Cindy's Close Encounter

"I hate to point it out Billy, but you and your friends' theory has some major flaws in it," I pointed out.

It was hard to read Billy's facial expression through his layers of polish applied to his face, but his reply was terse and sulky. "Like what?"

"Well the kids weren't there on their own," I said. "They were special needs kids and needed adult supervision at all time. What happened to the adults who were supervising them that night? They all vanished too. Why were none of the kids ever seen again, dead or alive? And if homosexuals were responsible, how come the police never arrested them?'

"The homosexuals just killed the staff at the home," said Billy confidently. "They probably shot them in cold blood, then buried their bodies in the forest or dumped the bodies in the sea for the sharks to eat. As for the kids, they probably smuggled them out of the country and to a communist state in Eastern Europe or Asia, where they sold them into slavery. And the police tried to catch the homosexuals, but not enough evidence to prosecute them in court. You know how it is."

"So how are you and your friends going to stop the homosexuals if they do come back tonight?" I asked, finding it hard to believe I was having this conversation.

"We're going to keep a watch out for them and if we see any strange men, we'll take down their car registration details and go to the cops," said Billy. "If we need to, like if we see them trying to kidnap any trick or treaters, we'll slash their tires and do a citizen's arrest."

"Great plan," I muttered sarcastically as the sound of the front doorbell went downstairs.

My friends were all meeting up here before we left, and so were Billy's friends before setting out on their patrol to protect the town's children from abduction from abduction by homosexuals, so we couldn't be sure if it was one of them or early trick or treaters, but we soon heard Mom's voice as she answered the door.

"Oh hi Wendy, hi Richie," Mom said. "What a lovely witch costume Wendy, and that's um, a very interesting costume too Richie. Cindy and Billy are upstairs."

"Thank you Mrs. Bradshaw," said Wendy, as Billy and I heard the footsteps of Wendy and her younger brother ascending the stairs.

Wendy as I had known was wearing a witch costume, a flowing black dress with a pointy black hat on her head and carrying a straw broomstick. Billy of course could not resist the opportunity to be a smart-ass to Wendy, as was always the case.

"Hey Wendy, what's up, why aren't you wearing a costume for Halloween tonight?" Billy smirked.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny Billy," said Wendy, knocking his boater off his head, Billy bending over to pick it up.

"My sister is a very special type of witch," asserted Richie. "A witch spelled with a B."

Richie and Billy laughed, as Wendy said, "I'm actually going as Miss Thorpe tonight. And I hope you both get her when you start high school next September."

The two boys grimaced. "That old bat? Hopefully she'll be dead between then and now," Richie said.

"I wouldn't count on it, she's been a teacher there since about 1905," I said. "And anyway Richie, what are you supposed to be for Halloween?" I looked at his Oriental-style clothes complete with a straw conical Asian hat, and yellowish make-up applied to his face.

"What do you think Cindy?" Richie asked, before changing his voice to impersonate an Asian. "I'm a Chinaman, look at my Coolie hat, isn't it cool? Look at me!" Richie put his fingers to his eyes, making them appear slanted before saying, "I am Chinese - ching-chong, ching-chong, ching-chong!" with he and Billy in fits of laughter.

"I was going to complain to you about what I have to put up with at home," said Wendy. "But I won't because, you have the same thing here."

Clearly it wasn't only us who had to put up with similar things, as Jo arrived a minute or so later with not only her younger brother Andy in tow but two other boys too; Ralph's younger brother Chris and another of their friends Tim.

Jo was dressed in a tight-fitting cat costume, mainly black but with a white stomach, white paws and a white tip on the tail, which made her a tuxedo cat. Our tuxedo cat Lucy decided that she wasn't comfortable at having such a large cat in her house, so growled, puffed up her fur and screeched, before running away to hide in Mom and Dad's bedroom, hissing the whole way there.

"How!" Andy introduced himself to his friends, talking like a Red Indian, appropriate as he was dressed up as one tonight. Of the other boys, Tim was dressed up as an Arabian prince, while chubby Chris was dressed up as a cowboy, and was wearing a cowboy hat, shirt, jeans, neckerchief and boots.

"Howdy!" I joked to Chris, who didn't seem to appreciate this humor, taking it as me mocking his cowboy costume, scowling and mumbling and grumbling under his breath, before turning away sulking.

