French Leave by Mark Hayden

Author:Mark Hayden [Hayden, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy
Amazon: B089H2RWFP
Publisher: Paw Press
Published: 2020-06-23T20:00:00+00:00

9 --- Acceleration

'I thought the French were supposed to be mad drivers,' I said as we drove out of the little village.

'They are,' said Alain. 'Unless they drive a rental car, like this. I have signed all the papers in my own name. When we get to Mme Ménard's house, shall I speak first?'

'You'll get used to this, Alain,' I replied carefully. 'When you're with a Mage and you meet another Mage, they won't care about you, no matter how good looking you are. She'll know that I have magick before she answers the door. Can you teach me something to say so I stop her slamming the door in our faces?'

Alain still can't get his head around the fact that I don't speak a word of French. Not one. I did Spanish for two years at mundane school and was excused languages at boarding school for "special lessons". Magick, in other words. I still had to do games, though. Urgh. He also can't believe that this was my first visit.

He thought for a moment, then said something in French.

'You what?'

He said it again, more slowly. I still didn't get it.

'Never mind, I'll stick to Latin.'

'You speak Latin?'

'Of course not, but every Mage in Europe understands in pacem. In peace.'

'Let's have another go. Just five words, and you know the first two already. Bonjour Madame.'

Okay, so maybe I did know two words of French. 'Bonjour Madame,' I repeated.

A pained look came over his face. He kept his eyes on the road and sighed.

'What?'

'The word Bonjour has a zh sound not a j sound. Never mind. Just listen to the noises I make.'

'Hey! Have I ever complained that you call me Veekee, not Vicky? No, so wind your neck in.'

He shook his head again. 'Forget about the words. Just listen, OK? Right. Zhevey Anne.'

'Zhevey Anne.'

'On Pay.'

'On Pay.'

'Zhevey Anne on Pay.'

'Zhevey Anne on Pay.'

'Good. We will quit while we are ahead, as Rachael says at the casino.'

That was ever so slightly alarming. 'Do you go often?'

He realised what he'd said. Alain is very good at Chinese Walls -- keeping his relationships with Conrad and Rachael apart.

He shrugged. He does that a lot. 'Only one time. I was her guest with a potential client. He lost 20K in the evening while Rachael made two. He is not a very good client.'

He was lying. His accent may be dodgy, but his English is too good. He said Rachael says, meaning more than once. I left it there, and we were soon at the Super-U.

'We have a while, no?' said Alain.

'Aye.'

'Good. Excuse me.'

He was half way out of the car with a holdall before I could say, 'Howay, man, where are you going?'

'There is a Tabac here. Conrad and I need supplies. I won't be long.'

'You're a bad influence on each other,' I called out to his retreating back. You'd think it would be warmer in Brittany. Perhaps it was, but it was also damp and windy. Autumn was well under way here. I looked

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.