The Summer of the Selfless - 6. Chapter 6

A couple of days later, Daniele left the house early, dressed in a breezy yellow tie-dye t-shirt and a pair of white shorts. He had recovered from his accident, save for a few lingering scabs, and was planning to go on a long bike ride with his friends. Their destination was the Fontana Carosa spring, a remote and revered spot in the uppermost reaches of the Valle del Dragone, high in the hills above Scala. With Marco off on his travels, Daniele and Giacomo were due to rendezvous with Emilia and Luca in the fountain square and they were going to ride out as a group of four. It would also be the perfect time, they had agreed, to tell the others about everything they’d seen and heard in the compound below the car park a couple of nights ago.

Daniele was using the same midnight blue mountain bike he had owned since he was twelve. It still sported a pattern of slightly childish silver star decals, which had stubbornly refused to come off. He knew his friends and family would never judge him for it, though, and they were the only ones whose opinions really mattered to him.

At his parents’ insistence, he had packed a pannier bag containing two bottles of water and some basic first aid and bike repair gear. When he had protested that he wasn’t planning on going for miles and miles, his father had shaken his head patiently.

“It may feel like that now,” Paolo had said, “but you’d feel pretty foolish trying to cycle all the way back from the fontana with no drinking water and two flat tyres.”

Daniele supposed he was right.

Clipping the pannier bag to his bicycle, he wheeled it out into the street and closed the garden gate behind him, then set off up the hill at a moderate pace, keen to avoid tiring himself out before the proper bike ride had even started.

Years spent living on the Amalfi Coast had trained their muscles, and Daniele and his friends were all fitter than they realised. The city boy Daniele had once been would have struggled to make it even as far as town, let alone up into the hills, but the mountain boy he had become took it in his stride.

Time alone with Giacomo still felt a little unsettling and strange, so the part of Daniele that craved the familiar was relieved to be heading out as part of a larger group, even though their last outing together hadn’t been a great success. The other part of him, though… the part that wanted to discover more… well, that was still too confusing to deal with.

The weather had calmed down since the business with the postcards, and the summer had reverted to its full, baking form, with only the lightest of sea breezes to relieve the heat. Daniele continued to pace himself, making the best of the faint breeze that he himself created as he rode. He climbed round the second hairpin bend, passing the town’s modern concert hall, a low-slung edifice with a sleek curving roof tucked neatly into the landscape, and soon he was coasting through the cool tunnel that led into the cathedral square.

Daniele dismounted and wheeled the bike through the scattered crowds of early-morning visitors who were milling around the square, browsing the shops, taking photographs or simply admiring the view. The morning sun was shining on the umbrella pines again, and the cicadas were in good voice, making themselves heard easily above the chinking of coffee cups, the cooing of pigeons and the babble of quiet conversation. Across the valley, the zig-zagging road up through Scala beckoned, seeming like an impossible challenge from this distance, but Daniele thought they would probably manage it.

He couldn’t be bothered to take the circuitous road route up to the Toro, so he walked his bike past the cathedral and began to wheel it up the avenue of oleanders, bumping it gently up each shallow step amidst the sprays of pink flowers.

All was quiet in the Municipio gardens and along the grand main street as more sensible people hid from the heat of the morning. Daniele quickened his pace as he spotted Giacomo’s flashy scarlet mountain bike leaning against the front of his mother’s shop. He propped his bike up next to the other boy’s and wandered in through the open doors, blinking a little as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Colourful, hand-decorated ceramics adorned every available surface, from endless plates and bowls to jugs, mugs and tourist trinkets such as decorative tiles and light pulls.

Giacomo was standing by the counter, helping his mother to find something in a record book of some kind. Elena smiled and took it from him as she caught sight of the new arrival.

“Buongiorno, Daniele,” she said.

As usual, the contrast between Elena’s faded old dresses and Giacomo’s stylish, sporty clothes couldn’t have been more marked; the dark-eyed boy always seemed to get the best of any money Elena made from her business. Giacomo himself was wearing shorts and a sleeveless black vest top; the better to cycle in, Daniele supposed, although… it also had other benefits.

“Ciao,” Daniele replied, flushing dully.

“Have you been looking forward to your adventure today?” Elena asked.

Giacomo laughed. “It’s not an adventure, Mamma, it’s a bike ride.”

