Every second seemed to last an age. Anita saw Camille and Audrey's surprised faces, and Lynna and Adele's, both angry and surprised. But she didn't really interpret their expressions at that moment; she would only think of what she saw and did some time later. The only thing she really cared about then was her castanets flying towards the fire. The fire, at that moment, looked like an evil spirit that wanted to destroy all her hopes of happiness. Anita didn't know why she thought that, nor how she had enough time to imagine all those things. The only thing she was really conscious of was that her most precious belonging was about to be lost forever, and she couldn't let that happen. Everything else was a blur.

The next thing she knew, she was jumping towards the fire in order to recover her castanets. Every notion about fire being a dangerous thing vanished from her mind. She acted instinctively.

Until that moment, everything was clear; since then, all she could remember was a desperate sensation in her heart, the fire getting closer, the heat around her getting stronger and dangerous, and a terrible burning sensation on her fingers, all that mixed with dizziness.

Then, everything was clear again. She heard Adele and Lynna shouting her name, and Camille and Audrey gasping in fear.

Adele and Lynna ran to her and pulled her backwards. She couldn't understand all the words that came out of Adele and Lynna's mouths, but she understood some words like "fire", "hair" and "water". Then, her feverish forehead felt the freshness of cold water, and she started to visualize things better, like if she had just awoken from a bad dream.

"Anita… Are you alright?" she heard someone say, and recognized Adele's voice. She blinked a few times, and her blurred vision was focused. She saw Adele and Lynna looking at her with worried expressions.

She tried to say something, but then she felt something plain against her left hand; when she looked at it, she saw it was one of her castanets. She was relieved for a second, but then exclaimed:

"Where is the other one?", and she started to look frenetically for it. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with madness. She soon found the other castanet on the other side of the bonfire, and ran to it on her hands and knees, like an animal. When she tried to grab the castanet, she felt a painful sensation in her hand, and released it immediately. She finally noticed that the rope that held the two wooden halves of the instrument together were on fire. She desperately spit on the castanet and covered it with her skirt, trying to put the fire out. To her relief, soon the tiny flame disappeared.

Anita took a deep breath, and then realized how tired she was. She let her body fall on the ground beside the fire and lay there, holding the castanets against her chest, her eyes closed.

"Anita! Anita, wake up!" Lynna shouted, while shaking Anita's body. She slowly opened her eyes, and said, weakly, "What happened?"

"Your castanets were going straight to hell, and you jumped to the fire to get them." Adele said, hesitantly.

"Oh really?" Anita said, sarcastically. "I know that part. What happened after that?"

"Well… You grabbed one castanet, but your fingers touched the fire" Lynna explained. Anita looked at her hands. The right hand was unharmed, except for a small red mark in the middle of her palm, but her left hand was pretty injured. The points of her fingers were in lively flesh, and the back of her hand was also burned. And man, it hurt.

"What's the matter in here?" a voice said, and Anita did not recognize it instantly, though it was pretty familiar. She tried to stand up, but she felt dizzy. Instantly, Adele and Lynna put her arms around their necks to help her, and she saw Clopin standing next to Audrey and Camille. And he looked very angry. By that time, there were a few people watching them and whispering.

"What was all this shouting about? It's Esmeralda's wedding today, and you are fighting?" he said, in a high voice volume, but not screaming. Anita wanted to explain, but she felt too tired to do so. Clopin noticed she wasn't alright, so he looked to Camille and Audrey. They opened their mouths to say something, but they couldn't form understandable phrases. Then Lynna spoke.

"Clopin, I know what this must look like, and that it's not nice to fight in Esmeralda's wedding, but it was… unavoidable" she said, lacking a better word.

"Yes! And it was all Camille and Audrey's fault!" shouted Adele, pointing to the two girls and almost dropping Anita's arm.

Clopin stared at the girls, one by one, but, as no one said a word, he asked:

"What's wrong with Anita? She looks like she's going to fade."

Lynna and Adele looked at each other, and Lynna said: "She had a little… Accident with the fire."

