The French Retreat (Falling for France Book 1) (3 page)

Will raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he continued to eat his cake. Marcie threw a glare over to her brother who grinned innocently back at her.

‘There’s a market in town this morning if you fancy coming with me to buy some vegetables,’ said Lisa.

‘That will be nice,’ said Marcie. ‘We could have a little walk around the village and maybe the lake too.’

‘A warm up walk for later,’ said Ben.

Will pushed his now empty plate away from him and taking the last swig of his coffee, stood up. ‘Thanks for that, it was lovely. I’ll get the fire in the living room started, shall I?’

‘Okay, thanks,’ said Lisa.

Will gave Ben a pat on the shoulder. ‘Put your feet up now,’ he said and then turned to Marcie. ‘I’ll be setting off after lunch, rain or shine. Make sure you’ve got decent walking boots on.’

With a mouthful of cake, Marcie wasn’t able to protest. By the time she had swallowed it, Will had left the kitchen.

Ben laughed out loud.

Marcie scowled at him. ‘Thanks for that!’ she said. She tried to keep a cross look on her face, but as Lisa giggled as well, Marcie couldn’t help joining in. ‘You’re terrible,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I can’t believe how you stitched me up.’

‘You could say you walked right into that,’ said Ben, laughing some more at his own joke.

‘I hope he cheers up,’ said Marcie quietly, glancing at the kitchen doorway to make sure Will wasn’t lurking. ‘One minute he’s fine and then next, all moody.’

Ben’s face took on a more serious look. ‘He can’t help it. Just cut him some slack. He’s much more relaxed than when he first got here.’

‘How long is he planning on staying?’ said Marcie.

‘As long as he needs to,’ said Ben with a shrug. ‘A bit like you.’

Chapter Three

It was not without a certain amount of surprise, Will found Marcie waiting outside the front door of The Retreat that afternoon. He hadn’t really expected her to turn up for the excursion, especially as the grey clouds overhead had turned their threat of rain into a promise.

Marcie snapped her heels together and gave a mock salute. ‘Reporting for duty, Sir,’ she said.

Will eyed her up and down, appraising her clothing. ‘Woolly hat. Sensible. Rain jacket. Good choice. Cargo trousers. Again, good choice, better than jeans. And a decent pair of walking boots.’ He nodded his approval.

Marcie relaxed her stance. ‘I have done this before,’ she said. ‘I’m not a total novice.’

‘I never doubted you for one minute,’ said Will, mentally crossing his fingers. He adjusted his rucksack and nodded at Marcie’s own backpack. ‘Got plenty of water?’

‘Yep.’

‘Good. Let’s go.’ He strode out along the lane heading north. Marcie caught up and fell into step alongside him.

‘Where are we headed?’ she said.

‘Lizio. There’s a woodland walk we can do. Nice and gentle, nothing too strenuous,’ said Will.  He had done this route before and compared to some of his usual yomps, this was like a stroll in the park. He wasn’t entirely sure of Marcie’s ability and suspected that her earlier enthusiasm might have been a touch of bravado on her part. Although the temptation was there to push her hard on a difficult and long hike, he could do without her going lame on him and either holding him up or, at worse, not being able to complete the walk. Phoning Ben to come and rescue his sister probably wouldn’t go down well.

As they rounded the corner, the sound of someone calling out caught their attention. An angry looking farmer strode out from the field on their right. It was hard to judge the farmer’s age, his face shrouded in a bushy beard and a cap pulled down low, the peak shielding the eyes. Untamed hair protruded out from under the cap. Judging by his uneven stride, Will guessed he was of an older generation. Will and Marcie stopped as the farmer launched into a torrent of French and headed their way.

‘Care to translate?’ said Will to Marcie.             

‘He’s doesn’t sound very happy,’ said Marcie.

Will looked over at her and was met with an apologetic look. He shook his head. ‘Really? I’d never have guessed. Any idea what he’s saying?’

‘I’m working on it,’ said Marcie.

As the farmer neared, Will put up his hand in acknowledgement. ‘
Bonjour, Monsieur
,’ he said. Any hope this would interrupt the flow of words was soon dashed. Standing at the edge of the field, the farmer ploughed on for several minutes, gesticulating wildly towards The Retreat. ‘Any time now would be good,’ said Will out of the corner of his mouth.

‘
D
ésolée
Monsieur
,’ said Marcie. ‘
Je ne parle pas français très bien.
’

The farmer paused, looking from one to the other.

‘Don’t stop,’ said Will. ‘Say something else before he starts again.’

