The Black Heart Crypt

The crowd grew larger behind the hastily erected police barriers on Main Street.

Judy saw Scot Smith, the principal of the middle school; Sheriff Ben Hargrove and half the North Chester Police Department; Mr. Ickes and the gum-cracking hardware store employee from TV, Stephen Snertz; not to mention all sorts of TV camera crews, which kept piling out of vans with satellite dishes on their roofs.

Jack the Lantern was back on the bus with Azalea and the other schoolchildren, several of whom Judy could hear sobbing through the windows.

A police officer carefully tried to approach the horse and got a nasty kick for his trouble.

“He has guns!” Judy heard someone say behind her.

“Is it really Norman Ickes?” asked another.

“What’s with that mask? He looks like a jack-o’-lantern.”

“You mean a jackass!” shouted Stephen Snertz very bravely, because the police had their weapons trained toward the bus. Snertz stood with a small group in front of the hardware store. “Who does he think he is, anyway? Saying he wants me to ransom my stupid nephew?” Now he gave Mr. Ickes, Norman’s father, a quick shove. “I told you: Your son is nuttier than squirrel poop!”

Judy pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial number she had programmed to ring Aunt Ginny’s cell phone.

“Yes? Hello?”

“Aunt Sophie, the dybbuk is here on Main Street. He’s hijacked a busload of children!”

“Jack the Lantern strikes again, eh?”

“We three are needed. Immediately, if not sooner.”

“Has Zack found the black heart stone?”

“Not yet. But he will.”

“Wonderful. Ginny is in the recovery room. Hannah and I are on our way. She’s outside, organizing transportation. It’s time we sent the first and last of these Ickleby demons straight home to hell!”