What Lynna and Adele hadn't realized was that, by that moment, Anita was much more lucid. And she remembered… She remembered Camille throwing her castanets to the fire, and that was all. Anita may was lucid, but still not thinking as clearly as she would in normal circumstances. Suddenly, she felt a terrible urge to do something bad to Camille. She wanted to hurt her just as much as she had been hurt. Possessed by an anger she had never felt before, she released her arms from Adele and Lynna's grip and walked towards the two still shocked girls.

"You!" she shouted, pointing a finger at Camille, holding her castanets in her left hand. Her fingers ached and burned, but she didn't care. "How… How dare you do such a thing?" Anita tried to find something very offensive to say, but she found nothing in her limited vocabulary. She mentally reprimanded herself for sounding so pathetic, but Camille said nothing. Anita attributed that to Camille's shock, and went on, this time not thinking much about what she was saying,

"Do you think you have the right to make fun of other people's pain? Do you think you are above everyone else? I'll tell you something, YOU'RE NOT!"

Anita's face was red and sweaty from anger and from the heat of the fire. She bared her teeth like a wild beast and looked ready to jump on Camille's neck. That thought crossed her mind for a moment, but she soon put it aside, feeling too coward to do such a violent thing. She made a very angry face, to conceal her fear, and went on:

"Are you aware that you almost destroyed my most precious belonging? The only thing I have to get money honestly? Of course you are, you just don't care, you don't care about anything besides yourself!"

"Anita…" Camille said, almost whispering.

This was the fuse of Anita's rage. In her insensible mind, Camille had no right to say anything for herself. And the next thing she knew, she was slapping Camille hard on the face.

Everything was too quickly for Anita to realize what she was doing. She did what she did for impulse, and at that moment it didn't seem wrong to do that. She was right, Camille was wrong. Her rage wouldn't allow her to see things in any other way. So, making an angry noise, she left the place.


Anita was sitting on the floor on an empty alley of the Court, her head on her knees. Her face was red from crying, her hair and shirt were wet, and her hands ached. She could hear music playing in a distant place, but she did not pay any attention to it. All she could think of was what she had just done. Now that she had stopped and cried and thought more sensibly about what happened, she regretted what she had done. She had never slapped anyone, or been violent to anyone in any way.

She knew Camille hadn't meant to throw her castanets to the fire. It had been an accident. But still, she couldn't help but have a grudge against her. The girl hadn't done another thing to her but been rude.

Now her head ached too. All those thoughts confused her, and she felt her life had never been so complicated. Suddenly, she wished her father was there to hold her and tell her everything was alright. But her father wasn't there – and she wasn't sure she would ever be with him again –, and everything was not alright.

Damn it, she thought. Suddenly, she could almost hear her father's voice saying, Don't swear. But she couldn't help it. One has to swear once in a while, and if she didn't say a bad word at that moment, she would go mad. And she had to learn to deal with things without her father.

She got a lock of her hair and started to chew it. It was a habit she had since she was a child; whenever she was nervous, she put her hair in her mouth and chewed it. She knew it was a disgusting thing to do, but she couldn't help it. It was addictive! Annoyingly addictive, but she just couldn't get rid of it.

"Anita" a voice said.

She looked up, upset. It was Clopin. His face was expressionless. He sat down beside her, and she looked down to her knees. She didn't want to face him after all the scandal she had made, but she also wanted to hide her face, red from shame. She felt her heart beat faster, nervously.

I must look pathetic, she thought. Sitting alone on the floor, crying, and chewing my own hair. Things can't get any worse.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Are you alright? Are you alright, Anita?, she asked herself. How does one answer this question? She wasn't alright, that was a certain thing. But when someone asks you if you are alright, you are supposed to answer positively, even if you are not.

"Yes" she simply said.

"Really?" he insisted.

She considered the question for a moment, trying to find a good answer to reinforce her last point, but she couldn't find anything.

"No" she said at last, sighing. She was the worst liar in the world. She couldn't tell a lie and make it last long even to save her life.

"I knew it" he said, smiling lightly. "Adele and Lynna told me what happened. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No" she answered. She didn't want to give him such short and unfriendly answers, but she didn't feel like elaborating good phrases at that moment. They remained in silence for some seconds, and then he said:

"It's alright to feel angry, Anita. One can't be calm and patient all the time."

