One Summer in Monte Carlo

by Jennifer Bohnet

  Nanette nodded and poured Patsy a cup of tea.

  ‘It was good of Bryan to treat you to this holiday,’ Nanette said. ‘Shame he couldn’t come with you.’

  ‘He wanted to, he was worried about me travelling alone, but it’s totally the wrong time of year for a farmer to take a holiday,’ Patsy said ruefully. ‘What with silage and haymaking, not to mention organising AI visits to get the cows into calf ready for calving early next year.’ She glanced at Nanette. ‘Actually, I’m rather ashamed to be here. I told you I asked Bryan to have a word with Helen? He did and it was fine for a week or two. But then, last Sunday, I lost it when she made some remark that I can’t even remember now. I did the unthinkable – called her Grannyzilla to her face and threw the roast potatoes on the floor.’ Patsy gave Nanette a half-smile. ‘It did feel quite good, though, at the time.’

  Nanette stared at her, realising just how uptight her unflappable sister must have been to act like that. ‘Oh, Patsy, I’m sorry you were so stressed. I wish I’d been able to help more.’

  ‘Helen cleared the mess up, muttering all the time about it being my hormones, Bryan, thankfully, realised it wasn’t just that, I really did need some space. So, here I am.’ Patsy smiled happily at her sister.

  ‘Leaving your husband to the tender mercies of his mother,’ Nanette teased. ‘She’ll probably have moved back into the farmhouse by the time you get home.’

  Patsy groaned. ‘Don’t even joke about that. She’s already suggested she moves into the spare room to be closer for the big event. I know she’s Bryan’s mother, I know she’s excited at becoming a grandmother and I know she means well, but she does have this tendency to try to take over.’ She glanced at Nanette. ‘You will still be able to come back and be with me when “the bump” makes its appearance? You are still down as my birthing partner. I’ll understand if you can’t, though.’

  ‘I’m going to do my best,’ Nanette answered. ‘It all depends. I may end up bringing the twins with me.’

  Patsy gave her sister a quizzical look.

  ‘We think – no, we know, Mathieu and Zac are both embroiled in something illegal,’ Nanette said. ‘Whether it’s the same unlawful scheme or two different ones, we haven’t yet been able to work out. As for Zac. Can you believe he’s told the crew on Pole Position that I’m going to be working for him again?’

  ‘I thought you were going to tell him no a second time and make sure he got the message! Honestly, Nanette, anyone would think you were considering it.’

  Nanette sighed. ’I couldn’t have been more definite when I said no to him, but he doesn’t listen to me – or doesn’t want to hear what I’m saying. Now Mathieu says it would help him if I did agree to do some work for Zac.’ Nanette shrugged helplessly. ‘I really, really don’t want anything to do with Zac, but I know how worried JC is about Mathieu, so I was thinking…’ she glanced at her sister cautiously. ‘It might help if I did agree to do some – temporarily of course.’ Her gut instinct was still screaming at her not to trust Zac one iota but if working for him for a few hours was the only way to find out what was going on, then maybe she should do it.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ Patsy said.

  ‘JC is against it too, even to help Mathieu.’

  ‘Listen to the two of us then. Does Vanessa know about your worries over Mathieu?’

  Nanette shook her head. ‘No. She’s too far away to do anything and I don’t want to worry her unless I have to. Hopefully things will have sorted themselves out by the time she and Ralph return.’

  ‘Even if they haven’t, you are not to get involved,’ Patsy said firmly.

  Nanette, remembering Patsy’s condition, decided it would be prudent not to tell her just how involved she already was because of Jean-Claude. She glanced across at her sister. ‘There’s another thing. I’m starting to remember things that happened before the accident.’

  ‘That’s good,’ Patsy said. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, it’s good that my memory is beginning to function again, but some of the things I’m remembering contradict the truth. Or things that I believed to be true.’

  Patsy looked at her anxiously. ’You’re not having nightmares again?’

  ‘No.’ Nanette shook her head. ‘But what if these memories are false? Not returning memories at all. What if subconsciously I’m biased and trying to make myself believe a lie?’ She fell silent for a moment before looking at Patsy and saying quietly. ‘What if…’ She paused, biting her lip before saying, ‘What if I was not the cause of the accident?’

