"# They'll have the memory, # of a tear or a smile." "# And in their luggage, # perhaps a picture, # but they leave without remorse." "# I think that the sailors go away, # to listen to the song, # of the mermaid with long hair, # and I think that she sang for them." "Sébastien's fallen in love with Sophie Virginie, Siza, in private." "She's both the daughter and secretary of Walther, who's Captain Maréchal's partner at the shipyard." "Siza came to Morsan to announce that a large cod fishing trawler, the Narval, is caught by bad weather off the coast of Greenland." "She wanted to get Louis Maréchal to force the captain of this ship... to shelter in St. John's, Newfoundland, but Maréchal refused." "A few hours later, Sébastien goes to town with Jonathan," "And it's at the café that they learn of the captain of the Narval's accident." "It must be serious, because it's the mate, who took command, Gwen Théphanie." "Gwen Théphanie, the son of the sailor who died falling from the cliff top, almost 25 years ago." "Sébastien on seeing Jonathan's expression... guesses that the name of Théphanie hides a deeper mystery." "Good day, Captain." "Hello, Carl." "Sorry for disturbing you like this, but... with my damn leg..." "I can't drive." "You're still in a lot of pain?" "Oh, more than I would like." "Can I go with you?" "You've just been to town with Jonathan, isn't that enough for you." "And what would you do in the office?" "Carl, this is my nephew." "Hi." "Hello, Sir." "I was always active at your age." "Go and take a ride with Lancelot." "Well, Lancelot's tired of riding." "With Roxane, then." "Well, I don't know where she is." "Oh, you're annoying me, go on." "Let's go, Carl." "Oh..." "You don't look happy." "He wouldn't take me." "He has other concerns than to show you the shipyard office." "Siza would have done." "Siza would have done." ""Miss" Siza, ill-mannered." "I'll say Siza if I want to!" "What?" "Where are you going?" "I've things to do, but I don't want you, you ask too many questions." "Well, I'm going to my room." "That's right." "It's no fun in this house, no fun at all!" "Well, it's no fun at all..." "They're no fun." "Neither are you, you're no fun." "Hey, give me my shoe!" "Oh no, give me my shoe!" "She's pinched my shoe!" "Well, let me go look for her." "This is the cellar." "All the more reason, we're not going to leave her in there." "Let me through." "I can't see anything, give me your lantern." "Don't stay too long and close the door on leaving." "Don't worry." "Clarisse?" "Yes?" "The baker's asking for you." "It's about the bill." "I'm coming." "Roxane?" "Roxane, where are you hiding?" "Don't be silly, you're not going to play ghosts now." "Roxane!" "Stop playing games, you!" "Roxane!" "Do you think they locked people up down here?" "It smells musty here." "Oh, it's written in English." "18th January 1944?" "Strange, it seems like it's cleaned every day in here." "There's everything you need, even flowers." "Even cards." "Hey Roxane, it leads into the hall." "Did you know that?" "There's some stuff to Morsan, hey..." "Shall we get out of here?" "Don't you want to?" "Anyway, me, I'm going." "Clarisse?" "Yes?" "I got my shoe back." "No, not on the linen, naughty boy." "You're afraid that I'll ask you questions, eh?" "What questions?" "None." "Everything is so simple here." "Careful, you'll burn yourself!" "Where's Jonathan?" "I think he's in front of the stable, chopping wood." "Unless he's already gone fishing." "Goodbye, Clarisse!" "See you later!" "How's it going?" "Not bad." "What's on your mind?" "Some questions." "Again?" "You know, I haven't much time, I must go and pick up my traps." "You say I ask too many questions, but there are times when I can't do otherwise." "Okay, come on." "What do you want to know?" "I went into the cellar." "What's the hidden room in the wine racks?" "Who was locked inside?" "You, I'll put you there if you continue to snoop around." "I'm not 4 years old, you know." "If there are secrets here, I may as well understand them as anyone." "Ask your uncle." "I daren't." "But with me, you dare?" "You see, I don't know how to explain it to you." "Try anyway." "You're too young." "What does it mean to you, the war and the resistance and all that?" "My great uncle was in the resistance?" "Yes." "In 1940 he went to England." "He organized a network to smuggle people over there." "How did he do it?" "With fishing boats." "The Mary-Morgane in particular." "People boarded at night, at Morsan Bay, after spending a day or two here, and sometimes more." "It was Mme Maréchal and Gilles who hid them." "In the little room in the cellar there?" "Yes." "And the door, was it you who made it?" "Of course not, I was younger than you at that time." "Who was it, then?" "Joseph Théphanie, between trips." "Where was my uncle when his wife and son were arrested?" "In England, I told you." "So there was no one to defend them?" "Yes, there was someone, an Alsatian." "A very young boy, who was also a sailor." "What happened to him?" "He became a friend of your uncle." "His partner in the shipyard, his name's Carl Walther." "Is he Siza's father?" "Yes." "You knew perfectly well that it would be disagreeable to me, Walther." "Gwen Théphanie is not responsible for what his father did." "No, don't take me for a fool, Carl," "I don't hold this boy responsible for the betrayal of his father, but I prefer that he makes his living on a ship other than mine." "Mme Lemoigne is here with others." "I don't know what to tell them." "I'll see them shortly." "Reassure them, handle it yourself." "If I took the liberty of taking on Gwen as mate of the Narval, it's because he has the necessary qualities, rare qualities." "Yes