We cheered, loud enough to make Papa cover his ears as he laughed. Then he turned to the couple next to him. ‘Come around again,’ he said, drawing a big circle in the air with his hand. ‘My treat. To apologize.’

The man shook his head. ‘No. No,’ he said. ‘Not need to do that.’

‘Not need to,’ Papa replied. ‘Want to!’

Laughing, the couple shrugged and agreed to go around again. Papa stood up and went over to the door. He handed over a bunch of notes and the ticket man shrugged. Then he let a few more people in, closed the door behind them and off we went, back to the sky.

Elsa, Max and I ran back to the window so we wouldn’t miss a second as we soared up above the city once again.

That’s what Papa could do. Take the best day ever and double it.

ELSA

When I grow up, I am going to be Mrs Stewart.

I won’t be called Mrs Stewart, of course, because I won’t be married to Mr Stewart. I will be married to either Max or Leo, so I suppose I will be called either Mrs Fischer or Mrs Grunberg. But I will be glamorous like Mrs Stewart and I will laugh like her and smile like her and pat my husband’s arm like she does.

Max and Leo are jabbing their fingers against the window. ‘Look, that’s my street!’ Max exclaims. ‘I’m sure it is. There’s the pink house on the corner!’

‘That’s City Hall! There’s the park!’ Leo replies.

But we’ve been round once already and it looks just the same this time, so I would rather watch Mrs Stewart.

She’s probably about the same age as Mutti, but they are a world apart. Mrs Stewart is wearing a red dress that looks as if she put it on especially to match the red of the carriage we’re riding in. I bet she has a different dress for every occasion. She’s wearing a red beret, and over her shoulders is a brown shawl that is so furry I thought at first that it was alive.

Until this moment, I’d thought Leo’s mother was the most glamorous lady in Vienna. She always has perfectly coiffed hair, not a single curl out of place. She must have a different shade of lipstick for each day of the week, and always paints it on to her smiling mouth with perfection. Her eyes dazzle with brightly coloured eye shadow. Whenever we’re at Leo’s house, I’m torn between playing with the boys and sitting looking at her.