Page 20 of A Noble Affair
“What are you doing here?” Paltier was indignant, and out of breath from a fear he didn’t realize he was feeling. “Your work is outside.”
André seemed embarrassed at being caught, and his mumbled reply was barely audible in the echoing room. “I left my shears in the lower kitchen.”
“What were you doing in the kitchen?” Paltier glared at him, suspecting the attraction of the wine cellar.
André cleared his throat and spoke louder. “The ivy that was growing along the base of the house grew through the cracks in the kitchen windows, and I couldn’t access it from the outside because the windows were closed.”
Paltier couldn’t think of anything to respond to that, so he dismissed André. “You can go after you shut that door the rest of the way. In the future I want you to tell me first before you enter the house for any reason.”
“Even when I’m to come in and water the houseplants?” André responded with an innocence, Paltier suspected, was false.
“If you enter the house on any day, apart from your set day to care for the houseplants, please let me know.” Paltier was no fool.
André went to the kitchen and came back with the tool in hand. Without looking at Paltier, he tugged the heavy door shut. Paltier closed the deadbolt from inside, thinking that the door needed to be fixed so it closed more smoothly. He couldn’t bear to let any part of the château remain unkempt, even if it was just the basement. He then walked into the kitchen to verify André’s story, and when he examined the kitchen windows, noted the pockmarks left behind by ivy recently removed. He nodded at the observation.He was telling the truth.
Suddenly, Paltier’s legs gave way, and he sat on the edge of the stone sink that had been used in centuries past. He exhaled and contemplated the shrubbery out the low windows on his left side. A cat leaped up to the sill and picked its way carefully across, en route to who knew what adventure.
It took him a minute to gather his strength.I’m not getting any younger, he thought.
It wascold enough without the wind, but a freezing gale whipped the leaves into a frenzy, causing Louis to hunker down further into his coat. There was little sun for mid-morning,making the atmosphere bleak. The community service every student was obliged to do was always a pain, but with this wind, it was even less pleasurable to babysit the younger kids on the playground. Louis had hoped to be able to skip the volunteer work now that he was forced to see the counselor (whom he’d already decided he wouldn’t tell a thing). He had had no such luck and was told he’d need to manage both.
He straddledthe end of the cold, stone bench, turning to his left to watch the younger children run and scream on the playground. He was supposed to be interacting with these kids, but he had absolutely nothing to say and was one of the few bigger kids that elicited no cheering squad when he entered the school grounds each morning. From his seat, Louis turned his head furtively to the right to watch the part of the street that wasn’t obscured by evergreens.
A slenderkidwith blond hair walked up to him and sat, whichwas a first. As if he sensed where Louis’s curiosity lay, the kidsat on the part of the bench facing the street. Louis glanced at him, and then, grateful for the excuse to be looking in the direction that concernedhim,turned fully to face the street as well.
“You’re supposed to be talking to us, you know.”
The kid spoke with a clear voice and didn’t seem to be self-conscious carrying on a conversation withan older kid. In some ways, the kidwas more sure of himself than Louis was. Louis shot him another glance, and then looked back at the street, feeling edgy. “I know.”
“So why are you just sitting here?”came the next question.
Louis didn’t know how to answer him, which was stupid since he was just a kid. “I’m tired,” he finally said.
“What’s out there? What are you looking for?”
Louis pinched his eyebrows together in irritation.Why is this kid bugging me?“What makes you think I’m looking for something?”
Suddenly the boy shifted focus. “My name is Thomas.” He held out his hand to shake.
Not knowing what else to do, he gave his own hand in return. “Louis.” Then as an afterthought, he added, “Do you, uh, need help with your homework or something?”
“Nah, I’m good.” Thomas started to swing his legs back and forth on the stone bench, causing his rear end to jump off the seat with each swing. There was some movement on the street beyond the evergreens that caught Louis’s attention. He stood, as if unsure of what he had seen, then reached down to grab his bag.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back.”
Having nothing better to do, Thomas leaped off the seat and walked towards the school building untilLouis had gone out the front gate and was rounding the sidewalk outside the fence. Doubling back under the cover of the evergreens, Thomas walked close to the sidewalk and stood in front of the hedge that blocked the street view. He bent down and pretended to tie his shoe.
“Jean.” He heard Louisfrom the other side of the hedge. Then he heard a muffled sound in reply that he guessed was a handshake or a clap on the back. There was a sound of a lighter flaring up and a sharp intake of breath.
“So why did you need to see me so urgently?” The words came out on an exhale and the voice sounded familiar, though Thomas couldn’t place it.
“Un… Deux… Trois…” One of the kids counted noisily while the others scurried to hide.
“Um. I lost the, uh, the money for the stash you gave me. The whole thing.” The fence rattled as someone—probably Louis—kicked it. “Or, it got stolen by one of my new friends.”
Even at the age of seven, Thomas could hear the irony in his voice.
