Page 58 of Sisters Making Mischief
I returned to the bookshop a few minutes later with coffee for both of us and two beautiful strawberry tartlets in a cardboard box to cheer us up.
‘I have sold three of the English paperbacks already!’ Felix said triumphantly as I walked in. ‘Two women who wanted to know if we had anything about Star Wars and I said no, but we did have a vintage Tintin annual, and they bought that, even though someone had coloured in Snowy the dog to look like a spaniel.Je suis ravi… I am very pleased indeed. And you have brought meune petite friandise– a little treat! This is excellent news. Perhaps you are right about the notebooks after all.’
After we had finished our snack, I brought out a few more of the English paperbacks to fill the spaces, and by the end of the afternoon we had sold six and Felix had placed my order for fifty notebooks in different colours and patterns. He seemed quite jaunty by the end of the day.
‘Lisa was very resistant to anything new, perhaps that was the problem. But you have persuaded me that perhaps I should do something exciting and unexpected,’ he said. ‘It’s like Isabel told me, you can’tchangethe people around you so change thepeoplearound you. I didn’t know what she meant at first, but I think I do.’
‘I wouldn’t get too excited, Felix. It’s only a few notebooks.’
‘We’ll see how they sell. And if they don’t, you’ll still take them, right?’
‘Absolutely,’ I said, wondering what I would do with them but not willing to admit it.
‘Bien, you go home, and I will close up the shop. I won’t be long,’ he said.
Feeling incredibly positive and happy, I drove home through the dusk, and reached Potato Farm where the lights were still shining out from the barn, and there was a car parked in front of it. I could see Isabel inside, and a couple walking around, picking things up and putting them back again.
Getting out I shivered, there was a cold wind blowing my jacket open, and a few drops of rain fell onto my head.
‘I’m glad you’re back,’ Isabel murmured as I looked in to see how she was doing, ‘I’ve sold nothing all day and I don’t think these people are really interested in anything other than the auricular theatre, and they can’t fit that in their car. Even if I dismantled it, and then it would probably fall to bits, and they wouldn’t be able to reassemble it. I don’t think a pile of vintage French firewood would be very appealing to many people.’
‘Where are they from,’ I asked, ‘perhaps I could take it back when I go and get it to them somehow?’
‘It’s a kind thought but they live in Glasgow,’ Isabel said, ‘it would cost you more in petrol than the thing is worth.’
I went forward. ‘If you wanted something to put some small plants on, perhaps a few pots of herbs for your kitchen windowsill, maybe this would be suitable,’ I said, pointing to the miniatureétagère.
The couple looked at it very doubtfully.
‘It’s really lovely, I noticed that when we came in, but I don’t think it would fit in the car, we have quite a bit of stuff already,’the woman said, although her eyes looked longingly at it. She reached out a hand and touched it regretfully.
‘But if you did this…’ I said. During our sort out of all the new things Isabel had collected over the winter, I had cleaned up the ironwork and oiled the bolts that kept theétagèretogether. Which meant that in moments I had unscrewed them and the whole thing folded flat.
The woman’s face lit up and she darted a hopeful look at her companion.
‘Lenny, I’d really like that, and she’s right, it would hardly take up any room.’
Lenny rolled his eyes, and the deal was sealed.
‘You said you were going to pace yourself, Jess. We’ve only been in France two days. At this rate you’ll have to travel home on the roof rack.’
They drove away a few minutes later with theétagèrein the boot of the car.
‘Marvellous!’ Isabel said happily, ‘who knew you were such a salesman? And how did you get on at the bookshop?’
‘Really well I think – it was fun, actually. I had such a great time. And yes, before you ask, Felix did put in an order for those notebooks.’
‘Fantastic. Anyway, I have some exciting news. I had a phone call about the shepherd’s hut. It’s being delivered tomorrow. Probably in the afternoon because they are bringing it from Nantes. On the back of a low loader, so we’d better get the dogs in, and for now, looking at the cloud coming in, I think we’d better close everything up and get indoors. The weather forecast isn’t looking good.’
19
That night a storm blew in from the Channel, and in my snug bed up in the attic, I could hear the rain thundering on the roof tiles. The wind was howling, too, it really was a bit eerie. The windows were shut tight against the weather, but being old and a bit rotten in places, I could see the curtains puffing out slightly when a particularly fierce gust caught that side of the house.
At some time in the middle of the night, I heard a worrying noise of something crashing about in the yard below me, but looking out into the darkness I couldn’t see anything other than what was probably the recycling bin, tipped over and probably disgorging its contents onto the garden.
By the morning, the storm had eased off a bit, but a quick look outside showed I had been right. There was waste paper, plastic wrappings and bottles strewn all over the place and it looked as though the familiar outlines of the trees had changed. Perhaps some branches had been dislodged.
I dressed quickly and went downstairs just in time to see Isabel, shrouded in one of Felix’s waxed jackets and a tweed hat, battling her way in through the back door.
