-GET OUT!

-Okay, okay Sir, but...

-IT IS "BARON"," baron de Larive" ,and you GET OUT of here, you villain thief!

-But Sir, er, baron, I am no thief...I just...

The seventy eight years old gentleman took his violin with two hands, menacing Gary.

-You just wanted my priceless "Blue Flamingo" painting, given to me by the late great Henri de Treville, fifty years ago, and you just don't know who
we the Larives are, you young delinquent, so GET OUT or say your last words!

-Uh, may I say my last words before getting out Mr. Baron?

-You little coward you...

Gary glanced at his watch. Too late.. it was getting too late...he had to do something...now!

-Nooo! You will not have it... Nooo!

The baron was a  splendid gentleman, very fit, and still very fast. He threw himself on Gary who was running to the other end of the great hall, the
painting between his hands. The two of them collapsed on the middle of the hall, when a deafening GROOMPH sound was heard ...and a part of the roof fell down...the very part the two of them were under, just one minute before... Gary stared wide-eyed at the roof's debris. He had thought he had more time...that was so very close...

-Louise, cherie, what were you doing?

Gary looked up. On the top of the roof's debris sat an elderly coughing lady...with an open perhaps yellow umbrella.

She turned her head and smiled to the baron, the way a little charming mischievous child caught on the middle of  the act may smile to melt her mom's anger.
 
-I was  experimenting my new device that can...that was supposed to give out a controlled  flow of energy in order to open this umbrella from a 6 meters
distance, but it seems to have, well, sort of ...

-LOUISE! Cherie! You stood there in front of this ...this WEAPON of yours ,with your grand mother's umbrella...and...

-Well, Charles, you didn't give me your umbrella, and I must have one and...

-This is not what I am talking about, Louise ,you know it and you have promised me not to do ANY life-threatening experiment and ...

-But Charles, it was supposed to be totally harmless...

The lady had an enchanting smile. Gary found himself smiling fondly at her...along with the baron, whose smile had also a lot of worried ness. The whole conversation was happening with the three of them sat where they were after the roof's collapse. That is to say that the lady was still on the top of the debris and Gary and the baron were entangled in the middle of the room, eight meters far from the lady. The lady  was the first who began to stand ,the open umbrella in her right hand...and then suddenly she looked at the baron with the uttermost horrified expression.

-Oh my God! Charles !

The baron was there close by her within something that seemed to be a hundredth of a second to Gary.

-What? What? What is it? Louise, talk to me! Please say something!

-Oh, Charles, your Blue Flamingo! It was on this wall!

That reminded Gary to the baron...who regained his previous angry expression in order to look at Gary.

-Oh yes! I bet that you hoped to use this little incident to steal it right in front of me and a honorable lady, you ...you bandit!

-But...

-------------------------------------------------------

Gary stood to catch his breath ,looked defiantly  back , looked again , and then took the newspaper from his pocket, looking for the article that had  sent him to the baron's house. The previous bad news were replaced by: "The Blue Flamingo, considered to be the best work of Henri de Treville has been insured yesterday  on  behalf of  the world wide known violinist baron  Charles de Larive. The insurance company says that it  will probably convince the baroness Louise de Larive to insure her valuable yellow Victorian umbrella, of which there is no more than two other in the world...."

The End.

Email the author: princecavalier@yahoo.fr
 

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