Chapter Thirty-TwoHe had to go quickly. This was his chance.
After he came home from school, Maman had driven to a sick friend’s house with a jug of soup. She was so rarely away from the farm that Gilbert knew he had better go now even though if she ever found out he had ridden his bike into the village by himself, the punishment would be unforgettably severe. His plan was to ride into Castillac, tape a new note to the door of the station—this time telling where Valerie was—and be back home long before Maman. She would doubtless talk for a long time with the sick friend, and he should have plenty of time; he wasn’t even going to allow himself to go the épicerie for candy.
Straight there and back, that was all. And then—if the gendarmes did their jobs—Valerie would finally be saved. It wo
