“Marie, hurry up! Get up and get dressed!” said her father.

Marie seemed to be paralysed, unable to make the slightest movement. We all held our breath.

“Are you going to get up or not?” he said. “Today’s your chance. There’s a little window of opportunity opening for you. Do we need a crane to lift you up?”

I smiled, because Dad often used the same expression.

Marie’s father’s face was all contorted, as though he might be about to cry. His wife, behind him, was blubbing like a baby.

“You’re looking better at any rate! That’s extraordinary!” he added.

“She’s ready for the final sprint,” said Lucky Luke.

I glanced at the invitation hanging on a nail.

“What time is it now?” I asked.

“Nearly ten-thirty,” said Dad.

“LET’S GO!” we all shouted at once.

Dad grabbed the cello and Marie felt for my hand.

We followed each other in single file through the forest. With the tips of his fingers, Lucky Luke was holding the coat hanger that carried Marie’s beautiful concert dress. I thought we looked like a band of poachers. And in a way it was true: we were trying to cheat fate.

The Panhard and the big BMW were parked at the edge of the wood. Lucky Luke had left his bike behind them.

Marie changed between the doors of the Panhard. In her floaty white dress she looked like a fairy lighting up the forest.

“I’m going with Victor,” she said. “He’s my thread, I’m not letting go.”

Darth Vader got into the BMW with Marie’s parents. Haisam sat next to me in the back of the Panhard and Dad settled Marie into the front.

“I’ll follow you!” shouted Lucky Luke, throwing his leg over his bike. “Don’t try and shake me off, you’ll never do it!”

While he was driving, Dad looked at me in the rear-view mirror, with an expression that seemed both intrigued and concerned.

“What’s the matter, Dad? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You haven’t shaved for a week. You don’t exactly look your best.”

It was incredible how much space Haisam filled in the Panhard. He seemed very relaxed, oblivious to the miracle he’d brought about.

“What on earth did you say to them to make them change their minds? How do you do these things?”

My noble Egyptian just sighed as though I was bugging him. He wasn’t going to give anything away.

“Frankly, you’re a champion. That’s all I can say.”

Behind us, Lucky Luke was pedalling at top speed, leaning into the bends. Head down, with knitted brows, he wasn’t going to be left behind.

When we arrived, the first candidates had already performed, but luckily Marie was in the second half of the programme, so we still had a bit of time. We left her in a room where she could focus her mind and warm her fingers up.

“Victor, don’t forget to come back in five minutes: I need my page-turner!”