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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

It’s stupid, of course. Roux isn’t a thief. A few potatoes from the edge of a field, apples from an orchard, maize from a verge, a fish from someone’s private pond – but never money. Not like this.

But now I’m beginning to wonder again. What if it was a kind of revenge? What if he was trying to get back at Thierry? Worse still, what if he did it for me and Rosette?

A thousand euros is a lot of money for someone like Roux. You could buy a boat with that, perhaps. You could settle down. Start an account. Put money aside for a family—

And then I remembered what Maman said. Roux does what he wants, he always has. He lives on the river all year round, he sleeps outside, he’s not even comfortable in a house. We couldn’t live like that.

And then I knew. It is my fault. With peg-dolls and wishing and symbols and signs, I’ve made Roux a criminal. And what if he’s arrested? What if he has to go to jail?

There’s a story Maman used to tell, about three faeries called Pic Blue, Pic Red and Colégram. Pic Blue looks after the sky, the stars, the rain, the sun and the birds of the air. Pic Red looks after the earth and everything that grows there: plants and trees and animals. And Colégram, who is the youngest, is supposed to look after the human heart. But Colégram can never get it right; whenever he tries to give anyone their heart’s desire, someone always gets hurt. One time he tries to help a poor old man by turning autumn leaves to gold, but the old man is so excited at seeing the money that he tries to get too much into his knapsack, and is crushed to death beneath the weight. I don’t remember how the story ends; just that I felt sorry for Colégram, who tries so hard and always gets it so wrong. Maybe I’m like that, too. Maybe I just can’t do hearts.

Boy, what a mess. It was going so well. But a lot can happen in seven days, and the wind hasn’t stopped changing yet. And anyway it’s too late. We can’t stop now. We’ve come too far to turn and run. Just one more working should do it, I think. One more call to the Changing Wind. Perhaps we got something wrong last time: a colour, a candle, a mark in the sand. This time we’re going to put it right, Rosette and me. Once and for all.

11

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Tuesday, 18th December

THIERRY WAS HERE first thing this morning, asking after Roux again. He seems to think that this business will change things between us; that to discredit Roux will somehow restore my faith in him.