A Very Long Engagement Page #7

Notre Dame?

Then the pimp tried to surrender.

And the welder

from Paris was killed.

Your fianc started carving

on the tree.

Then,

the Jerries' Albatross arrived.

l came to,

when the ground started shaking.

I don't know what happened.

l just saw that trapdoor

the shell had half-opened.

For France!

Charge!

They entered no-man's-land.

At the second German line,

the machine guns got them.

A few hours later,

a voice woke me.

My God! Bastoche is dead!

We can't leave him here.

We'll come back.

He's not going anywhere.

Bastoche is dead.

Look, this one's still moving.

It's the Cornflower.

He's a goner as well.

A shell had ripped the door off.

One of the guys arrived,

in bad shape.

Bastoche is dead!

We're all going to die.

l recognized Bastoche's friend.

The one who'd taken

his German boots.

After eating, l smoked his tobacco.

Then, l heard more voices.

Let's go look over there.

Look here!

Damn it!

lt's not the Cornflower.

What's he doing in there?

Where's the Dordogne farmer?

- l'm cold.

- Don't worry.

He was really messed up,

but your fianc wanted to live.

I saw it in his eyes.

l put him on my shoulders

and set off through the trench.

He was burning with fever.

l felt the heat on my back.

And he was delirious.

Spoke of a heart

beating in his hand.

Hey, Corporal!

Only 500 yards to the hospital.

Want us to put your friend

on the stretcher?

No, thanks.

lf you see any officers from Bingo,

tell them Corporal Gordes has gone

to the hospital with Desrochelles.

Have it your way!

l arrived just before the explosion.

Headquarters had the good idea

of setting up hospital

in a hangar containing

a hydrogen-packed zeppelin.

The Cornflower

has just been evacuated.

Will he make it?

His hip wound isn't too bad. But

he has a severe case of pneumonia.

You're both registered

according to your tag numbers.

I don't want to know anything else.

But good luck anyway!

Block the pulley!

Please!

After that, l walked to Bernay.

l had no idea if my wife

had received my letter,

so each day l waited for her

at the bus-stop.

With the money from the sale,

we bought a farm here.

The most isolated one we could find.

They call it "The End of the World".

That's it.

Goodbye.

How strange.

You shot a hole

right through your lifeline.

Of course.

I died. At Bingo Crpuscule,

like your fianc.

If ever you find

Jean Desrochelles alive somewhere,

let me know.

You know where to find me.

Make yourself at home!

At Christmas,

come down the chimney!

For Miss Mathilde.

l'll give it to her later.

lf l were you...

I would wake her up.

What is it?

"He's alive.

"Stay where you are, Mathilde.

"Just stay where you are.

"I'm on my way.

"Germain Pire."

How silly l am!

Peerless on the prowl,

faster than a whippet!

He's well and truly alive,

but he's lost his memory!

Total amnesia. He even had to learn

to read and write again.

The psychiatrists treating him

since '17 aren't hopeful.

But who knows?

There are as many amnesias

as amnesiacs.

Where is he?

ln Milly-la-Fort.

Orphaned for the second time.

He's just lost his adopted mother.

Pierre-Marie, do you know Mr. Pire?

By reputation.

An honour.

Mathilde,

I'll believe it when l see it.

"With my own eyes!"

When Jean Desrochelles was born,

his mother was 40,

and had no other children.

When the gendarmes took him...

To replenish the troops in Ardennes.

She became depressed.

One day,

a comrade of her son visited her...

Chardolot!

Unfortunately, it was Jean.

A shell had got him. He'd already

been dead for a few hours.

l should also tell you...

Maybe the youngest prisoner

has taken Jean's identity...

exchanging tag numbers.

She went off her rocker

the day the hospital rang her,

asking to come to her son's bedside.

He's sleeping. l'll leave you.

Who are you?

Your mother, my darling.

l'm your mother.

l ran my own little investigation.

Mrs. Desrochelles died

two months ago.

Run over by a truck

after a fight with a shopkeeper.

And l'm not guessing!

- It's in the report.

- We already knew that.

Don't get upset.

Mrs. Desrochelles didn't suffer,

she died straight away.

It's not that.

I feel so guilty!

l didn't believe you,

my dear Mathilde!

l should have known!

l'm so sorry.

ln what she would refer to as

her "Milly Expedition",

the sun, the sky

and nature are with her.

As a true lady, she made

every effort to look her best.

Dressed in white for freshness,

lipstick for the occasion,

eyebrows shaped.

But none of that black

which lengthens the eyelashes.

She knows that tears

can make a mess of it.

He knows about your visit.

We said a young girl

he'd dearly loved was coming here.

He asked your name

and found it very beautiful.

He's in the garden.

He's waiting for you.

Does it hurt when you walk?

Want to see what I'm doing?

l'll show you later,

when it's finished.

But why are you crying?

Mathilde leans back

against her chair,

folds her hands in her lap

and looks at him.

ln the sweetness of the air,

in the light of the garden,

Mathilde looks at him.

She looks at him...

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