Chocolat

15

Tuesday February 25

STILL MORE OF THIS INTERMINABLE RAIN. IT FALLS LIKE A piece of the sky upended to pour misery onto the aquarium life below. The children, bright plastic ducks in their waterproofs and boots, squawk and waddle across the square, their cries ricocheting off the low clouds. I work in the kitchen with half an eye to the children in the street. This morning I unmade the window display, the witch, the gingerbread house and all the chocolate animals sitting around watching with glossy expectant faces, and Anouk and her friends shared the pieces between excursions into the rainy backwaters of Les Marauds. Jeannot Drou watched me in the kitchen, a piece of gilded pain d'epices in each hand, eyes shining. Anouk stood behind him, the others behind her, a wall of eyes and whisperings.

`What next?’

He has the voice of an older boy, an air of casual bravado and a smear of chocolate across the chin. `What are you doing next? For the display?’

I shrugged. `Secret,' I said, stirring creme de cacao into an enamel basin of melted couverture.

`No, really.’ He insists. `You ought to make something for Easter. You know. Eggs and stuff: Chocolate hens, rabbits, things like that. Like the shops in Agen.’

I remember them from my childhood; the Paris chocolateries with their baskets of foil-wrapped eggs, shelves of rabbits and hens, bells, marzipan fruits and marrons glaces, amourettes and filigree nests filled with petits fours and caramels and a thousand and one epiphanies of spun-sugar magic-carpet rides more suited to an Arabian harem than the solemnities of the Passion: `I remember my mother telling me about the Easter chocolates.’

There was never enough money to buy those exquisite things, but I always had my own cornet surprise, a paper cone containing my Easter gifts, coins, paper flowers, hard-boiled eggs painted in bright enamel colours, a box of coloured papier-mâché – painted with chickens, bunnies, smiling children amongst the buttercups, the same every year and stored carefully for the next time encasing a tiny packet of chocolate raisins wrapped in Cellophane, each one to be savoured, long and lingeringly, in the lost hours of those strange nights between cities, with the neon glow of hotel signs blink-blinking between the shutters and my mother's breathing, slow and somehow eternal, in the umbrous silence.

`She used to say that on the eve of Good Friday the bells leave their steeples and church towers in the secret of the night and fly with magical wings to Rome.’

He nods, with that look of half-believing cynicism peculiar to the growing young.

`They line up in front of the Pope in his gold and white, his mitre and his gilded staff, big bells and tiny bells, clochettes and heavy bourdons, carillons and chimes and do-si-do-mi-sols, all waiting patiently to be blessed.’

She was filled with this solemn children's lore, my mother, eyes lighting up with delight at the absurdity. All stories delighted her – Jesus and Eostre and Ali Baba working the homespun of folklore into the bright fabric of belief again and again. Crystal healing and astral travel, abductions by aliens and spontaneous combustions, my mother believed them all, or pretended to believe.

`And the Pope blesses them, every one, far into the night, the thousands of France 's steeples waiting empty for their return, silent until Easter morning.’

And I her daughter, listening wide-eyed to her charming apocrypha, with tales of Mithras and Baldur the Beautiful and Osiris and Quetzalcoatl all interwoven with stories of flying chocolates and flying carpets and the Triple Goddess and Aladdin's crystal cave of wonders and the cave from which Jesus rose after three days, amen, abracadabra, amen.

`And the blessings turn into chocolates of all shapes and kinds, and the bells turn upside-down to carry them home. All through the night they fly, and when they reach their towers and steeples on Easter Sunday they turn over and begin swinging to peal out their joy.’

Bells of Paris, Rome, Cologne, Prague. Morning bells, mourning bells, ringing the changes across the years of our exile. Easter bells so loud in memory that it hurts to hear them.

`And the chocolates fly out across the fields and towns. They fall through the air as the bells sound. Some of them hit the ground and shatter. But the children make nests and place them high in the trees to catch the falling eggs and pralines and chocolate hens and rabbits and guimauves and almonds…’

Jeannot turns to me with vivid face and broadening grin. `Cool!' `And that's the story of why you get chocolates at Easter.’