“Oh, I suppose not,” Elena sighed. “It’s just… I’ve heard there are snakes in those hills.”

“There are, signora,” Daniele smiled. “I’ve seen them. I nearly trod on an adder, once.”

Elena blanched. “Please don’t do that today,” she said. “Either of you,” she added, with a meaningful look at Giacomo.

“What’d I do?” Giacomo protested.

Elena shook her head fondly. “Too many things for words.” Turning back to Daniele, she went on, “No matter. I expect you’ll just be glad to spend the time together.”

Daniele frowned ever so slightly, glancing from Elena to her son, who had kept his expression neutral.

How much does she know…?

Surely, she wouldn’t be allowing Giacomo to sleep over with him if she’d thought…? No, he was probably just being paranoid, a state of mind with which, Daniele felt, he was becoming all too familiar these days.

“Let’s go, Dani,” Giacomo said. “Ciao, Mamma.”

Elena waved them off as they stepped back out into the bright sunlight, squinting in the sudden glare. As soon as they were out of sight of the door, Giacomo’s excitement seemed to go up a notch and he grabbed the startled Daniele by the shoulders.

“Finally!” he exclaimed rapturously. “Some real freedom. Let’s get out of here.”

Daniele snickered uncertainly. “What’s got into you?”

“This is what the school holidays are meant to be all about, aren’t they? Heading for the hills? Staying out all day?”

Daniele smiled. “I guess,” he replied. “We need to pick up the others first, though.”

Giacomo sighed. “Yeah, I know.” His dark eyes flickered down for a moment, before finding Daniele’s again. “Now we’re actually doing it, I sort of wish it was just us.”

Daniele shifted slightly uncomfortably on his feet. “There’ll be plenty of time for that,” he replied.

“Not soon enough,” Giacomo murmured, but then he turned away to fetch his bike. He flashed Daniele a quick smile over his shoulder. “Andiamo.”

They mounted their bikes and bumped them along the crazy-paved street. Passing the belvedere, they climbed slightly until they reached a tiny square at the top of the hill where the path split two ways, where the right fork, closed some time ago by a landslip, was finally under repair.

Taking the left fork, they coasted down a quiet leafy road until they rolled out into the fountain square. They sat down on the stone bench built into the outer wall, with the view to Scala at their backs. Accompanied by the soothing sound of gently trickling water, they stared contemplatively at the arched façade of the hotel where, just two weeks ago, their lives had taken such an unexpected turn.

And, two weeks later, we’re still going nowhere. How do I get out of all this?

Daniele gave his friend a troubled glance, only to find the other boy’s eyes flicking back towards him. They both gave a nervous giggle.

They broke their accidental eye contact just as a smallish female figure appeared from the dark little alleyway at the far end of the square. Dressed in her patched and frayed kitchen whites, Marco’s birth mother, Gemma Fardello, was on the way to her daily shift washing up in the hotel kitchens.

In unison, Daniele and Giacomo’s eyes tracked her across the square. Gemma seemed to realise she was being watched, because she faltered for a moment, casting a fleeting glance in their direction, and then quickened her pace. Soon, she had disappeared into the relative gloom of the hotel lobby.

“How was Marco?” Giacomo asked.

Daniele blinked. “Huh?”

“On his birthday,” Giacomo went on. When Daniele continued to look at him in surprise, he shrugged. “He’s still my friend, Dani.”

“He was… really good,” Daniele smiled. “Kinda… giddy, actually.”

Giacomo laughed slightly. “I can’t imagine that.”

Daniele shrugged. “Gianni and Angelo were about to take him off on this big adventure to Rome. I think everything that’s happened since Christmas has sort of blown his mind.”

“Kid deserves it,” Giacomo mumbled, fiddling with his fingernails for a moment, but then his dark eyes flicked back to Daniele, suddenly more serious. “Did he… say anything about us?”

Daniele chewed his lip uncertainly. “Only that you’d be… keeping me busy.”

A trace of a hopeful smile crept onto the other boy’s face. “Count on it… if you’ll let me.”

Daniele could feel a dull heat rising to his cheeks again.

“I’m… trying.”

The other boy frowned slightly, and Daniele could tell he was wondering why he continued to hesitate.

