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Chameleon (The Ripple Series)

Page 19

by Cidney Swanson


  LONG LOST

  “It appears, Mademoiselle Samanthe, that my cousin Girard and later his daughter Helga, have been after you for a quite interesting reason.” Here, Sir Walter blinked several times. “It would seem that my dear Elisabeth has a descendant yet alive, of whom I have remained in complete ignorance. However, the book that Will and Sam so imprudently removed from Helga’s possession has led me to this discovery. My very dear Samantha.” Here Sir Walter crossed to me and knelt on one knee, taking my hand. “You are descended in a straight line from my cousin Elisabeth de Rochefort.”

  I sat, stunned.

  “What?” asked Mickie. “Sam’s like, your great–granddaughter?”

  Sir Walter, now with tears freely streaming down his wrinkled face, laughed. “Well, more like a cousin some twenty times removed. But no less dear than a granddaughter.”

  I took his hand in mine. “That’s why they want me?”

  Sir Walter nodded. “I am afraid so.”

  “That’s why my mom died?”

  “I am so very sorry, my dear,” said Sir Walter.

  I nodded. Tears would come later, perhaps. Now I just felt … relief finally knowing why she’d been targeted.

  “And, this is also the reason you must allow me to offer you what protection I can,” said Sir Walter, his voice faltering.

  My eyes found Chrétien.

  “He’s your son, isn’t he, Sir Walter?” asked Will.

  His son? I thought to myself.

  “That’s my brother,” mumbled Mickie. “Pulling crazy ideas out of his—”

  “Yes, my friend.” Sir Walter’s reply cut across Mickie’s expletive. “His mother and I never married as you must have deduced.”

  “Was she Anglo–Norman?” asked Will.

  “She was.”

  Will turned to me and his sister. “When ‘fitz’ is put before someone’s name, it means ‘son of,’ so FitzWaldhart means Walter’s son. Generally a title given when the child was fathered out of wedlock. Back in the day.”

  “Chrétien,” I began. “May I ask how old you are?”

  Sir Walter’s son drew himself up to his full height of perhaps five feet, ten inches. “I am a man, full–ripe.”

  Mickie turned her snorting–laughter into a bad cough.

  Sir Walter spoke softly. “His birth was in 1638.”

  “Same as the Roi–Soleil,” said Will. “Louis the Fourteenth of France.”

  Chrétien bowed his head in acquiescence.

  Sir Walter spoke again. “He would be of great service. Chrétien has generously volunteered to act as your bodyguard.”

  ***

  “Your bodyguard?” asked Gwyn, not even attempting to keep her voice low as we shuffled through the Paris/Charles de Gaulle airport.

  “Shhhh!” I whispered. “He’s my cousin, okay?”

  “He’s my new hot boyfriend, you mean,” said Gwyn, checking out his derrière. “Will you look at those melons? Choice!”

  Gwyn kept up a steady stream of remarks like this as we inched forward to check our bags. Beside me, Will held my hand like his life depended on it. Sir Walter stood to one side with Chrétien and Mickie, deep in conversation.

  “So, wait,” said Gwyn. “Sir Walter is Will and Mickie’s uncle, right? And now he’s your uncle too? Aren’t you and Will concerned about … Well, I mean, that’s awkward.”

  I rolled my eyes and whispered back. “Sir Walter isn’t Mick and Will’s real uncle. And even if he were, there are so many generations between me and Sir Walter that I don’t think it would count anymore.”

  “Okay,” said Gwyn. “If you’re sure.”

  “Trust me on this one,” I said.

  Beside me, Will chuckled quietly.

  “Oh. Wait. That means it would be wrong if you hooked up with your bodyguard, huh?” asked Gwyn. “So that makes me first in line! Perfect!”

  “Please,” I replied, tugging at my roller–bag.

  We arrived at the airline counter.

  “‘Ow many of zee bags?” asked a cheerful and elegant Parisienne.

  “Just one,” I said.

  Will hoisted it onto the platform.

  My bag deposited, it was finally time to say goodbye to Will. My moon and my stars. The person I didn’t know how I was going to live without.

  “It’s just for a little while,” he whispered into my ear.

  “I know,” I said. I pressed against him as if to gather the warmth of his body so that I could carry it all the way back to California.

  “I don’t know how to say goodbye,” he murmured, his breath warm against my ear. “We can’t have you disappearing.”

  My stomach squeezed. I’d forgotten! We wouldn’t be able to share one last, lingering kiss. I held him tighter.

  “Ah!” he grunted. “Left chest and arm!”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, releasing him on that side.

