Between Two Mountains - 11. Chapter 11

Cosmo was brooding. He lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Damn, I’m sick of the sight of these four walls.

He had passed a hot, sticky and largely sleepless night. Even in the small hours, it had felt like the air had hardly cooled, and now the sun was making its dreaded appearance again. Obliquely for the moment, it crept in through the slats in the shutters, casting the small, stuffy room into a gloomy half-light.

As he lay awake, watching the hours tick ever so slowly by, his mind had returned over and over again to his secret conversation with Elisabetta, the allure of the life of freedom she promised, and the nagging doubt that he tried to ignore: the feverish light that had come into her eyes when she talked about Thelma and Louise and Bonnie and Clyde.

She’s crazy. Given half a chance, she’ll lead you into hell. You get that, right?

Luca’s voice, in the back of his mind once again. He scowled and told it to shut up.

What the fuck do YOU know? Betta’s right. She’s the only one who’s ever REALLY had my back.

He turned quietly onto his side and paused for an envious look at the real thing.

Luca lay sprawled on top of his bedsheets in nothing but his underwear, slumbering and defenceless, his chest rising and falling slowly and his fine black eyelashes fluttering gently as he travelled up through the different tiers of sleep. Soon he would be ready to wake for the day.

Why does he have to be so GOOD-LOOKING?

It seemed to Cosmo that Luca had been dealt all the best cards in life. At almost sixteen, he seemed the perfect specimen of youth, with light curves in all the right places and not an ounce of unnecessary weight on him. Even unbrushed and bed-headed, his wavy brown hair seemed lighter, more elegant than Cosmo’s own lifeless mop ever did. Then there were those cheekbones: Luca had inherited their famously beautiful but cold-hearted birth mother’s facial structure, something that Cosmo could only approximate at his absolute best.

Luca was even straight, a natural advantage in almost every sphere that only the unhappy and queer could truly understand… and, worse still, Luca was smart. He was destined for great things: everybody thought it. Nobody else knew what it felt like to be outshone by your kid brother at every turn.

And me…? I’m just dragging him down. I’m dragging them ALL down. They’d be better off with me gone.

It made Cosmo sick. He hated Luca slightly for his good fortune… and he hated himself more for being so pathetic as to be bothered by it.

On Cosmo’s bedside table, his phone buzzed; Luca stirred, but didn’t wake. As carefully and quietly as he could, Cosmo reached for it, detached it from the charger and took a look. It was a message from Elisabetta.

‘Zio Maurizio says the police will be calling today. Well, when they do, they’re not going to find me. I’m getting out of here, Cosmo.’

‘Oh,’ he wrote back. At once, he felt his heartbeat quicken. What would she expect him to do?

‘I want you to come with me. Will you do it?’

So, it was decision time. By tonight, he would either be on the road to pastures new, or he’d have given his ‘girlfriend’ up for good.

On the face of it, there was nothing to keep him here. Nobody wanted him. Nobody except the girl who would soon be sought by the police for a deranged and brutal assault on a popular local restaurateur… an assault she had committed for him.

And, yet… there was something, wasn’t there? A nagging presence at the back of his mind. The one that sometimes spoke with Luca’s voice. The one which, right now, still told him that a madcap flit with Elisabetta would never end well, and that there might still be something he could salvage here.

He found his eyes drawn inexorably back to her last message.

‘…will you do it?’

It hung there, demanding an answer – one Cosmo wasn’t sure he could provide. He stared at it, stewing in rising anxiety.

At that moment, the alarm clock on Luca’s bedside table rang, drilling into Cosmo’s sleep-deprived, overdriven brain with heartless insistence, and he winced in pain. Finally dragged back to consciousness, Luca stirred, fumbled for the alarm clock and silenced it.

Luca slid out of bed and stretched luxuriantly, seeming to rub Cosmo’s nose in his heedless perfection. Catching sight of Cosmo lit from below by his phone screen, he shuffled sleepily over.

“What’re you doing?” he asked muzzily. It was more than Cosmo could take.

“Go to hell!” he snapped, instinctively turning his phone away so the younger boy couldn’t see.

Luca recoiled as if he’d been slapped. There was no witty retort this time; only a look of faintly stunned hurt.

