Alexandra smiled wistfully. ‘Maybe that won’t matter to us.’
‘Oh, I think it will,’ said David.
The kitchen felt very empty when everyone had left and it was just Alexandra, Stéphie, the dirty dishes and a thin layer of jam which seemed to cover everything.
‘You don’t fancy having a baking day?’ said Alexandra. She never used to be such a fan of baking herself but she’d learnt it was a good activity for children.
‘No, thank you. I want an adventure! Everyone else is having an adventure.’
‘OK, we’ll think of something …’
‘I want to go truffle-hunting. Like we did yesterday.’
‘But you went—’
‘We have a bit of land just like the land that had truffles,’ Stéphie went on. ‘Papa said. We can take Milou. He’ll be our truffle hound.’
‘I think that sounds fun!’ said Alexandra, thinking it sounded a recipe for failure. ‘Why are you so keen on finding truffles? Didn’t you do enough hunting yesterday?’
‘I want to find truffles on our land. Then Papa won’t have to go away to work. I want him to stay here.’
As she and David had spent time also looking for ways to stop Papa having to go away to work, Alexandra nodded. ‘Well, it would be wonderful to find truffles on this land, but I have to warn you, it is unlikely. And there will be other ways we can make money from the chateau. Don’t worry!’
‘I’m not worried. We’ll find truffles. They’re very valuable.’
Stéphie seemed very certain so Alexandra put together a picnic. ‘Do we need to take the car?’ she asked.
‘No, no. We just walk. Papa took us there once and said there might be truffles. We’ll find them, I know.’
Eventually they set off. Alexandra had a knapsack with their picnic, a knife and a trowel in it. The trowel was found after Stéphie showed Alexandra to a shed she hadn’t been in before. It was full of useful things, many of which would sell very well on the Portobello Road, Alexandra couldn’t help thinking. Old agricultural implements were popular items to hang on pub walls back in England. Alexandra didn’t say this out loud, but she made a note. She wasn’t optimistic about the truffles; the chateau might have to rely on disused farm equipment to make its money.
Stéphie and Milou led the way, up through the field and then to where oaks and other large trees began, leading into the woodlands which climbed up the hills behind the chateau. Alexandra was beginning to find the picnic heavy to carry. The large bottle of orange squash had made it so, she knew; she hadn’t been able to find anything that held less than a litre to put it in. If they had lunch – and it was nearly half past twelve – it would be lighter. She might also be able to persuade Stéphie it was time to go home afterwards. Alexandra’s espadrilles weren’t suitable for climbing in, and the ground was a bit muddy, too. But if her espadrilles were ruined, she could at least buy a new pair next market day.
‘We need to find a branch of a pine tree and break off all the little branches and just leave some leaves on the top, like a little broom,’ said Stéphie when she sensed Alexandra was flagging. ‘And then we need to find trees that have no grass round their base,’ she went on.
‘How do you know all this?’ said Alexandra, wishing Stéphie wasn’t quite so keen.
‘I listened carefully when the man told us. No one else seemed interested, but I was.’
‘We couldn’t have lunch first?’
Stéphie shook her head. ‘Work first, lunch after.’
Alexandra sighed. Stéphie was on a mission and this was her special day out. Alexandra hitched up the knapsack so that it rubbed her shoulders somewhere different and carried on.
‘Look, here’s a good tree,’ said Stéphie. She was standing under an oak tree and there was a patch of bare ground beneath it. ‘Now we need to see if there are flies. The flies like the smell of truffles to lay their eggs on. Help me find a branch so we can brush away the leaves and things, so we just have bare soil.’
Alexandra put down the knapsack with relief and obediently hunted for suitable branches. Luckily there were plenty to choose from.
Stéphie rejected all Alexandra’s offerings and broke off the smaller twigs from her own chosen fly whisk.
Milou, who was usually the epitome of the patient companion, flung himself down in the shade with a groan, expressing Alexandra’s feelings exactly.
‘Get a branch, Lexi! It’s not easy to find truffles, you know!’
‘I do know, chicken, but you don’t like any of my branches, and I think we should have lunch before we start.’
‘No!’ Stéphie was firm. ‘I’ll do it on my own if you don’t want to join in.’
