Chapter Twenty-Nine HALLOWEEN

Autumn deepened as October rolled on. Leaves had begun to fall, forming shallow carpets on the ground to loudly scuff your feet through. Those left on the trees were a riot of gold, yellow, red and brown. Ava still felt buoyant after the village show and her parents’ flying visit the weekend after it. Their brief trip home had marked the halfway point of her stay at Whistledown Farm, and seeing them had been just what Ava had needed. The weeks that had passed since she’d seen them had flown by.

The farm may have been a little more quiet this time of year, but Ava had been busy with school and seeing her new friends. Everything had gone back to normal after the raffle money fiasco, and Melody had made a real effort to make it up to Ava.

Halloween had now finally arrived, much to the excitement of the mighty Oaks class. They had smashed the raffle collection total at the village show, which meant Miss Harper was throwing them the Halloween party she’d promised. Much to the delight of the whole class, it was more of an all-day party, with autumnal activities starting as soon as they arrived. The day was filled with leaf printing, writing spooky poems, and conker collecting, which culminated with the Conker Championships Final on the playing field. Jack had brought in pumpkins from his farm, and the class were busy carving them under the watchful eye of Miss Harper.

As Ava glanced around her classroom, she felt a little stab of sadness. Her mum and dad were due back from their trip in a couple of weeks, and that would mean leaving Whistledown and going back home again for good. It was the same as last time: Ava was excited to see her parents again, as she missed them so much when they were away, but being at the farm was a lot of fun. On their quick visit to see her, Ava’s parents had promised to spend more time here so Ava could see her new friends as much as possible, and they had even said they could stay at the farm as a family more in the school holidays.

Once the pumpkins were carved, they were arranged around the classroom with battery-powered candles inside. A few of the boys pinned up black material on the windows to block out the light, while some of the girls set up the sound system and disco lights that Melody had brought in from home. Once the classroom was ready, Year Six were allowed to change into their Halloween costumes so the party could really begin. Jas had dressed as a black cat; Bella, a witch; while Rav, Tom and Jack wore matching skeleton outfits. Aunt Kitty had helped Ava make her costume, and she couldn’t be more delighted with it. Ava had dressed as an owl – but not just any owl. She had come as Ruby the tawny owl. Together, Ava and her aunt had sewn brown feathers onto a cape in the shape of wings, and Ava had made herself a mask that did look very much like Ruby.

‘You look brilliant,’ said Jas, admiring Ava’s costume.

‘Thanks!’ said Ava. ‘I had great inspiration!’

The Oaks danced the rest of the afternoon away to spooky music, drank strawberry punch with jelly worms in and ate spider cakes made of chocolate buttons and liquorice laces. It was the best Halloween party Ava had ever been to.