The Fremont Saga
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 39 

Chateau La Fontaine Mysteries

After a wonderful breakfast at the Nice Arms, we loaded up for our trip to Paris.  When we arrived, we were met by Armand, and our things were whisked to our rooms.  Uncle Will and Uncle Archie announced that we would be leaving for the sight seeing trip in thirty minutes.

Again, everyone who hadn’t been there previously was overwhelmed by their accommodations.  The service was impeccable.  I was almost afraid to go to the bathroom for fear someone would try to help me. 

We stopped at the Louvre because Morgan wanted to see the painting of Mona Lisa.  Timmy, Tanner and I went to some of the other galleries and were looking around.  Timmy pointed, “Brian,   there’s the picture of Grandmother in her coffin.  We gotta go tell Mother and Daddy.”

When we located Dad, Mother, Morgan, Uncle Archie and Uncle Will, we led them to where the painting of Grandmother was highlighted.  There was a large group standing in front of the painting with a docent who was explaining.  “This painting was created by a young man who is fourteen years old.   He has set the art world on fire.  He has even painted persons of royalty.  People are clamoring to buy his paintings.”

Timmy walked up to the docent, “Mademoiselle, the artist is standing back there.  Maybe these people would like to meet a live artist.  He’s fifteen, not fourteen.”

The people applauded and Tanner pushed me forward.  After forty minutes of questions. the crowd kept growing.  I finally excused myself, “If you will pardon me, we have reservations for lunch.  We have a lot to see in a short time.  Thanks for enjoying my painting and it was a pleasure talking to you.”

After the Louvre, we went to Maxim’s, but it was a little too chilly to eat outside.  When we walked in, there was a line waiting to be seated but the maitre-d’ took us to a small room,  The service was unbelievably wonderful.  It was even better than when we ate at the restaurant with Grandpa Nappy on my first trip.  After lunch, we walked to the Eiffel Tower, and of course, Timmy had to go to the top.  Tanner and Morgan decided to accompany him.

It was after five o’clock when we arrived back at Chateau La Fontaine.  We were met by Armand, “Monsieur Brian, Monsieur Fourcault called and said he would be joining you for dinner.  He said that he and Jean Claude would be bringing their youngest son, Antoine, with them.  He made dinner reservations for six thirty.  He said he had some papers for you an Monsieurs Tanner and Timothy to sign.”

Timmy asked, “Monsieur Armand, how old is Monsieur Foucault’s son?”

“Monsieur Timothy, he didn’t say.”

Mother asked, “Armand, what is the dress for dinner?”

“Madame, Saturday nights are semi formal nights.  The young men’s valet has laid out their clothes for them.  We were unsure what you ladies might wish to wear.  If you need help, please ask your attendant and she will take care of it.  If you will excuse me, I need to make sure that everything is proceeding on schedule in the kitchen.”

I asked, “Did we meet Armand when we were here before?”

Uncle Archie shook his head no, “When we turned the chateau into a bed and breakfast and a restaurant, Armand took over managing the business, because he has hotel managerial experience.  He worked for Monsieur Lafontaine for years as the chef here at the chateau.  We’re lucky to have such an employee working here.  He was thrilled when you decided to keep the chateau in honor of your Grandpa Nappy.”

As Tanner, Timmy and I were getting dressed there was a knock on the door.  I went to see who was there, since I was decent.  A young man in a uniform was standing there, “Is there anything that I can help the monsieur with?”

I stuck out my hand, “I’m Brian.”

The young man grinned, “I know who you are, Monsieur Benson.  We have a mug shot of you, Timmy and Tanner, posted in the help changing room.  We’ve been warned that you are to be treated like royalty if we want to keep our jobs.”

“Okay, smart ass, come in and treat us like royalty, but do you suppose you could supply us with a name?”

