In what Rob deeply and profoundly hoped was not a coincidence, he and Chez ended up in the vans pitched on either side of the big gate from the car park into the festival. Potentially the best location on the site, ready to grab people before they’d spent all their money on sideshows, rides, and chips. A nearby hot food van gave out a scent of hot dogs and onions that made Rob hungry as he finished setting up in time for the eleven o’clock opening. Now and again he glanced over to see Chez busy, too, setting the cones out. And—ah, interesting—opening a pack of cardboard cups. Plain white, not branded yet. Was he going to serve Liliana’s ices in those?
The answer was yes, Rob saw, when the hordes descended and, when he had the chance to look up between customers, he saw several people leav
