New story up, fitting for the season!







Halloween Cakes







Vanilla heard a knock at the door.

“Open up, Vanilla! It’s me!” said Honey.

Vanilla opened the door.

“GAH!” said Honey.

“Thank you,” said Vanilla, taking it a compliment.

“Why DID you have to dress as a SPIDER, anyway?”

“You answered your own question with your reaction. The most widespread phobia is arachnophobia, fear of spiders.”

“Well, okay, but why did you have to make that costume so REALISTIC?”

“Again, your reaction is why. It’s a night for fright. Anyway, why are you dressed like a rabbit?”

“I’s Br’er Rabbit, born and bred in de briar patch!” said Honey.

Vanilla frowned. “THAT might be more frightening than my costume.”

“Why?” said Honey. “You’re dressed like Anansi, right? That’s what you told me? And Anansi and Br’er Rabbit both come from the same culture.”

“True, but you know how people get—they might accuse you of being racist because you’re dressed like a rabbit when you’re a dog.”

“Oh, and dressing like a SPIDER is fine,” said Honey, smirking.

“Well, at any rate, shall we commence the trick-or-treating?” said Vanilla.

“And then the Halloween party!” said Honey in excitement.

Vanilla looked nervous. The one thing that made the Halloween party interesting to Vanilla was that she was in disguise. Maybe that was why Honey liked dressing up so much—you weren’t stuck being just yourself.

“Come on, then,” said Honey.

Vanilla tried to work up some saliva in her mouth, and a hissing noise, such as a giant spider might make.



* * * * *



“Trick or treat!” said Honey, bowing and removing her cap.

“Well, aren’t you an adorable bunny rabbit!” said the woman answering the door.

“How d’ye do, how d’ye do, how d’ye do?” said Honey in a “Br’er Rabbit”-type voice. “D’ye have dog-friendly candy for me an’ my sister?”

“Oh—ugh…er…the, um…spider?”

Vanilla smiled. “I’m Anansi the spider. This bag may appear to be filled with candy but it’s actually filled with wisdom.”

“Well, I’ll see if I have any more, um…wisdom to give you. One second.”

She found some dog-friendly candy to give to Vanilla and Honey, and soon they were on their way, finished with their trick-or-treating.

“Well, I reckon y’all got more wisdom than I did, although I got plenty too.”

“You don’t have to stay in character, Honey,” said Vanilla.

“Y’all kiddin’, Aunt Nancy? How am I supposed to dress like Br’er Rabbit an’ talk like Honey Cake?”

Vanilla rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, time to hit the Halloween party!”

Vanilla took a deep breath, and let it out. At least it was happening at Strawberry’s house. Still, that could be complicated. She made herself be the one to knock on the door.

Answering the door was what appeared to be a baby Ent from The Lord of the Rings—a baby Ent that shrieked.

“Vanilla…is that YOU?” said the baby Ent.

“It’s me, Strawberry,” said the spider at the door.

“I should have guessed. You look…gross.”

“Thank you,” said Vanilla. “I’m Anansi.”

“Oh, I LOVE those stories! Especially the one about Anansi and Br’er Tiger. Hey, look at you, Honey—are you Br’er Rabbit, then?”

“That I is!” said Honey, bowing and removing her cap.

“Well, come on in, both of you! There’s a lull going on, so we’re mixing and mingling. See if you can guess who’s in each costume!”

Vanilla looked at Strawberry. “You’re a baby Ent?”

Strawberry laughed. “I didn’t even THINK of that—I SHOULD say I am, but no, I’m not. I’m Yggdrasil.”

“Ah, the World Tree,” said Vanilla.

“Well, come in, you guys!”



* * * * *



Vanilla kept away from the Jabberwock, because it was Wort, and also because she still wasn’t ready for anyone to know of her love for Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. For that matter, she kept away from most everyone. As befit her costume, she stayed in the corner, as if in a web, and pretended to be a decoration.

In fact, this worked a bit TOO well, as occasionally she would see some pets coming into her direction and talking as if she weren’t there. It was usually a couple—or at least a boy and girl pet—and this bothered her. If she didn’t like the conversation, she would suddenly jerk her head and hiss at them, which always gave them a good scare.

“Howdy, Aunt Nancy!” said Honey, approaching the giant spider.

