Mr Lipp asked the children to gather for an unaccompanied rehearsal before they set off for Notre Dame. He was annoyed to learn of Jacinta’s accident, particularly as she had a small but vital solo part.

‘I don’t suppose the child could have injured herself tomorrow, could she?’ he muttered under his breath as the group gathered in the courtyard.

‘I’m quite sure that Jacinta hasn’t broken her toe just to inconvenience you, Mr Lipp,’ Mrs Winterbottom tutted.

Harold Lipp checked himself. ‘No, of course not.’

‘Besides, you have an ample array of talent – I’m sure one of the other girls would jump at the chance,’ Mrs Winterbottom suggested.

She was quite right about that, as Sloane was literally jumping about with her arm in the air asking Mr Lipp who would be taking on Jacinta’s part.

‘I don’t know, Sloane. I haven’t really thought about it properly yet,’ he said dismissively.

‘But I know someone who could do it,’ she tried again.

‘Yes, we’ll get to that in a minute. I suppose Ashima has the right tone, or Ivory,’ he mused. ‘Places, everyone. We’re going to attempt a run-through without any accompaniment. And what is that . . . beautiful sound?’ He’d been about to say noise when he realised that it wasn’t noise at all, but some of the sweetest singing he’d heard in a long time.

Sloane had wandered away to look at the fountain and begun singing to herself.

‘Sloane, is that you?’ Mr Lipp was stunned. He’d never heard her sing solo before. ‘That’s extraordinary. How long have you had that voice?’

Sloane shrugged.

‘I’ve just found my replacement for Jacinta’s role tonight. I think we’ll have to talk to her about you taking over for good.’ He winked at the girl, who grinned broadly.

‘Thanks, Mr Lipp, but it might be fairer if we share it next time,’ Sloane replied.

Sep Sykes glanced at her. ‘Seriously, who are you and what have you done with my sister?’ he asked.

‘Haha, Sep. You know, I wanted this part for ages but I didn’t want it like this. It’s not fair to Jacinta either,’ Sloane explained.

‘Wow, Alice-Miranda really is rubbing off on you.’ Her brother punched her gently on the arm.

‘Not that much.’ Sloane thumped Sep as hard as she could.

‘Ow!’ he cried. ‘Real Sloane’s back again.’

She poked out her tongue.

‘Places, everyone. Let’s get this right,’ Mr Lipp urged.

A little while later, a taxi pulled up outside l’Hôtel Lulu. Cecelia paid the driver, then helped Jacinta out. Miss Grimm was waiting to meet them in the foyer.

‘Hello Miss Grimm,’ Alice-Miranda greeted the headmistress.

Jacinta had swiftly mastered the art of the crutches and with the boot in place she manoeuvred herself next to Alice-Miranda and Lucas.

‘Hello Alice-Miranda.’ Miss Grimm turned to Jacinta. ‘You silly sausage. How on earth did you manage to drop a pétanque ball on your toe?’

‘I didn’t mean to,’ Jacinta said with a shrug. ‘I just wasn’t paying attention.’

Sloane and Millie arrived with Lucinda in tow. ‘You were too busy dreaming about Lucas,’ Sloane teased.

Lucas’s face turned bright red. ‘No, she wasn’t,’ he protested.

‘No, I wasn’t,’ Jacinta agreed.

The other children kept looking at her.

‘Seriously, I wasn’t. Not then, anyway,’ she said.

The others laughed.

‘I’m doing your solo tonight,’ Sloane boasted.

‘Oh,’ Jacinta frowned.

‘But don’t worry, I told Mr Lipp that next time we perform that song we should do the part together,’ Sloane said.

‘Okay. I think.’ Jacinta wondered if Sloane was telling the truth.

‘You need to get upstairs and rest, young lady,’ Miss Grimm instructed. ‘Miss Reedy has kindly volunteered to stay behind and look after you.’

When Miss Grimm and the professor had met with the staff over afternoon tea to discuss the incident and ensuing arrangements, Mr Lipp had volunteered to stay back too. Professor Winterbottom had pointed out rather bluntly that as the musical director, it would be a little odd for Mr Lipp to miss the performance.

‘And Lucinda, your mother telephoned a little while ago and said that we should take you with us. Your parents will meet us at the cathedral,’ said Miss Grimm.

