Chapter 6 #2
‘I do,’ Tilly said. ‘The Chateau de Gordes is a thousand years old. It’s been a prison and a warehouse and a garrison.
It’s had schools and museums inside it, but today it’s a cultural centre and they have exhibitions of paintings and sculpture and photography.
’ Her smile broke her serious expression.
‘It’s very beautiful, isn’t it? I adore castles.
They’re so—’ She caught herself just in time.
‘Picturesque?’ Angus offered.
The sound of the burner buried whatever Tilly might have said but Angus had turned away already.
They were leaving the village behind and, with the light strengthening, he could see the neat lines of vineyards in the surrounding countryside and the silvery tinge to olive groves.
He could see the patchwork of farm paddocks and even a farmer who was out with his dogs, heading for a group of sheep that looked like a woolly puddle on the grass.
He could hear the man’s whistle and the answering bark of a dog.
Ordinary scenery. Peaceful. This was the France he wanted to see. This was the calm he needed to inhale.
They went over another village and Roy apologised that the wind was taking them further away from the lavender fields.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Angus told him – and meant it. ‘To be honest, I’m not a fan of the smell. Reminds me of my grandmother.’
Which was true. But it would also remind him of Moira and her love of the scent. And that would remind him of the humiliating failure of his judgement when it came to women.
The wind seemed to be picking up a little, judging by the way the chase cars were falling further behind. Roy was keeping an eye on the cars as well and the burner stayed silent as he seemed to be deliberately letting the balloon lose some height.
He told them he was looking for a good place to land and reminded them of the instructions they’d been given for landing.
‘Face the direction of travel, hold on to the internal handles and bend your knees.’
They were almost at the level of treetops by the time Angus and Tilly were gripping the handles and watching the ground come closer.
Was it too fast? Angus felt a knot of anxiety form in his stomach as he heard leaves rustling in a gust of wind but they were safely past them now and sinking into a large green field.
He could see the shadow of the basket racing across the grass.
‘Hang on.’
The pilot still sounded calm but a quick glance over his shoulder showed Angus that he was busy trying to control the balloon’s landing.
He gave the burner a short burst that kept them just above ground level but they still seemed to be moving rapidly when the basket touched down with a bump.
It lifted again immediately and then came a second bump – harder this time.
The basket was skidding over the grass now and then it caught on something and tipped.
The wall they were holding on to became a floor and, in what felt like slow motion, Angus could feel himself rolling out of the basket onto what wasn’t a soft, grassy field but a mix of straw and mud – and possibly urine?
The impression was gone as soon as it had formed.
Someone was shrieking.
Tilly? Was Tilly hurt?
Angus couldn’t suck in a decent breath because fear was clutching at his throat, but that didn’t stop him getting onto his knees and swinging his head to find where Tilly was.
She wasn’t far away. She was sitting in the mud and staring in his direction with an expression that looked… distraught. Or was it terrified?
Of him? No… She was looking past him. Angus turned to find the biggest, hairiest black pig he’d ever seen in his life only a few feet away. It had floppy ears that were covering its eyes and… tusks! This animal had tusks and it was looking straight past him – at Tilly.
It hadn’t been her shrieking, though. The squealing sound was coming from smaller pigs that were galloping around in different directions.
Other, larger pigs were further away but it was the black boar that was threatening Tilly.
Angus was on his feet already, his brown suede loafers sinking into the mud as he scrambled to make his body some kind of barrier between Tilly and the boar.
He held his arms out, trying to make him look bigger than he was and then twisted his head to see if Roy was going to be able to help if they were attacked.
Apparently not. Their pilot was wrestling with the controls of the balloon, pulling on the rope that opened the aperture at the very top to let air escape.
The balloon was deflating fast but not quite fast enough, because the wind caught the fabric and dragged the basket a few metres that put Roy even further from being able to help.
On the other side of the field, he could see the chase cars behind a gate that someone was trying to open but it was obvious that Angus was on his own as far as rescue was concerned.