The French Holiday

Chapter 4

Hey! So, I've gone off in a bit of a European Adventure myself so I might not update as consistently. This part's song is Mr. Blue Sky by the Electric Light Orchestra.

"What?!" my dad said loudly, voicing my own thoughts.

I couldn't get the image of an elderly man snatching a dog out my window while wearing a ski mask out of my head for some reason. This was some seriously messed up shit.

"Yes, but it's really no worry! He just comes into the property sometimes to check on Jaques. I've spoken to his mother already about your stay and everything seems to be in order"

Francois swayed nervously on his feet as we took this in, but my parents seemed satisfied. I, however, was not.

"Well then, so the dog is here..." he continued in apparent relief and my mind wandered off again to darker images of dog kidnappings.

-0-

A few hours later, we had settled into the house, unpacked and explored the property a bit.

It was stunning in every way possible and I was admittedly surprised that my parents were even able to find such a place.

I mean my mom basically formed part of the Airbnb for moms cult and spent at least 2 hours daily endlessly scrolling through the site's many homes, but I never thought she actually did anything useful with it.

"Mae, we have an issue" my mom said concernedly from the top stair.

"Ok...?"

"Well the thing is" she explained "there's only two twin sized beds up here so there's really no space for you"

"Oh" I said simply, my heart dropping a bit "It's ok, I can sleep on the sofa ok I guess"

I indicated to the navy sofa next to me and shrugged.

"Thanks sweetheart" my dad poked his head from upstairs.

"It's weird though because I swore I booked a place with three beds..." I heard my mom mumble, already moving away from the stairs.

I quickly changed from my clothes which clinged still to the smell of a road trip (you know canned cheese and smelly feet or a weird combination of both) and let Jaques in.

He was a beautiful thing; a golden retriever with big brown eyes and an obviously kind spirit. I already loved him to bits.

"Goodnight!" my parents called from above.

Guess it was time for bed then.

Sitting down on the sofa, with Jaques' head resting on my lap, I opened the messages app on my phone to give my daily update to Val:

-Hey! We made it to the house, it's great!  

-Yay! I'm glad it doesn't suck.

-One thing though: this guy has a bizarre tendency to break in or something. It's weird.

-Ok, wtf. Be careful, you don't want to be assaulted. I can send you the link of the
precautionary steps to take to avoid violence in case of sudden attack.

-Jesus, Val. How do you even sleep at night?

-Being cautious always has its pros and cons. Plus, I've read enough Agatha Christie books to solve most cases anyway.

-Ok well, goodnight!

-Good afternoon more like it.

I locked my phone and laid down on the couch. It was only semi-comfortable, but it would have to do.