Drumbeats and the sounds of trumpets and trombones drifted into the store when Susanne opened the door to drag in the carousels of greeting cards.

Anja looked up from the ink bottles she was restocking.

“Did you see that?” Susanne pointed outside. “A coven of witches is checking out our paper boats.”

Anja stepped next to her and peered through the glass door.

Half a dozen witches in costumes and carved wooden masks had paused in front of the paper boats they had set up on the Bächle across the street that morning. One of them pulled out a handful of confetti and sprinkled it over the boats before the group moved on toward the Schwabentor. The medieval gate was the meeting place for the marching bands and carnival groups gathering for the Rosenmontag parade. The huge carnival parade was held every year on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, but it had been a couple of years since Anja had attended—mostly because watching alone wasn’t much fun.

Anja and Susanne grinned at each other.

“I guess now we can say that both swans and witches like our boats,” Susanne said.

Nobby shook his head. “There is no carnival group dressing up as swans.”

“We know.” Anja patted his shoulder. The swan incident was hard to explain, and the recounting probably wouldn’t be as funny as watching Susanne’s face when the swan had escaped with her boat. “It’s an inside joke.”

Never in a million years would she have thought that she and Susanne would one day have inside jokes that only they understood. She had never had that with anyone but Miri.

“Guess I’m too old to understand it,” Nobby muttered. “You two should get out of here if you don’t want to miss the start of the parade. I’ll finish up.”

Susanne wheeled the carousels farther into the store. “I’m not going to the parade.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” Nobby said. “All the other stores in the city center are closing for the rest of the day too, so there’s no way I’ll let you keep working. That stuff you do on the computer can wait until tomorrow. Anja, get her out of here and take her to see the parade.”

Well, an afternoon off would be a nice change of pace, especially if she got to spend a part of it with Susanne. Anja got their coats and pressed Susanne’s into her hands. “Come on. I’ve got to do what my boss says. You don’t want to get me fired, do you?”

Susanne snorted but put on her coat and followed her to the door.

“Thanks, Nobby,” Anja called over her shoulder.