Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
The roof of the church finally collapsed. The father saidnothing. He lost interest in the church long ago, when itclosed. It has been closed for as long as I can remember.The father does not have enough money to have the roofrepaired anyway. Since the church is closed, what differencedoes it make? The church is empty. All the propertyof the church was sold at auction in the valley below. It wasa good sale. The father made a little money from it. He hasenough to live on, but he does not have enough to keep upthe church. It is very old, it just barely holds together.Forever Valley is no longer a parish or a village, it is only ahamlet. The barns are empty and falling into ruins, likethe church. It begins with the roof, and after that thewhole thing falls apart. The valley below drew in the inhabitantsof Forever Valley little by little. Now all of ForeverValley depends on the valley below. The parish, themunicipal offices, the school, and the cemetery are downthere.
I was raised by the father. The father is much too old tomove to another parish. He was happy to be able to keepthe rectory. He moved the harmonium into the rectory.That is all he has left from the church. The harmoniumdid not sell because it is an old model and it sounds bad.The father is very attached to the harmonium. It gives therectory a furnished look. The father tried to teach me toplay. I can play a few songs. The father must have raisedme so I can look after him in his old age. He doesn't wantto end up in the rest home. The home is his obsession.Now that his legs are becoming paralyzed, he would haveto leave the rectory and go to the home if I were not here.Hehas more and more difficulty walking. He leans againstthe walls. He can't even walk in his garden anymore. Massibought him a wheelchair at an auction in the valley below.The father can no longer do without his wheelchair. He isvery disappointed that he never managed to teach me toread. He must think I lack the necessary abilities. Notbeing able to read doesn't bother me, though. The fatheralways reads the same book. What good would it do me toknow how to read? I know perfectly well how to look afterthe father and the rectory. I do not want to leave ForeverValley. There is much too much traffic in the valley belowbecause of the customs office. The border is just at the farend of the valley below. There is nothing at the end ofForever Valley, only the mountains. The end of ForeverValley is behind the hamlet. The hamlet is almost at thefoot of the mountains. On one of the slopes, there is a verysteep path that climbs up to the pass. They say that thepass is also the border. I have never been there. It doesn'ttempt me. I would rather stay in the rectory. To climb upfrom the valley below to Forever Valley there is a gravelroad. A gravel road with no outlet does not attract muchtraffic. Traffic is something that belongs in the valley below.I don't like traffic.
The father said it was Massi's turn to see to my educationnow that I have turned sixteen. Massi has always livedacross from the rectory. She is like the father, she does notwant to leave Forever Valley. And yet the father thoughtshe would leave when her husband died. Her husband wassomeone. When he was young, he was at the same timethe mayor and the schoolteacher of Forever Valley, backwhen there was a town hall and a school. And then therewas no more school because there were no more children.But the town hall stayed open until the mayor died.Mayor was mostly an honorary title. There was not muchto preside over, since the barns were empty. Massi waswidowed young. On the facade of her house, it still saystown hall and school. The school was the ground floor,and the second floor was the town hall. Massi has thewords town hall and school repainted every so often. Itlooks strange now that it no longer means anything. Massiis proud to live in that house. It is a large house, out ofproportion with the rest of the hamlet. The rectory lookstiny next to it. The father is pleased that Massi has thesigns repainted. He says it reminds people that there usedto be a town hall and a school in Forever Valley. He triedto teach me to read the words town hall and school, but Iget them mixed up. I get all the words mixed up. Massi'shusband is buried in the cemetery of the valley below, inthe section reserved for the dead of Forever Valley. I usedto go to the cemetery with Massi during the first year afterher husband died. She wanted the grave of the mayor ofForever Valley always to be covered with flowers. She wasproud back then to have been the wife of the mayor. Shehad people call her Mrs. Mayoress. Now, no one calls herby her old title anymore. Massi did not have enough tolive on when her husband died. She had never worked.The father thought she would leave. What could a womanher age do in Forever Valley? Massi had an enterprisingmind. She did not want to abandon her house, the formertown hall and former school. That was when she had theidea of opening the dancehall. Her house was too large forjust her. None of the dancehalls in the valley below hadany kind of reputation. Massi