Vanilla didn’t respond.

“Is you pretending to be a tar baby?” said Honey.

“No—so don’t punch me.”

Honey laughed. “C’mon, get into the spirit of things—it’s Halloween!”

“I am in the spirit of things,” said Vanilla. “I’m a spider—this is my web.”

“Seriously, Vanilla, you haven’t been involved in any of the festivities. We’ve bobbed for apples, we’ve had our fortunes told, we’ve even told ghost stories. But you haven’t done anything.”

Vanilla shrugged. “This isn’t really my milieu.”

No sooner did Vanilla say this than the lights turned out. She rolled her eyes. How clichéd could you get?

“Ooh, nice effect, you guys!” said Honey.

“That…actually wasn’t us,” said Wort. “I think a fuse must have blown. Lemme go check.”

“I wish we HAD thought of it, though,” said Strawberry. “Then we could have done it right as it got to the good part of that last story—you know, where the lights blew out like candles?”

“No fooling?” said Honey, looking disappointed. “That wasn’t your idea?”

“No,” said Strawberry.

Suddenly the lights came back on. “There, all fixed,” said Wort.

“Uh…not quite, there, big guy,” said Honey.

“What do you mean?”

“Look—Vanilla’s gone!”

SQUEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The mythological and folklore references! I love it!

Thanks! Here's Chapter 2!







“I’m NOT gone, I’m in here!” said Vanilla’s voice, which was coming from a door covered with construction paper shaped to look like flames and saying “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

“Vanilla?” said Strawberry, opening the door and cringing at the giant spider legs that came out and brushed up against her. “What were you doing in the closet?”

“Oh, very funny,” said Vanilla in a peeved voice. “Someone covered my mouth and threw me in there when the lights were off.”

Honey and Strawberry stared at each other, then at Vanilla.

“Vanilla…I was here the whole time the lights were off and I didn’t hear the sound of anyone’s footsteps.”

Vanilla raised her eyebrow. “This isn’t funny. You know I don’t like practical jokes.”

“Yes, I do,” said Honey seriously. “I didn’t hear anyone, and you know how good my hearing is.”

“Well, SOMEONE shoved me in the closet. Strawberry?”

“No way. I wouldn’t do that to my best friend. And Wort wasn’t in the room.”

Vanilla sighed. “I should have known it was a mistake coming to a Halloween party.”

“Aw, don’t be like that,” said Strawberry. “It won’t happen again. Honey and I will stick by you and make sure no one does that to you.”

“It better not—I couldn’t work the doorknob with these spider legs.”

Honey was worried. Vanilla didn’t have much space in the closet, she could have suffocated. She knew people played pranks at Halloween, but that was going too far—unless….

“YOU didn’t…just go into the closet yourself, did you?”

Vanilla glared at her sister. “I couldn’t get out! Why would I shut myself in the closet?”

“Okay, okay, don’t get upset.”

“Besides, you said you didn’t hear anyone’s footsteps, that includes Vanilla’s, right?” said Strawberry.

“Right…. I’m just trying to think of how to explain that, if you didn’t have like some kind of automatic doors or something.”

“Which we don’t,” said Strawberry.

“Let’s just forget it—I’m not going anywhere NEAR that door again, or any other,” said Vanilla.



* * * * *



“…and to this day, no one knows whatever became of the witch’s head,” said Honey. “For all we know it could be buried…right…under…this…house.”

SNAP!

Suddenly the lights turned red.

“What the—?!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Strawberry. “That IS part of the fun. Dad installed a darkroom light so it’d look like flames.”

“Oh—I thought it was another…. Okay, as long as this was planned.”

“OooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooo….”

“That…was not,” said Strawberry. “Mom, is that you doing that?”

“I thought your Mom was out so you could have the party,” said Vanilla.

“She could have come back,” said Wort.

“Well, it didn’t sound like Dad,” said Strawberry. “His voice isn’t that high, not even when he’s singing the Ride of the Valkyries, and he can sing that.”

“That’s more than I ever cared to know,” said Vanilla, rolling her eyes.

Strawberry blew a raspberry and pushed Vanilla.

“Don’t do that or I’ll climb on your head,” said Vanilla.

