.”

Chet was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, “His father chose you and Sarah to be his parents. And it was eleven days.”

Johnny looked stunned for a moment. He bent to kiss the baby boy on the forehead, then set his gaze on Sarah. He got down on one knee. “Sarah, will you marry me?” Before he stood up, he suddenly grew to his full height. Sarah did too, a few inches shorter than Johnny. The baby grew in her arms.

Mike frowned. “Hey, hang on a minute. She has to find out if she likes you first, Johnny.”

Sarah smiled. “I like him very much. I see kindness in his eyes.” She rubbed her new son’s soft hair. “And it is best for William if his parents are married. Yes, John. I will marry you.” She stood and looked up at him. “I promise to be an obedient wife and to take excellent care of you and William.”

Johnny’s gaze darkened. “I’m not lookin’ for someone to boss around, Sarah.” He stroked his fingers down the side of her face. “My dad always said that ‘A man who is cruel to a woman ain’t worth much.’ If I’m wrong about something, I want you to tell me. You can do and be anything you want in this life. I just hope you’ll do it with me.”

Mike sighed with relief. In the past, Johnny had been pretty shallow with women. Maybe what he had been through, even though he didn’t remember it, had helped him develop some depth.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Johnny gazed into Sarah’s beautiful green eyes. He knew he had only just met her, but somehow he felt he had known her forever. A bond had grown between them, and he didn’t want to be free of it. He could look in her eyes and see the kindness of her heart, the beauty of her spirit, the joy she took in loving others. He saw how tenderly she held little William. He wanted to spend every day of the rest of his life with her.

Maybe it was because of what they’d both been through at the hands of Alassë Hex. He knew he’d been under a spell, but what he felt for Sarah was real. He could recognize the difference. His heart was responding to hers, like a violin and a flute playing one song together. The sweetness of the music they could make swelled his heart.

She looked up at him, tilted her head slightly, and then nodded. “Yes, John. I want to discover this world with you.” She gripped his hand. “I don’t remember the world. You must be patient with me while I learn.”

Johnny’s heart just about burst. “Hey, everybody!” he shouted. “Sarah and I are gettin’ married!” Sarah blushed and held the baby close.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

The Phantom smiled. He slipped into Johnny and then into Sarah, carefully inspecting their DNA. There was not an easy way to test DNA yet, but he knew it was coming. Ever since he had become a ghost, he had some knowledge of the future. Then he slipped into his son. He focused on the child’s DNA, reshaping it so that it reflected his new parents. No one would ever guess that the boy had been adopted. He would resemble his new mother and father. He would have Sarah’s black hair and John’s lopsided grin and brown eyes. It wasn’t necessary for them to love him, but this little boy would be proud to look like his daddy.

He swirled into the baby’s mind. “I love you, William,” he whispered. “I wish you could have known me. You are my hope that this world will go on. I know you will make it a better place.” Then he swirled away, back to his grandson.

“I’m leaving now, Chet. I’m weary of this half-life, and God is ready to welcome me home. Know that I love you with my whole heart and that I will be watching over you. I hope we will meet again one day. When you are ready to lay down your powers, you can send them into the earth. They will grow into the most beautiful garden you have ever seen.”

He saw the tears that formed in Chet’s eyes. He was sorry to put them there, but it was time to go. He flitted away and met the angel that was waiting to escort him.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

When Roy and Mike got to the Stoker house that evening, they found that their children had been transformed. Mike’s boys were stone statues. Jake was sitting in front of the television, while Ian was sitting in a chair holding a stone book. Chris was a miniature scarecrow, holding his brother, who had been changed to a stuffed dog. Megan was a small t-rex figurine wearing a pink skirt. Beth was a stone statue in the kitchen.

Mike called Roy’s house, hopeful that Chet was still there. “Jo, is Chet there? I need him at my house right away. Ms. Hex changed my family and your kids. Send him over here!”

Chet and Roy were there within ten minutes. Chet picked up the little t-rex and changed her first. Megan wrapped her arms around Chet’s neck. Then Chet restored Beth and the twins. At last, he restored Chris and D.J.

Roy breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Chet.”

“I don’t think they lost any memories,” Chet said. “Let me know if there’s a problem.”

Megan wrapped her arms around her daddy’s legs. “Daddy! You’re back!”

Roy bent down and picked her up. “Jennifer Megan DeSoto, I love you.” He kissed Chris on the head and pulled D.J. into his arms. “I love you all.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Johnny had two scars on his left arm, where Gus had chewed on it while he was a marionette. Joe Early did an x-ray of his shoulder because he kept complaining of soreness.

“I recommend Tylenol,” Dr. Early said. “Just make sure you don’t take more than the recommended dose.”

“What caused it, Doc? I never had a problem before.” Johnny rubbed at his shoulder.

Dr. Early sent the nurse out of the room. “You know, I think it came from Gus chewing on that arm. It shouldn’t affect your work.”

Johnny was quiet for a long moment. “Well, Doc, Roy and I are gettin’ ready to take the captain’s test. If we pass, we won’t be paramedics much longer.”

“You’ll be greatly missed. The two of you are the best team we’ve got.”

“Yeah.” Johnny scratched the back of his neck. He would miss his current job. “I’ve got a family now. I need to earn more. Sarah wants to stay home with William till he’s in school, and I want to make that possible for her. I also want to get out of the apartment and into a house.”

“I understand. When’s the wedding?”

“Well, we’re getting ready to send out invitations. Don’t worry, you’re on the list.  We’re thinking a couple months from now. That gives us time to make plans.” Johnny sighed. “Chet told me Sarah’s real story. William’s too. I’m grateful Mike stepped in and made her family. The Stokers have been really good for her. She’s living with them until we’re married.”