had everything in her houseredone. Now the ground floor, where the classrooms were,is the main room of the dancehall. Massi had the wallstorn down so the room would be very large. She also putin a little room to hang coats in, and an entryway wherethe customers pay. She put up a big sign in front of herhouse. She wrote DANCING on it in big capital letters.That is the only word I can read. Dancing is an easy wordto read. Massi had made a name for herself in the valleybelow, back when she was the wife of the mayor of ForeverValley. Her reputation has grown since the dancehallopened. Massi has no reason to regret being widowedyoung. Her house was successful. On Saturday nights, thedancehall of Forever Valley attracts the herdsmen from thevalley below and the customs officers from the customsoffice. Massi sells the tickets and runs the cash registerherself. In one night she makes enough to live on for aweek. She likes running the dancehall. She never seems toget older, and yet she has been widowed for a long time.The dancehall is directly across from the rectory, but thefather never goes there, it is not suitable for someone in hisposition. But on Saturday nights he opens the rectorywindows wide to listen to the music coming from thedancehall. That is the only night the harmonium is closedup. Massi bought herself the best gramophone available,and she has a stack of records. The dancehall is full of lifeand high spirits on Saturday nights. I always listen to themusic from the gramophone with the father on Saturdaynights. It is a kind of music that has nothing to do with themusic of the harmonium.
I went to see Massi as the father asked, so she can see to myeducation. I still have not told the father about my personalproject. If I did, he would think I am not old enoughyet to see it through, and he would be opposed. Massi is allhe ever talks about to me. Massi never goes to the cemeteryanymore now that she has opened the dancehall. Ihave never been to Massi's on a Saturday night. I was notold enough before, and I don't know how to dance. Massiis very strict about rules. The dancehall is prohibited toanyone under sixteen. Maybe the father wants Massi tosee to my education because I just turned sixteen and I cango to the dancehall on Saturday nights. Massi approved ofthe father's decision. She is happy that the father is sendingme to her because she needs someone to help out onSaturday nights. There are always the girls from the dairyin the valley below who work at the dancehall, but Massisays she can't count on them for everything. She told meshe would introduce me to the customs officers. They areher preferred customers. She says I have a right to the bestcustomers because the father gave me the best education.This is the first time Massi has shown me the second floor.There are a lot of bedrooms. It's much larger than therectory. Massi let me into her room. There is a sign on thedoor. I asked what it said. It said: private. It does not seemto bother Massi that I don't know how to read. There is alarge armoire in her room. Massi saw right away that I waslooking at her armoire, and she opened it wide. The armoireis full of dresses. Massi picked one out and told meto try it on. It is an organdy dress, with flounces. I havenever worn that kind of dress. In the rectory, I always wearan apron so that I don't get dirty. I don't know what to dowith all these flounces. Massi said flounces look prettywhen you dance. I don't dare move in my flounces. Theneckline is not right for me, it hangs loose. Massi noticedthat right away. I have never worn a low-cut dress. Massisays I have almost no bust, even though I should alreadybe developed at my age. She put on her Saturday-nightdress. It's not an organdy dress with flounces like mine.Massi says flounces do not suit women her age. It's a verystraight dress, made of sateen, and slit on the sides. Organdydoes not have the same effect as sateen, it's lighterand almost transparent. I like organdy. I am not used toflounces. Massi says it looks good on me, a dress withflounces makes me look more developed than I am. Duringthe week, when the dancehall is closed, Massi makesdresses. She only has two styles. The straight slit sateendresses are for the girls from the dairy who work at thedancehall. The organdy dresses with flounces are madeespecially for me, Massi says. There are two of them.Massi says you should always have a spare dress. The fathernever told me Massi made dresses. The rectory andthe dancehall face each other, but they turn their backs toeach other. All the windows of the rectory look out overthe garden and the church. I don't know how old Massi is.She gave me shoes to go with my dress, patent leatherhigh-heeled shoes. This is the first time I have worn highheels. They make me taller. A dress with flounces has to beworn with high heels. That's what Massi told me. She isright, high heels bring out the full effect of the flounces.She told me I could pay her later, I can have them oncredit for now. So I am going to earn money. Massi said Iwould not regret coming to work at the dancehall. Sheseems to have a taste for business. She has a beautifulroom. She