Tuesday 22 August 2000, Paris, France
"I was very hopeful about the whole thing, I thought that the plan to keep selling lots of cookies wouldcontinue, by my expectations I could make it in a year and a half or even less, I was working almost all day,creating a reputation in the city, everyone knew my cookies and everyone wanted to buy from me, whichmade me feel much better, people came to me, I got more fame because of it, but then somethinghappened, which was precisely what made me stop selling in Paris, my father didn't like it at all, just becauseI had a lot of money, I had already collected at least 90,000 francs in there, just from the Cookies, he didn'twant me to go to Luna Nova.
I've just left all the money, every day I get closer to being able to exchange these francs, the pot will be filled with a lot of money like this, there are only 210,000 francs left now, I have to start making more cookies, I thought it would be an impossible task, but I just had to be patient, I still have five years, I can get the money for Luna Nova and then I can also get money for more things.
I left the room, arrived in the kitchen and my father was tidying up, looking like he was packing, I didn't understand anything, are you going to abandon me here? What a scoundrel, well if he's travelling for work and leaving me alone that's even better.
"Where are you going?" I ask him.
"Where are we going, go on girl, pack your things, we're moving from here" I get even more confused, what do you mean? We've barely arrived in Paris.
"We've barely arrived in Paris, you've just taken me out of my house and I'm already leaving?" I ask him.
"You're getting too well known here, I'm not going to let you raise that kind of money to become a witch, we're going to get out of here and move to a small town" What? That doesn't make sense, where did he get the money for that? What the hell,
"What's it like? This is really stupid, because now you want to dictate what I do? Leaving won't do any good" I say as I clench my fists.
"Oh yes, of course I did, I forgot about that, from now on as you're full of money you're going to pay for your own food, I'm not going to give you any change, if you want to earn some money, get on with it, well you've practically paid for it, you're also going to make the house look nice, make the food you're going to pay for, because I'm letting you live for free, you'd better do something" As if I didn't already pay for the food before, what a scoundrel.
"What if I don't? Are you going to kick me out? It'll be even easier for me to go back to Scotland, I've got enough money to travel there with peace of mind" I say to him and he laughs.
"Oh how naïve, if you get kicked out you'll live on the street, you can't go near those two, I've got a restraining order on them and there's no point in trying anything with the courts, a little ten-year-old girl going to complain about nonsense, thinking that some appeal is going to bring you back to your mummies, they must have even ignored all this and given up on you" I get so angry I bang on the table.
I even walk away, what the hell, I can't believe they've done this to me, just when everything was starting to work out, the money for Luna Nova, then I was going to raise the money to get my custody in court, I know these things cost money and it would show how rotten he is.
I put everything in my bag, luckily there's almost nothing in it, I keep everything as I can, clothes, video games, the money for Luna Nova, I think there's everything here, I even go back to where my father is and put the things in the van, it's just a small van, it won't even take the furniture.
"What about the furniture? How are we going to take it, the TV, the bigger things?" I ask my father.
"You want to live in the house? You have plenty of money, if you want comfort buy the furniture, for now it's the most I can take, the van has no space, but I've already left the basics in our new house" Said the bastard, he really wants to make me spend my money, what a bastard.
"Wait, you mean I'll have to spend money to get the basics?" I ask him.
"It's your money, it's not your house, you didn't pay for the furniture there, so yes, you're the one who has to use it" I get very frustrated.
"It's too daft, it's a waste of money and it's stupid, but where are you taking us?" I ask even more intrigued.
"It may well be, but it goes to show that this is what real life is like, you only achieve things through your own efforts, without the help of others. It's good that you learn that not everything is flowers and that your dream of becoming a witch isn't so real, we're going to Annecy, in case you want to know" Annecy? Where is this place? It's so unknown that it doesn't even appear on school maps, we only learn about the main cities in France.
We finish putting the suitcases in the car, I stare at Paris a little dumbfounded, I've been caught with my guard down, I was already starting to get a bit of recognition here, everyone knew and loved my Cookies, made with my mums recipe, which is full of love, now I'm going to have to leave here, I haven't even been able to enjoy the city properly, I won't forget the day I won some good money at the Eiffel Tower, good that at least in the new place I'll be able to start again.
I may have come off worst, but I'll still get there, I hope... I couldn't wait for it to reach 100,000, I was going to exchange it all for Pounds and start the process of studying in Luna Nova.