‘Like what? I only know schoolgirl French.’

‘A sight more than I do. Just say anything.’

‘Bloody hell,’ cursed Marcie. ‘It’s not as easy as that.’

‘In French would be more helpful,’ said Will.

‘Shh, I’m trying to think of something.’

‘Too late,’ muttered Will as, clearly impatient at the lack of response from either of them, the farmer started again.

‘
Je suis Marcie Grainger,’
interrupted Macie and then again more loudly which seemed to have the desired effect, silencing the Frenchman for a second time.
‘Je suis en vacances. Mon frère habite
à
la ferme.
’

The farmer gave a look of exasperation and with a flap of his hand mumbled something and trudged back off across his field towards the barn.

‘Impressive,’ said Will.

‘I only told him who I was, that I was on holiday and my brother lived at the farm,’ said Marcie. ‘Wonder what’s up? Do you think it’s something to do with Ben? He kept pointing towards the farmhouse. Has Ben said anything? What about Lisa?’

‘That’s a lot of questions,’ said Will. ‘To which I don’t know any of the answers before you fire them off again.’

Marcie gave a tut, which Will chose to ignore.

‘Aren’t you the slightest bit interested?’ said Marcie.

‘Not especially,’ said Will. ‘Come on, we’ll never get to Lizio at this rate.’

Big drops of rain began to splatter onto Will’s jacket and speckle the tarmac.

‘Ew,’ said Marcie. She pulled her waterproof jacket round her, fastening the buttons on the collar. ‘Here comes the rain.’

‘Still time for you to go back.’

‘Why would I want to do that?’

Will smiled to himself, secretly impressed at her stubbornness. ‘Just checking,’ he said and then to steer the conversation onto safer ground, proceeded to tell Marcie about the local area, in particular, the woods they were heading for.

They walked on together with Will setting the pace. He knew he was striding out, but Marcie seemed to be keeping up well and he got the feeling she wouldn’t appreciate him going easy just because she was female. The rain was now falling steadily and Will took the decision to go via the
communes
of Bremelavie and Brenugat taking in a small woodland area where the canopy of branches would at least provide some shelter from the weather.

As they walked further into the woods, Will stopped and took his camera from his rucksack.

‘So, that’s what you keep in there,’ said Marcie.

‘What else did you expect?’

Marcie shrugged. ‘Oh, I don’t know. It could be like a Mary Poppins bag. You could magically pull out a picnic table or a tent or a barbeque. Anything really. You were in the Army, so I imagine you must be very resourceful.’

Will crouched down and aimed his camera at the bracken, adjusting the lens manually.

‘The very fact that I was in the Army, means that I don’t actually need a Mary Poppins bag. Water and a knife will do just fine.’ He took a couple of shots to test the focus and then looked up at Marcie. ‘What have you got in your pack then? Change of clothes, spare shoes, hair brush, nail polish, make-up?’

He tried not to laugh at the indignant look on her face.

‘Actually, I haven’t got any of those, just water and something to eat.’ She bent down to look over his shoulder at the images on the camera. ‘What are you taking pictures of?’

Will lifted the camera to his face and closing one eye, lined up his next shot. ‘Nature,’ he said. ‘See the way the rain drop is just sitting there on the end of the leaf? It defies gravity for as long as possible, until it drop becomes too big and then it bulges and falls off the end of the leaf. I’m using a really slow shutter speed to capture that moment.’

He showed Marcie the pictures. ‘Wow. That is beautiful,’ she said. ‘Is that what you were doing the other night? Going out, taking photographs?’

‘Busted,’ said Will.

‘What do you take photos of in the dark?’

‘Wildlife mostly. Foxes. Badgers. Owls, if I’m lucky. The night sky. Sometimes it’s things like buildings, trees, farm machinery.’ He looked at Marcie who clearly thought he was mad. ‘It’s not as crazy as it sounds,’ he said. ‘Things look different in the dark. I love the way the moon casts shadows. Everyday things take on a different life at night times.’ She was still looking at him in that odd way. ‘Okay, when we get back later, I’ll show you what I mean. I’ll get some of my photos out for you to look at.’

‘Is that like inviting me back to look at your etchings?’ said Marcie.

‘What? No! I didn’t meant that,’ said Will. ‘I genuinely meant…’ He stopped. Marcie had an enormous grin on her face.

‘I was just pulling your leg,’ she said. ‘It just sounded like a cheesy chat-up line.’