“It’s Halloween, everyone’s getting into the spirit of things,” said Honey. “Anyway, at least we’re in your house, not in the middle of nowhere.”

The red light turned out.

“Not again,” muttered Strawberry.

“…give back…what you…have stolen….”

“Okay, STOP that, whoever you are,” said Vanilla.

“Oh, come on, it’s Halloween,” said Honey. “You gotta expect things like this—but it’s not gonna be anything dangerous.”

The light came on again, but it wasn’t the red light, it was the white light.

“Ow!” said Vanilla, shutting her eyes.

“Where’d Wort go?” said Strawberry.

“Oh, stop it,” said Vanilla.

“No, seriously, look, he’s gone—he was here when the lights turned off.”

Honey and Vanilla looked. Sure enough, Wort was gone.



* * * * *



“Okay, I’m not liking this,” said Vanilla, hoping against hope that it was Wort who had shoved her into the closet, perhaps there was some kind of secret door or something, she didn’t know, she hadn’t spent that much time in the house.

“What’s going on?”

The girls screamed. There was a Jabberwock in the doorway, holding a bowl and talking in Wort’s voice.

“How did you get THERE?” said Strawberry.

“What are you talking about?”

“You were sitting right next to me!”

Wort cocked his head. “Noooooo, I was getting some more candy, see?”

Honey looked perplexed. “Okay, I KNOW I saw a Jabberwock sitting here, and I also know I didn’t see another Jabberwock when I came here.”

“Okay, admit it. This is a planned scary thing in the spirit of Halloween,” said Vanilla.

“Vanilla, I wasn’t here, I haven’t been since before you started that story—what was it about? A witch?”

“ADMIT IT.”

Wort almost dropped the bowl.

“Vanilla, calm down,” said Honey.

“I can’t help it—I don’t like Halloween.”

The dogs looked around. “Hello? Anyone playing a prank?” said Honey. “Good one, but you can reveal who you really are now.”

“…Rumpelstiltskin….”

Vanilla sighed. “At least now we know it’s a prank.”

“What do you mean?” said Strawberry.

“‘Rumpelstiltskin?’”

Strawberry cocked her head. “…what about him?”

Vanilla glowered at her. “Don’t even pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Hear WHAT, Vanilla?” said Strawberry.

Vanilla was worried again. If there were some pranksters who were not invited….

Another wonderful and light update. As always, your story proves fun but emotional.

Love your writing style, and I'm loving this story! I can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for your comments! Here's Chapter 3!







Vanilla was pacing back and forth across the room, being careful not to get too close to any doors. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve called you all here.”

“You didn’t call anyone here—” started Honey.

“I’m in character,” said Vanilla, “my costume notwithstanding.”

She paced a few more times, then stopped in the middle of the room. “The only way to avoid succumbing to fear unnecessarily is to work it through logically. To that end, let us review the facts.”

She took a deep breath.

“And let us also bear in mind that one or more of us may not be telling the truth.”

She shot suspicious glances everywhere—she was exaggerating for effect, but there was some seriousness in it as well.

“To review: the lights went out. Strawberry and Wort claim that it wasn’t planned, and Wort ostensibly left the room. While the lights were out, someone covered my mouth and shoved me into the closet.”

“So you say,” said Honey.

Vanilla shot her a look.

“Well, you said one or more of us may not be telling the truth. How do we know that doesn’t include you?”

“To CONTINUE….” said Vanilla. “And you claim you didn’t hear any footsteps of anyone who might have shoved me in.”

“I didn’t.”

“So you say.” Vanilla paced a few more times. “Then there was that howling that Strawberry and Wort claim was not planned. You thought it might have been your mom, even though she was supposed to be out so you could have the party.”

“Then the darkroom light turned out,” said Strawberry.

“Then that ‘give back what you have stolen’, whoever said that,” said Vanilla. “Then the white light turned on. And then Wort disappeared.”

“I didn’t disappear,” said Wort. “I wasn’t there.”

“So you say,” said Vanilla. “We all saw your costume, and no one else had a Jabberwock costume.”

“I was getting the candy.”

Ignoring this, Vanilla concluded: “Finally there was that ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ comment.”

“I REALLY didn’t hear that, Vanilla,” said Strawberry.

“Me neither,” said Wort.

