ἡνία δἡ τοι παῖδεσ ἐνί, τράγε, φοινικόεντα
θέντες καὶ λασίῳ φιμὰ περὶ στόματι,
ἵππια παιδεύουσι περὶ ναὸν ἄεθλα
ὄφρ' αὐτοὺς ἐφορῇ νήπια τερπομένους.

The children, O billy-goat, have put purple reins on you
and a muzzle on your bearded face,
and they train you to race like a horse 'round the god's temple
so He may look at their childish joy.

- Anyte of Tegea

The Anyte Book Fair toured the European continent on a yearly basis, like a travelling circus with books, antiques and grilled food in place of performers and cotton candy.

Garofița had heard of it in passing, but never attended it. She would go to the Gaudeamus Book Fair when she lived in her old town. The whole classroom would go with the teacher during lunch break, cross the street into the town center square and quickly look around.

Unlike Gaumeadus, which was official, around the same time of year and local to Romania, this Anyte Fair had a very strange schedule. The travelling caravan comparison was apt. You never knew for sure when or where it would pop up, or what they would have to offer.

"Vitalis, can we please go?" Garofița asked while they sat together in her tent, eating sandwiches. After everything going on with Aurora, she missed hanging out with the grumpy old lady.

"Sure, if you want to." Vitalis shrugged. "There will be an auction too, I heard."

"I want books." She said.

"What kinda books do you like?" She lit herself a cigarette, resting the sandwich on her thigh for a moment. Garofița unzipped the door of the tent, like cracking open a window.

"Fairy tales, gothic fiction, horror... I like a lot of things."

"Heh, back when I was a kid I liked romance novels." Vitalis grinned. "Can't stand 'em now."

"Really?" Garo smiled back.

"Yeah, and there were a ton. There was also this book, Rich Man, Poor Man, by, uh, Irwin Shaw, I think. It got turned into a TV show too. I was eating it up!"

"Maybe we can find it!"

Vitalis sighed, lips still turned up into a smile. "Growing up we had a dog. He was a fucking bastard, but I loved him. I was the only one he listened to, so he became my dog, heh. I named him Falconetti, because in the book there was a bad guy who wore an eyepatch, and my Falconetti only had one eye after getting into a fight with a horse."

"A horse?!"

"Yeah, the asshole was picking fights with creatures ten times its size! I was there when it happened. It was so quick, like BAM with its hind hoof, and Falconetti was on the ground. I barely got him and he was already dead! I never cried so hard. But Falconetti not only survived, he stood up like nothing happened."

"He was tough like the original Falconetti!" Garofița giggled.

"Yeah... When I was a teenager he started getting really old. My parents said it would be a mercy to shoot him, but I refused. They did it anyway, while I was at school." She sucked hard on the cigarette, smile gone. "That was the first time I ran away from home. It didn't last long, but I never forgave them."

"... ...I wouldn't either."

"Believe me, I forgave them for a lot of shit." Vitalis groaned as she pushed herself up. "But I'll never forgive them for Falconetti. When do you want to go to the fair?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Mmmh, I say 5 or 6 pm. It looks really pretty with all the lights. I'll tell the boys to walk you home."

Garofița made a detour from her usual route home from the encampment, so she could see the preparations in the town center. There were the skeletons of tents and yurt-like structures being assembled, circled by vans and cars parked atop the pedestrian square. Inside one of them she saw books stacked in the backseat, all the way up to the ceiling.

She was so excited!

Gabriel had to use Roxi's phone to remain in contact with detective Andrei Guler until he found his phone again, or until he just got a new one.

"You know how we first found Aurora in Văleni?" Mr Guler said, his exhausted tone implying bad news were incoming.

"Yeah, yeah, in the KFC parking lot." Gabi nodded as if he could see it.

"You said that at some point after her 'resurrection' she disappeared from the cult. Then it got busted, everything else happened, yadda yadda, present day. Well, turns out she spent a significant amount of time in Văleni before we found her."

"Yeah? Where was she?"

Mr Guler sighed. "Do you know who Ioan Dehelean is?"

"Uh, no...?"

"He is the nephew of Costel Dehelean, the mayor of Văleni. Last night he was found dead in one of his uncle's homes."

"What?? Aurora did something?"

"We believe so. Nobody heard from Ioan Dehelean in weeks. A friend went to check on him after 'Ioan' acted strange over text, only to discover he was long dead. From what could be gathered, he had been held hostage and somebody lived in his house for at least one week after he passed."