"I know." That was the largest phrase she had said in all their conversation so far.

"Let me have a look at your hands" he said, after a moment of silence. She reached out her hand to him, without saying a word. When he touched the burned skin, she made a painful noise and started to shake her other hand.

"This is pretty injured" he said. "I'll take you to Old Panya. She is the best medicine woman in the Court. She will be able to do something about it."

Without another word, he grabbed her arm and led her through empty, dark passages, until they arrived to an almost empty part of the principal square. Anita could see people dancing beyond the colourful tents, but only briefly. Clopin soon led her into a blue tent.

Inside the tent, there was a woman with long grey hair falling down her back sitting by a table with lots of cups on it. There were ceramic pots everywhere, and a strange smell filled the air. There was also a chair and some brown and red cushions on the floor.

The woman didn't show any surprise when they entered so suddenly; she merely lifted up her black eyes and stared at them for some seconds. Then, she spoke.

"I didn't expect anyone to come here tonight, Clopin. Maybe tomorrow, I had some hopes that men would come and ask for help with their hangovers, but receiving people here in the middle of a party is quite surprising."

"Anita had an accident with a bonfire" Clopin explained. "Her hands are injured. Could you have a look at them?"

The woman – Old Panya – made a gesture with her hand, indicating the chair. Anita sat down and placed her castanets, which she was still holding with her good hand, on her lap. Panya took her hands and examined them. Anita noticed that, though Panya's hands were rough, they were somewhat gentle.

"Oh, that looks bad. Haven't your parents told you never to play with fire, girl?"

Old Panya didn't wait for an answer. She went to the table and got one of the cups. She then got three pots, and mixed their contents in the cup. The result was a strange smelling and looking liquid. Panya got a piece of cloth and carefully put it into the cup. She approached Anita with the wet cloth and, without any warning, pressed the cloth against her burned skin.

"Ahhh… Aaaaaiiiiii!" Anita exclaimed, writhing. The strange liquid sent a shiver through her whole body, and it burned. She wanted to scream out loud, but she bit her lower lip and started to move her legs beneath her skirt. The pain was unbearable! Panya did not show any signs of pity, but Clopin looked a bit scared himself.

"Hmmm… Your hand is pretty injured, little one. You'll have to take a rest from any work you do with your hands" Panya said.

"Oh, great" Anita exclaimed, disappointed. That meant no playing castanets. Panya wrapped some bandages around her hurt hand and said:

"You'll have to use this bandage for some time. Two weeks, at least."


Clopin took Anita to Lynna and Adele. He had helped her as a friend and as a king, but she needed her closest friends.

"How do you feel, Anita?" Lynna asked, putting an arm around her friend's shoulder.

"Tired" she answered. "Not tired like if I wanted to go to sleep, just… tired."

"Anita… Can I give you some advice?" Lynna asked. Anita nodded, not paying much attention.

"I think you should talk with Camille about what happened."

Anita turned her head quickly, a surprised expression on her face. Now her attention was completely focused on Lynna's words.

"What?" she said, and realized Adele had said the same thing almost at the same time.

"I know you must be mad at her by now, but this cannot go on the way it is" Lynna explained quickly. "You two have to find a way to live in peace."

As always, Lynna was right. Even Adele seemed to agree with her now, by the look on her face. Deep inside, Anita knew she had overreacted – after all, it hadn't been Camille's intention to almost destroy Anita's precious castanets. Anita was wrong, and she knew it. But she did not want to admit that to Lynna and Adele. Much less to Clopin.

"Anita?" Adele asked, after a few seconds.

"What?" grumbled Anita.

"Are you going to apologize to Camille?"

"Why should I? She was the one who threw my castanets to the fire."

"I know you ladies did not ask my opinion" said Clopin, "but I think it would be better if you and Camille could live in peace. But that won't happen unless one of you takes the first step."

Anita sighed. She felt like a child being reprimanded by its parents. Worse, they were right and she was wrong. It is difficult to prove yourself right when not even you believe you are right.

"You are right" Anita said after a pause, and choose her next words carefully, trying to sound like a grown up. "I guess I'll have to swallow my pride and apologize. I shouldn't have slapped Camille."

