Lanterns in the Dark - 6. Chapter 6

Daniele spent the next couple of days trying to figure out how to talk to Marco.

In the care he had shown for Sami, Marco had revealed an unexpected streak of kindness, but each time Daniele had tried to comment on it, the mousy-haired boy had slammed down the shutters as if it offended him.

‘Stop being nice to me!’ he had snapped.

What did it really mean? Was Marco still furious with Daniele for stealing Giacomo from him? Was he trying his hardest to hold onto that resentment, even as the factual basis for it began to crumble? Or was there something else at work?

It had all started with Marco’s jealousy over Daniele and Giacomo’s friendship. When he could take no more, Marco had challenged Daniele to a fight. The brief battle that followed had taken place in a quiet clearing at the Villa Cimbrone, in the shade of a tall pine tree. Afterwards, in a fit of despair, a tearful and defeated Marco had revealed his innermost feelings to Daniele.

Perhaps that was the reason: maybe the knowledge that Daniele knew his deepest secret was too much for Marco to bear. Deep down, though, Daniele suspected that he and Marco now had more in common than either of them were prepared to admit.

Nobody should be alone.

Friendship was there for the taking, if only they could make a connection.

* * *

Thursday morning brought another rare opportunity for Daniele and Giacomo to spend some time alone together. Laura was due to speak to her parents back in Rome, and wouldn’t be around until after lunch.

The two boys passed the latter part of the morning on the very same belvedere where Daniele had seen Giacomo and Laura kiss. At first, Daniele had been reluctant to linger there: every time he had passed the place since that night, he had felt an invisible shadow fall over him at the memory of that encounter.

However, as they hung out on the belvedere together, Daniele felt the shadow begin to lift again: he imagined it as a wispy, translucent monster, clinging on to him with its fingertips but being blown away all the same by a freshening breeze. Maybe it could still become their place again, a bit like their secret clearing in the valley, which – as far as Daniele knew – Giacomo had not yet shared with his girlfriend.

An abandoned space near the foot of a collapsed cliff, the clearing had once been Giacomo, Emilia and Marco’s place. After the fight, it had become Giacomo, Emilia and Daniele’s place instead. He wondered whether Marco would ever take his rightful spot there again.

Daniele and Giacomo reclined on the grass of the belvedere, hands behind their heads, watching a few scattered clouds drift across the sky. Sometimes, they called out a shape they saw among the clouds, but mostly they just chatted.

“…and then there are the gifts,” Giacomo was saying. “Laura keeps turning up with little things she’s made or bought. I can’t keep up with her! Yesterday, it was something called a ‘friendship bracelet’ – some weird custom she’s picked up from America.”

He waved an arm, on which he wore a handmade bracelet woven from embroidery thread in pink, white and pastel blue.

“I’m not allowed to take it off, ever,” he grumbled, “and I don’t even like pink…” he glanced over at Daniele, who had turned up in his old pink tie-dye t-shirt that morning. “Except on you, Dani,” he added with a sheepish grin.

“Are you calling me ‘girly’, Giaco?” Daniele asked.

Giacomo looked embarrassed. “Come on,” he said. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Daniele smiled slightly. “I’m just teasing.”

Giacomo rolled over onto his front and shuffled towards him. “You’re not ‘girly’, Dani,” he said seriously. “Don’t ever think that.”

“Dick,” Daniele said casually.

“Huh?” Giacomo faltered, looking confused and slightly hurt.

Daniele grinned and raised a hand. “In the sky,” he said, indicating a particularly phallic cloud that was gliding overhead.

Giacomo glanced aloft for a moment, a star of bright sunlight glinting off his dark eyes, but then he lost his composure completely as he caught sight of the shape Daniele had spotted.

“Bleurgh!” he exclaimed, burying his face in the grass and smacking the ground with his hands. “That was terrible!” He looked back up, trying hard to contain a giggle. “But you had me going, there, for a second.”

Daniele snickered. “Guilty conscience?”

