Disclaimer: Primeval does not belong to me, this is fan fiction, not for profit.
Any references to people, places, businesses etc is entirely fictitious.
A/N: A collaboration with Mijo54.
8.7- Dragons and Fairies
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The drive to Draguignan took longer than expected.
The group started the trip with Marc driving his parent's minivan, Sophie in the middle front seat, and Becker in the front passenger seat. Jess sat with her nephews in the back.
The first time Marc pulled the car over to a rest area, was after one of the high spirited boys had thrown a small ball at the front window. It ricocheted around the seating compartment, striking Becker on the forehead. Jessica moved to sit in between the boys. Once everyone was buckled back in their seats, Marc started the minivan again.
They drove twelve kilometers before the squabbling in the back seat grew out of control. A childish feud had resulted in little hands poking at each other and a chorus of "He touched me." Jess had tried to quiet the boys. Becker sat with his jaw clenched shut, staring straight forward, determined not to say anything. But, when one overactive hand poked Jess in the stomach, bringing a sharp cry of pain from her, he turned to stare at the boys in the back seat.
"Marc," said Becker "pull over."
"At the rest area," promised Marc.
"Hil," said Jess "I'm fine… Charles and Peter aren't going to…"
Whatever the boys weren't going to do was never explained as Becker reached over the seat and grabbed a toy slingshot from Charles.
"Is this what made that ball go bouncing around the car earlier?" demanded Becker sternly. The boy nodded sheepishly.
"I'll just hang on to it then," said Becker "I'm the weapons expert."
At the rest area, they rearranged the seating. Jess sat up front with Marc and Sophie, Becker sat in the middle of the two boys in the back seat.
It was ten minutes later that Peter began to squirm in his seat. "I gotta go," said the boy anxiously.
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The twisting turning roads, finally led them to the city of Draguignan. An interesting mix of old and new buildings distracted the boys.
"Ooh," exclaimed Charles "part of a castle!"
"Non Charles," explained Sophie "that is the clock tower, not a castle."
"Cool," breathed Charles staring wide eyed at the imposing structure.
"Can we climb it?" asked Peter.
"What?" asked Becker in surprise, wondering what brought that idea. "No! You can't go climbing a building."
Jess was laughing in the front seat. "Oh Peter," she said "it does look like the castle playscape at the park back in Manchester, but this is a real building and much too tall for you to climb.
Marc pulled the minivan in a shady spot in the municipal parking lot. "We're here," he said. "Welcome to the city of the dragon."
That statement got everyone in the back seats attention.
"What?" exclaimed three voices in unison.
Sophie chuckled as she undid her seatbelt. Pointing to the red municipal sign emblazoned with a white dragon, she said "Centuries ago, a dragon came to this city. A holy man, Saint Hermentaire fought the dragon, killing it and saving the people."
Jess opened the car door and stepped out onto the pavement. Her cousin followed her, while Marc got out the drivers door.
"Well aren't you coming?" asked Jess staring at Charles, Becker and Peter as they remained in the back seat.
"Jess," said Becker, tapping his hand on the door "the child proof locks are on."
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The boys wanted to see the weapon Saint Hermentaire used to kill the dragon, and so did Becker. But if the Musée de l'Artillerie had a section on dragon slaying weapons, they never saw it.
A short stroll from the parking lot brought Sophie, Marc, Jess, Becker and the boys to the museum. The air conditioning was a welcome relief from the hot air outside, but the museum was designed for military buffs, not little boys. Looking at guns in glass cases wasn't quite the same as holding them in your hands thought Becker. And looking at uniforms in glass cases was even less interesting.
Cannons were cool though. And Becker could definitely understand Peter's desire to climb on top and straddle one. Unfortunately the museum security guard didn't think that was a good idea. They were asked to leave.
Back outside, Sophie made a suggestion. "It's Wednesday," she said "market day in Draguignan. If we hurry, we can get there before it closes.
