Spilt Wine

22. This Thing has Grown Strange

Wednesday 2 April 1986

"So what do we do about the survey tomorrow morning?" I asked into the telephone, then after pausing to listen, I said, "How long do they think it will be up? One second, Jean-Luc," I said, seeing Catherine's concerned face. "I want to tell Catherine so she can follow along."

"The Saône's above PHEN, so we can't take the barge down to the slipway tomorrow for haul-out, l'éclusier won't allow us out of the canal onto the river."

"Sorry, Jean-Luc, I was asking you how long they think the flooding will last... That long?"

Catherine broke in. "There's a conférencier button here somewhere on the phone ... Here!" She pushed it and said, "Hello, Jean-Luc. We can now all continue."

"Bonjour, Catherine – this is better. I will continue. A week, maybe more. The warm weather the last few days and now with the April rains coming early and heavy up in the Vosges, there is much melt in the snowpack and a lot of water coming downstream."

"You've talked with the lockkeepers? Or do you just think they'll not let us out?" I asked.

"No, I've not talked with the lock, but when I saw the river above the mark, I called l'Office national de la navigation, and I was told that they have ordered the locks into the river closed."

"Can we head upstream, up canal de Rhône au Rhin? Is there a place to haul her in Dole?"

"There's no facility that can take her until closer to Besançon. But we can't get past Dole anyway, can't even get there actually; the canal enters the Doubs before the city, and that river is in flood too. We wouldn't be able to get beyond Écluse Prise d'eau."

"What's Vrouwe Catharina's weight?"

"I would say twenty-eight, maybe thirty tonnes; let me check the papers. What are you thinking?"

"Is there a mobile crane in the area that can come to the pound and lift – what? Around six or seven tonnes?"

"Why would you want that? Here it is, she's twenty-nine point two tonnes."

"So a seven-tonne crane would be sufficient, we could probably get away with as little as six."

"I'm not following here."

"Brilliant idea, David," piped in Catherine. "I see where you are."

"Okay, so I'm the only slow one here, then." Jean-Luc chuclked.

I explained, "Lift her stern enough to allow the surveyor to inspect the propeller, the stern bearing and the rudder bearings. There must be a work raft there he can use." I beamed as I watched Catherine delightedly nodding.

"My thinking, Jean-Luc, is that we already know about her bottom plating, and I've accepted it. The integrity of her hull structure, her ribs, frames and stringers will be checked from inside anyway, through the sole hatches and through the inspection panels in the backs of the lockers and so on. The systems are all inside except the stern gear. That's the only part of her we need to examine out of water. Everything else is above water or inside. With the crane, we can ease the stern up, we don't need the slipway, we don't need the haul-out."

"There are several small construction cranes in the area. I'm sure I can find one available. It will cost less than the slipway."

"Great, we can drink the change."

"I got a phone call from Henc last night telling me he and his wife are driving down today and will stay aboard. They want to be there for the survey and to do any needed work before title transfer. Also to start packing personal things to take off afterwards."

"We look forward to meeting them. Anything else? – Yes, I need to contact the surveyor to tell him the change of plans. He was coming to the barge at nine to begin the mechanical and then do sea trials on the way to the slipway. The timing on the crane can be anytime after that until about thirteen hundred, though preferably much earlier. We can sea trial up the canal."

"Sounds a good plan."

"Phone us if you can't find a crane."

"Don't worry, there are several to choose from. Probably closer than Dijon or Dole. See you at Vrouwe Catharina in the morning."

Catherine and I looked at each other with wide smiles. She took a slow step toward me, picked up my hand, and we continued to merge into a long hug. Quiet, comfortable, reassuring.

The gentle moment was shattered by the jangle of the phone.

"Oui! Allo?" Catherine said into the receiver just before she pushed the conférencier button.

"It is Lieutenant Grattien here. Your phone has been busy while I tred to reach you. Have you news?"

"No, nothing."

"I have some, but it is not good, Madame. Our office in Paris has not been able to find Pierre Ducroix or Francine and Philippe Grotkopf. They do not answer the door or the telephone, and they have not been to their offices since last Wednesday. You have not heard from any of them?"

"No, no returned calls, nothing at all."

"Then, we will continue with plans to enter their homes."

"This is becoming bizarre," Catherine said. "Have you talked with Laurent Grotkopf in Nuits?"

"Non, Madame, but we are watching closely. We brought in a special team from Lyon to watch them without being seen. It is better now to be quiet and invisible. Do you want security at the domaine? We can place a man outside and one of our women inside in street clothes, looking like workers."

"Is that necessary?" Catherine asked. "Maybe too much –"

"I think it's wise for now," I interrupted her. "This thing has grown strange."

"I will arrange to post two there from this afternoon."

"We'll be away from early tomorrow, gone most of the day. We'll be in Saint-Jean-de-Losne and Saint-Symphorien, and you have our contacts there."

"But you are there at the château this afternoon?"

"Yes."

"Good, I will bring my people over to introduce you to them. You can show them around and familiarise them with the place, show them some common things to do to look normal there."

Mid-afternoon, Grattien brought two gendarmes to the château. The man was in the faded blue overalls of the common French worker, and I set him to work picking up winter twigs fallen from the trees, raking the gravel in the courtyard and cleaning the lawns around the château. I chuckled to myself, thinking: The typical snail's pace progress of the French labourer will ensure several days of employment and should fit inconspicuously with the scene. That's if the gendarme can slow down that much.

Inside, Catherine showed the young female gendarme a variety of cleaning chores to play with if there were visitors or knocks at the door. "We need to donate to your brigade fund in Gevrey." She laughed. "We're getting our spring cleaning done by the State."