The Lizard"s Bite.
by David Hewson.
IN THE SHIFTING DARKNESS OF THE VESSEL"S BOWELS, low over the undulating black water, the animal waited, trembling. The man, the much-loved man, his master, worked around him, puzzled by the creature"s fear, clucking sounds of consolation, not noticing events on the quayside above. Men possessed, the animal understood, a weaker, coa.r.s.er form of consciousness. Sometimes it seemed men scarcely noticed the presence of blood at all . . . .
FOR AN INSTANT the black breath of the sirocco eased. The Isola degli Arcangeli-small, solitary, shining in the brief glimpse of moonlight-was still. Then the night wind returned, more fierce and relentless than before. The fragile frame of the grandiose palazzo shook beneath the onslaught. Shards of brittle gla.s.s tumbled from the shutters half-finished by the restoration men only the day before. Close by, clouds of sandy dust raked the golden stone of the Arcangeli"s mansion, hammering at the ornate windows arching out over the lagoon. On the other side of the palazzo, in the foundry, once the mother lode of the Arcangeli clan"s fortunes, the blast chased down the single funnel chimney, probing for some weakness, like a giant from the world beyond breathing into a fragile paper bag, rattling the rickety high doors, bending the misshapen gla.s.s roof with its brittle span of supporting ancient timbers. the black breath of the sirocco eased. The Isola degli Arcangeli-small, solitary, shining in the brief glimpse of moonlight-was still. Then the night wind returned, more fierce and relentless than before. The fragile frame of the grandiose palazzo shook beneath the onslaught. Shards of brittle gla.s.s tumbled from the shutters half-finished by the restoration men only the day before. Close by, clouds of sandy dust raked the golden stone of the Arcangeli"s mansion, hammering at the ornate windows arching out over the lagoon. On the other side of the palazzo, in the foundry, once the mother lode of the Arcangeli clan"s fortunes, the blast chased down the single funnel chimney, probing for some weakness, like a giant from the world beyond breathing into a fragile paper bag, rattling the rickety high doors, bending the misshapen gla.s.s roof with its brittle span of supporting ancient timbers.
The high-summer gale from the Sahara had been over the city for three days now. Dry choking dust lurked in its belly, working its way into the crevices of the fornace, fornace, disturbing the precious process, looking for something clean and bright and perfect to despoil. The daily yield of good gla.s.s, which had never been on target of late, was as low as he could remember. The disturbance was everywhere. Dust devils swirled over ca.n.a.ls and chased each other in and out of the island"s constricted alleys. Beyond Murano, across the lagoon, in Venice proper, churning black water fetched by the wind now lapped insistently over the stonework at the edge of the Piazza San Marco. disturbing the precious process, looking for something clean and bright and perfect to despoil. The daily yield of good gla.s.s, which had never been on target of late, was as low as he could remember. The disturbance was everywhere. Dust devils swirled over ca.n.a.ls and chased each other in and out of the island"s constricted alleys. Beyond Murano, across the lagoon, in Venice proper, churning black water fetched by the wind now lapped insistently over the stonework at the edge of the Piazza San Marco.
The August storm took away the month"s familiar enervating heat and put something alien in its place. Even now, at just after two in the morning, under the frank gaze of a full moon stained rusty by the storm, the lagoon seemed breathless, starved of oxygen. He wasn"t the only one awake, panting in the dry heat. Beyond the Isola degli Arcangeli lay an entire city choking on the sirocco"s sand-filled wheezings. He listened to the storm"s anger as it threw itself upon the fragile sh.e.l.l of the foundry. The wind"s sighs seemed to vibrate to the rhythm of the deep, smoky gasps of the hulking primitive furnace in front of him.
Half loved, half hated, the leviathan stood at the heart of the solitary room, roaring as the wind"s blasts fought their way down its crumbling brick chimney and raked their scorching breath across its embers. He didn"t need to look at the temperature gauge to see the fire was too intense. The hemisphere of the interior was approaching a white, incandescent heat too painfully bright to look at. In its maw the costly crock of nascent slow-mix gla.s.s, ground cogoli cogoli pebbles from Istria and the soda ash of burnt seaweed, just as a Murano maestro would have demanded five centuries before, would be churning uncertainly, part of a mystery he directed but never quite controlled. pebbles from Istria and the soda ash of burnt seaweed, just as a Murano maestro would have demanded five centuries before, would be churning uncertainly, part of a mystery he directed but never quite controlled.
