Excerpt: We Go Together

Chapter Twelve
Vengeful Spirits

"This is going to be wild," Andreas hollered with shining eyes, waving at the twins from the end of the Trumper drive. "So much better than last year, I mean, there's no comparing it! I was all alone last year, it was no fun at all."

Bill dashed up the sidewalk at full tilt. "Youko Andi!" he called out, his cloak belling out behind him with a flourish.

Tom gave their friend a once-over as he set out with a proud swagger. "Looking good, looking handsome for once," he said approvingly, taking in Andreas's realistically-furred ears. With an uneasy blink he wondered if any part of Bill's hair trimmings had been kept and used for the set of fake ears, then Tom dismissed the thought. Bill didn't have a use for the hair anymore, so what did it matter?

Andreas pinked, did a slow turn, and flourished the tail that had been affixed to the seat of his trousers.

"That's..." Tom trailed off, at a loss for what to say. Well, Rena must not have ever looked at his and Bill's that closely. It wasn't quite in the right place and would make something very difficult for Andreas if he were a real youko.

"That looks awesome, Andi," Bill filled in for Tom, giving him a sidewise flick with his tail.

Tom rolled his eyes. He was in some kind of awe, that was for certain. So he supposed it was all right for Bill to make that claim. He put a hand to his hip, where his wooden sword hung with its gilt-painted handle. "So what do we do now?"

"Andi, what do you think? Of mine," Bill said insistently.

Bill grasped at his cloak and spun around, displaying his costume with its sapphire blue robes and the silver slippers that peeped out from beneath his hem. The deep crimson of the cloak set off his robes to vivid effect, and he had a lute slung over his shoulder that Gordon had crafted for him, small but playable – Tom had tried it out. Bill had gotten into Simone's makeup pots and had reddened his cheeks and lips with vigor, and brushed blues and silvers over his eyelids. The finishing touch was Simone's twisted silver torque necklace perched precariously around his ears like a tiara. His short, sleek hair was tousled up a bit, looking much darker than Tom's now because only the bits of hair at the roots were left.

"You're the best princess I've ever seen," Andreas said, with humbling sincerity as Tom contained a snort.

"And he's the princess with the shortest hair, too," Tom pointed out, trotting out of the drive and onto the sidewalk. "Come on, let's get going. Aren't we supposed to be collecting sweets?"

"Treats," Andreas corrected. "Nice pirate costume, Tom."

"I'm a pirate bard," Tom declared, having decided to go along with Bill's musician theme. "I pillage the high seas, and play a rollicking good tune when we're not...you know, out pillaging." He had a black bandanna, a black eyepatch that Simone had fashioned for him, and wore a laced black vest over a white belled-sleeve shirt that Simone had hastily fashioned for him.

"I've never heard of a pirate bard," Andreas observed.

Tom arched a brow at him. "If Bill can be a princess minstrel, I can be a pirate bard," he said firmly.

"I never said you couldn't!" Andreas was quick to assure him.

"So let's go, let's go," Bill urged, bouncing impatiently on his toes. "We have a lot of houses to go to, and..." He glanced over his shoulder. The three of them had made plans the day before and aside from slipping free of the overseeing eye of parental accompaniment, they had drawn up a rough map of the surrounding neighborhoods and marked those that, according to Andreas and second-hand accounts from their classmates, had the most treats to yield.

"Right," Tom agreed, grasping the hilt of his sword to keep it tucked in against his side. He started off down the sidewalk, trusting twin and friend to keep up.

"All right, wait up, you three," Simone said to them good-naturedly, strolling down the drive with a lace umbrella in hand. Her auburn hair was pinned up with pearl-encrusted combs and a couple of loops of shimmering gems, and she wore the fanciest, frilliest dress that Tom had ever seen in his life.

He couldn't recall if Simone was going out dressed as a queen, a lady of high society, or some character from a storybook; she and Bill had talked about it excitedly as the two of them got ready in Simone and Gordon's room. Tom had been more concerned with fixing his own guitar so that it wouldn't get banged up during the night of Spirits-eve excitement. Gordon had helped Tom with his own preparations, then gone off to get into his own costume. He and his band were playing at one of Leroux's hostels for an adult's Spirits-eve party.

Tom snickered softly. Simone was wearing dainty heeled slippers, nothing like Bill's practical flats, so they would be able to dash out of sight with no problems.

"Let's go," Tom said, reaching up to check the neck of his guitar, slung over his back, and grabbing his sword again.

"Tom," Bill said timidly.

"Bill," Tom responded, giving his twin a pointed look, urging him not to go cowardy-cold now.

"It's no fun if we do the normal, boring stuff," Tom reminded him. "We talked this over with Andi, remember?"

