cloud-tiger once in a lifetime.â
âOh,â said Héloïse.
âBut you mustnât let that make you sad. Whenever you want to see me, just lie down in the grass and wait until a cloud-tiger cloud flies past. That will be me. And now go.â
Héloïse put her arms around the tiger for one last time.
âJust donât forget me,â she said.
The tiger raised his bandaged paw. âHow could I forget you? Iâve got your cloth with the paint spots.â
Héloïse stood at her window a little longer, watching the blue tiger as he bounded across the garden in a couple of great leaps. He jumped over the hedge, flew away over the treetops, making their leaves rustle softly, and then rose above the bright disc of the moon for a brief moment before he was finally lost against the dark night sky.
âI wonât forget you either, Tiger,â she said softly. âNever!â
When Héloïse woke up the next morning, the sun was shining brightly into the room, the window was wide open, and her clothes and her red painting bag were lying on the floor.
âGood morning, Héloïse,â said her mother, who had almost tripped over the satchel. âYou shouldnât just drop things on the floor all the time.â
âYes, Maman, but this time itâs different,â said Héloïse, sitting up in bed excitedly. âYesterday evening I went back to the park because Iâd forgotten my painting things, and my bag was still there but my picture had vanished, and then in the Grotto of the Four Winds I met a blue tiger who looked just like my picture, blue with silver stripes, and he could even talk, Maman, because he was a cloud-tiger, but heâd hurt himself on the rosebushes and I bandaged his paw, and then he let me ride on his back and we flew all over Paris together andââ Unfortunately, Héloïse had to stop for breath at this point.
âMy goodness,â said her mother with a laugh, stroking her daughterâs hair. âYouâve had a really adventurous dream. Thatâs probably because of all the chocolate cake you ate yesterday.â
âBut no, Maman, it wasnât a dream,â said Héloïse, leaping out of bed. âThe blue tiger was in our garden. He was standing here, outside my window, before he flew away again.â
She went over to the window and leaned out to look into the garden, which was calm and peacefulâactually just like every other morning. âIt was a cloud-tiger!â she insisted.
âA cloud-tiger ⦠well, well,â repeated her mother, amused. âIâm really glad that he didnât gobble you up. And now get dressed and Papa will take you to school.â
Héloïse was going to explain that cloud-tigers are no danger at all to children, but her mother had already left the room. âThat child really has a lively imagination, Bernard,â Héloïse heard her say as she went downstairs.
Héloïse wrinkled her forehead and thought as hard as she could. Could it really be true that she had just dreamed the whole thing? Thoughtfully she put on her dress and stared at the red bag with her painting things, which was still lying beside her bed. She lifted it and looked inside.
There was a box of watercolors, a couple of brushes, a sketch book with empty pages. An opened pack of cookies. The white rag with the paint spots was missing. And then Héloïse noticed something shiny right at the bottom of the bag.
It was a round, flat, sky-blue pebble!
âHéloïse, are you coming?â she heard her mother call.
âComing, Maman!â
Héloïse clenched her fingers tight around the smooth blue stone and smiled. What did grown-ups know about anything?
After school sheâd go to her friend Maurice and tell him the story of the blue tiger. And she was absolutely sure heâd believe her.
Long after sheâd read the last