Fearless Frederic

by Felice Arena

  ‘Help! Help!’ he cries, running down to be by her side.

  The guard rushes down the stairs right behind him.

  ‘What happened?’ he cries. ‘Is she breathing?’

  Claire is motionless, pretending to be out cold.

  ‘I think you should try to feel for her pulse . . . or raise her head. I’ll go try to find someone to help,’ says Frederic. He backs away and sprints up the stairs.

  He races through the doorway and is stopped in his tracks by what he finds.

  He never expected a library to be so grand and monumental. The dizzyingly high ceiling, shaped like half-barrels, sits above enormous arched windows. This one room is almost as large and tall as a grand train station. Two storeys of books line the walls. Running through the middle of the room are rows and rows of tables, filled with people hunched over books.

  But it’s deathly quiet. Frederic can’t believe that a room full of so many people can be so silent.

  Thierry is nowhere to be seen. How will I ever find him in this huge space? Frederic wonders.

  Another guard has already spotted him and is marching towards him. Frederic walks at a clipped pace in the opposite direction, frantically scanning the tables and the people standing at the bookshelves and the balcony walkways of the second level.

  People lift their heads and frown at Frederic.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ a man says.

  People whisper and mutter. ‘What’s the meaning of this?’

  ‘Who’s that?’

  And then the guard who had been attending to Claire bursts through the doors.

  ‘Get that boy!’ he calls.

  Frederic makes a run for it – dodging and weaving around the rows of tables and scanning for Thierry at the same time.

  ‘Thierry!’ he shouts. ‘Thierry Bonneville! Are you here? I’m sorry about what I said to you! I was heartless and cruel, and I shouldn’t have said those things to a friend like you. You and Claire are the best friends I’ve ever had.’

  People in the library try to shush Frederic angrily.

  ‘Shhh!’ they hiss. ‘Shhhhh!’

  ‘This is a library! Not a fish market!’

  ‘How dare you!’

  ‘Thierry!’ Frederic calls again. ‘Please! I need your help. I need the Floodwater Friends to come together just one more time.’

  And then, at the very far end of the library, Frederic spots a familiar face in the sea of seated readers.

  Thierry stands up. ‘Frederic!’ he calls excitedly. ‘Of course I’ll help you! This is just like in The Three Musketeers. All for one and one for all! United we stand, divided we fall!’

  There’s a spooky stillness in the dark, grand hallways of the Louvre Museum. The characters in the paintings stare into the blackness as if on guard. But there’s movement coming from the Salon Carré gallery.

  Footsteps enter the hall and two dim hand-held lanterns move across the room as if floating.

  ‘Here she is,’ whispers a male voice with an upper-class accent.

  The light in the lantern flares, brightening the masked faces of three men and the painting of La Joconde. She looks out at the three men.

  A guard in full uniform stands by the door. ‘I’ll leave you three to it,’ he says. ‘I figure you have ten minutes, tops. You and your men must act quickly.’

  The footsteps of the guard echo as he hurriedly leaves the salon.

  ‘Right, Roux, take the lamp,’ says Manteau, his hands already clasping the frame.

  ‘Do you think she’s smiling, Etienne?’ Roux asks the third, taller man.

  ‘Who cares!’ snaps Manteau. ‘Now hold that lamp still!’

  ‘I still think she looks hungry,’ comes another, younger voice from the corner of the gallery.

  Manteau and his men seem startled. They turn their lamps in the direction of the voice.

  Frederic emerges from the darkness.

  ‘You!’ says the short man.

  ‘Perhaps we should’ve drowned him when we had the chance,’ says the tall man.

  ‘You have some nerve, boy,’ snarls Manteau. ‘Why are you here? How?’

  Frederic shrugs. ‘I overheard these two saying that they’ve got another guard ready for Friday night and that soon you’ll be “smiling with her”. It would have meant nothing to someone else, but when I thought about it I realised I knew exactly what it meant. You obviously have another guard working for you and La Joconde is the most famous smiling woman I know.’

  Manteau claps slowly.

  ‘Bravo,’ he hisses. ‘You have all the makings of a detective. But we’ve also been doing a little investigating. After this we’re going to pay the Saint Nicholas shelter a visit and collect our diamond. But now you’ve at least saved us the effort of killing you there.’

  Manteau cracks his knuckles.

  ‘Have you come here to cry about your father again? To teach me another lesson for killing him? To fight?’ asks Manteau, now slowly walking towards Frederic. ‘Because I think that the one who will be taught a lesson . . . is you.’

  ‘I’m not going to fight you,’ Frederic says. He feels calm and determined. ‘I’m no longer going to fight or blame myself for my father’s death. And I’ve already learnt my lesson so I’ve called on some help. Because that’s what you do when you’re in trouble – good people will help.’

  He turns to see Claire and Thierry stepping out of the shadows.

  ‘What is this? A school trip?’ Manteau scoffs.

  But Roux and Etienne have started to look nervous behind him.

  ‘These are my friends,’ says Frederic proudly. ‘And now you’ve admitted to your crimes, they’re here to lock you three away for good.’

