The Parisians by Marius Gabriel

Author:Marius Gabriel [Gabriel, Marius]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503905047
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2019-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

On Sunday evening she returned to the vineyard to keep her appointment with Jack. It was full summer and there was warm sunlight on the terraces, making the vine leaves glow like jade.

To her alarm, there were two German soldiers in the vineyard, rifles slung over their shoulders, walking slowly between the rows. She almost turned back. But watching them, she decided they were more interested in the vines than in anything else. She walked past them. To judge by what she could understand of their conversation, they were inspecting with interest the little bunches of grapes that had begun to set.

She reached the hut. Jack was outside, in faded jeans and a check shirt, sharpening a pair of secateurs. He was wearing the battered straw hat, so she judged it was safe to approach.

‘There are two soldiers close by,’ she greeted him.

‘Yeah, I know.’ He was intent on the blades and the whetstone. ‘They’re from the Mosel area. One of the wine-producing areas of Germany. They think their vines are superior to anything in France.’ He glanced up at her. The grey eyes were sharp. ‘So they haven’t caught you yet.’

‘They’re not going to catch me,’ Olivia retorted. ‘I’m not stupid.’

‘Good to know,’ he said laconically. ‘Come into my parlour.’

She followed him into the hut. He stripped off his shirt.

‘Do we have to go through this charade every time?’ she demanded. ‘Or do you just like showing off your muscles?’

‘I like not being shot,’ he replied. ‘Get your dress off.’

Angrily, she hauled off her dress. She found this part of their encounters demeaning. This time she had at least taken care to wear new underclothes, rather than the faded things she’d had on the last time. She handed him the three film canisters she’d shot.

‘Huh.’ He seemed interested, if not delighted. ‘Not just a pretty face. You’ve been a busy little bee.’

She smiled at him brightly. ‘Gee shucks, thank you, kind sir.’

‘Nice yokel routine.’

‘I’ve been advised to use it when bumpkins say stupid things to me.’

‘Okay, I won’t say stupid things to you.’ He weighed the canisters in his hand. ‘Is it worthwhile developing these? Chemicals are hard to find, and if they’re just blurry shots of hotel rooms, we can skip it.’

‘I risked my life to take those pictures,’ she said icily. ‘They’re as good as I could get them. If you don’t develop them, you’re not going to see me here again.’

‘Fair enough.’ He pocketed the spools. ‘Where did you hide the camera?’

‘Behind some hot-water pipes.’

‘How hot?’

‘Hot enough to keep people from sticking their fingers in there.’

‘That’s also hot enough to spoil the film,’ he said. ‘Clever idea, but don’t leave the camera there too long while it’s loaded.’

He was about to go on when they both heard the scrape of boots outside the hut, and a German voice. Unhesitatingly, Jack took her in his arms and kissed her. She was too surprised to react, which was just as well, because the door swung open and the soldiers peered in.

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