“I’m going for a shower,” Luca mumbled. Turning his back, he stepped out of his dirty underpants and traded them for a dressing gown that hung from the back of the bedroom door. Hastily shrugging it on, he tugged the door open and hurried out, rubbing unhappily at his eyes with one hand.

The sight of it only added further fuel to Cosmo’s fire. He turned back to his phone.

‘I think so,’ he replied. He glanced uneasily around the room. ‘I just need bit more time to be sure.’

There was a moment’s pause.

‘Fine,’ Elisabetta replied. ‘I can give you until lunchtime. I can keep out of sight until then. But if you’re not in the bottom corner of the car park by 12pm, I’m going without you.’

Cosmo breathed a sigh of relief. He had achieved a stay of execution, but not for long. He just needed to take his doubts out for an airing. Then, he could be sure.

* * *

“Is everything alright, boys?” Luisa asked anxiously. “Did something happen between you?”

It was breakfast time, and both Cosmo and Luca had been sitting in stony silence ever since they had arrived at the table.

“The same thing that’s been happening for twelve months, Mamma,” Luca grumbled. “Cosmo’s being a total ass, just like always.”

Luisa’s brow knotted in concern. “I thought you two had started to get along.”

“So did I,” Luca muttered.

Cosmo gave them both the briefest of glowers, then continued picking at his plain croissant. When Luisa had offered him some apricot jam, he had waved it away. In truth, he wasn’t really hungry at all. His mind was on the rucksack stashed under his bed, which he had already begun to pack with his few important possessions. Just in case.

“I snapped at him, that’s all,” Cosmo remarked. “Boy needs to man up.”

Mario set his cappuccino down in its saucer with a rather louder clatter than he had probably intended.

“Why do you keep antagonising your brother, Cosmo?” he asked, unable to conceal the note of frustration in his voice.

Of course, it’s all MY fault…

“…and it’s not just Luca, either!” Mario went on. “You seem determined to see the worst in everyone, no matter how hard we all try to support you. I don’t doubt that you’ve had a hard life, but… that’s over now. It’s time to start giving something back.”

Like WHAT…? Disappointment? Disapproval? Dismissal? What else would you like BACK, signor and signora Verdi? You, and the rest of the inhabitants of this bourgeois crap pile of a town?

Cosmo said none of this. Instead, he simply glared back at his foster father.

“Are you finished…?” he said.

Mario looked ready to reply, but Luisa placed a restraining hand on his arm.

“Cosmo, we’re worried about you,” she said. “I felt things went alright between us for the first few months. Even lockdown could have been worse. But, lately, it’s like nothing reaches you. Ever since Vincenzo hurt you and your friend from Salerno arrived in town –”

“Leave Betta out of this,” Cosmo replied shortly.

“Loyalty’s a good thing, Cosmo,” she implored him. “But if it turns out that Elisabetta did assault Pietro on your behalf, she’s going to be in big trouble, and you don’t want to get caught up in it any more than you already are. You probably feel she’s the only one who understands you, but we’re your family, right here in this house. Try to remember that.”

Some ‘family’. When it comes down to it, I’ll never measure up to Luca the golden boy.

“Can I be excused?” Cosmo asked sullenly.

Luisa nodded unhappily. “Of course.”

Cosmo pushed his half-eaten croissant away, downed the last of his orange juice, rose from the table and retreated down the stairs.

He was sick of the constant judgement, sick of the comparisons. Sick of life. Elisabetta’s offer had never seemed so tempting. He fished his rucksack out from under the bed and checked on its contents. What little money he had left; a couple of changes of clothes; his phone charger; his personal documents. Everything a guy needed for a shameful flit.

I’ll go out. If I change my mind, I can always come back.

But he didn’t feel he was going to. He had a feeling he was going to take that ride with Elisabetta. And then…. a new life, or a blaze of glory? He’d thought he didn’t want to die, but… what did it really matter in the end?

The next problem was how to slip out unnoticed. If Luisa, Mario or Luca saw him leaving with a rucksack, they were bound to have questions. They might find a way to stop him.

He peered out through the bedroom window, and a plan began to worm its way sluggishly into his mind. Below, there was a stone retaining wall. If he could just get out onto the top of it…

With some effort and his rucksack on his back, he heaved himself up to the window and out through the opening. The wooden shutters bumped noisily back against the wall, but hopefully rest of the family would be too far out of earshot to notice.