"Jesus Christ..." Gabi's eyes dashed across the floor as he took in all the information. "But why? Why him?"

"That's why I asked you if you know who Ioan Dehelean is. According to a letter left behind by Aurora, he used to be a member of the cult as well."

"Are you shitting my dick?!"

"...Yep." Mr Guler rubbed his own forehead. "Not only that... He participated in the cult's activities because he had a penchant for young boys."

"Oh my fucking God! Can you show me that evidence too, Sir? So I can see if there is any information on what happened to Aurora, and if, God forbid, it happened to anybody else. Maybe they needed young people specifically, or that was just the bulk of their victims, or..."

There was silence on the other end.

"Sir?" Gabi repeated with furrowed brows.

"I can't, Gabriel."

"W-Why? Why not?"

"His uncle, the mayor, is covering it up. Me and two other investigators were warned that under no circumstances can this information get out."

"Wha-... Oh my God, are you serious right now?"

"I wish I was joking."

"Well, whuh- Ask Bălașa or Mirabela for help!! Don't just do nothing!"

"You think I want to do nothing?!" Mr Guler suddenly snapped. Gabi shut his mouth. "If I'm kicked out of the force, then I can't help any other kid anymore. I can't just run into the evidence storage and dash out with everything in a box. I'm not like you, where Little Miss Mirabela okays whatever the hell she wants!"

"S-Sorry, Sir, sorry..."

There was a tense pause.

"...So what now?" Gabi asked.

"Honestly? I don't know." Mr Guler replied. "I spoke with Bălașa personally, asking her to intervene, maybe threaten the mayor a little bit. She said she will 'see what she can do', but that she will do it after the fair. Useless vamp bitch..."

Gabi blinked. "Bălașa is coming to the book fair?"

"That's what she told me, yeah."

"B-...Bălașa is coming to Ferești??"

"What?!" Roxi asked loudly from the other room.

"Apparently!" Mr Guler said.

"... ...Oh, this is gonna be bad."

Garofița wished she had fancier clothes to wear for the fair. Like a nice trench coat or a knitted dress. She hadn't worn skirts in what felt like forever. It wasn't skirt-wearing weather anyway...

"I will buy new clothes!" She told her pets. "I have been saving the money I got from recycling, and I only eat when I have to! I'll only make a big purchase tonight at the fair. Then I'll have enough books to read for a while, so I'll save even more money!"

Buddy agreed with a puff through his nose. He took to using the doggy sweater she got from Roxi as a pillow.

She went over to Walker and tugged at his t-shirt, pinching the loose skin of his chest as well. He didn't appreciate it. "I will buy you a big coat, so you don't wear this anymore!" She said. After a moment of thought, she let go and pinched together the skin of his cheek and brow, closing an eyehole. Walker, mouth now lopsided, growled at her.

"I will rename you Falconetti!" She declared, the other hand on her hip. He swatted at her.

At 5 pm the sun would have already went down, so Garofița started walking towards the town center at 4. The closer she got, the livelier the streets became, and she could smell grilled meat, then hear jazz music and the murmur of a crowd.

There was a half-moon line of tents of all sizes around Dr Balint-Rățoi's statue, some connected like mazes, with many shelves and wooden cases like an outdoor library. There were metal baskets full of tomes, like the ones you dug through for clothes at the thrift store. To the side was an alley of food trucks, huge meat spinning like at kebab places and pints of beer, with many foldable tables and chairs set up.

The three manors stood behind the fair, Palaghiu and Rulikoski having colourful lights in their windows to match the lamp garlands. Only the Balint manor stayed dark, but Garofița could see a pale figure in one of the windows. She pulled down her mask to smile and wave at the ghost of Lilica who was allegedly living there. Allegedly Lilica saw her, locked eyes, and walked away from the window with a huff. Oh...

Garofița felt a hand tapping her shoulder.

"You came!" Roxi greeted her with a big smile. She wore a ruffled blouse and tight pants.

At one of the food tables stood the boys, together with Mr Marius, Mr Eduard and Mr Ozsvar. Mihai was eating shawarma with beef, white cabbage and fries. Gabi looked very upset, but not about the shawarma.

"Did Vitalis arrive yet?" Garofița asked.