“I might have heard SOMETHING but it definitely was not ‘Rumpelstiltskin’,” said Honey.

“Those are the facts as we have them,” said Vanilla. “The possibility that we are not all telling the truth must be taken into account. I’m going to have to ponder this for a minute or two.”

The lights went out again.

“KIBBLE!” snapped Vanilla.

The lights turned back on.

Honey was missing.



* * * * *



“Okay, who’s flipping the switch?” said Vanilla.

“No one, it’s automatic,” said Strawberry.

Vanilla’s ears perked up. “You mean that last light turning off WAS intentional?”

“That one was, yes,” said Wort. “There’s a timer on it.”

“It would appear then that someone is messing with the fuse,” said Vanilla.

“…if you do not give back what you have stolen….”

“WHO ARE YOU?” shouted Vanilla.

“…you will suffer the consequences—sequences—sequences—sequences—”

Vanilla facepalmed herself.

“It’s an old-fashioned vinyl record,” she muttered. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

“…no it isn’t….”

“All right, STOP that!” snapped Vanilla.

Strawberry put her paws over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“Well, let’s see where the record’s coming from,” said Wort.

“Not until we find out where Honey is, I want to make sure that’s not her,” said Vanilla.

Wort and Strawberry looked at each other.

“Why are you looking at each other?”

“Well, theoretically you could be trying to keep us from finding it,” said Strawberry.

Vanilla sighed.

“What’s that?” said Wort, pointing.

The girls looked up. Vanilla put her paws on her hips, not impressed. It appeared to be a ghost lowering itself from the ceiling.

“…you were warned….” said the ghost, lowering itself down, and it was here that Vanilla realized that it wasn’t quite as clear-cut as she thought: the ghost was actually transparent. It LOOKED like a plain ghost costume, but it was transparent, and lowering itself down.

The light turned off again, and the ghost apparently disappeared.

Strawberry screamed.



* * * * *



The light turned on again. The ghost was gone, and so was Strawberry. Vanilla suddenly felt very self-aware, and very uncomfortable, at being alone with Wort, their costumes notwithstanding. If this was the intent of the prank….

“Come on,” said Wort.

“…Where to?”

“My dad’s a police officer,” said Wort. “If anything illegal is being done, he needs to know about it.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing illegal….” said Vanilla. Actually she wasn’t sure, but she hoped. She hoped.

Wort took Vanilla out of the living room and down a hall, sniffing around. He motioned with his paw to Vanilla, who was afraid, and she didn’t know if she was more afraid of what was going on that she had no idea about, or of being alone with Wort.

“Why are we going this way?” said Vanilla.

“Because that’s where the voice was coming from,” said Wort in a hushed voice. He put his finger to his lips and made a hand motion with his arms that Vanilla couldn’t interpret. Vanilla nodded, even though she had no idea what he had said.

Wort took off his head—not his literal head but the Jabberwock head, and was wielding it as if it were a weapon.

Suddenly he banged a door open and said, “FREEZE!”

Vanilla jumped behind him.

She looked into the room and gasped.

Okay, this is getting more and more interesting! I wonder if they ALL will disappear?!

Well, you'll have to wait and see.... Anyway, here's Chapter 4!







“HONEY?” said Vanilla.

“Uh…uh, pay no attention to the dog dressed as a rabbit,” said Honey in a very embarrassed voice.

“So it comes out,” said Vanilla. “You did the voice on the phonograph record.”

“Sort of,” said Honey. “I just wanted to give you a mystery to solve, since you don’t like Halloween much—I thought you might appreciate it.”

“And Strawberry and Wort were of course in on this, since it’s their house?”

“Guilty as charged,” said Wort, looking as though he had accidentally chosen the wrong door. “Strawberry, the jig’s up, come on out.”

Strawberry came out of a closet door, looking sheepish.

“All right, so let me see if I’ve got this straight, then.”

Vanilla scrunched up her face for a few seconds, then proceeded.

“Okay, here’s my initial conclusion: Honey pushed me into the closet. She reprogrammed the fuse so the lights would go out when they did. Then she left so she could do the ghost through some sort of state-of-the-art special effects. Then Strawberry screamed to throw me off the track, so she could go hide with her.”

Honey and Strawberry looked at each other.

“What?”

