Three Lost Kids & the Death of the Sugar Fairy, The by Kimberly Kinrade Page A

People just don't care about Halloween anymore."
    We walked back to our parents, heads slumped in sadness. Even TayTay 's tail stopped wagging. Dad reached for my hand. "What's wrong, honey?"
    " This is the worst Halloween ever. No one's giving out candy. No one decorated. The lady at that house said no one cares anymore." A tear stung my eye and I tried to dry it off without smearing my makeup. My birthday was ruined, and so was Halloween.
    Bella and Lexie both wrapped their arms around me. Lexie smiled up at me with her too cute angel eyes. "It's okay, Maddie. We'll make sure your birthday is the best!"
    We hit up some more houses and got some more candy. Bella shoved pieces into her mouth when Mom and Dad weren 't looking.
    Lexie saw and didn't hesitate to tattle. "Mom! Dad! Bella's eating her candy without permission."
    Mom sighed. "Girls, please save it for later. We have a lot of houses to cover and I don't want you getting belly aches."
    Nobody listened. I snuck a tootsie roll in my mouth as we rounded another corner, and chewed it as fast as I could.
    By the time we finished the block, all three of us had our hands on our bellies. With half my candy already gone, my stomach rumbled and ached, but I refused to say anything. If we complained at all, our parents would just take us home.
    W e turned the corner, and all thoughts of stomach pain disappeared as we approached the coolest haunted house I'd ever seen. "Wow, check it out. Hundreds of carved pumpkins!"
    Lexie squealed and jumped up and down. "And ghosts and spider webs and fog!"
    Bella charged ahead. "I bet they have tons of candy. Come on!"
    TayTay and I followed Bella at full run, ignoring Mom and Dad , who hollered at us to slow down. Like that was even possible. This was the first sign of real Halloween we'd seen all night and we wanted to enjoy every minute of it. TayTay howled at the moon as we raced to the door, panting and excited.
    Bella stepped back. "You ring the door, Maddie, since it's your birthday."
    " Aw, thanks." I pressed the button and a creepy song played in the house.
    After a moment, the door swung open, but no one was there. I peaked inside. "Hello?"
    A headless skeleton placed in the hall came to life and nearly scared me to death. "This house is haunted as you can well see. Close the door and let it be. But if you are a brave lad or lass, come inside and take your chance."
    Lexie frowned. "Lass and chance don't even rhyme properly."
    Leave it to the smartest first grader ever to pick apart a spooky riddle from a skeleton.
    Bella grinned. "We should go in. It's obviously a haunted house you get to walk through."
    I looked around, and then behind us. Mom and Dad hadn 't quite caught up yet. What was taking them so long? "I don't know, guys. You know we're not allowed to go into houses without our parents. We'd be so busted!"
    But Bella being Bella, she didn 't listen and just bolted into the house.
    Lexie and I looked at each other and shrugged. I couldn't let my sister go in alone, so we followed her in, with TayTay at our heels.
    As soon as I stepped inside, the door slammed closed behind me and I nearly jumped out of my wings. Lights in the hall flickered on and off, then shut off completely, leaving us in the dark. "Bella, where are you?"
    " I'm right here. I didn't leave."
    She sounded close, but I couldn 't see her.
    Lexie clutched my hand. "I'm scared, Maddie. I want Mommy and Daddy."
    " Me too. Let's go get them. Bella, follow my voice to the front door, we're getting out of here."
    " O-okay." Her voice trembled as she spoke, and she sounded farther away still.
    " Bella, come on!" I turned around, and pressed my hand against the smooth wood of the door, looking for the handle. "I can't find it. The doorknob, it's gone."
    " But that's not possible. Let me try." Lexie shook in fear, but scooted forward to feel around. "You're right, it's just a wall. The whole door is gone. Bella, where are you?"
    " I'm over here. I can't find you."
    I