“I told you already. You’ve eaten the last can of peaches. We’re going to have to wait until Euan or Dad come with some more supplies.” Ferocious hisses were aimed at me. “Yeah, yeah. How about a can of cherries instead?” I handed a can from the cupboard over to Cormac, who tossed the can around in his hand before rejecting it. “You’re too picky,” I scolded. “Can’t we just use a ball to play catch? Why do we have to use a can of fruit?” Cormac gave a befuddled look as if the idea to play with a ball never occurred to him before vehemently shaking his head. “Right… How about a can of pineapple?”

While Cormac was weighing up the newest can offered to him, there was a knock at the door causing him to drop it. “Wait!” I cried out, dropping the can of pears that I was going to offer next. But I was too late, Cormac reached the door before I could get to him.

Dad stared down at Cormac, completely speechless. Cormac seemed gleeful as he began pointing at him before pointing at me. It seemed the family resemblance wasn’t wasted on him. I was the splitting image of my father when he was a kid.

Still in a sprint, I just pushed Cormac behind me when Dad grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. Even now, we mirrored each other. “WHY IS THERE A GOBLIN IN GRANNY’S HOUSE!?!”

In a second, it finally all clicked together. For our kind, it was completely acceptable to eliminate other mythical creatures like goblins, but there would be consequences for humans. “Don’t be silly, Dad. Cormac is a kid. Right, Cormac?” He nodded violently in agreement. It seemed like he was being cautionate around unknown family members after watching Granny Liadan cook the wendigo. He might’ve been hesitant to go home with us if we hadn’t offered him chunks of the charred wendigo as a snack. “Why don’t you go get Granny?”

Cormac gave me a salute. “Rowan,” Dad said in a stern voice, causing me to get goose pimples. He only used that voice when he was disappointed. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Goblins might be stupid, but they are vicious when hungry. You probably won’t have a problem with him, but Granny would be too old to fight him off.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I said, while memories of our adventure in the mineshaft flashed in front of my eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean? Has the goblin already made an attempt at granny?” Dad was itching to go inside, but my lack of concern was keeping him grounded.

“Cormac’s a kid,” I insist. “And I was thinking about bath time. Cormac doesn’t like baths, but that doesn’t stop Granny.” We had made the decision earlier not to tell Dad about what happened. It wouldn’t be good for anyone if Granny Liadan got arrested for child endangerment.

“Ciar, dearie! I thought you were coming tomorrow!” Granny Liadan hobbled in delight towards the door. If I hadn’t seen her sprinting to grab the laundry before it rained yesterday, I would’ve assumed she was knocking on death’s door soon. Dad seemed to have that thought as he glared daggers at me. “Come in, come in.” Granny gave Dad a big hug while she pointed at the tv in the corner of the room.

It was easy to get the hint. “Cormac!” I called. His deformed green head popped out from Granny Liadan’s bedroom door. “It’s time for your favourite show.” The comforting noise of static flooded the room. With enthusiasm, Cormac ran towards the tv and sat directly in front of it with his long nose touching the screen. “You’re going to hurt your eyes if you watch tv like that.”

“Let him be,” Granny hobbled over to her rocking chair. She picked up the scarf she was still knitting from when I arrived. I suspected it was going to be a Christmas present for Cormac. “Sit down, dearie. Rowan, could you get us some tea and biscuits?”

“I’ll give him a hand, Mum,” Dad said, while keeping his eyes glued on Cormac. “How long has the goblin been here?” He asked while standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His gaze was still fixed on Cormac.

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I gave out a tiring sigh. How had Granny Liadan put up with my attitude for so long when I first arrived? “Cormac has been here for more than three months.”

“Three months? Have you seen Officer Gary? He was supposed to check in on her.”

“Oh, he died. They found his body about a week ago.”

“... Did the Goblin-”

“No, a wendigo. Officer Larry seemed to have taken care of it though.”

Dad gave a grunt of approval. “How long has the tv been broken?”

“I fixed it a while ago,” I said, as I filled up the kettle. “But it was too stimulating for Cormac, so we broke it again.”

“Too stimulating? Did he bite you or Granny?”

“No,” I lied without hesitating. “He just didn’t go to bed that night because he was too excited.”

“What did you watch?”

“Grand Designs.”

“Granny’s architecture show?”

“Yeah, Cormac has a hard time wrapping his around ‘big’ things. They were showing a couple trying to build a mansion in the countryside.” I opened the biscuit tin to find the remains from when Cormac and I decided to have a late-night snack. It wouldn’t do, so I started scavenging through the cupboards for something to fill the tin a little.

“Rowan. Why are you insisting on the goblin being a kid?”

I looked back at my Dad and then Cormac, who was still staring at the tv. “He is a kid though?”

“You can fool your Granny, but you can’t fool me. Why are you pretending he’s a kid?”

“Why did you drop me off at Granny’s house when you and Mum are getting a divorce?” Dad was at a loss for words. He really had no idea I knew.

“Rowan…”

“Because we protect our own.”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “That’s a goblin. He’s not our kind. He’s not family. Blood is thicker than water.”

Without skipping a beat, I replied. “Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb.”

“Amen!” Granny Liadan hollered, causing us both to jump. Her hearing aid must be fully charged for once. “His studies are going well,” she said approvingly, while her knitting needles clacked away.

“Mum, are you still pretending to be religious? We can’t get into heaven anyway, so what’s the point?”

“Hell is heaven to daemons,” Granny Liadan chided in a tone that momentarily caused Cormac to turn away from the tv before being sucked back in.

Dad seemed finished with the religious conversation as he watched me pour the boiling water. “Rowan… About your Mum and I-”

“It’s fine,” I said, a bit too quickly and dismissively. My tone caused his face to scrunch slightly in worry. “It really is fine,” I insisted. “Sometimes you have to leave a person hanging while you figure out the best way to let them down.” I glanced over at Cormac, who was undoubtedly able to hear our conversation with his good ears. Too bad we weren’t as entertaining as static.

“What are you talking about?”

“Cara told me. About Mum planning to move with her and stuff.”

Dad let out a deep sigh. “I’m really sorry, Rowan. You shouldn’t have found out like that. I was hoping to get things a bit more… final, while you’re at Granny’s house.”

“I know. Like I said, you left me hanging while figuring out the best way to let me down.”

“Right,” he murmured as I gestured for him to take certain cups. “I know I said you had to stay at Granny's for a week… but…”

“Can I stay here the whole summer?”

Granny quickly shouted from the other room. “Rowan needs to brush up on his Bible studies more and work on his aim with a pistol, even Cormac has a better shot than him. He should spend at least a few more weeks here.” She wasn’t looking up from her knitting, but her small smile showed she was on my side with this decision.

My question and Granny Liadan’s sudden interjection clearly caught him off guard. “You want to stay here for longer? It was like pulling teeth to get you here in the first place.”

“Learning family roots is important.” I put Cormac’s tea in front of him. In the split second when his concentration wavered, I gave him a wink to indicate he got an extra cube of sugar. Without hesitation, he lunged for the tea causing it to spill down his pink dress.

I couldn’t help laughing at the nonsensicalness of the situation. Here we were, in a cabin in the middle of the mountains. Behind me was a religious and knitting fanatic granny and a deeply confused father. By my side was a moustached, grown goblin wearing my sister’s stained dress. It was completely unnatural. And yet, it was home.