  ‘These children?’ growls Manteau. ‘Pathetic!’

  ‘No,’ says Claire.

  ‘Not us,’ says Thierry.

  Then Manteau follows Frederic’s gaze to the door.

  Stepping into the salon is Officer Pierre and a troop of a dozen policemen. Behind them are Monsieur Dupuis, Joseph and the men from the boxing hall.

  ‘Arrest them!’ Officer Pierre orders his troop of men.

  Faced with this, Manteau and his accomplices are apprehended without a fight.

  ‘I cannot believe this,’ Manteau hisses at Frederic as he’s dragged out of the room. ‘Captured by some boy! A nobody!’

  ‘He’s not nobody,’ says Thierry. ‘He’s Fearless Frederic!’

  ‘Fearless Frederic and his Floodwater Friends,’ Claire says, taking Frederic’s and Thierry’s hands and squeezing them tightly. ‘And don’t you forget it!’

  In the Tuileries Gardens, Frederic holds tightly on to the bridle of the kite and runs as fast as he can in the direction of the Louvre.

  Picking up speed, with the warm spring wind blowing across his face, he lets the line out and the Eagle whooshes up into the bright blue sky.

  Frederic stops, turns his back to the wind and continues to evenly release the string. Higher and higher the kite flies, and Frederic beams from ear to ear.

  A crowd gathers to watch, and then Thierry bursts through the gathering.

  ‘Wow! You’re doing it! You’re actually flying it!’ he says excitedly.

  ‘You’re late. What took you so long?’ Frederic asks, his eyes still on the kite.

  ‘I’ve almost finished writing my book,’ Thierry says enthusiastically, taking out his notebook. ‘Listen, what do you think?

  ‘It was not the last time they would heed this lesson to call on their friends. The balcony grannies offered to share their apartment with Frederic and his maman until the water subsided and the city of Paris returned to its beautiful self. Frederic went back to work with his beloved horses and, even though he lost his job at the library, Thierry was offered real work in the bookstore with Monsieur and Madame Martin when he finishes school.

  ‘What followed after that was a series of fortunate events. A large sum of money was offered for the return of the rare Prince of Condé dia
mond – shared equally with Fearless Frederic and the Floodwater Friends. Frederic’s and Thierry’s mothers were able to rebuild their homes after the devastation of the flood.

  ‘Claire shared her portion among the people who had cared for her and she was taken in at an orphanage. But she wasn’t there for long. When Frederic let the Haythornes know of her circumstances, they adopted her and she has moved to England as the daughter they always wanted.’

  ‘Sounds good,’ says Frederic, but he can’t help thinking about the young pickpocket. He hasn’t seen him since their fight and he hopes the boy’s story has turned out well too. He knows, however, that for most homeless people the story has been very different.

  ‘It’s almost too good to be true, isn't it, Thierry?’ he says. ‘You’ve just reminded me, pull out the letter in my pocket. It’s from Claire.’

  Thierry snatches the envelope from Frederic’s jacket and opens it.

  ‘Dear Hero,’ he reads aloud. ‘As you can see, my writing is improving. I can now write in French and one day I will be able to write in English. Not bad! Although, Maman is helping me a little with this letter. This is just a short note to say that we will be visiting Paris next month and staying for the summer. Isn’t that wonderful? So get the Eagle out and we will fly it together – although you’ve probably flown it a few times by now and Thierry has probably written an entire instructional booklet about kite-flying. Give him a big hug from me. I can’t wait to see you both. Love Claire.’

  ‘An instructional booklet is a great idea,’ says Thierry.

  ‘I thought you’d say that.’ Frederic smiles. ‘Here. You can have a try.’

  As Frederic hands the kite over to his friend he hears a familiar voice.

  ‘Halley’s comet perilously close to Earth! Some say it was the cause of the flood and now it could mean the end of the world is coming!’

  It’s Journal. He spots Frederic, throws his bag of papers over his shoulder and saunters over to them.

  ‘Is that your kite?’ he asks.

  Frederic nods.

  ‘I’ve never seen one in real life before. It’s a beauty!’

  ‘So is that headline true, Journal?’ Frederic asks.

  ‘I don’t know.’ He shrugs. ‘I didn’t really believe that men could fly, but they can. Some news is real. Some news is false. Right now in Paris, anything feels possible.’

  ‘Well, if the world really is going to come to an end I better go and do the thing I really love,’ says Frederic walking away. ‘Boss Gustave said that he might break his rule one day about riding the carriage horses. Maybe today is the day.’

  ‘But what about your kite?’ Thierry calls out.

  ‘You and Journal have fun with it. Just return it to me later.’

  ‘Merci beaucoup!’ yells Thierry. ‘Say hello to Charlemagne for me.’

  ‘I will,’ says Frederic, smiling and looking up at the Louvre museum across the gardens. ‘I will.’