“Is it something I’ve…?” Giacomo began, but he was cut off as, with a clatter of spokes and a whoop, Luca swept into the square on an emerald-green mountain bike, closely followed by Emilia, whose sleek, aluminium-framed bicycle gave no concession at all to what convention dictated a girls’ bike ought to look like. They rolled out from the very same alley that Marco’s mother had emerged from only moments before and coasted to a halt in front of Daniele and Giacomo.

“Are you ready to ride?” Luca grinned.

Not for the first time, the moment was broken, and Giacomo rose to his feet.

“For sure,” he replied. He extended a hand to help Daniele up. “Right, Dani?”

* * *

Setting off in loose formation, they made the gradual descent from the fountain square, and soon they were flying down the valley road. While they rode in the shadow of the mountain ridge on which Ravello stood, there was a small amount of shelter from the morning sun, and Daniele relished the cool of it, knowing that it wouldn’t last for long.

Emilia and Luca led the way, while Daniele and Giacomo followed behind. There was a brief pause while they converged with the main road tunnel, and then they were down among the olive groves, descending into the head of the wider part of the valley, where they would take the Scala turnoff and leave the main road behind them.

As soon as they had crossed the brisk waters of the Dragone stream itself, they began to climb again, and Daniele started to change down through his gears. Here on the west side of the valley, there was no more shade to be had, and they pushed on up the dusty tarmac, the villas and palazzi of Ravello now a distant sight on the far ridge.

Emilia and Luca were already some distance ahead.

“You don’t think they’d leave us behind, do you?” Daniele panted.

Giacomo flashed him a quick grin, and Daniele sensed that his friend’s naturally competitive nature was battling with a newfound desire to be left behind.

“I’ll take it as it comes,” the dark-eyed boy replied.

But, as it turned out, Daniele needn’t have worried. The road seesawed back and forth through a couple of exhausting hairpin bends, and Daniele did lose track of their friends for a few moments but, at the junction just outside the village centre where they would be turning off towards the mountains, they found Emilia and Luca waiting for them in the shade of an olive tree planted at the side of the road.

The two of them were taking it in turns to sip from a bottle of chilled mineral water as Daniele and Giacomo coasted to a halt next to them. They were now on a level with the centre of Ravello on the far side of the valley, whose old buildings clustered around the cathedral square, framed by the distant sea. The scattered houses and terraces of Scala surrounded them, and a few locals waited at a bus stop that had been brightened up with containers of colourful flowers.

“How’s it going, guys?” Luca asked.

“We’re good,” Giacomo replied, “just not in a hurry.”

Daniele and his friend reached into their pannier bags and drew out their own drinks, taking a few welcome gulps.

“We’ve got something we need to tell you about,” Daniele said, in between swallows.

“Is it about the two of you?” Luca said, “’cos… we know, Dani.”

Daniele shook his head. “Nothing like that.”

“Okay,” Luca went on. “We’re listening.”

Daniele looked around at the passers-by and the small crowd huddled around the bus stop. He and Giacomo exchanged a glance, then they shook their heads.

“Not here,” Giacomo said. “Too public.”

Emilia frowned, looking a little mystified, but she shrugged. “It’s cool,” she said. “We can take a rest break at Santa Caterina. There’s hardly ever anyone around up there.”

Once everyone had got their breath back, they set off up the side turning, climbing gradually through the suburbs of Scala, flitting past scattered houses, fruit trees and high stone walls. Daniele could really feel the burn in his muscles now; fit as he was, it was still a long, sustained climb in the relentless sun. A group of swifts flew by, screeching shrilly, and again he found himself envying their power to take to the sky and ride the thermals.

After a few more sharp corners, the hill finally slackened off a little as they passed the leafy, vine-draped front terrace of Angelo and Claudia’s childhood home. With a break from the relentless climb, Daniele was able to enjoy the scenery a bit more. The quiet upper reaches of the Valle del Dragone stretched out before them, receding endlessly into the tree-crowned peaks of the Lattari mountains. Behind them, Ravello was beginning to sink into the landscape, and now he could just pick out the blue horizon above the palazzi and cypress trees of the Toro. Around them, the ecosystem was also beginning to change, transitioning from olive trees and pines to broadleaved trees and shrubs.

