I stood back and chewed my lip as they examined and exclaimed. I’d taken a risk with them, I knew, but I’d listened carefully to Philippe and Luc and was pleased with the end result. I very much hoped I’d managed to incorporate something for everyone.
Beatrice looked over at me and smiled. ‘You’re a clever girl, Sky, a very clever girl.’
‘Each wine has a different personality,’ Luc said. ‘Each label has a different personality, they are perfect.’ He smiled at me in frank admiration.
I smiled back but held my breath, waiting to hear the verdict that mattered to me the most.
‘I admit I wasn’t keen on the idea of new labels,’ Stephanie said. ‘But you may just have changed my mind.’
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Philippe turned to me. ‘Sky, I’m in awe. I didn’t really know what I wanted, but I know now that this is exactly what I wanted.’
I smiled and once I’d started smiling I couldn’t stop. I was so relieved. I’d put so much effort into them, trying to envisage the bottles on the supermarket shelves, picturing them on the tables in restaurants. I let out a long breath then walked over to the table. ‘But which is your favourite?’
‘I’m not sure I have a favourite,’ Philippe said. ‘But I guess for me the one that stands out the most is this one.’ He said, indicating the horizontal and vertical stripes.
‘I love that one too.’ Luc nodded in agreement. ‘It’s bold, it’s primary and…’
‘And it’s Emmie’s,’ I interrupted.
I was thrilled and I laughed in delight at the surprise on their faces. ‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it?’ I clapped my hands. ‘It only took her about five minutes, I couldn’t believe it. She just said that was how she saw it. The purple vines, the sun, the sky and the earth. I shook my head. ‘I train for years and she achieves this in an instant.’
‘You didn’t help her at all?’ Stephanie was gazing at the picture.
‘Not one bit,’ I replied. ‘I mean, I re-drew it and tidied it up a bit but the idea was pure Emmie.’
‘Where did you train, Sky?’ Philippe asked.
‘Glasgow School of Art,’ I replied.
‘One of the top students, commissions before she’d even left,’ Nick added, looking at me with pride.
Philippe opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything the phone rang. He answered it and for some reason we all fell silent. He uttered a loud exclamation and turned ashen.
‘Emmie’s missing,’ he said in a shaky voice. ‘She’s not in her room and the back door is wide open, Claude thinks she’s coming here.’
‘Of course she is coming here, where else would she be going?’ Beatrice said. ‘Stephanie, come with me up the road.’ She grabbed her car keys. ‘The rest of you take the vines and the river, take torches, spread out. She can’t have gone far.’
I prayed she was right.
‘We’ll take Belle and Sausage with us.’ Philippe called for them.
‘Rosa, stay at the chateau in case she gets here first.’ Henri took command. ‘Elf and Luc, come with me, Nick and Sky, follow Philippe.’
I raced out of the room after Philippe, forcing myself not to think of the swollen river or the recent wild boar activity.
Emmie lay trembling and terrified. She had lost her glasses and couldn’t see a thing, not that it mattered, it was so dark she couldn’t see anything anyway. Warm blood trickled down the side of her head. Somehow her coat had become tangled in the brambles and was trapping her. She tried pulling at it but succeeded only in scratching her hands on the sharp thorns. Tears were streaming down her face but she was trying very hard not to make a noise. She was terrified that she would be found.
The thought of being taken away from everyone she loved was hurting her so badly she could hardly breathe. She felt that she would rather die than live a life without her Uncle Philly.
Perhaps if she stayed very still and prayed very hard she would die. Henri had told her that the angels would come and take old Ginger very soon, maybe they could come to get her at the same time. It would be nice to be with old Ginger, he would keep her company.
She wasn’t sure how they would know she was here. She didn’t want to call out to them in case Celine heard, but maybe if she closed her eyes they would think she had died. Angels must be able to see in the dark.
Belle was going quickly for a dog her age but Sausage was like a pocket rocket. He hurtled down through the vines with his nose to the ground and we tried our hardest to follow. He was heading towards the river and my heart was thumping not only with the exercise but with a cold fear. I could see the torch lights of Luc, Henri and Elf in the distance and prayed that one of us would find her quickly. In front of me Philippe stumbled and cursed under his breath.
‘Be careful of your knee,’ I called out to him.
‘Sod my knee.’
Sausage suddenly swerved to the left and headed towards some thick scrubland which ran alongside the river. Trying to keep up I lost my balance and fell to the ground, sliding onto the same track Emmie and I had raced down a few days earlier. Philippe was ahead and didn’t notice but Nick was by my side in an instant, hauling me up.
‘OK?’
I nodded, too breathless to speak. I could hear the piglet whining and we both rushed into the thicket in time to hear Philippe’s scream.
Emmie was lying so silent and motionless my blood ran cold and my heart nearly stopped beating. Philippe stood stock still for a second before throwing himself down beside her with a heart-breaking cry. Sausage and Belle leapt upon the prone figure, licking and nuzzling her face.
Pushing them aside, Philippe felt for a pulse and with a yell of relief turned to Nick and me.