“…Not quite right,” said Honey. “I didn’t push you into the closet—scout’s honor. But I did reprogram the fuse, and I recorded my voice for the ghost, with some reverberation added, and Wort helped me with the special effects for the ghost. I was suspended from the ceiling wearing a sheet, and he videotaped me, and we used some 3-D holographic projection of that, plus some mirror effects.”

Vanilla raised her eyebrow. “You didn’t push me into the closet.”

“Honest—you know I wouldn’t do that to you, not even as a prank.”

Vanilla looked at her spider feet. “And that doesn’t explain Wort’s apparent displacement in space, nor the howling—you were right next to me, and you’re not that good a ventriloquist.”

“Aw, not yet?” said Honey. “I’ve been practicing.”

Vanilla bit her lip. “Nor that ‘Rumpelstiltskin’.”

“No one SAID ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’ Vanilla,” said Honey.

“I HEARD it,” said Vanilla. “Anyway, are you sure you don’t know anything about how Wort disappeared and came out from the other room?”

“Scout’s honor,” said Honey. “That had nothing to do with me.”

Vanilla began to worry again.



* * * * *



“I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here,” said Vanilla.

“We know,” said Wort.

Ignoring him, Vanilla said, “So the mystery is partly solved, but not quite. Honey, in collaboration with Strawberry and Wort, is responsible for much of what we’ve been encountering. You’ve reprogrammed the fuse, the ghost, and much of the voices we’ve heard.”

“Correct.”

“Which, if we take your word for it, is all you know.”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Honey.

“So what we’re left with is who pushed me into the closet, how Wort appeared to move between rooms, the howling, and ‘Rumpelstiltskin.’”

“I still didn’t hear anyone say ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’” said Strawberry.

“Someone said it,” said Vanilla through her teeth.

“So, who could have pushed me into the closet? Honey says she didn’t, Strawberry wasn’t around, and Wort left—presumably. How could Wort have appeared to move? The only explanation is someone else wearing an identical costume, but it couldn’t have been any of the three of you.”

“Four of us,” said Honey.

“Right. And the howling COULD have been Wort if that wasn’t him sitting with us, but that doesn’t explain who it was.”

“My voice doesn’t go that high,” said Wort.

“Well, anyway, we also don’t know who said ‘Rumpelstiltskin.’”

“AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!”

Without another word, the pets all rushed out of the room to see what had happened.



* * * * *



“Dad, what’s wrong?” said Strawberry.

Mr. Yogurt stared at a rather large red stain on the floor. “That had better be FAKE blood,” he said.

Vanilla recoiled. Fake or not, it was realistic enough to make her sick to her stomach.

Wort sniffed it, then snorted.

“It’s fake. But who would waste so much of it on one stain that large?”

“Unless it’s a red herring,” said Strawberry.

“Looks more like borscht,” said Honey.

Vanilla rolled her eyes. “That’s all we need, is old Abbott and Costello references. Look, this isn’t important, as far as I can see, so let’s focus on what is important.”

“Hold on, Vanilla,” said Wort, taking her arm, which made Vanilla turn red—but as her spider eyes were already red this was easily hidden.

“Yes?”

“First rule of detective work: never overlook any clue, nor assume it isn’t relevant. If we find out who did this, we might find out who’s responsible for the other stuff.”

Now Vanilla was turning red for another reason. She should have known better.

Wort sniffed the fake blood again.

“Hmmm….”

He put his nose to the ground and, sniffing, left the kitchen. The girls looked at each other, then followed him.

“Stay close,” said Vanilla.

“What?” said Strawberry.

Vanilla turned. “I said ‘stay—’”

Strawberry was gone again.

“Oh, no.” said Vanilla, looking deflated.

So the mystery continues, with a Holmesian flair at that! I like it.

the plot thickens once more, it feels like Scooby Doo but better.

Thanks! Here's Chapter 5, and I hope it lives up to the rest of the story--in any case there's one more to come.







“Strawberry?” called Wort.

No answer.

“Strawberry?” said Honey.

No answer.

“This isn’t funny, Strawberry,” said Vanilla.

“Hey, she wouldn’t do something like this on purpose,” said Wort. “She knows you don’t like it, and why would she do something on her own that Honey and I didn’t know about?”

Vanilla turned red.

