Black Creek Crossing

“It’s my costume!” Angel cried. “What do you think?”

Myra took a deep breath as her pulse began to slow. “I think it’s a little early, don’t you? Halloween’s still a few weeks away. And where on earth did you get that cape?”

“Last year, remember? When you said Zack was going to invite me to his—” She fell abruptly silent as the pain of the invitation that had never come rose inside her. She’d looked forward to it for almost a month, and bought the vampire kit the day the drugstore in Eastbury had stocked its shelves with Halloween decorations.

Even on the afternoon of Halloween, she’d been sure the phone would ring and her cousin would invite her to his party.

It hadn’t happened.

She’d put the costume away and tried to pretend it didn’t matter, and never even asked Zack about it. Now, suddenly, as the pain of what had happened almost a year ago came flooding back, she knew what had happened this year. Nobody had told her the country club was having a costume party tonight, and if she hadn’t overheard Heather Dunne and her friend talking in the dressing room this morning, she would have been the only one to show up without a costume.

And she would have felt even worse this year than she did last, when she hadn’t been invited to the party at all.

But what about Seth? Why hadn’t he told her? But she knew the answer even as the question rose in her mind — no one had told him either. And it was way too late to call him — he was stuck in the golf tournament with his father.

Half an hour later Myra pulled the old Chevelle into the parking lot at the country club, which was mostly filled with Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs, and Lexuses. Myra finally spotted a handful of cars that looked more like the Chevelle than the fancy models parked closest to the front door, and only realized when she was locking the car that she’d parked in the employees’ area. As she gazed at the contrast between her car and those of the members, Myra wondered once more if coming had been a mistake — it still wasn’t too late to get back in the car and go home.

Home, where Marty would be going back to his beer, despite the promises he’d made just before they left. Besides, Joni and her friends had been so insistent that she come, and it would be a great opportunity for Angel to come out of her shell and start making more friends than just that one boy Marty had told her about.

It would be fine.

Less than five minutes later, she and Angel passed through the front doors of the country club and were scrutinized by a hostess who seemed reluctant to tell them that the barbecue was on the patio around the pool. And then they stepped through the French doors out onto the terrace overlooking the pool, she knew she was wrong. It wasn’t going to be fine at all.

There were at least forty youngsters gathered around the pool, ranging in age from ten to sixteen or seventeen.

The boys were wearing khaki pants, polo shirts, and loafers, mostly without socks.

The girls who weren’t wearing clothes almost identical to the boys were wearing skirts with white or plaid blouses, and had sweaters draped around their shoulders that Myra could see were cashmere even from this distance.

Not one of them was wearing any kind of costume at all.

As Myra and Angel stood gazing down at them, the youngsters began looking up at the terrace and fell into silence.

Someone snickered.

Then someone else snickered.

Then the snickering turned into a ripple of laughter.

Then a single voice rose above the laughter: “Ooooh, I’m sooo scared! Is it a vampire or a witch?” A pause, then: “Oh, no — I’m wrong! It’s an Angel!”

As the laughter erupted into a roar, Angel turned and fled back into the shelter of the clubhouse, Heather Dunne’s mocking voice echoing in her mind. By the time she’d found the ladies’ room, tears were streaming down her face.

Now she knew what had happened. Heather had seen her in the store, then followed her into the dressing room area and—

How could she have been so stupid?

A sob welled up in her throat, but she choked it back as she heard the door open. If it was Heather or one of her friends, she wasn’t about to let them see her crying.

But to her surprise, she heard Seth’s voice. “Angel?” he called softly. “Are you in here?”

“You can’t come in,” she said, her voice catching on the sob that still threatened to overwhelm her. “It’s the ladies’ room.”

But a moment later she sensed Seth standing behind her, and when she looked up and into the mirror and saw the worried expression on his face, she turned around, wiping her eyes with a fold of the cape. “I’m not going to die,” she told him. “It’s just… just…” Her tears welled up again and her chin quivered. “How could they do that?” she asked. “How come they want to be so mean? What am I doing wrong?”

Seth took an uncertain step toward her and clumsily put his arm around her. “You’re not doing anything wrong,” he said. “They just need someone to pick on. And I guess it’s us.”

Us. Not you. He’d said us.

But he wasn’t wearing a costume. What had they done to him?

Sniffling back her tears, she pulled away from him, and Seth could read the question in her eyes.

“Zack’s really pissed at me,” he said. Then, unable to hold back a grin, he told her what had happened on the eighteenth hole. “And you’re not gonna believe this,” he finished, “but the cat that spooked him on the tee showed up again at the green. It was—”

“It was Houdini, wasn’t it?” Angel breathed.

Seth nodded. “I know it isn’t possible, but—”

“I saw him too,” Angel broke in. “He was at my house.” Quickly, she told him what had happened when she and her mother got back from the store, and what she’d seen.

Or at least what she thought she’d seen.

“I thought I must have imagined it,” she said. “But if you saw him too…” She left the thought unfinished, still not ready to say aloud what she knew they were both thinking. Instead she asked, “What are we going to do?”

“First, we’re going to go out there and show them you don’t care what kind of tricks they pull on you. Have you got your makeup?”

Angel nodded. “I brought it all, ’cause I figured it might start wearing off in the middle of the party.”

“Great,” Seth said. “Okay, first let’s get rid of the cape. Turn it around and put it on backward so you don’t mess up your clothes while you wash some of that white guck off.”

“How do you mess all this up?” Angel fretted. “Besides, I’m not going back out there — everyone else is wearing really expensive clothes, and I don’t have anything but what I have on!”

“Quit worrying,” he told her, eyeing her black sweater, skirt, and leggings. “By the time we’re done, you’re gonna look great!”

As they began to work on her makeup, the door opened and they heard Angel’s mother. “Angel?” she said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mom!” Angel called out.

Seth jumped into one of the stalls before Myra appeared. “Perhaps we should just go home,” her mother began, but Angel shook her head.

“I’m okay,” she said. “I–I guess I just misunderstood. I’m just taking off this stupid vampire makeup, then I’ll be out.”

“If you’d rather just go home…”

Angel shook her head. “I’m all right.”

Myra still hesitated, then, mentally assessing the contents of the refrigerator — and Marty’s likely alcohol consumption — she shrugged. The barbecue outside was already lit, and she’d seen the cut of steaks they were