Page 95 of Everything That Kills Me
“Hi, Zeph! Are you in France?”
“Just stopped for breakfast. We went sand yachting yesterday. It was brilliant.”
“Did you wear helmets?”
“Yes, we wore helmets. And we found some fossils for my collection.”
Martin laughed. “You’re carrying rocks home? Not sure there’s any room left on your windowsill.”
“I’ll make room.”
“Where are you heading today?”
Jack shook his head and Zeph nodded.
“Not sure where we’ll end up. We’re driving down the west coast.”
“Paulo wants to know what you did with your tuxedos.”
“We brought them with us. We’re planning a very upmarket picnic on the beach.”
“Right.” Martin laughed. “What was the ball like? Did you take pictures?”
“I’ll send some. One of the best nights ever.” Zeph looked at Jack as he spoke. “Winter in summer. Fake snow swirling in the courtyards. Fairy lights everywhere. The college buildings illuminated in a spectacular light show. The Bridge of Sighs looked amazing. The food was spectacular and I did— I’ll never forget a moment of it.”
“That’s great. I’m glad you had such a good time.”
“I need to go now. Finish my coffee before it gets cold. Why does coffee taste better in France? And croissants? I’ll call again in a few days.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too. And Paulo. Bye.”
He put his phone away. “I almost told him I’d ice skated at the ball.”
Jack narrowed his brow. “Weren’t you supposed to ice skate?”
Zeph winced. “Skating was fine. Jumping not fine. I told you Alice had pushed me down an embankment… Well, I broke my pelvis, my leg, wrenched my arm and along with cuts and bruises, I…um…fractured my skull.”
Jack gaped at him.
“I’m fine,” Zeph said. “I could have skated after a couple of months and it’s been years.”
“But you didn’t just skate, you jumped.”
“I probably shouldn’t have done that but I was okay. Nothing is going to stop me doing what I want to do. Apart from acute fear.”
“And me.”
Zeph smiled but Jack was serious.
Zeph drove for a couple of hours before Jack took over again. They stopped for lunch, then called in at a Carrefour supermarket to get essentials, including a cooler bag and ice to transport butter, cheese and yoghurt. Bordeaux was a nightmare. An accident on the ring road held them up but Jack was confident they wouldn’t need to find somewhere to stay overnight.
When it was time for Zeph to drive again, he was asleep, so Jack kept going. As they drew closer to their destination, Jack was glad Zeph was still sleeping because he didn’t need directions and preferred Zeph didn’t notice.
The village they were heading for, south of Mimizan in the heart of CôtedesLandes on France’s Atlantic coast, was called Léon. The single-story dwelling was several kilometres west of the village and near the beach. Jack could have waited to buy food in Léon, but hadn’t been sure the supermarket would still be open by the time they arrived, though they’d made such good progress that it wouldn’t have been an issue. Tomorrow morning, they’d go into Léon to buy fresh food in the market square.
Thomas paid a local couple to visit the house periodically to ensure all was well. They changed settings on security lights and kept the place aired. Benoît had been informed someone was arriving and knew to stay away unless called. Jack hoped he’d been told not to acknowledge he knew him if he came to service the pool.
