Blackie the Cat was an unusual cat. His fur was black as coal and he had fangs! He was fierce and ferocious like his cousin in the wild, the mountain lion. He was not a cat to be messed with.

When Blackie was a baby, he was adopted by a pumpkin farmer named Ned who grew a special kind of pumpkin. The pumpkin farmer had discovered some magic pumpkin seeds on one full moon night. Farmer Ned had seen a green glowing ball of fire in the dark woods one night. It seemed to be going somewhere, so Ned followed it. There, in the dark forest night was a huge cauldron of pumpkin seeds. These pumpkin seeds didn't grow just pumpkins; they grew fully carved Pumpkin Jacks right on the vine! No messy carving of pumpkins from Farmer Ned's patch!

These were prized pumpkins and everybody wanted Farmer Ned's pumpkins. People came from miles around and paid good money for these speical pumpkins. Ned became a very rich man. He lavished presents on Blackie the Cat with the money he got from selling his pumpkins.

Blackie's favorite presents of all time were Halloween Peeps™. He liked the Pumpkin Peeps™ and the Ghost Peeps™, but he loved the Spooky Cat Peeps™ most of all. Blackie thought he was the model for the Spooky Cat Peeps™. Of course, he wasn't, but he thought he was.

Blackie could eat Peeps™ every day. He liked a Peep™ for dessert with his breakfast. He liked a Peep™ for dessert with his lunch. He liked a Peep™ for dessert with his dinner. Blackie just liked his Peeps™! So, Farmer Ned made a deal with Blackie the Cat: for every varmint he ran out of the pumpkin patch, Blackie would get an extra Peep™.

Blackie took his job seriously! He watched over that pumpkin patch for varmints every hour he was awake. He ran bats out of the patch. He ran scary vampires out of the patch. He ran ghosties out of the patch. He ran green monsters out of the patch along with icky spiders. Blackie was very, very good at varmint chasing.

One day, the meanest varmint of them all came into the pumpkin patch to steal one of the Pumpkin Jacks. This varmint was a naughty boy named Bobby the Bully. Everybody knew who Bobby the Bully was! Bobby the Bully was the meanest kid in the land, maybe even the whole world. He picked on little girls and he fought with little boys. He didn't mind his mother or his father. He was a smart-aleck to his teachers in school. Oh, yes, Bobby the Bully was a bad kid and a mean varmint. And now, Blackie the Cat was going to have to teach him a lesson.

Bobby the Bully had been in the pumpkin patch for ten minutes trying to decide which Pumpkin Jack he was going to steal. Blackie the Cat had been watching him the whole time from behind the biggest Pumpkin Jack in the patch. Suddenly, he saw the very Pumpkin Jack Blackie was hiding behind and decided he wanted that one! He walked up to it, looking around to see if anybody was watching. Bobby the Bully could not see Blackie, so he thought he was going to steal that Pumpkin Jack without ever getting caught.

Bobby the Bully took out a pocket knife to cut the Pumpkin Jack loose from the vine. Just as he did, Blackie the Cat jumped out from his hiding place and yelled, "BOO! YOU LITTLE VARMINT!" Blackie, growled and showed his fangs! Bobby the Bully screamed in fright. His hair stood straight up on his head, his mouth opened wide and his eyes got big as saucers! Bobby the Bully was so scared that his face got stuck like that and his hair froze, too. He ran out of the pumpkin patch as fast as his legs would take him.

Blackie the Cat was very happy. He knew another Peep™ would be his reward. Bobby the Bully, on the other hand, couldn't get his face and hair back to the way it was supposed to be. All of the children he had bullied laughed and teased him. There was nothing he could do about it.