  30

  Vanessa wiped her sleeve across her face in the forlorn hope of mopping up some of the perspiration that was making her skin itch. Her hair under the hat was wet and sweat was beginning to drip down her neck. It was three hours now since they’d said goodbye to the villagers and Luigi, their guide, had led them into the jungle to begin their long trek back to civilisation.

  The last forty-eight hours had been hard. Not only was their stay in the village coming to an end with Ralph unable to complete his film the way he wanted, it had seemed the friendships they’d forged with the villagers were about to be torn apart by some superstition.

  Summoned to the village council, they’d apprehensively followed Angela to the main hut the evening of what should have been their last night in the village. As far as Vanessa could see, every villager, from the smallest newborn baby to the oldest native, was waiting for them, grim-faced. The hunters had returned early from a food foraging expedition and were grouped around the head shaman, still clutching their spears, staring intently at Vanessa and Ralph.

  Vanessa had shivered. Did they really believe she and Ralph had put the ‘evil eye’ on their gold? Memories of a terrifying visit as a young girl to an exhibition of cannibalism and shrunken heads in the British Museum in London suddenly sprang unbidden into her mind. Did these natives know that those practices had been outlawed? Did they practise other, even more macabre, rituals?

  Swallowing hard to stop the bile in her throat rising, Vanessa had looked fearfully at the natives she’d treated as friends for several weeks. There was a stranger, his skin glistening with sweat, his spears and machete strapped in place on his back, talking and gesturing with the head shaman. Vanessa had glanced at him curiously.

  ‘He’s one of the native runners who keep all the villages in touch. Apparently, he’s brought some urgent news,’ Ralph had told her, after a quick consultation with Angela.

  Luigi, who with Nick the cameraman, was acting as interpreter, had moved forward and listened intently to what the man was saying. Vanessa clutched at Ralph’s hand nervously as silence descended in the hut and the head shaman turned and beckoned them forward.

  ‘We have news that our aviamento, Takyanov the outsider, has been detained. His word has been broken. It is not you who have cast the evil eye.’ He had paused. ‘We are free to trade with you.’

  Vanessa had felt her whole body shudder in relief. Then the phrase ‘free to trade with you’ had registered in her brain and she looked at Nick and Luigi in horror. The villagers had clearly misunderstood what she was offering to do.

  ‘Nick, Luigi, before this goes any further, you must make them understand the Fruits of the Forest cooperative would be their responsibility. I’m not buying their produce, only helping them to get organised to make and to sell it.’

  Once she was convinced that the villagers, and the head shaman in particular, understood exactly what she was proposing, Vanessa had felt the tension leave her and she quickly began to outline again all the things the villagers would need to do to get the cooperative up and running.

  ‘I just wish we weren’t leaving tomorrow,’ she had said. ‘There’s so much to explain and put into action.’

  ‘We can stay one more day if you like,’ Ralph had offered. ‘No longer though, Nick and Harry have work commitments to get back for.’

  Vanessa and Ralph had worked into the small hours trying to sort out a basic businesslike pla
n of campaign to get the cooperative off the ground. In the morning, they had held their own village council meeting to tell the head shaman and the villagers the things they needed to do.

  The extra day had been a busy one with so many things to organise, not least packing up some samples of the native medicines, including several pots of the Sangre de Grado ointment that had helped Ralph’s injuries to heal so well.

  ‘If only we’d thought of this when we first arrived,’ Vanessa had said. ‘I could have done so much more before having to leave them to get on with it.’ She’d sighed and looked at Ralph. ‘There is one thing that still worries me, though. What happens if this Takyanov comes back and tries to muscle in on the cooperative? Angela did say the men knew there were dangers in upsetting him.’

  ‘Don’t worry. Once we get back to civilisation, we can alert the authorities to what we – you, are doing. Once you’ve organised some funds, you can appoint a trustworthy overseer to come out here to supervise things in your absence. Make sure there are no disruptions, no outsiders muscling in. You’ll be amazed at the progress on your next visit, you’ll see,’ Ralph had said confidently.