Giacomo narrowed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment. “If you’re still seeing penises everywhere, it makes me wonder… how did things go with Emilia?”

Daniele glanced over to him, his smile fading for a moment. “I thought you’d have heard all about it already?”

“Laura’s not like that, Dani,” Giacomo said patiently. “She told me I’d have to ask you.”

Daniele sighed. “It went alright until we kissed.”

Giacomo’s hand flew to his mouth for a moment. “You kissed? Like, properly?”

Daniele nodded. “And then, well… that was when she realised how I really felt.”

“Wow,” Giacomo murmured.

Daniele gave him a pained look. “You were right. I thought it was what I wanted, but I never should have gone out with her. All I’ve done is hurt her feelings.”

“She was going to get hurt either way, I guess,” Giacomo mused. “Emilia will be all right. She’s tough.”

“Please don’t give her a hard time about it,” Daniele entreated the other boy.

Giacomo shook his head. “Of course I won’t,” he said seriously, but then he grinned. “You, on the other hand, heart…”

Daniele cut him off at once. “If you call me heartbreaker, I’ll… I’ll…”

Giacomo giggled. “…what, cuddle me to death? C’mon, Dani, you’re way too gentle to start a fight.”

Daniele offered him a playful glare. “I can finish one, though,” he said.

Giacomo grinned. “That’s true – at least against someone as inept as Marco.”

“Marco’s okay,” Daniele said quietly.

That got Giacomo’s attention. Propping himself up on his elbows again, he stared at Daniele in amazement.

“You’re not telling me you’ve been hanging out together, are you?” he asked.

Daniele shook his head. “I’ve seen him a couple of times, that’s all,” he said.

“Where?”

Daniele hesitated. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Giacomo nodded, his dark eyes alight with curiosity. “Promise.”

Taking a deep breath, Daniele launched into an explanation about Sami and the old house at Sambuco, and how he and Marco had worked together to look after him. By the time he had finished, the other boy’s jaw was agape.

“Jesus… I really have missed a lot,” he murmured.

“Marco still seems pretty mad with me,” Daniele admitted.

Giacomo grunted in frustration. “Why? You haven’t done anything.”

Daniele sighed inwardly, staring at his friend in despair.

You still don’t get it…

“He thought I stole you from him, Giaco,” he said.

“That’s daft,” Giacomo mumbled, tugging distractedly at the grass with one hand.

Is it?

“I guess you can’t think of a way I can talk to him, then?”

Giacomo shook his head. “No, he was never like that with me.” He paused thoughtfully. “He really did all that stuff for Sami?”

Daniele nodded. “Just like I said.”

Giacomo looked puzzled for a moment, but then his expression cleared again. Daniele sensed that his mind had already moved onto other things. He watched as the other boy rolled over onto his back again and sprawled on the grass like a star, dark eyes upturned towards the crystal blue sky with its scattering of snow-white clouds.

“Can we just stay here forever, Dani?” he sighed. “No school, no girlfriends, no… growing up.”

“I wish,” Daniele replied, gazing at him for a moment, lost in a deep melancholy. He wanted to reach for the other boy’s hand, but he knew he never would.

Giacomo smiled. “I was just thinking… being cuddled to death doesn’t sound so bad. I reckon there’d be worse ways to go.”

* * *

No matter how much they might have wished to, neither Daniele nor Giacomo had the power to stop time. Reluctantly, they got to their feet and made their way down to the square in search of lunch.

They settled at a bar where they could order pizza by the slice, and they ate the salty snack in companionable silence. Daniele washed his lunch down with a welcome glass of ice-cold Sprite.

After a while, as had been arranged, Laura joined them. She slid into a spare seat next to Giacomo, looking as pretty as ever in a pale red summer dress. After exchanging greetings and a peck on the cheek with an embarrassed-looking Giacomo, she favoured Daniele with a friendly smile.

“Ciao, Daniele,” she said.

“Ciao, Laura,” Daniele responded. “How’s Emilia?”

Laura’s face lit up. “I love that you asked me that straight away. I knew you were okay, really.”

