Excerpt: Weasel Under The Sun

I’m still working on the newest Ellie Stone mystery, though we’ve moved the release date back to AC (July) 2025. As I’m going through, I’m having a lot of fun with the cook she has to work with, a terrible French fox. Here’s the scene where she meets him.

From the dining room, they walked through the narrow servery, where the servants would take the dishes from the cooks to bring out to the family, and from there into the kitchen.

Ellie had expected a large kitchen, but this room was only about as large as Mister West’s study. On one side stood the oven, with a six-burner hob atop it; across from the servery door stretched a long wooden counter, and to the left, another counter and the sink and drying rack. At the counter stood a tall skinny fox in a white apron, with a chef’s hat covering his ears. “Lorna!” he called, brandishing a middle-sized knife. “Where are those parsnips?”

He spoke with a French accent, but a light one. “Mister LeFou,” Miss Davis said. “Your new assistant cook is here.”

A short bobcat clutching a bunch of parsnips appeared from a door behind the counter just as the fox turned. He studied Ellie for a moment and then called over his shoulder, “Eggs.”

The bobcat—Lorna—deposited the parsnips on the counter and disappeared back through the door. “I am Laurent LeFou,” the fox announced to Ellie. “You are here to learn from me.”

“Er, yes,” Ellie said.

“Then I must know how much you know.” Lorna reappeared and set a basket of eggs on the counter. LeFou, without looking at them, stepped aside and nodded to the basket behind him. “Make an omelette. Lorna! Butter and pan.” He did not look away from Ellie the whole time. “You will find whatever else you need in the pantry.”

The bobcat hurried to one of the cupboards and brought out a small iron pan and a metal spatula, and then scurried over to the large refrigerator sitting against a wall and took a square of butter on a plate out of it. She set the pan on the stove and the butter next to the eggs, and then walked back over to stand next to the refrigerator, paws clasped together in front of her.

“Er,” Ellie said. “Hello. I’m Ellie Stone. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes,” LeFou said. “Make the omelette, if you please.”

Ellie was not accustomed to making food in front of three people who were just watching her, not contributing to the making of the dinner. And she hadn’t made an omelette in weeks, as the Hathaways did not in general take eggs for breakfast unless they had a guest. But she knew how to do it—she thought—and so she asked for a bowl, which Lorna provided, and cracked two eggs into it. “For how many people am I making this omelette?” she asked.

LeFou considered for a moment and then said, “For the people in this room.”

For four, that meant eight eggs. She cracked them into the bowl and then went to the pantry to find spices. Her nose led her to a block of cheese; should she add cheese? She took some, added a few herbs she found, and mixed them together in the bowl. Her paws shook, feeling the weight of the people watching her. And then she thought about Abby, the rabbit’s soft, steady voice, telling her that she was amazing and could cook anything. Her paws steadied, and Abby’s imaginary presence blocked out the other people watching her, at least a little.

After melting the butter in the pan, she poured the egg mixture into it, and a few moments later, she turned the omelette from the pan out onto a plate that Lorna provided. She presented it to LeFou, who took the plate in one dark-furred paw. He took one sniff, then stepped to the side and slid the omelette off the plate and into the bin.

Miss Davis uttered a low cry. Ellie stifled a gasp, Abby’s presence dissipating. “You didn’t even taste it,” she said.

“I did not have to,” LeFou said. “I watched you prepare it. You added too much pepper and not enough cheese, just to begin with. I know what it would have tasted like. I know what I can teach you.”

“Someone could have eaten that,” Miss Davis protested.

“Not from my kitchen,” the fox sniffed. “Now, we are preparing supper. I will assign you the potatoes au gratin. Do not worry; I will guide you through so that it is presentable to the family.”