Page 26 of Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure
“Oh, no need for that,” Ellie said. “Especially if he has a bad chest. He shouldn’t be climbing stairs. We’ve only brought our overnight bags. The rest of the luggage is locked in the boot of the car.”
“Right-oh, then. Here are your keys. Up the stairs and then turn right. You can decide who sleeps where. Bathroom and WC at the end of the hall. Hot water will be on in the morning for two hours. Breakfast at eight.” With that gracious speech, she plonked the keys on to the counter.
Ellie signed the book for all of them, then took the keys, picked up her small valise and turned to the others. “Mavis, perhaps you can carry Miss Smith-Humphries’s bag.”
“I can manage,” the old lady said haughtily.
“It’s no trouble,” Mavis said and gave her a smile. “Those stairs look steep.”
Yvette had been standing silently through this whole exchange, and Ellie realized she didn’t exactly know what was going to happen, since most of the discussion had been in English.
“Come, Yvette,” Ellie said. “We have rooms for the night. You shall have a small room to yourself.”
“Madame is too good,” Yvette said. “How shall I repay you?”
“No need. I am glad we have been able to help you at a difficult moment.”
She started up the stairs. The others followed. A narrow hallway was lit with one naked bulb so that the end of the hall was in deep shadow. Ellie checked numbers on the doors and opened the first one on the right, facing away from the seafront. “Ah. This is the small single. For you, Yvette.”
“A room alone? For me? But no, madame. I don’t need a room to myself. It is too much.”
“It’s all right. Put your bag inside. We will visit the toilet, and then we shall go to dinner at the bar.”
“At the bar with those men?” Yvette looked nervous. “I did not like the big one. He is a corsair, I think. Dangerous.”
“There is nowhere else to eat in this place, and besides, he was most helpful,” Ellie replied. “I don’t think any harm can come to us eating outside at a bar.”
“What did she say?” Mavis asked.
“She thinks the big man is a pirate.” Ellie had to smile.
Mavis was given the other single. The last two rooms along the hallway were identical, both with double beds, a small chest of drawers with a mirror above it, a giant wardrobe that took up most of one wall and over the bed a framed poster from French railways illustrating the Côte d’Azur. Simple in the extreme. The window was latched, and the shutters outside were already closed.
“I’ll take the room nearest to the facilities if you don’t mind,” Dora said, going ahead into the end room. Ellie put down her bag beside the bed. The headboard and chest of drawers were mismatched and would have been at home in a second-hand shop. On the bed was a pink eiderdown. Beside the bed was a faded braided rug. But it seemed clean enough. She took off her jacket, then went through into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Fifteen minutes later they walked together around the harbour to the bar. Lights now twinkled in the dark water, and the smell of salt and seaweed wafted towards them. On the other side of the harbour wall, the boats creaked and groaned at their moorings.
Ellie noticed that Yvette had stopped walking. “Is something wrong, Yvette?”
“Oh no, madame. I am just realizing that I am looking at the sea for the first time in my life. I have dreamed of this moment, and now it is real.”
“Yes, it is real. We have made it this far,” Dora said. “Let us hope we all enjoy our time here.”
Yvette lingered a moment longer as the water lapped and slapped against the harbour wall, then followed them, still staring out. At the bar a table had been set up for them with a basket of bread and a flask of olive oil already in place. The men had returned to their own table and their wine glasses. Two of them were smoking the thin black cigarettes, and the strange herby smell wafted towards the women. An older man came out of the bar, bringing a carafe of red wine and glasses.
“Welcome, dear English ladies,” he said. “I regret that I can only offer you the simplest of meals tonight. At this time of year I do not have help in the kitchen, so I can only offer you a soup.”
“Thank you. That would be fine,” Ellie said. She turned to translate for Mavis.
“I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Mavis said. She glanced across at the next table. “I don’t know if I feel like eating much, not with those blokes watching us. I think I agree with Yvette this time. They do look like ruddy pirates.”
“I’m sure they are fishermen, Mavis,” Dora said. “Not pirates.”
Ellie poured the wine, then took a sip. It was rich and strong but not unappetizing.
“This will make us sleep tonight,” she said, laughing.
They had almost finished the bread when Henri appeared again, putting a big bowl on the table with four soup bowls. The smell of garlic and herbs rose from the steaming bowl. Ellie took the ladle and spooned hot soup into each of the bowls. It was a rich red colour, more like a stew, with plenty of bits and pieces floating in it. Mavis picked up her spoon, then gave a cry of alarm.
“What the devil is this?” She held it up for the others to see. “It looks like a dead spider. Do they eat spider soup here?”
