‘Of course I do.’ I walk along imagining a clear bubble around me and even hold my arms in a circle, like she showed me. See, I can do it, I want to tell her. And I can do darkness. See?

She talks over her shoulder. ‘You know, darkness is nothing special. It’s just the absence of light. There is no energy in darkness. In fact, it will suck up your energy if you are afraid of it. And you must always have a good store of energy when you are a magician, especially if you are travelling to a parallel universe. You don’t want to land in the other universe drained of energy, because if – for instance – it’s dangerous, you will need to bounce straight back.’

What kind of danger is she imagining? A warzone? A place filled with disease? Is that what happened to Mum – did she land in danger?

We duck under a fence and enter a forest. Sylvie takes a winding, random path through the trees, and after a while I lose sense of which direction town is, especially because the stars keep disappearing behind clouds.

Finally, she stops and turns off her torch. ‘Yours, too,’ she says.

I flick it off and fear blooms in my chest.

The tree trunks are pale and very straight, and they look creepily like tall, motionless people watching us. They’re just trees.

‘Let’s sit,’ Sylvie says.

I perch on a small rock.

Sylvie says, ‘You may be powerful, but if you’re just a kid who lets her fear of the dark take over, then you are not yet a magician and you won’t be able to go to a parallel universe. The darkness you’ll experience on the way to the parallel universe is darkness like no ordinary person has ever experienced. To prepare you for that, I’m going to leave you here to find your own way back to the circus.’

‘Leave me here by myself?’ I lurch towards her in panic and end up on my hands and knees in the leaves and twigs. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes.’

Fear turns my limbs to cement. ‘Hang on! Wait! Roughly which direction is the circus from here?’

She stands up. ‘Find some of that courage the trees have been offering you. All the tests and tasks I’ve given you have been for good reason. I’ll see you back at the circus.’

I grab hold of her leg. ‘But what if I can’t find my way back?’

‘You’re giving up already, are you? Well, then, I can’t see you moving to and from a parallel universe … Come on Tulsi, dig deep. Either you can do it – or not.’

‘Can I keep my torch?’ I’m holding back tears.

‘Yes. Shut your eyes now.’ She steps away from me.

I close my eyes and grip my torch tightly.

She is silent.