“Thanks,” Daniele replied awkwardly.

Laura leant over the table with a conspiratorial air. “I wouldn’t say you’re forgiven just yet,” she whispered, “but I think she’ll get there. She’s still got it bad for you, you see.” She sat back in her chair again, brushing a lock of her long dark hair back over one ear as she did so. “At least she knows where she stands, now.”

Giacomo and Laura exchanged a glance.

“Ready to go?” Giacomo asked her.

Laura inclined her head. “Sure.”

They rose to their feet.

“See you later, Dani,” Giacomo said, a vaguely wistful look playing about his eyes.

Daniele nodded. “Ciao, guys.”

Daniele watched as they headed off together in the direction of Via Roma. Once they were out of sight, he cast his eyes about the square, wondering where to go next.

His gaze settled on a familiar dark-haired figure who was eating alone a few tables away. Here, he thought, was someone who might be able to help him relate to Marco. Daniele sidled over, hoping to join him.

“Ciao, Angelo,” he said.

The young man looked up, startled for a moment, but then he smiled and gestured for Daniele to sit down.

“Buongiorno, Dani,” he said. “I was just keeping mind, body and soul together. Can you give me a minute to finish?”

“Certo,” Daniele replied, settling down again onto the padded metal chair. He watched as Angelo mopped up the last of his spicy penne all’arrabbiata.

“I should be feeding myself at home,” Angelo admitted, “but business is good at the moment, and after a busy morning of carpentry it’s nice to let someone else do the hard work, you know?”

Daniele nodded to show that he understood. “Wouldn’t you normally go to Da Rossi, though?” he asked.

Angelo grinned. “Yes… but I think Pietro and Anna are getting sick of the sight of me.”

“How’s Gianni?”

“Gianni’s doing fine,” Angelo replied. “He told me he’d shown you Francesca’s diaries. He said you’re a good listener.” He smiled. “Hey, I knew that anyway.”

“Thanks,” Daniele mumbled.

“There was something else, though.” Angelo raised a quizzical eyebrow, and for a moment Daniele was reminded strongly of another boy he knew. “Gianni also said something about you going on a disastrous date with your friend Emilia?”

Daniele flushed. “I have a different problem now.”

Angelo took a sip from his glass of sparkling mineral water. “Anything I can help you with?”

“I ran into Marco.”

“That’s the mousy kid who used to hang out with Giacomo and Emilia before you came along, right?”

Daniele nodded. “Gianni told me that his parents are really poor. Anyway, when Giaco and I first made friends, he sort of… freaked out.”

Angelo inclined his head. “The jealousy thing. I think I remember Gianni talking about it.”

“Marco got kinda dropped… well, I guess he sort of dropped himself.”

Angelo frowned. “That’s a shame. Why?”

Daniele gave him a miserable look. “It turned out that he’d been in love with Giaco all along and thought I’d stolen Giaco from him.”

Angelo gave a low whistle. “Even though…”

“Even though we’re just friends.”

“And, now, Giacomo has a girlfriend…”

Daniele nodded again. “…but Marco still seems to hate me.”

Angelo offered him a sympathetic chuckle. “Dio, Dani… how did you manage to get caught in three love triangles at once?”

Daniele shrugged helplessly. “Right now, I’d settle for just having a friend to talk to.”

Angelo gave him an enquiring look. “So, why the sudden interest in Marco? He doesn’t seem like obvious friend material.”

“We’re kinda the same now,” Daniele replied.

Angelo frowned in puzzlement. “How do you figure that?”

“Well… we both lost Giaco to someone else, and now neither of us have anyone else to hang out with.”

Angelo sat back in his chair, giving Daniele a contemplative sort of look. “I see what you mean, but… on balance, I’d say you’ve both taken it very differently.”

Daniele shrugged. “I guess. Anyway, we’ve been… sort of working on a project together. He’s done just as much as I have. More, really. He’s right there, but every time I try to be nice to him, he pushes me away.”

“But he’s been willing to co-operate with you?” Angelo asked.