‘She’s breathing, oh, Mon Dieu, she’s breathing.’ He clasped the little girl close to him. ‘Call the others.’ Nick went out to yell for them while I bent down beside Philippe. He was cradling Emmie in his arms. ‘Oh my angel, my darling angel, you’re safe now, Uncle Philly is here, you’re safe now my angel girl.’
Emmie felt relief on hearing the word ‘angel’. She had been vaguely aware of her name being called in the distance but had not wanted to answer. She’d wanted the angels to think she was dead so she kept her eyes tightly shut. But there was nothing angelic about the two animals licking her face and the arms that rocked her felt familiar. She breathed in the well-known scent of cigarettes and aftershave that belonged to only one person. She opened her eyes and smiled, she was with her uncle and that was better than being with the angels.
She was shivering. I took off my shawl and gently laid it over the little girl. ‘Oh, Emmie darling, you gave us such a fright.’
Luc, Henri and Elf came crashing through the undergrowth.
‘Is she OK?’ Henri’s breath was ragged.
‘She’s OK.’ Philippe stood up slowly with Emmie in his arms. ‘She’s cut her head but she’s OK.’
Luc held out his arms but Philippe shook his head. Although I could see that his knee was hurting him he clearly wasn’t prepared to relinquish his darling girl. ‘Someone needs to ring Claude.’
Emmie let out a startled cry. ‘Want to stay, I don’t want to go away with them.’ She struggled in Philippe’s arms.
‘Cheri, calm down.’ He kissed her. ‘You’re not going anywhere, you’re safe now.’
Claude came racing across the lawn to meet us. ‘She’s safe, oh, she’s safe.’ He was deathly pale. ‘Oh, Emmie, I’m so sorry.’
She looked at him with large eyes. ‘Don’t want to go.’
‘You’re not going anywhere, cheri.’
‘Yes she is.’ Rosa had arrived followed by Beatrice and Stephanie. ‘She is coming with me.’ She held out her arms to her. ‘Come on, ma poulette, we’ll fix that head and then a hot bath and hot chocolate and bed.’
Philippe surrendered her to Rosa then bent over to rub his knee. I could see he was in a great deal of pain. He turned to Claude with a face like thunder. They’d both had a huge sh
ock, now was certainly not the time for blame and accusations and so I stepped forward quickly.
‘Philippe, let’s go inside, you need to sit down.’ He hesitated for a moment but I gently took his arm and moved towards the chateau.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
We all gathered in the kitchen. Stephanie made coffee and Luc produced the armagnac bottle.
‘Lucky we didn’t finish it last night.’ I smiled over at Claude. The poor man looked haunted, it had obviously not been an easy conversation with Celine. I glanced around the room but she was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where is Celine?’ Beatrice was thinking along the same lines as me.
‘On the way to an airport, probably,’ Claude said. Everyone looked astounded. ‘That’s why Emmie ran off, she overheard Celine talking about moving away.’
‘Claude, start at the beginning.’ Philippe sat down, massaging his leg. He looked around the table and then realised someone was missing. ‘Where’s Elf?’ he said, getting up again almost immediately.
‘I’m here, boss.’ Elf walked in followed by Sausage and Belle. He was clutching his hat in his hands. It obviously had something in it.
‘Claude, you need to thank Sausage and Belle, they found Emmie, well actually it was more down to Sausage, he was a piglet on a mission.’ Philippe patted the little pig.
‘That wasn’t the only thing he found,’ Elf muttered mysteriously. I glanced over at him.
‘Let’s hear about that later,’ Beatrice said. ‘Claude, tell us what the hell is going on?’
I wasn’t sure whether I should be here during the family conference. I looked over at Nick but he was obviously suffering no such apprehension and was leaning forward as eager as everyone else to hear the news. I looked around at Philippe but it was Beatrice who caught my eye and smiled reassuringly and I wondered yet again how the hell she seemed to read my mind.
Claude told us what had happened. His voice was flat and emotionless, which was maybe how he was feeling. He said that he couldn’t quite believe that Celine hadn’t followed him out of the door when he realised that Emmie had gone. He’d raced into the salon to tell her what had happened, grabbed the phone to ring Philippe and rushed outside. It had never occurred to him that she would not be right by his side. He said that proved how little he actually knew his wife, or indeed how little he wanted to know his wife. He looked so utterly wretched and my heart went out to him.
He turned to Philippe and Stephanie and in a voice heavy with emotion said, ‘I’m so sorry, so very sorry, somehow I will make sure she pays this back. I’ll make it up to you, I promise I’ll make it up to you.’
‘I’m not worried about the money, Claude. I’m worried about you.’ Philippe poured himself another hefty armagnac. ‘I mean she must come back, what about Emmie? She can’t have left for good?’
‘I fear that is exactly what she has done,’ Claude replied.
‘In that case you are better off without her,’ I said unexpectedly. Everyone looked around in surprise. ‘She doesn’t deserve you and she doesn’t deserve Emmie.’
It was unlike me to interfere but I couldn’t believe a mother could behave as Celine had done. My mother had died when I had been younger than Emmie. I could remember how hard she had fought for her life and I remembered the cold, dark day when she had lost that fight. I was filled with fury against Celine. There was a short silence after my outburst. Nick got up and came to stand behind me.
