by Tia Wilson
He gestured towards her and said, “May, I am to be your driver, please come.”
He had a ruddy complexion and a shiny bald pate. His smile was wide and friendly and his dazzling green eyes twinkled as he greeted her. The man was well dressed in a tailored suit. “I am your driver for as long as you stay here. I have been ordered to drop you off at the apartment so you can freshen up. Then if you so wish I will take you to the Everbrook chateau.”
May stood stock still not sure what to do, it all felt like some sort of extraordinary dream. Why had Quint lived the way he had and for so long if he clearly had money?
“I am Saul Guile, it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said taking Mays hand gently in his as he opened the back door and she entered the car in a dream like state.
May got in and the door was closed on whisper quiet hinges. Immediately the smell of the rich beige leather of the seats filled her senses. Everything was awash with the finest leathers and mahogany inlays. The interior of the car was fancier and plusher then her small London flat. Saul got in and the dividing partition between passenger and driver which was made of a thick smoky glass retracted.
He turned slightly and said to her, “I will first take you to the town of Mougins were you will be staying and after that we go to the chateau. If you have any questions please ask me and I will endeavour to answer as many as possible.” He turned to the steering wheel and with a purr the car pulled away from the airport and headed off.
May ran her hands across the supple leather of the seat thinking she could get used to this.
“Can you tell me anything about Quint Everbrook and his family?” she asked.
Saul cleared his throat and spoke in his musical french accent, “I am not at liberty to divulge a lot of information about the family. What I am allowed to say is that Quint was a great and sometimes misunderstood man. He made a lot of sacrifices for his family that they will never be aware of. I have worked for him for twenty-five years and I have a profound respect for him and his legacy.”
“You were his driver for twenty-five years?” May asked.
“Yes I was, and sometimes more than that. I was the only confidant he had, when the vultures came out of the shadows I was the only one he could trust. Quint was a man who believed in loyalty. All I can say is that if Quint choose you for this task then I have to abide by it and trust in his instincts.”
The last few words of his sentence were said with a kind of exasperated rudeness that May wasn't sure if it was a cultural difference or that he was actually annoyed with her somehow.
“What exactly does he want me to do?” May asked, “His letter wasn't very specific, all he asked me to do was talk to his son.”
“Then that is what you must do,” Saul said curtly and hit the switch to raise the glass partition.
Over the intercom he said, “We will arrive at the town of Mougins in approximately thirty minutes.”
May gazed out the window at the french countryside speeding by. Very little sound leaked in from outside giving the progress of the car a floaty dreamlike quality. The wide open vineyards beside the road gave way to a thick forest as the car wound its way up hill towards the small town of Mougin. The town sat atop a hill and was surrounded by a thick wall. The interior streets curled around in every decreasing circles giving the street map which was now displayed on the heads up display in front of May a shell like appearance. A small red spot on the map marked Mays destination.
As the car slowed down and stopped at the gates of the town the intercom crackled again and Saul said, “Follow the lefthand street for a few metres and look for the door with waves engraved on it. Thats your apartment for the duration of your stay. I will wait here while you freshen up.”
May got out of the car and slung her small carry on bag over here shoulder. The rich smell of olives and citrus filled the air around her and the sun beat down from the clear blue sky. As instructed she followed the first street on the left and it curved gently uphill. The street was cobbled with well scuffed and worn stones and houses crowded in on each side of the street. The street was bathed in shade and a slight cool breeze chilled the air.
May passed a tiny bakery whose window was filled with ornate and filigreed pastries topped with bright pastel icing. Next door was a shop with dried meats hanging in the window. Nets hung from the ceiling containing arm thick rolls of peppered salami and the towns speciality of dried and spiced goat meat. Further on a brightly lit shop window had massive wheels of cheese stacked in neat piles, ranging from a milky white colour to the orange of a blistering sunset. Rolls of cheese covered in nuts lay stacked beside triangular cheeses covered in a thick and furry covering of mould. Every where she looked was a tiny shop filled with different kinds of meats, or cheeses, all crammed in between rustic two story houses.
Flanked by two potted lemon trees she found what she was looking for. A large wooden door heavily varnished with an intricate mural of a ship braving a stormy sea. To the left of the door was a shop whose window was filled with large clay urns filled with olive oil of the deepest green she had ever seen. On the right side of the door in a space no bigger than a car parking spot was squeezed a tiny cafe with two chairs outside. A man in a cream suit and dark sunglasses sipped an espresso and nodded at her when she stopped at the door. She returned the nod with a smile.