[...]
The journey was long and I was hungry. We arrived in the town of Annecy, which is much smaller than Paris, so how am I going to build anything if I don't know anyone and it's not full of people, it's going to be impossible, especially as now I have to get by with buying food.
We unloaded the van, I took my things inside and saw the house, it wasn't that empty, but it still lacked a lot of things, there was just a miserable sofa with a television in the living room and apart from that nothing
"Where's the fridge? The cooker? Everything else? How can we even do the basics?" I ask my father.
"You can afford it, as I said, I'm going out to eat, if you're hungry I recommend doing the same, but only after unloading the suitcases, I'm going for it" said my father and I scowled.
The slacker left me alone in the house and I had to unload the suitcases, I took them all out and when I went to see the house myself, it's simply that the bastard's room is all furnished, he's got a bed, a wardrobe, even his own television, his room is huge, look at the size of it, I kept trying to find where mine would be and I couldn't, the living room, it's no good, what I soon find is a little space, it's tiny, almost nothing can fit in here, I'm stunned by all this, how can this be a bedroom? I don't know, I just put my stuff in there, now let's go.
I'm going to have to spend my hard-earned money on this, but I also want to see him come and say something about things, I'm the one who paid for everything, I'm the one who's going to pay for everything now, since he's a lazy old man, I don't know how he manages to leave so easily, I bet it's a little push from Daryl
[...]
"More than half of my money was spent just to buy the basics, I found out that I wasn't going to have abedroom at all, I was going to sleep in the living room, which sucked, my dad would listen late into the nighton football matches, I got really angry because he had a telly in his room, he did it just to tease me, whichmade me sleep really badly, I'd soon gone back to school too, I made a point of hiding the fact that I was awitch, just in case, I was also going to go back to work, since all the basics came home, since I had to eatout all the time, at the end of it all I was left with 35,000 francs, which I had to go back to zero to be able toenrich myself, living in a house even smaller than the one I lived in, in this new city, I was even hopeless andmy father seemed to like that," I said.
Sunday 15 October 2000, Annecy, France
"A month after I'd moved in, I'd already got the furniture for the house and household appliances, I had to buyeverything from scratch, even the most basic things like pans and cutlery, which I didn't even know could beso expensive, but I didn't give up on going to work, I was already familiar with the place, I knew exactlywhere people gathered to congregate, where it would be possible to earn money on the street, which Ipromptly went to prepare everything, I woke up at four o'clock in the morning that day preparing everything."
There's enough here to get 2,500 francs in cookies, I have to restart my life somehow, I've lost almost everything, but not everything, if I start somewhere I'll have a direction, I've even put together a costume to appear here, this magician's outfit with the suit can attract attention and the box of biscuits too, I need to learn to play the guitar, I've seen that music is something that attracts attention, I think I'll see if I can get one in a while, if I practise a lot I can have a good chance.
With everything in hand, my father still asleep as usual, he stays up late on Sunday, I leave the house with
the box in my hands and start showing the people in town who are selling biscuits, I walk to the main square, there are always lots of people there and there's culture, I'm sure they'll love my biscuits.
"Welcome, honourable people of Annecy! Come and eat the most delicious Cookie in all of France, you will never see a meal as delicious and sugary as the magical Cookies of Chariot Du Nord!" I say as I dance around the square, I have to encourage people to buy somehow, but nothing is working.
What the hell, I'm really getting lonely, I don't think anyone heard, I need to think of some way to attract attention, I see that there's a guy with a guitar and people are passing him and leaving coins, I think I have to impress more.
I start to pick up the wand and show off a few tricks, creating some lights that make the shape of cookies to attract people to come over, and I see a child walking with his grandmother, that's perfect.
"Good morning madam, don't you want a delicious, high-quality cookie for your grandchild? For just 20 francs you can have one of these sugary delights and I can assure you it will be well worth it, if you don't like it I'll give you your money back" I say to her with a wink as she gives me a coin and then another and I'm all happy, my first purchase.
"I'm going to take a bag for me and my grandchild, let's see if it's really good" said the lady.
"I'm sure you'll love it" I say, handing a bag of cookies to the lady who opens the packet, she eats one and the little boy does the same, which I think they love.
