Бри Деспейн - The Lost Saint

“Halloween is about releasing your inner she-wolf,” she pronounced.

I cringed at her terrible word choice. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“Then at least a little bit of a sex kitten.” She unzipped her duffel. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.” She pulled out a bundle of red-and-blue fabric. “I’ve been working on this design for the last few days, but when you said you weren’t going to do the superhero thing anymore, I thought I’d never get a chance to see you wear it.” She handed me the bundle and then went to her bag for something else.

I held the clothes out in front of me: a tiny blue gingham sheath dress and a solid red hooded cloak. I’d seen these clothes before. In a picture on

April’s dresser from a daddy-daughter costume party at her elementary school. It was the only picture of her dad in her entire house.

“I’d planned on bedazzling your superhero initials on the back of the cloak, but we hadn’t decided on anything, so I left it blank.”

“Is this your Little Red Riding Hood costume?” I asked. “And weren’t you like ten years old when you wore this? Don’t you think it’s going to be way too small?”

“Exactly,” April said, and grinned like the Cheshire cat.

Seriously, I don’t know how April gets me to do these things. I mean, in the picture I’d seen of her wearing this dress, it had hit her midcalf. But as

I pulled it over my shoulders, the fabric clung to my chest and hips and barely reached my midthighs. The red hooded cloak that went with it skimmed just above the small of my back. If it weren’t for the flesh-colored tights I insisted on wearing with the outfit, I would have felt practically naked.

April pulled a curling iron out of her duffel bag and gave my already naturally curly hair a little more “pow,” as she called it. Then she coated all my nails in bright blue polish to match the dress. But the things that almost put the outfit over the top were the tall red-leather high-heeled boots she pulled out of her bag of supplies. The ones I had barely been able to walk in at the club.

I stood in front of the mirror in utter disbelief. “I so can’t leave the house in this.”

“Yes, you can,” April said, standing next to me at the mirror while applying an insane amount of liner around her eyes. “You totally rock that outfit.”

She flitted over to my desk and dropped her eye pencil in her makeup bag and then picked up two bracelets from her jewelry box. “Do you think

Gaga would wear white or yellow gold?” She held up the two bracelets of different colors. One was a gold-beaded bangle, and the other I recognized as the bracelet she’d lost at the club. The image of Talbot holding it out to me in his hand flashed through my mind.

“I thought that bracelet was silver.”

“Oh, the ones I sell on my website are silver. But I had the original one made out of white gold just for me. One of the perks of being the designer.”

She dug into her large jewelry box and pulled out a silver cuff that was almost identical to her bracelet. “You should wear this. It’s perfect for your ensemble. But be sure to tell anyone who asks about it that it’s one of my fall designs.” She flitted back over to me and slipped it on my wrist.

“That’s perfect!” she squealed. “Exactly the look I was going for. So innocent, yet so kick-A at the same time. Like Little Red Riding Hood meets

Wonder Woman.”

“Huh.” I stared at myself in the mirror for a second—tiny blue gingham dress, red cloak, long curly hair, high-heeled boots, and silver cuff bracelet.

“Well, this is probably the last time I’ll be allowed out of my house, so I might as well go out with a bang.”

AT THE FESTIVAL, JUST BEFORE SUNSET

Wow. I have to say that Daniel and Katie outdid themselves with the designs for the posters and decorations for the Halloween festival. It was like

Tim Burton had swept into Rose Crest and transformed Main Street into the set of one of his movies. All the booths were swathed in bright-colored fabrics, and the posters had been printed with a spidery style of writing that had to be Daniel’s doing. I hoped Katie had a whole committee helping her with the actual setup, since Daniel was still nowhere to be found.

Cars, each decorated with a different theme, lined the street for trunk-or-treating. And by the looks of the costume-clad crowd already filling the sidewalks, checking out the concession booths and games, the whole town was probably going to turn out for the event.

Mr. Day stood in front of the market, dressed like an old-timey shopkeeper, passing out coupons in honor of the grand reopening. He beamed at

April and me as we walked by with our baskets of refreshments. The store was already packed with customers.

Mom was so busy ordering everyone around that she didn’t even notice my costume at first, and by the time she did, April and I were already manning the caramel-apple booth. I could tell by the look on her face that if I hadn’t been surrounded at the time by half of the ladies from the Sunday school board, she probably would have thrown a massive fit and sent me home. Luckily, Mrs. Ellsworth, bouncing her fairy-princess baby on her hip, smiled and said, “Don’t you look adorable?”

But then again, that comment was probably directed at Baby James in his wolf suit as he pulled on the hem of my dress while begging me to take him through the trunk-or-treat to get some candy.

I scooped him up in one arm and then grabbed a basket of caramel apples in the other. “I’m going to take James trick-or-treating and try to sell some of these along the way.”

“Thank you,” Mom said. She patted her forehead with her long kimono sleeve and then counted out change for Amber Clark and her boyfriend.

“But don’t let him get too much candy.”

Baby James and I set out along the street. “Just me and my big bad wolf,” I said, and set him down with his trick-or-treat bag. James made a little growling noise and then took off running for the first car in the trunk-or-treat. I followed after him with my basket. We stopped at each car, and everyone fawned over James and his cuteness, and I sold a caramel apple for every third piece of candy he collected. I had only about half a dozen left when we made it to the end of Main Street. We were about to cross and go up the other side when Charity and a couple of her friends came bounding up to me to buy apples.

I handed out three and was counting their money while James pulled on my dress, trying to force me to cross the street toward more candy, when

I heard another customer ask, “How much?” from behind me.

“Two dollars each,” I said, and handed Angela Leonard three dollars back.

“Thanks,” she said.

“But what if I want the whole basket of goodies?” the customer behind me said.

I looked over my shoulder and almost dropped my basket. “Talbot?”

He stood there in a yellow-and-blue flannel shirt and faded blue jeans, but he was without his customary baseball cap. He had a slight smile on his face, but his green eyes seemed serious and concerned.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just checking out the festival,” he said, and winked at Charity and her friends. Then he leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “I need you to come with me, Grace. Right now.”

“What? I can’t. I’ve got my brother.”

James pulled on my hand and pointed in the direction of more candy, making his little growling noise.

“Oh. My. Gosh,” Mimi Dutton said. “You guys are so cute. Look, Angela, they’re Little Red, the wolf, and the woodsman.” She pointed at Talbot last.

Talbot cracked a smile, then cocked his head like he was pointing in the direction that he wanted me to go. Come now, he mouthed.