“You… You… You are not going to drag her any further down this path! Marie, do you realize just how far he’s led you? Believe me, later on you’ll thank us… Tomorrow we’ll visit the specialist college. There you’ll have all the chances you deserve. Enough of this fiasco!”

Marie was lying curled up on the bunk, desolate and listless, her back against the wall. Her face was buried in her arms.

I believe that everyone gets to experience fifteen miraculous minutes in their life. Well, this is when it happened for me.

Very slowly, as though staggering under his own weight, my dear Haisam got up from the bunk where he’d been sitting. His big glasses were steamed up and his little eyes looked out of focus. He went up so close to Marie’s parents that his belly almost touched them. He stood silently and very calmly in front of them, without a hint of aggression. Then he moved his large face even closer to theirs and asked them to step outside the cabin for a few words.

“Listen, Dad,” I said, “if you drive us to the music school, I’ll clean your rocker arms every month for ten years. And I’ll sweep El Dorado for you every week. If you refuse, I’ll never shave again and you’ll have a son with a beard. Not the best look for a thirteen-year-old…”

“First, Marie’s parents will have to change their minds…”

“Don’t worry about that. If Haisam’s involved, it’s sorted. Believe me, there’s no way they’ll measure up to him. Whatever he says will tip the scales in our favour! The problem is Marie. We have to find a way of getting her back on her feet before the audition, otherwise she’s going to get deported to a specially equipped camp.”

“It’s true she can’t play in that state,” said Lucky Luke, running a hand through his thick hair.

“Especially Johann Sebastian,” I added. “It’s not just any old thing, you know!”

There was a bit more colour in Marie’s cheeks, but she was still coughing a lot and shivering with fever. So Lucky Luke, after checking that Haisam was still keeping her parents busy outside, beckoned us all to gather around him. He put his finger to his lips to indicate that discretion was needed.

“Right, I’ve got an idea, but it’s a sensitive matter. Very sensitive. Tomorrow I’m supposed to be in a race. In cycling we often take – how can I put it? – nutritional supplements … to boost our fitness … all quite safe…”

He seemed strangely awkward and it made me think of kids trying to explain themselves in his office.