They squeezed on through the tiny hamlet of San Pietro, and then the valley landscape began to enfold them in earnest. Daniele pedalled determinedly on, even though beads of perspiration were breaking out on his forehead. He was glad he had remembered to put on plenty of deodorant that morning.

Up in front, Luca glanced over his shoulder.

“Almost there!” he called encouragingly.

Daniele and Giacomo exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes.

“We know, city boy!” Giacomo called back. “We’ve lived here longer than you have!”

All the same, it was with a collective sigh of relief that they coasted to a halt in the tiny, deserted square outside the church of Santa Caterina. On the mountain slopes, away from the cluster of old buildings that surrounded them, chestnut trees were now the dominant form of life.

They leaned their bikes against the whitewashed church wall, then they took over a shady corner bench beneath the wide, gently sagging canopy of an ancient tree. While Emilia and Luca sipped on their water bottles, Daniele and Giacomo stole across the road to a public standpipe, where they soaked their hands and wrists in blissfully cool water and used it to mop their fevered brows. Soon, they were laughing and flicking the water at each other, caught up in the moment.

“Guys…!” Emilia called impatiently from across the street.

Both thoroughly sprinkled with water, but cooler for it, Daniele and Giacomo returned shamefacedly to their friends and joined them on the bench.

“Having fun?” Luca asked, raising a sardonic eyebrow.

Giacomo flashed a quick smile at Daniele. “Always.”

“So, what’s this big secret you need to tell us?” Emilia asked, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear and watching them curiously.

“We think the Neri family are up to their old tricks again,” Daniele said.

“Neri?” Luca repeated sharply.

Daniele glanced at the other boy in surprise; his green eyes suddenly looked much more alert and focused.

“You know them?” he asked.

Luca shrugged, seeming to regret his outburst. “Never mind… go on.”

Giacomo took up the story. “Well, a couple of nights ago, we spotted Assunta Neri in town, and she was acting pretty suspicious.”

Emilia shook her head despairingly. “So… I’m guessing you followed her?”

Giacomo grinned. “Of course we did. You know what Dani’s like.”

Daniele whacked him on the arm “Not a stalker.”

“Oh, you know you are…!”

“Am not!”

“Anyway…” Giacomo went on, restraining Daniele’s arms in a tight embrace, “we tracked her to this sort of compound below the square, where she had this kid who seemed to be guarding something.”

“He had a knife,” Daniele added.

“And then Enzo turned up,” Giacomo said. “It looked like they were working together.”

Emilia frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. I thought Enzo hated the Neris, these days?”

“He said he wasn’t bothered because what they were doing wasn’t hurting the town.”

“Do you believe that, Dani?” Emilia asked.

Daniele shrugged. “I… dunno. I didn’t want to, but he was pretty convincing.”

“Anyway,” Giacomo said, “do you guys want to take a look, or what?”

Emilia looked uncertain. “The last time you guys tangled with the Neris, you were nearly killed!”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Daniele protested.

Emilia glared at him. “Get real, Dani. How else do you think that situation would have ended if Toto, Michele and Enzo hadn’t arrived when they did?”

“We’re not going to confront them,” Giacomo replied. “We just want to know what they’re up to.”

Luca’s green eyes were glancing alertly between them. “Sorry, ’milia,” he said, “but like to know more, too.”

Realising she was outvoted, Emilia sighed and nodded. “Fine.”

Giacomo grinned. “Cool. Let’s go back tonight.”

* * *

Remounting their bikes, they continued up the mountain road, which became ever quieter and more rural the further they went. Ravello and the sea had finally vanished from view, and there was no sound to be heard save for the droning of the cicadas among the sunnier, more open patches of the forest and the whine of their own tyres on the tarmac. The morning was hotter and stiller than ever, and they were glad of the patchy shade from the chestnut trees that overhung the road from the uphill side.

Climbing gently, they continued up into forestry territory, and soon the road was lined with piles of chestnut logs. There were still a few scattered houses and smallholdings, with the occasional olive tree or row of grape vines in the sunnier, flatter patches but, among the wilder areas, dry grass, ferns and brambles were taking over as they rose higher into the hills. Even though there were a few cars and utility vehicles parked among the trees, Daniele began to feel like they were the only people left in the world. If it hadn’t been for Emilia and Luca, chatting up front, the illusion would have been truly complete. He felt his spirits lift a little, as he often did when he was out among the countryside, at one with the sun, the dry dirt and the trees.