"Haven't seen her." Marius replied. "I saw Bea and Gliga earlier, buying kürtőskalács."

"I want kürtős!"

"Don'fh buy ifh." Mihai said, a couple pieces of shredded cabbage flying out. "Ifhs only goofh when ifhs fweshfh." He swallowed. "The one here is already dry."

Gabi pushed one of the fallen pieces of cabbage to the ground with a tissue, disgust and annoyance in his gesture.

"Cheer up!" Eduard bumped him in the shoulder. "We're at a fair!"

"Everything will suck forever." He said.

Roxi ordered a small turkey shawarma for Garo as well, before the line got too long. More acquaintances arrived from around town, including other encampment kids and the ladies from the beauty salon. Silvia was dressed in black and purple, and her makeup was purposefully dripping down her cheeks. Her boyfriend looked like the most average guy ever.

Mrs Bianca the hairdresser was there too, together with her son who, to Garofița's shock, was holding a small cryptid in his arms. It had a head similar to Buddy, long and featureless, but the body was rabbit-shaped and it was about the size of a house cat.

"I'm so sorry to bother you!" Bianca said as she walked up to Mr Ozsvar and Gabriel, looking either nervous or embarrassed. "But Roxi had told me about the work you do with cryptids and I thought you're probably the best people to go to."

"No bother at all!" Mr Ozsvar said, sipping on cola. "How can I help?"

"Daniel, give the cryptid to Mr Professor." She turned around to her son, who was maybe 5 or 6 years old.

"No, it's mine." The kid said, an unshakeable finality in his squeaky voice.

"Daniel, what did we talk about? Give the cryptid to the nice mister!"

"No, I don't want to. It's mine."

"Danny, we talked about this a dozen times!"

"Mr Ozsvar reaaally wants to see your friend!" Roxi tried to help.

"I don't care, it's mine."

Bianca looked like she wanted to scream.

"So I'm not the only one." Garofița whispered very quietly.

"Of course not!" Eduard said loudly while eating his own shawarma. "Let the boy have a damn cryptid! That one's safe anyway."

Mr Robert's car was parked in one of the few empty spaces close to the center, and he emerged from it together with Miss Simona and Adrian. Judging by all three's clothes, they seemed to be coming to the fair straight after work: Simona in a white button-up shirt and dress pants, Robert in a t-shirt and jeans stained with motor oil, and Adrian much the same.

"So, kid?" Mr Marius asked after shaking his hand like he was an adult. "How was your third day at work?"

"It was good!" Adrian said, a little awkward to see so many people listening to him. "I, uh, I don't know that much about cars, but I like it."

"You'll be fiiine!" Robert said and sat down. Up close, Garofița saw his shirt said "failed taxidermy project #12". She thought she should get that for Walker.

"Did the undead girl knock on your door again?" Eduard asked.

"No, no, I never saw her again." Adrian said, shrugging a little.

"Everyone is here!" Denisa clapped. "Let's go buy stuff!"

"Vitalis isn't here yet." Garo said with a frown.

"You can go ahead without her too." Ștefan said. He already had money out in his hand.

"Yes, but-"

"I wanna buy horror books, if they have any." Adrian piped up.

Garofița glared in his direction for interrupting her.

"What kind of horror do you like?" Laura asked with a cheeky smile.

"Eh, all kinds of stuff." Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. "Haunted houses, Dracula, Frankenstein..."

Poser, Garofița thought.

The mayor of Ferești, Florin Ghindea, and his wife were present too, waiting in front of the Palaghiu manor. People quickly understood that Mirabela, the unofficial mayor of Ferești, had a whole entrance set up.

As the front door opened and some onlookers wolf-whistled, Garofița turned her head to look at the edges of the town square and spotted Vitalis.

"You came!" She ran up to her, forgetting about the others and her shawarma.

"Here I am..." Vitalis groggily said.

"Are you alright?" Her smile dropped under the face mask. "You look pale."

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me. I need a drink..." She looked up to the line for beers, which had gotten kilometrical. "Oh, fuck me..."

Garofița walked Vitalis to their table, worriedly holding her hand even though she insisted she didn't have to. Mirabela was heading there too, followed by her assistants Victor and Ralouka. She wore a short silk dress that shone like water, with an extremely low cleavage. Over her white breasts there was a beaded top with chunky red, blue and maroon stones, like the immortal lady's from "Death Becomes Her". Under the luxurious fabric she wore trashy black fishnet stockings and black booties with silver studs.

