Tales Around the Jack O'Lantern Read Online Free PDF Page B

decorated with orange
pumpkin lights, an animated coffin and trees filled with hanging ghosts.   White luminaries lined the sidewalk that led
to the front porch and the deck on the side of the house.
    With a sigh, Mary started down the sidewalk towards the house. Maybe I shouldn’t be so negative, she
thought. I might have a good time.   I might discover that I do have something in
common with these girls.   They might
decide they like me and want me to hang out with them.
    “She’s coming, but her brothers aren’t?” the loud voice
drifted towards Mary from over the deck rail. “Uh, that’s so lame. We should
have known she would ruin things.”
    Mary froze.
    “Well, it won’t be that bad,” another voice said and then
there was a pause, followed by a giggle. “Okay, yes, it will.”
    “Well, we don’t have to be nice to her,” the first voice
laughed. “We can just sit her down in the corner and give her some food.   Just like in the
lunchroom.”
    The resounding laughter caused a pit in the middle of Mary’s
stomach, she felt like she was going to get sick right there on the front lawn. Oh, yeah, that will make my popularity
rise at school, she thought bitterly. There
goes lunch-corner puke girl.
    Without a second thought, she turned around and walked away,
not aware of where she was going or the tears sliding down her cheeks.   She had walked for several minutes before she
realized she was following a path through the forest preserve.   She stopped, wiped the moisture from her face
and looked around.   The woods were quiet
and the air smelled like moist dirt, it seemed to buoy her spirits.   She took several deep breaths and reminded
herself that she knew what those girls were like, so they just lived up to her
expectations.
    Now, her only question was what to do with the rest of her
evening.   She knew if she arrived home
early her mother would find out what happened and Margaret Mary Elizabeth
O’Reilly would be marching down the street, into Janice’s house and demand an
apology from all of the girls present. That would be mortifying.
    Then a thought occurred to her that had her standing up
straight.   The Lost Cemetery!
    She’d heard stories about the old cemetery that was hidden
in the corner of LaBagh Woods.   Her brothers spoke about seeing floating
balls of light and hearing voices, but they had always told her she was too
young and she would get frightened. She straightened her shoulders and took a
deep breath.   Well, she wasn’t too young
tonight.   And she would earn a little
respect when word got out that instead of going to a stupid party; she spent
Halloween in the Lost Cemetery.
    She ran down the path towards the wrought iron fence that
separated the woods from its neighbor, Montrose Cemetery.   The trees on her side of the fence formed a
line a few feet away from the fence, creating a canopy of bare branches above
and a carpet of dried leaves below.   The
lights from the cemetery were enough to guide her along the way without
tripping.
    Finally, she came to the old chain-link fence at the far end
of the park.   A little way beyond the
fence was the bank of the Chicago River and just before the river, in an
overgrown clearing was the cemetery.   Mary followed the chain-link fence until she found the hole her brothers
had told her about.   She pushed through
it, catching her stockings on a sharp piece of link and snagging them, but
continued on into the underbrush.
    The woods were darker here and she wished she had thought to
bring a flashlight. But there was a full moon and most of the tree branches
were bare, so she had enough light to see.   The narrow path to the old cemetery was obvious, stamped down vegetation
and bare dirt marked the way through the trees and brush.  
    As she moved forward, her heart beat with anticipation.   Would she see floating lights or hear the
voices of those who had passed away?  
    She slowed her pace as she entered the overgrown