Finally, the paved road came to an end at a clearing strewn with logs. Ahead of them, the final stretch of their journey awaited, a dirt track that plunged on into the woods. Emilia and Luca were already freewheeling down the first stretch, but Giacomo skidded to a halt, sending a small cloud of dust into the air and a litter of pebbles skittering off into the woodpiles.

“What’s up?” Daniele asked, coasting to a halt beside him. “We’ll lose the others.”

Giacomo shrugged. “Let them get ahead,” he said. “They won’t care, and I’d rather just be with you.”

He disembarked from his scarlet mountain bike, laying it down casually at the side of the track. Puzzled, Daniele followed suit and stood with his hands in his pockets, waiting to see what the other boy would do next.

With Emilia and Luca already out of sight, true peace had descended upon the landscape. The tarmac road behind them shimmered faintly in the heat. As Giacomo wandered around the edge of the clearing, apparently searching for something, Daniele could hear every quiet crunch of his increasingly dusty trainers against the pebbles and shards of gravel.

Finally, Giacomo stooped and picked up a perfectly ordinary stone; an uneven piece of pale grey rock about the size of a walnut kernel. He approached Daniele and held it out to him.

Puzzled, Daniele drew his hands back out of his pockets and extended one towards his friend. Giacomo placed the stone gently within it and used his own hand to close Daniele’s fingers about it. Daniele’s heart fluttered uneasily at his touch.

“What…?” Daniele said quietly.

“It’s a friendship stone,” Giacomo said.

“Ah…” Daniele replied, with an uncertain smile. “Thanks, I guess?”

With a self-effacing laugh, the dark-eyed boy shrugged. “It’s kinda crappy, I know. I didn’t have anything else to give you. But… I guess it’s the thought that counts, right?”

Daniele nodded. “I’ll take care of it,” he replied sincerely, placing it carefully in his pocket.

Giacomo drew a little closer. “I know you will. You always take care of things that matter.”

Daniele chewed his lip a little nervously. “Is that what we are, then?” he asked. “Friends?”

“Best friends,” Giacomo said quietly. He reached up and brushed a lock of Daniele’s blond hair aside, and for a moment Daniele found himself locked into his gaze. Somewhere, far away, he felt the other boy’s fingers nudge up against his own.

No… not ready…

Daniele backed away a couple of steps. “Come on,” he babbled. “I think we should… I mean… the others will be wondering where we got to.”

“Dani…!” Giacomo protested.

“I’m sorry,” Daniele said, flushing dully as he mounted his bike. He set off untidily down the dirt track, heart pounding nervously in his chest.

Giacomo caught up with him a moment later, skidding down over the loose stones and dirt.

“Don’t you like me?” Giacomo sighed in frustration. “Ah, why am I even asking you that?”

“You know I do!” Daniele cried, cheeks burning in confusion.

“Then… would you stop running away?”

Now very close to the stream, the track meandered on through the woodlands, climbing gently as it passed a few isolated sheds, the last humble bastions of civilisation up among the mountain wilderness. Daniele pressed on, trying not to look at his friend, for fear that he would die of embarrassment.

At last, they had reached their destination. Together, they skidded into a clearing in the valley; a wide place in the track, where the stream started as a gentle trickle from the Fontana Carosa spring. Beyond the clearing, the streambed was dry, waiting for the next rainy season.

To one side of the clearing, a small shrine stood on a slightly higher path at the top of a grassy embankment with a low stone wall; despite their remote location, the shrine was well-tended, with Christian icons and colourful flowers. Opposite, a small flight of steps led up to a secluded corner where visitors could take the clear, fresh waters as they rose from the ground. A couple of cicadas droned on among the trees, and a few butterflies fluttered about, drawn, perhaps, by the ready source of water.

“There you are! We thought you’d got lost or something.”

Emilia and Luca had discarded their bikes and were sitting on the low stone wall, staring at them curiously. Hurriedly, Daniele and Giacomo disembarked from their own bikes, trying to act natural, and sank down onto the wall a few metres away from their friends.

“Want to taste the water, ’milia?” Luca asked. “I mean, we’ve come all this way.”

Emilia smiled. “Sure.”