“Why?  You already have one.  If you’re asking what my name is, it’s Louis, after King Louis XIV but my one and only friend calls me Lou.  Hey Tim, you’re even more handsome than your picture.  I wish I could say the same for your brothers.”

Lou sat down on the bed, “Come here, young Timothy, let me straighten your shirt and help you put on your tie.  We need to spray your hair, so the ladies will all faint when you walk into the room.”

Tanner had been laughing, “Lou, you’re not what you appear to be, are you?”

Lou started to sniff, “If you asking if I'm a guy, trust me, I am.  Do I need to prove it to you?  I’m only working here over the holiday break.  I’m home from college in your country, between semesters.  Uncle Archie felt sorry for me and got Monsieur Armand to hire me.  Of course, the only two rooms I have tonight are yours and Uncle Archie’s and Uncle Will’s.”

Lou turned his attention to Timmy, “Monsieur Timmy, would you be so kind to invite me to go skiing at your lodge when you go, after Christmas?  Uncle Archie says only you can make it happen.”

Timmy giggled, “It will depend on how you treat us the rest of the time we’re here.”

Lou looked at his watch, “Speaking of which, you three gentleman should be leaving, so you can meet your guests”

When we got to what previously had been the huge parlor, it had been to turned into huge sitting room with the furniture arranged so people could visit.  Dad, Mother, Morgan and Uncle Archie and Uncle Will were already sitting there with drinks.  I looked around, but I didn’t see a bar.

Timmy, Tanner and I had hardly gotten seated when Monsieur Fourcault arrived with a handsome older guy and a couple of guys who looked to be a young teenager and a boy who looked to be about Timmy’s age.  In fact, the younger boy almost looked like Timmy at first glance.

Mr. Fourcault made the introductions, since he was the only person who knew all the people, “I’d like to introduce my special friend,  John Claude Killian, and our two youngest sons, Michaud, or Mick, as he prefers to be called, who is 13 and Antoine, or Toine, who is eight.”

After the introductions, Armand arrived, looked at me and announced. “Mr. Benson, your table is ready.”

We followed Armand to the dining room and we were seated at a round table in the center of the room with an ice sculpture. I wanted to laugh when the waiter, Louie, took Mother‘s arm, “Madame, allow me to assist you.”

Mick took Morgan and helped her get seated.  The rest of us were seated and I was sitting between Tanner and Timmy.  The six adults were seated together on one side of the circular table and the six of us younger people were on the other side.”

We had three choices for the entrée:  duck l’orange, veal Marsala, baked salmon from Norway.  Timmy looked at me, “Brian, what are you having?  I don’t know what any of these things taste like.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “Timmy, I’m not sure, either.  Check with Toine and see what he’s having.”

I looked around the dining room as we were starting to eat our appetizers.  The dining room was full.  Everyone was dressed in dinner jackets as we were, except for two men seated by the entrance who had on a shirt and a tie.  I thought to myself, ‘What are they doing here?  They don’t look as if they belong here.’

I got busy eating another great meal, and Louie and his two companions made sure we had everything we needed.  The funniest thing that happened was when Louie offered Timmy, Morgan, Tanner and me each a glass of wine.  Timmy looked at Dad, “Daddy, is it okay if we try the wine?

Dad grinned, “You can try it, but don’t drink too much on your first sip.  You might not like it.”

Timmy took a little sip and I thought he was going to spit it out.  He looked around trying out how to get rid of what was in his mouth.  Louie whispered in his ear and Timmy picked up his wine glass and acted as if he were taking a sip, when in reality, he was putting what was in his mouth back in the glass.  He set the glass down and asked, “Sir, may I have a glass of water?”

Not only did Timmy get a glass of water but so did Morgan, Tanner and I. 

When Timmy and Toine finished their entrée, Timmy asked, “Mother, may we be excused.  We need to go to the bathroom.”

