The Silent Hours by Cesca Major

Author:Cesca Major
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books Ltd
Published: 2015-07-06T12:34:49+00:00

TRISTAN

The Villiers stayed last night. The table was all covered in wine bottles this morning and Claudette kept sucking on her teeth when she tidied them away for breakfast. The air smelt like the window needed opening and my baguette tasted funny.

It is sunny today and I want to play boules. Monsieur Villiers lent us an old set when he arrived last night. He said they belonged to his son. He said this in a sad voice, like when Papa talks about his brother who died in the First War, so I think that his son is away fighting somewhere, or is dead, but I didn’t dare ask, we just promised to take very good care of the boules.

This morning, though, Maman announces that we will all be going on an outing and Papa says he is coming too. Apparently there is a man who has a goat farm nearby and we are going to visit him. The farmer has a goat who is as big as him and Papa says that apparently he can make the goat look like he is dancing with him as he can stand on two feet. I practically fall off my stool to run upstairs and get ready.

Maman has left her stockings and heels off today and she looks so funny in thick boots, like Madame Villiers often wears. A scarf is knotted in her hair and she is wearing a baggy coat too. I like her new costumes, like someone else’s Maman who lives in the country. I give her a big squidgy hug as we wait for Eléonore to put on her shoes. She laughs at me and I am so happy with the whole day.

We all leave the house, being quiet as we pass Monsieur Villiers, who fell asleep in the hammock after breakfast. Madame Villiers, though, goes straight over to him, reaches out a hand and tips him right off it. He rolls straight off, landing smack-down flat in a muddy patch, his eyes open, a yell, no time to work out what has happened. Papa lets out a low chuckle and helps him up. He has dirt on his bristly chin.

We go away from the village, straight through the back of a farm and into a field behind. I don’t often walk this way with Dimitri or Luc. In the distance is a forest of trees and Madame Villiers points out some different species, which Maman finds interesting; Monsieur Villiers and Papa talk about crop cycles and the harvest then, and I switch off.

As I swat at the long grass with my hand I look up and notice a thin trail of smoke just over the trees ahead. Before I can point it out Dimitri nudges me, pointing to a massive oak tree nearby with very low branches – a perfect tree to climb. I nod at him, reading his mind. Somewhere for our next trip out.

We loop around the edge of the field until we reach a gap in the hedge.

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