An hour before, nothing was out of the ordinary. Then, when he"d gone back to the empty office for a while, sunk a couple of gla.s.ses of grappa, trying to make the night go more quickly, Bella had called, demanding he examine the fiery beast before his time. She had given no reason, only vague forebodings. And she wasn"t there either, once he"d splashed his face in the office washroom, gargled some water around his mouth to disguise the stink of alcohol. He"d found one of the double doors ajar, walked in, closed it behind him and met nothing. The island seemed empty, dead. There was only one other worker around, Piero, the lowly garzone, garzone, who had turned up unexpectedly on his night off and was now shifting wood and ash from his boat outside. who had turned up unexpectedly on his night off and was now shifting wood and ash from his boat outside.
He shook his head, wishing the effects of the drink would disappear. The furnace was always difficult. The archaic use of both wood and gas, part of the Arcangeli"s secret process, made sure of that. But nothing now made sense. As he watched, the grunting, groaning monster roared again beneath the shifting bulk of the fenestrated roof, then exhaled in concert with the wind.
Uriel.
One-or both-seemed to whisper his name, taunting him. His father had called Uriel that for a reason. The Arcangeli were always different even when, before his time, they were just a bunch of bourgeois boatbuilders maintaining the last worthwhile squero squero in Chioggia. Growing up as a child in Murano, he was aware of the distance, always. You never met a Bracci or a Bullo who had to bear such a burden. They"d have been teased, without mercy, every single day in the plain, hard school by the church. Uriel Arcangelo was never mocked. Never befriended either, not even when he took one of them for a wife. in Chioggia. Growing up as a child in Murano, he was aware of the distance, always. You never met a Bracci or a Bullo who had to bear such a burden. They"d have been teased, without mercy, every single day in the plain, hard school by the church. Uriel Arcangelo was never mocked. Never befriended either, not even when he took one of them for a wife.
Maybe, the grappa said, laughing at the back of his brain, they knew what the name meant.
Fire of G.o.d. Angel of terror.
It was just another of his father"s cruel little jokes, to make every one of his four children an angel twice over, each with their set role. Michele to succeed him as capo capo. Gabriele to be the strong man by the furnace, the maestro with the pipe, seeing that the clan prospered. Or not. Raffaella to intercede when matters went too far, to bring a woman"s sense to their deliberations, to heal. And Uriel. The hardest, the loneliest of vocations. Uriel the magician, the alchemist, the family"s omo de note, omo de note, the Venetian"s whispered, almost fearful name for a man of the night, keeper of the secrets, which had been pa.s.sed on from the small black book that used to live in Angelo"s jacket pocket, kept from the curious gaze of outsiders. the Venetian"s whispered, almost fearful name for a man of the night, keeper of the secrets, which had been pa.s.sed on from the small black book that used to live in Angelo"s jacket pocket, kept from the curious gaze of outsiders.
Uriel closed his eyes, felt the heat of the furnace scorch his skin, recalling those last days, with Angelo fading towards death in the master bedroom of the mansion next to the d.a.m.ned palazzo, the money pit that had consumed them over the years. The image of that final night would never leave him. How the old man had ordered the rest of them out, made him, little more than a boy just out of his teens, read the notebook, study its ancient recipes, commit those secrets to memory. Uriel had obeyed, as always. So well that Angelo Arcangelo had called a servant and burned the book in front of his eyes, just ash and flames fed by lighter fuel in an ancient p.i.s.spot, as his father laughed, not kindly either, for this was a test. The Arcangeli would be tested, always.
By midnight, his family at his side, Angelo Arcangelo was dead, a pale, stiff cadaver on the white sheets of the antique four-poster where each of them had been conceived. In Uriel"s head the scene was as real, as cruelly vivid now, thirty years after, as it was that night. And the codes lay secure in his head still. Living, shifting potions of a.r.s.enic and lead, antimony and feldspar, each betokening a shape or a colour that would form within the substance of the raw crude fritta fritta growing in the belly of the furnace, then metamorphose into something beautiful when the next magician, Gabriele the maestro, with his steely arms, his bellows for lungs, his pincers and his pipe, worked the sinuous, writhing form in the morning. This was how the Arcangeli tried to put food on the table, not by building growing in the belly of the furnace, then metamorphose into something beautiful when the next magician, Gabriele the maestro, with his steely arms, his bellows for lungs, his pincers and his pipe, worked the sinuous, writhing form in the morning. This was how the Arcangeli tried to put food on the table, not by building bragozzi bragozzi barques for Chioggia fishing clans. Magic made the Arcangeli money, kept them alive. But magic was a harsh and temperamental mistress, demanding, sometimes reluctant to perform. Now more than ever. barques for Chioggia fishing clans. Magic made the Arcangeli money, kept them alive. But magic was a harsh and temperamental mistress, demanding, sometimes reluctant to perform. Now more than ever.
