Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
“ W here on earth was he?” asked Nisha, looking round to see Dan approaching with a slightly pale-looking Hardev in tow.
“He was trying to flag down a police boat on the Seine. He thought they might give him a ride,” said Dan.
Nisha rolled her eyes, while Chrissie looked on and concentrated on trying not to annoy her colleagues any further. “Of course, why wouldn’t he?”
“Well,” said Dan, “me and Hardev have had a very grown-up conversation about how serious this is, and what could have happened.”
“Quite right, Mr Harvey,” agreed Nisha, fixing Hardev with a hard stare. Hardev’s eyes grew large, and he turned to Chrissie, who gave him a sympathetic look. She knew how he felt.
“Ah, Miss Anderson, nice to have you back,” said Dan, noticing her presence. “I hope you managed to get that important job done.” He gave her a wink – clearly not as annoyed as Nisha was.
“Er yes,” said Chrissie. “It took a little longer than I thought it would. Sorry I was away so long.”
Dan gave her a quick smile, before ushering Hardev back into the group of children.
“Right,” said Dan, “the Louvre?”
“Oui, bien,” agreed Philippa with a smile. She appeared to have remained utterly unflappable since the start of the trip, in spite of all the children had thrown at them so far.
“Lovely,” said Dan, opening up his phone to check the walking route.
“It’s across the Pont Saint-Michel, I think,” said Philippa, her mental map of Paris clearly quite comprehensive.
“Allons y!” announced Dan, organising the children into a crocodile.
“Do I have to stand with Hardev?” whined Dottie.
“Yes,” said Nisha. “I need you both up front with me, showing me which way to go. Francis, are you ok over there? Yes, you walk with Erin. Perfect.”
Chrissie found herself a place near the middle of the group, while Dan and Philippa brought up the rear. She had the sense it might be helpful to give Nisha a bit of space. She could tell she was annoyed with her. She ached to get back to the hostel where her journal was. She hadn’t written in it since the previous day, and so much had happened. The window of freedom and joie de vivre she had opened up in the last twenty-four hours had suddenly closed back down.
The rules were there for a reason. She had messed things up.