Escape the Volcano
by
Stephanie Dagg
Published by Stephanie Dagg at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Stephanie J Dagg
Follow my blog about our life as expats, which is never dull, at http://www.bloginfrance.com and find out about my other books at http://www.booksarecool.com. Follow me on Twitter too: http://www.twitter.com/@booksarecool23
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Chapter 1 Arriving at the Gîte
“Here we are — our home for the next two weeks!” announced Mum. “And the weather is a whole lot better than what we left behind in Cork!”
Mrs Donoghue stopped the car outside the old, two-storey farmhouse. Tom, who was eleven, and his best friend, Kevin Murphy, snapped open their seatbelts and tumbled out of the car.
“Actually, Mrs D,” laughed Kevin, “you should say that in French since we’re in France now. So, what would it be? Ici notre maison pour . . . pour . . .” He was floundering. He couldn’t think what ‘for two weeks’ was in French.
“Pour deux semaines,” finished Tom triumphantly.
“Sounds right to me!” laughed Mum. “I’ll wake up your sleepy sister and then we’ll go exploring. Get the key to the gîte for me please, Tom. It’s in the glove compartment, in the envelope with the French stamp on.”
Tom clambered back into the car and fished around for the envelope containing the large key. It had been sent to them a few days ago. It took some finding as the glove compartment was crammed with sweet wrappers, maps and spare light bulbs for the car. Meanwhile Mum lifted a drowsy Anna out from the back seat. The three-year-old moaned and grumbled.
“Come on, wake up, sleepyhead!” urged Mum.
“Look, we’ve arrived at our holiday home. It’s a wonderful house, look!”
Still Anna refused to wake up properly.
“Come on,” said Mum again, impatiently this time. “l can’t wait to look around inside!”
“Here’s the key,” called Tom at last.
“OK, open up!” said Mum.
Tom sprinted for the front door. Kevin launched himself after him. Mum stumbled along as quickly as she could with Anna in her arms. It took a couple of turns before the lock creaked back and the heavy door swung open. Mum, Kevin and Tom hurried inside.
“All dark!” squeaked Anna.
She was right, it was very gloomy, apart from the shaft of sunlight that had followed them in.
Mum plonked Anna down. “Of course it’s dark. We need to open the shutters. Oh, but isn’t it lovely and cool!”
“Yes,” agreed Kevin. “It was getting a bit hot in the car.”
“Moaner!” teased Tom as he struggled with the big wooden shutters on the nearest window. “Stop complaining and give me a hand!”
Mum opened three lots of shutters before the two giggling boys managed to open theirs. Gradually the kitchen filled with bright sunlight, revealing a huge room with flagstones on the floor, the biggest fireplace Tom had ever seen and beautiful old wooden furniture. The three windows along the back wall looked out over some rolling green fields. Then there was a wood, and beyond that, the Puy de Canard, a conical volcano. It was just one in a chain of dormant volcanoes that spread as far as the eye could see.
“Wow!” gasped Tom as he gazed out.
“Oh!” sighed Mum. “What a view! And what a wonderful room this is!”
Tom stole a look at Mum. Her face shone. She was happy — really happy. Not that false sort of happy that she put on so often these days, thinking the children didn’t notice. No, this was like Mum used to be before Dad died. Real smiles, real laughter, real joy.
But would she say it? Would she say it and go all sad again? Would she say: “Dad would have loved this!” Mum was always saying that. Or: “Dad would have been so pleased with you,” when Tom did well at school or won a swimming race or something. Or just: “l wish Dad could be here”.
Tom knew Mum was trying to keep Dad alive for them so they wouldn’t forget him, especially Anna who had been so small when he died. But talking about Dad only made Mum sad, even after nearly two years.
Suddenly Mum turned her head and caught Tom’s eye.
“l wonder if she knows what I’m thinking?” thought Tom, guiltily.
But Mum simply smiled again, even more happily than before.
“This is going to be a brilliant holiday,” she announced. “Come on, let’s explore the rest of the house.”
Chapter 2 A Magnificent Home
It took ages to go round the whole house. As well as the kitchen, there was a bathroom with a very deep but very short bath. Kevin was horrified. ·
“You can’t lie down in that!” he complained.
Then he saw the bidet. “What’s that for, Mrs D?”
