André stopped a few feet from the other side of the fence, looked briefly taken aback, then laughed and nodded. “Oui. C’est vrai,” he said with a laugh, suggesting a deeper understanding of the language than Dave had expected. Although, to be fair, it might have been a lucky guess. “I see you are in a wheelchair,” he said, conveniently switching both subject and language.
“Well spotted,” Dave said.
“Do you mind me enquiring… Was it an illness of some kind?” André asked, then he held up a hand to silence Dave before he could reply. He closed his eyes and tilted his head, as if listening to whispers on the breeze. “Ah. Non. An accident. You had an accident, oui? In traffic. A vehicle, I think.”
“That’s right,” Dave confirmed.
“And… oh! It was terrible. So much noise. So much… so much violence. And pain. So much pain and suffering.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a picnic, I’ll give you,” Dave said. He saw an opportunity. “And, eh, that’s why I’m here, actually. Sorry for landing myself on you out of the blue, but I’ve heard you work wonders.”
“You thought I could help you to walk again?”
Dave laughed. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no to that, if you’re offering, but I was more thinking in terms of pain relief. I’m sick of taking the drugs they give you, you know? You’ve got no idea what’s in them, and I’m not even sure the doctors know themselves, half the time. I reckon nature can provide all we need. Far better than chemicals can, anyway.”
“Ah, bon. I share your sentiments exactly,” the man on the other side of the fence said. “But, I’m afraid we have set arrival and check-in times. There are processes and procedures we must adhere to for the safety of our other guests. You understand, oui?”
“Please,” Dave said, and there was a begging note to his voice. “I can do all that tomorrow. I just… I just need…” His voice cracked. Inside his head, he awarded himself an imaginary Academy Award for Best Actor. “I just need help to stop the pain.”
The light grew brighter around him as André brought the lamp closer. It danced off the fake Frenchman’s shimmering blue eyes as they examined the man in the wheelchair.
“Very well. Très bien,” André said, opening the gate. “Though, I should warn you, there is an additional fee for last-minute bookings like this. Is this likely to pose a problem?”
“My employer’s covering the cost, so it’s not going to be a problem at all,” Dave said, wheeling himself through the opening before the other man could change his mind. He glanced at the yurt that the three women had been heading for. “So, do we choose our own tents, or…？”
“Ah. Non. Your accommodation will be assigned,” André replied. The gate creaked as he pushed it, then rang out an ominous clang when it closed. “And I think I know just where to put you.”
Sinead sat cross-legged on the floor, peering down at the piles of newsletters spread out before her. She and the two constables had taken a short break to eat a couple of hours ago—microwave meals secured from the shop up the road—and had been hard at it ever since.
She’d noticed them both yawning a couple of times each in the last ten minutes. This wasn’t really any sort of testament to her observational skills, though, as neither of them had exactly been subtle about it.
When Constable Suzi Tanaka yawned for a third time and threw in an exaggerated stretch, she decided to call time.
“You two should go,” she said, leaning back. “You’ve been a big help. Thanks.”
Constable Tanaka feigned a look of surprise at the suggestion, but her colleague, PC Chris Miller, bounced to his feet like he’d been poised waiting for Sinead to utter those very words.
“Aye, long day,” he said, catching one of his ankles and pulling the foot up behind him to stretch his cramping thigh muscles. “We should definitely go home.”
“You packing up for the night, too, yeah?” asked Suzi, getting to her feet and shaking the feeling back into them. “This can wait until morning.”
“Hmm?” asked Sinead, whose eyes had already begun to drift back to the topmost newsletter on the closest pile. “Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I’ll pack up shortly. Just going to finish this one first.”
Suzi shot a look to Chris, who gave a firm yet subtle shake of his head. “You, eh… You sure you don’t want us to stay a bit longer?”