They barely ate half of what Franck had prepared. After lunch, Lise rolled out a mat in the shade to take a siesta. Franck stretched out on the grass. It was getting hotter, even underneath the tree, and the air was like a furnace. But there was a slight breeze from time to time, they had got used to the song of the cicadas, which was now just background noise, and the rustling leaves made a swooshing sound. It was a perfect moment. Franck took off his T-shirt and rolled it up under his head like a pillow. Once again, Lise dozed off straight away, and there was something angelic about her beautiful face as she slept. It wasn’t the same for Franck. He was bothered by the prickly grass, and by the flies and wasps that only seemed to go for him. The dog was lying down too, less than a metre from Franck, its stomach flat on the ground, in search of whatever coolness it could find. Franck wondered whether it was doing everything he did, if it was imitating him, or if he was imitating the dog. It had drunk from the salad bowl of cold water several times while they were eating, but its tongue was still hanging out and it had been panting for a while, even though it hadn’t run anywhere, and the sound of its breathing worried him. Franck looked at the unlikely visitor. As soon as a wasp or fly came near them, the dog tried to gulp it down in one, chasing it in fact. Was it making sure Franck wasn’t bothered by the insects out of kindness or was it just an automatic reaction? Whatever it was, the dog kept watching him, doing an even better job than if he had ordered it to stay beside him. What he had learnt from the handlers on various films was that dogs can’t stand being alone; they need company. Franck noticed that the dog was attaching itself to him in some way, although he didn’t know how to get anything from the dog, nor how to give it an order, or any kind of instruction. He wondered if he could somehow be blamed for keeping the dog, or for having stolen it? Surely not. Anyway, nobody would ever come all the way up here.

Franck finally managed to close his eyes. There was a slight breeze at ground level, and as he was wearing nothing but shorts it bringing welcome relief. At one point, the dog put its head on his calf. He couldn’t believe it. It must have been a gesture of friendship from the animal. Franck opened his eyes again and lifted his head a little, as carefully as possible, catching the dog still staring at him. Perhaps it just wanted to get along with him, but the intensity of its gaze was rather disturbing.