Tyler had been given a guitar that year, but what she had been given seemed to be so much more. A leather-bound sketchbook, embossed with her initials, and a wooden case filled with crayons, each wrapped up in cream paper with a number stamped on the side.

Crayons bought here, in Paris, by her parents, no doubt when she still sat at the top of the shop, gazing at each of those white squares in turn, wondering if she would ever be so lucky as to be able to recreate her imaginary worlds.

“What do you do for fun?” Tyler asked.

“Fun?” Emily replied with a frown.

Tyler looped his arm around her shoulders as they walked, and Emily could smell garlic on his breath.

“We’re in Paris, one of the most incredible cities in the world, and given what Aunt Cat was like, I’m sure she would have wanted you to at least try and have some fun while you were here.”

He was waiting for an answer, but she had no idea what to say, because “fun” wasn’t something she had exactly had her fill of ever since her life was ripped apart by one stupid mistake. One split second when everything became altogether dark and decidedly un-fun. Not just for Emily, but for her grandmother too, and they had simply had to carry on regardless, find joy in the simplest of things, such as a bird who learnt to trust her enough to come each morning and share her breakfast. Or getting lost in the world of imagination, trying to convince themselves that happiness could be created, as long as you didn’t allow yourself to remember the people you most wanted to share it with.

“I only have eight days.” Eight more days until she had absolutely nothing left.

Tyler waved her disdain away. “I know, I know, there’s a ticking bomb set to go off somewhere in the not too distant future, but Madeleine won’t be back until tomorrow morning, and some of the people from the bookshop asked if we wanted to meet up with them later?”

“We?”

“Let’s pretend, just for today, that we are in Paris for any other reason than finding a lost manuscript, or saving your inheritance, or simply doing what Catriona Robinson has demanded. What’s the worst that could happen?” The last part was said with a wide grin, one that Emily remembered from years ago. A grin that told her he was on her side, that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her, at least on purpose.

11

LITTLE OWL

Athene noctua

It felt like being inside a storybook, as if she were momentarily living out the life of a character dreamt up in the mind of someone she did not know. An afternoon spent in the company of a half-stranger, who told her it was impossible to choose between all the galleries and museums Paris had to offer and so instead took her cycling along the Canal Saint-Martin and then walking the old railway line of the Promenade Plantée. They had explored artisan shops under the arches that housed glass blowers and violin makers, then snacked on coffee and macarons as they sat surrounded by greenery and simply watched the world go by.