An Intangible Pattern

The Halloween Party

I’m leaving now - The text read.
Noah sat hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees, fiddling nervously with his keys. Once he had gathered his resolve he stood up and put on his coat.  As he passed the table in the hallway, he picked up his gift to Arthur, a bottle of GlenDronach 93, and left the cottage. The sun shone and the air held that crisp cool quality special to autumn, so he wound down the windows and drank in the earthy fragrance as he drove the short distance to Arthur's home.
Although Arthur talked at length about Cat, and frequently spoke about her flair for design in tones of awe and sometimes frustration, Noah was unprepared for the spectacle he encountered at their drive. He felt as though he had taken a wrong turn and wound up on a movie set or a theme park. Pumpkins lined the drive and dancing ghosts hung from the trees. The yellow door sported an elaborate wreath of dried flowers and fallen leaves. A skeleton sat in a rocking chair posed in an absurdly welcoming posture, waving with one hand and pointing to the entrance with the other. The sound of laughter and playing children reached his ears and he knocked politely before entering. Since his last visit, the hall had been completely transformed: now a delicate shade of blue beautifully illustrated with creeping vines, roses and bright birds in flight. The room was lit by electric candles, hung from the ceiling, which made the cobwebs on the staircase shimmer softly like strands of lace. The effect was like passing through a dusk-shrouded fairy realm. He followed the sound of voices to the kitchen and saw that, while the hall felt ethereal and otherworldly, the kitchen was warm and homely in tones of orange and brown, like stepping into the kitchen of the village witch.
As he entered the room a cry of welcome went up from a crowd of familiar faces: His mother and father; aunts, uncles and cousins; Arthur's own relatives and friends, all as familiar and dear to him as his own blood, all smiling and offering greetings and hugs.
“Nice to see you,”
“How are you?”
Before he could respond, there was a shrieking cry and a stampede of tiny feet.
“Noah!” The wind was knocked out of him as a horde of tiny monsters collided with his waist nearly knocking him back into the hall.
“Noah! Where's your costume?” complained a fairy princess.
“Asking all the most important questions,” laughed Cat. She looked very attractive dressed as her namesake, wearing a sparkly gold and orange catsuit with fur trim. Sequined cat ears poked out from her tawny hair which hung wild and wavy like a mane. Noah looked down at his own plain white shirt and blue jeans.
“Would you believe me if I said I was dressed as a psychopath? They look like everyone else you know.”
“That's rubbish,” sneered a tiny Spiderman.
“I'll get you a better costume,” said a little mermaid and off she ran.
Noah hugged each of the remaining children then scanned the room but couldn’t see his cousin, “where's Arthur?”
“Here!” There was a rustle from the back of the kitchen and the corners of Cat's mouth twitched, her eyes glittering with mirth as Arthur shuffled through the crowded room. His face was painted silver and he was wrapped head to toe in tin foil, which had already torn in several places.
“Errr…” said Noah uncertainly .
“I'm the Tin man,” he grinned, “..since she's the cowardly lion.”
“I'm just a cat, thank you!” rebutted his wife.
“And I'm your knight in shining armor!” He bowed teasingly and a new tear formed in the back of his costume.
“Twat in tinfoil, more like,” she laughed and kissed his cheek. “ Can I get you a drink, Noah?”
“Just a soft drink please, I'm driving.”
“ Are you sure? You can leave the car here or stay over tonight if you like?”
“I have to get back to the lab later,” he apologized.
“Do you ever stop working? Come on, have a little fun.” She chided.
“Next time, I promise.” he placated. The little mermaid came running back into the room and held a mask up to Noah.
“Here you go! You can be a werewolf, cos you're an alpha,” she said proudly. Noah smiled to hide the discomfort he felt looking at the grotesque mass of rubber and fur.
“Thankyou, Mia,” he said graciously as he took the mask from her..
“Will you come play with us?”
“Yes, please keep my children occupied for five minutes” pleaded Rachel, Arthur's older sister, who’s tired expression only enhanced the effect of the tattered scarecrow costume she wore.
