At about 7.30 p.m., there was a rap at the front door. Three young children, aged between about five and eight and all in suitably creepy costumes and masks, hovered expectantly at the door while their bored-looking father stood waiting on the pavement just outside the front gate. Holding Elodie, I steered the excited Jobie back into the kitchen and looked on from the doorway as Jack offered them the tub of sweets, from which they each eagerly took a handful to drop into the bucket the eldest was brandishing. The children thanked him and retreated back up the path. I noticed that the father had grabbed the youngest child by the collar of his vampire cloak and yanked him back when he attempted to enter Mrs Barley’s garden.

The man leaned forward, looking up warily at the cottage. ‘No, we don’t go to that one; I’ve told you before. It’s where that funny old woman lives.’

The children all stared as they hurried past our neighbour’s cottage. I wondered why their father had been so vehement. Mrs Barley’s curtain twitched, and within moments her porch light had been lit. The front door opened abruptly.

‘No better than begging, it is,’ she announced, her tone angry as she watched the children and their father making their way back up the road towards the centre of the village.

Jack raised his eyebrows and shot me a look, but said nothing.

I was quite shocked. ‘It’s just a bit of fun, Mrs Barley. They’re only kids.’

She turned to look at me and I could see that she was riled. ‘Samhain is an important date in the Wheel of the Year, not one for silly fancy dress and playing cruel tricks on people,’ she said sharply. ‘Children should be taught the true nature of it, not encouraged to go bothering people and expecting something for nothing. It’s demeaning.’

Without another word, she closed her door abruptly and the light went out once more.

‘Good grief, what was that all about?’ Jack remarked as we went back inside. ‘D’you think someone’s played a nasty prank on her in the past or something? Bit extreme.’

‘Very. She’s a real puzzle at times. I’d love to know what goes on inside her head.’

We went back indoors. There was a steady stream of other trick-or-treaters for the next hour or so, but then it was obviously past the children’s bedtime. We extinguished the candle, and after I had fed Elodie we settled down to watch TV for an hour or so before bed.