Nadir had to slow his pace at the last flight of stairs. Truly, five floors were becoming too many for his old bones. When he came to the last landing, he leant on his cane and waited until he had regained his breath before knocking at the door. The last thing he needed now was Erik reminding him that he had been the one to choose and rent that particular apartment. The door opened, and Nadir met a pair of enormous brown eyes.

"Good afternoon, Gracie," he said laying a hand on top the child's head as he came into the foyer. He closed the door behind him.

Gracie's hair had been brushed back and tied with a blue ribbon Nadir had not seen before.

"That's a beautiful ribbon you've got there."

Gracie smiled.

"Papa bought it for me," she said.

"Did he?" asked Nadir, amused.

She nodded, and he silently regarded the ribbon. He was certainly not going to comment on Erik's shopping methods. At first, when he was still somewhat weak, Erik had relied entirely on Darius to buy whatever he needed. He still recurred to Darius help when it was a matter of getting food or larger items which needed to be ordered specially, but he had soon turned back into his old habits of late time lock-picking and money-leaving in the shops he fancied. It worried Nadir that Erik left Gracie alone for these excursions, and the possibility that Erik got shot or caught by the police worried him even more, but he had promised himself he would never again meddle in Erik's affairs unless he was first invited to do so. And he had kept his promise.

Suddenly, he realized that the pair of brown eyes were pinning him with an expectant stare.

"Hm. . . I think I might have forgotten something. . ."

He watched her expression fall, and he couldn't stand it.

"Unless it is in my left pocket, let me see," he added with a wink, and chuckled when the expectant gaze came back to her eyes.

Nadir rummaged a little in his pocket to enhance the suspense and at last produced a small paper bag tied with a string.

"Here it is!" He announced as he delivered the bag into eager hands.

Little fingers immediately started fighting against the knot.

"What do you say to that, Gracie?" A melodious voice asked.

Nadir lifted his eyes. Erik was standing by the door to the sitting room.

"Thank you, Uncle Nadir," piped Gracie, still concentrated on the knot.

"I don't know why she should thank you, anyway," grumbled Erik in Farsi. "You'll ruin her teeth with all that candy."

He made a pause.

"Do you want to come in?" He asked in French, this time.

Nadir had to smile at Erik's alternation of language. Before Gracie, they had usually carried out their conversations in whatever language they happened to start with. But now they resorted to Farsi whenever they discussed things they deemed unfit for the child's ears. It meant that most of Erik's scathing remarks were made in Farsi nowadays.

Nadir shook his head.

"I think we must be going," he said. "So we can make the most of the afternoon."

Gracie gave him a wide, albeit lopsided smile at that, since she was now sucking an enormous piece of candy that bulged one of her cheeks.

"All right," Erik convened.

He crossed the foyer and took down Gracie's cloak from the clothes rack. He put the cloak over the child's shoulders and crouched in front of her to tie the lace. He pointed at the bag.

"Put that in your pocket," he instructed.

Gracie did as she was told, and then kissed Erik's exposed cheek.

"Good bye, Papa."

Erik kissed her in turn.

"Good bye, love. Have a good time."

He stood up.

"Stop gawking, Daroga. And don't feed her more candy. They also sell apples and such at amusement park stands, you know."

Nadir cleared his throat and looked away. It still surprised him how natural it was for Erik to mother Gracie, but it was always embarrassing when Erik caught him staring.

"I won't," he promised, as he offered his hand to the child.

Erik opened the door for them and stood by the threshold.

"And no freak shows," he said. "She's got enough of those at home."

He couldn't help chuckling as he saw Nadir wince, stop on the first step and stare at him in shock. Erik waved at him dismissively.

"I'm teasing, Daroga. Where's your sense of humour?"

It took Nadir more than a few seconds to react. Gracie was already pulling at his hand and Erik had almost closed the door before he went down the next step.

The cab ride was short, and before Nadir could stop wondering at the enormous change that had made possible for Erik to joke about one of the darkest periods of his life, they were already on the grounds of the amusement park. They descended from the cab and Nadir took in their surroundings.

"So, Gracie, what would you like to try first?" He asked.

Gracie had been speaking to Nadir for some months now, but she always needed some encouragement to start a conversation.

"The merry-go-round?" she asked.

Nadir felt a twist inside when he heard her timorousness. Despite the months in which Erik's gentle, patient probing had led the child first to speak to him and then to Nadir and Darius, despite the kindness that all three shed over her, despite the fact that none of them had ever addressed her with harsh words, the child was still uncertain when it came to voicing her wishes.

"The merry-go-round it is, then," stated Nadir cheerfully.

He made out the high, cone-like roof of the carrousel among the lower tents and led Gracie to it.

He had been standing by the merry-go-round and waving periodically for about a century when he noticed a strange pallor on Gracie's face. Instead of asking her if she wanted another ride when the carousel stopped, he beckoned her to him. Seven rides must be, after all, enough for a seven year old.

"Come, Gracie. Let's sit down for a bit. Do you want something to drink?"

