On the hottest night of the year, Kristen has a tale to cool everyone down. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, she calls this story "The Tale of the Frozen Ghost".
One night, in the coldest winter of the last hundred years, Charles Pemberton-Shilling III, while his parents attend a wedding, is driven with babysitter Daphne to stay with his aunts. The chauffeur pulls to a stop outside a semi-stately farmhouse. Into the darkened, candle-lit hallway, Gretta and Maylene welcome them all. Offered some tea, the somewhat spooked chauffeur quickly takes his leave.
In his allotted bedroom, while Daphne leaves to run his bath, Charles hears the distant murmur of a child's voice. He calls back Daphne, who puts it down to the wind.
In the bath, Charles suddenly notices the bare ceiling light bulb swinging back and forth, until it leans, unsupported, in his direction.
Downstairs, Gretta puts wood on the stove: being behind on bills, their electricity has been cut off. Daphne wonders why Charles's parents can't lend a monetary hand. Gretta and Maylene airily dismiss the suggestion; it would flout the wishes of their late father, who, years ago, had a major dispute with Charles's great grandfather, their Uncle Charlie, who unwittingly hired a bank robber as a farmhand. On the way to prison, the thief was killed in a train crash.
Late that night, as the wind howls, Charles tosses and turns. He dreams of hiding in a log from a furious man who pulls something away from him. Charles wakes with a panicked cry.
Suddenly, the bedroom window blows open. At the window, Charles peers into the windswept night. On the edge of the lawn, amidst a soft white glow, stands the figure of a small boy, whose starkly pale frame, clad in white shirt and trousers, exudes the unearthly glow. His meek voice, carried instantaneously to the bedroom, laments the cold. He then fades from view. A panicked Charles runs to Daphne's bedroom, blurts his ethereal adventure, and is angrily dismissed.
The next day, Maylene is surprised to hear of Charles's encounter, and reassures him that the ghost never enters the house. Reputedly, a small boy from a neighbouring farm used to frequently visit, often in search of cookies. One day, in the woodshed, his body was found, curled up as if striving for warmth.
Just then, they notice the stove to have gone out. Daphne volunteers herself and Charles to fetch wood.
Near the woodshed, Daphne searches for the axe. Initially eager at Daphne's offer to let him have a go with the axe, Charles apologetically remembers having been forbidden to play with sharp things. Daphne spitefully deplores his reticence, and smears mud onto his shirt.
They then hear the murmur of a child's voice. Daphne pursues. In the mud before Charles appears a succession of footprints. He turns to run, and finds himself facing the ashen, faintly luminous figure of the small boy from outside his bedroom window.
Charles screams in fright. He runs through the trees, and once more comes face to face with the boy. Charles runs some more, gets stuck in a puddle, and falls. Daphne helps him up, and they both see the ashen apparition. He points at a log.
Through a crack in the side of the log, Charles searches, and pulls out a small red coat. From inside it falls a key. With a small smile, the ghostly boy reaches out a hand. His pallor suddenly gone, the boy, now clad in shirt and jeans, slips into his coat. With a last look, he happily fades.
Charles presents the key to his aunts. Maylene has a sudden idea, and fits the key into the stove. With the stove dislodged, they hear a heavy rustling from within. Charles opens the grate to reveal a shower of gold coins.
With shivers delivered all round, Gary declares this meeting of the Heatwave Society closed.
This episode provides examples of:
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: On recovery of his coat, the frozen ghost happily fades from this earth.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Charles rushes Daphne's room to tell her about how he saw the ghost, there's a silent second which seems to imply she's considering his words. Then it cuts to Charles outside her door, having been tossed out.
- Broken Record: "I'm cold."
- Catapult Nightmare: Charles after having a nightmare of the bank robber threatening the boy hiding in the hollow log.
- Dark Is Not Evil: The ghost haunting the protagonists is revealed to have been an innocent, and he just wants his coat back.
- Death of a Child: Fleeing a bank robber, a boy from a neighbouring farm hid in a hollow log, then the woodshed, and froze to death.
- Felony Misdemeanour: When Charles apologetically notes having been forbidden to use sharp objects, Daphne angrily calls him a wuss, a couch potato and a freak, and smears his shirt with mud.
- Foil: Both of the aunts are a bit odd, but Gretta is far more grounded and tries to avoid spooking the kids, whereas Maylene is more outwardly silly and can't hold her tongue on the subject of the ghost.
- Friendly Ghost: Poor kid just wants his coat. Which he eventually gets, thank goodness.
- Ghostly Chill: It accompanies the ghost's presence.
- Ghostly Goals: The frozen ghost simply wants to retrieve his coat. As a side effect, the key hidden within unlocks the stove, in which lies the fortune stolen by the corrupt farmhand.
- Helicopter Parents: A lot of Charles' quirks come from the fact that his parents have a lot of strict rules for him, from insisting he not catch cold to forbidding him from touching sharp objects and telling him not to get his clothes dirty.
- Honor Before Reason: Upon learning of their money troubles, Daphne suggests the aunts ask Charles's parents for help. They refuse to do so by citing the "neither a borrower nor a lender be" axiom, though there is also some inter-family bitterness lingering over the ghost's backstory.
- It's Probably Nothing: After one of the aunts slips up by mentioning ghosts, Charles is certain he heard something. Daphne insists it's just the wind.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Inverted. The Ghost appears in shroud-like trousers and shirt. On regaining his lost coat, however, he reverts to the top and jeans in which he apparently died.
- Monochrome Apparition: The frozen ghost, dressed in white shirt and trousers, has a stark pallor.
- Oh, Crap!: Charles is on edge even before learning about the ghost, but he positively freaks when he sees him.
- Properly Paranoid: According to the aunts, their father immediately thought the hired hand would be trouble. The hired hand ended up robbing a bank and getting a boy killed.
- Red Herring: A lot of detail and attention is given to the story of the bank robber whose body was never found after he died in a train crash. Daphne initially assumes this is the ghost before the aunts confirm it is indeed the unknown boy Charles saw.
- Scenery Porn: Some lovely shots of the farm and nearby woodland.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The chauffeur turns down the aunts' hospitality, preferring to leave as quickly as possible. The aunts mention this is not an unusual occurrence with anyone that stops by.
- Servile Snarker: Daphne can barely contain her snark around Charles. According to Kristen, she's been looking after him for years.
- Shout-Out: "We can't all be Richie Rich."
- Special Guest: Melissa Joan Hart as Daphne.
- Supernatural Light: The frozen ghost exudes a soft white glow.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The aunts end up with the gold coins, solving their money troubles.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After berating Charles, Daphne sincerely praises his help in finding the ghostly boy's coat.
- Undeathly Pallor: The ghost, dressed in white shirt and trousers, has a chilly pallor. This fades, however, when he dons his coat.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Before meeting them, a timid Charles is wondering if the aunts are actually witches that mean them harm. They're pleasant as can be and quite mundane, but there is something supernatural on the property.
