October. The summer sun has lost its fire. In the mornings now, the grass is wet with dew. The figs on the Cabreras’ fig tree are wizened on the outside, their insides the syrupy purple marmalade Rat loves.

The vendange is done. One weekend they go up to Château-Roussillon and take all the grapes the harvesters have missed. When you go past the Cave Coopérative in Saint Féliu, you almost faint from the fumes of fermenting grapes.

Hunting season has begun, and at dawn now, you awaken to the sound of gunshots, dogs’ excited yelps. On weekends, Rat makes Morgan wear his Day-Glo orange sweatshirt so he doesn’t get mistaken for a rabbit. The hunters are supposed to stay a hundred and fifty meters from people’s houses, but you’re always finding men in camouflage wandering through your backyard with their shotguns cocked, spent cartridges in the garden.

The beaches are empty, except for windsurfers in wet suits. Chez Ernest is boarded shut for the season. Its owners are trying to decide whether to spend the winter in Martinique or Mauritius.

Wednesday afternoon. A dancing, flickering blue-and-gold autumn day. Rat and Vanessa have come to Perpignan on a shopping expedition: Rat needs a pair of gym shoes. It would be quicker and cheaper to pick up a pair at Intermarché in Canet, but Vanessa doesn’t believe in chain stores. Rat should just feel lucky her mom hasn’t got it into her head to find her a used pair of sneakers at Secours Catholique, or the flea market at the place Cassanyes, which is where most of Rat’s clothes come from, except for the hand-me-downs from Jérôme’s big sister, Emilie. Rat actually prefers the place Cassanyes since Emilie tends to go in for hot-pink capri pants and turquoise halter tops.

Vanessa’s feeling expansive. They’ve come to town, and she wants to get her money’s worth. She parks the van up on the Place Rigaud, so they can borrow some CDs from the médiathèque. Then they stop by the health-food store to see if they have gin-gerroot, except the health-food store has moved, which reminds Vanessa that she wanted to sign up for acting classes at the storefront theater on the rue Main de Fer. (Rat refrains from saying that to her own way of thinking, Vanessa doesn’t need drama school, she needs un–drama school.) Everything Vanessa wants to do, she swears will only take a second, but Rat’s sick of tramping around town.

“I thought we were here to buy me sneakers,” she points out.

“All in good time, my girl.” Vanessa slips her arm around Rat’s waist. “Look, we’re in the big city. Bright lights, beautiful people. Enjoy it.” Not often they get an outing, just the two of them, Morgan parked with Laurent for the afternoon.