She nodded wearily and grasped his hand. He bought lemonade for her in one of the open cafés. They sat at a table and Nadir rested his feet while Gracie sipped her lemonade.

Afterwards, it was time for the pavilion of fun, where Nadir stoically bore to be put in ridicule, alternatively looking like a teapot, his head incredibly small and sporting a huge belly, or a lollypop, with a huge head and thin and long legs. Gracie was fascinated by the mirrors. Nadir made a mental note to comment that to Erik, so he could explain to her how the mirrors distorted the images.

Then they spent quite some time buying tickets for the wheel of fortune. Gracie's eyes were irresistibly drawn to one of the dolls on display, but although Nadir spent more than the cost of the doll, they didn't win it. To cheer Gracie up, Nadir decided they could venture a trip into the maze of mirrors. When they finally came out of it, he asked her whether she would like to listen to some music. The band was just going to start playing. She nodded, and they made their way to one of the numerous benches placed in front of the scene where the musicians were getting ready.

Gracie started getting bored. To distract her, Nadir told her that her papa had once built a maze of mirrors like the one they had been into, for the Shah-in-Shah of Persia, in a huge palace filled with many riches. He told her that her papa had been a renowned architect. Ten master builders and hundreds of masons had worked under his command. Gracie watched him, wide eyed, while he told her snippets of Erik's work in Persia, but when he noticed that most of the people around them were also following his words closely, he cut his tale short. Instead, he pointed at the instruments of the band and asked Gracie their names. He was surprised to learn that she knew most of them. Nadir knew Erik had taught her that. One of the first books he had ordered Darius to buy was a music dictionary with all kinds of pictures. However, it was remarkable for a child of seven to remember all those names.

That distraction was also short lived. Soon they were silent again, and Gracie was sighing and fidgeting on the bench. Finally, she tugged the sleeve of his coat.

"Yes, Gracie?"

"Uncle Nadir may I. . ." she faltered, and he nodded, encouraging her to continue. "May I have a look at those pictures?"

She was pointing at a board standing in front of a closed tent, not twenty yards away. Colourful letters advertised whatever would be displayed in the tent, but Nadir's eyes were not so keen anymore, and he couldn't read the sign.

"All right. But come back when the music starts."

She trotted away, and he saw her stop in front of the board, crane her neck to look at the pictures on the top. He glanced at the stage, noticing most of the musicians were already seated. The lady beside him asked him what time it was and Nadir took out his watch. It was almost five o'clock. The afternoon had flown by. Nadir cast a look at Gracie, who was still standing in front of the board. People started clapping and Nadir noticed the director was onstage.

"Gracie!" he called, but she didn't hear him, eyes glued to the pictures.

The band started playing. Gracie didn't leave her spot. His curiosity piqued, Nadir abandoned the bench. He approached her. His blood ran cold when he read the sign:

"Monsters and Rarities of the Human Race."

Merciful Allah. The first picture he saw was that of a very fat woman sporting a beard worthy of an imam. But Gracie wasn't looking at it, nor at the one of the smallest man on earth, nor at the Siamese twins. Her eyes were set upon a picture of a man within a cage. The man's head was very big. Large bumps covered his forehead and cheeks. He was advertised as "The New Elephant Man".

Nadir placed a hand on Gracie's shoulder, gently.

"Come, Gracie," he told her, hoping his voice wouldn't fail him. "Come with me."

She looked up at him with troubled eyes.

"The music has begun," Nadir explained.

She blinked, and two tears slid down her cheeks. Nadir opened his arms.

"Come, now."

She clung to him desperately, and he lifted her from the ground, shushing and emitting soft sounds to calm her. He rubbed her back while she sobbed against his shoulder.

"Do you want me to take you home, Gracie?" he asked, when she had quieted down a bit.

She nodded, her arms around his neck, embracing him as she had embraced Erik the day he had come back to the apartment at the Rue de Rivoli after faking his own death.

"Let's go home, then."

Nadir carefully backed away from the board, not turning around. The last thing he wanted now was Gracie peeking over his shoulder at those awful pictures. When he was at a considerable distance, he turned around and walked off the grounds of the amusement park.

He stopped a cab and climbed in after her. He held her hand during the ride and helped her out of it. They came to the front door, but instead of knocking, Nadir crouched in front of her and took both of her hands in his.

"I want you to make me a promise," he said, slowly. "Promise me you will not tell your papa about the pictures. If you want to know something about them, ask me, but not him. It will pain him to know about them."

She nodded. Her brown eyes were unusually grave.

"What did I tell you?" he asked her.

"Not to tell Papa about the pictures."

"Yes, and?"

"If I have a question about them, to ask you."

"You will ask me, Gracie, won't you?"

She nodded again. Nadir caressed her cheek.

"Good girl."

He stood up and knocked at the door.


Author's notes: Thank you all for the reviews! You guys rock! A special thanks to Allegratree for her corrections and to Nicole Gruebel for her comments on several chapters. It was really nice to read your immediate reactions to every scene!