Angelo had pa.s.sed on his secrets with a cunning, certain deliberation. The memory of his father"s face in those last moments-skull-like, grinning, knowing-stayed with Uriel always, taunting, awaiting the time when Angelo"s son would fail, as every omo de note omo de note did because theirs was an imprecise art, one which could be destroyed by an extra milligram of soda or a slight shift in the searing 1400-degree heat of flaming wood and gas. Even so, Uriel had memorised the formulae, repeating them constantly, burning them into his synapses, swearing that a day would come when he would find the courage to defeat the demon of his father"s last admonition: did because theirs was an imprecise art, one which could be destroyed by an extra milligram of soda or a slight shift in the searing 1400-degree heat of flaming wood and gas. Even so, Uriel had memorised the formulae, repeating them constantly, burning them into his synapses, swearing that a day would come when he would find the courage to defeat the demon of his father"s last admonition: Never write these down, or the foreigners will steal from you. Never write these down, or the foreigners will steal from you. He was still waiting. Just the thought now, long after his father had turned to dust, made him sweat all the more heavily beneath the heavy tan furnace ap.r.o.n he wore over an old, tattered cotton suit. He was still waiting. Just the thought now, long after his father had turned to dust, made him sweat all the more heavily beneath the heavy tan furnace ap.r.o.n he wore over an old, tattered cotton suit.
That time would would come. Until it did, the litany of recipes would race through his brain unbidden, unwanted, when he woke up, head throbbing from drink, in the blazing light of their apartment in the mansion. On those rare occasions he wrestled with Bella on the old, creaky bra.s.s bed, trying to find some other kind of secret in his wife"s hot, taut body, wondering why this was now the only way they could converse. come. Until it did, the litany of recipes would race through his brain unbidden, unwanted, when he woke up, head throbbing from drink, in the blazing light of their apartment in the mansion. On those rare occasions he wrestled with Bella on the old, creaky bra.s.s bed, trying to find some other kind of secret in his wife"s hot, taut body, wondering why this was now the only way they could converse.
"Bella," he murmured to himself, and was shocked how aged and dry his own voice sounded. Uriel Arcangelo was forty-seven. A lifetime of working nights in the furnace, the cursed, beloved furnace, feeling the fire break the veins of his hardening cheeks, gave him the complexion and the dull, depressed outlook of an old man.
"What is this?" he now yelled angrily to no one. He heard only the furnace"s animal roar in return.
He understood this fiery beast better than any man. He"d grown up with it, fought for hours to control its tantrums and its sulks. He knew its many moods: none better than the long, torpid hours in which it refused to come to temperature. It had never overheated before. The fabric of decrepit iron and brick was too insubstantial, leaked out too much expensive energy through its cracked pores.
A thought entered Uriel Arcangelo"s head. He"d been burned many times in the furnace. Once he nearly lost an eye. His hearing was bad, his sense of smell ruined. But there"d never been a blaze. A real blaze, the kind that had put rival furnaces out of business. That meant the Arcangeli were lax when it came to precautions. They"d never followed the fire department"s orders to the letter. It was always cheaper to send round the bribe than carry out the repairs.
The hose was outside, attached to the exterior wall of the foundry, a curling snake of dusty pipe. There wasn"t even so much as an extinguisher close by.
Uriel coughed. There was smoke in the miasma issuing from the furnace, a foreign smell too. Not thinking, doing this because it was, simply, what came naturally, he took out the flask of grappa, knocked back a swig, clumsily, aware that a dribble of the harsh liquid had spilled down his front, staining the bib of his brown ap.r.o.n.
She"d know. She"d sniff and she"d look at him, that Bracci look, the cruel grimace of hatred and despair that spoiled her features so often these days.