“Okay, we need to find Strawberry, AND we need to figure out the remaining clues, since Honey’s confessed her end of tonight already. Who pushed me into the closet, how Wort appeared to move, who howled, and who said ‘Rumpelstiltskin.’ And also, now, the fake blood.”

Honey nodded.

“Mr. Yogurt, or even Strawberry, could have used the fake blood to distract us from something,” said Vanilla.

“Why, though, especially if we didn’t know about it?”

Vanilla didn’t say what her suspicions were. She seriously suspected something in particular, but aside from the fact that she couldn’t prove it, she didn’t know how many knew it, and she didn’t want to embarrass anyone. Besides, it didn’t necessarily explain everything even if she was right.

Honey wondered, as well. She didn’t say anything either, though, as she didn’t know how much Wort knew.

“Wort, how would you feel about splitting up?” said Honey.

Vanilla’s ears perked up. She was going to suggest that very thing, but now that Honey had suggested it Vanilla wasn’t so sure it was a good idea. After all, she didn’t know how much Honey knew. She wasn’t the type to lie, but was there a chance…?

“That might not be the best option at this point,” said Wort. “We don’t know who we’re dealing with here, and there could be safety in numbers.”

Vanilla turned red. Why was it that as soon as someone else suggested something, Vanilla didn’t like it anymore, even if she was thinking of it herself before they did?



* * * * *



Wort stayed in front of the Cake sisters as they checked each room, and didn’t find any trace of Strawberry.

Finally they came to the bathroom.

“Okay, I’m smelling the same smell as around the fake blood. I couldn’t quite identify it before, but….”

He motioned for the Cake sisters to stay back, then he threw the door open and rushed in.

“Aha!”

Vanilla recoiled, and almost got tangled in her spider legs as she hid behind Honey.

“What ‘aha’?” said Honey.

“I believe I have found what we in the profession like to refer to as….”

Wort came out, holding it.

“…a clue.”

He was holding a Jabberwock head. Which would have been one thing, but it was NOT the Jabberwock head that was part of his costume. It looked identical but it wasn’t the same.

Vanilla rolled her eyes.

“Well, we already knew that, but can you sniff out whoever was wearing it?”

“Of course,” said Wort.

“…oooOOOOOOOOOooooo….”

Vanilla was starting to get sick of that howling, even though this was only the second time she had heard it. She started off on her own.

“Vanilla, where are you going? Come back!”



* * * * *



Vanilla didn’t enjoy being on her own, but she wanted to be away from Wort. She thought she had this figured out, at least the fundamentals, but she still didn’t want to say it out loud, not even alone, until she knew everything she wanted to know about it.

“All right, that’s it!” said Vanilla loudly. “The jig is up!”

She ran along the hallway, banging on the walls.

“Whoever’s infesting this house had better leave it if they know what’s good for them!”

“Vanilla, no! You don’t want to—”

“AHHHHHH!!!”

Vanilla suddenly found herself pulled into a room and the door shut. There was no light.



* * * * *



“I can’t believe it,” said Honey.

“Can’t believe what?” said Wort.

“Nothing.”

Wort cocked his head. “Is there something I need to know?”

“No,” said Honey. “Nothing dangerous or illegal, if it’s what I think it is.”

“Yet you don’t want to tell me?”

Suddenly they heard Vanilla scream.

They rushed in the direction of the scream and found the door.

“That’s the crawlspace,” said Wort. “What’s in there?”

“Wort…I think I’d better go in first.”

“Why? The worst there could be in there is bugs, and I’m not afraid of those.”

“Please,” said Honey.

Wort raised his eyebrow, then shrugged.

Honey knocked on the door. “Vanilla?”

No answer.

She tried the doorknob. It opened.

There was only Vanilla inside.

Honey whispered, “Is it what we think it is?”

Vanilla nodded and produced a hair.

“Silver.”

Oh for... .

Awaiting the last chapter!

Last chapter!



Honey didn’t respond for Wort’s sake, but she nodded. That explained a LOT.

There’s a theory that siblings are telepathic with each other, but Honey and Vanilla were not related by blood, nor could they read each other’s thoughts. But both were thinking the same thing, and both knew it.

“I think we can assume Wort knows,” said Vanilla.

“He doesn’t,” said Honey, cringing.

