Agatha held up a hand to Shock. "Sorry, Shock, there's a new--" She stopped, realizing she didn't recognize the eldest trickster's companion, an orange creature with large black eyes in a straw hat and overalls. The youngest witch hesitated, then leaned back to call across the back, "Aunt Agnes, it's your turn to run the shop!"

A grumpy voice called back a moment later, "No, it isn't, dearie. I still have another forty minutes, almost!"

"Shock is here, and she's with a new girl!"

"New, guy," Carver corrected mechanically. His voice echoed differently in the steel hollows of his new body, compared to the dull semisoft flesh of a pumpkin.

"Huh?" Agatha asked. She ignored her aunt's immediate response that she'd be right down.

"I am, the new guy, in town," Carver repeated. He smiled affably. "It is, nice to meet, you. I am, Corvin. I am, an animatronic, scarecrow."