Downstairs, our boyfriends arrived as did the last of the friends of my brother, a boy named Milton who was dressed as an Eskimo and Tommy, who was dressed as a Mexican with a huge sombrero hat on his head.

Steve was dressed as a medieval prince looking most dashing in his costume, while Johnny was a wizard to his girlfriend Wendy's witch. With Jo dressed as a cat, Phil had dressed up as the Big Bad Wolf, something that didn't impress the cat when Lucy emerged from hiding and found not only was the giant cat still here, but now there was a giant dog too, and returned to her hiding spot.

After stopping in the kitchen for Mom to get some photos and chatting to Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, we headed out for our respective nights, seeing the first batch of trick or treaters arriving at our house. Billy and company walked over the lawn and the anti-homosexual patrol seemed to be getting off to a bad start when Milton complained about how stifling hot his Eskimo costume was on a cloudy and humid night with rain threatening.

"You were the one who volunteered to be an Eskimo Milton, nobody forced you to be an Eskimo," said Andy.

"They're the strangest group of guys I've ever seen," said Wendy, watching as the posse made its way up the street determined to save the children of Pine Tree Cove from homosexuals who were lurking in the dark shadows this Halloween night.

"You're not wrong," said Jo as we made our way to our mode of transport for tonight -- Steve's car. As the eldest grandkid in his part of the family, Steve had inherited his grandfather's car when the old man went dotty and became Connecticut's biggest menace on the roads driving through stop signs and the wrong way up one way streets, hitting trash cans and the like, and his grandmother had never held a license.

We piled in; Steve got into the driver's seat and as Steve's girlfriend, I got to ride in the front passenger seat. Wendy, Jo, Phil and Johnny got into the back, the petite Jo sitting on Phil's lap to save space.

Steve started the car, and set off for the Halloween dance. "So, I was thinking we might want to listen to one of the stations here," joked Steve, pointing at the frequencies between 5 and 6 on the car's radio where all the boring stations about politics and the like were located.

A chorus of disapproval came from the back seat, and Steve laughed and left his car radio on the current station, which played rock and roll songs that we liked. Arriving at the school, the radio announcer advised to expect heavy rain and thunderstorms later for this Halloween night. For now though, although very cloudy, the night was dry, the full moon appearing and disappearing between the cloud cover.

Stepping out, we walked towards the gymnasium, holding hands with our boyfriends, other costumed students arriving too. Supervising teachers were dressed in costume too, we soon saw Mrs. Brown, the deputy female headmistress dressed like Queen Victoria of England.

We also noticed a certain tricycle parked near the gymnasium, a tricycle familiar to any students of Pine Tree Cove High for over 5 decades. "The witch is here," laughed Johnny, indicating the tricycle. "Just to spoil Wendy's night."

"I wouldn't put it past her," said Wendy, adjusting her black pointy hat as the hated Mrs. Thorpe came into sight, along with Principal Herbert. Neither was wearing a costume, although Mr. Herbert could simply say that he was dressed as President Eisenhower, and Mrs. Thorpe had no sense of fun at all.

"You don't seem to be listening to me, Mr. Herbert," insisted Mrs. Thorpe to the exasperated Principal. "That young hoodlum Ralph Anderson nearly ran me over this morning, he and his friends thought it a big joke, and now you won't discipline him for it and allowing him and company to stay and attend the dance."

"Believe me, Miss Thorpe I'm as upset about this as you are," said Principal Herbert. "And believe me, I will be speaking with Ralph and his friends on Monday. But even then, I cannot take any disciplinary action against the boys as the incident sounds like careless driving rather than something malicious, and took place out of school hours and not on school property."

"Humph, I should have known that might be your response Mr. Herbert," scowled the elderly teacher, glaring at the principal through her thick glasses. "I remember the day in 1914 in that very car park when you arrived for school driving your brother's Model T Ford with your friends like you owned the place, and I gave you a detention for your appalling driving on school property."

"Yes, you did give me a detention," muttered Principal Herbert, clearly not liking this 45-year-old memory being recalled. He then smiled at Miss Thorpe. "Miss Thorpe -- Nancy -- might I call you Nancy in such an informal setting? It was wonderful of you to give up your Saturday night to assist with supervising the Halloween school dance, but you were not on the list of assisting staff so there really was no need. You work so hard during the week like you have done for so many years, what say I drive you home tonight so you can avoid the bad weather, and we can store your tricycle overnight and I can drive you to church tomorrow morning with my wife, and you can collect your tricycle afterwards?"