A noise emerged from the heart of the furnace. It was a sound that Uriel had never heard before, not from gas or wood or gla.s.s. A soft, organic explosion sent a shower of sparks flying out of the structure"s angry orange mouth. The lights danced in dusty reflections across the ceiling. The sirocco roared and shook the foundry as if it were a dried seed head shaking in the wind.
Uriel Arcangelo took out his own set of keys, walked back and placed the right one in the old mortise, just in case he needed to make a quick exit.
The furnace needed help. Perhaps it was more than one man could manage. If that was the case, he had, at least, a swift route of escape, out to the quay and the house beyond the palazzo, where the rest of them now slept, unaware of this strange event shaping just a few metres away on their private island.
THEY CALLED PIERO SCACCHI THE GARZONE DE NOTE, GARZONE DE NOTE, but in truth he was no boy at all. Scacchi was forty-three, a hulk of a man with the build and demeanour of the peasant farmer he was during the day, out on the low, green pastures of Sant" Erasmo, the farming island of the lagoon that provided Venice with fresh vegetables throughout the year. These days, his hard-won crops of artichokes, Treviso radicchio, and bright red bunches of but in truth he was no boy at all. Scacchi was forty-three, a hulk of a man with the build and demeanour of the peasant farmer he was during the day, out on the low, green pastures of Sant" Erasmo, the farming island of the lagoon that provided Venice with fresh vegetables throughout the year. These days, his hard-won crops of artichokes, Treviso radicchio, and bright red bunches of peperoncini peperoncini were insufficient. So, some months before, reluctantly accepting there was no alternative, he had approached the Arcangeli, spoken to the boss of the clan, Michele, and offered his labour at a rate he knew would be hard to refuse. were insufficient. So, some months before, reluctantly accepting there was no alternative, he had approached the Arcangeli, spoken to the boss of the clan, Michele, and offered his labour at a rate he knew would be hard to refuse.
It was common knowledge the Arcangeli were short of money. The pittance they bargained him down to was insignificant, even when paid in cash to circ.u.mvent the taxmen. But it was simple work, with flexible hours: picking up wood and ash from farmers and small suppliers dotted around the lagoon, transporting it to the family"s private island that hung off the southern edge of Murano like a tear about to fall. It entailed a little moving, a little cleaning, and the occasional illegal disposal of rubbish. The work kept Piero Scacchi on the water, a place both he and his dog liked, far away from Venice with its dark alleys and darker human beings. He"d grown up in the lagoon, on the farm his mother had bequeathed to him a decade before. When Scacchi was there, or in his boat, he felt he was home, safe from the city and its dangers.
Like him, the Arcangeli were different, but this bond never seemed to bring them closer. The family was insular, silent, in a way which Scacchi found sad and, at times, almost sinister. In spite of his solitary life, or perhaps because of it, he was a talkative man, outgoing, fond of a drink and a joke with his peers. He never sailed home from the early morning market trips to the Rialto entirely sober. Piero Scacchi knew how to be sociable when it suited him. These talents were entirely wasted once the Sophia Sophia navigated beneath the narrow iron bridge that linked the private island the clan called the Isola degli Arcangeli-an artificial name Piero found pretentious-and moored at the small jetty between the palazzo and the house, Ca" degli Arcangeli, where they lived, rattling around like pebbles in its echoing, dusty corridors. navigated beneath the narrow iron bridge that linked the private island the clan called the Isola degli Arcangeli-an artificial name Piero found pretentious-and moored at the small jetty between the palazzo and the house, Ca" degli Arcangeli, where they lived, rattling around like pebbles in its echoing, dusty corridors.
The family"s story was well known. They"d come from Chioggia under the reign of their late father, taken over the gla.s.s business, tried to turn back the clock and persuade a dubious world that it was worth paying double-or more-for a mix of traditional and experimental work that seemed out of place alongside the rest of Murano"s predictably gaudy offerings. The early years of novelty and success, under Angelo Arcangelo, were long past. Rumour had it the Arcangeli would go bankrupt soon or be bought out by someone with half a business brain. Then Piero Scacchi would be looking for more work on the side again. Unless there was a sudden rise in the market price of peperoncini peperoncini. Or some other kind of miracle.
He pulled his collar tighter around his neck to keep out the dusty wind, then groaned at the sight of the animal. It was lying pressed flat to the planks of the motor launch, face buried beneath its soft, long black ears, quivering.
"Don"t look so miserable. We"ll be home soon."
