Whispering in French

by Sophia Nash

  Russ’s shout to lower him down to the narrow ledge in front of the bunker brought my thoughts back to the scene in front of me. He held the jackhammer in his arms as they fed line into the pulley to lower him.

  Grandfather was in his wheelchair at the edge of the pea gravel bordering the gates. Mlle Lefebvre was so nervous she had her withered hand on his shoulder. La Comtesse de Bergerac stood discreetly next to the baker, who handed her what looked like a raspberry macaroon before wiping his hands on his large white apron. Even one of the German cyclists had stayed behind the pack to lend a hand. Lily had Winnie and Charles by the hand while Youssef and Magdali had Solange’s hands in their own. The only people who were not there were Claire and Edward Soames.

  I turned and shaded my eyes to look at the third-floor window. And I could make out their faces. He in a chair and she standing beside him. What would become of them?

  It was hard to know. Each would have to give more than they probably had any idea they would have to contribute to save the union. Pride would be the bitterest of all the emotions to swallow. And having to give what the other needed when the past had shown they would receive less than what they specifically needed in return was a close second. Could they lower their defenses and allow love to grow up the columns to their hearts? Only time would tell.

  The earsplitting pounding of metal against concrete echoed all around. I walked to the stone guardrail of the cliff wall and looked down. Russ wore dark glasses and a navy bandana to guard his nose and mouth from the dust. He’d pushed aside a veil of vines and a practically impenetrable bunker nearly flush with the cliff was slightly exposed. The Nazis had even drilled an uneven trail of crisscrossing lines to camouflage the bunker. It was going to take hours to make a dent in it.

  I checked on my grandfather, who assured me he wanted to stay with Mlle Lefebvre. She was beside herself with worry for her cat. The relative quiet of the villa beckoned and I mounted the stairs.

  Edward’s bedchamber door was open and a brown herringbone patterned piece of luggage sat inside his room next to Claire’s feet. Her gaze rose from her husband seated in the wheelchair we’d secured for him yesterday.

  “Are you off, then?” I took a step in their direction.

  She nodded. “Won’t you come in?”

  I did as she bade.

  “Phillip is driving me to the airport, but it seems we have a slight alteration, if you agree.”

  “What can I do?”

  Edward wheeled the chair closer to the door and his wife followed. “Claire has agreed to return alone and leave the children here with me until the doctors say I can return to England for the surgery. May Winnie and Charles continue on here too? I realize it’s an imposi—”

  “Of course they can stay,” I interrupted. “There’s no question. I was dreading when they would leave!”

  Claire pursed her lips. “Thank you, Kate. We’re much obliged. I think it safer if they’re here whilst I have all the temporary ramps installed in our cottage, and they do have a few more weeks of holiday.”

  So he was going back to her. I smiled.

  His face was tight, but he nodded. “Until I leave, I’ll continue to try to solve your roof problem. But I should warn you that the lowest price I could find was roughly forty-eight thousand euros.”

  I swallowed.

  “It’s a rather large surface, Kate.”

  Claire’s gaze ping-ponged between us. “Alright then, I shall leave you both to it. Phillip is waiting to take me to the airport and I must say good-bye to the children.” She leaned down and pressed a quick kiss on the top of her husband’s head, but didn’t wait for his kiss in return. She took my hand and kissed my cheek. “I shall pop a proper note in the post, but I do want to thank you again for your warm hospitality.”

  “Claire, you’ve been indispensable here and I really don’t know what we’re going to do without you,” I replied.

  “Yes, well, bye-bye, then.” She clasped the handles of her small valise and started down the carpeted stairs.

  I turned to Edward, who was staring at his wife’s rigid back descending the steps. “Would you like me to bring you some tea?”

  “You know I only drink coffee. And, yes, please.”

  “Right. Black. Just came up for a sweater. The season is ever changing. It’s getting much colder in the afternoons.”

  “You’ve been spending too much time among us.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “You’re starting to talk about the weather. It’s an unfortunate English trait. Instilled at birth.”