Luca rose to his feet, took Emilia by the hand and led her up the stone steps towards the spring.

Giacomo placed an arm around Daniele, who tensed up at once.

“Just… stay here with me for a while,” he whispered. “Please?”

Daniele could feel his defences beginning to crumble.

He’s right… I can’t just keep running away.

Shoulders knotted tightly, Daniele gave an anxious little nod.

“And try to relax a bit, would you? Jesus.”

Giacomo took him by the shoulders and began to work his thumbs between Daniele’s shoulder blades. Under the other boy’s insistent pressure, his tense muscles began to turn to jelly. He squirmed, physically and mentally overwhelmed.

“Quit it, Giaco…” he protested. “Aah… where did you learn to do that?”

“Mamma gets so anxious sometimes, and it helps… I just never thought I’d need to do it to you. What’s got into you, Dani?”

There were voices and laughter from the stone steps as Emilia and Luca reappeared, looking refreshed and both a good deal wetter than they had only moments ago. Giacomo released Daniele’s shoulders at once, and they glanced slightly guiltily towards their friends.

“You should try the water, guys,” Luca said. “It’s so cold!”

He gave a little shiver to illustrate the point.

“Yeah…” Giacomo murmured. “Maybe.”

But neither of them moved.

Luca’s enquiring green eyes flicked from one boy to the other. “So… instead, you’re just going to sit there?” He rubbed his flat stomach for a second. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get hungry.”

Emilia nodded. “I could eat,” she said distractedly, most of her attention focused on Daniele and Giacomo.

“So, you’re okay to head straight back?” Luca asked her.

Emilia nodded again. “Yeah, no need to stick around.”

“Maybe we could try taking the mountain trail to Ravello and save doing all the roads again.” Luca suggested. “Think it’s cyclable?”

Emilia gave him a quick glance. “Most of it.”

Daniele glanced awkwardly at his feet. Giacomo, however, ventured a response.

“Actually, I think we’ll stay here for a bit,” he said. “No need to wait for us.”

“Are you sure?” Emilia asked.

Daniele forced himself to look back up at his friends. “Yeah,” he said quietly, forcing a smile. “We’ll be fine.”

“All right, then,” Luca said, glancing at his girlfriend with a neutral shrug. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds to it, ’milia.”

“Luca!” she hissed, punching him on the arm.

Luca winced and rubbed at the spot with a rueful smile. “See you this evening, then, guys. You know… for the spying.”

Giacomo nodded. “Nine o’clock, in the square.”

“Cool.”

The two slightly older teens fetched their bikes and began to wheel them up a narrower, dusty path that climbed up above the other side of the stream. They exchanged parting waves, and soon Emilia and Luca had disappeared from view. Daniele and Giacomo were left alone, in silence apart from the distant scraping of the cicadas and the quiet trickling of the spring.

“Thanks for staying,” Giacomo mumbled. He gave Daniele a sideways glance and inched slightly closer. “Can we talk?”

Quietly, Daniele nodded, forcing himself to face the other boy’s dark eyes.

Giacomo reached up and ran his fingers into Daniele’s hair once again. Daniele quailed slightly and swallowed hard.

“Is… this talking?” he whispered.

But if the other boy responded, Daniele didn’t hear it. Mentally, he was back at the arched entrance to the belvedere a year ago, peering through the darkness at two figures standing, silhouetted, by the railings.

“I had an amazing time today, Giaco,” Laura said, taking the other boy’s hand gently. He glanced down at it for a moment, looking a little startled, but he made no effort to pull it away. “Thank you for showing me around.”

“Me too,” Giacomo replied quietly.

“There’s just one more thing I’d like to do before we say goodnight…”

She leant forward, and Daniele was desperate to look away… but, just as in so many half-remembered bad dreams, he couldn’t. The two teens’ lips touched, and there was silence for a moment.

Giacomo released Laura’s hand and uttered an embarrassed little laugh. “Wow…” he murmured. “That was pretty…”

“…amazing,” Laura beamed.

Giacomo laughed again. “I guess so.”

Daniele drew himself back from the archway, pressing his back against the wall for a moment, eyes closed, breathing hard, trying desperately to draw strength from the warm, rough stonework. The world seemed to be spiralling around him. He wished, more than anything, that he had never thought to come here tonight.