It was the optimal outfit to piss off the conservative Bălașa, she claimed.

"Where is she, anyway?" Mirabela looked around.

"Who?" Adrian asked.

"Bălașa." She said her name like it was a bad smell. "Did she arrive yet?"

"Doesn't seem like it." Victor said nervously.

"I'll explain their beef later." Mihai whispered.

"I already know it." Adrian whispered back.

"There's way more to it, dude."

"Stop fucking whispering." Vitalis grumbled as she sat down, head in her hands. "Feels like fucking needles in my ears."

"Somebody get this woman a pint." Mirabela huffed.

"I-I will go!" Garofița offered on reflex.

"You go enjoy the fair." Vitalis said.

"But you're not well-"

"When am I ever? Fucking go already!"

"O-Okay..."

She went together with the other kids, Laura taking her hand. Vitalis groaned and put her head against the table, hating herself.

Mirabela rolled her eyes. As she did, her gaze landed on the photographer who just arrived. "Ooh! Let's take a group photo! Everybody gather round!"

"I'm not moving out of this chair."

"Gabi, stand here then!" Roxi directed.

"Not like his face is any better!" Mirabela hissed. "What is the matter with everyone tonight?"

"The Văleni mayor's nephew was a pedophile and they're hiding it." Gabi said flatly.

"Good riddance, then! At least I got something to taunt Bălașa about!"

Gabi stared at her.

"Honey, the world has always been full of horrible people. If I got upset over every person that turned out to be a pedophile, I would have killed myself a long time ago." Mirabela continued.

"You still got time." Vitalis said.

"Shush! Everybody, places! Adrian, come back for a second!"

"I'm in hiding!" He said, then slapped a hand over his mouth and looked around the moving crowd. Nobody even looked his way.

"Shit, you're right! Nevermind! Cheeeese!"

The kids went from stall to stall, ducking under fairy lights and searching rows upon rows of books. It would have taken days to look at each one, let alone make a choice. Garofița was flipping through old textbooks with Laura and Iulian, then almanacs and encyclopaedias, trying to admire the vintage illustrations but there was always a pit of dread in her chest.

"Vitalis will be okay." Laura said, trying to be reassuring. "That's what happens when you have an addiction. Once the alcohol or whatever substance wears off, the 'good' things it did plummet all at once. What would be crazy inebriated for us is the normal for her, and the normal for us feels awful. Does that make sense?"

"And the solution is to get that substance again?" Garo asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Iulian replied instead. "After a while you don't even feel the good things anymore, but you still have to take it because it feels like you'll die if you don't."

"That's scary... How did you stop?"

"I went cold turkey, which I do not recommend, good God. And still it could have been worse. Some people straight-up die if they stop."

Garofița's hands shook as she pulled out another book to flip through.

"Y'all!" Filip came running. "Come check this one out!"

The tent he pointed to was the most elaborately decorated and mystical one, with heavy brocade drapes, antique tables and walls of ticking grandfather clocks. Not just books, but porcelain and wooden wonders in all kinds of shapes.

"Mr Chereji!" Garofița gasped. He looked completely different from the Sundays and the Hidiș market. He was clean-shaven, wore a leather eyepatch over his bad eye, and an elegant suit, dark purple and cherry red. He was not alone either.

"Welcome!" He smiled warmly at the curious kids who were staring at everything he put on display with awe. "Come look to your heart's delight!"

They scattered like sparrows between the antiques. There were boxes of vinyl records, cassettes, hardcover books with hand-painted covers of lambskin leather, manuscripts in glass cases displayed on turquoise velvet sheets, a vintage jukebox playing 80s reggae, and, of course, more ghoulish trinkets. In another glass case was a pistol, coal-black and missing the trigger, and with a note warning against holding it. Against a tent wall was a rolled up carpet, something pawing from inside.

"How are you, dear?" Mr Chereji asked Garo. "Haven't seen you at the market in a while!"

"I know!" She said, kneading the face mask in her hands. "I, uh, I never got around to it. There's been a lot going on here and, uhm, Gabi couldn't really go either."

"Yes, I know about your undead girl. I want to meet her myself." He said, glancing up at the fair. Garofița looked too, half-expecting to see Aurora spawn in the crowd then disappear when someone walked between them.

