1.1– When Ben Hawkin's mother dies he is not left with much, no family, no friends, no home and certainly no fond memories of a mother's love, so when a travelling carnival passes by, the offer of food and lodgings seem a good one, but this carnival is weirder than anything Jim Rose has thought up – which means Ben should fit in rather well as he nurses some secrets of his own. Meanwhile, an evangelical preacher receives a sign that hints at great power and glory and a battle to come. 1.2 – Ben starts to settle into the ‘carny' life and befriends a young girl called Sofie who has a strange and interdependent relationship with her comatose mother. Brother Justin and his sister Iris try to set up a church for migrants in an old brothel.