Mother excused the Timmy and Toine and they started toward the exit, since the bathrooms were in the hallway.  As they were passing the two out-of-place gentlemen, the two men stood.  The one man grabbed Toine, “Let’s get out of here.  That rich American prick will pay a fortune to get his son back.”

The other man pulled out a gun, “Don’t anyone try to stop us, or you’re going wind up in the hospital.”

I heard Timmy calling, “Brain and Tanner, help.”

Tanner and I looked at each other and we did our disappearing act and went to the boys’  aid.  I kicked the hand of the man who had the gun and the gun went flying.  “Timmy, go get the gun and point it at the two jerks.”

In the meantime, Tanner had caused the other man to double over and release Toine who ran to his Dad.  I made sure the other man wasn’t going anywhere, either.  Both men were doubled over when Uncle Archie and Uncle Will came and both men were writhing pain from being held captive very firmly.  Louie went to Timmy, “Timmy, give me the gun.  Go make sure that Toine is okay.”

Tanner and I moved so we could appear as if we didn’t know what was going on.  When we walked into the dining room I asked, “Uncle Will, what’s happening?  Why are you holding that man?”

Uncle Archie asked, “Why is it that you two are never around when we need your help?”

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of sirens.  Four police persons entered the dining room and the lead officer asked, “Why were we called, here?”

Monsieur Fourcault stepped forward, “These two persons tried to kidnap our youngest son?  They mistakenly thought he was someone else.  Book them, and I’ll press charges against them on Monday morning.  They need some time to rot in jail.”

The younger of the two men screamed, “We were paid to do this by that old broad who works here.  She said we’d be able to make a easy nab.”

Armand asked, “Whom are you talking about?”

“I don’t know her name, but she calls herself the Duchess.  She says that it’s time that you rich people share your wealth.”

Tanner and I followed Armand as he took two of the police into the kitchen and went up to a lady who was cleaning dishes, “Madame Duchame, there are two persons being detained in the dining room who claim that you were behind the kidnap attempt, tonight.”

The woman grabbed a big butcher knife and yelled, “You have no proof.  You’re not going to frame me for anything.  I’m leaving.”

Tanner and I went into our disappearing act again, and the knife was quickly lying on the floor.  I inadvertently pulled off the woman’s gray wig, and her hair tumbled down.

One of the police persons recognized the woman, “This woman has been involved in kidnapping cases before, and there is a large reward out for her arrest.  I’m guessing that her two accomplices also have records.”

Mr. Fourcault had entered the kitchen, “Officers, unless I’m mistaken, that is the notorious Madam Tousant, who is wanted in most of the countries in Europe.  She has so many aliases that she probably can’t remember them all.  She’s been behind countless kidnappings in the past.  Take her and book her as being an accomplice to an attempted kidnapping of our son.”

When the alleged Mrs. Tousant was led away, the other diners stood and applauded.  One of the guests commented, “We didn’t realize that we were going to be entertained by a dinner show.”

As Tanner and I made our presence known, Mr. Fourcault was saying, “Ladies and gentleman, that was not a show.  You witnessed a real kidnapping attempt gone bad, tonight.  I’m not sure what happened, but it almost worked.”

Timmy and Toine were shedding tears.  Timmy asked, “Can we just go to our room?  My tummy feels like it’s going to get sick.”

Mr. Fourcault nodded, “Monsieur Timothy, we can take care of our business, there.  There’s a place where we can take care of business.  It shouldn’t take long.”

You're not going to believe what happened when we were in our suite.  Mr. Fourcault announced, The auditing firm has verified that the financial figures that Archie and Will have provided are indeed correct.  The firm suggests that you provide Archie and Will with a nice bonus.  In addition, they suggest that the three of you award yourselves with a sizeable bonus to preclude the governments from investigating your holdings and taking more taxes.”

Tanner and I looked at Dad and Mother, hoping for help.  They were looking at the figures that Monsieur Fourcault had provided.  Dad nodded, “I have one question, why are you not recommending that you also receive a bonus?”