but you were very careful not to ask me for my opinion." "And that's what I was criticising." "Captain Lemoigne appointed him as replacement." "Lemoigne has made enough mistakes for a few days so I'll impose my will on him." "That's not what you said to Siza this morning." "That's enough, Walther." "There are some traditions, you know them better than anyone." "You can't go over the head of the mate." "And even if you did, to whom would you entrust the ship?" "Dutertre, he's older and has more experience." "He has no sense of leadership." "The important thing is to save the Narval, its crew and cargo." "Yes or no, are you planning to transmit my orders aboard this ship?" "I can't remove his command from Gwen Théphanie." "All right, I'll make it my business." "We need a doctor for Lemoigne." "The Surcouf sailed with everything that's needed on board." "Okay, bring in Mme Lemoigne." "Carl?" "Warn Siza." "She talks too much." "I know the rumours circulating about the shipyard and on the state of my ships." "I don't like it" "Notify Clarisse also that I'll be late back, and call Dr. Savel." "Have him come to dinner tonight at Morsan." "Don't get all hung up, old chap, I don't blame the girl." "At that age, we talk without trying to understand." "Initially, we're against, always opposing." "My nephew will also be against me, when he knows everything." "It jerked under, Jonathan!" "It's your line, landlubber!" "Haven't you ever fished before?" "Yes, when I was little." "Then at Jonquières, too, there's the sea, only it's all blue." "It's much more beautiful here." "What do you know?" "I'm telling you." "You're wrong." "What did you say?" "Nothing." "Sébastien!" "It's the right time, at this hour, the fish are hungry." "Show me how you work the engine!" "And the fishing?" "Never mind, we'll eat chops." "I'll make you eat your tongue to quieten you." "The engine's stopped, figure it out yourself." "It starts first go with me." "Naturally, you're Hercules in person." "You need to give it some gas first, wimp." "Okay, depress the clutch now." "No!" "That's the clutch." "Pull it towards you." "There we go, all I need do is sleep now." "No, I don't know everything yet!" "Good thing you said that." "Take the helm, take us back to shore." "Maybe we'll arrive at the moon." "I'll leave you there!" "No..." "To shore, I said." "Can we go see it up close?" "You've got time to spare, you." "Thanks Jonathan." "Can we go aboard?" "That's it, I figured as much." "Don't you want to?" "If it's the only way to keep you quiet." "Come on!" "You're a lot more fun on horseback than aboard a boat." "There." "You wanted to see it, you saw it." "Come on, now." "During the war, this boat, it belonged to Joseph Théphanie?" "Yes, I told you." "And then?" "What do you mean, "and then"?" "When I know everything, I'll stop asking." "You think so?" "Of course." "One morning in January, in 44, when the Mary-Morgane returned to port after one of her trips to sea, there were people on the dock waiting for her." "It was the militia." "They took Joseph Théphanie for questioning." "It's the evening of that day, they came to Morsan." "They went straight to the cellar." "They released Joseph." "Your uncle always thought that he had talked." "And you?" "I really don't know, it's not for me to judge." "After the war, others took care of that." "And then?" "Then nothing." "He knew things about it, Joseph." "He always swore he'd said nothing." "It's never been possible to prove otherwise." "When he was drunk, he said odd things however." "What things?" "He said that one day, he would finish it." "That he would kill himself." "He wasn't interested in anything, anymore, he left his wife and son in the lurch." "It lasted a little more than a year." "and then, one night, he came out of the Café, completely drunk." "It's believed he went to Morsan, to see your uncle." "It's not known what they said." "It's coming back, he had to pass by the cliff." "In the morning, he was found at the bottom, dead." "Were there others besides him who knew about the little room in the cellar?" "All those who were hiding there, and all those who lived in the house." "Clarisse and you?" "And my parents." "Weren't you suspected of betraying them?" "Yes." "But it wasn't they who betrayed him." "We were able to prove it." "How old were Clarisse and you?" "Me, 13 years old." "Clarisse, 15." "If you had seen them, Gilles and her, at that time, so beautiful, the one as the other." "He went to sea as a man." "With this boat?" "Yes, he had wanted to." "She waited for him, and when he returned, they spent time together in the attic at Morsan." "In the time of king Gradlon, the city of Ys was the most beautiful in Cornouaille." "Beautiful but fragile." "Only a dike defended it against the waves." "The King preciously guarded the golden key which opened the floodgates." "One night, his daughter seized it and ran to open the floodgates." "The waves rushed in and the beautiful city was engulfed." "The king's daughter was turned into a mermaid, she was called, Mary-Morgane... the fairy of the sea, who leads to the depths of the abyss, the sailors, that her beauty attracts." "Gilles read, and Clarisse listened." "Clarisse!" "Come with me" "But I can't, can't you see." "You've plenty of time before dinner, you told me yourself that the Captain would be late back." "No!" "I want you to come, come on." "# I think that the sailors go away, # to listen to the song, # of the mermaid with long hair, # and I think that she sang for them." "# However, if I were a sailor, # maybe one fine morning, # on lifting the trawl net, # like you don't see anymore," "# I would catch the mermaid, # the mermaid with long hair."