Her hands trembled slightly as she slide the key into the keyhole and turned it with a satisfying thud. The door opened smoothly and she entered and closed it behind her. A thin beam of sunlight dappled on the cobbles of a small interior courtyard. Directly across from May was another door which lead to the apartment. She paused in the courtyard and stood looking at the sun bleached bricks of the house. Carved into some of the stonework were seashells and on others were carved octopi with legs wrapped around large fish. She ran her fingers along one of those carvings as she tried the handle of the door to the apartment. It opened without needing a key and when she entered it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior. A small set of stairs curled up to the second floor and May followed them up. She entered the room at the top of the stairs and it opened into a large bedroom with a four poster bed draped in a gauzy silk covering. Bowls of freshly picked lemons and oranges where on a table in the corner. The large window opened out onto a small balcony overlooking the interior courtyard. Everything about the room was simple and understated. The walls were a bright egg shell white and the whole room was radiant and airy. May couldn't believe where she was, it was a huge change from her dreary and grey single room flat back in rainy London.
Leading off the bedroom was a small bathroom and May freshened up quickly not wanting to leave the gruff Saul waiting too long. She would check out the rest of this place when she got back from the chateau. She was still not sure what she was going to say to Quints son. What did she really know about the man? Even after ten years of taking care of him he had never opened up to her until the night of his death. She could feel tears begin to sting her eyes thinking about it, the past day had felt like she was in a waking dream.
When she returned to the car Saul was sitting on a small stone bench in the shade of the wall which protected the town. He smiled at her as she approached and continued to fan his face with a large white handkerchief.
“Was the apartment to your liking?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s a beautiful place. I have never been in a town quite like this before,” she replied.
“This was Mr Everbrooks favourite getaway. He would come here to relax and to write. When he was here nobody would disturb him. I had one of the chateau maids prepare the place for you this morning. I hope everything was to your satisfaction?”
“Tell the maid thank you. The place looked beautiful. Can you tell me anything about Quints sons before I meet them?”
Saul wrinkled up his nose as he thought and spoke in a measured voice, “It’s not my place to say anything about them. Mr Everbrook left me strict instructions that you should meet them
and talk. That is all I know, he was a man of detail and I am not about to break any of his rules now. All you have to do is talk to his son and after that you can enjoy the apartment for the rest of your stay. If that is all we will get going.”
They drove for an hour through vast vineyards which then gave way to fields of olive trees. Row upon row of gnarled and twisted olive trees with a ripe green harvest hanging from the twisted branches. The green olives gave way to rows of trees with black olives hanging bountiful from the branches. The sky was a smear of blue and below it as if smudged by a finger through paint the tightly packed trees whizzed by.
The car took a gently inclining road into a verdant bright green forest that crowded the sides of the road. The over hanging branches hid the azure sky from view and the sun dappled through the canopy of leaves as the car sped ever onwards. May dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands and clenched and unfurled her fingers repeatedly. It was a habit she had formed as a young girl, something that would stave off rising panic. Her knuckles cracked loudly as she flexed and she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. The closer they got to the chateau the more she felt uncomfortable in her skin as if it was two sizes too small for her. May had no idea what she was going to say to Quints son, she felt like she was wading through a chest high pool of honey. No matter how much she pushed forward she felt like she was getting no where. She thought to herself, just wing it. Spend a couple of minutes taking to the son about his father and then get back to the beautiful apartment and enjoy the rest of your week in the charming little town of Mougins. Surely a few minutes of awkward conversation with a stranger would be worth it for a week in a beautiful location, she reasoned with herself.
The car glided to a stop across from a large iron gate which was flanked by two stout pillars carved from black rock. Atop one side of the gate was a tiny sail boat fashioned from twisted metal. On the other gate stood a huge wave about to crash onto the boat across from it.
Saul turned and said, “We have arrived at Everbrook estate. The family have lived here for many generations. Now it is only occupied by Quints two sons. The estate is but a shadow of its former self due to decades of neglect. This is where I leave you. I am not permitted onto the grounds. Follow the path for a few minutes and you will find what Mr Everbrook hoped for. I will wait for you here for how ever long it takes.”
Saul got out of the car and opened the door for May. She felt herself exit the car as if in a dream and blinked as twinkling sparks of light hit her from between the green canopy as she crossed the road to the imperious gates. She glanced back at Saul and he was intensely watching her from the air conditioned interior of the car. She turned and put her hand on the cold iron of the gate and unlatched the smaller gate for pedestrians and then entered Quint Everbrooks estate.
The air was chill and the sound of countless insects hummed in the trees surrounding the path. She began following it and soon it turned away from the gate and May felt like a girl in a fairytale on her way to meet a wicked witch or maybe a lascivious wolf. At first the air was filled with the earthy fragrance of hundreds of years old trees surrounding her as she continued onwards. She turned another corner and her nose wrinkled with the sudden change of smell. The air was filled with the scent of burning and she could start to hear the crackle of a fire over the thrum of insects and the chirps of the birds hidden in the forest.
