Follow Your Star, Jennifer Bohnet [best fiction novels to read txt] 📗

‘What about our day out to Grasse?’ Pierre demanded. ‘You promised you’d take us. We’re not going to have to cancel again are we?’

‘Definitely not,’ Mathieu said. ‘I’ll be back for that, and the good news is that Nanette is coming with us.’

‘Mathieu, I’ve been thinking about that and I need to talk to you about it,’ Nanette said.

Mathieu glanced at her. ‘Talk later. Right now there are one or two papers I need to find for my trip and you two had better get a move on or you’ll be late for school.’ And Mathieu disappeared into the sitting-room. Seconds later he could be heard talking on his phone.

Nanette stifled a sigh. ‘Come on you two. Dad’s right. Let’s go.’

Once she’d walked the twins to school and seen them into the grounds, Nanette hurried back to the apartment, hoping that Mathieu would still be there.

Because Nanette now had the bedroom Mathieu would normally have used as his office, he’d moved his computer, desk and a two-drawer filing cabinet into a tiny windowless area at the back of the sitting-room that housed a small fridge and a drinks cabinet for when he was entertaining guests on the balcony.

Florence was busy vacuuming as Nanette let herself into the apartment. She walked straight through the sitting-room, surprising Mathieu who was watching his printer waiting for the last piece of paper to join a freshly printed batch whilst mumbling into his phone. He jumped visibly at the sound of Nanette’s voice and hurriedly switched the phone off before turning to face her.

‘Mathieu about the trip to Grasse. Is it the de Oliviers’ farm you’re visiting?’

‘Yes.’

‘In that case I’d rather not go with you.’

‘Why on earth not?’

Nanette looked at him quizzically. ‘Why do you think? Zac and I used to visit them regularly when they lived up at Eze. I’m pretty sure they—’

‘Would be very pleased to see you again,’ Mathieu interrupted.

Nanette shook her head. ‘I’d still rather not go.’

Mathieu looked at her before saying stonily, ‘You are here to look after the twins. It’s not really for you to decide whether you go or not. I could insist you accompany us.’

‘I do look after the twins – when they are not at school I organize their lives,’ Nanette said, taking a deep breath. ‘I’ve actually seen more of them than you have in the last few weeks – you’re always dashing off somewhere or other. You certainly weren’t around for Pierre’s after school football match, or Olivia’s music exam,’ she added crossly. ‘Olivia has already told me how much they are both looking forward to having you to themselves on Monday.’ She paused, before adding slowly, ‘But, Mathieu, if you don’t think I’m doing enough for the twins, you can always tell me to go and take over the job yourself. I’d be quite happy to go home – I didn’t want to come back here in the first place!’

She looked him straight in the eyes before adding, ‘I’m not sure how Vanessa would react to you sacking me though.’

That first night in the eco-tourism camp, Vanessa struggled to sleep under the mosquito net in the hammock slung between two beams of the traditional native hut, reliving the last few hours over and over in her mind.

As Ralph had held her in his arms after José had told them about the plane being shot down, saying she could go home to the twins if she wanted, she’d longed in her heart to do just that. But knowing how important this expedition and her presence on it was to Ralph, she’d steeled herself to continue.

Praying that Ralph was right when he assured her, it was extremely unlikely that another innocent plane would be shot out of the sky in the near future, ‘Lessons will have been learnt’, were his words, she’d taken a deep breath and climbed into the small plane.

To her surprise once they were airborne she’d relaxed and enjoyed the long flight. José had flown them over volcanoes, rivers and acres and acres of jungle. Ralph, quickly realizing he was extremely knowledgeable about his country, had spent most of the journey quizzing him about life in the jungle.

From her vantage point in the small plane the green jungle canopy below had looked to Vanessa like nothing more than giant knobbly heads of broccoli allowed to grow and grow.

Eventually José had landed on a dirt runway that appeared to be in the middle of a native village. As the door of the plane opened and she’d stepped out, the heat and the humidity had enveloped her completely. Seeing her discomfort, José immediately summoned one of the native women who had clustered around, to take her to the shelter of a small hut and give her a cool drink.

After watching José take off safely for his return journey, Ralph joined Vanessa in the hut. ‘Ready for the next part?’ he asked. ‘The boat is waiting.’ And, taking her by the hand, he helped her down a long length of rickety wooden steps to a small quay where a large motorized wooden canoe was moored.

Once on board, a canopy almost the length of the boat shielded the passengers from the intense heat and, as the canoe began to chug through the water, Vanessa appreciated the light breeze that fanned her face. As they made their way upriver, the noise of the boat’s engine mingled with the squawking of a large flock of parakeets. With the summer rainy season well under way, the river was high and much of the surrounding lowland was flooded.

‘Look,’ Ralph said, laughing, as he pointed to a log floating downstream. It took Vanessa a couple of seconds before she too saw the family of turtles hitching a lift on the water-sodden trunk. Gazing out across the wide expanse of water Vanessa tried to see the way ahead but the river appeared to snake its way forever through lush jungle, giving no hint of