The Best Halloween Ever by Barbara Robinson

Author:Barbara Robinson [Robinson, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-062-07694-6
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

7

When I got home Charlie was already there, which was surprising, and he was all upset, which wasn’t surprising.

“Something’s going to happen tonight!” he said.

“Well,” I said, “Halloween’s going to happen, just like it always does on October thirty-first.”

“But the Herdmans—,” he began.

“They aren’t even going to be there,” I reminded him, “so what could they do?”

Actually they could do a lot. History was full of things that happened after they left—kids in the revolving door; their cat in a washing machine at the Laundromat; half-drowned turkeys at the turkey farm.

I didn’t know what they could do at Woodrow Wilson School on Halloween night, but I did know that they were Herdmans, after all, and I had seen Imogene’s face outside the door and heard her saying, “Herdman-free?”

Still, I knew Charlie really wanted to go to the Halloween party and be half of a lion in peace. Besides, how did I know what would happen … or might happen?

So I said, “Don’t worry about it,” and he looked relieved.

He was home early, he said, because “ … Miss Seaworthy let us out early, but we’re not supposed to tell anyone. She had us leave two or three at a time, down the stairs, past the boiler room, and out the back door.”

I had never heard of one teacher, all by herself, letting her class leave early. “Why did she do that?”

“She has to get ready to be the swamp witch, she said. Besides, our room is going to be the swamp, and that takes time.”

“Even so, I don’t think she’s allowed to do that.”

Charlie nodded. “I know. That’s probably why we weren’t supposed to tell anybody. But I think there was someone in the boiler room. I think someone saw us leave, so will Miss Seaworthy get in trouble?”

I didn’t think so. Everybody had already said that the whole school should get out early so the PTA could move in and set things up.

“All those children will be in the way!” Mrs. Wendleken had complained.

“No,” my mother said. “We’ll be in the way. After all, this Halloween party is for them.”

But it wasn’t, really. It was for the mayor and Mr. Crabtree and the fire chief and the police chief and all the storekeepers like Mr. Kline—everybody who wanted the Herdmans off the streets on Halloween.

There was a note from Mother on the refrigerator. Gone to school with pumpkins, it said. If I don’t get back in time you and Charlie can come with Louella. Mrs. Coburn broke her ankle and can’t be a witch, so … Here the paper had got caught in the refrigerator door and torn off, so we didn’t know what the rest of it said.

“She won’t be here?” Charlie said. “She won’t see our lion!”

“She’ll see you at school,” I said.

“But she’s always here when we get our costumes on and go out for trick-or-treating!”

“This year is different,” I said.

“I’ll say,” he grumbled.

I didn’t know whether Charlie was missing Mother or missing trick-or-treating or missing

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