must put everything she earns into furnishingand decorating the dancehall. It doesn't show from theoutside. Even if you see the big sign that says dancing, youcan't get an idea of the inside from the outside. It would bequite a surprise for the father. He has never been here.Massi showed me my room. She could see I was surprised,I didn't know I was going to have my own room at thedancehall. She told me I would only use it on Saturdaynights. My room at the rectory looks very rudimentarycompared to my room at the dancehall. The father mustthink I am old enough to earn a living for myself. There isnothing but the dancehall in Forever Valley. In the valleybelow, there is the dairy, but I couldn't work at the dairyand look after the father at the same time. And also, thedairy is right next to the road, and I don't like traffic. Massiturned on the gramophone. She says she likes to dance,and she will teach me how. She told me again that shewould introduce me to the customs officers when I wasready. She has a high opinion of the customs officers. Shetold me the customs officers don't like the girls from thedairy. The girls from the dairy dance with the herdsmen.Massi says she is getting too old to take care of all thecustoms officers. That's why she is happy the father sentme to work at the dancehall. She says the father raised mewell, and I am just right for the customs officers. I haveto come back and see her every day next week. She wantsto complete my education. I didn't really know Massibefore. She has more personality than I thought. She saysthe future of Forever Valley is in the dancehall, and it isonly thanks to the dancehall that Forever Valley still haslife in it.
The father agreed with everything Massi said. He told meto do just what she says, she knows what is right for me.He wanted me to massage his legs. He seems to be in pain.He looks old compared to Massi. He wanted me to playthe harmonium for him. And then he wanted me to takehim for a walk around the garden. He is proud of hisgarden. Forever Valley is nothing but rock, except in therectory garden. The barns are empty now because therewas nothing for the herds to live on. The father says thereis an underground spring just under the rectory garden,and that is why the grass grows so tall and why there are allsorts of plants there that you never find anywhere else.Until just recently, the father used to spend all day workingin the garden. The garden and the church in the middleof it is the most pleasant thing about the rectory. I callit a church to make the father happy, but really it is moreof a chapel. It's much too little to be a church. Massi'shouse is impressive, but it has no garden. That must bewhy Massi does so much to decorate the inside. The rectorygarden is surrounded by high walls. You are isolatedfrom everything here. It's not easy to push the father'swheelchair in the garden. Massi could have checked thecondition of the wheels before she bought it. The father isjolted this way and that in his wheelchair. He has twingesin his legs. He doesn't complain. He says if he has twinges,that is a sign that his legs are not really paralyzed yet. Hewants me to take him for a walk despite the jolts.
I wondered for a long time whether or not I should tell thefather about my personal project. If I did not tell himabout it, I would never be able to see it through. I need hisconsent. And if I am old enough to spend Saturday nightsat the dancehall, I am also old enough to see my personalproject through. In the end I decided to tell the fatherabout it. I told him I wanted to look for the dead. I havebeen thinking about it for a long time, ever since I wentwith Massi to the cemetery in the valley below to see thegrave of the mayor of Forever Valley. I think there must begraves in Forever Valley as well. Why wouldn't there be,since there are graves in the valley below? There was aparish, a town hall, and a school in Forever Valley, whywouldn't there also have been a cemetery? I think the placeto look for the dead would be the rectory garden. That iswhere they must be. In the valley below, the cemetery isjust behind the church. If I want to see my project throughI must have the father's consent. The garden is his domain.Overall, the father's reaction was favorable. All heasked was that I not mention it to Massi. He says shewould never hire me at the dancehall if she knew I wantedto look for the dead. And the father wants me to work atthe dancehall. He seemed to think long and hard aboutmy project. He thinks he remembers that the archives ofthe valley below never mention a cemetery in Forever Valley.But the archives might not be old enough. The churchis very old. There might very well have been a cemeteryaround the church in the old days. The father told meagain not to say anything about this to Massi. She wouldnot approve of my project. Why would I tell her? Thedead have nothing to do with the dancehall. The father
(Continues...)
Excerpted from FOREVER VALLEY by Marie Redonnet. Copyright © 1986 by Les Éditions de Minuit.
Translation copyright © 1994 University of Nebraska Press.Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
