October 31, 1844, Thursday.

'Whoa, Nellie!' Hannibal pulled up the cart down the street from the Peace and Poverty. Dan Craig and Cherry ran to the barn to fetch Jim, who came out, confused at being summoned so late after dark. He was even more confused when he saw what the cart was carrying.

Pumpkins.

About two dozen pumpkins. All of which had been carved into jack-o-lanterns.

'What in the world?' Jim scratched his head. 'What are you plannin' to do with all them jack-o-lanterns, Hannibal?'

Cherry crowed with delight. 'Aren't they great? We've been carvin' pumpkins on the sly for days. We put the innards out for the hogs.'

'Won't your dad get mad when he sees how many of his pumpkins you run off with?' Jim wanted to know. The others shook their heads.

'Some are from me, and the rest are from Johnstons,' explained Dan. 'We've all got so many pumpkins we don't know what to do with 'em. You can't exactly dry 'em and preserve 'em. Every cellar and barn is full. We're gonna have pies runnin' out of our ears. These were left in the field, anyway. So we claimed 'em afore the bears got 'em.'

'Okay, but where are you goin' with 'em?'

'Not you,' said Hannibal. 'We. You're comin' with us. We are going to make a surprise for old Josiah Ferguson's grandkids. They'll love it!' When he heard about the plan, Jim was all in. He hopped aboard the cart, and off they went, turning up Pickering Street, past the cemetery, and, up the road to the Ferguson farm.

At first, they were jovial and laughing, but as they got to the farm, they quieted down. They didn't want to spoil the surprise. Hannibal got down and tied burlap around Nellie's hooves. She was used to Hannibal, who wasn't a blacksmith for nothing, so she put up with this latest foolishness. Hannibal led her slowly up to the farm, and gave her some oats to keep her quiet.

Then the team of Halloween tricksters set about their work.

The Fergusons' tidy farm had split-rail fencing. Soon, every fencepost had a jack-o-lantern on it. When all were in place, they went along the row, lighting small rushlights inside each one. The effect was, in their eyes, wonderful.

Now came the moment of truth: hiding in the bushes, they set up a collective wail.

'Ooo-ooo-oooh! Whoa-oo-ooo-ooh!' Nellie helped by whinnying. Jim took out his fiddle and made the eeriest sounds he could think of. Pretty soon, a child's head emerged from an upper window.

'Ma! Pa! Come look! Our yard is haunted!'

Another head was stuck out a window. 'Eeek! It's devils!' The kids didn't sound too scared, though: more thrilled. In a short time, the whole Ferguson household was awake and outside, admiring the pumpkin congregation. Josiah was out there: they could hear him chuckling.

'Now, who in tarnation would go to all this trouble?' wondered Will Ferguson, and Josiah laughed.

'I've got an idea. Don't worry, son, ain't no harm meant.' And indeed, the initial shock over, even Mrs Ferguson was admiring the team's handiwork, and feeling a bit chuffed that someone would go to all this trouble to entertain her children. As for the kids, they were prepared to cart the jack-o-lanterns off to bed with them.

'This one's mine!' 'No, I saw it first!' 'Ma!'

The team waited until they were sure that the jack-o-lantern situation was well in hand, and there would be no danger of a stray fire from the illumination. Then, giggling, they crept back to the cart and started back to town. Part of the fun was keeping their 'mischief' a mystery. They knew Josiah would guess, but he wouldn't tell on them. Not until much later, anyway.

'Know any really diabolical tunes, Jim?' asked Hannibal. Jim replied with 'The Devil's Dream'. The others were enjoying this, particularly as they were just passing the cemetery.

Which was fine until Jim stopped playing. And they heard the wailing from behind a tombstone.

'O alas! O, the devil is here! I hear his music!'

'What the tarnation was that?' said Cherry. For his part, Hannibal pulled on Nellie's reins and stopped the cart.

'Are you crazy?' said Dan. 'Drive on!'

'Are you crazy?' retorted Hannibal. 'Somebody over there's in trouble.'

'But what if it's…?' Dan trailed off. The moon was up, and waning gibbous, which made it bright enough for Dan to see Hannibal's expression. It was somewhere between 'god-give-me-patience' and 'oh-lord-how-long-do-I-have-to-put-up-with-ignorance'. Dan trailed meekly behind Hannibal as they all walked over to the graveyard to see who was in such distress.

It turned out to be a middle-aged couple. They were strangers, wild-eyed and obviously exhausted. They hugged tattered robes over their clothing and looked much the worse for wear. Hannibal didn't allow them to be quizzed, but bundled them into the cart and drove back to the Peace and Poverty.

