CHAPTER 3
Next morning at breakfast their Aunt suggested they take a picnic and go out exploring. “You can take anything you like from the fridge or food cupboards. Make sure you are back by 6pm though.” With that she took her coffee and toast to the other end of the room and began to prepare for the day’s painting. “Oh, best not to stray too far on your first day, pixies.” With that she started tearing up rags and setting out turpentine and rows of oil paints. Clearly when her mind was on painting nothing else would interfere. Jenny noticed that the windmill in the painting had taken a definite shape now. Aunty Izzy certainly seemed to be determined to finish this painting quickly.
Jenny told the twins to look for a basket to carry their picnic and then sent them upstairs to get into their swimmers and shorts. When she looked in the fridge she found plenty of food. There were remains of ham and cheese, some hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, soft bread rolls, some plums and bottles of Orangeade. They weren’t allowed fizzy drinks at home but who would know if they took them for their picnic? Jenny felt very grown up as she prepared the food and told the others what to do.
As they were leaving Aunt Izzy yelled at them, “Don’t forget the sunblock. It gets very hot here and if the sun doesn’t get you, the wind will! You’ll find it near the back door on the top shelf. Have fun.”
There was no sign to the beach but Jenny decided they should start by walking around the house to the side her bedroom was on and then follow their noses. They thought it was odd that they couldn’t see the lighthouse which had looked very big from the upstairs bedroom. They walked enthusiastically, the twins skipping on ahead of Jenny who was carrying the heavy picnic basket. “Hey you two, don’t get too far ahead, I don’t want to lose sight of you.” Claire and Jack immediately had a backwards game of chase and ended up behind their big sister. They circled around her a couple of times and then shot off ahead following the sandy track through the pine forest. All of a sudden they stopped short and raced back to Jen. They looked as though they had seen an ogre and a very scary one at that!
“WHAT IS THAT?” they both shrieked.
“Listen,” said Claire, “it sounds like thunder, but the sun is out and the sky is clear blue.” Jenny put the basket down and stopped to listen. It really did sound like thunder but then she realised what it was.
“It’s the sea,” she shouted against the roar. “Aunty Izzy said the waves here are huge and make lots of noise when the wind is blowing.”
“Wow!” said the twins together, “Let’s go!” And off they ran over the sandy hill in front of them right to the top where they stopped in amazement and waved back to Jenny.
“It’s huge”, they cried against the wind, their voices carrying above Jenny’s head and away inland back toward the house.
As they all struggled up the final huge sand dune they looked to their right side, and there, standing majestically, looking out to sea was the lighthouse. “No wonder we couldn’t see it,” said Jenny, “we were too close. It must have been hidden from view by all the pine trees.” They ran down the sand dune as fast as they could their feet slipping and sliding in the hot sand until they reached the wet strip that ran along the sea edge. From here they turned and looked back at the lighthouse.
“Cool!” gasped Jack as he imagined lighting the lamp that would save untold sailors from the perils of the sea.
“Gosh!” whispered Claire, who was actually a little bit scared of heights, but didn’t want to admit that in front of her brother.
Jenny just stood gazing up at the old lighthouse. She had seen lighthouses before but only very modern looking ones that didn’t have a keeper and were lit by some modern technology or other, probably a switch from a control centre miles away. Now she was close to it, she realised this one was very definitely ancient. It was perched right up on the sand and was white nearly all the way up with a red top part and very elaborate green metal railings at the very top where the huge mirrors would be. Jenny wondered if the lighthouse keeper arrived by helicopter each night because there didn’t seem to be a road that would be good enough for cars, just a sandy track leading away over the dunes. It was then that she realised that there were other buildings at the base of the lighthouse. “A keeper’s cottage, of course,” she thought. She wondered if they would be able to go inside but felt that they had better not pester the keeper. He was probably asleep anyway in the daytime and only woke at night to light the huge lamp. She thought he probably had his work cut out to keep that light going all night and imagined a bent old man who was so used to walking round and round the lighthouse steps that he couldn’t walk straight when he was on flat ground. She chuckled to herself at the thought.
The three children found a perfect patch of warm sand down near the water’s edge and spread out their towels. They could look out to sea and watch the waves, build sandcastles and look back at the lighthouse standing guard over this part of the beach. Jenny was surprised that there were no lifeguards or flags on this beach to warn people of any dangerous rocks or currents. They decided to paddle near the edge of the sea and not risk going in out of their depth, especially as the only other people on the beach were fishing and were right at the other end of the sands as far away as they could be. The sea looked quite rough as the wind blew in but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves playing chase and collecting shells.
Soon Jenny decided it must be lunchtime as they were all famished. They decided to set out their picnic right on the sand, something their father would never have allowed. He hated getting sand in his food but the children though it all added to the fun of the seaside. They decided to make giant sandwiches filled with ham and whole tomatoes that would squelch when they bit into them. Jack was the first to take a bite of his and he squealed as tomato pips shot out all over his knees. Just as Jenny and Claire were about to bite into theirs they became conscious of being watched.
They turned simultaneously to see a tanned girl standing a few feet away from them. She was dressed in knee length shorts and a striped tee shirt. Her black hair was flying all over the place in the wind even though she had attempted to tie it back with a piece of string. She was probably about Jenny’s age and her bright blue eyes shone at the three strangers making her look very friendly. She beamed a huge smile. “Bonjour,” she said. “Je m’appelle Aliénor. Ça va?” Jenny gulped. Now she would really have to speak French. She had said so to her mother and father but, secretly, she hoped she would not have to. The twins had not learnt any French at school yet so it was up to her.
