Effie looked around her. One shop was full of silver and turquoise jewelry. Another sold dark wooden violins. Another sold fountain pens. A dark little basement shop sold strange-looking pamphlets and a bright boutique sold capes in holographic colors. One shop was full of aventurine, bloodstone, onyx and every other kind of gemstone. Lexy would love it here, Effie thought. Something flapped past Effie’s head. Another flying dragon. And then a little pack of white fluffy kittens ran down the narrow cobbled street. No, they weren’t kittens. They were an animal Effie had never seen before.

Clothilde had said something to Effie, but she hadn’t been listening properly. Something about going upstairs to see the saxophonist perhaps? She’d gone, anyway. Before Effie knew it, she had accepted a box containing two fourflower horns and a slice of flan Parisien, as well as a brand-new copy of The Repertory of Kharakter, Art & Shade, three notebooks, a silver bracelet with turquoise charms hanging from it (a dragon, a cat and a moon) and, finally, a new fountain pen.

“Did you lose your pen?” said Clothilde, coming out of a door to the side of the bookshop just as Effie thanked the shopkeeper again.

“No,” said Effie. “Of course not.” She felt bad suddenly, because Clothilde had got her a lovely fountain pen not long ago. “I liked this one, though, and they always say you can’t have too many pens. And everything is free here, after all.” It was true. No one had asked for any money. And each shopkeeper had seemed very pleased when Effie had chosen something to take from them. She’d very nearly ended up with a dragon as well.

Clothilde frowned, which was unusual for her.

“Well don’t get so many things that you can’t carry them home,” she said. “And be careful. You don’t have as much lifeforce as we do. When I said ‘hit the shops’ I meant a little more gently. Most people only take one thing home with them from a shopping trip like this. One special thing that they really need, and don’t already have.”

Before Effie had a chance to ask her what she meant about lifeforce, the little door opened and the saxophonist came out. He was holding a striped box with its lid off. He had a single white flower growing out of his top lip, and his eyes were a deep shade of green, one that Effie had never seen before. He was definitely a man, but seemed quite feminine. Effie realized it was because he was wearing electric blue eyeshadow and black eyeliner. And his ears! His ears had fur on them, but they were also studded with many tiny diamonds. He was a like a man-woman-cat.

“These are so beautiful,” he said to Clothilde, taking a pair of hand-knitted red woolen socks from inside the box. “Thank you.”