The Foxes Come at Night by Cees Nooteboom

Author:Cees Nooteboom [Nooteboom, Cees]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC000000 FICTION / General
Publisher: Quercus

18

For several summers that followed I did not go to Liguria. I could not decide whether I wanted to keep my house there. Philip found people to rent it to every season, and Andrea saw to its periodical airing in winter to prevent infestations of mould. Whether Heinz’s death had anything to do with it I do not know, but in any case I stayed on the other side of the Alps. I did not return until five years later. After a few days Andrea suddenly asked me to go out riding with her. I am no horseman, as she well knew. I picked a docile horse specially for you. Needless to say we talked about Heinz, and about Molly. Molly’s thrown herself into becoming an old lady. She really works at it. A traditional role, been around for centuries: elderly Englishwoman in Italy, ha ha. She reined in her horse. We were high on the hill overlooking the village. From there you could see the sea, the inlet with Heinz’s cottage. The sea was choppy again that day. She threw me a look over her shoulder, her face tanned and smooth beneath the red velvet cap. She had aged, too, but not with Molly’s abandon. She still rode every Sunday, in competition.

Heinz wanted to be alone with his death, it was as simple as that. He didn’t need us around. He’d always known that, ever since Arielle. She steered her horse round, the better to confront me. No-one ever understood what he saw in Arielle. Gossamer.

I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what it was. She was almost not touchable. She was ethereal, if you will, or diaphanous, but will-o-the-wisp is better. A bit like when someone’s singing very beautifully, but in the next room. That’s why all the men were attracted to her, not least Philip. But it’s also why Heinz wanted to keep her to himself.

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