Will let out a laugh, which he was conscious was one initially of relief, but then as the idea took on a life of its own in his mind, the laugh faded. He shouldn’t even be going there. Not with his mate’s sister at any rate. Bad thought. Or maybe not.

He busied himself with taking some more pictures, trying to capture the exact moment the rain drop fell from the tip of the leaf.

‘Have you always liked photography?’ said Marcie as she watched him.

‘Only since I came out of the Army,’ said Will.

‘You’re not into tanks and guns and all that macho stuff, then?’

Will stood up and replacing the lens cap pushed his camera back into his rucksack. He hadn’t managed to get exactly what he wanted but he was conscious that hanging around for half an hour, although it wouldn’t stretch his patience, it would probably bore Marcie to death. ‘No. Seen enough of that for one lifetime.’

‘Do you miss the Army?’

‘I used to. When I first came out. Missed the other lads. The company. But not anymore.’

‘Do you keep in touch with any of them?’

‘You’re doing it again,’ said Will.

It took a moment for the penny to drop but when it did, the look of embarrassment on Marcie’s face, actually made Will feel guilty. ‘Sorry,’ she said not meeting his eyes.

‘No, I’m sorry,’ said Will, feeling embarrassed himself now. ‘I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.’ He paused, the urge to explain his reaction took him by surprise. He wasn’t in the habit of explaining himself to anyone but for some reason Marcie was having a strange effect on him. He let out a sigh, deciding to go with it. ‘I don’t keep in touch with any of the lads from the Regiment. Some bad shit, I mean stuff, happened on my last tour.’

‘It’s okay,’ said Marcie, her voice was so soft and gentle it felt like it was caressing him. ‘You don’t have to explain. I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘I’ll spare you the details but I’ve had counselling. CBT. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy,’ said Will. ‘They get you to change your mind-set basically.’

‘Has it helped?’

‘To a certain extent. I still don’t sleep that well.’

‘So that’s why you’re out and about at night.’

‘Pretty much.’ Will blew out a long breath. He hadn’t expected that conversation to happen. He also didn’t expect Marcie to then step forward and hug him. ‘What was that for?’ he said when she pulled away.

‘Can’t beat a good hug.’

Will tipped his head to one side, looking up at the sky as if thinking. ‘I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that,’ he said. She grinned and laughed at him, the intimacy of the moment broken. Will shrugged his rucksack onto his shoulders. ‘Right, let’s get going. Quick march.’

When they reached Lizio, the rain had stopped and Marcie took off her woolly hat, shaking the rain from it.

The village looked enchanting even on a grey soggy day like today. The various roads into the village all converged in the centre at the church. With no curb to the paths, the blocked paved walkway was the only distinguishing feature to show where the pavement ended and the narrow roads began. During the summer, Lizio was a busy village, attracting many tourists to come and sit at the cafes and restaurants, enjoy an ice-cream and watch the world go by. November, however, saw the cafes closed and the shutters down on most of the windows.

‘I always think it must be really dark in the houses when they close their shutters,’ said Marcie as they walked through the centre of the village.

‘That’s the French for you,’ said Will. ‘They close them in the winter to keep the grey miserable weather out and close them during the summer to keep the lovely warm sun out. Might just as well not have windows.’

He steered Marcie north out of the village and passing the local school, they followed the road as it wound its way through more woodland. By now, there was no path and keeping close to the verge, they eventually reached a lake.

‘Here we are,’ said Will. ‘
Etang du val Jouin
.’

‘Impressive French accent,’ said Marcie, laughing at his distinct lack of one.

‘I know, it’s great, isn’t it?’ said Will.

They made their way round the lake, passing the picnic benches and fishing spots dotted along the bank. Reaching the opposite side, they continued on to a second smaller lake. There was an old stone house in a clearing and a wooden bridge spanning the stream that joined the two lakes.

‘It’s really peaceful here,’ said Marcie. ‘I’ve been here during the summertime when it’s busier.’

‘I prefer it this way,’ said Will. ‘We just need to cut through here and across the road, then we’ll be at the woods. There’s a long route and a short route. Which do you fancy doing?’

‘I really don’t mind,’ said Marcie, aware that she could be falling into a potential trap and giving Will the chance to tease her. ‘Let’s do the longer one.’

As they walked along the bank of the second lake and then crossed the road to the opening of the woods, the rain began again. Marcie put on her hat, suspecting that she would regret her choice of walk.

‘I tell you what,’ said Will. ‘We’ll take the shorter one. That way I can stop and take photos without worrying about the time.’