“I swear you talked about stabbings and ghosts,” Will muttered, shaking his head.

Ten minutes later we pulled into a very full parking lot at the Moose River Municipal Arena. Minivans like ours occupied half the spaces in the parking lot, and empty school buses were lined up in the fire lane. Families hustled across the lot, hurrying toward the entrance and many of the younger girls were dressed in miniature cheer outfits. And had their faces painted.

“It’s like Halloween out here,” Will observed.

“I love Halloween!” Sophie said.

This was true. Of all the kids, she was the one who most looked forward to Halloween. She had a notebook of costume ideas for the upcoming holiday and had mentally catalogued the best houses for trick-or-treating in the surrounding neighborhoods. I was pretty sure she had a countdown calendar, too.

Grace squealed. “I love candy! Is there gonna be candy?”

This was also true.

“No,” Will practically barked. “There won’t be candy and there won’t be any other costumes except stupid cheerleading costumes. And we’ll have to sit here and watch a bunch of girls do stupid dances and songs for teams that aren’t even here.”

I sighed. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a good idea after all.

I herded them out of the car and toward the arena. The wind was biting and I tucked my chin into my neck, urging the girls to move faster. We found Brenda at the top row of the small venue, waving and pointing to an empty spot next to her.

Derek, her youngest boy, saw us. “Bill! Bill!” he shrieked, mispronouncing Will’s name. He stood up and threw his entire bag of popcorn in the air in celebration. As popcorn rained down on everyone around them, Brenda grabbed him by the elbow and hissed something into his ear. By the time we reached the top of the seats, Derek was trying to scoot away from her, a pout on his face, his arms crossed against his chest in defiance.

I smiled at him and his pout deepened. “You sit here,” he said to Will, pointing to the empty space next to him.

Will smiled and sat down and, within seconds, was chatting with Derek about Spiderman and Minecraft. I wondered why he was so great with other kids and so awful with his own siblings.

Brenda shifted closer to Derek, juggling Mary in her lap. She was well past the age that she needed to be held, but Mary clung to her like a baby koala, especially in unfamiliar places… like the arena filled with mini cheerleaders and blaring dance music.

“That was quite the greeting,” I said, sliding into the seat next to her.

The girls sat down on the bench above us. Grace’s shoes pressed into my butt and Sophie shrugged out of her jacket, dropping it on my back.

“Wasn’t it?” Brenda said through gritted teeth. “I hope everyone enjoyed their free popcorn. In their ears.”

“No one seems terribly disturbed,” I said, glancing at the people in the rows below us. One woman with curly red hair still had some kernels on top of her head. “They’ve got kids. They understand.”

“They don’t have this kid,” she muttered, keeping an eye on him as he started pulling on Will’s arm.

“He’s fine,” I told her. “He’s exuberant.”

“I should’ve named him Exuberant.”

I chuckled. Derek was all boy, and then some. He was a cross between a tornado and a hurricane. Despite his destructive tendencies, he could also be incredibly sweet and kind. And he was probably one of the cutest preschoolers I’d ever seen.

“When does Maddie’s team perform?” I asked.

She checked the brochure in her hand. “They’re next to last. It’s going to be...interesting.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

She leaned back against the concrete wall behind us. “Well, her coach is...interesting.”

I chuckled. “That’s one word for her.”

Brenda looked at me. “You met her? When I put you on pick up duty?”

“Oh, we met, yes,” I said. Brenda held out her bag of popcorn and I took a handful. “I made the mistake of wearing a Moose River sweatshirt when I came the first time.”

Brenda’s eyes widened. “You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t like that.”

“She made that very clear.”

“Well, I feel like she’s a good coach, in that she can teach dance and strength and tumbling,” Brenda said. Mary reached into the popcorn bag and pulled out one piece. She stuck it in Brenda’s mouth. “Thanks, sweetie,” she told her, planting a kiss on top of her head. She turned back to me. “But when it comes to choreography for the entire team?” She made a clicking sound with her tongue. “She has some kind of ‘out there’ ideas.”

“Out there?”

How could anything in cheerleading be considered ‘out there?’ They chanted and shook pom poms and formed pyramids.

“Let’s just say they’ll probably have the most unique routine you’ll see today,” she said. She leaned closer to me. “If Maddie actually cared about cheerleading, then we’d probably look for another team. But she doesn’t. She’s just looking to improve her skills to carry over to ballet. This is close, this is cheap and it is entertaining in it’s own way.”

“I think I’m actually excited to watch now.”

“The good news is Maddie is realistic about their chances,” she said. Mary shoved another piece in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. “The bad news is that it will still probably not be good.”

I shifted on the bleacher. “I thought they had a shot at winning since Amanda Pendleton is missing.”

“Technically, yes, their chances are better,” Brenda said, an amused expression settling on her face. “But...well, I’ll just let you watch.”

“You’re a tease.”

She leaned across me. “Derek! Stop kicking him!”

I glanced over at him. He was methodically kicking Will in the shin, over and over, like a hammer on a nail. Will just laughed as Derek froze and leaned back in his seat.

“Do it again and…and…” Brenda stopped, trying to think of a punishment.

“And I won’t play Minecraft with you the next time I come over,” Will provided.

Derek’s face fell and his foot stilled. Brenda gave Will a grateful look.

“You’re like The Derek Whisperer,” she told him. “I might need you to come live with me for the next thirteen years.”

Will paled a little at the suggestion but still managed a smile in response.

Grace nudged me. “I want candy,” she whispered loudly.

“I don’t have any.”

“The concession stand does. I see people with M&Ms and Skittles. And Milky Ways. And hot dogs.”

“Did you bring money?” I asked.

She frowned. “No.”

“I did,” Sophie announced.

I turned around. She pulled a five-dollar bill out of her jeans pocket. “Can I go get something?” she asked.

“Sure,” I told her.

“Hey,” Grace said. “Will you buy me something? I’ll pay you back.”

Will’s eagle eyes zeroed in on Sophie’s money. He stood up. “Me, too. I’ll even pay you a penny interest.”

They scampered down the benches, negotiating interest rates and what Sophie was willing to accept in exchange for fronting them money.”

“Hey,” I said to Brenda. I glanced at the benches again. “You’re missing someone. Please don’t tell me Johnny is still lost in another corn maze.”

She giggled. “Pretty sure those are off-limits for all eternity now. No, Drew and Melissa had a birthday party to go to. He practically begged to take him, even though it’s at Chuck E. Cheese. Anything to get out of coming to this.”

Drew was Brenda’s oldest son, who was about as different from Derek as night and day, and Melissa was the same age as Grace, and one of her best friends – and also the complete opposite of Derek.

The music abruptly turned off and the lights flickered off and then back on. An emcee came out to the center of the arena, microphone in hand, and welcomed us all to the competition. She ran down the list of teams competing, introduced the judges and reminded us about good sportsmanship and cheering positively. The kids came back from the concession stand, each one clutching a piece of candy. They sat down just as the emcee finished speaking.