"You may not call me Nancy -- familiarity breeds contempt Mr. Herbert -- and I am staying right here," she spat. "And your supervising teachers are all so young, two of the female teachers are nothing but a pair of floozies who distract the boys rather than educate them."

Miss Thorpe paused to gather her breath, and then continued on. "And I've already seen young Helen Morgan dressed as that so-called actress Marilyn Monroe, in the white dress and standing over a drain cover and laughing with her friends. And her boyfriend is dressed as that dreadful young man Alvin Priestley."

"I think you mean Elvis Presley," said Principal Herbert.

"It doesn't matter what the young man's name is, he is a dreadful corrupting influence upon our young people, like all rock and roll," declared Miss Thorpe, her face even more bitter than usual. "But you seem to think that acceptable. When you returned from the First World War and trained as a teacher, I would see you going to dance halls to dance the Charleston with your friends and girls on Saturday nights rather than staying home studying for your diploma like you should have been. Then you allowed students at this school -- including your own daughters -- to indulge in swing dancing during the Second World War. Now we have a decade where there is hedonistic music by people like Perry Como, Patti Paige and Doris Day, and it has only led to Negro groups and rock and roll music that will destroy American society as we know it."

"Miss Thorpe, don't think me rude but I do have a lot of work to do this evening supervising the overall dance ..." said Principal Herbert as he tried to make his escape, but to his dismay Miss Thorpe continued to follow him, wanting to know the details of what rock and roll music the band might play, and what corrupting dances we might perform.

"I feel sorry for Principal Herbert sometimes," said Steve, as we passed a group of old school photos on the way into the gymnasium. "Miss Thorpe has been a part of his life for so long."

Among the photos was an old, sepia-colored photograph dated 10th April 1912 -- interestingly the day the Titanic set sail on its only voyage - in which a then 14-year-old student named Henry Herbert posed among his classmates, the supervising teacher a stern, unattractive and strict looking young woman named Miss Thorpe alongside her charges, her hair in a tight bun as it was tonight many years later.

Poor Principal Herbert after serving in the later years of the First World War had then trained as a teacher, been under Miss Thorpe's direction as a junior graduate teacher back in the 1920s, then been her colleague and eventually her boss when promoted to first head of English, then deputy principal and principal in 1949. The only Miss Thorpe free years he had enjoyed were pre 1910, for two years when serving in a war later that decade and for a few years in the early 1920s when studying to be a teacher.

Many students were arriving, and there were some interesting choices of Halloween costumes among our fellow students and supervising teachers. Mr. Bryce, a handsome young English teacher had dressed as Sherlock Holmes, while Miss Jones a pretty blonde math teacher who looked a bit like actress Sandra Dee was dressed as Alice in Wonderland complete with a blue dress and pinafore. Miss Andrews, a pretty science teacher with brown hair and who had more than a passing resemblance to another famous actress Natalie Wood had dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. Mr. Bell and Mr. Anderson, two young science teachers were dressed as Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, while Coach Carter was dressed as Count Dracula.

Our friend Margaret was dressed as Gretel in a dirndl dress, her boyfriend as Hansel, while Susan was a mermaid and her boyfriend a sailor. Pam, the smallest cheerleader in the squad, a pint-sized blonde barely 4 feet 10 was dressed as Fay Wray, her six-foot-six boyfriend in a gorilla costume to be King Kong.

There were lots of other students and their dates in a variety of costumes. Tony's easy twin sister Fran's boyfriend -- a greaser hoodlum called Eddie - was dressed as a pirate, while Fran was a pirate's moll, showing much of her 18-year-old body in the process.

On stage, the band were getting set up to play and the students mingled. But it was Ralph, Simon and Tony who were gaining most attention, holding court among a group of students. Oddly there was no sign of Roger, and none of the three boys appeared to be wearing costumes. All were dressed in shirts, ties, jackets and trousers.

"I'm not lying, seriously we saw a flying saucer driving here," insisted Ralph. "A genuine UFO."

The other students didn't believe Ralph, a regular prankster and teller of tall tales, and told him so in more colloquial terms than an assertion that they didn't believe him, despite Tony and Simon insisting that Ralph was telling the truth and they and Roger had witnessed the strange craft too.