His blue eyes flew open again, and he was on his feet, backing away from the other boy. Giacomo reached for him, dark eyes puzzled, but Daniele ran. He scrambled round the end of the grassy bank and onto the upper path, coming to rest against the chestnut fence opposite the small shrine.

He stared desperately up at the small effigy of the Madonna that stood in a niche in the stonework, her arms open in a gesture of blessing. He had never been a true believer, but if he had ever needed some guidance, it was now.

“Are you really up there?” he whispered through gritted teeth. “What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?”

But only one soul gave him an answer.

“Dani… come on…”

It was Giacomo: the dark-eyed boy had joined him on the upper path. Daniele looked down, his blue eyes confused and unfocused, as the other boy threaded the fingers of one hand between his own.

“Can we just stop this now?” Giacomo said.

He placed his free hand on Daniele’s shoulder and drew him closer, and Daniele found himself propelled forwards by a force not quite his own. The world fell away, their lips touched and, somewhere inside him, something long dormant sparked into life.

After a few seconds, they broke apart and, for a moment, there was silence. The sights and sounds of the world returned slowly to them, and they each smiled a slightly dazed smile at one other.

Daniele’s whole body was abuzz with new sensations. He had been kissed before… but it had never felt like that.

But, all the same…

He turned away and leaned on the chestnut fence, staring at an ancient, gnarled old tree that grew out of the grassy bank. It looked like it had been there for hundreds of years. A tear sprang to his eye, and he rubbed it away.

“Dani…? Are you okay?”

It was Giacomo. He had approached him again, and his dark eyes had never seemed so attentive, lacking any of their usual restless energy.

“I…” Daniele shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Giacomo sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I… well, I thought that was the best… but, if you want… what happened in this clearing can stay in this clearing.”

“You wouldn’t hate me if I did?” Daniele asked in a small voice.

Giacomo shook his head. “I could never hate you.”

Daniele sprang forward and pulled him into a hug. Surprised, the other boy wrapped his arms around Daniele’s back in turn.

“I don’t…” Daniele whispered.

“Don’t what?” Giacomo asked, releasing him and stepping back again, his clear brow knotted in confusion.

Daniele sighed. “I don’t think I want it to stay in this clearing. But… can I have a little while to think about it?”

“Yeah… sure, whatever you need.”

The other boy didn’t look like he fully understood, but there was a spark of hope in his dark eyes, and he managed a smile. Daniele supposed he could have delivered worse news.

* * *

Following in the others’ footsteps, Daniele and Giacomo wheeled their bikes up onto the mountain trail and then off-roaded their way back to Ravello, descending gradually through the chestnut woods until they emerged among the scattered houses on the lower slopes of Monte Brusara. They grabbed a snack lunch of pizza slices at one of the bars in the cathedral square, then parted company for the afternoon to freshen up and cool off – in more ways than one.

That evening, Daniele fixed himself a simple dinner of spaghetti alla carbonara made with eggs and crispy pancetta, then washed up and made his way back up to town to meet his friends for a second time.

Giacomo was already there, perched on their usual bench under the umbrella pines, dressed in one of his stylish shirts and a pair of dark blue, slim-fit jeans. It was a better outfit for spying, Daniele thought, than his own lavender tie-dye t-shirt and khaki shorts.

The dark-eyed boy sprang to his feet as Daniele approached. He seemed to have made even more of an effort over his appearance than usual, and he smelled good, too.

Daniele sighed. His friend clearly intended to make it as difficult as possible for him to turn him down.

“Ciao, Dani,” Giacomo said. His smile seemed a little different to usual… softer, somehow… but maybe it was just Daniele’s imagination.

“Ciao, Giaco,” he replied, and they sat back down together.

This time, Daniele felt sure that something had changed between them. They were shoulder-to-shoulder, but the strange energy he had been feeling for days had morphed into something different… something that felt less like a twitchy electric current, and more like a magnetic field pulling him towards the other boy.

Could it be that his body had already made the decision for him?

A few minutes later, Emilia and Luca appeared, strolling hand in hand up the tree-lined street below the square. They paused in the pool of light cast by one of the decorative streetlights, where they had a short, whispered conversation. They both laughed, a laugh which turned into a quick kiss on the lips.