"But it's our first Spirits-eve," Bill said, with a hint of a whine. "Why not do the normal stuff, with Mom?"

"Don't get too far ahead!" Simone called out from her position further behind them on the sidewalk, as though reading Tom's mind.

Tom bit his lip. "Well, you can stay with Mom to make the walk for treats..." Andreas had suggested visiting a graveyard, and since Spirits-eve was supposed to be the night where the veil between their world and the hereafter drew thin, he figured they might find some excitement – or at least, groups of older kids helling around acting out, which could be fun too. Tom wasn't too sure about the graveyard part, and he wasn't too impressed with most of the older kids he'd seen so far, but he didn't want to look stodgy in front of Andreas and especially not to Bill.

"No, I'm going with you!" Bill said at once, a little shrilly.

Tom reached over and grabbed Bill's hand in his. It was still afternoon, but a watery golden-orange light was descending on the neighborhood as the sun slipped ever closer to the horizon like a giant pumpkin. Many people had carved gourds and pumpkins and set them on stakes at their front stoops or gates – as Gordon had explained it, the carved faces were intended to frighten malignant spirits and keep them at bay. He and Bill were dubious as to whether anything would be crossing over that night, but it fired up Bill's imagination and even Tom had to admit he was impressed by some of the vicious carvings he'd seen.

"Ready?" Tom asked his twin and Andreas.

"Set," Andreas said with a nod.

Bill sucked in a breath, clearly reluctant, but he had already made his choice. "Go!" he uttered, and they pounded up the pavement, the soles of their shoes slap-slapping along the sidewalk as they ran fast.

"Boys!" Simone shrieked behind them. "Don't you dare—"

Laughter bubbled up inside Tom, but he didn't let it out until after they'd turned the corner. Fleet as forest creatures they ran up the next block, Tom laughing, Bill burbling helplessly beside him, then made a sharp left where Andreas indicated and cut through someone's yard to skip over to the next street. After making enough zags according to Tom's mental map of the neighborhood to lose Simone or at least fluster her a great deal, the three of them came to a panting halt.

"That was mean," Bill complained, pulling free of Tom's hand to brace himself against his knees.

"That was hilarious," Andreas said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Mom made our costumes, she got all dressed up to go out with us..." Bill started.

"She's fine, she's a grown woman, Bill; calm yourself," Tom said, his own chuckles trailing off to a halt. "We'll do something nice for her tomorrow."

"Oh, like what?" Bill challenged.

"Eh." Tom shrugged. "She's always saying she wants breakfast in bed."

"We can't even cook toast," Bill said direly. "And we'd need to drag chairs over the stove to reach anything up there."

"We'll manage!" Tom insisted.

Bill chuckled, but it was weak.

"Come on," Tom said, bumping against his twin's shoulder, swishing his tail until it tangled with Bill's. He flicked an ear against Bill's cheek, making him giggle. "Come on, we'll have fun tonight; we're naughty spirits, remember? Mom will understand. Let's go treat-collecting."

"Come on," Andreas added, casting an anxious look around the neighborhood. "There's more kids here and they're going to cut into our treat collection if we don't get moving."

Bill nodded and grabbed at Tom's hand.

"Bill, I'm a pirate; I don't think they go around holding hands," Tom began.

As Bill turned wide honey-brown eyes on him, Tom found himself unable to finish his sentence.

"...well, except with their twin, I guess," he finished.

A satisfied little smile touched Bill's lips, and they were off.

The first house that they tapped was answered by a giant man wearing all black, with a hooded black cloak. He wore a white mask that was fixed in a terrifying grimace, and Tom and Bill jumped as the door snapped aside to reveal him. Bill squeaked and Tom produced a sound that could have been more gruff and stalwart if it had been in a lower register, while Andreas laughed behind them.

"Ah, it's the kits," the big man exclaimed, holding out a wide wooden bowl filled with sweets. "Help yourselves, if you dare utter the Spirits-eve pass phrase." His voice deepened to sepulchral notes by the end.

"Please with treats?" Bill said uncertainly.

"Appease with treats!" Andreas exclaimed, reaching around Bill and digging into the bowl.

"Hurrah for treats," Tom muttered, sectioning off a fair portion and flipping them into his canvas sack.

"Thank you!" Bill said, before the door swung shut. Andreas elbowed him in the ribs.

"Bill, restless spirits don't thank the living!" Andreas informed him, when Bill gave a sulky whine at being jabbed.

Bill rubbed at his side and crowded closer to Tom. "Well, what do they say, then?"

"Uh, 'you're spared for now,' or if you want to say something approving, 'good job, mortals,' or something like that," Andreas replied.

Bill wrinkled his nose. "So you say. Let's go, let's go!"