question, you know. You give them the choice."
"Cool," I said.
The idea of getting something for nothing held a lot of appeal. My father said Halloween was Yankee garbage.
"Actually," said Kane, when he heard us talking, "Halloween is derived from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain which took place when the year changed from light to dark, and winter began to descend. At this time, the spirits of the dead were supposed to enter the world. The townspeople baked food all day, and, as night fell they dressed up to resemble the dead, hoping to fool the spirits into thinking they were just like them, on their side. They left offerings of food on the edge of the town and prayed that when they satisfied the ghosts the town would be left in peace."
"Fascinating," said Sheryl, snapping her bubble gum at him.
But Kane wasn't finished. "Carving pumpkins into jack-o'lanterns is another Halloween custom that originated in Ireland. A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so stingy he was not allowed into heaven when he died. He couldn't enter hell, either, because he had played too many jokes on the devil. So, with nowhere else to go, Jack was condemned to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day. The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips, beets or potatoes representing "Jack of the Lantern," and when they brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because, in the autumn, pumpkins were plentiful."
"Right little encyclopaedia, your brother is. Go on then, smart arse," Sheryl said. "What sort of jokes did he play on the devil?"