“Um, je m’appelle Jennifer,” she said. Je m’appelle had been the first thing they had done in French class. “Ils s’appellent Claire et Jack,” she managed pointing to her sister and brother. “Ils sont twins,” she stumbled on not knowing the French for twins, “parle-tu anglais?”
Aliénor laughed.”Un peu, mais pas bien!” she replied. “I av studied pour wan year only.” Jennifer wondered if her attempts at French had a strong English accent like Aliénor’s sounded French.
“Moi aussi, for one year seulement!”
The two older girls laughed and knew that they would be the best of friends. They soon knew all about each other. With a combination of schoolgirl French and English and hand signals Jenny learned that Aliénor and her older brother Thierry lived in Paris but were staying at the lighthouse with their Uncle Bernard who was the replacement lighthouse keeper for the summer while the old man who usually did the job had a holiday. Uncle Bernard was a policeman in Paris normally, but he really wanted to live by the sea and sail a yacht. They lived in the house at the base of the lighthouse but could go up to the light whenever they liked, as long as they didn’t touch anything. Aliénor said that Thierry and Uncle Bernard were painting an old boat in the keeper’s cottage garden and pointed to the lighthouse.
“You want to see?” she grinned.
”Oui,” replied Jenny. Then she suddenly realised that the twins were nowhere to be seen.
“Claire! Jack!” she called an
d a faint reply came from behind a rock down by the water’s edge. Suddenly two tousled blond heads popped up giggling at the two older girls. “You two come back here and finish your picnic and don’t move. I’m going with Aliénor to see her uncle’s boat. The twins groaned and said they wanted to come too, but Jenny said when she had been introduced she would take them up to the lighthouse.
“You promise?” they said in unison.
“Yes,” Jenny laughed, “I promise.” The twins began to peel hardboiled eggs and tuck into orangeade as Jenny and Aliénor walked the few metres up the sand to the lighthouse.
As she went through the tiny gate into the garden, Jenny looked back and saw that the twins were eating and making a sandcastle all at the same time. The fence around the keeper’s cottage looked as if it struggled to keep out the sand and the garden itself was really just an extension of the beach. There were some wiry looking sea plants that hung onto the sand but this was not a garden in the English sense of the word. There were no trees or flowers and definitely no lawn! The grass that did grow was coarse and sharp and a bluish colour and grew in rough clumps. There were huge pieces of driftwood all over the garden, which Jenny thought looked like sculpture. To one side of the cottage two men were bent over a small boat, one was scraping the wood and the other hammering nails into the side. These were Uncle Bernard and Thierry.
When Jenny got closer she realised that Thierry was only a boy but when he stood up he was much taller than his sister. Thierry, she soon found out was nearly fourteen. Like his sister he was very tanned and thin with long brown hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He had one looped earring and a sharks-tooth necklace. Jennifer thought he looked very romantic like a pirate of the Caribbean!
“Hello. How are you?” he said when Aliénor introduced her. His English was excellent. She suddenly imagined standing on her balcony and looking down to see Thierry. But Aliénor’s voice soon brought her back to reality!
“And this ees Uncle Bernard,”said Aliénor. Jenny shook hands with their very large uncle. He was well over six feet tall and very big too. He didn’t usually have a beard but had not bothered to shave all summer so he looked just like a sea captain. Both Bernard and Thierry were dressed for work and had the bright blue overalls held up with braces.
“You are welcome,” said Uncle Bernard. “Come anytime you like.”
Aliénor took Jennifer inside the keeper’s cottage. There was a huge table and four chairs, a large wood- burning stove for heating the room and cooking on and a set of bunk beds in the corner. In the middle of the room was the hull of a boat. Aliénor said that the lighthouse keeper was building a boat right there in the house! Jenny also noticed that the floor was covered in sand, which blew in every time the door was opened. There was a tiny bathroom with a sink, toilet, bidet and a basic shower with a curtain made of sail canvas and held up with rope. At the back of the house was a tiny room that Aliénor used as a bedroom. This room was also very basic with none of the pretty decoration of her own little attic room. There were small pieces of driftwood here and there and some shells which served as decoration.
What Jenny really wanted to do was go up into the lighthouse but she would have to wait as it was now 5.30, and she had promised to get home by 6pm. The two girls went outside again and were greeted by lots of giggling. The twins had packed up the picnic things and had followed Jenny to the lighthouse. They were now both sitting inside the little boat pretending to sail the ocean and shouting things like “Ship ahoy!” and, “heave ho me hearties!” Uncle Bernard and Thierry were clearly enjoying the joke and joined in with their game. And a little white poodle was jumping and yapping to its heart’s content. When they saw Jenny the twins tumbled out of the boat and begged to go up the lighthouse.
“Tomorrow,” said Jenny, “we have to get back now. You know Aunty Izzy said 6pm.””
“See you tomorrow,” they said as they waved goodbye.
“A demain,” came the threefold reply.
“Woof,” said Blanca and her tail wagged for all it was worth. She loved being by the seaside with Bernard and the children and now she had three more playmates.
Jenny picked up the picnic basket and turned to wave goodbye. As she did she heard the sound of a horse galloping away. She stood transfixed as she caught sight of a beautiful palomino disappearing over the sand dunes. She couldn’t see who was riding him but just caught a red glint of a ponytail flying behind the rider’s head before they both faded away.
“Jenny, Jenny,” shouted the twins. ”What are you staring at?”
“Didn’t you see anything in the pine forest behind the lighthouse?”
“Only the trees,” they shouted. “Come on, we’ll be late!”