I slipped on my vareuse and stepped off the ferry. I turned towards the voice. It belonged to Brismand, the hotelier from La Houssinière.
"Mado, what brings you to Le Devin?"
Why should I tell him that maman had died in Paris? What would he care about someone who came from Les Salants, on the other side of the island.
" Bof ," I replied noncommittally.
La Houssinière had become a boom resort, but Les Salants was dying. The beach had disappeared and the houses were falling into the sea.
Halfway along the étier, I met an enigmatic stranger.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am an enigmatic stranger," he replied, "but you can call me Flynn."
"How are things here?"
"Very, very mal ."
I decided to surprise my father, GrosJean. He looked up and dropped the statue of Sainte-Marine into the sea.
" Oh la la ," cried Aristide. "That has not happened since the year Guenolé's cousin's son was drowned. It is bad luck."
"It is veritablement a crime," I lamented later with Flynn over a glass of devinnoise. "The Houssins have robbed us of our sand and our livelihoods by building a breakwater that changed the tides. Isn't there anything we could do?"
"We could build a reef in La Goulue."
"Just who are you?"
"I cannot tell you. I am mysterieux ."
Some months later and the sands had returned to Les Salants, and with them the tourists, and the Salannais were working together to improve the village.
"It is a miracle," I whispered as Flynn sank into my arms.
"But where had the Salannais got the money to make these improvements?" I wondered out loud. Brismand smiled. It was him. He had got Flynn to make the Salannais borrow money they couldn't repay so he could take over the whole island. Flynn must be his long-lost son.
I checked the records. Gros-Jean had had an affair with Brismand's wife and Flynn was their son.
"It's not as simple as that," said Flynn. "Their son was my half-brother. I'm the result of another affair."
"So I haven't been sleeping with my brother?" The warning bell interrupted us. A tanker had run aground and the slick was heading our way.
"If I cut the reef we can reverse the tide," said Flynn. What would happen to Les Salants now? Only time would tell.
And if you really are pressed: The digested read, digested...
Outsider returns to isolated French community...plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
