drunken lout
from Australia with an accent like that,’ Etienne had retorted and walked on,
ignoring a ridiculous further remark about whether he was out collecting snails to
eat.
That brief encounter was as much
evidence as Etienne needed in order to know the man was an ignorant buffoon, and it
made the possibility of Mari carrying his child even more alarming.
He found the tent, half hidden behind
some scrubby bushes, and he remembered then that there had been complaints from
various people in the town about the man being there.
The tent was a small shabby affair that
sagged in the middle as the guy ropes were slack. Etienne looked at it for a few
moments, then kicked the ropes loose so that the tent collapsed. From inside came
the sound of swearing as the man awoke to find himself buried in canvas.
Etienne waited – he suspected the man
was enough of aslob to stay where he was,
regardless of the damp canvas covering him – but after a minute or two he crawled
out rubbing his eyes, wearing only a pair of filthy underpants.
During the moments of waiting, Etienne
had noted all the debris around the tent – mainly beer bottles and food cans. He
wondered if the man ever bathed and how Mari, who had been brought up in a clean
home, could possibly tolerate such a lack of hygiene.
‘Did you bugger up my tent?’
the man asked, squinting up at him. He had thick stubble on his chin and his blond
hair looked filthy. And yet, even so, his bronzed muscular torso was impressive and
he was very handsome.
‘Guilty as charged,’ Etienne
said. ‘Just be grateful I didn’t attack it with an axe and chop your
head off. On your feet! I know you are lower than shit, but I like to look a man in
the eye when I’m talking to him.’
‘What’s this about?’
Sam asked as he got to his feet.
‘As if you don’t
know!’ Etienne scoffed. ‘You know full well I’m Mariette’s
father. But then, if you’d had any sense of decency, you would have called on
me to ask my permission before walking out with her.’
‘No one does that any more,’
Sam growled. ‘Go home, old man, and pick a fight with someone your own age.
Mari threw herself at me. You might not like to hear that, but that’s the way
it was. Now get out of here.’
‘I had hoped to find you had some
saving graces,’ Etienne retorted. ‘But you live like a pig and smell
worse than one. I think Mari must have temporarily taken leave of her senses getting
involved with someone as low as you. You will leave Russell this morning on the
first ferry, and never come back. If not, you may live to regret it.’
Sam laughed scornfully. ‘And you
think you’re going to make me, old man? How do you plan to do that?’
‘Like
this,’ Etienne said, and punched the man on the chin so hard that he reeled
back and nearly toppled over.
Sam was momentarily stunned. He rubbed
his chin and looked at Etienne, as if weighing him up. ‘I don’t want to
fight with you because you’ll never get up again from it,’ he said.
‘So clear off now, before I do you an injury.’
‘Like this?’ Etienne gave
him a second punch in the belly with his right fist, then followed it up immediately
with a punch from his left fist, smack on the jaw. ‘Come on, don’t hold
back. I’m an old man, remember.’
Sam staggered back, blood trickling out
of his mouth from a dislodged tooth. He lifted his fists to hit back, but Etienne
danced out of the way and landed two further punches on the younger man’s face
before he could even blink.
Blood came gushing from his nose, and
Etienne laughed. ‘I thought you were going to do me an injury? But
you’re a little slow on your feet. This is how you do it,’ he said as he
zoomed in with an uppercut to the chin, knocking Sam’s head right back, then
followed it with an almighty blow to the solar plexus, which toppled him back and on
to the
from Australia with an accent like that,’ Etienne had retorted and walked on,
ignoring a ridiculous further remark about whether he was out collecting snails to
eat.
That brief encounter was as much
evidence as Etienne needed in order to know the man was an ignorant buffoon, and it
made the possibility of Mari carrying his child even more alarming.
He found the tent, half hidden behind
some scrubby bushes, and he remembered then that there had been complaints from
various people in the town about the man being there.
The tent was a small shabby affair that
sagged in the middle as the guy ropes were slack. Etienne looked at it for a few
moments, then kicked the ropes loose so that the tent collapsed. From inside came
the sound of swearing as the man awoke to find himself buried in canvas.
Etienne waited – he suspected the man
was enough of aslob to stay where he was,
regardless of the damp canvas covering him – but after a minute or two he crawled
out rubbing his eyes, wearing only a pair of filthy underpants.
During the moments of waiting, Etienne
had noted all the debris around the tent – mainly beer bottles and food cans. He
wondered if the man ever bathed and how Mari, who had been brought up in a clean
home, could possibly tolerate such a lack of hygiene.
‘Did you bugger up my tent?’
the man asked, squinting up at him. He had thick stubble on his chin and his blond
hair looked filthy. And yet, even so, his bronzed muscular torso was impressive and
he was very handsome.
‘Guilty as charged,’ Etienne
said. ‘Just be grateful I didn’t attack it with an axe and chop your
head off. On your feet! I know you are lower than shit, but I like to look a man in
the eye when I’m talking to him.’
‘What’s this about?’
Sam asked as he got to his feet.
‘As if you don’t
know!’ Etienne scoffed. ‘You know full well I’m Mariette’s
father. But then, if you’d had any sense of decency, you would have called on
me to ask my permission before walking out with her.’
‘No one does that any more,’
Sam growled. ‘Go home, old man, and pick a fight with someone your own age.
Mari threw herself at me. You might not like to hear that, but that’s the way
it was. Now get out of here.’
‘I had hoped to find you had some
saving graces,’ Etienne retorted. ‘But you live like a pig and smell
worse than one. I think Mari must have temporarily taken leave of her senses getting
involved with someone as low as you. You will leave Russell this morning on the
first ferry, and never come back. If not, you may live to regret it.’
Sam laughed scornfully. ‘And you
think you’re going to make me, old man? How do you plan to do that?’
‘Like
this,’ Etienne said, and punched the man on the chin so hard that he reeled
back and nearly toppled over.
Sam was momentarily stunned. He rubbed
his chin and looked at Etienne, as if weighing him up. ‘I don’t want to
fight with you because you’ll never get up again from it,’ he said.
‘So clear off now, before I do you an injury.’
‘Like this?’ Etienne gave
him a second punch in the belly with his right fist, then followed it up immediately
with a punch from his left fist, smack on the jaw. ‘Come on, don’t hold
back. I’m an old man, remember.’
Sam staggered back, blood trickling out
of his mouth from a dislodged tooth. He lifted his fists to hit back, but Etienne
danced out of the way and landed two further punches on the younger man’s face
before he could even blink.
Blood came gushing from his nose, and
Etienne laughed. ‘I thought you were going to do me an injury? But
you’re a little slow on your feet. This is how you do it,’ he said as he
zoomed in with an uppercut to the chin, knocking Sam’s head right back, then
followed it with an almighty blow to the solar plexus, which toppled him back and on
to the
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