Soon, he was dangling out of the window, clinging on by his fingertips. His trainer-clad feet fumbled for the top of the retaining wall and eventually found purchase there. Loosening his grip on the window frame, he allowed himself to relax a little, closing his eyes and pausing to catch his breath. The faint sound of cicadas drifted up to him from the terraces below the house.

When he was ready, keeping his hands spread against the roughcast render of the house, he began to shimmy carefully along the top of the wall. Safety was only a couple of metres away. If he could just keep from falling for a few more seconds…

At last, he made it to the corner of the house, and he scrambled round it onto a flat area of dry grass. He dropped gratefully to his knees for a moment, feeling the rough, blessed reality of it beneath his hands.

After a moment, he glanced around to get his bearings. As he had expected, he had made it to one of the lower terraces of the garden belonging to Vincenzo and his parents. He looked up at the darkened windows of the villa staring starkly out over the valley, and smirked slightly to himself. It pleased him to think that the older boy was unwittingly aiding his escape.

What would Vincenzo say if he could see me now…?

It looked like the family had already gone out for the day, but he kept low just in case, running along the base of the stone wall that retained the next terrace of the garden until he reached the zig-zagging stairway to the upper levels.

Cautiously climbing the broken concrete stairs, he emerged at the bottom of their driveway, in a gravelled area to the side of the house with room for four or five cars. Vincenzo’s scarlet Ferrari was one of the vehicles parked there; Cosmo ducked down behind it to conceal himself, then cast his eyes up the hill to check the lie of the land. He thought he saw the car for what it really was, now: a shiny penis extension for a small man with serious insecurities.

Elisabetta’s right. They’re all the same here. So fucking provincial.

The coast looked clear and, as luck would have it, the gates at the top of the driveway stood open. Breaking cover, he hurried up the track, which was formed of pale concrete that was dusty and cracked, with a few straggly weeds growing down the middle.

Not so fancy now, eh, Vincenzo? You REALLY need to get the landscapers in.

He laughed bitterly to himself. One hairpin bend later, and he had finally broken out into the reassuring familiarity of the mountain road.

There was just one hurdle remaining in his gauntlet run to freedom, which was the stairway leading down past his own courtyard door. Cosmo imagined himself creeping down the stairs, only to have the door swing open at that precise moment and his family come striding out. The image was absurdly comical, and he had to suppress a sudden and slightly deranged laugh. However, there was no movement from the courtyard, and soon he was round the corner and hurrying down the endless stairs for what he hoped would be the very last time.

* * *

As he descended into town, Cosmo tried his best not to look furtive. He would draw less attention to himself if he gave an appearance of confidence and purpose.

At the fountain square, he paused to splash some of the refreshingly cool water onto his face. He could do with some provisions, he realised; even if it was just for this morning while he waited for his rendezvous with Elisabetta.

He set off for Via Roma, taking the quickest route, a sun-drenched staircase at the foot of a little cliff that led into the heart of town. It would mean passing the Carabinieri station, but he had nothing to fear in that department, did he?

As he walked up the path, the lizards basking on the rocks seemed to accuse him with their beady eyes.

Yeah, guys, I’m finally running away, and I’m taking Betta with me. Good news all round, huh? I’m sorry I fantasised about barbecuing you.

Keeping his head firmly down as he passed the police station, he reached Via Roma without incident. He hurried along the quiet end of the street, pleased to have put the place behind him all the same. It didn’t feel good to be on the wrong side of the law, even by association. He wondered how his birth family had ever dealt with it. Maybe comfort came with power.

And wouldn’t that be nice…?

He had spent his life with no power and no control. He hoped that was about to change.

He was just stepping into the little square in front of Da Rossi when he came to an abrupt, horrified halt.

Oh, crap…

Pietro was there, the one person in Ravello whom Cosmo had least wanted to face. He was accepting a delivery from Fabrizio. At the sound of Cosmo’s approach, they both looked up, each with a crate of Lemon Soda in their arms, and for a couple of seconds the three of them faced each other in discomfited silence.

Pietro was back in his smart restaurant uniform, but his face was still a mess, and there were traces of bruising around his right eye. It looked like his broken nose had been set straight, but the flesh at its bridge was puffy and split at the top like a concertina.

