the island in two, he would need more than half an hour to reach home, which would be too long for his father’s patience. He could imagine the familiar figure opening the door forcefully and taking the “educational belt” hanging on a hook as a warning to the children. He would grab it with his right hand, fold it so that it became very short and give his palm a short slap. As a warm up. Without realising, the boy stroked his backside.
“It’s dark,” said Bruno.
“It won’t happen. Let’s go.”
Luka persisted, as expected.
“Let’s wait! Maybe it’s still too light. The moon is so bright tonight!”
The boy looked through the branches of the trees and stared at the moon. Only a sliver of it was still missing. Its silver light made them look like princes. He looked at Adriano, who was breaking a pine-tree branch by beating it against the ground. He picked up a new one, squeezed it in his palm and rapidly hit the stones. The thin wood broke without a noise.
Suddenly Adriano’s left cheek became green.
They jumped to their feet and grabbed hold of the tree trunks.
“That’s it!” breathed Bruno.
“Don’t go!”
“I’m going!”
The boy stepped forward and only now got a front-row view. The whole house was completely dark, apart from the cellar window. It did not look as if somebody was shining something to light the stairs while they walked down. The window just lit up suddenly and completely with a dense green light, which cut across the meadow and penetrated the pine-trees.
The colour was indescribable and it looked (oddly?) evil, unnaturally poisonous. Who was it who had said that?
The boy stopped and looked at it.
“Well, can you see now?” said Luka. “Do you understand now?”
“Yes, I understand. Are you coming with me?” replied the boy bravely, even though he did not feel courageous. He was tingling from the inside of his arms through his armpits and across to his heart.
“Holy Mary, be with me,” he said to himself, stepping onto the grass and starting to approach the house.
It was probably some stupid thing. Brandy making? That’ll be it! Or…? What could produce such a colour? He thought hard but could not think of anything.
He stepped into the light and when he looked towards its source he was not blinded. He could make out the window frame and occasionally, just for a split second, a shadow moving around. Or shadows?
A silly thought: he was spying on people whose names he did not know. Then he recalled he had heard the name of the Indian woman, but like the rest of the villagers he could not remember it. It was too foreign and difficult to pronounce. He had never seen the child either and did not know his name. Nobody in the village did, even though nobody found that strange or at least they never talked about it. But they talked about everything else, oh yes!
He could sense the looks of those in the woods. To go back, like Luka did? To be his equal? Never! After all the trials of the day he had already surpassed him. He was not aware of the fact that in the morning when he had started the whole thing it was only to become their equal, and now it was all about proving that he was different, superior.
A shadow, this time he definitely saw a shadow behind the glass. A raised hand? Holding something? How strangely it was lowered! So… He could not quite see, he had to go nearer.
He started to count his steps. Ten. And the shadow crossed the light again. Another ten steps and again the shadow.
Another ten steps, the shadow.
Another ten steps…
…he was by the window.
He looked through.
Adriano was the first to lose his nerve.
“What the hell is he doing?”
Nobody answered. It did not matter, the question sounded rhetorical anyway. They were each pressed against a pine-tree, looking towards the green cellar window. The boy stood in front of the window, motionless, like a foreign body in the rays of light, staring inside. None of them had a watch but they knew quite a lot of time must have passed already. The knees of those who were kneeling were beginning to hurt. Bruno leant his cheek against a sticky patch of tree sap and — a mistake! — tried to wipe it off, ending up smearing it all over his face and hand.
“Maybe one of us should go and get him?” said Luka.
“Who?”
Luka turned abruptly towards Adriano.
“You’re always taking the piss! Just watch it!”
“I’ve just about had enough of you,” said Adriano and they all felt he meant it. Even Luka himself, who started flexing his muscles whilst searching for words.
Not a sound could be heard from the villa. The crickets kept on singing, a gentle breeze started blowing from the sea, and the green blades of grass trembled in the shadow of the tree branches in rhythm with the needles above them.
“I’ll go for him,” said Adriano.
He got up slowly and his stiff knee-joint made a cracking noise.
“I’ll go,” he said again as if hoping that somebody would try to stop him.
Luka was looking down at the ground, feeling that his position was collapsing without a sound, even though he had taken so long to build it.
Slowly, hesitantly Adriano left the shelter of the woods. After a few steps Bruno joined him. They looked at each other and walked on side by side with a trifle more courage.
Bruno tripped and put his foot down noisily trying to catch his balance.
“Shhhh!” hissed Adriano and grabbed his elbow.
“Can you hear anything?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
“Let’s walk half way and then crawl,” whispered Bruno.
“Yeah, that’ll be better. Let’s not look inside otherwise we might freeze like the boy.”
They nearly turned round and ran back.
“We’ve got to save him!”
“We’ve got to!”
“Shall we go?”
“Let’s go.”
They started walking again and after a few steps Adriano realised that he was still holding on to Bruno, who did not seem to mind at all. Adriano let go, even though he immediately regretted it. Feeling somebody else’s pulse under his fingers had calmed him.
They fell to their knees and then onto their stomachs and started crawling. The light was spilling out above them.
“Don’t look inside!”
“I won’t! I won’t!”
They were pushing their faces into the grass and suddenly found themselves next to the boy. Adriano reached out with his hand and grabbed him by the ankle. The reaction was instant and loud. The boy screamed:
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
The light went off instantly. They expected voices, shouting, signs of excitement and pressed themselves into
