The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Provence chapter sampler

my head out my bedroom window, we can all wave. Let’s do it every morning when we wake up and every night just before we go to bed! We can be the three best friends ever. Like the three musketeers. Like the three little kittens who lost their mittens. Like —’ ‘Pippin!’ A thin, grey-haired woman appeared in the street below. She scowled up at Pippin, hands on hips, and made a silent threat with her eyes. Suddenly, she dropped her hands to her side. Her face grew soft and warm and she sang, ‘ Bonjour , Monsieur Appleby. Bonjour , sweet girl. Welcome to Claviers!’ Tobias had just opened his mouth to return the greeting when the woman’s hands shot back up to her hips and she roared. Rapid, threatening French spilt from her lips and she jabbed a bony finger up at Pippin. She finished with an ominous slap to her own bottom, stomped into her house and slammed the front door. Pippin gasped, ‘ Aie aie aie! ’ He pulled his head inside and ran back down the two flights of stairs as fast as his chubby, little legs could carry him. He popped out the front door, stopped and called back up to them, ‘ Au revoir . Don’t forget to wave at me out your window at bedtime tonight! We will be like the three blind mice, the three —’ A bony hand reached out from the next house along, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him inside. The door slammed and Pippin Perrier was gone.

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