Evening came and darkness washed through the cabin. The swaying shapes of the trees kept us company. We were going to have to get undressed and a deep silence came between us. Obviously, I’d thought about this beforehand, but I’d come to the conclusion that naked or dressed, it would be all the same to Marie. But I was wrong: her blindness gave me an even stronger sense that I was being watched. So to preserve our modesty, I separated the cabin in two with a long piece of cloth – though I could still see her silhouette twisting and turning to get into those famous pyjamas of hers. The cello’s shadow was also projected onto the wall of the cabin. It looked enormous, almost monstrous, as though it would swallow Marie up in the night. Like the Minotaur in the labyrinth. We listened to the noises of the forest and the trees murmuring to each other while we talked softly to keep our spirits up.

“Do you think they’re looking for us?” she asked.

“Not yet. They’ll wait to see if we come back on our own. Don’t worry, in two days it’ll all be over. You know what, Marie?”

“No…”

I hesitated.

“All through this year, you let me share your dream. I won’t ever forget that.”

It wrenched my heart because what we were going through now would one day become the past. I thought about Dad and how worried he’d be. It’s hard to do something good for someone without hurting someone else.

It was the middle of the night when things began to change. The wind whistled and the rain drummed on the roof. The trees all around us started writhing in a sinister way, drenching our shelter with gallons of water. Worst of all, as the night wore on, the temperature dropped sharply, as though the seasons were going backwards. Marie was coughing and wheezing as she breathed.

We woke at dawn, feeling as though we’d been sleeping in a sponge. I was expecting to find mushrooms growing in my socks. The rain continued to beat down on the forest and a freezing fog was rising from the earth. I tried to reassure Marie.

“It’s good, it’s the best thing that could have happened!”

“Really? I’m cold. And my cello needs flippers.”

“Of course it’s good, it’s going to hold up the search. They’ll never come looking for us in this weather.”

Marie’s cheeks were red and her eyes were shining. I placed my hand flat on her forehead, thinking how comforting it was when Dad did that to me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m checking if you have a fever.”

“And what’s the verdict, Doctor?”

“I’ve no idea, because it’s something Dad does and I don’t know how to tell.”