The creature hated the foundry. He"d called the dog Xerxes because it was the master, the general of the lone and desolate places they hunted together. The stink of the furnace, the smoke, the roar of the flames above . . . everything now seemed designed to instil foreboding into its keen, incisive black head. Out on the island, or in the marshland of the lagoon, hunting for ducks downed by Scacchi"s ever-accurate shotgun, the dog was in its element, fearlessly launching itself into chill brown sludge to retrieve the still-warm body of some wildfowl lost to view in the marram gra.s.s and tamarisk trees of the islets. Here it cowered constantly. Scacchi would have left it at the farm if only the dog would allow it. Just the sound of the boat"s asthmatic engine was enough to send it into raptures. Animals had little understanding of consequences. For Xerxes, every action was a prelude to possible delight, whatever past experience dictated to the contrary. Scacchi envied the spaniel that.
"Xerxes . . ." he said, then heard a sound, a strange, febrile hissing, followed by what appeared to be a human cry, and found, for a brief moment, he shared the creature"s fears.
He turned to look at the iron footbridge, one of Angelo Arcangelo"s most profligate follies, a grand design in miniature, crossing no more than thirty metres of water using a single pier, reached on each side by identical, ornate cantilevers. The short central span was built artificially high on the southern side, close to the lighthouse by the vaporetto stop and the jetty where Scacchi was moored. Here it was surmounted by a skeletal extended angel with rusting upright wings a good five metres high, the entire sculpture constructed of wrought iron. It looked like a tortured spirit trapped in metal. Electrical fairy lights outlined the figure. Its right arm was extended and held a torch which stabbed high into the air, a real gas flame burning vividly at its head, fed constantly from the foundry"s own methane system, day in, day out, in memory of the old man.
Piero Scacchi hated the thing as much as the dog did.
He listened again. There"d been a human sound floating down from the island. Now it was gone. All he could hear was the iron angel wheezing over the blast of the wind, choking and popping as the fiery torch flared erratically.
He knew nothing about gas. He was the night boy, the lackey, someone who carried and cleaned, tapped gauges to make sure they weren"t hitting the red, and called on Uriel, poor, sad Uriel, locked in his office with a grappa bottle for the night, should something appear wrong. Piero Scacchi understood little about the various contraptions inside, only what he"d seen from watching Uriel work them, flying at the wheels and switches without a word, throwing in kindling, adjusting the all-important fires to his Arcangelo will.
But Scacchi was wise enough to understand when something was wrong. The wind could, perhaps, extinguish the flame of the angel"s stupid torch, sending raw inflammable gas out into the Murano night. Except that the problem seemed to be a lack of gas, not an excess of it. As he watched, wondering, the torch died suddenly, expiring into itself with a sudden, explosive blowback.
The dog whined, looked up at him and wagged its feathery tail.
He"d every reason to go. He wasn"t even supposed to be there. Scacchi had stopped by only to save himself some work the following night. The Arcangeli got their money"s worth, always.
Then the hunter in him caught another sound. A human voice again, indistinguishable, whisked away by the sirocco before he could interpret it.
"Xerxes-" he said, and never finished the sentence.
Something roared into the night from the quay above him. A long fiery tongue, like that of some enraged dragon, extended into the black sky for one brief moment. The spaniel shrieked. Piero Scacchi threw his jacket over the small, trembling form, then fought his way up the slippery treacherous ladder next to the mooring, hearing the sound of a man"s screams grow louder with every step.
THE FLAMES IN THE FURNACE LOOKED WRONG. SO DID the smoke, a sooty black swirl escaping from the kiln"s mouth, then spiralling upwards towards the shaking roof. Uriel knew how the furnace was supposed to look. He could judge the state of the fire just from the intensity of its heat on the cracked veins in his cheeks. the smoke, a sooty black swirl escaping from the kiln"s mouth, then spiralling upwards towards the shaking roof. Uriel knew how the furnace was supposed to look. He could judge the state of the fire just from the intensity of its heat on the cracked veins in his cheeks.
