“Did you see the way the woman looked at you?” she asked.

“Yes, it felt odd. It was as if she recognized me and was trying . . . But I suppose she just recognized some of Théo’s features.”

“But didn’t you say that you and Théo were very different?”

“Yes, he’s taller and his hair is black, not brown, and sometimes he has a beard. But there’s still a certain family resemblance.”

“So the journalist was right?”

The man did not reply. The only way to find out was to go and see the bull rider’s wife again. The girl called her cat and they went back to the Volks.

“Promise me one thing,” said the man. “Don’t leave me alone with her. When she looks at me with those big green eyes and her beautiful round face all full of light I don’t know what to do: my legs turn to rubber and I feel as if I won’t be able to get a word out.”

The black cat came scurrying up and they drove back to the mobile home. They were greeted as warmly as before. Jack said an entire sentence in English, and it was obvious that he’d constructed it in his head in advance.

“You were looking at me and suddenly I got very excited . . .”

“Oh? Is that so?” asked the woman, with her big smile.

“Yes. Maybe it was because you’re so big . . . I mean, tall, and beautiful, but maybe it was because I had a special feeling.”

“A special feeling?” she repeated.

“Yes, madam. The feeling that you recognized me,” he said, stumbling over the terrible word “recognized.”

“I did recognize you.”

“Thank you! I’m very happy!”

“So we have met before,” she concluded.

“Yes, but it wasn’t me,” said Jack. “It was my brother Théo.”

“Théo?”

She repeated the name several times. Her gaze was lost in the distance. Then suddenly she said, “Oh, yes . . . oh, yes!”

She remembered. It was a long time ago, but she remembered very clearly. A bright light spread across her face as the memories returned. She said that Théo was a little rough around the edges maybe, but when she talked about him, there was such warmth in her voice and so much light on her face, that it was as if Jack’s brother had been absolved, washed clean of all the accusations and all the suspicions of which he had been the object since their journey began.

The woman was silent, and as Jack didn’t seem to know what to say, La Grande Sauterelle intervened. “So your husband is a bull rider?” she asked.