‘Why would I not want you to know who it is?’ he said carefully.
‘Because you might be in cahoots with him.’
He laughed. He loved this kid so much.
‘It would make sense it was you,’ Zara said, peering through her binoculars at him. ‘Most of the baubleswere found here in Christmas Gardens where you live. You would know what my favourite colour is and what Mum’s favourite flowers are. You know a lot of the people who’ve got baubles.’
‘I think those things are merely coincidences.’
Zara huffed and went back to reading her book.
‘Are we… actually going to see anything tonight?’ Alex whispered. ‘Because if not we could go home right now.’ She placed her hand on his thigh and arched an eyebrow at him.
‘Oh no, we’re going to see something, I’m sure of it. I’m not sure what we’ll see but we’ll seesomething.’
She looked at him in confusion.
Quinn was saved from any further questions by Max’s arrival. They hadn’t discussed what disguise he should wear, just that he should wear one. Quinn had assumed, as he was supposed to be St Nick, that Max might dress as Santa Claus but instead Max had gone for one of those inflatable T-rex costumes. Maybe the costume shop in town had a limited supply of festive outfits at this time of year.
They all watched in silent disbelief as Max waddled across Christmas Gardens carrying the precious white box between his tiny claws. The costume was definitely not the best to wear in snowy conditions as he was slipping and sliding all over the place. Those tiny, costumed arms were not the best for holding anything, let alone a highly breakable porcelain bauble. Quinn’s precious bauble was likely going to end up as a casualty in this charade.
Max teetered to the left so severely they all gasped. He managed to right himself but then lurched violently to the other side. The box wobbled in his tiny claws. He slipped and waddled and staggered then suddenly his two feet shot up in the air and everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the box flew up in the air too. Max landed on his back, but miraculously the box fell on top of him, which hopefully managed to cushion its fall.
Max wiggled and rolled around in a desperate attempt to get back up but to no avail.
‘Should we go and help him?’ Alex said.
‘I’ll go, stay here with Zara,’ Quinn said.
‘Why?’ Zara moaned.
‘Because dinosaurs are dangerous.’
He quickly got out and ran across the gardens to where Max was lying. ‘Are you OK? Are you hurt?’
‘No, thankfully the inflatable part of the suit cushioned my fall.’
‘I’m not sure the T-rex costume was the best choice,’ Quinn said, helping his cousin to his feet with a great deal of effort, since Max’s feet kept slipping and sliding underneath him.
‘No, with hindsight, probably not, but I thought it might make Zara laugh.’
‘It’s definitely something she will remember. Here, give me the bauble.’
Max readily handed it over, obviously happy to be free of the responsibility.
‘Are you OK to get back?’ Quinn asked.
‘As soon as I’m out of sight, I’ll get out of the costume.’
Quinn suspected the getting-out-of-sight business would take a lot longer than Max was hoping.
Max waddled off and Quinn watched him for a short while to make sure he didn’t fall again, then he took the bauble back to the car.
‘Was he OK?’ Alex said.
‘Yes, he was fine.’
‘So who was it?’ Zara asked.