There was something foreign now in the maw of the beehive structure, behind the crock of forming gla.s.s, something burning with a bright, smoky fury. He racked his half-drunk head, searching for an explanation, wondering what to do. Uriel Arcangelo had worked in here since he was twelve. The process was so familiar he scarcely thought about it anymore. Around five on a working afternoon he would load wood and raise the gas burner to 1250 degrees centigrade before placing the first crude load in position. Throughout the early evening, he or Bella would return from time to time to see the furnace rise steadily to 1400 degrees, adding wood according to his father"s specifications, until the furnace was hot enough to allow any bubbles to escape from the gla.s.s. Then around three, Uriel, and he alone, as omo de note, omo de note, would make his final visit and begin to lower the temperature gradually. By seven in the morning the gla.s.s he"d created would be sufficiently malleable for Gabriele to begin making the expensive and individual goblets and vases that bore the foundry"s trademark, the mark of a skeletal angel. would make his final visit and begin to lower the temperature gradually. By seven in the morning the gla.s.s he"d created would be sufficiently malleable for Gabriele to begin making the expensive and individual goblets and vases that bore the foundry"s trademark, the mark of a skeletal angel.
Nothing, in all his decades of attentive nighttime activity, fitted with the sight that lay before Uriel now: a furnace racing inexplicably out of control.
"Bella?" he called out, over the roar of the kiln, half hoping.
No one answered. There was only the call of the fire.
Uriel Arcangelo took a deep breath, knowing the decision that faced him. To close down the furnace would mean an entire day of lost production. The family was broke already. They couldn"t afford the blow.
Except . . .
There was always a lone, bitter voice at the back of his head when he"d been drinking. Except they"d scarcely sold anything at all of late. All they"d be losing was another set of unwanted items to store in the warehouse, alongside boxes and boxes of identical gla.s.s pieces of expensive, beautiful-they were were beautiful, he still believed that-works of art. beautiful, he still believed that-works of art.
Uriel looked at his watch and wondered whether to call his brother. It was now approaching three. The loss of a run was bad, but not so terrible that it was worth risking Michele"s wrath. Besides, Uriel was the omo de note omo de note. He was employed to make these decisions. It was his role, his responsibility.
He walked over to the tangle of old methane pipes and the single giant stopc.o.c.k that controlled the gas supply to the burners. It was possible he could adjust the temperature manually. He ought to be doing this by now in any case.
Then he remembered what he seemed to see when he stared inside the furnace"s belly, and turned to look at the spiral of smoke still working its way to the stained moon visible through the roof. Something was out of place here. And without understanding what it was, he found it impossible to a.s.sess the full degree of the danger. He couldn"t take risks with the furnace. If something damaged the beast itself, it would mean more than a lost day"s production. An extended closure could spell the end of the business entirely.
He gripped the wheel with both hands, fingers tight around the familiar marks, and began to turn, looking for ninety degrees to shut off the supply completely. Michele could complain all he liked in the morning. This was a decision that couldn"t wait.
Uriel Arcangelo heaved at the metal with increasing pressure for a minute or more. It was so hot it burned his desperate hands. It didn"t move, not the slightest amount.
He coughed. The smoke was getting heavier, becoming so thick it was starting to drift back down from the ceiling. His head felt heavy, stupid. He tried to run through the options in his mind. The only working phone in the foundry was by the door. The Arcangeli didn"t believe in cell phones. If matters took a turn for the worse-and he had to consider this now-he would have no choice but to call Michele and the fire station, get out of the building and wait.
Becoming desperate, he lunged at the wheel one more time. It was immovable. Something-the heat itself perhaps, or year after year of poor maintenance-had locked it into position.
He swore under his breath and with one last, somewhat fearful look at the furnace, started to walk to the door.
He was halfway there when he felt something move on his ap.r.o.n, an odd, hot finger tickling at his chest. Uriel Arcangelo looked down and refused to believe his eyes. A fire was sprouting out of the fabric over his midriff. A healthy, palpable tongue of flame, like that of an oversize candle, was emerging from beneath the vest as if his own body possessed some kind of internal burner beneath the skin. And it was growing.
The flame flickered upwards, outwards. He stamped at it with his sleeve, only to see the fire catch the fabric there, dance along his arm, mocking him, like the furnace itself, which was now wheezing at his back, louder and louder . . . .
Uriel. Uriel.
The air shook. Instinctively, he knew what had happened. One of the burners had crumbled into dust. The searing heat had worked its way back through the pipe, towards the dead stopc.o.c.k, feeding on the flammable carbon gas, devouring it every inch of the way.
The explosion hit him full in the back, so hard he fell screeching to the timber floor. He felt his teeth bite on the fossilised wood, felt something shatter in his mouth, sending a pain running into his head where it met so many other messages: of fear and agony and a dimming determination that he could survive all this, if only he could reach the door and the key, the magic key he"d had the foresight to leave there only a few long minutes before.
