‘She is fierce, and she and Dad do not get on.’ What I don’t say is that I’m not sure how well she and I get on. She’s so tetchy with me, even moments after telling me how fabulous I am. How was I meant to know she’d been to a parallel universe? I only learnt about them yesterday!

Kit effortlessly pulls himself up branch by branch. ‘I saw you two in the river last night.’ He grins down at me. ‘She’s teaching you big magic, isn’t she?’

I grin back. He knows what this means to me. ‘I did my first real magic.’ But I can’t tell him what it was. I can’t admit the thrill I felt when the tree crashed to the rock, because I think Kit loves trees more than he loves people. I look away. ‘I … ah, used my finger to lop off a … small branch from a tree.’ I’m lying to everyone I love, it seems.

‘Wow!’ His face lights up. ‘That’s awesome, Tulsi.’ He laughs. ‘Show me something, magician girl! But don’t cut off a tree branch.’

‘Actually, it’s not that straightforward.’ What I should say is, Actually, it’s either entirely impossible (the river) or ridiculously easy (the poor tree).

‘Yeah. It looked a bit tricky. I was getting ready to fish you out of the water last night,’ he says as we reach the top of the tree.

Down below, the circus vans look like matchbox cars and the big top is a child’s toy. I see Dad and Li Lin carrying a long ladder into the big top. Even from this distance, I can tell how sad Dad is. He’s given up on getting Mum back. As far as he’s concerned, this is our life now – just the two of us.

Kit settles into a fork of the tree and leans back against the trunk. ‘Yesterday, while you were off collecting Sylvie, Vince told everyone that your mum needs some time to herself. And now they all think Sylvie’s here to help look after you while your mum’s away. Where exactly is Merry?’

I look him in the eye. ‘In a parallel universe,’ I say.

He blinks at me. ‘Are you sure?’ He sounds doubtful, which is hardly surprising. ‘I thought they only existed in books.’

‘So did I. Think about it like this: when something changes, your life heads off in another direction, right? It branches off. But the original direction your life was taking still continues – just in a parallel universe. Magicians can jump over and visit that life – and that’s where Mum went.’

He stares back at me. ‘So, if I were magic, could I go to a parallel universe where Dad didn’t die?’

‘If you were magic, yes,’ I say and swallow hard.