Mr. McGregor’s a nasty piece of work, isn’t he? Quite the Darth Vader of children’s literature. — Jasper Fforde

“He said you were very dangerous.”

“No more dangerous than anyone else who dares to speak the truth.”

It wasn’t going to be hard—it was going to be impossible. It wouldn’t deter me. I’d done impossible things several times in the past, and the prospect didn’t scare me as much as it used to.

I could almost see common sense and denial fighting away at each other within her. In the end, denial won, as it so often does.