Chapter 35

"Good practice." Coach Vickers looked happy as we knelt in a half circle around him. "Captains, anything to add?"

"Yeah," Robbie said without standing. "You almost look like you deserve to be in the first round of playoffs. But we have a ways to go if you want to look like state champions." She nodded to me.

I stood. "Don't forget. The list for drug testing gets posted tomorrow." I caught Luke's eye. "It's usually up by third period. Last week, a kicker who shall remain anonymous," Mark turned red, "almost missed his test and wouldn't have been able to play." Luke looked like he was going to say something, then nodded. "Anybody missing their test, I'll turn over to Monster Girl for memory drills."

"What if she misses her test?" Mike Reed asked with a smirk.

"If Robbie blows a chance to play football, it won't matter. The Earth's falling into the sun anyways."

"Good practice."

Robbie closed her notebook. "Almost everybody has their lines down." She glared at Peter.

"I would point out that Peter got most of his lines dead on, and that he does have more lines to learn than anyone but Traci. And she only learned all of hers 'cause she's afraid of you." I grinned at Robbie, and she transferred her glare to me.

"Next week Romeo and George plays on Tuesday, with The Accidental Detective on Wednesday and us on Thursday. We..."

I stepped behind Robbie, clamping my hand over her mouth. "Don't have a chance, so we're going to have fun. Right madame director?" Robbie nodded, my hand still over her mouth. "Go home and happy Halloween."

"Where to, my captain?" I asked as Tami snuggled in my lap. We were in the passenger seat of Robbie's Honda.

"Somewhere." Robbie smiled evilly. "You like surprises."

"I do?"

"I rented your house," Robbie mimicked.

I decided that silence was my best answer. A minute later we pulled into the elementary school's parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" Tami blurted.

"You'll see." We followed Robbie into the school. "Here's two more volunteers," she said as we approached Mrs. Archer, the principal.

Volunteers?

"Thank you," she said, spreading her arms to indicate all of us. "You're just in time, we have three groups left."

Groups?

Mrs. Archer led us into the gym where three groups of about eight kids each waited. In costume.

"What?"

"Trick-or-treating, pickledick," Robbie said softly so that only I heard.

Pickledick? I had to keep my friends away from my cousins. At least my Hawaiian ones. Then I had a flash of Robbie and Cinnamon working together and decided to include my Coloradan ones too.

"Here's your routes," Mrs. Archer said and handed us each a sheet of paper. "Robbie made them up last week."

I looked at my paper. Robbie had set up eight different routes, so I assumed there were five other groups that had already left. We were covering the same territory, but Robbie had set it up so that, hopefully, we weren't all hitting the same houses at the same time.

"Robbie, why don't you take that group. Tony, that one. And, I'm afraid I don't know your name?"

Tami smiled. "I'm Tami Sharp."

"Oh! You write that column in the paper."

Tami nodded.

"I never miss it. You take that last one please."

Tami nodded again.

"If I'd known, I would have brought a costume," I said as the principal left.

"I almost forgot." Robbie reached into the white plastic shopping bag I hadn't noticed she was carrying. A second later she tossed me something. I grabbed it out of the air and looked at it.

"A Nixon mask? You got me a Nixon mask."

Robbie grinned.

"He was a politician and a lawyer."

"Live with it. Here's yours." She tossed another mask to Tami.

Tami opened it up and showed it to me, The Bride of Frankenstein. That would make me...

"And you?" I prompted.

Robbie reached into her bag again and pulled out a tall black witch's hat and a long rubber nose with a black wart on it.

I wanted to say 'missed by one letter, ' but I also wanted to live till morning.

Trick or treating was fun. I'd forgotten how much, even if I wasn't getting any candy.

My group included Robbie's two ex-sisters, Betty and Jo. They'd moved into their new house over the weekend. It also included a boy who'd come prepared with a few eggs that I confiscated, then wondered if our route included Parker's house.

"Have fun?" Robbie asked when we got back to the grade school.

"Almost as much as you had with the Bradley girls I stuck you with."