"Hmmmm, this is really delicious, little girl, did you make it? I want 10 more" My eyes lit up, I handed the packets to the lady who gave me 200 francs, and I left happily, relieved.
My first Annecy sale, I've already got 200 francs, another 300 francs and I've covered the costs I paid to make this whole batch, then another person came along and saw the lady buying a lot of cookies, she asked for a packet and gave me a coin, little by little I'm getting the money together, even if they don't come at once, I've already got the labels indicating my quality cookies. The guy with the guitar is also coming round, I didn't think he'd come too, that's great, I wonder if he'll want one.
"Another street artist here, how interesting, you Cookies then, I'll want to try one" he says and I hand him a packet after he hands over a coin.
"I guarantee they're the best" I say, smiling, and he eats it up and makes a good expression.
"Hmmmm, they're really good, you've got a talent for it little girl, keep it up, I'm going back to my post, I have to earn some change, later I'll come back to get more of them, if you keep making these Cookies you'll sell a lot, they're really magical" Said the boy who loved the Cookies and he was even leaving.
"Wait a minute! Do you know how to get a guitar? And also how to learn to play music? I'd really like to learn" I tell him.
"I can teach you how to play the guitar, I can see that you want to expand your business into something bigger, good luck with that Chariot Du Nord, my name is Pierre, a little girl your size can learn quickly, I'm going" He waves as he leaves, now I have a goal, to buy a guitar.
If I have a guitar I can write a jingle for Chariot Cookies, I have to think of everything, cheer up the people in the street, I won't be full of people, but I'll be here all day, until I manage to sell everything, I hope I can. More people are turning up little by little, at least I'm not expecting too much and I'm going to keep dancing, the good thing is that some of them still leave a few extra coins, at least my advertising posters that I used in Paris are working very well, and so is my biscuit wizard costume.
"Buy biscuits from the biscuit wizard! They're the best in France!" I'm calling out to the people strolling round the square, because being a child attracts attention.
More people are turning up, that's good, I think I can sell them all at this rate, if they run out I'll try other ways of selling the cookies, the news will spread more and more, I'll become well known here in the city, I have to be very optimistic.
[...]
I've been here for two hours, 1140 francs in hand, people have really come here to buy, the advertising has worked, a few more people arrive, a group of musicians, with various instruments, I've already got at least
100 francs to earn from them, I hope they come to buy, it'll be interesting, they really come here, I even wave to them excitedly.
"Are you the Chariot Du Nord of Cookies? Let's try your cookies, if they're good we have an offer for you" said the one holding a guitar and I handed him the cookie.
"You'll like the cookies, I make them with all the care and love in the world" I say smiling, and he goes off to eat too, sharing the packet with his friends, the five of them seem to have liked it a lot, which will be interesting, I'll be rich if they buy more packets.
"This is really good, did you make it?" I nod.
"I do it with all my love and care, it's what my mums taught me" I say smiling.
"Oh girl, Pierre told me you wanted to learn the guitar, I had this old guitar, well it'll be invaluable to you, especially on the day of the fair, will you accept 20 packets of biscuits for this guitar?" My eyes sparkled and I accepted with all my heart, I'm not going to make much profit from this decision, but a guitar must be more expensive than that, I made a point of giving it to him who gave me the guitar, which impressed me.
"Thank you so much! I really wanted a guitar!" I say all excited and bouncy.
"Street artists always help each other out, show up at the fair with your cookies and your moves, do it a lot on Saturday night, this square is full of people, it'll be interesting for your business, you've got a very interesting move too, have you done ballet? Because of your flexibility" I just shrug.
"I've never done it, I just want to be a stage entertainer one day and show everyone how enchanting magic is" I say to them as I open my arms and the one who gave me the guitar strokes my head.
"That's the spirit of the thing, don't give up, the world will want to put you down, but you have to get over it, you'll be able to fulfil your dream like this" he said as he left.
I was jumping for joy, I have a guitar in my hands, I'm leaving it in a corner, I still have to focus on earning my money, but now I'm just under a thousand francs away from selling everything, I'm not going to make much profit today, but I've already learnt a valuable lesson, it will be enough to fill my pot, it's a shame I can't go out earning a lot of money every day, but it will come in handy.
[...]
