Chapter 31
31
Orla couldn’t believe it. Despite her sole reason for being here being the reindeer, the fact it was actually here and right in front of her felt like a Christmas miracle.
‘I’ve not seen a real-life reindeer before,’ Erin commented. ‘It looks bigger than the ones on Christmas cards.’
Tommy laughed. ‘You would freak if you saw an elk. Those guys are a lot bigger and definitely meaner.’
‘What’s your brother doing?’ Orla asked as she watched Jacques.
The reindeer was behind Delphine’s café, having been moved away from the inquisitive villagers at Jacques’s request. But he was now prowling around it like he was doing a pilot walk around the plane prior to captaining it into the skies. Any second now she expected him to attempt a reconnaissance of the reindeer’s undercarriage.
‘Getting closer to it than I would,’ Tommy answered.
Orla watched him some more. He was touching its fur one minute, then standing back and assessing, then moving to another angle, running a hand down each leg in turn like it might be a piece of antique furniture he was considering buying. The kitchen table . Suddenly she was only thinking about furniture in the context of how Jacques had pinned her down and held her wrist. What would it feel like to have his fingers running up and down her leg? Erin’s laugh broke through her thoughts.
‘Are you scared of the reindeer?’ Erin asked Tommy. ‘I’m gonna tell Burim.’
‘You talk about me to your boyfriend?’
‘I’m going to tell him some weirdo I’m stuck here with is terrified of a reindeer. He will think it’s hilarious.’
‘O-K, if you wanna piss him off, I guess,’ Tommy replied, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat.
‘What d’you mean?’
‘Well, Burim doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to like the idea of his girl even looking at another guy, never mind talking about one. What was it he said when you mentioned that footballer? “Why you not talk to this guy instead of me”?’
Tommy had done some kind of Eastern-European accent and Orla’s attention was now firmly with her sister and Tommy, learning as much as she could from this interchange.
‘Have you been reading my messages?’ Erin exclaimed.
‘How can anyone not read your messages?’ Tommy countered. ‘When your phone is out of your hand it’s going off every second with notification after notification.’
‘So what? That doesn’t give you the right to read them! And… and… Burim doesn’t speak like how you did it!’
‘Well, I think Burim’s a jerk!’
‘Well, I think you’re a jerk!’
The reindeer made a noise like someone had blown an Alpine horn and everyone stopped focussing on anything else. Erin jumped towards Tommy who put his arm out to catch her and then, very quickly, Orla watched as realisation of the close proximity hit Erin and she swiped at Tommy like he was an annoying wasp.
Orla stepped towards Jacques. ‘Is it OK?’ she asked. ‘It’s not going to give birth yet, is it?’ She paused before going on. ‘I mean, obviously the sooner it gives birth the sooner I can go back to the UK but slightly nearer Christmas would be better for the online hits and GMB might pick it up.’
‘It is OK,’ Jacques said. ‘And no, it is not going to give birth yet.’
‘But there’s something wrong?’
She could tell, by the way Jacques’s brow was furrowed and because of the straight expression he was wearing and trying desperately to maintain.
‘No,’ he said.
‘Jacques, you know I’m a reporter.’
‘I need to speak to Delphine,’ he said, finally stepping away from the reindeer.
‘About what?’ Orla asked, following.
‘About the reindeer. It needs… care.’ He carried on walking towards the front of the café/store.
‘So there is something wrong with it?’
‘No. I just need to speak with Delphine.’
‘Great, I’ll come too and ask her more questions about its origins. Where has it come from? Why has it been sent to Saint-Chambéry?’
‘No,’ Jacques said, putting a hand on her arm to stop her from making any more progress.
‘Why not?’ Orla asked, looking directly at him.
‘Because… someone should stay with Erin and Tommy and stop them from killing each other.’
‘But, when we left them alone before, you said Tommy was a gentleman and that they would be fine.’
‘Orla, just let me speak to Delphine.’
‘I will. And I will be there to listen to every word. I might even make notes.’
He sighed. ‘This isn’t going to work.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because…’
‘What aren’t you telling me?’ So much for the man who didn’t mince his words and loved to express an opinion! Now he was clamming up tighter than an oyster protecting its pearl.
‘Nothing.’
‘Liar.’
‘OK, OK.’
He had his hands up now like it was some kind of surrender.
‘So?’ Orla said. ‘I’m waiting. Or are you not talking so you can quickly concoct a fake story in your head?’
‘The reindeer could be sick,’ he stated. ‘OK. I didn’t want to say anything in front of the kids but, there is this illness they get, foot rot. It can be very serious.’
She hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Oh… well, can we fix it? Because I need to write heart -warming not heart breaking .’ She paused. ‘But, you know, obviously the health of the animal is paramount.’
‘So, will you go back to the kids? Let me speak to Delphine and organise the vet?’
‘Yes,’ Orla replied. ‘And I won’t tell Erin or Tommy you called them kids.’
‘OK,’ Jacques said with a nod. ‘And do not… touch the reindeer or… look at it too closely.’
‘O-K,’ Orla said, her suspicions raised. This was a little weird but she didn’t know anything much about reindeer diseases. Was foot rot contagious?
‘Good,’ he replied and then he strode off.