“What have you done about getting her identification?” Dr. Early offered Johnny a bottle of Tylenol. “Here, stop rubbing it and take a couple of these.”

Johnny got himself a cup of water. “Chet made an ID for her. A birth certificate, too. He also made a birth certificate for William.” He shook his head. “There are days I can barely believe all of this happened, and then he goes and uses his powers to hide water cannons all over the station.”

Dr. Early laughed. “Just what I would expect from him! Well, I’d better get to my next patient. See you later, Johnny.”

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet watched as the construction workers built the new house on his grandmother’s land. He had decided what to do with the property, and a lot of people had donated to make his dream a reality. Thankfully, the neighbors supported his plan. He was building a rehab house for firefighters who were recovering from injuries. The Healing House would keep a doctor, a nurse, and a physical therapist on staff. When the house was built, Chet would send his powers into the earth right in the backyard to create a beautiful garden. The evil his grandmother had done would be overtaken with good. Chet smiled. The Phantom was no longer with him, but he had never felt as close to his grandfather as he did right now.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Chet cut the ribbon. “The Healing House is open for business!” The people standing around cheered. Only a small number would be allowed to accompany him to the backyard for the next part of the ceremony: 51’s A-Shift, Beth, JoAnne, Sarah, William, and the DeSoto and Stoker children. The day had come. Chet was ready to lay his powers down.

While his friends gathered round, Chet knelt in the middle of the yard. He touched both hands to the ground and focused on sending his powers into it. He hadn’t expected the garden to burst forth immediately. All of a sudden, they were surrounded by honeysuckle and jasmine, roses and lilies. A couple of jacaranda trees in full bloom provided shade. There was even a lilac bush, something unusual in California because they required cold winters, but this one was blossoming. Oh, it smelled so good. It was a healing garden.

Chet stood up. He had emptied himself out, and yet he felt full. This place had already given him greater joy than he had imagined. The board of The Healing House had hired a physical therapist named Laura Dutton, and Chet had fallen head over heels for her. She wasn’t just beautiful; she was kind and smart. Chet imagined that his grandfather would have approved. For now, Chet enjoyed getting to know her. He wasn’t in a hurry to get married, but sometimes he wondered what it would be like to spend the rest of his life with her.

◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊•◊

Johnny’s wedding day had finally arrived. He’d been going to church with Mike’s family, just to spend time with Sarah. He hadn’t expected it, but he had returned to faith. He’d been brought up in the Catholic church but had given up faith when his father died. Losing his little sister and both parents had been a hard blow, and he had been certain God was against him. But now he had a family again. He wanted to be the kind of father and husband his own father had been.

To his surprise, the one thing Sarah had not forgotten was her faith. She was most comfortable with the Latin mass, which is what the Stokers attended. It was familiar to Johnny, too. He and Sarah had been meeting with the priest for marriage preparation. And now, at last, the day was here.

Johnny donned his dress uniform. He was eager to see the dress Sarah and Beth had chosen. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to see the bride today until she walked down the aisle. Roy stood next to him. His best man. “It’s a good thing Chet fixed your hair, Roy.” Johnny chuckled. “I hear he fixed mine, too.” He rubbed a hand through his hair, which was now just a little longer than regulation length. Then he reached for his bottle of Tylenol. His shoulder ached.

Mike, Marco, Chet, and Cap weren’t there yet. They were his other groomsmen. Sarah had chosen Beth as her matron of honor. Friends she’d made at church were her bridesmaids. Ian and Jake would be the ring bearers, and Chris was lighting candles. Megan was the flower girl.

The doorbell rang. Johnny hurried to answer. He found the rest of his groomsmen waiting to come in. “Sorry we’re late,” Cap said. “We made the mistake of riding in Chet’s station wagon.”

Johnny laughed. No wonder Mike’s hands were covered in grease. “I thought you weren’t ever going to do that again!”

“Let us in,” Mike said. “I’ve gotta wash my hands. Hopefully I can get the grease off!” Johnny stepped aside and let them in. “Bathroom and bedroom are available for changing. Well, the bathroom will be available when Mike’s done.” He laughed. He didn’t really care if Mike had grease on his hands. Nothing mattered except that he was getting married to an amazing woman today.

His love for Sarah had only deepened over the last couple of months as he watched her mother William. She was so full of joy, and it overflowed to everyone around her. Johnny had plans to spoil her rotten on their honeymoon. It was a surprise for her. He’d put in a rush order for her passport (Chet wasn’t willing to help with that one) and they were going to spend two weeks traveling around Italy. Mike and Beth would take care of William while they were gone.

The men got to church about ten minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start. They took their places at the front of the church and waited.

Ziggy Smith and Kirby Dunn from 10’s served as ushers. Johnny watched as they seated his aunt in the family pew. She was beaming. She had fallen in love with both Sarah and William at first sight. Johnny knew she believed the baby was his. She had said as much when she met him. “Don’t tell me that child isn’t yours, John. He looks just like you did at that age.”

Johnny had just shrugged and accepted it. He was proud to be William’s father, and he didn’t care what people believed.

At last, the organist began to play. Johnny stood as straight as he could. The doors opened at the back of the church and Megan came in, strewing flowers left and right. The bridesmaids followed her. Then came Sarah. Johnny’s heart thumped hard as he watched her proceed down the aisle. She was more beautiful than he had imagined, dressed in an ivory brocade gown.

The ceremony passed in a blur. Johnny knew he must have said and done the right things because suddenly he heard, “You may kiss the bride.”

He pulled Sarah close and lowered his lips to hers. As he deepened the kiss, a loud cheer broke out in the congregation. After a minute, Johnny pulled back. He looked Sarah in the eyes and said, “I’ll love you forever, Sarah Gage.”