Daniele nodded. “Yes, I guess.”

“And he hasn’t actually said or done anything nasty to you?”

Daniele shook his head. “Not really.”

“He just can’t take the praise…” Angelo stroked his lip contemplatively.

“What should I do?” Daniele asked desperately.

Angelo frowned. “I’m not an expert,” he said, “but, I’m wondering… maybe his hostility isn’t really about you at all?”

Daniele blinked, caught by surprise. “What do you mean?”

Angelo shrugged. “At the end of the day, it sounds like he’s just a boy who’s been hurt. He’s not sure what he’s worth to anyone, and he’s been on his own for quite a while now. Maybe it feels easier for him to stay that way than to risk trusting a friend again.”

Daniele stared at the young man. “So, you mean… he’s just scared?”

Angelo nodded gently. “Could be.”

“Thanks, Angelo…” Daniele murmured.

“Of course, I could be totally wrong.” Angelo winked. “Maybe he’s just secretly falling for you now, and it’s more than he can take. He wouldn’t be the first.”

Daniele flushed again. “Ah, c’mon… you’re worse than Claudia.”

Angelo grinned. “Who d’you think taught her, Dani? She learned from the best.”

* * *

Late on Saturday afternoon, just after the hottest part of the day, Daniele accompanied Toto and Claudia on their first joint visit to see Sami in Sambuco. Because there were three of them this time, they had decided to walk. Claudia, who usually wore jeans and a blouse, had opted for a light summer dress against the heat. A wide-brimmed sun hat rested on her head and a small bag hung from one shoulder. Toto was dressed unremarkably in a polo shirt and shorts, and walked with a carrier bag of fresh food swinging from one hand.

“Have you found out anything about Sami’s aunt and uncle?” Daniele asked the two older teens, running his hand along the smooth edge of the metal crash barrier as he walked. To his right, the Sambuco valley dropped away into leafy depths, broken up by scattered olive groves and scruffy little houses. Across the road, the crunchy, tinder-dry remains of last year’s fallen leaves littered the base of a low wooded cliff.

Toto and Claudia exchanged a glance.

“We think so,” Toto said.

Claudia took up the story. “Pietro remembered seeing a north African couple being escorted to the Carabinieri station a couple of weeks ago,” she said, “so I asked him to talk to his friend Fabrizio, who was best man at his wedding…”

Daniele frowned. “I don’t get it. Why?”

“Because Valentina Forza, the new Carabinieri chief, is his older sister.”

Toto smiled. “Devious as ever.”

“Anyway, Fabrizio was able to extract from her that they had taken a couple of undocumented refugees into custody.”

Daniele looked up at her in alarm. “What happened to them?”

She glanced back down at him, uncharacteristically serious for a moment. “They were taken to a migrant reception centre,” she said. “They’ve probably already been deported. I’m sorry, Dani.”

Daniele’s mouth fell open in dismay. “But… what about Sami?”

Claudia bit her lip. “I didn’t want to ask about Sami, exactly, in case things got out of hand.” She shrugged. “Toto and I have been wondering whether it may be best for him to be brought in anyway, but we thought it might be less scary for him if he were brought in by his friends rather than a Carabinieri raid.”

“So, we don’t know if the police know about him?”

Toto weighed in. “If they did, I think something would have happened by now,” he said. “When his aunt and uncle were caught, my guess is they avoided mentioning Sami on purpose. Maybe they thought it would be better for him to take his chances on his own here?”

“But… he’s only seven!” Daniele protested.

Toto shrugged. “We don’t know what they were all running away from, Dani. Maybe it was even worse. Karim and Amal kept their promise to bring Sami to Europe… I’m guessing they were making up the rest as they went along.”

They lapsed into silence for a while. As they strolled down the quiet road, Daniele began to notice a tang of smoke on the air. Whoever was burning their old branches and leaves, he hoped they had their bonfire under control. Even at thirteen, Daniele knew the danger of wildfires in the summer. They had made a point of it at school, and whenever Daniele and his friends had spent an evening together at their special place in the Valle del Dragone, even Giacomo and Emilia had been careful with the campfire.

