I screamed as the van veered towards her. There were police cars chasing it, driving fast through the smoke haze and the siren noise. And at the same time I saw Oscar and Claude heading towards the pyramid too, galloping over the cobbles at breakneck speed. At first I thought their intention was to get to Françoise before the van could strike, so that Oscar could scoop her up on to Claude’s back with him and out of harm’s way, the way a knight swoops and picks up a princess. But this was not a fairy story, this was a horror story, and such a move now was impossible. Instead, Oscar, as a trained policeman, had seen Françoise in the path of the van and had immediately understood that he must commit to an action that had only one outcome.

What happened next would have a hundred witnesses. The people directly inside the pyramid had a ringside seat to it all. As the van bore down on the pyramid they realised they had nowhere to escape and all they could do was watch it come for them. Except … then the young gendarme of the Garde républicaine came riding on his enormous black horse, galloping hard, coming straight at the pyramid from the opposite direction so that at the very last moment he appeared to confront the van. And before anyone could really understand what had just happened, there was the most sickening screech of tyres and the smell of rubber and then the horrible thud of flesh on metal as Oscar and Claude took the full impact and the van ploughed straight into both of them.

Claude’s legs buckled as he went down and then he and Oscar both disappeared. And then before I could even gasp for breath, the noise was deafening as the crowd broke free of the Louvre pyramid, and all of a sudden the courtyard was in the grip of mass panic. People were running at me! Trying to get as far as they could from the van and the pyramid, and within seconds I was being thrown to the ground and trampled and trapped by the crush of bodies above me. I felt myself being kicked in the head as I tried to stand and I was certain I would be killed, and then suddenly I felt a hand reach out to me.

“Maisie!” Françoise dragged me back to my feet. “Come on! We have to get out of here!”

I was shaking with shock and horror, but she had her arm around me. “Run, Maisie!” And although my mind was reeling my body obeyed and we did the only thing we could. We ran.

Chapter 10: Flamants Roses

Sixteen missed calls blinked up in neon green on Françoise’s phone – all of them were from Nicole.