‘No. She’s only just come back from Finland or somewhere. Fifteen years ago, Mum and Thelma and Lola stripped Sylvie of her magic, to teach her a lesson, because she broke a law of magic. Or maybe lots of laws.’ I pull the socks on. ‘Her fifteen years were up a month or so ago, so she’s back.’

‘They stripped her of magic?’ She gives a bitter little laugh. ‘Good for them.’ She hands me a towel and I dry my hair. ‘I expect that’s where our lives branched off. When your mother dealt with Sylvie, I got on a plane to London instead, and quit magic.’ She shakes her head. ‘Life is so much simpler without it.’

I can’t believe anyone would want to give up magic, let alone a version of my own mother. ‘You don’t miss magic?’

‘Not at all. I’m so much happier.’ But she’s doing Mum’s frowny expression.

‘Could you do magic if you wanted to, though?’ I’m hoping she could use it to help me figure out where Mum is.

She shakes her head. ‘You use it or you lose it. I still absorb tiny traces of energy from nature without meaning to, but it would take me a long time to do magic again, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.’

Oh no. How am I going to find Mum?

She stares into the fire. ‘So you’ve met Sylvie in your universe … what about Vince?’

‘Yeah. I mean, I barely know Sylvie. But Vince, yes.’

‘Is he … alive?’ She looks like she might burst into tears.

‘Yes! He’s very alive.’

Meredith swallows. ‘In this universe, three years ago, he and Mum were in a car accident – a truck ran into them. Sylvie was hurt, but okay. Vince … Vince died.’ She presses her hands to her face.

It’s like all the air has been sucked from the room. Vince dead. I stare at Meredith.

‘No. No,’ I say. I do not want to hear this. Now I understand why Claudie looked so sad when I said his name. I speak quickly. ‘He’s ringmaster and has the best moustache in the world. It comes out to here …’ I twirl my fingers through the air.

Just then there’s the sound of a key in the front door and a man’s voice. ‘Hi, honey! I’m home.’

‘Through here,’ Meredith calls as she wipes at her tears.

A dark-haired man appears in the living room doorway. His thin face seems kind of familiar.

‘Well, hello there.’ He smiles at me as he unwinds a long red scarf from his neck. ‘What a wild evening! I ducked out for a vital ingredient and nearly ended up doing a Mary Poppins with my umbrella.’

‘Pete, this is Tulsi.’ Meredith waves her hand towards me. ‘Tulsi, Pete.’

‘Hi, Tulsi.’ He smiles. ‘And where did you spring from?’