There they found Mrs Gallagher about to bank the kitchen fire. Seeing the strangers in such a state, she sent Jim for blankets, and served up bowls of hot soup. They were all dying to ask questions, but they waited until the couple were warmed and nourished before saying anything. While they were eating, Mr Gallagher came into the kitchen to see why his wife hadn't come to bed. Discovering the strange couple, he sat down to wait with them.

When the man had eaten, he seemed suddenly to recognise his surroundings. 'Thank you kindly, you folk,' he said. 'I am Abijah Wolverton, and this is my wife Susannah.'

'Where do you come from?' Mr Gallagher asked.

'Jamestown, New York.'

'What happened to you? Were you robbed?' Dan asked, concerned. They didn't appear to have any possessions, this couple, and a graveyard was no place to be hiding on a chilly night.

The man shook his head. 'Not in a worldly sense. But still…'

'What happened was that the sun came up,' said his wife in a bleak voice.

They all looked at each other. And then it hit Jim.

'Bless your hearts,' he said. 'You're Millerites, aren't you?' They nodded, and Susannah gave a little sob. Mrs Gallagher couldn't stand it. She took the frail, crying woman in her arms.

'There, there, don't fret. You're among friends here, no matter what your religion.' She shot Jim a baffled look.

Jim explained, 'I saw it in the newspaper. A preacher named Miller said the world was goin' to end on October 22nd. And…it didn't. He's a preacher in New York.'

The Gallaghers looked at each other. Hannibal looked at Cherry. Dan looked at them all.

'New York,' said Dan, and sighed. Cherry shushed him, with a sideways glance at the Wolvertons.

Hot cider and leading questions got the following story from Abijah Wolverton:

Susannah and I used to be Baptists. But then we became convinced by the preaching of the Millerites. When they called for the Second Coming last April, we were disappointed, of course, when it didn't happen, but it was explained that we had the date wrong: October 22nd was the absolute terminus of history. Jesus was coming, and we had to get ready. So we did.

We wrote the farm over to our oldest son. We wanted him to come with us, of course, but he refused to believe. We gave away our possessions, and made our ascension robes. [He gestured to the now-ragged garments.] When the night came, we were ready to say farewell to all we'd ever known. We joined most of the others in the town square, although a few hardy souls climbed up to the rooftops, to get a better view of the Lord when he came.

Cyrus Belton had a particularly bad time. He sat down in the cemetery, next to the grave of his first wife. Jemima, his second wife, bade him come with her. But he said, 'Here will I stay with my beloved, and ascend with her.' Jemima couldn't forgive him for that. She left him there, and she never went back for him, even after it all proved a lie.

Silas Merriwether's maid got into a state because she arrived at the appointed place, only to discover that she'd left her false teeth on the kitchen table! She ran back to get them, saying 'I can't meet my lord without my teeth!' There was a lot of confusion that night.

'I imagine there was more the next day,' said Jim sadly. The Wolvertons nodded, and Susannah sobbed again, quietly.

'Some people held out until noon,' he said. 'But it finally became clear to all that we had erred. Most people went home. We tried to do that, too.'

There was a sudden chill in the room, which had nothing to do with the fire.

Mr Gallagher ventured, 'You mean your own son…?' The couple nodded.

'He wouldn't let us in,' sobbed his mother. 'He said he'd never live down the disgrace. The farm was his now, and he needed it for his children, whom he'd raise in a sensible manner.' She lifted a tear-streaked face. 'That's what he said. And shut the door in our faces.' Mrs Gallagher held the woman close, as if she were a distressed child.

Jim grabbed Cherry's arm because he saw she was about to explode. Injustice tended to make Cherry wild. 'Folks, do you have a plan?'

Mr Wolverton sighed. 'We were trying to get to Ohio. We have cousins there. But it's further than we thought. Our food ran out, and we have no money at all.'

Mr Gallagher clapped his hands on his knees. 'Don't you worry about that,' he said firmly. 'We'll put you in a bed for the night. Tomorrow, we'll go and talk to some good men who can help you.' And with his wife's help, he took the Millerite refugees upstairs to a bedroom, leaving the others to bank the fire and tidy up before going their own ways.

As Jim said goodbye to Hannibal, Cherry, and Dan, he mused, 'I'm afraid the Second Great Awakening has left some damage in its wake. First Nauvoo, and now the end of the world.'

'Which appears to have been postponed again,' said Hannibal drily. 'They don't call it the 'Burned-Over District' for nothing. People do seem to get ahead of themselves these days. All the rest of us can do is try to pick up the pieces when things fall apart.'

Jim fell asleep, only to dream that he was playing the fiddle while sitting on a cloud. It was the Second Coming, and he was part of the orchestra. An angel was annoying him by tickling his face with its feathers. He woke to find a stray chicken in the loft with him.

Dmitri Gheorgheni