Daniele and Giacomo exchanged a quick smile. Luca could be provocative at times, Daniele thought, but there was clearly more to him than met the eye: an undercurrent of decency that had attracted not only Emilia, but also little Sami, whom Luca had helped and comforted during the winter with tales of his own adoption.

Spotting them, the young couple walked over to join them. Luca gave them an appraising look; Daniele supposed he was looking for signs of a changed energy between them.

“Have you been together all afternoon?” Emilia asked.

Daniele shook his head. “No.”

Luca twisted his mouth in ironic amusement. “Did you guys have a nice time in the woods, though? Did anything… interesting… happen?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giacomo said lightly.

Daniele and Giacomo exchanged a quick smile at that, but then Daniele had to look away, because he was struck by a sudden, maddening urge to giggle.

“That’s too bad,” Luca replied, although his green eyes still flicked between them with interest. “So, are we going to do this thing, then?”

Daniele and Giacomo nodded and rose from the bench.

“Follow me,” Daniele said, and led the way towards the car park steps.

They walked quietly down the stairs, beneath the rustling leaves of the vines and the distant babble of conversation that drifted down from the square. They crept around the perimeter of the car park as they had done before, then Daniele squeezed through the gap next to the broken gate and offered Giacomo a hand to help him through.

Why does holding hands suddenly seem like the most natural thing on Earth…?

Luca came next, and he pulled the broken gate back a bit to provide a little more space for Emilia to wriggle through. Soon, all four of them were standing silently in the shadow of the outer wall of the small patch of waste ground.

Bending low, Daniele led the way along the inside of the low wall above the driveway and dropped to his knees next to the broken down section, hoping against hope that, after all the hype, there would actually be something for their friends to see.

As luck would have it, two figures stood huddled together in the gloom outside the lockup. From the hulking shape of the nearest one, it had to be Enzo. Daniele supposed that the other one, who was partially hidden from view, was probably the boy they had seen on guard before.

Giacomo, Emilia and Luca caught up with Daniele and crouched down behind him. He made a listening gesture, and they all tuned in attentively.

“Anything to report?” Enzo growled softly.

The boy shook his head. “Absolutely nothing,” he whispered. He sounded a little petulant. “I haven’t seen another living soul all afternoon.”

“And the goods…?”

“All there, of course. What else did you expect? This place is secure.” He sighed. “Do you have any idea when we’ll be rid of them?”

Enzo shook his head. “Assunta said she’ll call me when she knows. Until then, your job is very simple. Do your hours here, and make sure nobody interferes with the goods.”

“The goods,” the boy repeated bitterly. “Why can’t we just call them what they are? Nobody’s going to hear us here, no matter what Assunta says. They’re weapons.”

Daniele drew back from the opening in shock, and turned to face the others, who were all looking pale and worried in the moonlight.

“Weapons?” he mouthed.

“I’ve heard enough,” Emilia whispered. “We need to get out of here and take this straight to the police.”

“But the Carabinieri were up to their necks in it last time,” Giacomo whispered back.

“The new police chief isn’t like that creep Leggero,” Emilia replied. “Valentina Forza is clean.”

“As far as we know,” Giacomo hissed.

“It doesn’t matter!” Emilia whispered urgently. “You heard them, they’re talking about weapons. We shouldn’t be here!”

She glanced at Daniele and each of the others in turn, hoping to achieve consensus. Daniele nodded; after a moment, Giacomo signalled his agreement as well. But, when they turned to Luca, they found him creeping towards the gap in the wall.

“Wait a minute,” Luca whispered suspiciously. “There’s something about that voice.”

He peered through the broken-down wall and stiffened visibly. When he turned back to them, his green eyes were dark and troubled.

“It can’t be…” he whispered. “What’s he doing here?”

“Who?” Emilia asked urgently.

Luca took another quick look through the gap to make sure, then he backed away.

“That’s Cosmo,” he hissed, his usually open brow knotted with anger, “my no-good brother!”

The others gaped, staring at him in shock.

“You have a brother?” Daniele whispered.

Luca stared at them all, suddenly unsure of himself.

“I’ll… see you later…” he said, then he turned and hurried back to the broken gate as fast as he could.

“Luca…!” Emilia whispered after him, but he ignored her. He squeezed his wiry frame through the gate, and then he was gone.