sorry guys, here it is the next chapter…working on 38 and will have it up later tonight or tomorrow…
thanks for your comments
Chapter 37
Jean held out his sword once more and Danielle went after it, this time knocking it out of his grasp.
Henry smiled and folded his arms against his chest, still holding onto the journal.
Danielle reached down and grabbed for the sword. Jean Claude was still gaping. “Did you know about her?� he asked Monique stupidly.
Monique nodded. “Of course I have, Jean. I tried to warn you. I’m Danielle’s first cousin. I have seen her practicing with my uncle Auguste. She’s great with a sword. �
“Always was,� Henry agreed, walking over to retrieve his own sword. “I can never remember a time when she hasn’t beaten me.�
Danielle handed him his sword and he put it back in the scabbard. “Let’s see the other one,� Henry said as he gave Danielle the journal. She gave him the sword.
Jean stood there staring. “She’s really good.�
Monique pushed him towards the manor. “Come on, let’s go.�
Jean started to leave, then turned around. “What about my sword�
“You’ll get it back in due course,� Monique said, “if it truly is yours.� She frowned. “Didn’t you ever take fencing lessons?�
“If I did, I don’t remember a thing.� Jean said. He looked back to Henry and Danielle.
Monique pulled at his arm. “Come on, let’s leave them alone.�
Jean looked at his stepsister and pulled his arm back. “Stop pulling and pushing me in all these different directions, Monique. Right now, I’d like to stay and learn a few things. And what about my sword? They are going to return it to me, aren’t they? I am the one that found it.�
“That will happen in due course, my brother, if it truly belongs to you, which I tend to doubt.�
She looked at Jean and tried to get his attention, but that was focused elsewhere. Of course, he was staring at Henry and Danielle again.
“I still can’t get over what she did, Monique.� He turned his gaze away from them and back to her. “I’ll bet you couldn’t do that?�
Monique got a little angry. Want to see what I can do with a sword? Danielle and I took a almost a year of fencing. Danielle, of course, had a little more training, but I can do it if I need to.�
Jean-Claude was taken aback. �No, please� he said, “I trust you.