“Please!!” squeaked the tiny mob.
Noah gave Arthur a look of resignation and he rolled his eyes in response.
“Let me give Arthur his present and I'll come play in a moment. In fact, how about we play hide and seek. One, two, three…”
The mob scattered with shrieks and giggles leaving Noah and Arthur standing alone together.
“Sorry, you only just got here, and you've already been roped into babysitting,” laughed Arthur, passing a plate of “mummified fingers” (sausage rolls) to Noah.
Noah gratefully took the offered food and sipped from his glass of “pumpkin juice” (orangeade).
“It's alright, I don't see the little one's often. I can catch up with you later. This for you,”
He said, pressing his gift into Arthur's hands.
Arthur peered into the gift bag and looked up at Noah with a giddy expression. “Thank you very much! I've been wanting to try this one, are you sure you have to go back to the lab? I could crack this open and we can try it together?” he beamed.
“I'm afraid so, but don't let me stop you from enjoying it.”
“Ready!” Squealed a tiny voice from the living room. Noah smiled apologetically and his cousin shrugged.
“I think the little one's are getting impatient,” laughed Arthur, sipping on his “witches wee” (wine).
“I said we're ready!” Came a more insistent screech.
“Better go,” muttered Noah, pulling the grotesque mask over his head, loping out of the kitchen with his arms spread wide and roaring, “Who's afraid of the big bad wolf!”
The afternoon passed pleasantly, as Noah entertained his younger cousins. They squeaked as he discovered their hiding places and he made a big show of coming to eat them while letting them escape and run away until they tired themselves out. Ava, the little princess and the youngest of the group, kept letting herself be caught on purpose so he would spin her round and then “accidentally” let her escape again. The children tired before he did and they took refuge in the haunted grotto.
“I wish I was an alpha…” moaned Rachel, as he returned to the kitchen with the rest of the adults and sat next to her, “...They run me ragged.”
“It does come with some perks,” he admitted, “but even I would get tired looking after them 24/7.”
“Surely, they're not that bad,” chuckled Arthur.
“No, not all bad. I wouldn't trade them for all the long lie ins or hot baths in the world, but there are days when it's a very narrow call. Make the most of it while you can, you're in for a shock when you two have kids.”
“Who's having kids?” squeaked Mariana excitedly and shuffled over to them sparkling in a fairy godmother outfit.
Arthur blushed and stammered, “no one yet. We were just talking about how energetic kids are.”
“Bloody right,” said Mariana, “have them while you're young and fit. It's a lot harder as you get older. Are you trying?”
Noah could see Arthur visibly crawling inside himself under the laser-like intensity of his mother in law's stare. He noticed that several conversations seemed to have died down as others pretended not to be listening. Arthur's own parents were particularly attentive.
“Well… there's a few things we'd like to get in order first of all,” Arthur coughed.
Noah liked Mariana, but she had absolutely no filter and he felt obligated to help his cousin out. “Mariana, I must say, your daughter has done a spectacular job of the decorations. Every room is different. Where does she get her talent from?”
“Oh… yes she’s always been very good. I think it must come from my side of the family. I'm very good at sewing and my father was a painter. My brother is a dancer…” Arthur shot him a grateful look as he excused himself in order to fetch more green poison (lime punch).
Noah’s mother nudged him as she squeezed past and whispered, “spoilsport.”
Noah listened politely as Mariana chatted about her daughters when they were young.
“... You see, Alex was brilliant in a different way, she didn't wear her heart on her sleeve as much as Cat, but you could tell she was sensitive. She was always turning things over in her head and she would just pick things up, you know, like if someone had a bad day, she would just know. You wouldn't even need to ask her, she would just quietly make someone a cup of tea or put some music on to brighten the mood. She could read people and knew instinctively what they needed to make them feel better. Even when she was very little, she always seemed to know more than she let on. I always thought she would have been an excellent nurse… but you never know what's around the corner. Thankfully, she was also good at math, so she picked up the data thing pretty quickly, but I don't know, I just feel like she's wasted there.”