The trees began to thin out and the road widened until after another turn in the path she entered the open forecourt of the chateau. Set back away from the forest path sat the main building covered in a thick layer of ivy and other succulents. Several windows on the top floor glinted in the sun and a sparkle of light coming from the upper floor momentarily blinded her as it played across her face. Even from this distance she could see that parts of the once grand building where crumbling. In front of the chateau where two wide open fields divided by a path of crushed sea shells. In another era the grass would have been clipped short and the gardens tended to by a group of gardeners. The grass stood waist high and was dotted with rampant clumps of tough weeds.
In the field to the left of the house May saw the source of the burning. A large bonfire was raging and she could make out piles of furniture crackling in the flames. A man stripped to his waist was throwing handfuls of paper into the flickering fire. He would pick up boxes of files and tip them into the pyre in quick fluid motions. May headed in that direction thinking that this man was probably some sort of groundskeeper.
As she got closer she could see him more clearly. He did not notice her as he continued to upend box after box of files into the hungry flames. His naked torso was streaked with sweat and soot and May could see the finely honed muscles of his bare midriff flex every time he hoisted a box into the air. His shoulders and arms where broad and muscled and May guessed this was from years of physical labour outdoors. His hair was cropped short and black as a ravens feathers. His jaw was clenched tight as he continued in his work and he reminded May of an image of man she had once seen on an old advertisement for cigarettes in one of her mothers magazines. The man had been a rugged looking outdoors type who was leaning up against a car and staring off into the distance with his steely blue eyes. Looking at this picture had made May feel a funny warm glow in her stomach every time she gazed upon it. She had snuck that magazine into her room a couple of times and every time she flicked to his picture her stomach did a tiny somersault. That was how this man before the bonfire looked to her and May also noticed her heartbeat speed up a little and her stomach do a pleasurable flutter as she grew closer to him.
He was focused intently on what he was doing and did not notice her approach. The flames reached high into the blue sky and pages fluttered down around May as she got closer. The man lifted a heavy looking chest of drawers above his head, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexed like coiled steel as he held the piece of furniture aloft. The reflection of the flames danced in his eyes as he turned and noticed May. Something flashed across his face that May could not discern, was it anger? Or the briefest look of guilt? Whatever it was didn't last long as he cracked a wide smile and threw the dresser into the roaring flames. The chest of drawers spun in the air and then crashed into the bonfire sending up a sea of red sparks which drifted and then extinguished in the light breeze. Is this the big bad wolf? May thought to herself as sparks rained down on to the man seemingly unnoticed by him. He stood there smiling as his chest rose and fell from the exertion. May tried to keep her eyes from not wandering down and looking at his muscled torso as she approached him.
“You are a little early,” he said, cocking his head to the side like an inquisitive dog.
A smile briefly curled the corner of his lips and for a split second May got the feeling that she should turn around and leave right away. The feeling passed and she stood across from him, the heat from the fire prickled uncomfortably against her skin and she moved back a few steps. He smiled again as she moved further away from the scorching flames.
He slowly circled May and she got the distinct feeling of prey under an apex predators gaze.
“You are a little chunkier than my usual choice and a little blacker then I usually prefer. Was my usual girl not available?” he asked as he reached out to touch Mays hair.
She swatted his hand away in shock and anger at his comments, already this was not going as she had imagined. She tried to speak and it felt as if her jaw was wired shut. She had never been mistaken for a prostitute before and she could feel her checks burn at the thought.
“I am here to talk to you about your father,” she said more timidly then she expected.
The change that came across him was instantaneous, the devilish cast to his eyes and the slightly teasing tone to his voice disappeared like smoke in a breeze. He bristled and clenched his fists and his shoulders seemed to swell with anger.
“I have never had a father. Get off my property now,” he bellowed as he balled his fists against his side. His eyes bulged in his head as he c
lenched his teeth.
Was he going to hit me? May wondered to herself. She found herself automatically backing away from his rage and never taking her eyes off him as if he would pounce on her at any moment. The blast furnace of his anger hit her head on and she could already feel hot tears sting her eyes. May tried to splutter out a few more words and was stopped in her tracks when he shouted a deep guttural yell of “Go now,” directly in her face. She turned and fled towards the forest glancing back once in fear that he was following her. He stood close to the bonfire with his back to her, his shoulders rising and falling and his head hanging down. Mays heart beat painfully in her chest as she made her way back towards the gate. She wanted to get as far away from that man as possible. She thought to herself that she had never seen someone get so angry so fast before, it was if a light had been switched on. All May wanted to do was get back to the apartment and book the next flight home. What had she been thinking following an old mans crazy instructions. She had tried and failed.