His voice is awed, sharp with sudden certainty. `Do it! Please, do it!' I turn deftly to roll a truffle in cocoa powder. `Do what?’

'Do that! The Easter story. It'd be so cool – with the bells and the Pope and everything – and you could have a chocolate festival – a whole week – and we could have nests – and Easter-egg hunts – and-' He breaks off excitedly, tugging at my sleeve imperiously. `Madame Rocher, Please.’

Behind him Anouk watches me closely. A dozen smudgy faces in the background mouth shy entreaties.

`A Grand Festival du Chocolat.’

I consider the thought. In a month's time the lilacs will be out. I always make a nest for Anouk, with an egg and her name on it in silver icing. It could be our own carnival, a celebration of our acceptance in this place. The idea is not new to me, but to hear it from this child is almost to touch its reality.

`We'd need some posters.’

I pretend hesitation.

`We'll make those!' Anouk is the first to suggest it, her face vivid with excitement.

`And flags – bunting-'

`Streamers-'

`And a chocolate Jesus on the cross with-'

`The Pope in white chocolate-'

`Chocolate lambs-'

`Egg-rolling competitions, treasure hunts-'

`We'll invite everyone, it'll be-'

`Cool!'

`So cool-' I waved my arms at them for silence, laughing. An arabesque of acrid chocolate powder followed my gesture.

`You make the posters,' I told them. `Leave the rest to me.’

Anouk leaped at me, arms out flung. She smells of salt and rainwater, a cuprous scent of soil and waterlogged vegetation. Her tangled hair is barbed with droplets.

`Come up to my room!' she shrieked in my ear. `They can, can't they, Maman, say they can! We can start right now, I've got paper, crayons-' `They can,' I said.

An hour later the display window was embellished by a large poster – Anouk's design executed by Jeannot. The text, in large shaky green letters, read:

GRAND FESTIVAL DU CHOCOLAT BEGINS EASTER SUNDAY EVERYONE WELCOME

!!!BUY NOW WHILE STOCKS LAST!!!

Around the text capered various creatures of fanciful design. A figure in a robe and a tall crown I took to be the Pope. Cutout shapes of bells had been pasted thickly at his feet. All the bells were smiling.

I spent most of the afternoon tempering the new batch of couverture and working on the window display. A thick covering of green tissue-paper for the grass. Paper flowers – daffodils and daisies, Anouk's contribution – pinned to the window-frame. Green-covered tins which once contained cocoa, powder, stacked up against each other to make a craggy mountainside. Crinkly Cellophane paper wraps it like a covering of ice. Running past and winding into the valley, a river of blue silk ribbon, upon which a cluster of houseboats sit quiet and unreflecting. And below-a procession of chocolate figures, cats, dogs, rabbits, some with raisin eyes, pink marzipan ears, tails made of licorice whips with sugar flowers between their teeth… And mice. On every available surface, mice. Running up the sides of the hill, nestling in corners, even on the riverboats. Pink and white sugar coconut mice, chocolate mice of all colours, variegated mice marbled through with truffle and maraschino cream, delicately tinted mice, sugar-dappled frosted mice. And standing above them, the Pied Piper resplendent in his red and yellow, a barleysugar flute in one hand, his hat in the other. I have hundreds of moulds in my kitchen, thin plastic ones for the eggs and the figures, ceramic ones for the cameos and liqueur chocolates. With them I can recreate any facial expression and superimpose it upon a hollow shell, adding hair and detail with a narrow-gauge pipe, building up torso and limbs in separate pieces and fixing them in place with wires and melted chocolate. A little camouflage – a red cloak, rolled from marzipan. A tunic, a hat of the same material, a long feather brushing the ground at his booted feet. My Pied Piper looks a little like Roux with his red hair and motley garb.