  “Got it. Will refrain from small talk.”

  “Especially to deflect uncomfortable topics.”

  I burst out laughing. “Well I would say you’re spending too much time with me since you seem to have mastered the art of diving right into the potentially embarrassing and obvious. So you’ve chosen to go back to Claire.”

  “I have.”

  “I’m so glad.”

  “I’m not.”

  An awkwardness grew. I let it.

  “Sometimes you have to defer happiness, Kate. You know that. You taught me well by example. I won’t risk my children’s sense of security. They’re far too young to understand that their parents would be better off apart. I’ve done a lot I am not proud of. But I won’t do that. If nothing improves by the time they leave for university, I’ll depart then.”

  “So you’ll limp along.”

  “Yep. Figuratively and physically.” He smiled and it was the first time I’d seen him do that in a long time.

  “I understand. More than you know. And I respect your decision even if I think you should give counseling a try if only to make things more bearable.”

  “Always trying to promote your profession I see.”

  “If you say so,” I retorted, joking. “But I’d rethink your course to martyrdom. And that is a major concession from me.”

  “Is it? Why?” His eyes were in a ray of light coming in from a window. They were more blue than gray.

  “Because you’ve taught me the opposite. That it’s truly all right to go after what you want and to take no prisoners or have regrets when you do.”

  He scratched the back of his head. “Soon you’ll start chastising and then where will you be?”

  “Let’s hope not in a war zone.”

  He wheeled closer to me. “Isn’t that what marriage is?”

  “Not one I’d ever participate in again.”

  He studied me, looked as if he was about to say something, but then changed his mind. “Okay then, go along and get my coffee, please. And don’t forget your jumper.”

  I wondered if he would ever allow himself to be vulnerable longer than a sentence or two. Maybe it was just the starchy Brit in him. Well, I had a few more weeks to rub a little sentimental cowboy into the prig. Then again, I wasn’t sure he wasn’t more content in his own private world of thought where he probably only unleashed his emotions alone in the cool, dark hours of the night.

  I gave him a mock salute and he shook his head. “You’ll never get it bloody right, Hamilton. Stop trying so damn—”

  At that second, the mayor shouted from below. “Viens vite, madame!”

  Come quickly? What now?

  “Go,” Edward ordered. “Forget about the coffee. Here, take my jumper.” He tossed the huge gray sweater from his shoulders.

  I KNEW IT was something bad. I knew it as I flew down the stairs. And yet, the worse things got in life here, the calmer I became.

  Phillip’s car was gone and the crowd of onlookers had swelled. From the top step of the entry, I could see Lily handing the massive hissing orange tabby cat, with her tail and paws swinging like a prizefighter, to Mlle Lefebvre, who was screeching with joy and calling the cat some very interesting names. Our other neighbor, Pierrot, had a boxer on a leash and I wondered if this was the one that had gone missing.

  I called to Youssef. “Youssef? Could you tell Major Soames about this? And bring
him some coffee? I’m sure he’s worried.”

  “Of course, madame,” he replied.

  Russ was being hauled over the side of the now crumbling cement barrier of the cliff. He was bare-chested, drenched, and held what looked like a bundle in the confines of his dripping shirt.

  His eyes met mine and he grinned. He was not a man I could ever imagine having an unhappy day. It did not appear to be in his genetic makeup. And it made me smile as I walked to him.

  Jojo was jabbering at my side. “We have a very, very grand problème, madame. I do believe M. Nation has ruptured a water line. There is water flooding from the bunker. And, I am sorry to say that this is on Madeleine Marie’s property. So you are responsable.” He clucked a few times like the cockerel he was.

  “This cannot be my problem or responsibility,” I said calmly. “It’s not on our property. It’s part of the cliff.”

  “Alors, Mme Hamilton, that is not correct, actually. I am intimately aware of the site plan for the villa and there is no question this is your problème. Your family owned all of this land before there was even a dirt path for donkeys. You also own the very small park at the bottom of the cliff. The only thing you do not own is the road.”