‘I think that maybe you are right, Sky,’ Claude nodded.
‘But I just don’t understand…’ Philippe was dazed.
‘There are a few things you don’t know about Celine,’ Claude said.
I saw Beatrice quickly frown at him and I wondered what it was she didn’t want him saying.
Claude hesitated for a moment as if tempted to say more but in the end merely said, ‘I’ll go and see Emmie and then I’ll head off to the house.’
‘Stay here, Claude.’ Philippe looked anxious.
‘No, I need to sort things out.’ Claude sounded remarkably calm. ‘Celine may have left a message. Goodnight, everyone, and thank you, thank you all so much.’
We watched him leave the room, a broken man but somehow still managing to maintain a quiet air of dignity.
‘How could she do this?’ Philippe sounded close to tears. ‘How could she leave her family?’
I thought it was rather lovely that he was more concerned with that than the money.
‘She’s never really regarded any of you as family,’ Beatrice remarked.
‘From what Claude says this has been going on for ages.’ Luc was certainly concerned about the financial side. ‘What have we done to make her hate us so much?’
No one spoke and once again I had the feeling that something was not being said.
Elf spoke into the silence that followed.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention for a moment.’ He knelt on a chair and placed his hat carefully on the table. He beckoned us around. ‘Take it, sniff it and pass it around.’ For once it seemed he was enjoying taking centre stage.
I was next to him and I dutifully took the hat, peering into the damp soil inside and sniffing but frankly I was none the wiser. I could tell Beatrice had no idea either but when it came to Nick his eyes lit up and he stared into the little hat with reverence.
‘Bloody hell,’ he whispered. ‘If this is what I think it is then you have found the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.’
Elf looked delighted that someone had finally understood what he was showing them. Philippe was next and his smile went from ear to ear. He passed it to Henri who adopted the same evangelical look as Nick.
What was I missing?
‘Rosa, come here,’ Henri called to his wife.
Rosa reached in and dug out a handful of earth. She sniffed and closed her eyes briefly as if offering up a prayer.
‘I can’t stand the suspense!’ Beatrice was exasperated and so was I. ‘Have we found the elixir of youth?’
‘Close, Beatrice.’ Henri smiled. ‘We have found truffles.’
Elf coughed slightly.
‘Sorry, Elf, you have found truffles.’
‘Sausage found them.’ Elf would not take credit away from the piglet.
Philippe grabbed the hat and sniffed once again.
‘Aren’t they terribly expensive?’ I asked.
‘Like gold, Sky.’ Nick nodded at me. ‘Edible gold.’
‘How did you know, Elf?’ Philippe handed the hat back.
‘I grew up in the truffle trade, boss, it was how my maman made a living.’ He paused. ‘Not legal, of course, but…’
‘We used to have truffles here, didn’t we?’ Rosa turned to Henri.
‘Very many years ago.’
‘Well, now they have returned.’ Elf grinned. ‘Keep quiet about it though or the wild boars won’t be the only unwanted visitors.’
‘You guys sure know how to lay on the entertainment.’ Nick laughed. ‘We’ve had wine scams, missing children and now truffles. What will tomorrow bring?’
‘Tomorrow brings Gail and Tariq,’ Beatrice replied.
‘And I have promised to cook.’ Nick grinned at Rosa. ‘Can I borrow a car in the morning?’ He looked around. ‘I thought I’d try another market, Rosa tells me there is a wonderful one on the way to Bergerac, and then I could carry on and pick up Gail and Tariq.’
‘You can take mine,’ Philippe said.
‘Thanks.’ Nick glanced across at me I saw him hesitate but he didn’t say anything.
‘Yes, I’ll come with you, Nicky,’ I replied to his unspoken question.
His face lit up with joy. He looked as if he were about to say more but I’d had more than enough for one night.
‘Bed for me,’ I said. ‘I’m exhausted.’
‘Thanks for everything, Sky,’ Philippe said. ‘Not just the art but, well, everything.’
I didn’t really know how to reply and blowing them all a kiss I qui
ckly backed out of the door.
‘Philippe, you should go and get a hot bath.’ Beatrice could see the pain on his face. ‘Have you done much damage?’
‘I’ve probably set myself back a couple of weeks, nothing permanent.’ But he grimaced as he stood up. ‘Yes a hot bath is a damned good idea.’ He limped slowly out of the door.
‘Cigarette?’ Nick proffered the packet to Beatrice. She nodded and the two of them went outside.
‘I think you may have turned a corner with Sky,’ she said.
‘Oh, Beatrice, I bloody hope so.’ He lit up.
They stood in companionable silence for a few moments then Nick spoke.
‘Changing tack slightly, how do you think other matters are progressing?’
She turned to look at him sharply.
He grinned. ‘You’re not the only one with eyes, Beatrice. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.’
She laughed her low, husky laugh. ‘Well then I think they are progressing rather well, what do you think?’
‘I think they are heading in the right direction.’ He nodded.
‘Is that OK with you?’
‘Absolutely.’ He smiled. ‘You?’
‘It is written in the stars.’
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