"That's our little Anita" Adele exclaimed, hugging Anita and stroking her hair. Clopin smiled, looking pleased at how things were developing.


Adele and Lynna took Anita to the square. Clopin came with them, to assure everything would be resolved. People were still celebrating, though now most of them were sitting by the fire and eating. A few girls were dancing. Anita spotted Esmeralda sitting beside Phoebus, a peaceful smile on her face.

They know nothing about what happened, then, Anita thought, relieved.

When she turned her head to look forward, she saw Camille staring at the floor and Audrey beside her, with a hand on her friend's shoulder. They were distant from them, and could not see them. Adele pushed Anita towards the two girls, while saying:

"You can do it."

Anita approached the two girls, hesitantly, and stopped in the middle of the way. Should she apologize to such a rude girl who cared about nothing else? Was the humiliation worthy it? She turned around and looked at her friends and Clopin. Lynna and Adele made a gesture indicating that she should go ahead. Clopin gave her an encouraging smile. Again she felt her heart pounding in her chest, which she attributed to nervousness.

I have to stay calm, she told herself.

"Camille?" she said at last.

The girl looked up. Anita noticed, very surprised, that Camille looked like she had been crying. Camille opened her mouth to say something, but Anita spoke first, before she lost her will to apologize.

"I'm-sorry-for-slapping-you-I-shouldn't-have-done-that" she said quickly. Camille and Audrey stared at her in shock for a few moments.

"In fact, I believe we should be the ones apologizing" Audrey said. "We are… really sorry we did that to you."

"You are?" Anita asked, not expecting them to be so easily convinced of their mistake.

"Yes" Camille said, avoiding looking into Anita's eyes. "We didn't want to, you know, destroy your castanets, it was just… a little joke. We didn't think it would end up like that."

Silence.

"Well, I guess we don't need to be friends, but we also don't need to be enemies, do we?" Audrey said, offering Anita her hand. Both Camille and Anita stared at her, shocked. Anita had never thought Audrey was so mature.

After a moment, Camille seemed to agree with her friend. "It's true, Anita" she said, also offering her hand. Anita stared at the two hands, unsure of what to do, and in the end she shook the hands of both, each one with one hand. They smiled.

"So, I guess that's it, huh? Not enemies anymore, living in peace – let's go, Audrey?" Camille said. It was obvious she didn't know how to handle that situation. The two of them went away. Anita went back to her friends.

"So? How did it go?" Adele asked.

"They were so…" Anita started, unsure of what to say.

"So what?" Lynna asked.

"…so nice to me" Anita completed. She couldn't believe Camille and Audrey had been so willing to apologize to her.

"They are not so bad" Clopin said, grinning briefly.

"No, they are not…" Anita said. She looked completely dumb.

"Well, I will leave you ladies now; I have some things to do and I am sure you have particular things to discuss." And with that, he left.

Anita couldn't help but feel a bit idiotic when she thought that, if only she had tried to talk with Audrey and Camille, things could have turned out differently.

"Hey, don't be so sad" Adele said, noticing her friend's mournful expression. "Lynna and I were planning on going to the market tomorrow, what do you think?"

"To do what in the market?" Anita asked.

"You remember that idea of Adele's about we having our own pets?" Lynna said. "Well, we think that it's actually a good idea, so we're going to see if there are any cheap animals to buy. We can also look for some jewellery."

"That's nice" Anita said, not very cheerfully. She didn't feel much like going to the market to look for animals. But Adele and Lynna looked at her with the same expression they looked at Giselle that morning to make her allow them into Esmeralda's tent. They looked so funny with those puppy-like looks on their faces that Anita burst out laughing.

"Alright, I'll come with you" she said at last.


The three of them woke up late on the next day. They were tired after the party and the accident with the fire, so they allowed themselves to sleep until two o'clock in the afternoon (it is no surprise they slept for so long, since they only went to sleep at three o'clock in the morning). When they finally managed to get up and go outside, they went to the market.

They walked down the street, hand in hand, to avoid getting lost. There was so much noise in the market that they could barely hear each other's voices when they spoke, so they gave up communicating. Anita was carrying a basket to put anything they would buy there.