“You’re not going to take Sami in today, are you?” Daniele asked anxiously.

Toto shook his head and gestured at the bag of food he was carrying. “Not yet, Dani,” he assured him gently, “but Sami can’t go on like this forever. You know that, really, don’t you? I think you knew it when you came to talk to me in the first place.”

Daniele nodded reluctantly.

Marco won’t like it, though.

“Today, we just want to see him,” Claudia said. “Toto and I have been talking about him for days, but I haven’t seen Sami for myself since that day on the boat. I just want to know that he’s doing okay.”

Passing the log pile, they turned down the flight of scruffy concrete steps. The bonfire smell intensified, and Daniele mopped his brow at the thought of it. The afternoon was still fiercely hot despite the late hour, and this far up the valley there was no trace of a sea breeze to take the edge off the heat.

Claudia was obviously feeling it, too.

“Uffa,” she remarked, taking off her hat and fanning herself with it. “This heat almost makes me wish for some rain.”

Toto smiled slightly. “Some of the best moments of my life have happened after summer rainstorms,” he said.

Daniele stared at the older boy curiously, but Toto declined to elaborate.

They were about halfway down the steps when Toto halted, looking alertly down over the terraced plantations.

“Something’s not right here,” he muttered, pointing at a column of black smoke that was rising venomously into the air from somewhere a little further down the hill. “Does that look like a bonfire to you?”

Daniele and Claudia followed his gaze, and Daniele was struck by a sudden shiver of foreboding. Wasn’t that exactly where Ettore’s old place would be, if they could see it from here?

“The house,” he said urgently. “Hurry!”

They set off down the stairs at a run. Three pairs of shoes pounded the parched ground as it morphed from broken concrete to loose dirt, and then they were charging through the grapevines, kicking up little puffs of dust as they went. They clattered down into the derelict little yard and careered to a halt for a moment, united in horror at the sight before them.

The tatty old house was ablaze. Great gouts of black smoke were pouring out of the upstairs windows, which had blown out under the sudden heat. Fierce orange flames were licking hungrily at the overhanging eaves, and smaller tongues of flame could be seen eating away at the holes in the broken old terracotta roof. A quantity of smoke was also drifting out through the open kitchen windows. The heat was intense, and they all shrank back from it.

“SAMI!” Daniele yelled, so loudly that his voice cracked.

From somewhere inside the burning building came the faintest of answering cries.

Daniele and Claudia exchanged a horrified glance, then both their eyes fell on Toto. For a couple of seconds, his intense brown eyes looked back at them with the blank terror of a frightened child, but then he turned and sprinted for the path that led to the front door.

“Wait…” Daniele gasped, starting after him, but Claudia held him back.

“Don’t,” she said.

Daniele slumped against her, uttering a single strangled sob as Toto disappeared round the corner of the house. They heard him throwing the front door open, then there was silence apart from the hungry rumble and crackle of the inferno in front of them.

The seconds passed with painful slowness, but the flames maintained their merciless advance. Daniele could see them charring the eaves and the upstairs window frames, turning them from a faded white to a cracked and shrunken black.

“Where are they?” he murmured.

A pair of swifts flew overhead, calling shrilly, veering away at the last second when they encountered the column of choking black smoke. In a disjointed, panic-stricken way, Daniele had time to wonder how nobody else had managed to spot the fire and come to investigate.

Where is everyone?

“They should be out by now,” Claudia murmured anxiously. “Come on, we have to see what’s happening.”

Discarding her hat and her shoulder bag, she led the way along the broken concrete path. As they passed, one of the dirty old kitchen windows shattered, and they darted away from the falling shards of glass.

As they rounded the far corner, they found the front door open, wrenched off its hinges by the force of Toto’s entry. The hallway beyond was in darkness: there were no flames, but the air was thick with smoke. Daniele and Claudia dropped to their hands and knees, trying desperately to peer into the gloom, hoping for some sight of their friends.