“Pietro –” Cosmo ventured, stepping forward, and for a split second something that might have been fear clouded the young man’s dark eyes.

The young man hid it quickly but, somehow, that one brief flicker of feeling was worse than even the loudest argument or the worst accusations could have been; it lit a fire of guilt deep within Cosmo’s heart.

“What do you want, Cosmo?” Fabrizio said warningly, moving to stand between them, but Pietro shoulder barged him gently aside.

“It’s all right, Fabi,” he said, “let me talk to him.”

Fabrizio set the crate of drinks down on the bonnet of his van. “Fine,” he said. His brown eyes flicked warningly to Cosmo. “But I’ve got my phone right here.”

He reached up to relieve Pietro of the second crate of drinks. The young man released it with a wince of pain; his hand flopped almost unthinkingly to his cracked ribs.

Cosmo approached Pietro slowly. “You know I didn’t do this to you, right?” he said quietly, gesturing at the young man’s injured chest and ravaged face.

“So I’m told,” Pietro replied.

“I want you to know I would never, if, you know, sh…”

Cosmo broke off hurriedly, realising the mistake he had almost made.

…if she’d asked me.

Pietro shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “I believe you.”

“You gave me a chance. I don’t think I ever said thank you.”

Pietro twisted his mouth reflectively. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” His dark eyes flicked to Cosmo’s rucksack. “What’s all this? Are you going somewhere?”

Cosmo glanced nervously at Fabrizio. This was the police chief’s brother, standing right here. It wouldn’t do to say the wrong thing.

“No, I…” he mumbled, “I’m just going out for the day. Atmosphere at home’s kinda weird just now.” He glanced on up the lane, where the comforting gloom of the shopping street beckoned. “I’ve gotta go. I hope you feel better soon.”

Pietro nodded. “Thank you.”

Cosmo walked as fast as he could up the street, a tightness in his chest and a hot pressure behind his eyes. He could feel the two young men’s eyes following him as he went; it was almost as if they were boring into the back of his head. When he was sure he was out of sight, he darted up the same narrow side turning he’d escaped up once before and sagged against the wall, his harsh, erratic breathing threatening to turn to tears. He wouldn’t cry. He refused to cry. And yet…

Power and control? Who am I kidding? Betta and I don’t deserve either. We’re a fucking VIRUS.

It was good that they were leaving. Provincial the people here may be, but at least they didn’t go round beating people up and hitting on young boys. They would all be better off without them.

But wherever they went, were more bad things destined to follow? Who would their next victim be? What other poor innocent would mistakenly cross their path?

Maybe we ARE Bonnie and Clyde. Maybe what happened to them is what we both deserve.

Wiping at his hot, itchy eyes, Cosmo hurried on.

* * *

Any doubts Cosmo might have had about his decision to run away were now on the critical list. Nothing he had seen today had persuaded him that he should stay.

Once he’d stocked up on snacks and water at the grocery store on Via Roma – the owner, Salvatore, regarded his loaded rucksack coolly but offered no comment – he decided to make straight for the car park. It would mean waiting for an hour or so, but he didn’t mind. He’d already seen enough. A romantic fool, he supposed, might have taken a wander round the town, to say some kind of emotional goodbye to the place they’d come to call home, but Cosmo felt no such need.

The cathedral square was quietly bustling. Apart from the occasional face mask worn by a passer-by, he saw nothing to suggest that anything had ever been wrong with the place. He didn’t begrudge the locals and visitors their sense of freedom; long may they enjoy it, as long as it was without him.

The cicadas were scraping away in the pine trees, heedless of the emotional drama going on in the mind of the young man below them. Cosmo made straight for the stairway down to the car park, his feet crunching over a few long, fragrant pine needles that had fallen from the canopy in the intense summer heat.

Maybe Betta and I can head north to somewhere it’s not so damned hot all the time.

But, then, perhaps they would be better served in the south? Naples was too close, but there were places in Calabria and Sicilia were Cosmo felt sure they could lose themselves and nobody would follow. The places where the Mafia’s word was law, perhaps.

After all… it’s what I know.

Cosmo slipped down the stairs beneath the dappled shade of the creeper-covered pergola. Wherever they were going, it was likely they would be surrounded by tenement blocks and concrete rather than mountains and flowers… but nature was overrated. Or maybe they’d be overcome by some disaster before they could get anywhere? He remembered the dream where he’d been dead at the side of the road. It had seemed so real…

In the end, what did it any of it really matter? What was life but for a series of crushing disappointments?