I cannot help myself; the window is inviting enough, but I cannot resist the temptation to gild it a little, closing my eyes, to light the whole with a golden glow of welcome. An imaginary sign which flashes like a beacon COME To ME. I want to give, to make people happy; surely that can do no harm. I realize that this welcome may be in response to Caroline's hostility to the travellers, but in the joy of the moment I can see no harm in that. I want them to come. Since we last spoke I have glimpsed them occasionally, but they seem suspicious and furtive, like urban foxes, ready to scavenge but not to be approached. Mostly I see Roux, their ambassador – carrying boxes or plastic bags of groceries – sometimes Zezette, the thin girl with the pierced eyebrow. Last night two children tried to sell lavender outside the church, but Reynaud moved them on. I tried to call them back, but they were too wary, watching me with slant-eyed hostility before pelting off down the hill into Les Marauds.

I was so absorbed in my plans and the layout of my window that I lost track of the time. Anouk made her friends sandwiches in the kitchen, then they disappeared again in the direction of the river. I put on the radio and sang to myself as I worked, carefully placing the chocolates into pyramids. The magic mountain opens to reveal a bewildering, half-glimpsed, array of riches: multicoloured piles of sugar crystals, glace fruits and sweets which glitter like gems. Behind this, and shielded from the light by the concealed shelving, lie the saleable wares. I will have to begin work on the Easter goods almost straight away, anticipating extra custom. It is a good thing there is storage space in the cool basement of the house. I must order gift boxes, ribbons, Cellophane paper and trimmings. I was so absorbed that I barely heard Armande as she came in through the half-open door.

`Well, hello,' she said in her brusque manner. `I came for another one of your chocolate specials, but I can see you're busy.’

I manoeuvred carefully out of the window. `No, of course not,' I told her. `I was expecting you. Besides, I've nearly finished, and my back is killing me.’

`Well, if it's no trouble…’

Her manner was different today. There was a kind of crispness in her voice, a studied casualness which masked a high level of tension. She was wearing a black straw hat trimmed with ribbon and a coat – also black – which looked new.

`You're very chic today,' I observed.

She gave a sharp crack of laughter. `No-one's said that to me for a while, I'll tell you,' she said, poking a finger at one of the stools. `Could I climb up there without breaking a leg, d'you think?’

`I'll get you a chair from the kitchen,' I suggested, but the old lady stopped me with an imperious gesture.

`Rubbish!' She eyed the stool. `I used to be quite a climber in my youth.’

She drew up her long skirts, revealing stout boots and lumpy grey stockings. `Trees, mostly. I used to climb up them and throw twigs onto the heads of passersby. Hah!'

A grunt of satisfaction as she swung herself onto the stool, grabbing hold of the counter-top for support. I caught a sudden, alarming swirl of scarlet from under her black skirt.

Armande perched on the stool, looking absurdly pleased with herself. Carefully she smoothed her skirts back over the shimmer of scarlet petticoat. `Red silk undies,' she grinned, seeing my look. `You probably think I'm an old fool but I like them. I've been in mourning for so many years – seems every time I can decently wear colours someone else drops dead – that I've pretty much given up wearing anything but black.’

She gave me a look fizzing- with – laughter. `But underwear – now that's a different thing.’

She lowered her voice conspiratorially. `Mail order from Paris,' she said. `Costs me a fortune.’

She rocked with silent laughter on her perch. `Now, how about that chocolate?’

I made it strong and black, and, with her diabetic condition in mind, added as little sugar as I dared.

Armande saw my hesitancy and stabbed an accusing finger at her cup. `No rationing!' she ordered. `Give me the works. Chocolate chips, one of those sugar stirrer things, everything. Don't you start getting like the others, treating me as if I didn't have the wit to look after myself. Do I look senile to you?’

I admitted she didn't.

`Well, then.’

She sipped the strong, sweetened mixture with visible satisfaction. `Good. Hmm. Very good. Supposed to give you energy, isn't it? It's a, what do you call it, a stimulant?’

I nodded.