“I think I see something…” Daniele gasped, and as he said it, he became sure of it. Halfway down the hallway, two prone figures lay side-by-side on the floor. They must have been overcome by the smoke as they tried to escape.

“Get Sami,” Claudia said urgently. “I’ll bring Toto.”

For a second, Daniele froze, his mind in freefall amid the billowing smoke, but then Claudia smacked him on the shoulder.

“Go!” she hissed.

Daniele lurched into action. Taking a deep breath, he charged into the hallway. Almost immediately, it became impossible to see, and he dropped to his hands and knees again, his eyes stinging fiercely, approaching the two prone figures at a fast crawl.

Sami was sprawled on the dirty floor tiles, his dark brown eyes narrow slits and his small mouth open. Daniele swept him up into his arms and staggered to his feet, running blindly towards the paler rectangle that he knew had to be the open doorway.

He emerged, coughing, into the sunlight and blessedly clear air, and Claudia darted into the smoke-filled hallway to reach Toto. Daniele hurried on past the broken kitchen windows and set his burden down on the broken concrete floor at the far side of the yard. Sami lay motionless where he had left him.

He turned back, certain, for a few awful seconds, that he would find himself alone in this hellish place, but then Claudia reappeared at the corner, dragging Toto’s prone form by the arms. Almost dizzy with relief, Daniele hurried back to help her. He grabbed Toto’s feet, and together they carried him to safety, setting him down next to Sami. Toto stirred slightly, his closed eyes fluttering, then he coughed up a few drops of soot-tinged spit and lay still.

“Look after them,” Claudia told Daniele. She already had her phone clamped to her ear.

“Ambulance, please,” she said harshly as soon as the call was answered. “We’ll need the fire service too.”

There was a pause as the call handler on the far end of the line asked her a question.

“Ravello,” she replied. “Via Sambuco.”

Another pause for a few muffled words on the other end of the line.

“I don’t know exactly where!” she cried desperately. “Look… we’ll find someone to guard the turning. We’re a long way off the road here, and it’s mountainous country.”

Toto stirred again. Daniele turned to him, suddenly struck by a terrible new thought.

“Toto…!” he hissed, shaking the older boy gently.

Toto groaned faintly, and his eyes flickered again.

“Toto… was Marco in there?” Daniele asked desperately.

Toto gave the faintest shake of his head. Daniele breathed a sigh of relief and took the older boy’s hand in one of his own. He twined the fingers of his other hand through the motionless Sami’s own impossibly tiny digits.

“Dani… are they both still breathing?” Claudia asked urgently.

Daniele nodded tearfully. Both of their chests were still rising and falling slowly.

“We need some more help,” Claudia said when she had put the phone down. “I’m going to call Salvatore. We need someone to flag the emergency services down.”

Daniele waited as Claudia had a hushed and urgent conversation with Toto’s father on the telephone. Then she made another call.

“Michele,” she said, “Toto’s been in an accident. We’re at Ettore Neri’s old place in Sambuco.”

There was a pause as Claudia listened Michele’s indistinct response.

“Yes, it’s serious!” Claudia replied impatiently. “Never mind what we were doing here. Fetch Salvatore, then get yourself down here now.”

Claudia hung up the phone and replaced it in her shoulder bag, then dropped to her haunches beside Daniele.

“They’re all on their way,” she said, her dark brown eyes anxious and drained. “We’ve done all we can on our own.”

Daniele sobbed again and flung himself upon her. They embraced in the shadow of the grape vines, waves of heat still washing over them from the burning building, and waited desperately for help to arrive.

* * *

After what must only have been about twenty minutes but felt like much longer, there was a clatter of feet and Michele came charging down into the yard. He cursed loudly at the sight of the burning house, his eyes wide, then he caught site of Daniele and his friends sheltering under the grape vines and he hurried over.

“What happened…?” he asked, staring at the prone forms of Toto and Sami in horror.

“We got them out…” Daniele said anxiously.

“Toto went into the house to rescue Sami,” Claudia explained, “but they collapsed in the hallway. Dani and I brought them out here, but… they’ve taken in a lot of smoke.”