He followed the stone walkway down the side of the car park, hugging the strip of shade cast by the high stone wall. Cosmo walked most of the way down it then sat down on the last flight of steps.

It was ironic, really; the last few days had brought him full circle. Here he was, sitting alone just outside the gates to the old Neri compound. He got out his phone and dashed off a message to Elisabetta.

‘Fuck lunchtime. I’m ready now.’

A few seconds letter, his phone pinged with a reply.

‘Great. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ve got to be careful, though. I’ve been watching the house, and the police are there with zio Maurizio. If they see me go, they’ll catch up with me for sure.’

‘Where are we gonna go?’

‘I need to ditch the Vespa, it’s too hot… but it’ll get us to Amalfi. Once we’re there, we’ll take the first ferry we find. Cash. Harder to trace. Now delete this freaking message thread!’

Cosmo did. He felt hot and headachy. Elisabetta was already talking like a fugitive from the law. Was this really going to be their life from now on?

Give it up, Cosmo. Luca’s voice again. You’re better than this.

“As if, little bro,” Cosmo said mutinously. “I’m bad news. Didn’t you get the memo?”

He could only hope that imaginary Luca would shut up once and for all once the deed was done.

Once you’ve finally abandoned your family for good, you mean…

He shook the thought away and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. It was then that he became aware of voices approaching… real voices, this time, and then the gates to the Neri compound began to screech open.

There was nowhere for Cosmo to hide. He tried to shrink back into the shadows, but it was a vain hope that he wouldn’t be seen.

To Cosmo’s surprise, Marco and Giorgio came wandering out of the compound together, walking close, side by side. As the gates clattered to a rusty close behind them, they paused to talk.

“So… did that help you?” Marco asked quietly.

Giorgio shrugged. “I’m not sure. It seemed like an important place once… but it’s just a crappy dead garden, isn’t it? I don’t think I need to go there again.”

Marco smiled slightly. “It’s where we met.”

“That’s true,” Giorgio replied, returning the other boy’s smile. “So, maybe we should go back there once a year, the commemorate the anniversary of the day my life became slightly less shit.”

Marco snickered, but then his face fell. He turned to glance across the valley, staring up at the cluster of houses that was Campidoglio, high above the centre of Scala.

“Do you think the police have caught up with Elisabetta yet?” he asked.

“I dunno,” Giorgio replied morosely, following his gaze. “But it’s for the best, isn’t it? We can’t go on like this.”

Marco inclined his head. “I guess.” He glanced at the other boy. “I’ll be here for you, you know.”

Giorgio nodded. His brown eyes suddenly looking unguardedly into Marco’s, he slipped his hand into the other boy’s for a moment, leaned forward and planted a peck on his cheek.

“Ah, c’mon…” Marco pulled away slightly, looking flattered and bashful.

Cosmo blinked.

“…the fuck?” he muttered.

Both boys wheeled around to face him. Giorgio just looked startled and a little frightened, but Marco seemed to register the oddness of the situation at once. With an intense stare, he looked Cosmo up and down, particularly eyeing the loaded rucksack on his back.

“What’s going on, Cosmo?” he asked suspiciously. “Are you going somewhere?”

It was like Pietro all over again, only this kid, Cosmo suspected, wasn’t going to let him get off so easily. He cursed his luck and bad timing.

“Mind your own business, kid,” he blustered. “It’s a free country.”

Marco closed the distance between them. Giorgio trailed along reluctantly in his wake.

“You’ve got to stay here, Cosmo,” Marco said. “There’ll be a trial. You’ve got to tell them what you know.”

“Like hell,” Cosmo shot back. “There’s not gonna be any fucking trial, so butt out.”

Marco’s eyes narrowed at once. “What do you mean, there won’t be a trial?”

Jesus, Cosmo, stop running your mouth! Elisabetta’s voice this time. You’ll give the whole freaking game away!

“Nothing,” Cosmo retorted. “I don’t mean anything.”

But Marco wasn’t fooled. “You’re leaving, aren’t you? With her. I can tell.”

“You don’t know what you’re fucking talking about.”