“Knows what?” said Wort.

Now it was Vanilla’s turn to cringe. She produced the hair. “Can you identify this hair?”

Wort took it and sniffed. “Yes, it’s the same dog who was wearing the other Jabberwock costume.”

“…But you don’t know who he is,” said Vanilla.

“No, but I really wish you two would tell me,” said Wort.

Honey sighed. “His name is Silver, and he’s Strawberry’s boyfriend.”

“Silver? I know him. He’s Strawberry’s boyfriend?”

“Yes, you didn’t know?” said Honey.

Wort shrugged. “I don’t spend a lot of time at home. I’m very happy for her, though.”

Vanilla cringed.

“Is that why she felt the need to hide it?”

Vanilla sighed. “I don’t care to talk about it. If Strawberry’s happy with the situation I need to learn to live with it.”

“I see….” said Wort, deciding to say no more about it. “Strawberry! It’s okay, you guys can come out now.”

A door opened, and Strawberry and Silver came out.

“Vanilla…PLEASE don’t be angry with me. I didn’t quite plan it like this. It’s just that…well, Silver’s going away for a couple of weeks in November, and this was the last chance I had to see him, and I knew you were uncomfortable with—”

Vanilla put up a paw. “You don’t have to explain.”

“She thought to take advantage of Honey’s little mystery for you,” said Silver. “She didn’t tell Honey, so that Honey couldn’t tell you anything she didn’t know. Plus then the mystery would be even more difficult to figure out.”

“Well…I can appreciate that,” said Vanilla. “At any rate, let’s take this back to the living room.”



* * * * *



“I suppose you’re all wondering why I called you here,” said Vanilla.

“Did she say that before?” said Silver.

Vanilla chose to ignore that. “So we’d already solved part of the mystery. Honey reprogrammed the fuse, with help, and recorded the voice of the ghost, and with help did the special effects for the ghost. Now we know how Wort appeared to be displaced in space: Silver was wearing an identical Jabberwock costume and was mistaken for Wort, so he posed as Wort. Silver also did the howling as a signal to Strawberry. And I presume that, while the lights were off, Silver was wearing the ghost harness and he pushed me into the closet—possibly by accident—which would explain why there were no footsteps?”

Silver cocked his head. “I didn’t put on any ghost harness.”

Vanilla frowned. “I’m not accusing you of doing it on purpose.”

“On purpose, by accident, I didn’t wear a harness.”

Vanilla stared at him. “Are you telling the truth?”

“What reason would he have to wear a harness?” said Honey.

“Maybe he meant to carry Strawberry but missed and got me instead?”

“Heh, that would have been awesome, but no, that never happened,” said Silver.

“But can I assume the fake blood was a red herring?”

Strawberry nodded. “Dad was in on it, and he screamed just at the right time—he knew about the fake blood beforehand.”

Vanilla sighed. “So the only parts left of the mystery to solve are how I got into the closet and where the ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ came from.”

“You’re still the only one who heard ‘Rumpelstiltskin’,” said Honey.

“Unless she was making it up,” said Strawberry.

“Why would I make it up?” said Vanilla. “Besides, Honey said she heard something too.”

“Yes, but I also said it was NOT ‘Rumpelstiltskin’,” said Honey.

“Well, it doesn’t explain how I got into the closet,” said Vanilla. “Silver didn’t do it, Strawberry didn’t do it, Wort didn’t do it, you didn’t do it.”

“Unless you went in on your own,” said Strawberry.

“Why would I do that? I couldn’t get out!” said Vanilla.

“I don’t mean on purpose,” said Strawberry. “Maybe the hand covering your mouth was one of the spider legs on your costume, and maybe you slipped or tripped or something.”

“But wait—wouldn’t she have been trying to do something else, then?” said Honey. “I mean, you’d have to make a quick turn for the spider leg to slap you in the face, AND to slip or trip and fall into the closet.”

“To the scene of the crime!” said Silver.



* * * * *



“Aha,” said Wort, pointing to the floor.

“‘Aha’ what?” said Strawberry.

“A few spider hairs, and….”

He picked up another hair, this one brown. He sniffed it.

“Dad’s hair.”

“DAD?” said Strawberry.

“No mistake.”

Vanilla turned red.

“Vanilla?” said Honey.

