I - The Fair

"Professor?"

Hershel Layton lifted his eyes from the report he had been grading, resignation already curling in the pit of his stomach. Both of his companions stood with their hands folded behind their backs, their eyes wide and innocent. Luke's were lit with hope, while bright anticipation glittered in Emmy's.

"Dare I ask what you two are up to this time?" Hershel asked in a dry voice.

"I don't know," Emmy said, grinning. "How daring are you?"

Luke elbowed her. "What she means is," he said, ignoring the nasty look she shot him, "we had an idea. And we were sort of hoping you'd come along with us."

Hershel glanced at the clock. Classes had long since ended for the day, but his students had just turned in their research papers. He'd barely begun the grading process. Could he really afford to interrupt himself so soon, with as many classes as he'd had to cancel this year? His students hadn't exactly suffered for his absence, but he had already wasted so much of their time, calling off class for one adventure or another. He owed it to them to at least return their reports in a timely manner.

"You see," Emmy said, "there's a street fair today, and they say one of the merchants has brought puzzles based on ancient records and riddles. He claims no one alive but him could possibly solve them."

Hershel's eyebrows lifted so high they nearly disappeared past the brim of his hat. "Oh?"

Emmy's grin returned full-force. Even Luke offered up a smile, his shoulders relaxing. "'Oh,' indeed!" Emmy continued. "I asked him if he'd ever even heard the name 'Hershel Layton,' and he scoffed! Said not even you would be able to figure out the tricks of his little trinkets!"

"He was awfully rude about it," Luke said. "I'd bet fifteen quid he's only here to to try to stump you, Professor."

Hershel looked up at the clock again. It was a little past dinner time. The fair would have only just begun to fill up properly, with students free from classes and families home from work. The pace would pick up and remain at frenetic speeds until long after sundown. Tomorrow was a weekend, after all. Who needed to be up early on a Saturday?

He set the report down on his desk. "I'll have to stop by my flat first. If you'll help me pack in some of these reports, we'll be there all the faster."

Emmy pumped her fist, and Luke let out a little cheer. Hershel could only smile at their enthusiasm as they set to work, straightening piles of paperwork and splitting them into stacks small enough to fit in his briefcase. At this rate, they'd be down to the fair in half an hour at most. That would please both of them immensely. And then he would learn the truth about this mysterious puzzle-seller.

He had his suspicions, of course. But where was the fun in mentioning them now? A true gentleman observed patience in all things.

"Where in the world could he have gotten off to?!"

Hershel watched Emmy stomp back and forth in front of their picnic table. His eyes crinkled with amusement as she brandished a giant turkey leg, punctuating every sentence or so with a large bite. Luke had one as well, and sat near Hershel's elbow, devouring it with gusto. Hershel himself had already finished off his funnel cake, and sat with his fingers laced beneath his chin, following the play of the multicolored neon lights as they bounced off Emmy's hair.

The breeze that swept in off the river was cool and light in the evening air. Above them, past the kaleidoscopic daze of music and laughter and glittering lights, the dark mantle of night had almost settled, enveloping all but the faintest hints of pale, creamy orange to the west. It was a perfect night for a festival such as this. So close to summer vacation, with the weather so agreeable, even Hershel himself had begun to feel the stirrings of cabin fever.

"Maybe he realized he was in over his head," Luke said through his latest mouthful of food. "I bet he didn't expect the Professor to actually show up!"

"It's quite all right," Hershel said. "It was clear from the start that I was never meant to match wits against this mysterious puzzle vendor of yours."

Both Emmy and Luke blinked at him. He smiled and tilted his head towards the rows of vendors, his eyes gleaming.

"I looked very carefully. There wasn't a single empty booth. If this vendor had disappeared in the half-hour before we arrived, his place would have been conspicuously empty, would it not?"

Luke swallowed his food so quickly he almost choked on it. "Maybe someone else filled his place?"

"Doubtful," Hershel said. "Vendors for fairs such as this sign on months in advance. No businessman would miss the opportunity to have a minor celebrity stop by their stall, even if they did find themselves bested by that celebrity."

Emmy snorted. "How modest, Professor! I didn't know you could be so humble."

Hershel's smile didn't falter. "The waiting list must have been long," he continued, "but unless the vendors were local, how could the staff have contacted them so quickly? They should have arrived just as we did, or at the very least, still been in the process of arranging their wares. Tell me, Emmy—did you see any such booths? Or you, Luke?"

Emmy's face went red. Luke ducked his head and took another large bite of his turkey leg, forestalling any response he might have made.

"Well," Emmy said, folding her arms, "maybe he took a booth someone else was planning to use and got kicked out for it! Or maybe—"

"Come off it, Emmy." Luke peered up at Hershel, then back down at his food. "I told you he'd figure it out."

"It was worth a shot," Emmy huffed, flopping down on the picnic table across from the two of them. "Honestly, I thought he'd twig sooner than that! Are you losing your touch, Professor?"

Hershel chuckled. "Hardly. A merchant who deals not only in puzzles, but ancient archeological ones? Far too convenient." Emmy frowned, earning another soft laugh from him. "The next time you hatch a plot to coax me out of my office, you might want to go with something a bit more believable."

"So you're not mad at us?" Luke asked, his voice hesitant.

Hershel's smile grew gentle. He dropped one hand on top of Luke's head, and Emmy's eyes flashed with something that greatly resembled protectiveness. He filed the observation away for later.

"Of course I'm not mad." He noted the way Emmy's shoulders relaxed, and the way a cautious smile tugged at the corners of Luke's mouth. "I can't condone the deception, but I suppose, given the nature of the people involved, it was inevitable."

"Oi!" Emmy's eyes flared up again. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means you're a liar and a scoundrel," Luke supplied, his tiny smile from before blossoming into something decidedly more wicked.

Hershel sighed quietly to himself and tilted his eyes skyward as the two began to bicker. On a normal day, he would still be in his office at this hour. In fact, he probably wouldn't have left his office at all tonight, not with the amount of paperwork he had left to review.

He'd greeted several of his students here at the fair. Most of them had noticed him with genuine surprise, some fewer with genuine delight. All had asked him, earnestly or jokingly, what could have possibly drawn him out of his office and into the real world. He was, after all, infamous amongst students and staff for how rarely he ventured forth from his own desk, if there wasn't a class to be taught or a puzzle to be solved.

"I think," he said, stilling the argument that roiled on just below him, "we should get going soon, if you're both finished eating. We still have plenty of other booths to visit, and I'm not certain when the fair shuts down for the evening."

Both of his companions smiled. Emmy pulled out her map of the fair and spread it across the table, and what had been a squabble just moments ago shifted into an intense strategy debate. What booths to visit first, in what order? What rides to hit now? Which ones could wait until later when the lines had died down? Would they have time to get to both Luke's favorite mirror maze and the Cyclone ride Emmy wanted to test out before the fair closed? And did they really want to stay that late?

Of course they did. They were both young and full of energy, and Hershel couldn't hold back the smile that pulled at the corners of his lips as two pairs of anxious eyes turned towards him, awaiting his approval.

"We'd best get started, then," he said, rising to his feet. "This evening won't last forever."

But as they drifted through the technicolor haze of lights and smells and sounds, as the night grew long and their feet grew weary, as their energy spiked and then flagged until Emmy had to carry a dozing Luke off the bus and into Hershel's flat, as they tucked Luke into the room that had already begun its transformation from "spare bedroom" to "Luke's room", as Emmy settled down on his sofa and fell asleep before he could bring her the cup of tea she had asked for...Hershel very nearly caught himself wishing it would.