“The police won’t let you get away, you know,” Marco replied. “What’s your getaway vehicle? A clapped-out old Vespa? They’ll catch up with you in no time.”

Cosmo smirked. “Yeah, well, I hope they can swim.”

Marco nodded. “So, you’re taking the ferry, then.”

For fuck’s SAKE, Cosmo!

Now imaginary Elisabetta’s voice carried a note of real despair. Cosmo cursed himself inwardly.

“So what if we are?”

Marco shook his head. “They’ll be watching the valley. They’ll cut you off before you can even get to the coast.”

Cosmo scowled. Yeah. You’re going to make sure of it, aren’t you? So much for fucking friendship.

“Yeah, well,” Cosmo countered, “you’d better tell them to let us by, because I don’t think Betta’s gonna let them take us alive.”

He punctuated the last remark by drawing two fingers across his throat. Giorgio blanched, recoiling slightly.

“What do you mean?” he asked quietly.

Looking at the fear that had suddenly bloomed in the younger boy’s eyes, Cosmo regretted his outburst at once.

“Ah, nothing,” he bluffed. “Forget it, kid.”

But now they were both looking at him doubtfully, their eyes dark and fearful.

“Come on, Giorgio,” Marco whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”

They pushed past him and hurried on up the steps, leaving Cosmo sitting anxiously on his own. He had a feeling their plans were about to unravel in a big way. Once more, he pulled out his phone.

‘Hurry up. We have to get out of here NOW!’

* * *

By the time Cosmo finally heard the telltale rattle of Elisabetta’s Vespa approaching, he was going quietly out of his mind. He had given so much away in his chat with Marco and Giorgio – how much had they had time to work out, who had they managed to tell? Could they still hope to make their escape?

Elisabetta clattered down the ramp to the lowest level of the car park and spun the bike to a halt at the foot of the steps, where she waited, the elderly engine rattling erratically beneath her. To Cosmo’s surprise, she was wearing a helmet; it was a lean disguise, but he supposed it had left her a slightly greater chance of passing unnoticed.

He supposed there wasn’t much chance of that once he was riding pillion.

“Get on!” Elisabetta called impatiently.

Cosmo hitched his bag onto both shoulders and hurried over to join her. He shuffled onto the back of the scooter and wrapped his arms around her narrow waist.

“Sorry I took so long,” Elisabetta shouted over the steady rattle of the engine. “I had to slip by the police. What’s going on, Cosmo? It’s almost like they were looking for me.”

“I think I screwed up,” Cosmo confessed. “I said something stupid to Marco and Giorgio. I’m sorry.”

Elisabetta sighed harshly. “It doesn’t matter. If my little brother wants to stay here with our drip of an uncle and call him ‘Papà’, that’s his call. But there’s no way I’m going back now, and I think you’re with me. You and me versus the world, Cosmo. It’s do or die, right?”

“Right,” Cosmo replied, trying his best to sound confident.

“Then hold on tight!”

Elisabetta gunned the throttle and the bike lurched into motion. She sprinted it up through the car park, wove around the automatic barrier at the exit and then they were climbing the tree-lined ramp, heading for the valley road and the tantalising prospect of freedom.

They negotiated a narrow curve behind the ancient church on Via Roma, and then they were descending the hill with the open valley to the left. So far, there had been no sign of the police. Cosmo clung to Elisabetta, his heart pounding with anxiety and just a trace of elation.

“Adio, Ravello!” he called triumphantly over his shoulder as the buildings of the town began to recede behind them. “What do you want to do when we get out of here, Betta?”

“We have to get out of here, first,” she replied grimly.

The first sign that anything might really go wrong came as they swept round the hairpin bend at the head of the valley and began to head down its centre. Cosmo thought he glimpsed a flash of black and red descending the road from Scala on the far side of the valley: it might have been a Carabinieri car… but even if it was, they had a good lead on it. He clung on tighter, and Elisabetta opened up the throttle some more, using the downward slope to her advantage. Their slipstream rippled through Cosmo’s hair, and he closed his eyes, revelling in the feeling. If this was what life on the run was going to feel like, maybe it wasn’t so bad.

The olive groves below town gave way to wild scrub as they descended deeper into the rocky gulley. Soon they had reached the first of two double hairpins at the heart of the valley. Cosmo clung to the older girl and leaned with her as they took the two corners, and then the blue sea swung into view in the distance.