When Mum explained what it was, poor Kevin looked even more horrified.
Upstairs there were two large bedrooms. Tom and Kevin chose the one with the view towards the volcano.
“I don’t want to miss it erupting!” Tom joked.
Mum and Anna took the other bedroom. There were loads of cupboards and drawers, all of which had to be carefully inspected.
Back in the kitchen, the two boys found a small doorway. It wasn’t locked, so Tom and Kevin decided to investigate. Stone steps led down to an enormous cellar, but the boys were rather disappointed to find it was completely bare.
“Huh, you think there’d be treasure chests or something!” moaned Kevin. “Or at least one dead body.”
Then they all went outside to poke around the outbuildings. There was a small wooden bam.
“Perfect for the bikes!” said Mum.
Beside the barn was another small shed-like building.
“Perfect for a den!” whispered Tom to Kevin.
The shed had a small barbecue in it and lots of rackets, bats and balls. Anna brought them all out and they had a go at tennis, cricket, football and bowls. Lastly they explored the magnificent garden. Like everything else, it was big. There were two huge apple trees, a cherry tree and a hazelnut tree, all great for climbing. Tom was pleased to see some roses and pansies, Mum’s favourite flowers. He wanted everything on this holiday to be just right for Mum.
And then it was time for a small snack. They sat in the garden and ate the last few bits of food they’d brought for the journey through France. The crisps were all squashed (Kevin had sat on them!) and the chocolate snack bars had melted in the heat, but no one cared. In fact no one even noticed, they were all so thrilled with the gîte.
“We’ll go into Bambert for a meal tonight,” said Mum, when they’d finished eating. “I can’t face shopping today after that long drive. We’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Oh,” said Tom disappointed, “I wanted to climb some volcanoes tomorrow.”
“We might have time,” smiled Mum. “But don’t forget, we have two whole weeks. We’ll climb up loads of volcanoes and go on tons of bike rides. First thing tomorrow we’ll go to the tourist office and find some maps and guidebooks and things.”
“OK,” said Tom, still a bit disgruntled. Gazing up at the craggy-sided crater at the top of the Puy de Canard, he wished he could climb up it at once. He was fascinated by volcanoes. And it was for him that Mum had chosen the gîte, because it was so close to this dormant chain.
“Right, you guys!” sighed Mum, reluctantly getting up. “Time to unpack.”
Tom and Kevin groaned loudly.
“Come on, it won’t take long,” urged Mum. “Then we’ll head into town for some tea. And you can choose where we go, OK?”
“Do you think there’ll be a McDonald’s?” asked Tom hopefully.
“I hope not!” grinned Mum. “l didn’t come all the way to France to eat burger and chips. France is the gastronomic centre of the world, you know.”
“Isn’t gastronomy something to do with stars and planets?” asked Kevin.
“No, that’s astronomy silly!” chuckled Tom, throwing grass at Kevin. “Gastronomy is ... er ... well, it’s something else,” he finished lamely.
“Ha, you don’t know either,” smirked Kevin. “What is it, Mrs D?”
“Well, it isn’t burger and chips, that’s for sure,” smiled Mum. “Gastronomy is the science of good eating.”
“But that’s just what good eating is! Burgers and chips!” shouted Tom, and he raced off into the house. Kevin chased after him, shouting “Burgers and chips!” too. Anna joined in the noise. Mum covered her ears.
Chapter 3 A Trip to Bambert
When all the unpacking was finished, they drove down to Bambert, the nearby town, in search of a proper meal. They wandered round for a good hour or so, popping into one or two shops and reading the menus outside the bistros and restaurants. Tom found one that looked really nice. It specialised in gaufres, which Mum explained were giant pancakes.
“Sounds yummy!” said Kevin.
“Come on, let’s go in then,” said Tom. He marched up to the door to open it, but it didn’t budge. He rattled it. Definitely locked.
“Hey, Tom,” hissed Mum. “Try not to break the door down. Let’s see.” She peered at the various handwritten notices on the door. “Oh bother! This one says Fermeture annuelle 14-21 juillet.”
“What does that mean?” asked Tom.
“It means it’s shut all week. The owners have gone off for their holidays,” explained Mum.