  Hugging Angela goodbye the following morning, Vanessa was surprised to find herself fighting back the tears. From longing to leave the jungle, she found herself strangely sad saying goodbye to Angela, her friend.

  ‘Goodbye, Pacchumama. May the spirits be with you on your journey,’ Angela had said, hugging her.

  ‘I’m going to miss you, but once I’ve set up the cooperative for the village I’ll be back to see you again.’ Vanessa had bent down and given little Maya a cuddle and hugged her tight, before turning and leaving.

  Now, as she tiredly followed Luigi and the porters along the muddy track, Vanessa’s mind was still racing, trying to sort out the logistics of the cooperative and wondering who she’d be able to find willing to sponsor Fruits of the Forest for at least its first year in business.

  Darkness had descended as they reached the camp where they were to spend their last night in the jungle proper. Wearily, Vanessa stumbled into their sleeping hut. Tomorrow they would travel by small canoe up the feeder river to the Amazon itself and then, a day, or possibly two days later, a larger boat would take them to the town of Manaus.

  Their journey home had begun. Part of her was sad that their adventure in the Amazon jungle would soon be over, but inside she was buzzing with the thought of seeing Pierre and Olivia again. Giving them tight hugs. Tucking them into their safe beds. Telling them about little Maya and her so, so different life. Hoping that she would be able to help provide a proper future for her and the other children of the village. She desperately wanted Fruits of the Forest to succeed.

  31

  With Patsy staying, the days settled down into a different routine as Nanette made sure her sister didn’t overdo things. She insisted that Patsy stayed in bed every morning while she dealt with the twins’ morning routine and returned from the school run with a bag of warm croissants from the boulangerie.

  Because Patsy had visited Monaco several times in the past and Nanette had shown her the touristy sights then, there was no urgent need for them to go out exploring. So, for the first couple of days, they just took gentle strolls around the harbour, stopping for a coffee at their favourite café, before returning to the apartment to sit around relaxing, which was just what Patsy needed. Evenings were spent with the twins, playing board games and competing against each other on the video games Pierre and Olivia loved playing at every opportunity. Nanette was pleased to see that Patsy looked much better and happier with every day that passed and they began to venture further afield.

  They took Jean-Claude up on his invitation for a swim and had lunch with him up at the villa one day. Another day, they went to view an art exhibition at the Grimaldi Forum, followed by a takeaway pizza back at the apartment. Sitting out on the balcony afterwards flicking through a celebrity magazine, Patsy looked across at her sister.

  ‘Is Mathieu avoiding me? He’s barely been home since I’ve been here.’

  Nanette shook her head. ‘It’s the way it is at the moment. Whatever it is he’s caught up in seems to take up a lot of time. The twins, too, are beginning to notice he’s rarely here.’

  ‘I thought I’d offer to take everyone out for a pizza one evening as a way of saying thank you to him for letting me stay here but,’ Patsy shrugged, ‘it doesn’t look like that idea is going to work.’

  ‘I shouldn’t worry too much,’ Nanette said. ‘He’s told the twins he’ll be around for my birthday dinner, so you’ll see him then and can thank him. You can always buy him a bottle of champagne or something.’

  It was late in the afternoon of Nanette’s birthday and she and Patsy were out on the balcony of Mathieu’s apartment arranging a magnificent bouquet of flowers from Jean-Claude.

  The two of them had spent the day mooching around Monaco old town and entertaining the twins after school. Mathieu arrived after lunch and had spent the afternoon working on his computer before taking Olivia and Pierre off somewhere unspecified, leaving the sisters alone.

  ‘I never thanked you properly for those lovely flowers you sent me,’ Patsy said, carefully placing a yellow rose into the arrangement. ‘I really appreciated them, in more ways than one. Just knowing that you were out there on my side was a real boost.’

  ‘I’m glad they helped. I was trying to stop feeling guilty for not being there when you needed me,’ Nanette said quietly.