`An aphrodisiac too, so I heard,' added Armande roguishly, peeping at me from above the rim of her cup. `Those old men down at the cafe had better watch out. You're never too old to have a good time!' She cawed laughter. She sounded shrill and keyed-up, her crabbed hands unsteady. Several times she put her hand to the brim of her hat, as if to adjust it.

I looked at my watch under cover of the counter, but she saw my movement.

`Don't expect he'll turn up,' she said shortly. `That grandson of mine. I'm not expecting him, anyway.’

Her every gesture belied her words. The tendons in her throat stood out like an ancient dancer's.

We talked for a while of trifling matters: the children's idea of the chocolate festival – Armande squawking with laughter when I told her about Jesus and the white chocolate Pope – and the river-gypsies. It seems that Armande has ordered their food supplies herself, in her name, much to Reynaud's indignation. Roux offered to pay her in cash, but she prefers to have him fix her leaky roof instead. This will infuriate Georges Clairmont, she revealed with an impish grin.

`He'd like to think he's the only one who can help me out,' she said with satisfaction. `Bad as each other, both of them, clucking about subsidence and damp. They want me out of that house, there's the truth of it. Out of my nice house and into some lousy old folks' home where you have to ask permission to go to the bathroom!' She was indignant, her black eyes snapping.

`Well, I'll show them,' she declared. `Roux used to be a builder, before he went on the river. He and his friends will make a good enough job of it. And I'd rather pay them to do the work honestly than to have that imbecile do it for free.’

She adjusted the brim of her hat with unsteady hands. `I'm not expecting him, you know.’

I knew it was not the same person to whom she referred. I looked at my watch. Four-twenty. Night was already falling. And yet I'd been so sure… That was what came of interfering, I told myself savagely. So easy to inflict pain on others, on myself.

`I never imagined he would come,' continued Armande in that crisp, determined voice `She's seen to that all right. Taught him well, she has.’ She began to struggle off her perch. `I've been taking up too much of your time already,' she said shortly. `I must be-'

`M-memee.’

She twists around so abruptly that I am sure she must fall. The boy is standing quietly by the door. He is wearing jeans and a navy sweatshirt. He has a wet baseball cap on his head. In his hand he carries a small, scuffed hardback book. His voice is soft and self-conscious.

`I had to w-wait until my m-mother went out. She's at the h-hairdresser's. She won't be back tills-six.’

Armande looks at him. They do not touch, but I feel something pass between them like a jolt of electricity. Too complex for me to analyse, but there is warmth and anger, embarrassment, guilt – and behind it all a promise of softness.

`You look soaked. I'll make you a drink,' I suggest, going into the kitchen. As I leave the room I hear the boy's voice again, low and hesitant.

`Thanks for the b-book,' he says. `I've got it here with me.’ He holds it out like a white flag. It is no longer new; but worn like a book which has been read and reread, lovingly and often. Armande registers this, and the fixed look disappears from her face.

`Read me your favourite poem,' she says.

From the kitchen, as I pour chocolate into two tall glasses, as I stir in cream and kahlua, as I make enough noise with pots and bottles to give the illusion of privacy, I hear his voice raised, stilted at first, then gaining rhythm and confidence. I cannot make out the words, but from a distance it sounds like prayer or invective. I notice that when he reads, the boy does not stutter.

I set the two glasses carefully onto the counter. As I entered the boy stopped speaking mid-sentence and eyed me with polite suspicion, his hair falling into his eyes like the mane of a shy pony. He thanked me with scrupulous courtesy, sipped his drink with more mistrust than pleasure.

`I'm not s-supposed to have this,' he said doubtfully. `My mother s-says ch-chocolate makes me c-come out in zzits.’

`And it could make me drop dead on the spot,' said Armande smartly. She laughed at his expression. `Come on, boy, don't you ever doubt what your mother says? Or has she brainwashed what little sense you might have inherited from me right out of you?’

Luc looked nonplussed. `I-it's just what sh-she s-says,' he repeated, lamely.