With Mr Chereji were Jean Bisclavu, the boss of the werewolf family in town, his wife Anette, and a couple of foreigners who were in charge of the auction later that evening. Herr Albrecht was a vampire and an antiques dealer from Germany, selling the items he used to own in his human life.

"Don't ask him what he was up to in the 1940s." Mr Chereji told Garofița with a chuckle.

"I was a communist!!" Albrecht quickly said.

A former child of destitute noblemen, with a crumbling manor full of beautiful things but no cash money, he had no qualms about selling them. He was accompanied by his great-great-grand-nephew, Felix. Albrecht kidnapped his great-grandfather when his parents started flirting with the Nazis, taking the 15 year old boy to the Balkans.

"Do you actually care about antiques?" Mrs Anette asked, her accent tinged with French despite being Romanian.

Felix shrugged and resumed sucking on a vape.

"Everything is so pretty!" Garofița almost spun around to take all the items in.

"You flatter me!" Mr Chereji said, then looked up again. "Speaking of flattery..."

The old people and the kids all turned around to see Mirabela coming with the mayor. The two of them were chaperoning a glamorous, heavy-set woman with very long brown hair and golden eyes.

"Here, Miss Kalliopé! Everyone's favourite curio dealer!" Mirabela said, her hand greedily holding the guest's soft hip.

"So happy to see you again, Emilian Chereji!"

"I told you a dozen times! Emil is just enough!" He took her hand with many rings and kissed it.

"Who is this little darling?" She asked, pointing a finger to Garofița in a way she found offputting for a moment.

"My niece!" Mr Chereji quickly said.

"Your huh?" Mirabela did a double take.

"You have a niece?" The mayor asked.

"The same way Albrecht does! Don't you see the resemblance?"

"A-Are you a vampire too, Miss?" Garo asked.

"Good eye!" Kalliopé said, all giggles.

Back to the food area, Vitalis contemplated how prehistoric people did trepanation on themselves, and how it sounded like a good idea in that moment, to drill a hole and release the steam pushing from inside-out of her head.

Light was too bright, voices were too loud, skin was too tight, teeth were too many, table was too hard, underwear's elastic was too loose, one sock was too low. Her whole being desperately begged for release from this hyper-aware torment, to go back to the fogged up window of the mind.

"Do muslims really not eat for thirty days during Ramdam?" Robert asked while chowing down on a shawarma with fries.

"They do eat, but only at night." Silvia said.

"I could never." He shook his head.

"That doesn't sound right." Marius said.

"Why?"

"Dunno, but you're probably wrong."

"Which part?" Mihai asked.

"The thirty days part."

"Christians fast forty for Easter." Eduard joined in.

"No, we don't!"

"Yes, Lent! Remember?"

"That's the fuckin' catholics."

"We also have Lent, Sir!" Roxi said. "Right, Gabi?"

"I don't caaare..." He moaned.

"I can't do that either." Robert tried and failed to suppress a burp.

"It's good to fast from time to time, for your body." Simona said. "It's like a cleanse."

"I don't need no fuckin' diets."

"I need to put on weight..." Roxi sighed.

"Girl, we keep telling you to eat." Bianca said.

"I do!!" She said, too loud. "I ate a whole pizza by myself! I was even lighter on the scale!!"

"Roxana, seriously, you need to get your thyroid checked." Mr Ozsvar said.

"I know a good doctor." Simona said. "He's gay as hell, though."

"Well, what kind of gay?"

"Boots the house down, aviator glasses, botox barbie."

"Jesus..." Marius muttered. "I thought those were only online."

"No, Sir, we're just poor." Mihai said.

Vitalis wished somebody would execute her.

"I'm baaack!" Mirabela returned. "I delivered Kalliopé to her besties."

"When is the auction happening?" Eduard asked.

"At 9 pm. Is Bălașa here yet?"

"Nope."

"Damn it." She glanced around, pretty lips pouting. Vitalis hated herself for taking notice. "Did she say she would come just to make me prepare myself for nothing?"

"Maybe!" Marius said.

"She'd do that?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, yeah! Mind games are her favourite thing, the beanpole bitch."

"Not everybody is 1 meter tall like you." Vitalis mumbled.

"What's that?"

"Nothing!"

Mirabela narrowed her eyes. "Did Ralouka arrive with your booze yet?"

"No, she's still in line." Roxi said, pointing to where they could see her.