  ‘Please don’t feel guilty. I know in a real emergency you would drop everything to be with me. These are beautiful flowers too,’ Patsy said, smelling one of the lilies. ‘Jean-Claude seems to be really fond of you. He’s very attractive,’ she added, with a sideways look at her sister. ‘You would tell me if there was romance in the air, wouldn’t you? I couldn’t help but notice a certain frisson whenever you two are together.’

  Nanette, not surprised that Patsy had picked up on her feelings for Jean-Claude, concentrated on carefully pushing the last orchid-like flower into the arrangement, before giving Patsy an enigmatic smile, knowing she couldn’t and wouldn’t deny her feelings to her sister.

  ‘JC is a lovely man and I’m fond of him, too,’ she said. ‘But we’re taking it slowly. All this business with Mathieu is worrying him and I still need to sort out things with Zac.’

  ‘Shame he hasn’t been around while I’ve been here,’ Patsy said. ‘I’d have enjoyed “sorting things out” with him.’

  ‘Probably just as well then,’ Nanette replied. ‘I don’t think Monaco is ready to hear you giving one of their favourite residents a telling-off.’

  Patsy shrugged. ‘I can wait.’

  Florence appeared just then with another large bunch of flowers.

  ‘The concierge just sent these up, with this card,’ she said, handing an envelope to Nanette.

  Even before she tore open the envelope, Nanette guessed who these particular flowers were from. She read the brief message out loud to Patsy.

  ‘Happy Birthday. Will ring you this evening. Hope you’ve had a great day. Zac.’

  Exasperated, Nanette said, ‘They’re lovely flowers, but I wish he hadn’t sent them. I’m going to have to say thank you and the last thing I want to do at the moment is thank Zac Ewart for anything. Why is he going to ring me this evening?’

  ‘We won’t be here anyway, will we?’ Patsy said. ‘Aren’t we going out to dinner in’ – she looked at her watch – ‘about an hour and a half, with Jean-Claude and Mathieu to celebrate your birthday in style?’

  ‘Heavens, is it that late already? We’d better think about getting ready.’

  Nanette took Zac’s flowers out to the kitchen and asked Florence if she’d kindly find a vase for them.

  Mathieu, arriving back with the twins just then, handed Nanette a small package. ‘Olivia and Pierre thought you’d like this. Happy Birthday from us all.’

  ‘This’ turned out to be a beautiful silk scarf from one of the designer boutiques
on Avenue de Monte Carlo.

  ‘Thank you,’ Nanette said, hugging the twins and gently fingering the luxurious material. ‘It’s lovely. I shall wear it this evening.’

  The Italian restaurant where Jean-Claude had booked a table was only a short walk away and Mathieu escorted them there. Nanette acknowledged her heart’s missed beat with a smile as she saw Jean-Claude standing there waiting for them.

  ‘Happy birthday,’ he said, and kissed her cheeks. The words ma chérie were added so quietly that only Nanette heard them and she smiled at him gratefully.

  Gallantly taking her hand in his, Jean-Claude escorted her to their table, where an attentive waiter was waiting to pour the champagne before taking their orders. A pianist was playing a medley of Italian songs and several couples were making use of the small dance floor around which the tables were grouped.

  ‘Will you excuse us while the birthday girl and I have this dance?’ Jean-Claude asked, looking at Mathieu and Patsy.

  ‘Go ahead,’ Mathieu said, looking at Patsy. ‘Would you like to?’

  ‘I’ll sit this one out, thanks,’ Patsy answered. ‘I think the bump would rather get in the way.’

  Nanette, moving slowly around the dance floor, Jean-Claude’s arms holding her close, breathed a sigh of happiness. A feeling that this birthday was going to herald in a year of changes to her life flooded through her body, and surely this time, they would be good changes.

  ‘Thank you for my beautiful flowers, JC,’ Nanette murmured.

  ‘My pleasure. I have other presents for you, too, but you will have to come to the villa to collect them. Maybe when Patsy has returned home? Now, we’d better return to our table, I can see the waiters arriving with our food.’

  The meal was delicious. Conversation and laughter flowed between the four of them. It was only when the waiter brought the sweet trolley for them to choose from that she realised Patsy had gone quiet.