I've sold everything now, there are no more cookies, now there's just the empty box, so I take it in my hand and sit on the bench in the square with the guitar in my hand and I start to run my finger over it trying to make some sound, then I see the movements of Pierre's hands playing, he was still receiving the money, I position my hand in a similar way and I start to feel the sound, it comes out in a really different way, I don't know how something came out, even if it was wrong.
This is fun, now I just have to keep doing it like this and more sound comes out, it goes differently as you put your fingers in those little spaces, that's it, and I use my fingers to play the notes, wow it's really cool, I've managed to do something.
"Hahahaha, you've really got yourself a guitar, haven't you?" Pierre said and I nodded in agreement.
"I heard and saw your attempts, you really tried to copy my chords just by eye and that's impressive, apart from playing using your fingers, this on a guitar with steel strings, you have very strong hands for someone your size, I'll give you a hand" he said and I smiled all excited.
"Ohhh thank you, is that good? Am I a good guitar player?" I ask the boy.
"You've got a lot of potential, just keep playing and practising and you'll learn, in a few months you can be just like me, if you practise every day you'll get even better" I'm even hopeful.
"I can't wait to get this good, I'm going to love being able to play the guitar a lot" I say happily.
"So let's get down to the basics, I'm going to teach you how to tune the guitar and also how to know if the sound is on the right note, you can find that out by ear, also what the notes are, we're going to learn something new every day, you really have potential if you know how to play well, more people will come to your Cookies" Pierre said.
He shows me how to tune the guitar and I understand the sound they make, it's really quite a remarkable sound as he turns the little thing, showing me the name of each note, something I already knew, I played a bit of piano at the Cavendish mansion when I was younger, I learnt to play a few songs, not at the level of mum Bernadette who played those complex songs full of notes, but I could play Happy Birthday to you, I see him play a few songs and I follow the positioning of my fingers.
Pierre helps me a lot, he knows how to make the notes come out well, he even makes me play a very basic song, it's the one by Nirvana, I didn't know it was so easy to do, now it all makes sense, I remember Mum Laura when she had a meeting with her friends and she would play these songs.
"You've already taken the easiest one, I think everyone who starts learning the guitar does this introduction on the guitar, you did it easily, you're doing well, let's keep going with the basics, you have to know what you're playing, that's the important thing, then unleash your creativity, I'm impressed that you're good with your ear, have you ever played before?" He asks and I nod my head in agreement.
"I learnt to play the piano with my mothers before I left their house. I didn't play much, but I know what each note sounds like" I say to the young man who strokes my head.
"You're really someone who was born for art, you exude it, your posters are well-designed and eye-catching, your dance moves and now your musical sense, what I would give to have such an enormous variety, you have a bright future ahead of you, don't forget that" said the boy who was caressing me.
We're continuing with the music lessons, he's teaching me how to make the chords, I think I'm getting the hang of it, I hope learning the guitar really works, I can use it to earn more money, I have to take advantage of it and create my reputation in Annecy, so far it's been neutral, the people at school don't mess with me, nor do I with them.
My father thought it would stop me, but I've already managed to earn 1500 francs, even if a lot of it is still spent on my livelihood, it's still good money.
[...]
I've learnt a few things, the sun has gone down, I haven't even had time to make any more cookies, well now I have to go home and I'm hungry too, I can't go so long without eating, before the old man comes to badmouth me because I didn't make his food, but the lesson was nice at least, I'll come back here often.
"Pierre, thank you very much, I'll be back tomorrow, I have to go home before my father gets upset, but it's been a great help, I think I can play the guitar" I say to him who touches my hand.
"Go on Chariot, you've learnt a lot today, tomorrow we'll take more chords, you've learnt a lot, by the way, keep making the cookies, they're very good" said the boy and I walked off home.
I'm walking down the road, full of confidence, with my new guitar, when I enter the house, I see that the food is smelling good, but it was just my dad watching a football match on the telly and eating something of his own, a shame, I've been hungry since early morning, it's good that there's something in the fridge, I can start making dinner at least.
"Did you remember you have a house? It took so long to make food that I decided to buy my own, don't think about touching the Coke, it's only mine, or ordering my food, make your own" he said looking at the television.
"I don't want your coke, I'd rather make juice, and I'm going to make you a real dinner, so you don't fill up on rubbish and end up with a health problem" I tell him and he just keeps watching.