Michele fell to his knees beside Toto and gave him a shake. “Toto!” he said urgently. “Can you hear me?”

The other boy gave no response.

Michele gave Daniele and Claudia a wild look. “Do you think it’s safe to move them?” he asked.

Claudia nodded. “I think so.”

“Then we need to get them up to the roadside right away. Salvatore’s waiting for the ambulance.”

“I’m sorry, Michele,” Daniele said wretchedly. “Toto wouldn’t even have been here if it weren’t for me.”

“Never mind that now,” Michele said. “Can you manage with Sami?”

Daniele nodded, remembering how little the smaller boy had weighed. “I think so.”

“Then we’ll bring Toto.”

Daniele tried to pick Sami up again, but it was like lifting a dead weight. The little boy’s head lolled back, and it was hard to find a balance.

“Here…” Michele said, helping Daniele to get Sami’s limp form into a fireman’s lift. “You go first.”

Daniele shifted his grip and began the climb back up the valley side, glad beyond words to be putting the burning building behind him at last. Michele and Claudia followed, carrying Toto between them in single file.

It was a subdued journey, and none of them spoke. Daniele slogged his way slowly up the concrete steps, soot-stained sweat dripping from his brow; despite Sami’s slight frame, his unconscious body seemed to be getting heavier by the minute, and Daniele was relieved when he was finally able to stop by the side of the road.

Salvatore, who had been staring anxiously down the valley in search of the ambulance, hurried over to help him at once. He relieved Daniele of his burden and laid the little boy down in a recovery position by the side of the road. In the distance, Daniele could finally hear sirens approaching. The emergency services must have completed their journey up the Valle del Dragone from their base in Maiori.

Toto was next to arrive, supported by Michele and an anxious-looking Claudia. They laid him down and Salvatore crouched beside him, his thin face pale.

“Toto,” he whispered, patting his son’s limp hands, fruitlessly trying to elicit some response from him. “Talk to me!”

His task completed, Daniele burst into fresh tears and sank down to the tarmac, propping himself up against the metal crash barrier. At once, Claudia and Michele sat down to either side of him, placing their arms around him as they tried to comfort him.

“You did great, Dani,” Michele said.

“Totally,” Claudia whispered. “You saved Sami’s life… again!”

Through the blur of his tears, Daniele looked at the two figures lying prone on the tarmac. “They don’t look very alive to me.”

“They’ll be okay,” Claudia assured him. “They’ll take good care of them at the hospital.”

“It’s all my fault,” Daniele wept.

“Hey… you didn’t burn down the house, Dani,” Michele said. “Sami… I’m guessing he was hiding out there?”

Daniele nodded.

“Well,” Michele said, “you didn’t bring him here, either. As for the fire… it must have been because of something he did.”

“Maybe he tried to use the cooker, or it was the old wiring, or something,” Claudia murmured. “Like Michele said, it’s not your fault.”

The sirens reached a crescendo as the emergency services coursed down into the valley, the fire tender leading the way. Salvatore flagged them down and Michele sprang up to help direct the firefighters as the dusty red engine coasted to a halt.

Daniele doubted that even the longest hose they had could possibly reach the burning house, but he was past worrying about it. The scruffy old house could burn to the ground for all he cared, as long as it didn’t take the whole valley with it.

They watched as the paramedics strapped Toto and Sami to stretchers. The two of them were squeezed into the back of the small ambulance somehow, Salvatore climbed aboard, and then they were gone.

Michele watched them go, his chestnut-brown hair ruffled and his soft brown eyes frightened and anxious, clutching his swift pendant anxiously with one hand.

“Please be all right,” Daniele murmured.

Claudia squeezed him gently around the shoulders and gave him a single kiss on his dirty, sweaty forehead.

“We should get you home,” she said.

Daniele nodded. “Yes… please.”

“Michele,” she ventured, eliciting a distracted glance from the other boy.

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever tried to squeeze three people onto a single Vespa scooter?”