It looked like one of the domes at the Jardin des Plantes, a cage in a zoo, or the stage for an animal tamer’s circus act. Two holm oaks had grown inside, or maybe the cage had been built around the trees. There was a sort of hollow in the ground despite all the plants, a basin of clay with a bit of water inside. It could have been a spring, or a puddle of rain. Maybe water couldn’t evaporate here, at the bottom of a gully shrouded in shadow. The trough of the valley was in complete darkness and it was a nice temperature, almost cool. The cage looked like a set where everything had been carefully considered, but he didn’t understand what for, or why the dog was guarding it.

‘You know, Lise, that’s the thing that was shining on Google Earth, the bars in the sun … Disappointed?’

‘Not at all. The metal arches among the green, the creepers everywhere, the trees underneath … It will make a good subject. Not in watercolour, in oil …’

‘That’s good then! Good.’

‘Why do you think it goes crazy when you go inside?’

‘Lise, I still can’t talk to animals.’

‘But I saw you trying earlier.’

‘Well, it doesn’t work.’

‘There must be something in those barrels.’

‘What do you mean – gold?’

‘Don’t be stupid. It’s just weird that it gets so angry when you go near the cage.’