Monsieur Fourcault nodded, “I was prepared to do that until what happened tonight.  I don’t know how Brian and Tanner did what they did, tonight, but I realize if it hadn’t been for them, those pricks would have taken Toine.  He has been with us since shortly after he was born.”

We signed the documents that Monsieur Fourcault had, authorizing the transactions that he had recommended.

Timmy came into the room where we were talking, “King Louie is here with desert.  You need to come and get some, before Toine, Morgan and Mickey eat it all.  Monsieur Fourcault and Monsieur Paul, I’ve invited Toine and Mickey to go skiing with us, after Christmas.  Louie says he’ll make sure that the boys get to the chalet and home.  Uncle Archie and Uncle Will, it looks like we’ll have twelve boys and ten girls.  That gives you and an extra room to rent.”

Monsiuer Paul laughed, “Beau and Becca, are all your children alpha persons?”

Mother laughed, “Thank goodness, they aren’t all like Timmy.”

After Monsieur Fourcault and his family had departed, Uncle Will asked, “Is there anything special you would like to do, tomorrow?”

Timmy answered, “We’d like to go to the church where Grandpa Nappy’s celebration was, and then we’d like to go see where his ashes are.  Do we have any restaurants in that area?”

Archie laughed, “Yes, I’ll call and make reservations.  It’s always busy on Sunday.  It’s not going to be like Maxim’s, or the food we had tonight.”

Timmy wasn’t deterred, “That’s okay.  Maybe someone won’t try to kidnap us.”

After Uncle Will and Uncle Archie had gone to their room, Morgan frowned, “I don’t understand what’s been happening.  How come Brian and Tanner are always disappearing and why do you guys have so many restaurants and houses?”

Timmy answered, “Morgan, Brian and Tanner think that they’re Superman and Spiderman.  We were lucky and a rich man left some of his property to me and the guys to take care of.  We should be happy that he did, or we wouldn't be going skiing after Christmas.”

Morgan started for the door, “I’m going to bed, since you people aren’t going to tell me anything.  But I still want to know how Brian and Tanner can keep disappearing and reappearing?”

As Tanner, Timmy and I were getting into bed, we heard a voice, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  Guys, you need to tell Morgan just enough to keep her satisfied, or she could cause some problems unintentionally.”

I was lying there trying to go to sleep thinking, ‘Is it going to be like this the rest of our lives?’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well, that was certainly another exciting chapter.

It looks as though Brian and Tanner attract nut jobs trying to cause trouble.  It's a good thing they are both smart enough to out smart the jerks that act like that. 

Morgan is smarter than the boys give her credit for.  She sees right through their hocus pocus. It wouldn't surprise me if she has already figured out at least a bit of what is actually happening.

I think that Grandpa Nappy is correct that they should tell her what is needed to satisfy her curiosity in terms of their abilities. Beau and Becca took it rather well, and I suspect that Morgan will be okay with the news as well. 

I am a bit worried about what Lauren will think, when and if she takes notice of anything besides her own problems. Unless things have changed, she is almost as greedy and self absorbed as some of those Gleasons that tried to force people to give them whatever they wanted. 

Hopefully, being at that school has given her a bit of an attitude adjustment, because if she hasn't settled down by the time they are ready to go on the trip, I don't think she will be invited to join the family on their vacation.  Timmy, for one, is not going to let her go, if she is still acting as if she were some sort of royal personage. 

I'm afraid there is nothing that even Brian, Timmy or Tanner could do, to help her understand that being selfish and snotty, the way she is, will only cause her to be worse off as time goes by. 

Already, most, if not all, of her friends are tired of her snooty attitude, and are staying well away from her, even when she is home from school.

It is getting very close to the time when the family will be leaving for the ski trip.  I have my doubts, that she will have changed enough to convince Timmy or their parents that she should be allowed to go.

I am ready for more, much more!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 09/17/10