Becker arched his eyebrow. "Do you really think taking the boys shopping is a good idea?"
"Hil," said Jess "it's an open air market… arts and crafts, vendors of all sorts…"
"It is always interesting," added Marc "we can get some food and go to the park… have a picnic and let the boys run around some."
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It was a short walk to the town square. The market was full of people. Local farmers had displays of fresh produce, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and melons. Bakers offered trays of baguettes and croissants. Other vendors had everything imaginable for sale, books and curtains, roast chickens and olive oil.
There was even one artisan with an awning shading a display of fabric creations. The man was sewing and keeping up a nonstop conversation with his customers too. His market stall had house wares and ladies accessories for the most part, but he also had stuffed animals. Peter stared, entranced by the purple dragon, while Charles reached one hand out to touch a black dragon. For the first time today, they were quiet.
Becker looked at Jess. She was watching the boys closely, smiling.
"Would you rather have a dragon," asked Becker "instead of an ice cream?"
Becker picked up a red dragon for Paul. "It looks sort of like a dracorex," he told Jess "only with wings."
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The park was not as hot as the sidewalks and city center had been. Sophie, Marc, Jess and Becker were sitting on the picnic blanket eating slices of fresh melon, and sandwiches made of chunks of bread, cheese and a local sausage from the market. They had tried to get the boys to eat something, but Charles and Peter were too interested in climbing on the monkey bars, making pretend their dragons were soaring and climbing to eat anything.
Marc was telling Becker about the Dolmen Pierre de la fée.
"What?"
"When we get ready to leave," said Marc "we will drive past the fairy rock… but I won't stop, I don't want to let the boys out there… they might want to climb it."
Becker turned to Jess. "This city has dragons and fairies?" he asked.
"This city has legends and history," she answered "the Romans had a road that went right through this area, travelers from all over came, each with their stories."
Hmmph. Becker grinned thoughtfully. "When I first started working at the ARC," he told Jess "Professor Cutter and Sarah were working on an anomaly map… Sarah was trying to pinpoint all the old legends… thought they were signs of anomaly activity. I wonder if they ever got to check out Draguignan?"
Jess's eyes widened. "We are not going to have an anomaly here," she stated emphatically "we've got to attend a wedding!"
Becker reached his hand out to touch the side of her face. "I don't think dragons or fairies either one would dare interfere with a wedding you helped coordinate."
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They finally got the boys to eat something and then they all climbed back in the minivan. It was a good thing the child proof locks were on when Marc pulled up to the parking area by the dolmen. The huge rocks, stacked precariously one upon the other, seemed to be impossibly balanced. And yes, both Charles and Peter wanted to get out and climb on the rocks. But they didn't argue when Marc said it was time to leave. Both boys dozed on the way home.
When they arrived back at Grand-Mère's there were more cars in the driveway. Everyone got out and went inside the house. Charles and Peter ran off to show Marjorie their dragons.
Jess and Becker wandered out back to the garden. There they found Claude, Aimèe and Little Paul. The younger boy looked up with delight at the red dragon Becker offered him.
"Aunt Jess! Hilary!" squealed a high pitched voice. Becker turned to look in the direction of the sound. Racing towards them was a little girl, brown braids flying in the air behind her. Becker grinned. If Phoebe was here, so was the rest of her family.
The little girl was hugging Jess excitedly and then demanding a hug from Becker too.
"Where's your Mum Phoebe?" asked Becker.
"She has to get Ruthie out of the car seat," explained the five year old. "But I was able to get down all by myself."
Becker chuckled at the sound of pride in the girl's voice. Jess's second oldest sister Alexandra could now be seen walking slowly towards them, holding the hand of a toddler.
"Hi 'Xandra," greeted Becker "I thought you weren't getting here until Friday."
"We made it early Hil," the woman replied with a conspiratorial grin "couldn't let you have all the fun without us."
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