Schools Out Page 6

  “Oh,” said Lucas.

  “Perhaps she will be able to come and visit with us again some other time,” said Mrs. Cott. “I’m going to miss her.”

  “Me, too,” Lucas said.

  The whole family was going to miss the au pair girl. She had become a regular part of their household.

  The day before Genevieve left, Mrs. Cott wanted to prepare a special meal. “Oh no,” Genevieve protested. “Please let me cook the food for this evening. I want to make a real French dinner for you. It will give me much pleasure.”

  So Lucas and his mother took the twins off to a local playground for the afternoon and Genevieve stayed home to cook. Lucas wondered what kind of food Genevieve would cook for this French meal. Luckily, they didn’t sell horsemeat around here. He had heard that French people ate other weird things like snails and frogs, though. He didn’t remember seeing those items for sale at the supermarket, either. What would Genevieve cook?

  The farewell dinner was delicious. First, there was something called pâté. It tasted a bit like liverwurst. It was made in France, and Genevieve had brought a small can of it from home in her luggage.

  “I was planning to give it to you all summer,” she said, beaming.

  Next, there was a casserole with meat cut up in little pieces with mushrooms and onions and gravy. Lucas wondered briefly if it could be horse-meat, after all. He was relieved when Genevieve announced that they were eating boeuf Bour-guignon. She pronounced it differently from the way he did, but he knew he was chewing good old American beef. Once he knew what he was eating, Lucas thought it tasted fine.

  There was salad with mustard in the dressing.

  “It’s French Dijon mustard, of course,” said Genevieve.

  Lucas thought mustard belonged on hot dogs and not in salad, but he was polite and ate a small portion. Even the twins were behaving very well for boys of their age. They didn’t spill any of their food, and they kept busy chewing on pieces of the crusty French bread that Genevieve had been able to buy in town.

  Of course, the best part of the meal was the dessert. It looked like a big peach pie to Lucas. Genevieve insisted it was a tarte. Lucas didn’t care what you called it. It was good.

  “Now I am going to make a speech,” announced Genevieve as the meal came to an end.

  “A speech?” said Mr. Cott with surprise.

  “Yes. I have written a special speech,” said Genevieve. She reached into the pocket of the skirt she was wearing and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She opened the paper and looked around the table. “I am going to try and use some of the new expressions that you all taught me this summer. My notebook is almost full, and my head is full, too,” she said. Then she cleared her throat and began reading.

  “It is nothing to sneeze at to travel so many miles and live with another family,” she began.

  “When I got on the airplane in Paris, I was in a stew. I had cold feet. First I felt blue. Then I felt chicken. But I tried to be brave. I knew it would not be a piece of cake to take care of twin brothers. Perhaps I would get fired before the summer was over. Luckily, I had the help of Lucas.

  “I discovered that Lucas likes to horse around and to pull my leg. At first, he bugged me. But Lucas was a big help. When it was raining cats and dogs, Lucas played with his brothers so they would not get bored. He also helped me with my English.

  “Now I am going home. I am going to miss you all. I hope someday you will come to France to visit me. Au revoir.”

  Lucas’s mother got up from her place and hugged Genevieve. “We are all going to miss you, too,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

  Lucas turned to his brothers. “We have a surprise for Genevieve,” he said. “Are you ready?” he asked Marcus and Marius. Lucas had been coaching them for the past week. It was not easy to find time when Genevieve was not around. Nor was it easy for boys as young as Marcus and Marius to keep a secret. Somehow they had managed. Now they could show off to everyone.

  “One-two-three-go,” said Lucas. The twins began singing.

  “Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques. Dormez-vous?”

  “They are singing in French,” Genevieve squealed with delight.

  Lucas’s parents knew he had been teaching the song to the boys, but they were surprised, too, at how well they performed.

  When Marcus and Marius sang the final words of the song, Genevieve got out of her seat and ran and gave them each a kiss. Then she turned and put her arms around Lucas. “You are a wonderful brother to the little boys. And I think you are like a brother to me, too,” she said. She gave Lucas a big kiss on each cheek.

  Lucas’s face turned bright red. Somehow, though, he didn’t really mind being kissed by Genevieve. He knew that he was going to miss her a lot. It was another of those surprises that didn’t come in a box. Sometimes they could be a lot better than you expected.