BooksBarbecue
Back The Lollipop Shoes
Chapters (96)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Book
  3. The Lollipop Shoes
  4. Dedication
  5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. PART TWO
  13. 1
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 4
  17. 5
  18. 6
  19. 7
  20. 8
  21. PART THREE
  22. 1
  23. 2
  24. 3
  25. 4
  26. 5
  27. 6
  28. PART FOUR
  29. 1
  30. 2
  31. 3
  32. 4
  33. 5
  34. 6
  35. 7
  36. 8
  37. 9
  38. PART FIVE
  39. 1
  40. 2
  41. 3
  42. 4
  43. 5
  44. 6
  45. 7
  46. 8
  47. 9
  48. 10
  49. 11
  50. 12
  51. PART SIX
  52. 1
  53. 2
  54. 3
  55. 4
  56. 5
  57. 6
  58. 7
  59. 8
  60. 9
  61. 10
  62. 11
  63. 12
  64. PART SEVEN
  65. 1
  66. 2
  67. 3
  68. 4
  69. 5
  70. 6
  71. 7
  72. 8
  73. 9
  74. PART EIGHT
  75. 1
  76. 2
  77. 3
  78. 4
  79. 5
  80. 6
  81. 7
  82. 8
  83. 9
  84. 10
  85. 11
  86. 12
  87. 13
  88. 14
  89. 15
  90. 16
  91. 17
  92. 18
  93. 19
  94. Epilogue
  95. About the Author
  96. Also by Joanne Harris

‘Hey, Annie!’ It was Nico, just leaving, with Alice at his side. ‘It’s quite a little party in there – some friends of yours from school, I think.’

I noticed he was looking a bit red. He’s big, of course, and too much exercise leaves him breathless, but that was when I started to feel uneasy, that redness in his colours as well as on his face that told me something bad was about to happen.

I nearly turned round there and then. It had been a rotten day: Jean-Loup had to go home at lunchtime – some kind of doctor’s appointment, I think – and to make it worse, Chantal had been getting at me all day, sneering at me and saying where’s your boyfriend? and talking about money, and all the things she was getting for Christmas.

Perhaps it was her idea to come. In any case, there she was, waiting for me when I got home. There they all were – Lucie, Danielle, Chantal and Sandrine – sitting down with four Cokes in front of them and giggling like maniacs.

I had to go in. There was nowhere to hide, and besides, what kind of person runs away? I muttered I’m fabulous under my breath, but to tell you the truth I didn’t feel fabulous at all; just tired, dry-mouthed and a bit sick. I wanted to sit in front of the television, watch some silly kids’ thing with Rosette, maybe read a book—

Chantal was talking as I came in. ‘Did you see the size of him?’ she was saying in a high voice. ‘Like a truck—’

She pretended to look surprised when I came in. As if.

‘Oooh, Annie. Was that your boyfriend?’

Sniggers all round.

‘Oooh, nice.’

I shrugged. ‘He’s a friend.’

Zozie was sitting behind the counter, pretending not to listen. She glanced at Chantal, then flicked me a questioning look with her eyes – Is this the one?

I nodded, relieved. I don’t know what I expected her to do – send them packing, maybe, or make them spill their drinks, as she had with the waitress in the English tea-shop, or just tell them go away—

And so I was astonished when, instead of staying to help, she just got up and said, ‘You sit and talk to your friends. I’ll be in the back if you want me. Have a lovely time. OK?’

And with that she left me – with a grin and a wink, as if she thought being thrown to the wolves was my idea of a lovely time.

7

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Tuesday, 27th November

STRANGE, THAT RELUCTANCE to acknowledge her skills. You would have thought that a child like her would have given anything to be what she is. And that use of the word accident . . .