The Monster Hunter's Manual by Jessica Penot

Author:Jessica Penot
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781780999326
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2014-06-26T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

The Lantern of the Dead

I didn’t know where Alex went. I didn’t even care. I spent the next hour practicing my French. I learned how to say How are you? and Where is the bathroom? I learned how to say a lot, when Aunt Perrine came in, I was happy to show her everything I had learned.

She sat with me and listened and checked my work. “Very good,” she said and slapped her hands together in delight.

“It is too bad your brozer didn’t study,” Aunt Perrine said with a sigh. She opened a bag and gave me my special treat. It was incredible and it wasn’t little. It was a small replica of an old castle with tiny knights, ogres and monsters. Each piece was perfect in its detail and the castle was so realistic I could almost see the moss on the gray stone.

“You like?” Aunt Perrine asked.

“I love it.” I threw my arms around her and hugged her. She hugged me back.

“I’m very glad you and your brozer are ’ere,” she said sweetly.

“Me too. I mean, out of every place we could have ended up, this is the best.”

“Merci.”

She took me in the kitchen and we ate a lunch of fresh bread, strange cheese, ham, and fruit. It was delicious. Even the Orangina was pretty good. I told Aunt Perrine about our life as we ate. I told her about our little house just outside the city and about our school. I told her about my friends and karate. I even told her about my favorite video games. She listened attentively.

“Do you miss it terribly?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I do. Sometimes I miss it so bad my chest hurts, but it’s not so bad here and you are really nice.”

“Merci. And what about brozer?”

“He misses our parents. He was always a little impulsive, but he’s gone a little bonkers lately.”

“Bonkers?”

“Yeah. You know, crazy?”

“Oh, yes. We all go crazy sometimes.”

I looked at Aunt Perrine and wondered how many secrets she kept hidden in the old castle. I knew nothing about Chateau Larcher. I didn’t even know when it was built. Big Foot could be hiding The Holy Grail in the basement for all I knew. “Tell me something about this castle. How old is it?”

“Zey built zee first walls around 900 and zey didn’t finish until 1066.”

“It’s a strange place.”

“Every place ’as secrets if you ’ave zee eyes too look.”

“My mom used to say that.”

“Your mamman was a very smart woman.”

Aunt Perrine seemed to like my mom. She smiled when she talked about her. She spoke with such fondness it seemed like they would have wanted to spend more time together. You would think they would have looked for every chance to visit and talk. I thought Aunt Perrine was someone my mother would have loved. I couldn’t imagine what fight my father could have had with her to keep them apart for so long. “What did you and my father fight over?” I asked.

“Hmmm,” she said thoughtfully.

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