“Okay, okay, I confess,” said Vanilla. “I knew about the ghost harness from the start.”

“You did?” said Honey.

“I’m observant,” said Vanilla defensively. Besides, I figured there would be something like that at a Halloween party, for a ‘haunted house’ motif.”

“So then…?”

Vanilla sighed. “Yes, Mr. Yogurt lifted me up on the harness—but I guess he was too heavy, because he didn’t quite pick me up, and I ended up flying into the closet.”

“What was he TRYING to do?” said Strawberry.

Vanilla shrugged. “I don’t like a lot of what goes on at Halloween parties, so I wanted to be assured of what I could expect, so I could be all right. But he didn’t want anyone to see him or hear him telling me, because that would ‘spoil the fun’, so we worked it out that he would shut the lights off and lift me to the second floor where he’d explain, and then I’d come out and you’d find me.”

“But that didn’t work out,” said Wort.

“Obviously,” said Vanilla.

“Well, I think we can consider this case closed!” said Honey.

“Wrong,” said Vanilla. “We still haven’t figured out about ‘Rumpelstiltskin.’”

There was a long pause.

“Well, what would Halloween be without SOME unexplained phenomena?” said Honey. “You heard ‘Rumpelstiltskin’, I heard something else, no one else heard anything.”

Vanilla looked uncomfortable, but decided Honey was right. She had no explanation for that.



* * * * *



“Bye, guys, and thanks for a great Halloween party!” said Honey.

“Bye, Vanilla! Bye, Honey!” said Strawberry.

The Cake sisters started on their way home, as it was getting late.

“Okay, so what was the ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ really?”

“What?” said Vanilla.

“Come on, you can tell me now, it’s safe.”

“I don’t know, Honey, it wasn’t me making it up.”

Honey cocked her head. “It wasn’t like a code or something, to Mr. Yogurt?”

“No,” said Vanilla. “I would have come up with a better code than that.”

She hung her head.

“What?” said Honey.

“But there is one thing I didn’t tell you in there. I also wanted insurance against being alone with Wort. I confessed to Mr. Yogurt, and he’s promised to keep my secret.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh….” said Honey, smiling and winking.

“Don’t,” said Vanilla.

“Well, anyway, good mystery, right? Was it to your satisfaction?”

Vanilla shrugged. “I’ve solved better.”

Honey chuckled.

The two sisters went home, eager to eat their dog-friendly candy. No one was with them save for one lone cat sporting a beard, throwing his voice to fool the dogs on his tail. Well, what would Halloween be without SOME unexplained phenomena?

And so it ends. Quite the story. I hope this is not the last.

Vanilla had fun, she knows it. I just wonder who the cat was...

Thanks, I hope that's a good thing. And I hope it isn't the last as well.

*nods* Well, we'll never know who the cat was....

Wow, a true halloweenian adventure for the intrepid detectives, yay!
*Salutes* Congrats, CC, once again you didn't fail your faithful fandom!

I enjoyed it. (also, am I the only one who reads Honey and vanilla with Starfire and Raven's voices from Teen Titans?)

@valerio: Thanks for the compliment!

Brent: I can maybe see Vanilla having Raven's voice, or a similar voice, but Honey doesn't talk like Starfire.

I didn't say she talked in the same mannerisms, just with the same voice.

I figured, but it's kind of hard for me to imagine Starfire talking normally....

...Wow, I'm gonna be picturing Honey and Vanilla to talk like that from now on. Awesome.

What did you think of the story overall?

ever heard Princess Bubblegum on Adventure time? that's her.

I hadn't, so I looked it up.

Mmmmmmmmm.... Still not entirely sure, but maybe.

I loved the story as per usual, hehe. I've gotta admit, I forgot about Silver at first. Still, I really enjoyed it. A mystery in a mystery in a mystery

Something that I think i have to mention though, it felt like we were following Vanilla as she solved the case. At least that's how I followed it. When Vanilla was hiding soemthing, that came as even more of a shock to me. I'm not sure if I liked that or not, but it was a good technique to making something even more surprising.

Glad you did. I'm not that great at writing mysteries, and was honestly solving this one myself.

Well, I'm glad you at least thought that was a good technique. I probably should have done it from multiple points of view. As I said, not great at writing mysteries.