Spooky Situations Stole Them

2. Arriving at Grandma's house

"I don't want to hear any complaining," their mother snarled, her eyes jumping from each child in the car before landing back on the road, "I understand that Granny R can be a little-"

"intimating?" Axel chirped.

Nelson cut in, "Boring?"

A snigger came from Morgan, Nelson's friend who had been dragged along for the evening.

"Guys can you at least be more understanding?" their mother sighed, "she gets lonely out in that house all on her own. We can't get her to move into the town so that she's closer to everyone so it's hard to make time to see her."

"If that's true then why are you and Val going to a Halloween party and we have to visit her?" Nelson grumbled.

It cast a foggy tension in the car.

Although Nelson was being rather rude in his remark, (in the way that he said it) he had a valid point. Their mother and Val wanted a night out together as a couple without the children, it just happened to be that Morgan's father was hosting a rather elaborate 'adult only' Halloween party so the kids needed to be shipped off somewhere. That's how the entire situation came to be.

It was to either hire a baby sister, since Axel was only eight and Amy only ten, allowing Morgan to stay over since they and Nelson were friends, in the hope it would stop Nelson complaining that he was too old for a babysitter. Or they could kill two birds with one stone and cheer up Granny R by having them spend the night with her doing something nice for Halloween. Which meant cramming everyone into the car and hauling them twenty miles out.

"Because I'm the adult and I said so!" The mother burst.

Amy could see the mood in the car drop, it was errant to see her mother distressed.

Only days back, Amy had overheard her mother and val talking about the party, both seemed enthusiastic about the night so she knew how important it was. She sat upright in her car seat and turned around to her two brothers and Morgan, "Well at least we have pumpkins to carve. That will be fun won't it? And Granny always makes cakes when we go round, I love the cakes she makes."

Axel lit up, "She's the cake granny?"

The last time Axel had seen her was Christmas the year before, due to his age, he had little memory of the woman but clearly he remembered her most redeeming quality.

For the rest of the ride, things were mainly silent. It wasn't that she lived in the middle of nowhere, it was more that she lived at the edge of a village... In the middle of nowhere... So when they pulled up outside the house to see a funfair on the field across the road, it wasn't entirely odd that it took their mother by surprise.

"Mummy can we-"

"No." she spat, seeing Amy lean forward at the sight of the fair, "you're going to grandma's house and that is that."

Clambering out of the car, the two eldest began talking among themselves. Morgan going first, "Do you think your gran would let us go? Maybe not these two but us, surely?"

Nelson folded his arms in disbelief, "don't know about your grandma but mine is a boring old cow, she doesn't understand 'fun', trust me it isn't worth wasting your breath over."

That was when the front door opened and a rather smiley Granny R trotted out, "Oh children how lovely it is to see you!"

The youngest two and their mother had gone to the boot of the car, to get the pumpkins, so when the lady spoke it took them by surprise.

"Oh hello mum, how are you?" their mother greeted, handing her a pumpkin.

With a soft chuckle she gazed at it, "Ah lovely, this should be fun. Come on inside everyone." her attention turned, "Are you staying for a cup, love?"

"No thanks, must be off."

There was disappointment in the grandmother's eyes. She was so pleased to see her daughter and yet she was ready to ditch the kids and get out.

Each kid collected a pumpkin and went to stand together by the door, all awkwardly hovering.

They stood watching as the mother pulled away before someone just had to mention it.

"Granny?"

She looked down to Axel, "Oh my you have gotten so big haven't you?"

Blanking her comment, "can we pleaseeeeeeeee go to the fair?"

The two eldest admired his effort but it was as expected, a wasted ask. She chuckled to him not to be silly and ushered everyone into the house, introducing herself briefly to Morgan and acting like she hadn't just crushed the young boy's hope.