"Come on Ralph, you must have seen a plane, like a seaplane or one of those helicopters," said Donny, a football player tonight dressed as a knight, his girlfriend Jill a medieval princess.

"Seriously, I've never seen anything like that before," said Ralph. "It was flying over the forest, you know not far from where all those retards vanished from that orphanage 20 years ago, and then it just vanished in seconds."

Other students put forward other explanations for what Ralph and company had seen -- from the moon between the clouds, the planet Venus or a bright star, a Soviet spacecraft or a distress flare. The flashing light on a TV transmission tower was put forward by a guy from the school basketball team dressed as a frog and his girlfriend dressed as a princess, and even Halley's Comet was suggested by some other boys despite it last being here in 1910 and not returning until the year 1986.

Ralph, Tony and Simon were sticking firmly to their story however, and a laughing Ralph for some reason picked me out. "Cindy believes us, don't you Cindy?"

On the spot, I could only manage to say, "Um, well, I didn't see it myself so I couldn't say." I then changed the subject. "So why aren't you dressed in costumes?"

"We are in costume," insisted Ralph. "Don't you see it?'

I looked from Ralph, to Tony and to Simon and back again, the shook my head. "No."

Ralph then spoke in a very deep voice. "Hello Cindy!" he boomed, indicating his large stature.

I finally realized. "The Big Bopper?"

"Right," affirmed Ralph.

I turned to Simon. "And you're...."

"Buddy Holly," said Simon.

"And Richie Valens." Tony indicated himself.

"Very clever," I said. "But what about Roger?"

"And what about Roger?" came the voice of Roger from behind me, the fourth member of the group having returned with glasses of fruit punch for he and his friends.

I turned, and he didn't seem to be wearing any costume either, just a light khaki colored, jacket, shirt and slacks.

"Oh hi Roger, if Ralph is the Big Bopper, Simon Buddy Holly and Tony Richie Valens, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Roger," said Roger.

Even more confused, I asked, "You've gone as yourself?"

"No, not me," said Roger. "Another Roger. Roger Peterson."

I thought back, but could not recall any pop singer or actor named Roger Peterson. "Who's Roger Peterson?"

Roger laughed, reached into his jacket and pulled out an aviator's hat and goggles, and put them on. "The pilot who crashed the plane."

Roger, Ralph, Simon and Tony all thought this hilarious, but all I could say was, "I think that's in really bad taste, guys," and walked away with my boyfriend.

"Roger is a bad name for a pilot," said Ralph. "You ever get you pilot's license for real Roger, and I'd get in one of those Comet airliners from England before getting in a plane flown by you."

"Ah, shut it Ralph," said Roger, he and the others drinking their fruit punch.

More students were arriving by the minute, and soon the dance was underway, the evening as good as I had hoped for and so much fun, the band excellent and very talented, the dance floor full and everyone enjoying themselves. We stopped for a supper break when the band needed a rest, and socialized among each other as we enjoyed refreshments.

There was fruit punch and soda a plenty, and potato chips, cookies, both apple and pumpkin pie, brownies and candy, what one would expect for Halloween night, and savories such as carrot sticks, crackers, cheese and one of my favorites, Coronation chicken, having come to like this dish when the King of England died and a new Queen came to the throne six years ago.

"I love Coronation chicken," I said devouring a piece.

"Me too," said Wendy.

"And me," said Steve, all of us enjoying the treat including Johnny and Phil. The exception was sweet-toothed Jo, who was enjoying a brownie instead.

One person clearly not enjoying the night was Principal Herbert. When the band was playing earlier and we were all on the dance floor, Miss Thorpe was complaining about the amount of rock and roll music that was being played and how we were having too much fun.

Now, Principal Herbert strode over to Ralph and his three friends, a furious expression on his face. "What are you four boys drinking?" he demanded, looking at the four with glasses filled with clear liquid.

Ralph smirked. "A cocktail, Sir. Made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. I'm trying to lose a few pounds, so thought I'd better lay off the soda pop and fruit punch." He patted his oversize stomach and grinned.

The principal clearly didn't believe him, and grabbed the glass out of Ralph's hand, sniffing and sampling it, before finding out it was indeed water as Ralph had claimed. It didn't seem to satisfy Principal Herbert however, who slammed down the glass and confronted the trouble-makers.