Page 61 of Sisters Making Mischief
He bit back a smile and presented them to Eugénie, producing them with the skill of a conjurer.
‘Happily, I have some here,’ he said. ‘I recommend you try them. You may not like the taste at first, but that is the way of all good medicine,n’est ce pas?’
‘Alors,’ Eugénie said with a triumphant look at Isabel, ‘I knew the good doctor would be able to help me.’
‘Pierre rang me when I was down the lane, he will call in to fixMamie’sloose tile. Now then, we must go and take a look at the damage to the greenhouse. The dogs can stay here with you,Mamie, I don’t want then trampling through a lot of broken glass.’
‘Perhaps you could dispense my medicine before you go?’ Eugénie said in a pathetic voice, holding up the box of tea bags.
‘Permettez-moi? I will do it for you,’ Luc said, and Eugénie closed her eyes in satisfaction and sighed happily.
‘Je me sens déjà mieux.’
‘She says she feels better already,’ Isabel said, and rolled her eyes at me.
Having settled Eugénie with her camomile tea, a blanket over her lap and a hot water bottle at her feet, the three of us went out to the vegetable garden to see what had happened to the greenhouse. The wind had dropped now, and the last of the storm clouds were blowing away over the horizon. We could see that a branch had landed on one corner and several of the glass panes were smashed.
‘This can easily be fixed,’ Luc said, ‘the frame looks to be undamaged. I have some spare panes left over from when I was building mine, which may be of use. I have learned to do these things, it’s not that difficult. I have some special gloves, which my brother advised me to buy.’
So, he had a brother! At last, some basic information about him. Isabel and I exchanged a look.
‘That would be great. Pierre and Sylveste are so busy fixing other people’s problems, and my poor plants… all those little seedlings… what am I going to do about them?’ Isabel said sadly. ‘I just know the rabbits will be in here the moment my back is turned.’
‘I can take them over to my place,’ Luc offered.
‘Really? I could always move the trays into the barn or something. Although it’s not very warm in there, and there’s nolight either. And despite Marcel and Antoine’s efforts, there are probably rats too.’
‘It’s no problem,’ he said, ‘I can sort it out very quickly, and then when everything is mended, I will bring them back.’
The three of us hummed and haahed about this for a few minutes, and Luc tried to reassure her.
‘Of course, I haven’t started doing much in my greenhouse yet, it’s the first time I have had one, so apart from anything else I would appreciate your advice later on. There’s plenty of room. And you would need to clear away some space, while the repairs are underway. There is still a lot of broken glass in there to sweep up. And I would like to help.’
‘That would be marvellous, if you’re sure?’
‘Pas de problème– no trouble. I can put them in the back of my truck.’
Isabel’s eyes brightened, presumably as another of her cunning plans struck her.
‘And maybe Joy can help you. I have the barn to look after, the shepherd’s hut will be arriving, and I need to make sure the people in thegîtesare okay. I’m going to be terribly busy.’
I sent my sister a hard look and she smiled innocently back.
‘Thanks so much, Joy.’
20
We spent the next couple of hours clearing up after the storm, Luc and I moving all the trays of seedlings and plants out into the back of his truck and Isabel and Pierre cleaning up the broken glass. Eugénie meanwhile remained in her armchair, sipping camomile tea, dispensing advice and occasionally shouting at the dogs when they edged nearer to the back door.
At last, we stopped for coffee. Felix had returned briefly to tell us that Lisa had been exaggerating, only one window had been cracked by flying debris and would be mended in a day or so, but apart from that everything at the bookshop was okay.
‘So,’ Luc said as he finished fastening a tarpaulin over the plants in the back of his truck, ‘perhaps we should get these to my place, it won’t take long. And I can bring the glass panes back when I return.’
‘Oh, yes, you go,’ Isabel said perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, ‘don’t hang around here, we can manage, and don’t hurry, there’s no rush. Take as long as you need. I don’t have plans for lunch or dinner for that matter.’
I gave her another hard look behind Luc’s back and she responded with a sweet smile and some subtle, flapping handgestures, encouraging me to go. What on earth was she playing at? This was getting embarrassing.
‘Stop it,’ I mouthed at her.