“Bring it on!” Cosmo called softly; for the first time since his arrival here, he had found the sight beautiful. The hazy blue horizon suddenly seemed rife with the possibilities of freedom and adventure.

The second double hairpin was upon them. Elisabetta chuckled faintly as she swung the Vespa round the first corner, but then she jammed on the brakes so hard that Cosmo was almost thrown from his seat; lose chippings scooted out behind them.

“Crap!” she cursed quietly. A short distance down the hill, between the two bends, a second black and red police car had just slipped out of the Pontone junction, and it was closing on their position. Their path ahead was blocked.

With a further shower of gravel, Elisabetta turned the scooter round as if to head back up towards town, but there was no escape to be found that way either. The car that Cosmo had glimpsed descending from Scala had finally caught up with them. Panickily, Cosmo looked first one way, then the other, but they were pinned. They were trapped between two mountains, with nothing but empty space at their backs.

The police cars pulled to a halt at a safe distance, carefully straddling the road to block off any possibility of escape in either direction. The passenger window of the car from Scala wound down and Valentina Forza leaned out, clutching a bullhorn in one hand.

“Elisabetta Pellegrino!” she called. “Please dismount from the vehicle and remove your helmet.”

“Like hell!” Elisabetta shot back.

“Your escape attempt does you no credit, signorina Pellegrino,” the police chief called. “Nor does it do anything to help the young man riding at your back. Now kindly do as I’ve asked, before we have to force the issue.”

Elisabetta cursed under her breath and killed the engine.

“The game’s up, Cosmo,” she muttered.

Shakily, Cosmo slid down from the bike and backed away. Elisabetta dismounted and heeled the bike over without even bothering to drop the kickstand. It fell to the dirt in front of them with a loud clatter, shattering the offside mirror, which skittered away from them in pieces. Once the dust had settled, Elisabetta removed the helmet from her head and threw it down next to the bike, glaring imperiously at the police chief.

Valentina pushed open the passenger door of her cruiser and levered herself out, setting the bullhorn down on the roof.

“Elisabetta Pellegrino,” she said evenly, “I’m arresting you on suspicion of the assault and attempted murder of Pietro Rossi. My colleague will read you your rights.”

The driver was already clambering out of the other side of the car with a notebook in his hands. They began to advance towards Elisabetta and Cosmo, but then they halted abruptly, looking startled.

Cosmo glanced at his companion and blanched. She had produced her Swiss army knife from somewhere and was brandishing it threateningly at the police officers.

“Betta!” Cosmo protested weakly, but the older girl ignored him.

“Don’t come any closer!” Elisabetta called warningly. She grabbed Cosmo fiercely by the upper arm, pointing the knife at his neck. “I’ll use this!”

Cosmo gaped at her, his jaw working soundlessly. She was bluffing, surely…? But, to his dismay, he realised he wasn’t sure. Now that events were finally spiralling towards whatever ending fate had in mind for them, he could see the madness that danced deep within her eyes.

There were audible clicks from both sides as the drivers of the two cars drew their service pistols, training them at the older girl.

“Don’t make things worse, signorina!” Valentina entreated her. She had not drawn her weapon. “Let the boy go.”

Elisabetta shook her head and began to back up towards the low concrete wall at the edge of the bend behind them.

“I’m sorry, Cosmo,” she muttered, lowering the knife to her side. “But we both knew it could come to this, right?”

Cosmo glanced at her and, with a sinking feeling, he realised she was right. Where could he really hope to go, after this?

Together, they clambered up onto the wall. It was only a foot or so high, and it was easy. Beneath them, a sheer rocky cliff draped with a few straggly plants led straight down to the next stretch of road several metres below.

They exchanged a glance, and a moment’s understanding passed between them. Lowering their feet over the side, they hung there together, feet planted against the concrete wall and empty space at their backs, clinging on to the coping stones with their hands as they faced the police. Elisabetta’s knife lay discarded in the dirt; Cosmo supposed it no longer mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.

The police officers hesitated. Lowering their weapons, they looked to their chief for instructions.

Valentina’s eyes were wide and anxious. “Put those away,” she hissed at them. She took another few steps towards Cosmo and Elisabetta, spreading her hands to indicate that she offered no threat. “This is ridiculous, ragazzi,” she said gently. “Please don’t do this!”