Adele soon noticed a gypsy man selling some beautiful things displayed on a colourful carpet on the floor. They approached, and after talking with the man for a while, they discovered that his name was Dino, that he was Italian and that he travelled around the world buying and selling things. They tried on some scarves, some jewellery, and in the end each of them bought something. Anita bought a golden bracelet with a green stone on it. Lynna bought a necklace that consisted on a leather rope with a blue stone pendant. Adele bought a red and yellow scarf.

Lynna noticed that there were some eggs on the carpet, resting in a colourful scarf, and asked what those were. He explained that those were some eggs he had found in an abandoned nest in a forest while coming to Paris.

"Though I don't think I'll sell any of these eggs" he said. "I have no idea of what kind of bird produced these eggs."

Adele looked at the eggs, thoughtfully.

"How much do you want for one of these eggs?" she suddenly asked. Dino looked at her with a look of disbelief, and said:

"Well, I guess it's not fair to demand money for eggs I don't know whether they have birds inside, or if they are good to eat. Take one for free."

Adele was impressed for the man's honesty, and chose one of the eggs. She put her new scarf in the basket and placed the egg in the middle of it carefully, to make the basket be as close as possible to a nest. The girls bid Dino goodbye and went back to their journey.

After a while, their feet were aching and their patience was coming to an end.

"I'm tired, let's stop and eat something" Adele exclaimed.

They bought some bread in the bakery and sat on a street corner to rest. Glancing around, Anita saw a fat woman trying to bring together some hens, chicks and chickens, failing miserably; as soon as she managed to get all the hens, chickens and chicks reunited in one place, one of the little chicks ran away to eat some bread crumbs in the street. All the other chicks followed him and, of course, their mother went after them, and the mess was formed.

Anita noticed that one of the animals, a male chicken, with light brown feathers and a small thin body, kept walking around trying to cluck loudly. But everything he managed to do was produce some very strange noises. Anita chuckled. One would say the poor chicken was dancing.

The fat woman noticed the chicken too, and tried to grab it. But when she reached out her hands, the chicken jumped and started to run in circles like a mad thing. The woman continued to persecute him, and he started to try to fly away. He jumped, flapped his wings, floated in the air for some seconds, and landed. And the woman kept running and jumping and swearing after him.

This crazy race continued for some minutes, and Anita started to pity the chick when the woman threatened to cook him and use his blood as sauce. Without thinking, she stood up and went to the woman.

"How much do you want for that chicken?" she asked, pointing to the bird.

The woman looked at her with a look of disbelief on her face, and said:

"Are you sure you want to pay for that… thing?"

Anita nodded. The woman stared at her in disbelief, but gave a prize for the chicken. Anita looked into her bag, and was glad to find that she had enough money. She handed the woman a few silver coins, and turned to face the chicken. He was still running in circles, though now he didn't look so desperate – it was more likely he was doing that for fun. Anita chuckled, and, as fast as she could, grabbed the chicken. He was so distracted by his running game that he didn't have a chance of escaping. He immediately grew desperate and started trying to get rid of Anita's arms, which held him delicately, but firmly. She pressed him against her chest, while he struggled. He pecked her arms, but she didn't let go. After a while, she started caressing the chicken's feathers with one hand. He noticed that, and stopped struggling.

"Hey, little one" she said. People always called her that, and she had always wanted to call someone "little one" too. "I won't hurt you."

The chicken looked at her, moving his head in a funny way. He didn't seem to trust her at all, but he did nothing. Anita walked back to the place where Lynna and Adele were, and found them staring at her with curiosity.

"You actually bought this mad chicken?" Adele asked.

"Don't talk like that! He is a nice chicken, aren't you?" Anita said, looking lovingly at the chicken, as though he was a little baby.

"Don't listen to Adele. He is a cute chicken. What will his name be?" Lynna asked.

Anita thought for a moment.

"I don't know yet. But I'll think of something."

On that moment, Anita noticed something that made her heart stop. A guard was standing right on the street corner, watching them disapprovingly.