"Guess you'll have to wait and suffer a little longer!~" She smiled and hovered her hand above Vitalis' head in the motion of petting.

"Go fuck yourself."

At Mr Chereji's tent, Garofița was still looking at his wares alongside other strangers. Most of the kids have left to see the other stalls too, with more accessible prices. After sorting through every book, she looked up and saw Mr Chereji standing close to the door, away from his guests to smoke a cigarette.

"Excuse me." She came closer.

"Yes, dear?"

"Why, uhm, why did you say I'm your niece?" She quietly asked.

"Ah, it's because Kalliopé and Jeanny-boy aren't too fond of regular humans."

"O-Oh... Why?"

"They think they wouldn't understand supernatural people like us, or our trade. And it's not a total lie. Who knows, maybe one day you'll sell antiques like mine, or work with cryptids in general. I think you'd be very good at it."

Garofița's eyes filled with stars and her heart soared. She would love it indeed! She returned to the tent with a skip in her step.

Kalliopé was sipping blood from a wine glass when she looked down and saw a little golden spider by the tip of her finger. "Why, hello!" She smiled. Her attention was next caught by Garofița.

She was about to show Mr Chereji a book she wanted to buy - a normal copy of "Prințesa Fluture" by Iulia Hașdeu - newfound joy making her want to spend money, when Jean Bisclavu took hold of her wrist. He really did look like a wolf, with sharp eyes and a sharp nose and sharp grey hair. He sniffed her fuzzy shirt's sleeve.

"Well, then?" Anette asked with a rather bored tone.

"Just human." Jean said. "Must have been around a cryptid." He looked up and saw that Garofița was as pale as a ghost, staring at him with terrified wobbly eyes. He cleared his throat and let go of her hand. "Apologies. I kept sensing something from the forest and couldn't figure out what it was."

Garofița cradled her wrist in her other hand. "I-I live by the forest." She blurted out, then mentally cursed herself for it.

"That explains it, then."

"Tell me, dear," Kalliopé said, "do you know why there is a spider here? I just noticed it and I don't believe Chereji owns any arachnids at the moment."

"Uhh, his name is G.A.D. It's mine."

"I see. I shall let Jiehdi be."

"Thank you..."

"Are you fond of critters?"

"I-I guess I am!" Garofița laughed nervously. "I want to be a vet tech."

"I'll have someone to send my Rocinante to!"

"Garofița has an ever-growing menagerie of friends." Mr Chereji returned, petting her hair in a fatherly way.

"N-Not on purpose. They just kind of... tumble into my house and stay there, hahah."

She laughed too at the choice of words. "I like this one."

Vitalis watched the people moving by like a river of heads, out of focus and not really talking to anybody. They let her be. Garofița had to learn to avoid her when she was like this, she thought and wanted to be shot again.

"I'm gonna go pee." Gabi said, standing up.

"Have fun!" Mr Ozsvar said, eating Turkish delight now.

"I'll sit here then." Mirabela took his place next to Vitalis. She didn't have the strength to stop herself from making a face, not that she wouldn't have if she weren't hungover.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Nothing." Mirabela blinked. "Can't I just sit next to you?"

"It's never nothing with you." Vitalis said.

Mirabela smiled mirthlessly. "For old time's sake, then."

Vitalis scoffed.

Garofița's first purchase at the fair ended up being a plăcintă with sweet cheese, wrapped in oily paper. It was sold close by to Mr Chereji's tent. She could see him ordering some food for himself from another vendor a few meters away, and she ate half of the plăcintă outside before making her way back. She was about to enter, when she heard Herr Albrecht's voice.

"Have you decided what you all want?" It had a strange tone to it, not quite a whisper but weirdly cautious.

"I'm still unsure about the Păunescu." Anette said.

"I'll take it if you won't." Kalliopé chortled.

Garo remained on the edge of the tent entrance, getting the feeling that they would stop talking if she was present.

"Alright, then." Albretch said. "We still have an hour left, I think. Felix's fiancée and brothers-in-law are already here. They'll make sure to out-bet anyone who tries to take your picks. We'll split tomorrow at the hotel."

"I have to say, Ferești looks prettier than ever." Kalliopé said. "You and Mirabela have been doing a good job."

"You want your own house to look good, no?" Bisclavu said with conceit. "If only you could change the people as easily as the wallpaper."

"Mirabela, specifically?" She grinned.

