He stayed outside looking at the dark contours of the hills for a while and then walked back towards the house and went upstairs. He realised the big knife was no longer in his hand. He must have left it in the grass. He didn’t know any more; he didn’t understand anything but lacked the energy to go downstairs again. Now he wanted to sleep. He was exhausted. It wasn’t as hot in the room any more. He lay down on the big bed and did what Lise had done, pulling the sheet over his head and burrowing underneath it. Every now and then he thought he could hear barking, but very far away. Perhaps the dog would chase the animals all night. Franck listened carefully and then let himself fall back onto the pillow, picturing forests opening up in the darkness in front of him. At last, he could feel the effect of the hundred and twenty hectares of land and the thousands more all around, sensing that he was at the very heart of their endless silence. The windows were still open, but there was no longer any noise from outside. He dozed off in the new-found peace. It was a revelation to feel the bedroom becoming one with the wide-open space, the two merging in the ether. It was just as unsettling and soothing as falling asleep under the stars.

Part II

PART II

September 1914

September 1914

Gendarmes never came to Orcières so when they turned up that Saturday, everyone assumed they had come about the German. But no, they had come to look for two young men from nearby farms who had not joined their regiments. Both were apparently eligible soldiers who should have presented themselves at Cénevières station but hadn’t shown up. For good reason in the case of Joseph Chartier – he had died two years ago. All that remained of him was his old parents and a military record in a drawer. As for the other one, the Cabréracs’ son, from La Touche farm, he had disappeared the day of the church bells. He was in trouble because during his military service the year before in Aurillac, he had been arrested along with all those who refused to do the famous ‘extra year’ introduced by the Briand law. They believed, like Jaurès, that the State had no right to steal three years of a man’s life. Now, having escaped the call-up, in the eyes of the authorities, he was the thief. He was stealing his liberty, and that made him a criminal.