“Could you maybe dial it down a bit?” I finally asked, as we were going back up the street, just on the other side. She didn’t seem to hear, but then, I hadn’t really had the guts to say it too loud.

“Oh, a father and daughter?”, guessed the old woman at the next house. I managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes, wondering what kind of dad she thought I was that I would be wearing a cape, and bared my teeth, deciding to take a page from Nancy’s book, hissed and reared back, as if about to bite Nancy. But she couldn’t let me have my moment. She gave a shriek, dropping her bag and running a few awkward steps before falling down, which elicited a sniffle and then a wail.

“She makes a very good baby, doesn’t she?” the old woman asked, bending over slowly to get Nancy’s bag, and add a little something to it, then handed to her, patting the top of her head. Nancy was still staring up at me, though she had twisted around, sitting on her padded bottom, legs splayed in front of her. “And you’re a fine monster. You two are just adorable together.”

“Come on,” I told Nancy, after the old woman had gotten back inside. I held out my hand, but she tried to scoot away, still sniffling and acting scared. “Look, she’s not gonna give you anymore,” I rolled my eyes. “There’s still plenty more houses.”

She didn’t make any move to stop playing around, so I retracted my hand, gritting my teeth. “Fine, I’ll meet you back at the car.” I walked on to the next house, shaking my head, whispering under my breath, “Greedy bitch.”

I felt free, having cast off my burdens, so to speak, much more available to truly enjoy the evening, on my own. The next house even figured out my costume without any hints – people must have been assuming our costumes were connected somehow, not that I could’ve coordinated without knowing what Nancy had planned.

But as I moved on, I started to feel more and more guilty. I found myself lingering longer and longer outside each house, glancing back the way I’d come from, but there was no sign of Nancy.

Maybe she’d gotten mad at me for my outburst, and went back the other way, I mused, though a quick glance up and down the other side of the road didn’t reveal her. I could easily have missed her, though. I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter, that she’d get over it by the time I got done.

“Hey, watch it, dude!” some rude little boy snapped, awakening me to the fact that I was standing, motionless, in the middle of the sidewalk. He came around in front of me, in his hockey mask, through which I could make out a touch of surprise when he saw that I wasn’t, after all, a dude.

“Oh, screw it,” I sighed quietly, turning back and walking quickly back in the direction I’d left my friend. We’d always gone trick-or-treating together – it just wasn’t the same without her. So what if she was showing off and getting more candy than me? The candy wasn’t really the point this year, and even if it was, we’d always split our candy at the end of the night, every year before that. She liked all the stuff I wasn’t fond of, and vice versa; it was the perfect arrangement.

I was starting to worry I’d have to go all the way back to the car after all, until I got close to that old woman’s house again, from which I heard crying that sounded oddly familiar. And, sure enough, when I’d gotten near enough, I saw Nancy, still sitting in the same spot, in tears. The old woman had gone outside again, and was watching Nancy nervously, as if unsure just what she should do.

I wasn’t either, but it didn’t turn out to be a problem. She saw me nearly as soon as I’d seen her. Having apparently forgotten my “threat”, and my outburst, she got to her feet, getting onto all fours and then lifting herself, diapered bottom first. By the time she’d shakily lifted her torso and head up off the ground, I was over at her side, to save her from having to toddle over, and probably wind up falling over. She clung to my arm like a vise, sniffling.

“I don’t think you should leave her on her own like that,” the old woman advised, lowering her voice a bit, as if that would keep Nancy, only a few inches further from her than me, from hearing. “She seems a little slow.”