"Aaaahhhh… I believe now is a good time to leave" she said, stepping backwards.

"Why?" Adele asked, confused. Anita discreetly pointed one finger to the soldier. But that was a mistake. He realized they were talking about him, and started to walk towards them, with a hand on his sword. The three girls immediately started to run. Anita held the chicken firmly and her eyes did not leave Adele and Lynna. She was determined not to lose them again.

But it wasn't her lucky day, and the chicken jumped from her arms in a moment of distraction. Anita instinctively started to chase the chicken. Her friends noticed that and went after her.

They ran through the streets of Paris, ignoring people's rude words when they accidentally hit them. When Anita finally grabbed the chicken, there was no sign of the guard.

"Remind me of thanking your chicken for this, Anita" said Adele, holding the basket with the egg.

"Are you being ironical or are you being serious?" Anita asked, her face red from running.

"Both" Adele replied. "I have to admit, he somehow helped us escape from that guard."

"Yes, your chicken is a hero!" Lynna exclaimed, laughing.

"Yes… A little hero you are, aren't you?" Anita said to the chicken, who just stared at her. "I know how I shall name you… You brought us luck in escaping the guard…"

"Luck and tiredness" observed Adele.

"…you brought us luck, so I will name you Shankar" Anita continued, ignoring Adele. "It means 'makes good luck' in Hindi."

"Hindi?" Lynna asked, confused.

"The language people speak in India" Anita explained.

" 'Shapar' sounds like a very important name for a chicken" Adele said, ill-humoured.

" 'Shankar'" corrected Anita, "and I think it suits him rather well."

Adele wanted to say something to disagree – when she was irritated, she argued with everyone – but was feeling too tired to do so. Instead, she just sighed and caressed the egg on the basket.

"It's getting late. I think we should head back to the Court of Miracles" whispered Lynna.

"But we haven't found a pet for you yet!" Anita said.

"I know, but it will soon be dark, and the streets are dangerous after the sunset."

They walked for a while, until they arrived to a rather shadowy street. They heard laughter coming from the end of the street, and also a painful sound, which didn't seem to be produced by a human being.

They ran to the place where the laughter and the strange sound were coming from, and met a dreadful scene.

Three boys around the age of eleven were beating a cat with thin branches of tree and shouting. An older boy, who looked to be eighteen, was laughing and ordering things like "Pull his tail!" or "Beat him harder!"

Anita was too shocked to make any move – she had never seen such a horrible thing. But Lynna and Adele were more used to people's cruelty. While Lynna walked towards the older boy, Adele handed the basket to Anita and followed her friend.

"Stop it at once!" Lynna demanded.

The older boy stared at her expressionless, and said:

"No need to be angry, doll face. 'Tis just a bloody cat. Now, don't you want to have some fun? I'd willingly give you some silver coins for that."

That only made Lynna angrier. But Adele was faster:

"She is no whore! And stop beating that poor cat!"

"Woman, gypsies like you are whores by nature. Any way, why do you care so much for this damn cat? 'Tis just an animal" he said, kicking the cat, who meowed weakly.

"Don't do this, you dog!" Lynna shouted, and started to try to hit the man. He grabbed her wrists and threw her on the ground.

"How dare you, you gypsy whore? I'll teach you some respect!"

He took the branch from one of the boys' hands, and started to beat Lynna with it. Adele immediately jumped on him and grabbed his arms, while Lynna and Anita shouted. The man hit Adele's face, sending her straight to the floor, unconscious, and started to beat Lynna again. The boys had run off when Anita started screaming. She put down the basket to try to do something to stop the man, but when she approached, Shankar – the chicken – jumped from her arms, flapped his wings three times and… fell straight on the man's head. Once there, Shankar took some of the man's hair into his beak and pulled it hard, flapping his wings to keep his balance.

"Get off me!" the man screamed, trying to grab the chicken, but failing. Anita took the opportunity to help Lynna stand up, and the two of them went to check on Adele. There was blood coming out of her lips, and it was impossible to know if she was dead or alive.

By that moment, the man had gotten rid of Shankar, who now was dizzily walking in circles. The man advanced towards Lynna and Anita. They held Adele's body and waited, helpless.