Lester of Two Evils

The Pumpkin Festival

Over the next few weeks, the weather grew even colder. It was far too early for snow, but a thin layer of frost clung to the ground each morning, geometric ice crystals twinkling in the rising sun. The large oak and maple trees scattered throughout the village stood bare, their empty branches reaching for the sky like gnarled brown fingers. Only the dense evergreens retained a bit of color against the perpetual graying of late autumn.

Since the night at the skating rink, Lester, Mae, and Amanda's lives had settled into comforting normalcy. Their first year of middle school was in full swing, and the challenging classes kept them busy. Week after week, the assigned homework grew, not only in volume but difficulty as well. Lester was thankful for Amanda's impressive math skills and Mae's seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of history. Each of their academic strengths complemented the others, and they tackled every new test and assignment together.

Lester had told them about his conversation with Mrs. Q, and they'd both agreed she could be removed from their shrinking list of potential members of The Light. Fortunately, Mae and Amanda had been careful to hide any evidence of their activities at the skating rink before going for help. It had been relatively easy since the ice sculpture of Bernard engulfed in flames had reverted to a puddle of water the minute Lester had fainted. After that, they'd simply disposed of the buckets and pocketed the ring. Amanda had returned it to Lester, and he'd hidden it in his room, in no hurry to repeat their experiment anytime soon.

Mae was skeptical of Lester's theory that there might not actually be any members of The Light in Giles Hollow and never had been. Though, she did begrudgingly admit to the possibility that, technically, he could be right. They remained vigilant for anything out of the ordinary or strange but, with no new leads, found themselves at a bit of a dead end.

Life at Amanda and Lester's houses had returned to normal, or what passed for normal in the world of The Council. Meaning both their fathers were largely absent due to work.

The three friends still met regularly in the Library basement but, more often than not, spent their time joking and eating junk food. Mae had gotten a new book on ghost hunting, and she shared it with Lester as they pretended to listen to Amanda. Unfortunately, Amanda's continuing infatuation with Thomas made it impossible to talk to her about anything else. For his part, Lester steered clear of the new kid. Mae's touch-screen argument might have put him above suspicion, but that didn't mean Lester had to like him.

As the days grew shorter, the farmers brought in the last of the corn and dried hay bails, leaving the fields a patchwork of close-cropped brown and yellow squares. The younger kids at school spent their recess time jumping into piles of leaves and talking excitedly about Halloween. They compared costume ideas and discussed how much candy they planned to eat before relinquishing their haul to their parents. Who claimed too much sugar before bed caused nightmares.

The Halloween holiday fell on Saturday this year, which meant Elmwood City's Annual Pumpkin Festival would take place on Friday. Without the specter of having to trudge off to school the following day, most kids reasoned they should be allowed to enjoy the festival late into the evening. This was the same argument Lester, Mae, and Amanda made to their own parents.

It was late afternoon when Mr. and Mrs. Chase dropped the three friends at the wooden barricades, marking the outer boundary of the celebration. They removed their carved pumpkins from the car's trunk, thanked Mae's parents, and walked inside.

The Pumpkin Festival was a beloved tradition that Amanda and Lester had attended since they were little. It started early in the morning with the blocking off of Elmwood City's downtown. The entire area was closed to everything but pedestrian traffic, all the way up to the small park located in the heart of the shopping district. In the middle of this green space, with its cute white gazebo and bronze statues, a three-story high scaffolding had been erected for the occasion.