  “And why are you intimately aware of the villa’s site plan?”

  Jojo had the decency to look embarrassed. We both knew he had probably measured every last square foot of the property to attempt to buy it out from under our noses.

  Youssef returned with Soames’s wheelchair and parked it next to my grandfather before returning to the villa.

  Russ held out the bundle of his shirt toward me just as Youssef wheeled my grandfather closer, Lily and Charles on his heels.

  “Well, whoever is responsible for fixing this should probably act quickly. There’s quite a bit of water seeping into the bunker. But at least I saved this little guy. I don’t know if he’s another pet or just local wildlife, but he looked tame, and out of place,” said Russ as he handed the bundle to me.

  I grasped the ends of the shirt. “What is it?”

  Russ smiled. “Not a joey, I can tell you. That’s a baby kangaroo, by the by. Never seen one of these. I think it’s a hedgehog.”

  “Let me see,” said Jean. “We used to have un hérisson, a hedgehog, in the gardens. They are harmless and actually quite wonderful in the garden as they keep out slugs.”

  “Winnie! Winnie!” Charles called out behind him, looking about frantically. “Where’s my sister?”

  “Charles, what’s wrong?” Worry marked Lily’s forehead.

  “That’s Michael. I just know it! He went missing when we came here the last time. He somehow escaped his cage whilst in Great-Uncle Phillip’s garden. Oh, Win will be so happy. Where is she?”

  “I’ll find her,” Lily said already half running. “I think she’s in the back garden.”

  “So what happened, Russ?” I placed a hand on my grandfather’s wheelchair.

  “That bunker was made to withstand a nuclear bomb I think. Never seen so much concrete and interior iron scaffolding. I was hammering at what looked to be a weaker spot on one side near the opening. I just needed enough space so I could slip inside. I can’t figure out how the dog got in there to begin with, until he slithered out like a snake before I was even in. That damn cat was not coming out, and I could see the outlines of a creature next to her. I thought it was a kitten or two. Anyway, she wasn’t leaving without him. I can tell you that. What I can’t figure out is how he got in there.”

  Youssef appeared, carrying Soames, and placed him in the empty wheelchair. The major’s face was white with pain.

  Russ made room for him in the circle.

  “Mlle Lefebvre thanks you, M. Nation,” Jean said. “I thank you. I’ve never seen her so happy.”

  “Hey,” Edward said, “is that my daughter’s hedgehog? By God, it is.” He picked it up from Jean’s lap. “Michael? Where have you been? On a great explore? You bad hedgehog, you.”

  Winnie came tearing around the corner of the villa, her red-ribboned pigtails flying and her legs churning through the pea gravel, Lily and Max brought up the rear. Winnie stopped short of the two wheelchairs. “Michael? Oh, Michael! Oh, please let me have him. Is he okay, Father?”

  “Better ask the man who rescued him. Mr. Nation.” He handed the hedgehog, which was curled in a tight ball with only his little snout peeking out, to his daughter.

  “Oh, Mr. Nation!” Winnie said, her eyes shining. “Where did you find him? I looked everywhere! Thank you, thank you. Oh, I can never thank you enough!”

  Max whined and pawed Winnie’s pant leg.

  “Max is jealous, Winnie,” said Lily. “May I hold Michael? I’ve never seen one.”

  “Of course,” Winnie said, and handed her the shy, little creature. Max immediately jumped into Winnie’s arms, all seventeen pounds. She dropped down under the weight and began laughing as Max licked her.

  “Look how adorable he is, Mom,” Lily said.

  I examined the little snout. “He fits right in here. A complete introvert, literally,” I replied.

  “Is someone going to please pay attention to the water issue,” Jojo moaned. “Alors. I fear for the stability of the cliff.”

  “What?” What the hell was wrong with me? Dallying with hedgehogs—

  “What is he talking about?” Edward’s voice cut through the chatter.

