William and Martha followed Joyce on the way to where the Wood Street Den was gathering for the official pranks that were to be played. The walk had ultimately took them toward the center of town and the parks that essentially made up the very center of Moon Lake. There were a few occasional electric lamps at various points, though both William and Martha noted that there were fewer of them than they had seen in Minnesota, but then, since weres could generally see fairly well in the dark, they weren't that desperately needed, and what lamps and street lights the town did have left things bright enough that even a Normal human could see well, so long as they stayed on the sidewalks. In a way, it was a sort of cozy atmosphere that both felt surprisingly comfortable with. As they arrived with Joyce, they found many of the Wood Street Den's members there waiting for them, with the Den Leaders, Julian and Diane Wyre, taking the lead. The only people they didn't see there were the Hales.
"Okay... we're here, and I think we're the last of the group," Joyce announced ahead of Martha and William.
Julian and Diane both nodded and were about to start, as William looked around fully noted that the Hales weren't there. With that, William spoke up with a fairly curious voice, as he'd thought everyone would be there, since the trick or treaters had pretty much gone home for the night and it wouldn't be too long before the dance at the High School let out. Maybe it was his still being new to Moon Lake, but he felt he had to ask the question.
"Shouldn't the Hales be here?" William asked looking around.
"They represent our Den at the dance," Julian answered as he turned to William, "and since Dawn Hale teaches in the district, the school assigns her to be there until the dance ends... and there, official responsibilities trump our trick and treats."
"I see," William nodded, "Sorry if I was out of place."
"It is okay," Diane Wyre spoke softly, "just about every new resident often has those sorts of questions. It is no trouble, and would be impolite to answer them."
William slowly nodded and glanced to Martha, who nodded in return as Julian and Diane both turned to start the official business of the tricks that had been planned for the night. The plan was to reverse things, like a pot or rock used as an address stone to be put on the opposite side of where it normally was. If it was normally on the left, it would go to the right and if on the right it would go to the left. In theory it wasn't a hard thing to do, and many had been quite pleased when Martha was the one to come up with the idea. Martha had generally felt fairly welcome in that, as since she was a werecat, her membership was only honorary. But the warm welcome was nice and Martha did enjoy it, as it added to the "other" things that she was loving and more and more about Moon Lake and being a part of it.
"Okay now, I trust everyone remembers the idea that brother William and sister Martha presented at the pre-Halloween meeting?" Julian spoke.
"Yeah, it was a great idea!" Joyce said happily, "Something I don't think we've heard of..."
"Or if some one suggested it in their den... it didn't make it to the full Skulk vote," another commented.
"Anyway... with their idea, remember we are to flip things around from the way they normally are," Diane said to the group and waited for the others do nod.
"And to remember that it'd be with things that could easily be moved back and forth," William commented, "not uprooting things like mail boxes or trees and moving them."
There were nods of agreement at that, of course it was also an obvious exception that made a great deal of sense. Where werefoxes were stronger than normal humans, that didn't mean they could easily uproot and replant trees. There was also the fact that messing with mailboxes would be a federal crime. Everyone knew that, and to an extent, William did expected that, but he wanted to make sure things were clear with regard to the plan. It was something that had worked well in parenting and with his teaching.
"We are still responsible for Wood Street," Diane explained, "We'll do as we've done every year... heading down the street and going toward the college from here. Remember that when we get to where Wood Street meets the College campus, remember that we're to go to the side of the street opposite the college. The College Den is responsible for the college campus."
"From there... we'll then finish, and then move into a quiet portion of the woods for some treats," Julian gave a smile as he looked to his wife.
William felt a slight rise stir in him at the thought of that, particularly at the fact that Joyce wasn't going to try and pry him from Martha and looked to be rather interested in Martha, judging by kiss that Joyce had given Martha earlier. It almost distracted him from the main instruction on the route they were to take, which reflected the could be understood when looking Moon Lake's wagon wheel shaped layout. While the street that the Andersons lived on physically ran across the width of Moon Lake, Moon Lake's unique shape meant that the naming of its streets operated differently.
The center of Moon Lake was marked by several parks with some planted trees, well manicured lawns, walking paths, and even some playground equipment for young children in places. The only thing that broke up Moon Lake's Central Park were the main roads that went through Moon Lake to the central point where all the roads met. There, the were several street signs that were on each corner and then identified each individual "spoke" in the wagon wheel. The only street that held the same name was the town's "Main Street" which served on the town's east-west axis. The north-south axis was divided into two streets. The street running north from the center of town was "North Avenue" and the street running south from the center of town was "South Avenue." William, Martha, and their family lived on Wood Street.
"Everyone ready?" Julian asked.
"YEAH!" came an enthusiastic cheer.
"Then let us go," Diane smiled, and then divided the den up in half, with one half taking the right side of the street and the other half taking the left. Diane and Julian then took the lead with each half of the den. Martha was sent to go along with Julian on left while William was sent Diane on the right. William started to go along, but found himself looking to Martha and almost whimpering.
"It'll be okay," Joyce said to William, "when they get top area where Wood Street meets the College Campus, they'll then come back to our side of the street and when the Den goes off for its treats, it'll all be together."
That gave William a bit of reassurance. His bond remained as strong as ever, and while he thought Joyce was beautiful, she paled in comparison to Martha as far as he was concerned. And most of his "interest" in Joyce was more as someone who might wish to be with Martha and let his wife enjoy the full sphere of her sexuality. Him representing the part of her that was interested in men and presently with Joyce for the part of Martha that was interested in women. With that, he eventually set to his task in following out the plan that they'd set out at their meeting. The faster it was done, the sooner he could be with his wife again.
And the actual move proved to be rather easy, as there weren't too many things that would fit the criteria of what could/should be moved. Especially with the inner rings as they moved away from Moon Lake's Central Park. Some things were heavier and required multiple werefoxes to lift and move them, but both William and Martha found it amazing on how fast and how silent many of these tasks were done as they moved down the street. Many of the houses had their lights out, though their ears could barely make out the muffled cries of passion coming from within them. In this, William couldn't but smile and how well everything was pulled off.