Hector and the Secrets of Love by Francois Lelord Read Free Book Online Page A

walk off and, for some reason which only he knew, this made him laugh.
    ‘I don’t know how you say “pain in the neck” in Khmer, but that’s what he’s giving me,’ said Jean-Marcel.
    ‘Maybe it’s his way of saying see you later,’ said Hector, who was the kind of person who always liked to smooth things out.
    They walked along a little path among the trees leading to the temple. Despite the shade, it was beginning to get very hot.
    Hector noticed a small stake painted red next to the path.
    ‘That means it’s cleared of mines,’ said Jean-Marcel. ‘Everything’s okay.’
    Even so, Hector said to himself that the stake wasn’t pointing in any direction, and they couldn’t know if the ground had been cleared before the stake, after the stake or along the whole path.
    ‘I can see footprints,’ said Jean-Marcel, walking ahead, ‘so there’s no problem.’
    Hector told himself that, after all, Jean-Marcel already knew the country and he could be trusted.
    They walked into the middle of the ruined temple, taking care anyway to keep to the path.
    ‘Magnificent!’ said Jean-Marcel.
    And it was true. On the crumbling walls beautiful dancers sculpted in stone smiled mysteriously, no doubt because they knew that with those perfect curves they would never be short of lovers of art. Reading the guide to the region, Hector had understood why Professor Cormorant had wanted to come to this temple: it had been built by a prince who, after getting to know one of the dancers intimately, had dedicated it to love. For a moment, he envisaged Clara’s face on the bodies of all the stone dancers, and wondered whether if he built a temple like that just for her she would fall in love with him again. Well, she must still be in love with him a little, mustn’t she?
    ‘Over here is very beautiful,’ he heard Jean-Marcel’s voice say.
    Hector carried on along the path and found Jean-Marcel admiring a large doorway that had become a bit lopsided over time.
    The palace must have been magnificent when it was newly built, but now, in ruins, it had a still more poignant charm. A bit like a long-lost love, thought Hector.
    Jean-Marcel explained, ‘This temple was in use for a century then they fought and lost a few wars, and the jungle reclaimed it.’
    Hector noticed some more little red stakes amid the ruins.
    ‘Hmm,’ said Jean-Marcel, ‘it’s just for show – they can’t have gone to much trouble to clear mines in here; the mines were laid mainly around the temples.’
    Hector wondered whether the temple was going to teach him something or whether he had come here for nothing. Perhaps all he had done was discover the splendour of a lost civilisation, like his might be one day, and Martians might visit the ruins of his city and mistake the remains of traffic lights for icons.
    He was having difficulty keeping up with Jean-Marcel, who had begun climbing a big flight of steps the sides of which were collapsing, when, suddenly, they heard female voices.
    They saw two young Japanese women walking in one of the upper galleries.
    ‘They shouldn’t be up there,’ said Jean-Marcel.
    ‘Because of the mines?’
    ‘No, because this whole thing is liable to collapse. Even though those Japanese girls don’t look too heavy.’
    They gestured to them to come down. The young Japanese women jumped when they saw Hector and Jean-Marcel, then made their way back in their direction, taking very small steps in their Nike trainers, which looked bigger than they were, and their little white sunhats.
    The two men introduced themselves to Miko, who spoke very good English, and Chizourou, who spoke none at all.
    As Hector was a little hot and was beginning to feel quite tired, he stayed in the shade talking to the two young Japanese women, while Jean-Marcel climbed everything it was possible to climb in the temple.
    The two women were great friends. As previously mentioned, people found it quite easy to talk to Hector, and Miko explained