  “While I was hammering at the concrete to get inside,” Russ inserted, “water began pouring onto the floor. Little critter could have drowned. Don’t know what I hit with the jackhammer.”

  I darted to the road and peered over the side of the barrier fence. Water was seeping out of the mouth of the bunker. Not at an alarming rate, but fast enough for a neophyte like me to understand that it should be fixed as soon as possible.

  I pulled out my iPhone and searched for the name of the cliff engineer the banker had told me about what seemed like eons ago. Right, a Mme Jaragoltxe. I dialed her, and then hoped she wouldn’t take offense at my attempt to pronounce her name.

  Not only did she not take offense, she laughed.

  “I speak English perfectly,” she said. “And I live not three minutes from your villa. I know it well and will come right away.”

  I ended the call and, as I did, the sound all around me seemed to close off as I looked up and saw the tips of the blue tarps capping Madeleine Marie flapping in the breeze. I turned and peered down at the water running down the cliff.

  And then I tried to call the insurance company again, for what seemed like the hundredth time. A busy signal.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Lily said from behind me. “You know that, right?” I whirled around to face her. Magdali and Mlle Lefebvre, holding the enormous cat, were beside her.

  I knew a good mother would comfort her. Would pretend everything was, indeed, going to be all right. That’s what I’d always done in the past. Yeah, and look where that had gotten me. “No, Lily, I don’t know that. Right now I’m worried about the stability of the cliff. You saw what happened to the Soameses’ villa.”

  Youssef wheeled up Edward.

  “Lift me out of this damned chair,” he said, looking at Youssef. “I need to see how bad it is.”

  Youssef and I hauled him out of the chair seat to see the cliff face. He studied it then turned toward the villa. It looked like he was mentally calculating the distances. He was sweating despite the cool air.

  “Edward, stop,” I said. “The engineer will be here any minute. I called a Mme Jaragoltxe, who apparently is an expert on the cliff and—”

  “Evacuate everyone,” he said quietly, firmly.

  “What?!”

  “Now,” he replied.

  It’s funny how, looking back, I realize that was the precise point when I lost my legendary ability to stay calm in any situation. I suspect I looked something like a cartoon animation when they run past a cliff and their legs are spinning in thin air. Well, that’s what it felt like. Little did I know then that i
t was only the beginning.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It felt like we were preparing Noah’s Ark. Magdali, Lily, and I lined up everyone from the villa, and all the animals two by two. Jojo was in his element—bullhorn in hand, shouting at all onlookers to disperse immédiatement, calling in police with yards of yellow danger zone tape. Pierrot had announced he and his wife would not leave their villa. Mlle Lefebvre was sticking with us, but was worried for her cat, so was hand-feeding her sardines out of a can.

  “No, you cannot go back into the villa, Grandfather,” I shouted. “Youssef, get him in one of the cars. Now!”

  Thank God, Phillip Soames had made it back from the airport.

  “But where are we going to go?” Charles moaned.

  “He’s right, you know,” Russ said. “There’s not a hotel room to be had anywhere.”

  I thought quickly. “Well, the way I see it, we have two choices. We can either go to the church, or we can stay here, but camp in the acres beyond the most distant flower beds.”

  “Do you own that land?” Edward asked.

  “We do. It’s just gone wild. It’s the largest parcel in the region. The size of maybe five football fields? I’m no good with distances.”

  “Oh, let’s camp,” Winnie said. “I love camping.”

  “Well,” said Mlle Lefebvre, “I do not like camping and I suspect neither will your grandfather or M. Soames and Major Soames. I have just enough bedrooms for them so they are invited to stay.

  A moment later, it was settled despite grumbling from Edward. Youssef was tasked with getting all of them organized.

  Mme Jaragoltxe walked over to our group, a notebook in hand. “This is going to need extensive repair. That is the bad news. La bonne nouvelle—the good news—is that it is not a water main break. There are no water lines that close to the end of the cliff. This is something else.”