  “I’ll be fine,” he said, smiling, tracing my lips with his forefinger. “We’ll say goodbye like the French, shall we?”

  “Au–revoir you mean?”

  “No,” Will chuckled. “Well, I mean, that too. But what I really meant is like that—over there.” He tilted his head to Sir Walter who was kissing Gwyn farewell on alternate cheeks: one–two–three–four times.

  I smiled. “It didn’t work to my advantage, the last time I kissed you on the cheek.”

  Will’s mouth pulled into a heartbreakingly beautiful smile. “Ah, but I’ve learned a thing or two since then.”

  We kissed one another one–two–three–four times and then a few more.

  Chrétien bowed to Will. “Upon mine honor, I shall shield her from harm.”

  “You do that,” said Will. To me, he whispered as he held me once again, “Au revoir, mon couer.”

  Somewhere in the warmth and sweetness of his breath upon my skin, I found the courage to reply. “‘Til we meet again, my love.”

  THE END

  Ready for more Will and Sam?

  The Ripple Trilogy

  Begins with

  Rippler (Book One)

  and continues in

  Unfurl (Book Three)

  Plus, coming Summer 2012

  The Official Ripple Trilogy Cookbook

  (Will’s Killer Pizza, Bridget Li’s

  Double Chocolate Cupcakes,

  and much, much more!)

  Sign up for my new releases email list and be the first to know!

  Visit www.cidneyswanson.com for updates.

  Thank you!

  Thanks for giving Chameleon a read; I hope you enjoyed it! If you have a moment, you can spread the word.

  Lend it. This e-book is lending-enabled. Share it with a friend!

  Review it. Tell others why you liked this story–even a line or two helps other people decide if it's for them or not. Email me about your review, too. I will gift you a copy of Unfurl as a small way of saying thanks!

  Want Books One and Three? Buy e-copies at Amazon Rippler. Unfurl

  More books on the way! Sign up for my New Releases email list on www.cidneyswanson.com

  Acknowledgements

  I have several people to thank for my twin interests in travel and language which hugely informed the writing of this tale. As a six–year–old, I fell in love with Spanish thanks to my Grandmother, Dorothy Rose, who opened the door into this lifelong fascination. For a bit of help with Chinese, I’m grateful to Lynne Yang. For a lot of French help, I am deeply grateful to Donna Evans, my high school French teacher.

  To all my Pampered Chef buddies: you guys rock! Thanks for getting me to France so I could visit Château de Chenonceau, thereby fulfilling a lifelong dream.

  My parents, Bill and Adele Rose, made sure I experienced a wide array of language and culture through annual summer trips, and I can never say thanks enough for those travels.

  Isabel, Toby, Rachael, and Katie: you are my rock–star beta–readers. I can’t imagine taking this writing journey without you! Jacob, thanks for making s
ure everything looked good, and Ryan, thanks for helping make sure things didn’t sound too lame.

  Natalie, you make me work harder than I think I want to, and it is always soooo worth it! Lastly, to my husband Chris, thank you for believing in me. What more could anyone ask for?

  Table of Contents

  WINTER CHILL

  GENESES

  BLACK BOOKS

  HELGA’S LAB

  WANTED

  IVANOVICH

  ÜBERMENSCH

  FRANCE

  SIR WALTER DE ROCHEFORT

  L’HISTOIRE

  PARIS

  GRAVITY

  NEEDLES

  THE MOTHER

  GWYN

  THE MOON AND THE STARS

  QUEEN OF RELATIONSHIPS

  JUST FRIENDS

  BAD GUY RADAR

  PAYBACK

  COLD AS ICE

  SHAM–SUNDAR

  THE WELL OF JUNO

  DR. GOTTLIEB

  REST IN PEACE

  WHAT IT MEANT

  RUNNING

  LONG LOST

  Table of Contents

  WINTER CHILL

  GENESES

  BLACK BOOKS

  HELGA’S LAB

  WANTED

  IVANOVICH

  ÜBERMENSCH

  FRANCE

  SIR WALTER DE ROCHEFORT

  L’HISTOIRE

  PARIS

  GRAVITY

  NEEDLES

  THE MOTHER

  GWYN

  THE MOON AND THE STARS

  QUEEN OF RELATIONSHIPS

  JUST FRIENDS

  BAD GUY RADAR

  PAYBACK

  COLD AS ICE

  SHAM–SUNDAR

  THE WELL OF JUNO

  DR. GOTTLIEB

  REST IN PEACE

  WHAT IT MEANT

  RUNNING

  LONG LOST

 

 

 


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