"Of course." He finished off his coffee. "How about you come rock hunting with me?"
"I have a show to do tonight at the club, but it isn't for hours. As long as this doesn't take too long," she said.
There was safety in numbers. Whoever was murdering people caught them alone--at least so far that seemed to be the way. In any case, she didn't want to go back to the Inn, see her manager or Remy. Playing hooky in the swamp with Arnaud might be the cure.
"I'll tell you what, chere, do some climbing with me and I'll go to your show tonight and buy you dinner."
What else did she have to do, but feel sorry for herself? She could spend the day in Arnaud's company, have a good time and then do her show. Singing always made her feel better.
"Sounds good to me," she said and finished off her coffee as well. "But I'm not usin' that hitch to tie off my rope. I'm using that very strong tree trunk."
"You're such a chicken," Arnaud protested. "I use the hitch all the time."
"I'm not fallin' into the disgustin' water," Bijou said with a small shudder. "Laugh it up, Arnaud, I'm not smellin' for a month to prove a point. That water has enough germs in it to kill half of Louisiana."
"You really are a girl," he teased. He slapped at his arm. "Damn mosquitoes. How come they aren't eating you alive?"
" 'Cuz I'm a girl, not a mean Frenchman," Bijou said and folded up her chair. She had no idea why mosquitoes didn't ever bite her, but even as a child, when everyone else was getting attacked, the insects veered away from her and went after someone else.
She sent him a smug look. "Louisiana mosquitos know the natives and just go after the tourists, especially hot French tourists."
"At least you think I'm hot." He made a face at her as he put her folding chair in the back of his rented SUV. "Let's hope your climbing skills haven't been affected by your sense of humor."
She peered over the ledge. "I don' have any intention of endin' up in that water. I've got my own equipment in the trunk of my car."
"A girl after my own heart. If you have a helmet, you might want to use it. The bank is unstable and juts out in places overhead," he cautioned. "I get debris falling at times."
The wind shifted, blowing a slight breeze through the trees. She felt the now familiar itch rising like a wave under her skin and took a deep breath trying to control the need to scratch. For a brief moment, a scent drifted to her and just that quickly was gone. Elusive. She knew it, and yet she hadn't gotten enough time before the capricious wind changed direction again to identify it. A chill crept down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
Bijou swung around, looking slowly. "Arnaud, do you feel as if someone is watchin' us?"
Arnaud didn't snicker or act as if she was crazy. He took her seriously, stepping out from behind the vehicle to inspect the road running along the bayou with a slow, careful perusal. Bijou rubbed at the itch racing up and down her arm. Just that fast the sensation faded, along with the odd feeling they were being watched, leaving her feeling foolish. Whatever strange thing was taking place in her body, was making her moody, edgy and jumpy.
"I don't see anything, Bijou," Arnaud said. "But if you're worried, we can skip getting the rocks and I can come back another day."
"No, that would be silly. We're already here," Bijou replied. "I was looking forward to seeing your cache." She took one more careful look around and drew in a lungful of air. Nothing. She had no idea what had set her off, making her so uncomfortable, but there was nothing to indicate they weren't alone.
8
"YOU don't want a lot of stretch in your line," Arnaud cautioned. "Use a static line, maybe ten to twenty meters. I use a Grigri. It's simple, and I don't like a fuss when I'm working. I rappel down, work out the rocks I want, put them in my bag and use an ascender coming up. I've found my hiking boots are better for this than climbing boots."
Arnaud was a serious climber and he'd gone into his serious mode the moment they brought out the gear. He helped her wrap nylon webbing around a live tree that was about ten inches thick. Near the base of the tree, he created friction between the webbing and the tree. Leaving two equal length ends, he tied overhand knots on a bite.
Bijou handed him two locking carabiners for each end. After finding the middle of the rope, he created two overhands on a bite ten inches apart and attached each to one of the lockers on the webbing.
"One for each of us," he said as he tossed the ropes off the edge, leaving them two secure lines to rappel down. "Happy?"
"Much happier," Bijou said.
He took her helmet out of her hand and plunked it on her head. "That's so you don't have half the embankment falling on you."
Bijou stepped into her harness, laughing as he had to pull the trouser legs of his suit through. "Great climbing pants," she teased.
He grinned at her, his eyes laughing. "Keep making fun of me, woman, and you may be alligator fodder after all."
Bijou attached the Grigri to her line, near the point where they attached to the webbing on the tree and waited for Arnaud to do the same. Both attached their Grigri to the belay loop on their harness using a locking carabiner, double-checking that they each locked theirs.
"Let's do this," Arnaud said, a hint of excitement in his voice for the first time.
Bijou realized Arnaud rarely showed emotion. He did laugh occasionally, but she'd never seen him do so with anyone but her and even with her, it had taken a great deal of time before he'd let her in enough to relax around her. He seemed disconnected from people, his passion completely kept for his work, which probably explained why there was no real physical attraction between them. Every sport he chose was dangerous and solitary.
She nodded, and after going over a safety check, they started to rappel down the slope. Clearly Arnaud had been over the embankment numerous times and was
confident. Bijou went far more slowly, taking her time and watching the outcropping above her. The dirt was definitely loose and occasionally rained down in a little burst. Arnaud ignored it as he found a purchase on the slim ledge.
"There isn't much room on this ledge," Bijou pointed out, peering out across the water, half expecting an alligator to be swimming toward her.
"I'm never here long and so far I've never seen evidence of a gator trying to come up on the ledge. It's too narrow for even a medium-sized one." Arnaud wrapped the tail of his rope around his leg five times.
Bijou made a face as she cautiously settled her feet onto the muddy surface. Very carefully she wrapped the tail of her rope around her leg as well, creating a friction backup.
Now that his hands were free, Arnaud selected a small brush from his tool belt and showed it to her. "I use this to brush aside some of the dirt to check the color of the stone before I remove any. Do you want to try? You have to be very careful not to disturb too much of the embankment."
He was offering her the brush, but he sounded reluctant. She realized this was something of great importance to him, not just a lark. She smiled at him, shaking her head. "I'd rather watch you, if you don' mind. I love watchin' you create art and this seems similar."
She said the right thing, because Arnaud flashed her a genuine smile and crouched down beside her.
Bijou studied the embankment above them. Small rocks and the root structures of trees seemed to be the only thing holding the crumbling dirt together. Some roots jutted out like gangly, boney arms, moss hanging from them. A few larger rocks were scattered along the wall, but for the most part, the bank seemed nothing but loose dirt.
She found it impossible not to be a little nervous. Behind were the gator-infested waters and in front of her a tall wall of soil, some of which was already falling like dust on top of her head and shoulders.
She cleared her throat. "Arnaud, I have to hand it to you. You're very dedicated to your art. Couldn't you have someone else do this for you?"