“But they can’t do that while we’re on our holidays,” protested Kevin. “Now we won’t get any pancakey things.”
“There’s always next week,” soothed Mum. “Come on, let’s try the next street.”
As they turned the corner, Mum covered her eyes and let out a cry.
“Oh no, I don’t believe it!” she groaned.
The four of them were standing outside a small MacDonald’s restaurant!
“Hooray!” shouted Tom, Kevin and Anna.
“Boo,” said Mum.
“Come on, come on, you promised,” laughed Tom, pulling Mum by the arm. “You said we could choose and we choose MacDonald’s!”
“OK, I’m outnumbered this time,” smiled Mum. “I surrender. But I’ll get my own back. I’ll get you children into a proper French restaurant one day.”
“But Mrs D, this is a proper French restaurant,” announced Kevin. “Well, it’s French and it’s a restaurant so there you are.”
“You’re too clever by half, young man!” said Mum. “Come on, let’s get it over with!” And with that they all trooped in.
It was the perfect end to the day for Tom as he sat in a window seat, hungrily demolishing his burger and chips. France was fun and Mum was happy. From his seat, Tom could see the stark row of distant volcanoes standing out against the setting sun. There was only one cloud on the horizon — the prospect of shopping next day. He hated shops!
Chapter 4 The Hypermarket
Normally Tom wouldn’t dream of going shopping. But even he had to admit it was fun in France. All the food labels were different and there was stuff you couldn’t buy at home.
The hypermarket they went to had to be the most enormous shop that any of them had ever seen. When they first stepped through the doors, Mum stopped in her tracks. .
“Good grief!” she cried. “This shop goes on forever!”
And so it did. Almost as far as they could see. All around them there were shelves and aisles and racks displaying goods of every description. They wandered in a daze down the nearest aisle.
“Wow!” Kevin exclaimed. “This football’s half the price of the one I bought last week in Cork.”
“Really?” Tom inspected it. “Wow. What a bargain!”
“OK,” pronounced Mum. “I’ll head off and get the food. Meet you back here next Friday! Well, in about an hour. Have your got your phone, Tom?”
Tom patted his pocket.
“Right, I’ll text you when I’m done. Are you coming with me, Anna? Or staying with the boys?”
Anna opted to go with Mum. She’d seen that there were mini shopping trolleys for children that had tall, wavy flags attached to them so other shoppers could notice them and not run them over. Mum went off to fetch her one. Anna pushed it happily around, following Mum through the food section and popping all sorts of things into it, which Mum sneakily removed when she wasn’t looking. Fortunately, Anna didn’t seem to notice. The boys were looking at computer games by this time. They were all having a brilliant time.
Mum and Anna arrived at the fish counter. Beside it were huge tanks with all sorts of shellfish in them. Anna was a bit frightened by the sea urchins and lobsters, and Mum was sorry to see them since they were about to be carted off to people’s homes to be boiled alive.
They moved on quickly to the cheese counter. However, the smell here was so strong that Anna went green so then they had to move even more quickly on to the meat counter. Then they got to the fruit and vegetable section. Everything was so big and fresh and colourful - lettuces, melons, radishes, beef tomatoes, peppers. Mum went a bit mad and half-filled the trolley with them. And then they came to the most delicious looking pastries and puddings. The boys had joined Mum and Anna by now. They shoved some things in the trolley while Mum was distracted by all the gateaux and quiches. Then they urged her to buy them éclairs au chocolat and beignets with chocolate sauce inside. Finally Mum treated herself to a bottle or two of wine.
They were exhausted by the time they got to the checkout and it took ages to unload everything. Mum looked surprised at some of the things she pulled out of the trolley.
“I don’t remember buying that!” she kept muttering. “Oh well, never mind!”
Unfortunately, she did mind the two pairs of inline skates that the boys had sneaked in.
“You’ve both got skates,” she pointed out, reasonably enough.
“Yes, but these are much cooler than our boring ones,” protested Tom.
“Too bad,” said Mum unsympathetically. “Take them back.”
She did let them keep the cycling gloves and the football though.
“Thanks, Mrs D!” grinned Kevin.
As soon as they were out of the hypermarket, they dived into the nearest café. Mum was feeling a bit weak after spending so much at one go. The children were just starving. They tucked into frites with mayonnaise and drank a lot of Orangina. Mum had a small, super strong cup of coffee. Soon everyone felt a lot better.