The children were set to leave for Notre Dame at five pm, with the service commencing at six. They would have dinner afterwards. Monsieur and Madame Crabbe had arranged with Miss Grimm to order in pizzas, which Monsieur Crabbe could attend to. That way Madame Crabbe could see the children’s performance too.

Cecelia was planning to head back to the hotel to change before meeting the children at the cathedral but Charlotte was nowhere to be seen.

Monsieur Crabbe appeared from the door marked ‘Private’. He took one look at Jacinta and shook his head.

‘I heard about this pétanque injury,’ he said seriously. ‘You know, some may laugh about dropping a little metal ball on your foot but not me. It can be a dangerous sport. Especially when you play it with old men like my father, whose aim is very wonky. Poor Lulu was almost crushed by the silly man one afternoon.’

The children wondered if he was serious.

‘Have you seen my sister?’ Cecelia asked.

‘Oui, madame. She is in the sitting room with my wife, supposedly having a rest but I think that Camille has probably worn her out with a hundred and one questions. Please, you should rescue her.’ He indicated that Cecelia should go through.

‘Merci, monsieur. I’ll just say goodbye to the children first,’ Cecelia replied. ‘All right, darlings, I’ll go and get Charlotte and we’ll see you in a little while. And take care, Jacinta. The doctor gave you some strong painkillers, so you really should go and have a lie down.’

Cecelia hugged each of the children and gave Jacinta an extra squeeze. She was more than a little annoyed that Ambrosia hadn’t yet called her back. Surely the woman had seen her attempts to get through.

‘Bye Mummy,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘See you later.’

‘Now, I need all of you to head upstairs and get changed immediately,’ Miss Grimm instructed the group. ‘We have to leave soon and I don’t want any delays.’

The children did as they were told. Jacinta and Alice-Miranda rode the rickety elevator up to the second floor, while the rest bounded upstairs.

Sep and Lucas headed for their room on the fifth level.

‘So, I saw that Fabien guy again when we got back here,’ Sep told Lucas as they walked along the hallway.

‘Why’d he leave the park before?’ Lucas asked.

‘I don’t know. I didn’t get to talk to him,’ Sep began to explain.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I knocked on the door over there, like I did last time, and the same woman Alice-Miranda and I saw yesterday answered. When I asked if Fabien was home, I saw him on the landing doing this –’ Sep put a finger to his lips – ‘So I didn’t say anything else and the next thing I knew he was gone. She looked surprised when I mentioned his name and just shook her head. Then she slammed the door.’

‘That’s weird,’ said Lucas. ‘We know that he lives there.’

‘Yeah,’ Sep said. ‘I wonder if she just doesn’t speak much English.’

‘Maybe she’s hiding something,’ Lucas suggested.

‘It was a bit strange,’ Sep said.

The boys were changing into their school uniforms when there was a knock on the door. It was George Figworth.

‘Hey, have you got any spare undies?’ he asked, barging into the room.

Sep looked at him quizzically. ‘Yeah, um, but why?’

‘The prof was just doing a room inspection and he wanted to know where my dirty laundry was and I said I didn’t have any,’ the lad explained.

‘What do you mean you don’t have any?’ Lucas walked out of the bathroom, where he’d been brushing his teeth. ‘We’ve been away for five days.’

Figgy shrugged.

‘Oh gross, Figgy, have you been wearing the same underpants since we got here?’ Sep screwed up his nose.

‘I forgot to pack any,’ the boy replied.

‘Man, you are disgusting.’ Lucas reached into his suitcase and fished around for a spare pair of undies. Sep did the same.

Lucas threw his at Figgy. ‘And I don’t want them back.’

Sep handed over a pair as well. ‘Me neither. They’re yours to keep.’

‘Thanks. You guys are the best. I can’t remember how many times I’ve turned these ones around but they’re getting a bit crusty.’ He reached down and pulled on the seam of his underpants.

‘Eurgh, get out of here, Figgy.’ Sep slammed the door.

The boys began to laugh.

‘He’s gross,’ Sep said.

‘Yeah.’ Lucas shuddered.

The boys finished getting ready and headed downstairs. As the group gathered in the courtyard, Sep glanced at the window where he had seen Fabien before. He didn’t know why he cared so much, but clearly something wasn’t right in that house across the road.