Armande shook her head. `Well, if I want to hear what Caro says I can make an appointment,' she said. `What have you got to say? You're a smart lad, or used to be. What do you think?’

Luc sipped again. `I think she might have been exaggerating,' he said with a tiny smile. `You look p-pretty good to me.’

`No zits, either,' said Armande.

He was surprised into laughter. I liked him better this way, his eyes flaring a brighter green, his impish smile oddly like his grandmother's. He remained guarded, but behind his deep reserve I began to glimpse a ready intelligence and sharp sense of humour.

He finished his chocolate but refused a slice of cake, though Armande took two. For the next half-hour they talked while I pretended to go about my business. Once or twice I caught him looking at me with a wary curiosity, the flickering contact between us broken as soon as it was made. I left them to it.

It was half-past five when they both said goodbye. There was no talk of another meeting, but the casual fashion with which they parted suggested that both had the same thought in mind. It surprised me a little to see them so alike, circling each other with the caution of friends reunited after long years of separation. They both have the same mannerisms, the same direct way of looking, the slanting cheekbones, sharp chin. When his features are in repose this similarity is partially obscured, but animation makes him more like her, erasing from them that look of bland politeness which she deplores. Armande's eyes are shining beneath the brim of her hat. Luc seems almost relaxed, his stutter receding to a slight hesitancy, barely noticeable. I see him pause at the door, wondering perhaps whether he should kiss her. On this occasion his adolescent's dislike of contact is still too strong. He lifts a hand in a shy gesture of farewell, then is gone.

Armande turns towards me, flushed with triumph. For a second her face is naked in its love, hope, pride. Then the reserve which she shares with her grandson returns, a look of enforced casualness, a gruff note in her voice as she says, `I enjoyed that, Vianne. Perhaps I'll come again.’

Then she gives me one of her direct looks, reaching out a hand to touch my arm. `You're the one who brought him here,' she said. `I wouldn't have known how to do it myself.’

I shrugged. `It would have happened at some time or another,' I said. 'Luc isn't a child any more. He has to learn to do things his own way.’

Armande shook her head. `No, it's you,' she told me stubbornly. She was close enough for me to smell her lily-of-the-valley perfume. `The wind's changed since you've been here. I can still feel it. Everyone feels it. Everything's on the move. Whee!' She gave a little crow of amusement.

`But I'm not doing anything,' I protested, half-laughing with her. `I'm just minding my own business. Running my shop. Being me.’

In spite of my own laughter I felt uneasy.

`It doesn't matter,' replied Armande. `It's still you that's doing it. Look at all the changes; me, Luc, Caro, the folks out on the river' – she jerked her head sharply in the direction, of Les Marauds – `even him in his ivory tower across the square. All of us changing. Speeding up. Like an old clock being wound up after years of telling the same time.’

It was too close to my own thoughts of the week before. I shook my head emphatically. `That isn't me,' I protested. `It's him. Reynaud. Not me.’

A sudden image at the back of my mind, like the turn of a card. The Black Man in his clock tower, turning the machinery faster and faster, ringing the changes, ringing the alarum, ringing us out of town… And with that unsettling image came one of an old man on a bed, tubes in his nose and arms, and the Black Man standing over him in grief or triumph, while at his back, fire burned.

`Is it his father?’ I said the first words which came into my head. `I mean – the old man he visits. In the hospital. Who is it?’

Armande gave me a sharp look of surprise. `How do you know about that?’

`Sometimes I have – feelings – about people.’

For some, reason I was reluctant to admit to scrying with the chocolate, reluctant to use the terminology with which my mother had made me so familiar.

`Feelings.’ Armande looked curious, but did not question me further.

`So there is an old man, then?’ I could not shake off the thought that I had stumbled upon something important. Some weapon, perhaps, in my secret struggle against Reynaud. `Who is he?’ I insisted.

Armande gave a shrug. `Another priest,' she said, with dismissive contempt, and would say no more.