“Let us go and we won’t!” Cosmo called back desperately.

But the police chief shook her head. “I’m sorry, Cosmo, but that’s not how this ends. You must realise that by now.” She extended a symbolic hand towards him. “But you still haven’t done anything wrong. Let me help you.”

Cosmo shook his head. “No! Not without Betta!”

“Please,” Valentina entreated him.

“You heard him!” Elisabetta cried. “He doesn’t want your help! Back off, or we’ll jump!”

Valentina did. “Alright,” she replied quietly, “but you’ve got to talk to me. Help me to end this situation. Nobody wants you to die.”

Elisabetta glared fiercely back at her. “I’ve got nothing to say. People in authority have been crapping on me all my life. What makes you any different?”

Valentina was about to reply when there was a sudden commotion from behind her police car. She whipped round, startled, as three bicycles came charging past her improvised roadblock.

“What the…?” she exclaimed.

Three young figures were hurriedly dismounting at the side of the road.

“Get these children out of here!” she barked to her colleagues, making a grab for one of the new arrivals before he could get any closer.

“Let go of me!” Marco protested as he fought to free himself from her grasp. The driver, meanwhile, had intercepted Giorgio, and was dragging him, struggling, back towards the police car.

The third young figure, who had escaped their clutches, came to a halt just beyond the toppled Vespa, staring at Cosmo with horror etched in his vivid green eyes.

“Shit,” Elisabetta muttered quietly to herself.

“Cosmo…?” Luca said in a trembling voice. “What’s going on?”

Pain like a shard of glass penetrated Cosmo’s heart as he faced his younger brother, who stared back at him, regressed to a child, for the moment, by fear and confusion. Luca was the last person he had wanted to witness this. Dimly, behind Luca, Cosmo saw Valentina and the driver release Marco and Giorgio, cautioning them to stay where they were. The two younger boys complied, watching the drama unfold with the same dark, fearful eyes Cosmo had glimpsed earlier.

“I’m sorry, little bro,” Cosmo replied, “but this is right. I’ve got nothing to offer you. You, or anyone else here.”

A spark of anger flared in Luca’s eyes as his wits began to reassert themselves.

“Bullshit!” he cried. “You always do this, Cosmo. The minute things get difficult, get too real, you just run away!”

“That’s not true,” Cosmo protested.

“If it’s not this, it’s the weed or the booze,” Luca shot back. There were tears streaming openly down his cheeks. “Don’t you see? I don’t want you gone, I want you here. I want you to deal with shit, sort your life out, be my fucking brother! Not to go away forever!”

He broke off, breathing deeply and harshly. There was a pause while Cosmo tried to take it all in.

“Are you saying you love me?” he asked miserably.

Luca shrugged fiercely. “Call it what you like,” he mumbled wretchedly. “I dunno. Just try it, for once!”

Torn and confused, Cosmo glanced across at Elisabetta. She was looking back at him with a harsh sort of sincerity in her dark eyes.

“Congrats, Cos,” she said. “It looks like you finally found something real.” She inclined her head towards Luca. “You should go to him.”

Luca stepped over the fallen Vespa and stumbled forwards, holding a hand out for Cosmo to grasp. He reached for it, and allowed the younger boy to heave him back over the wall. He tumbled to the tarmac and then staggered to his feet, reaching out, in turn, for Elisabetta.

Elisabetta’s eyes turned towards her brother, who was still waiting by the police car with Marco, watching in horrified silence.

“What about you, Giorgio?” she called. “Do you need me?”

Giorgio’s mouth opened and closed uncertainly, but no words came out.

“I thought not,” Elisabetta sighed. She glanced over her shoulder; distantly, Cosmo heard the growl of a diesel engine approaching, and he glanced over the wall to see the bus from Amalfi lumbering slowly up the road below.

Elisabetta’s eyes flicked up to Cosmo for one last lingering look.

“See you around, boyfriend,” she murmured wryly, then she let go of the wall.

Giorgio leapt forward with an inarticulate cry of dismay, but then Marco was there, pulling him back from the edge.

“Stop, Giorgio,” he gasped. “You don’t want to see this.”

The younger boy turned and slumped, sobbing, into Marco’s arms, then everything fell silent as Cosmo, Luca and the others looked on.

Even the cicadas had stopped singing.