"Don't get me wrong, she's not completely terrible. She does a lot of charity. It's just that she is..."

"A pain in the ass?" Anette suggested.

"Yes, love." He smiled. "And she has this awful habit of picking strays off the street."

"How many of those kids that came around earlier do you think are her next pet projects?" Kalliopé asked.

"Some are too pretty to be just footmen." Albretch said into his glass, earning a laugh from her, Felix, and Anette.

"Hey now, that's too much." Jean Bisclavu said, but a smile still audible in his tone.

"I mean, future investment, right?" Kalliopé kept cackling.

Garofița listened with an appalled expression, her face burning in disgust. All her daydreams of travelling the world with these eccentric rich people, the fantastical life she pictured while waiting in line for food, were dashed in an instant.

She stepped away from the tent and tried not to tear up while clutching the soggy plăcintă.

"Garofița?" Mr Chereji said, his smile falling when he saw how upset she was. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" She jumped. "I'm okay! Really!" She tried to quickly wipe her eyes, but just got grease on her face.

Mr Chereji paused for a moment, looked towards his tent and scowled. "Come, you can wash your face in my trailer."

He took her hand and led her to the back of his tent, where there were many unopened crates and cars, not just one trailer. She could still hear them laughing inside, through the paper wall and fabric decorations.

"Mr Chereji... I heard something about the auction. I-I'm not sure if you already knew it."

"Really? Do tell."

Adrian came back with a small stack of books. "I'm done!" He said.

"Put them here, we'll guard them while you keep looking." Robert said.

"No, I'm out of money. I'm really done." He laughed.

"You shouldn't waste your money." Vitalis said.

Adrian's smile fell for a moment.

"Hey! Let the boy have fun!" Mirabela elbowed her.

"He can have fun when he's not shackled to you anymore. I doubt he wants to spend his whole damn life here. No offense."

"None taken." Eduard smiled and Marius gave a thumbs up.

"As if it's that bad!" She bristled, a hand gesturing to Roxi, who flinched. "You'd rather he live on the streets? I heard that Garofița girl lives in a goddamned shack! But nooo, you don't want me to help her either, because apparently I'm the worst-"

"Shut up already." She barked, which triggered another spike of pain in her skull.

"I-I'm gonna go now..." Adrian pointed to a random stall behind him.

Mirabela sighed deeply. "You're such a bitch when you're sober, you know that?"

Vitalis knew that.

At least, at long last, Ralouka acquired beer.

"I do not like Felix either!" Mr Chereji said.

"What else did he do?" Garofița asked.

"Nothing. He's just fucking ugly."

Mr Chereji's trailer, doubling as a storage unit for the moment, was even more of a delight to the eyes than his tent. Over there everything was neatly arranged and tastefully chosen, but here there were towers of old raggedy books, some toppled over and leaning against each-other like shoddy brickwork. Stacks of hardcover books, paper books printed by forgotten magazines, centuries old newspapers. It all smelled dustily-sweet, suitable for the gossip session they've been having.

"Mr Chereji, when I have money I'm buying your whole stock." Garofița said as she kept flipping pages.

"Please do!" He chuckled.

"Hellooo!" Mirabela's voice rang out from outside. Garofița quickly changed her position to a seated one instead of lying down.

"Hello there!" He greeted back.

"What are you doing? The auction is in 10 minutes." She said with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, I'm not going anymore." He nonchalantly said.

"Huh? Why?"

"It's rigged! Jeanny, Kalli and Albry are in cahoots to swipe whatever they want."

Mirabela made wide eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. Just found out myself. You think you know people, huh?"

Mirabela slapped her own thighs, looking around in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" And she stormed out.

Garofița sighed in relief and laid back down.

"Don't worry, what they said isn't true." Mr Chereji said. "Mirabela is a freak, but she isn't a creep."

"Okay..." Garo said, still feeling a little sick about the conversation anyway.

"She's just like me, but the opposite gender." Mr Chereji laughed. "She likes old ladies, blondes specifically, so you'll be safe even later on."

"Hehe. Thank you, Sir."

"I should really get back to watching my shop... You can stay here, dear. If there's any problem, scream."

"Alright!"

"Oh! Speaking of blondes!"

"Good evening, lady and gent." Vitalis stepped in, holding a pint of beer, already halfway finished. "What did you tell Mirabela? She looked pissed."