Noah imagined Alex as a quiet, serious little girl and remembered what she said to him about just wanting to be useful.  When he thought of his own carefree cousins: playful, laughing, rude, wild, oblivious and brutally innocent creatures, he felt a stab of sympathy for her. In his mind something clicked and the tremendous suffering she endured for her sister's sake suddenly made sense. Without thinking he said, “Maybe it wasn't the best thing for her. It must be hard going through life with no emotional barrier, just absorbing everyone else's moods and being too young to do anything about it. I wonder if it's possible to have any sense of self if you’re always focused on everyone else… sorry, that sounded worse than I meant it to.” 
Mariana frowned, and looked as though something uncomfortable was dawning on her.
“Actually… maybe you have a point. Can you excuse me, I just need to pop to the loo.” she said with false cheerfulness. He caught the crestfallen look on her face as she turned away from him and his stomach squirmed with guilt.
Why did I say that to her! Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut! She's going to blame herself for Alex being unwell isn't she? Fuck!
Feeling irritated with himself, he checked his phone and saw that it was approaching four o’clock. It was time to leave and let Alex rejoin the party.
He battled through the crush of relatives gently batting away pleas to stay and giving goodbye hugs and kisses. As he crossed the hall, he texted Alex to let her know he was going, then stepped out into the darkening afternoon. As he crossed the driveway to his car he heard the pitter patter of rushing feet and heard Ava cry out to him.
“Wait, Noah! I didn't get to say bye!” He turned as she came out of the house, but in her haste she tripped on the porch steps, fell hard onto the gravel and immediately began to cry. Noah rushed over to her, lifted her into a sitting position on the porch and examined her knees and hands as she wept.
“Let me see,” he said gently. She mostly had grazes but there was a considerable cut on her knee.
“Ouch it hurts!” she complained inconsolably.
“I bet, but we can make it better. Let's go get you fixed up. Can you walk?”
“No, carry me!” She insisted, he lifted her up into his arms and she said, “not like that, like a princess.” He stifled a laugh at her precocious request and adjusted his hold on her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her little face into his shoulder. He carried her back to the kitchen and was met with a questioning glance from Cat who was talking to her friend by the door way.
“Change your mind?” she chuckled.
“Not exactly, do you have a first aid kit?” He asked nodding his head at Ava. Cat gave the child a concerned look and cooed sympathetically, “Oh no! Did you have a fall? Why don't we go get a plaster.”
“I want Noah to do it,” sobbed the little girl.
Cat smiled and said, “the first aid kit is in the bathroom on the first floor, behind the mirror.”
He muttered his thanks and sped away up the stairs to the bathroom.
He flipped the toilet seat down and sat Ava down on it, then fetched the first aid kit.
“Ok, let's see, this will sting a little bit, but I know you're very brave.”
She sniffled and nodded solemnly as Noah unwrapped an antiseptic wipe and gently tended to her cuts. She winced but, determined to prove she was brave, didn't cry out. Arthur covered the cuts with salve and pressed the plasters into place.
“Are there no pretty ones?”
“Just these ones…hold on… here we go.” He drew an indelible marker from his pocket and drew a smiley face on a plaster.
“Do some flowers,” she insisted.  He drew some crude flowers on the rest.
“I need a plaster here,” she said, pointing to her forehead.
“You didn't hit your head?”
“No, but how will anyone know I'm hurt if they can't see I have a plaster?”
He smiled and indulged her. He gently smoothed a plaster on her temple and drew a little crown on it.
“How's that? Better?”
“Not yet, you have to kiss them better.” Noah obligingly gave little pecks to each of her war wounds and hugged her.
“How about now?”
“Yes, much better,” she said brightly.
“Do you think you'd like to go back to the party?” She nodded affirmatively and scampered off to show the others her plasters.
“Don't run!” He warned her as she left. Only then did he remember he was supposed to have left. He hurriedly cleared away the first aid kit and rushed out of the bathroom