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  My first introduction to France was when I was in high school. I took Year 10 French, and I loved it, mostly because of my teacher, Mr Franzoni, who was so enthusiastic and engaging. He made France, especially Paris, sound like the most magical place on earth. I promised myself that one day I would visit the City of Lights.

  A few years later, I was working as an actor on a popular TV show. I couldn’t believe my luck when I was invited to do a photo shoot in Paris for a teen magazine. Along with other young actors and models we raced around all the major landmarks of the city with the photographer. But all I wanted to do was to break away and explore the amazing city that I was only getting glimpses of.

  Since then I‘ve been fortunate enough to visit Paris six times, but I still haven’t seen it all. In July 2016, the city was experiencing major flooding – the Seine River had risen higher than it had for years. I overheard locals make reference to another flood in Paris’s history – they called it ‘the Great Flood’.

  When I looked it up, incredible black-and-white photographs of the flood of 1910 came up on the screen. The images of Parisians shuffling along gangplanks or rowing boats down famous boulevards are so evocative, so poignant.

  But the flood didn’t come rushing down the river. The water rose up from the ground, from the sewers and the drains until the city was covered.

  I started wondering, what would it have been like to wake up to discover your home was underwater? What were the shelters like in 1910? How did people help one another when faced with a catastrophe? Who were the heroes and the villains?

  I wondered, if I were a kid in the shelters, how would I feel? Would I make friends while I was there? Would I want to help others in need? Little by little my story about Fearless Frederic started taking shape.

  I read books and old newspapers from the time (yeah, my high school French was really put to the test), and I watched films and looked up images from this incredible period in Paris’s history – the Belle Epoque, the ‘beautiful era’. I spoke to locals and visited the landmarks where Frederic’s adventure was to play out.

  The streets and major monuments I mention in the book are real, although I did take creative liberty with businesses like the boxing hall, horse stables and the book and toy stores. There’s a little nod to The Boy and the Spy in there too – see if you can find it!

  I had so much fun researching this book. I had to find out what police uniforms looked like back then, and what kinds of people were likely to have bought kites, and how the streets looked and sounded packed with horse-driven carts, bikes and early automobiles. I needed to do a lot of research on French desserts (yum), but I also needed to learn how the sewer system worked (ew!).

  One of the things I enjoyed most about writing this story was Thierry’s love of books. One of my all-time favourite stories is The Hunchback of Notre Dame by the legendary French author Victor Hugo. There was no way I could ignore French literature when writing a book set in Paris. France has given the world some of the greatest writers of all time, and in a very small way Thierry was my homage to them.

  At the heart of this adventure is courage and friendship. Bravery isn’t always about being physical. Following your heart and being true to yourself and your friends can sometimes take more courage than going into battle against an entire team of savate boxers.

  And the things that make you different from your friends can sometimes be the very features that bind you to them. Frederic, Thierry and Claire are all very different, but somehow I get the feeling they will be friends forever. Don’t you?

  I hope you enjoyed reading this adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it. Maybe one day, if you haven’t already, you’ll get to visit Paris. Or maybe you could do your own research and write an adventure story set in this wonderful city, just like Thierry did. I’d love to know what happens to the Floodwater Friends next or what happens to our young pickpocket – that would be fantastique!

  À bientôt (Until the next time!)

  About the Author

  Felice Arena is one of Australia’s best-loved children’s writers. He is the author and creator of many popular and award-winning children’s books for all ages, including the acclaimed historical adventure The Boy and the Spy, the bestselling Specky Magee books and the popular Andy Roid and Sporty Kids series.

  Also by Felice Arena

  The Boy and the Spy

  The Specky Magee series

  Specky Magee

  Specky Magee and the Great Footy Contest

  Specky Magee and the Season of Champions

  Specky Magee and the Boots of Glory

  Specky Magee and a Legend in the Making

  Specky Magee and the Spirit of the Game

  Specky Magee and the Battle of the Young Guns

  Specky Magee and the Best of Oz

  The Andy Roid series

  The Sporty Kids series

  and

  Whippersnapper

  Find out more at felicearena.com

  A thrilling wart
ime story from the bestselling author of the Specky Magee series.

  Life has never been easy for Antonio, but since the war began there are German soldiers on every corner, fearsome gangsters and the fascist police everywhere, and no one ever has enough to eat. But when Antonio decides to trust a man who has literally fallen from the sky, he leaps into an adventure that will change his life and maybe even the future of Sicily . . .

  PRAISE FOR THE BOY AND THE SPY

  ‘It’s sure to be a hit amongst those who love edge of the seat drama and junior heroes . . .’

  Magpies

  ‘A thrilling Second World War adventure . . . this latest book heralds a new writing path for Felice.’ Fraser Coast Chronicle

  ‘A rollicking read, with a great setting and action aplenty. The tension is maintained throughout and the ending is very satisfying . . . accessible history for kids told via a fabulous tale. Highly recommended.’

  Children’s Books Daily

  ‘All the makings of a classic children’s book!’

  Book of the Month, Lamont Books

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  First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2018

  Text copyright © Red Wolf Entertainment Pty Ltd, 2018

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

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