One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(17)

Pallina lifted the doormat. The keys were there, as promised. It took her a little while to pick out the one for the front door. She climbed up to the second floor and slowly opened the door. A voice came down the hallway. She recognized it. It was Daniela’s. She was talking on the telephone.

“Dani, where are your folks?”

“Pallina, what are you doing here?”

“Answer my question. Where are they?”

“They’re out.”

“Good! Get off that call, and quick. You need to leave the line free.”

“But I’m talking to Marcello. And where’s Babi? She came looking for you.”

“That’s why I need you to get off the phone. Babi might call. The last time I saw her, she was on the back of Step’s motorcycle being chased by city traffic cops.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“My sister is just too cool.”

*



The dust had slowly settled. Low, gray clouds were floating up above in the moonless sky. Everything around her was silent. Not a single light. Except for a small spotlight in the distance, fastened high on the wall of a house.

Babi stepped away from the wall and crossed the road. It was hard to walk on that uneven old cobblestone surface. She took a few steps.

From a distance came the sounds of the countryside. She caught a strong whiff of manure scattered on the fields. A faint breeze moved the branches of the trees. She felt alone and lost.

She was afraid. If for no other reason than that she really didn’t want to be forced to spend the night in this place.

Who could say where Step was. Had he eluded their pursuit?

Babi headed toward the little spotlight. She was walking slowly along the wall, with her hand flat on the fence, careful where she put her feet, among tufts of tall wild grass. Could there be snakes here? An old memory from her science textbook reassured her. Snakes aren’t out at night.

But rats are. There must be plenty of them around there. And rats bite. Urban legends. She remembered someone, a friend of a friend, who’d been bitten by a rat. He’d died very quickly. Lepto-something. Terrible. She veered away from the tufts of grass, dangerous hiding places for death-dealing rats. Darn that Pallina.

Babi walked to the center of the road, dragging her feet, her hands out in front of her. Suddenly she heard a sound off to her left. Babi stopped. Silence.

Then a branch snapped. Something came moving fast toward her, running, panting, through the shrubbery. Babi was terrified. Motionless, paralyzed in the middle of that dark road.

Out of the dark patch of vegetation in front of her came a big dog with a black coat, snarling. Babi saw its silhouette come barking toward her, moving at top speed through the night. Its baying bark echoed ominously over the solitary hills.

Babi turned and started to run. She slipped and nearly fell on the cobblestones. She recovered, stumbling through the darkness, hurrying forward, unable to see where she was going.

The dog was right behind her. It was galloping menacingly, gaining ground. Snarling and barking ferociously. Babi reached the palisade. She found a gap, up high. She stuck in her hand, then the other hand, and finally found a foothold. Right foot, left foot, and up and over. Leaping into the void, barely eluding the sharp white fangs behind her.

The dog slammed against the fence. It bounced off with a dull, hollow thud. It started running back and forth, barking, searching in vain for an opening, a space through which to reach his prey.

Babi got back up. She’d hit her hands and knees falling face forward in the dark. She’d landed in something warm and soft. It was mud. It slid slowly down her jacket, down her jeans. Down her aching hands. She tried to move. Her legs sank into the mud up to the knee. She almost tripped and fell. She regained her balance. She stood still. The dog was running far away along the palisade. Let’s just hope there’s not a way through. She could hear it barking, even more ferocious than before because it couldn’t get to her. Well, better this mud than a dog bite.

Then, all at once, an acrid odor, with a hint of sweetness, swept over her. She put her filthy hand up to her face. She sniffed at it. For a moment the countryside seemed to envelop her and make her its property. A shudder ran down her spine. Manure! That turned out not to be such a great trade after all.

*



Pallina stepped out of the front door, letting it shut gently without clicking locked. Then she took the keys out of her pocket, bent over, lifted the doormat, and put them back in the agreed-upon spot.

Babi hadn’t phoned yet. But at least this way she wouldn’t have to ring to get in.

Just then, Pallina heard the sound of a car. From the curve in the courtyard, a Mercedes 200 appeared. She recognized it. It was the same car that often brought Babi to school in the morning. Her parents.

Pallina let the doormat drop and ran toward the front door. She let it slam behind her. She took the stairs at a run, went inside, and shut the door behind her.

“Quick, Dani, your folks are home.”

Daniela was standing in front of the refrigerator in the throes of the usual terrible hunger that visited her at two in the morning. For that one time, she’d have to go to bed hungry. She slammed the refrigerator door. She ran to her room and shut herself in.

Pallina rushed into Babi’s bedroom. She took off her shoes and hid them behind the curtain near the window. Then she lowered the shutter and slipped into bed, fully dressed. Her heart was pounding. She lay still and listened. She heard the noise of the roller gate in the garage being shut. It was a matter of minutes now.