Fourth Day of the Amazon Countdown Deal

Caterina de' Medici, a Florentine noblewoman and Queen of France, created the famous Les Tuileries formal gardens, located between the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre Museum in Paris. On the occasion of her birthday, today's excerpt from my book comes from one of the longer stories, entitled “Montmartre”. The action takes place along one the picturesque paths in the gardens.

“They talked and they wandered, and the afternoon started to darken with some heavy cloud turning the Jardins dramatic and atmospheric.

The park was almost deserted now as visitors sought shelter in advance of the impending downpour. And as they turned to leave, there were four burly-looking men in their path, and there was no doubt about the focus of their intended mischief.

“Allez!” one of the bruisers said to the others, and they advanced on Rory with obvious intent. In the hands of one, a knife, and in those of another, a rusty iron chain.

“OK, mes amis ... qu'est que c'est ceci?” Rory called to them, but they were closing in on him. Giselle looked very frightened, and was demanding of them, in rapid French, to stop their menace and leave them alone. They were only feet from him now and desperately he looked left, and then right, wondering from where the first blow would come.”