Convoke

Chapter 44

In the village, stalls for the fair littered one side of the road. A group of locals from the pub crouched on the ground, cutting plastic sheets to go above the stalls. Tom and Ezra stood awkwardly together, wondering what to do and where to start.

He spotted Finn by planks of wood and decided that he would start with someone familiar. Hand in hand, they wandered through the working people, who glanced at them, and then glanced again at Ezra.

"Hey," Tom said, and Finn looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "What can we do to help with the fair?"

Finn handed Ezra a hammer and said, "I was looking for an excuse to leave. You boys can take over here." He got up and left.

"Uh . . . " Tom looked around. "I'm not really sure how to build stalls."

"I'll show you," Ezra said. He must've seen the surprise on Tom's face when he added, "I have lived a long time. You pick up skills."

"Oh yeah?" Tom said with a grin. "You've helped out with the village fair before?"

"When I was an angel."

Tom squeezed his shoulder and crouched down to listen to his instructions. They built the stall quickly and one local asked if they could help with theirs. Through the day, Tom and Ezra moved down the street, helping where they could and being as polite as they could.

Some of the older locals glared, but they didn't go out of their way to comment about their disapproval because Ezra was useful. He was strong and tall, and eager to please anyone who needed the help.

Tom soon found himself standing out of the way, watching Ezra listening intensely to Farmer Joel who wanted shelves on the back of his stall, so he could show off his homemade jams.

"You were here a long time ago, weren't you?" Farmer Joel asked Ezra.

He looked up and nodded shyly.

"When did you leave?"

"The year nineteen seventeen."

"Ah, so you must have known my great grandfather."

"Yes." Ezra studied the shelf in his hands. "He used to make a very spicy chilli jam."

Farmer Joel sat up straight, staring at the demon with intrigue. "I still use his recipe."

Ezra relaxed his anxious gaze. "He would be happy about that."

As they started talking about the history of the farm, and how much Ezra remembered about the village he had left a hundred years ago, Tom wandered around the stalls.

With the fair only a few days away, people were hanging bunting from roof to roof, followed by strings of twinkling lights that filled his mind with wonder when he was a child. He adored the town fair when he was young. He and Cal would get so excited because it meant a day full of sweets and fun.

As he got older and started working in the pub, he lost that buzz. The fair became an inconvenience because of the tourists. They didn't realise that their pub was demon friendly, and always made the atmosphere uncomfortable. The fair was the one day of the year that guaranteed a fight.

He spotted his father chatting with a few of his friends by the fountain. Glancing back to Ezra, he was still deep in a conversation with Farmer Joel, so he left him to it. "Hey dad," he said, standing behind him.

Declan turned with a big grin. "Ah son, I wondered where you went this morning! Where's Ez?"

Tom pointed down the street, and Declan nodded happily. "Good lads for helping out. Your mother is in the library, can you tell her we have to go back home and open up in a minute?"