It was mid-afternoon before they got back to the gîte, loaded down with the shopping and lots of tourist information. Once the food was put away, and there nearly wasn’t enough room in the fridge, Mum, Kevin and Tom sat on the lawn and waded through all the leaflets and booklets.
Anna charged around trying desperately to catch grasshoppers.
“Where does she get the energy?” exclaimed Mum. “I’m still exhausted from this morning!”
Mum and the boys spent a happy hour or so planning what to see and do.
“Please can we go up a volcano tomorrow, Mum, please?” begged Tom. “This one looks really good. Look, it’s got a huge crater and you can walk all round the top. See?” He stuck a leaflet under Mum’s nose.
“And how about this one!” cried Kevin. “Look, it’s been partly excavated so you can see the lava columns and the ash and whatnot!”
“Whatnot?” snorted Tom. “That’s not very scientific. You mean scoria.”
“Probably, Professor,” grinned Kevin, “but whatnot’s good enough for me. What is this scoria stuff anyway?”
“It’s the lumpy pieces of molten lava that get spat out of the volcano,” Tom told him. “It’s got lots of air bubbles inside so it’s full of holes. Some bits of scoria are really tiny but other bits are huge. They’re called bombs. You get different sorts of bombs depending on how gooey the lava is when it lands. If it’s still squishy you get a cow-pat bomb!”
Anna and Kevin giggled.
“Cor, clever you,” said Kevin, impressed. “Where did you learn about volcanoes?”
Tom was about to say: “Dad told me”, but he didn’t want to break the magic spell that France seemed to have woven around Mum. He was afraid to mention Dad in case Mum stopped being so happy. He decided to say he’d learnt it off the Internet, which was partly true.
However, Mum surprised him by saying “Tom’s Dad told him, Kevin. He was fascinated by volcanoes — he had lots of books on the subject. He loved telling Tom about them because I’m afraid I wasn’t that interested,” she smiled.
Tom had stiffened while Mum was talking but when he saw her smile, he relaxed again. The spell was still holding.
Chapter 5 Volcanoes at Last
“Wow!” exclaimed Kevin, standing on the crater rim of the Puy de Canard.
“Cor!” Tom had to agree.
The two boys had run on ahead from Mum and Anna. It had taken the four of them almost two hours to get from the base of the volcano to the rim, but admittedly they hadn’t been walking very fast. Anna’s legs were very short and Mum could only manage to carry her for brief periods of time. So they all had to climb at Anna’s pace.
Along the way they took quite a few stops to look at interesting lumps of lava or rock formations, and, of course, to have some chocolate and juice to help keep them going. But at last the boys were on top of the volcano.
Tom gazed down into the deep crater. It was huge, far larger than he’d imagined, and almost perfectly round.
“Just think, Kev,” he said, “this is where it all happened. We’re looking down on where all the lava and scoria poured out.”
“Yeah, but how come it’s a crater,” said Kevin, puzzled. “I mean, surely all the lava and stuff came out of the top.”
“Well, it was the top once,” Tom explained, remembering what Dad had told him. “But every time a volcano erupts, it leaves a layer of scoria. The layers gradually build up around the point of emission and leave a crater.”
“Gosh, I wonder how many of those eruptions it took to build up this massive crater,” said Kevin thoughtfully. “Mega loads, I’d have thought.”
Just then Mum panted up to join them. She too gazed in wonder into the huge crater. Anna, who had been chattering away, fell quiet.
“It’s truly awesome isn’t it, Mrs D?” remarked Kevin.
“It really is,” agreed Mum, smiling. “Just let me get my breath back and then we’ll climb down to the bottom of the crater, shall we? I think we can manage it OK, even though it looks a bit steep.”
She knew just how much Tom wanted to explore every centimetre of every volcano they saw.
“Great!” Tom whooped hugging Mum. “Have you got your breath back yet?”
“No,” laughed Mum, “but let’s go anyway. You’ll explode otherwise.”
They began to creep carefully down the steep, grass-covered slope towards the centre of the crater. Tom slithered a few times but managed to get his balance back. Kevin gave up trying to walk and took to his bottom to slide down.