"The auction is riiigged!" He said as he left.

"Oh, damn, that's not good. Heh."

Garofița smiled. She looked like herself again.

"Eeeeeghh!" Vitalis slumped on the sofa, crossed her legs and held the glass against her belly. "This takes me back."

"To what?" Garo asked.

"Me and my sister would hang out in bed like this. Each doing our thing, try not to smack each-other with stinky-ass feet."

"Your little sister?"

Vitalis furrowed her brows. "How did you know?"

"Y-You told me."

"Did I?"

"Yes, that I remind you of your little sister."

"Oh."

She stared into space for a moment, then took another sip.

"You do remind me of her." Vitalis said after a belch. "Not physically, she's a green-eyed blonde, and you're black. Wait, no, that came out wrong. You, you're a lot like Carla as in her mannerisms."

"I wanna meet Carla!" Garofița said, looking at her over her shoulder.

"Good luck!" She huffed out a laugh. "Last that I know of, she was living in Oradea, or one of the villages nearby... but that was years ago. Who knows where she is now."

"You don't talk to her anymore?"

"We lost contact." She took another sip. "Which is sad, because she was the only person in the family who wasn't an ass."

Garo was quiet for a few seconds. "When was the last time you saw Carla?"

"At our mother's funeral in 2013." She said without hesitation.

Garo nodded, unsure what you're even supposed to say. Vitalis downed the rest of the glass.

"Yep." She smacked her lips and set the empty glass on the ground, white foam streaking down to the bottom. "Such is life..."

"At least she was nice..."

"Carla is an angel, unlike me. She is my only sibling left that I actually love."

"You have other siblings?"

"Oh, yeah. Two brothers and an older sister who hates my guts."

"Why's that?"

"I stole money from her for booze."

"Oh."

"She said that if I ever tried to contact her again, she would beat my ass. Heh, she'd wish."

"A-And your brothers?"

"One died in 1999 from pancreatic cancer, and the other is in and out of jail for beating up girlfriends. He's in a contest with me over who's the bigger disappointment, you know?"

"He wins, in my opinion."

"Thank you, sweetie. My sister - not Carla, my older sister, Victoria - squeezed all the money she could out of mother, then acted like she was better than us because she went to church. I hate her. She said she won’t talk to me 'until I got my shit together'. And, welp, I never did. Neither did Gianni, but she's more forgiving towards him, the bitch."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that..."

"Nah, scratch that." Vitalis continued, not acknowledging what Garo said or not hearing her. "Things got worse ever since Aless died. Alessandro, our eldest brother. He was a good kid, like Carla. He was always there for me, even when I didn't deserve it. After he died, everything just... fell apart. I got worse, Gianni got worse, mother got sick too, everything got worse and worse..."

Garofița listened in tense silence. She wanted to say something comforting or even hug Vitalis, but what could she even say? What if a platitude upset her more? Wouldn't she overstep? They were friends and she loved her, but she still felt like she couldn't just do it. What if Vitalis groaned and rolled her eyes, or even cursed her away again?

"I need more booze." Vitalis said, got up and left.

Garofița sighed.

She tried to pick up another old newspaper, to lose herself in mindless reading.

"In the autumn of 1956, a peculiar scene took place in Bucharest. A serial fraudster who went by the name Gheorghe Crișan jumped out the 4th floor window of a mansion to escape the wrath of one of his victims.

Investigation into this man revealed an extensive career as a conman, hundreds of victims swindled out of their money, and a plethora of aliases: Ioan Ragoczi, Jules Montferrat, Jean Saint-Germain, Emil Bellamare, Alexander Weldon, Manuel Doria, Emanuel Crișan, Emilian Chereji, and George German, to name only a few.

He was 63 years old at the time of his defenestration. He had been a well-known fence in a criminal underworld of several Romanian cities, selling antique goods and artefacts said to have peculiar properties.

Investigators began to speculate there were multiple people involved who used those names. If not, then this conman had been active while still in his mother's womb."

What

What what what what what

"By the way, you want anything else to eat?" Vitalis popped back in.

"N-N-No! I'm good!"

She left again. Garofița paused, rubbed her hands hard against her face, then stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds. Then she tidied up the papers in front of her.

Low in one of the towers there were two books that caught her eye. She gasped when she recognised the title. "Rich Man, Poor Man".

"The Anyte Book Fair"

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