The Curse of Windsor Castle

Chapter Twenty

Two hours later, the girls landed in Orly Airport. Tamara gave the cab driver directions to a cozy looking motel in a secluded part of Paris. It sat at the corner of two small streets. After seeing the building, Tamara gestured for Rose and Amy to follow her.

    The man at the front desk spoke in rapid French. It was too fast for both Rose and Amy to understand, but Tamara responded just as quickly. The two conversed for quite sometime. Occasionally, Tamara would glance back at the younger girls.

Amy glanced uneasily at her friend. "Do you think they're talking about us?"

Rose shrugged. "Probably."

After a few minutes, the man handed Tamara the key.

    After settling into the room, the older girl jumped onto the bed. "It's so comfortable." She laid down and closed her eyes.

    "I like France," Amy said. "The food is strange, but I like it."

    "Amy, have you heard of escargot?" Rose asked.

"Of course I have. It's warm, buttery. Tastes delicious," Amy sighed.

"I don't like it." Rose made a face. "Too slimy."

When Tamara woke up from her nap, light was streaming inside from behind the white curtains in the room. "What time is it?" She asked while rubbing her eyes.

"9:45," Amy answered.

"Yeah, we were all so sleepy yesterday," Rose said while on the computer. "Hey, did you know the Eiffel Tower was built one hundred and thirty years ago?"

"Tell me something I don't know," her sister yawned. "When should we leave for Nantes?"

"I was thinking tomorrow. Amy agreed," Rose said quickly before Tamara could ask.

"Good. Where do you want to go first?"

"Sourire Le," Amy answered quickly. "Apparently, it's one of the best restaurants in Paris-"

"Somewhere that does not involve food," Rose quickly interrupted her friend before she could go on. "If I hear one more thing about food, I think I might vomit. Ugh." She sighed while thinking of the enormous meal she and Amy ate yesterday.

"And, we're too poor to go there," Tamara added.

"Then where do you want to go?" Amy crossed her arms.

"The Eiffel Tower obviously," Rose said.

"Well it's fine with me. How about you, Amy?" Tamara looked at the girl.

"Well, if they have food, I'll be fine."

"I think you might be better off without food, Amy," Tamara said. "The height might make you sick to your stomach."

"If you say so," Amy sighed.

According to every person they asked, the Eiffel tower was only ten minutes away from the inn. The girls decided to walk, which in Rose's opinion was not a good idea. "Why does everyone smoke?" She asked while waving the smell away from her nose.

"People smoke everywhere in London too, Rose," Tamara said. "You should be used to it."

"But-"

"Anyway," Amy stopped Rose from replying. "We're here."

The Eiffel Tower, to no one's surprise was swarming with crowds. The lines stretched for what seemed like miles and the people who came out looked extremely irritated.

"Do you still want to see it from the inside?" Tamara asked.

Rose swallowed. "Suddenly, I've changed my mind."

After seeing the Eiffel Tower and Sourire Le from the outside, as they would have been broke if they went in, the girls decided to go back to the inn. Tamara decided to take another nap, while Rose and Amy did what they always do: read and eat.

"Rose," Amy said.

"Yeah?" Rose didn't even look up from her book.

"How far away is Nantes from Paris?"

"I don't know, why don't you look it up." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Someone's in a bad mood."

"Shut up, Amy."

When Tamara woke up, she was in a terrible mood. Her head had started pounding and this time, she was sure it head nothing to do with her sixth sense. "Rose, get up, we have to leave,"

"Says who?" Rose, being in an equally bad mood, challenged her sister.

"I do. I'm in charge and I say we leave now!" Tamara spit out the last word. She could see the room spinning and it took all her self control not to faint.

"You have done nothing that says you're in charge, Tamara" Rose shot back. "All you do do is whine and complain. You are completely useless. I don't even know why you're here."

Rose's words suddenly muffled the ringing in Tamara's ears. All she could hear was the pounding of her heartbeat. After throwing a withering look toward Rose, Tamara tossed all her belongings in a bag and silently walked out.

"Rose," Amy said.

"I know, I know." Rose put her head in her hands. "I should go apologize. Oh, I feel so stupid.

"No, stupid. Why does Tara have stilettos with her?"

"Because stilettos are deadly."

After slinging the bag on her back, Tara walked along the streets of Paris, tears streaming down her face. The argument, more accurately, fight that she and Rose had brought back memories of secondary school. Memories she would have liked to forget.

Tamara had been excused to go to the loo. For some reason, the white hallways that she walked through everyday felt colder than usual. The usually welcoming school now felt empty, desolate. She was about to ease the door open,when she heard her two close friends talking. She made moved to push the door open, when Tamara heard one of her friends ask something. "Why are we still friends with Tara?"

    "Because, Isabel, being friends with Tara keeps our grades up. She's such a pushover." The other girl had laughed.

    "I can't wait till we graduate. Our friendship with that loser will finally be over."

    Tara never used the toilet. She numbly stood at the door. When she heard her "friends" preparing to leave, she sprinted away, quickly returning to the class she had come from.

    After that day, Tamara stopped calling her friends over. She discarded the nickname they had given her. Tara. She stopped being the popular girl and quickly became the lonely loser. Luckily, graduation came quickly and Tara picked the school that took her as far away from England as possible: Stanford.

    As Tara wiped the tears, she suddenly felt the pounding headache coming that had faded away return. "Oh no."

    Tara barely had time to react before a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her into a dark alley.

    "She hasn't come back yet." Rose anxiously paced the length of the room

    "Well, what do you expect?" Amy asked. "If Tara insulted you, would you have come back?"

    "No," Rose admitted. "I would have probably left on the first aeroplane to London. Tara probably left for the US."

    "Then, we'll have to finish without her," Amy said. "When should we leave for Nantes?"

    "Tomorrow would be good."

    As soon as Amy and Rose woke up the next day, they packed up their belongings and bought tickets for the next train to Nantes. The girls decided to sit next to an old sleeping woman who kept muttering in her sleep. When the conductor approached them for their tickets, his eyes darted around before landing on the girls. "Do you have guardian with you?"

Amy looked at the woman next to her. "Hush, she's sleeping."

The conductor punched their tickets and nodded. "Bon voyage."