Elijah opened a box of sandwiches and sat on the picnic mat. He held to box towards Dinah, who was perched on the Esky. As the sandwiches were passed around Kacey sat up on the mat and took a big sip of water.

“I’m flattered that you are all so keen to spend time with me,” Elijah joked, “but don’t you want to go and enjoy the carnival?”

“It’s the same as it is every year,” Dinah whined with an aggressive bite into her sandwich.

“Where’s lover boy?” Elijah teased.

Dinah rolled her eyes and said, “he said he would come later.”

“Later as in an hour, or later as in tonight?” Elijah leaned back on his hands.

“Who knows,” Dinah muttered.

“Hey!” A girl called out as she waved to us.

I looked up from my sandwich to see Sadie heading towards us. Sadie’s golden hair glittered in the sunlight as she waved as us. Her blue stripe across her cheeks and nose covered the faint freckles on her skin. With all the blue she was wearing, her eyes looked extra vibrant, aquamarine blue. Delilah trudged along behind her, her dark hair pulled back from her face. I was surprised to see her wearing black shorts and a black singlet today. Nails still painted black and knee high leather boots on her feet.

It was going to reach thirty-six degrees today, but it already felt like it was forty. How on earth Delilah planned to last the entire day in boots was beyond me. Sadie and Delilah joined us, unfolding their own picnic mat and dropping down an Esky.

“Hello Sadie, Delilah, good to see you both made it.” Elijah gave both of the girls a hug, as does Kacey. Dinah just smiles at the two girls and then checks her phone.

“Hey Uncle Eli, how’s it going?” Sadie asked as she sat on the edge of her Esky.

“Not too bad, managed to get these three out of the house for more than an hour, so I’d say I’m winning.” Elijah grinned ear to ear as Dinah rolled her eyes at him.

“Well, it was a mission to drag this out, but we found a compromise.” Sadie jerked a thumb towards Delilah, who pulled a book from her bag and instantly began reading without a word.

“And how are you, Lila?” Elijah asked in a softer tone.

“Well, ignoring the fact I was kidnapped by a demon and stuffed into the trunk of a burnt out car in the middle of the pines, I’m fantastic.” The anger and disdain in her tone made the words sound strained. I felt the pang of guilt in my chest and I picked strands of dead grass to distract myself. I got the feeling she didn’t like me when we first met, but now I was certain she really didn’t like me.

“Yea, that would ruin anyone’s mood for a while,” Elijah replied sympathetically.

“Let’s go do the clown toss!” Kacey bursted with energy as she hopped to her feet. “For old times sake.”

“I thought you said the carnival was boring?” Elijah raised a brow at his daughter.

“Well, yea, it kinda is,” Kacey admitted, “but, T has lost her memories, which means this is her first carnival.”

“Oh yea, I totally forgot. You haven’t been to one before.” Sadie smiled and then nudged her sisters shoulder. “Come on, let’s show T around.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I just want to finish my book. Things are starting to get really interesting.” Delilah replied flatly and shuffled the book in her lap. I got a glimpse of a green seahorse on the cover and a few words of the title.

I wonder what the book is about?

“Lila,” Sadie said in a mum tone, “you love carnivals. We can’t go on the graviton with out you.”

“Yea, that’s like, your favourite ride,” Kacey cheered encouragingly.

“What’s the graviton?” I asked sheepishly.

“See!” Kacey threw an arm towards me, “she doesn’t know what the graviton is. You have to come.”

Delilah sighed, shoving her book mark between the pages and snapping it shut. “Okay, fine, one ride.”

“Are you coming Dean?” Kacey asked turning to Dinah.

“Sure, why not, I’ve got nothing better to do right now.” Dinah stood and shoved her phone into her pocket.

“I’ll be waiting right here, minding your stuff.” Elijah replied with a tight smile.

“Oh yea, dad can we borrow some money?” Kacey and Dinah grinned at their dad innocently.

Elijah chuckled and nodded his head. “Here you go, don’t spend it all on the gravitron.” Elijah handed Kacey a few notes and then tucked his wallet back into his pocket.

“Thanks dad!” Kacey cheered as she grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the carnival. Delilah trudged after us while Sadie hung back to talk to Dinah. Elijah gave us a wave as we disappeared into the crowd.

The stalls were brightly coloured with stuffed toys hanging from the sides, the ceiling and walls inside the stands. As Kacey pulled me through the crowd she suddenly stopped.

“Yes! They still have the clown toss!” Kacey jumped up and down before calling over me to Dinah.

The girls all gathered around the stand, we watched some kids try to throw the balls into the mouths of the clowns as their heads turned. A few of the balls bounced off the faded faces of the clowns and then the kids decided to try a different game.

Kacey pulled me forward and paid for a round for each of us. I let the other girls go first, as Kacey explained the rules to me. Delilah looked less than pleased, but she tried anyway. The balls bounced off the heads of the clowns, but Sadie scored three times in a row. Dinah, not wanting to be outdone by her cousin went next, but missed all of her shots.

“Okay, your turn T. Just pick up the balls and aim for the hole, simple.” Kacey placed a ball in my hand and pointed towards the clowns.

The ball felt light in my hand. The clowns heads continued to turn left, then right, at the same steady pace. I threw the first ball. It bounced off the edge of the clowns mouth.

“Almost got it,” Kacey said with encouragement.

“At least she can hit the clown.” Sadie teased Dinah as they bumped shoulders.

“Shut it,” Dinah grumbled.

The next ball I threw disappeared into the clowns mouth. Kacey and Sadie cheered while Delilah watched expressionless. I managed to score enough points that the old man asked me to pick a prize. I stared up at the menagerie of stuffed prizes.

“Oh, get the stuffed dog! It will totally freak out Nightmare,” Dinah said with an evil grin.

“No!” Kacey protested and then pointed a yellow mouse shaped toy, “get that one, it’s so cute!”

“What do you think I should get, Lila?” I asked Delilah.

Delilah stared at me in surprise and then blinked. The girls went quiet as they waited for Delilah’s response. “Uh, whatever you want,” Delilah replied without even looking at the toys.

“Come on Lila, what do you think T should get?” Sadie wrapped an arm around her sister and gave her an encouraging smile.

“The blue and green seahorse is pretty cool.” Delilah pointed to the back corner and the man followed her gaze.

“You want the seahorse?” He asked.

“Yea, the sea horse is pretty cool.” I nodded and the man pulls the seahorse down and hands it over the stall counter. I pass it to Delilah as I say, “it’s kind of like the seahorse on the cover of the book you’re reading.”

“Uh, yea, yea it is.” Delilah wrapped her arms around the fluffy seahorse and avoided eye contact. “Can we go on the gravitron now?”

Sadie and Kacey giggled as we walked through the stalls, Dinah furiously typing on her phone behind us.