Page 21 of Deadly Misfortunes

"Thanks, ladies. I'll see you on Saturday, bright and early to set up."

"Don't sleep in," Sascha warned. Not that she thought Lucy would, but she had vouched for her.

When Lucy left the house, Kat and Sascha watched her drive around the circular drive and leave through the gated entry.

"So what's the real reason Lucy wants to do this at the last minute?" Kat asked.

"Damon." Sascha suspected he would show up at her booth during his lunch break. Since he was in charge of the restaurant, he could do whatever he wanted.

"Damon," Kat agreed.

The day that Gregory and Rose planned to attend the fair with their dates, Stephanie and Marvin, Gregory made it known to Stephanie that he wasn't dating her.

"I can't believe that you want to go to the fair, as Prescott did. It's dirty, hot, buggy, and not our kind of place at all."

"I can ask someone else." He actually had, and four other women had turned him down. They had turned up their noses at the idea of going to the fair. He'd never been to one. How bad could it be?

"No. I'll go, but no fortune telling," Stephanie said.

No woman he wasn't even dating would tell him what he would or would not do. He planned to see Sascha no matter what.

They arrived at the fairground at lunchtime, and he guided them to the food stands. "Nachos? Or tacos? Or giant turkey legs? There are lots of choices."

"I'll eat after the fair," Stephanie said. “I’m certainly not eating here.”

Gregory wondered if Stephanie had eaten at the fair with Prescott that one time.

Rose got the tacos. Marvin and Gregory bought the turkey legs, and they all asked for lemonade.

A rodeo was underway, and people crowded around game booths to win prizes. A dunking tank was set up. That looked like fun.

They sat down at a picnic table, and Gregory looked at the map they'd gotten when they entered the fairgrounds and located Sascha's booth, but there was another one next to hers that appeared to be a ghost-summoning booth.

"Does anybody need to speak to the dead?" Gregory asked.

Stephanie choked on her lemonade. Her eyes watering, she said, "Sascha's doing seances now?"

"No. I believe her cousin Lucy is," Gregory said.

"Well, I, for one, am not interested in summoning any ghosts," Rose said.

“It's all fake," Gregory assured her.

Stephanie said, "It's..." Then she shut up as if she didn’t want to reveal that she believed in all this.

"I'm game," Marvin said.

"Who’s dead that you want to talk to?" Rose asked, sounding curious.

"No one in particular. It will be interesting if she conjures up someone out of the blue," Marvin said.

"It's really not a good idea," Stephanie said. "And we’re not doing any fortune telling."

As if she were the boss.

"Yeah. I want to do that too," Marvin said.

Rose glanced at Gregory. He wondered if she was thinking what he was thinking. That Sascha would give Marvin a bogus reading too.