Laura had to admit it was pleasant.  Abby, Demitri, Tomo and Laura were sitting on lawnchairs in the apartment building's parking lot wrapped up in as many blankets as they could find.  Demitri's mother had some translation work to do, so had left Demitri in their care. Laura made some hot chocolate in a pot and it was wrapped up in towels to keep it warm.

Demitri and Abby had had a shakey start. But now were getting along like old friends.  It turned out that Abby had travelled in the region that his mother was from and could tell him all sorts of ghost stories from that area.

The lunar eclipse took several hours and they took turns at telling scary stories.

This was the tale Demitri told: (Told in a creepy voice)

You come to a haunted house.  You enter the house through the front door. Sqeeeeeek. You walk down the halway. Step step step step.  You climb the creaky stairway.  Creak creak creak creak. At the top of the stairs is another door.  Squeeeeeeeck.  In the room is a coffin.  As you are standing there the coffin starts to open. You run back through the door. The coffin is still following you.  You run down the stairs. The coffin is still following you. Down the front hallway.  The coffin is still following you. out the front door.  The coffin is still following you. What do you do?  The coffin is almost on top of you!!!!

Take a cough drop to stop the coffin'

This is the tale Laura told:

Two brothers and their dog were out deer hunting in the Miramichi. All of a sudden it started to rain heavily.  The boys were too far from their camp to get back so they looked around for some shelter.  They found an old shack with a corrugated tin roof and plywood walls.  They went inside.  It was clear except for a small pile of wood in the corner.  The two boys settled themselves on the floor with the dog currled up beside them.  The rain sang them a lullabie [hitting] the tin roof.  The boy were woken up by the dog whining and pawing at the screen.  Thinking the dog had to relieve itself, one of the boys got up to open the door.  From the woods came the sound of a low wail.  It raised in voloume until is was a loud screech. The dog whined even louder. It pawed and scratched an the screen door.  The screeching continued outside.  In desparation, the dog launched itself through the screen part of the door. The dog raced into the wood howling wildly.  The boys quickly lost sight of the dog.  The strange screeching stopped suddenly, floowed by the sharp yelp of a dog.The boys strained their eye but only saw the dark shadows of the wood.  The only sound now was the piter pater of the rain on the corrrugated roof. A few minutes later the dog came back, entering the shack through the tear in made on the way out.  Only now it was a terrified white dog.  When it left, it was black.

This is the tale that Abby told:

Bluebeard was a wealthy aristocrat.  He had already had seven wives who had disappeared mysteriously. Now he was looking for a new wife.  He courted the two daughters of the widow.  Neither of them really liked him, so they tried to pass the other off to him.  Eventually Bluwbeard invited the whole family to holiday at his eastate.  There he wined and dined them and showed them such a wonderful time that the youngest daughter aggreed to marry him.  A short while after the wedding, Bluebeard had to go away on business.  He handed the keys to his new wife and told her that she could amuse herself by looking at all the riches of the house. But, he said, do no go into the little closet that is lock with this small gold key.  For if you do, there's nothing but what you may expect from my just anger and resentment.  With that warning, Bluebeard left for six weeks.  The contents of the house amused her for days.  Each room she went into was more sumpteous than the last.  Her sister, who was over for a visit, teased her about what was in the locked closet.  Unable to resist, she unlocked the door with the small golden key.  What was in the room so horrified her that she drop the keys.  Hanging on the walls were the seven heads of Bluebeard's former wives.  Blood was splattered all over the room.  She quickly grabbed the key and relocked the room.  She tried to clean the blood off the golden key, but it would not come off no matter how she tried.  As fate would have it, Bluebeard returned at that momment and asked for his keys back.  When he saw the blood on the little key, he went into a rage and told his wife that he would cut her head off with an axe.  She and her sister escaped and locked themselves in the tallest tower.  Bluebeard took his great saber in hand and tried to knock down the door. Her brothers were due to visit later that day.  The poor woman appealed to her sister repeatedly,  "Anne, sister Anne, do you see anyone coming?" , but Sister Anne was only able to see them off in the distance.  At that momment Bluebeard had broken through the door.  His wife flung herself at his feet and pleaded for mercy.  But there was no mercy in Bluebeard's heart.  He raised his sword in preparation for the fatal blow.  The two brothers burst through the door and were able to slay Bluebeard and rescue their sister.  The lady was able to provide a rich dowery for her sister and commissions for her two brothers 

The night went quickly.  Demetri and Tomo feel asleep, snuggled between Abby and Laura.  The two girls talked into the night about fashion trends, a woman's position in society, the importance of faith, and great lovers in history.  Abby was impressed by Laura's depth of thought.  Once you got Laura talking, she was full of insiteful observations.