I'm starting to get my hands dirty, I'm making the rice, seasoning the meat, cutting the vegetables, things that I had to learn on my own from the various cookery books and also with the help of the Chinese lady at the market who taught me a lot about cooking, for the short time I spent in Paris I was able to learn a lot, but now in Annecy I'm going to learn more.
"Working now? Don't think that's going to make it easier for you, girl, all that money you're earning, you're still going to have to spend it on food, I got a new job today, I hope you don't get up to anything in this city, I like this place, it's not as busy as Paris, don't embarrass me" And don't make me leave a place when I'm earning a reputation.
"And don't keep moving from place to place, don't go off without telling me first, I paid a lot for these furnishings and appliances, while you're there scratching your bum watching football" I say to him and he shrugs his shoulders.
"I don't want to leave Annecy, in fact I know you won't be able to get money that easily, you have to pay for everything here, well at least there's a big reserve left for me, you make the food here and keep the house clean, you have no idea how this extra reserve of money helps me" I do, the money Daryl gave you ran out and now you're taking advantage of it to make me spend money that was supposed to be for survival.
I'm just going to keep quiet, but I really wanted to reply and send my father to lots of places, I have to think ahead, if I do well living here in Annecy I can earn a lot more money than I did in Paris, he thought a small town would give me fewer chances.
On the contrary, everyone knows each other better, so it's much easier to attract attention, I just hope it fills my pot too.
[...]
Well it's time to go to bed, I've eaten a lot, I've spent a few hours practising the guitar and that's a good thing, my father couldn't stand me playing and went to his room, well here in the living room I'm free to sleep in peace, the spell has turned against the sorcerer, hahahaha, I'll never be disturbed at night at bedtime again, well now I have to go, tomorrow is a school day and I have to work to sell the Cookies, I still have a lot left over to make a thousand Francs.
"Good night Annecy" I switch off the light and lie down on the mattress, there's no room for a bed, but I'm making the most of it.
Ahhhhh, now I just have to start again, I'm going to wake up tomorrow at five in the morning and get the cookies ready to go to work selling at school, I'm going to leave some in my rucksack and see if I can sell them, I'm also going to sell them at break time, I'll come by and sell them in the square, when I go back to school I'll put them away and sell what I can, then I'll sell them in the square after school and go to my guitar lesson with Pierre, I think that's how it's going to be, I'm really looking forward to the fair on Saturday night. But everything is interrupted by my mobile phone ringing, it's always that damn mobile phone, I bought one so I could get in touch with people, unfortunately I didn't get the number of anyone in Paris, but I think I can get it from the people here, I see it's an unknown number and I pi
"[Did you miss me?]" I hang up on her.
"I missed you not answering" how did she find my number? I wonder if my dad passed it on to that bastard.
I sometimes forget that she exists, and is responsible for all this, I'm still going to get back at you Daryl, you shouldn't take me away from mums, just thinking about them gives me a strange nostalgia, it's been 10 months since I've seen them, do they really miss me? Have they forgotten? I don't know, but I really hope they're managing to move on and not give up on having a sister because of all this.
When I'm 18 I'll be able to graduate from Luna Nova and I'll go back to the Cavendish mansion, there won't be any restraining order, I'll be an adult woman and free, I'll go to any lengths to make it possible, so that one day I'll be by their side, and my sisters, from what I remember mums got two of those fertility stones, I'll protect them from Daryl's evil, whether you're near or far, know that I love you, even if you haven't even been born yet, I love you mums too... All I wanted was to be able to get away from this hell, my father is a horrible person.
"Here begins the most magical part and the best time I've ever lived in France, Annecy was the best city I'veever lived in, my father was always on the fence about moving, just when I was doing well in one place, all tostop me from earning money, which always made me go and spend things, he didn't want me to study inLuna Nova at any cost, but I didn't give up for a single day, I knew it was important to be in Luna Nova,because as well as being a dream of mine, I could be closer to my mums, But we're still in 2000, as youknow we have five years until I come to Luna Nova, you must have read in the biography that I mentionedthat Annecy is my favourite city in France and I have a huge affection for it, well, this will be told well from arealistic point of view, I think that of all the parts of that lying book of my biography, at least the one where Ilived in Annecy wasn't so distorted, except for the part where my father literally exploited me and made mepay for almost everything to survive at home."
See you, small town witches...