PIERO SCACCHI CLAMBERED UP THE RUSTY LADDER, STAGGERED onto land, then found his own momentum sent him tumbling onto the hard, dusty stone of the island"s tiny quay. He crawled on all fours, holding his breath against the force of the hot wind. His mobile phone was still in the boat. He"d no idea how to alert anyone nearby quickly, though someone, somewhere, would surely notice, even in this backwater of Murano, on an island that kept its little footbridge to the outside world permanently locked now there was no public showroom for visitors to see. And if the fire were to spread to the palazzo, it would threaten to move on to the house itself, where the rest of the Arcangeli tribe were sleeping, in their separate bedrooms spread throughout the capacious mansion. onto land, then found his own momentum sent him tumbling onto the hard, dusty stone of the island"s tiny quay. He crawled on all fours, holding his breath against the force of the hot wind. His mobile phone was still in the boat. He"d no idea how to alert anyone nearby quickly, though someone, somewhere, would surely notice, even in this backwater of Murano, on an island that kept its little footbridge to the outside world permanently locked now there was no public showroom for visitors to see. And if the fire were to spread to the palazzo, it would threaten to move on to the house itself, where the rest of the Arcangeli tribe were sleeping, in their separate bedrooms spread throughout the capacious mansion.
The burst of flame that had raged over the Sophia Sophia had died quickly. That, at least, seemed a mercy. But the cobbled stones of the broad jetty outside the foundry were now strewn with shattered gla.s.s and glowing embers of smouldering timber. Already he"d cut his hands stumbling into the shards and felt the burning stab of scorching splinters bite into his skin. had died quickly. That, at least, seemed a mercy. But the cobbled stones of the broad jetty outside the foundry were now strewn with shattered gla.s.s and glowing embers of smouldering timber. Already he"d cut his hands stumbling into the shards and felt the burning stab of scorching splinters bite into his skin.
Cursing, he climbed to his feet and lumbered towards the half-shattered foundry windows, trying to locate the human sound he"d heard earlier. The frames ran to the ground to allow spectators outside to watch the process within. Now a miasmic storm of dust and smoke poured out of the chasm the blast had made in the centre. He shielded his eyes against the black, churning cloud and tried to imagine what force could have wrought such terrible damage.
Scacchi had no experience of fire. It rarely happened on Sant" Erasmo, was scarcely worth considering on the boat. With its scorching breath in his face, he felt ignorant and powerless against the inferno"s might.
The old hosepipe was where he remembered, against the brick wall next to the double doors, curled like a dead serpent slumped against a hydrant that looked as if it hadn"t been used in decades.
Then he heard the hiss of escaping gas, and behind it the sound he"d heard before, magnified, a pitch higher: a human being, screeching in agony.
Piero Scacchi swore angrily, ripped the hose from its fastenings, lugged it under one arm and tore at the huge industrial tap with his powerful right hand. It gave, after much effort. A stream of water, not a powerful one, began to make an unenthusiastic exit from the nozzle.
He edged towards the shattered windows, directing the flow at the nearest flames as they ate into the tinder-like woodwork, watching them diminish reluctantly into a hissing, steamy ma.s.s, allowing just enough scope to let him get closer. Scacchi edged in front of the gla.s.s and the bright, sunlike light streaming from the interior. The colossal heat made each brief, laboured breath agony, made his skin shrink tight and painful on his face. And then all thoughts of his personal predicament disappeared as Piero Scacchi found himself full of grief and sorrow for the human being he knew, all along, would be inside.
SCACCHI RACED to the old wooden doors, tugged up the handle and heaved backwards with all his weight. Nothing moved. They were locked, from the inside in all probability. He could feel the force of the mechanism holding firm against his strength. Uriel must have had the key, he thought. But he was too scared, too gripped by the flames, perhaps, to use it. to the old wooden doors, tugged up the handle and heaved backwards with all his weight. Nothing moved. They were locked, from the inside in all probability. He could feel the force of the mechanism holding firm against his strength. Uriel must have had the key, he thought. But he was too scared, too gripped by the flames, perhaps, to use it.
"Uriel!" he shouted, not knowing how his voice would carry in this strange, fiery world beyond his vision. "The door, man! The key! The key!"
There was no human sound inside now, nothing but the triumphant roar of the inferno.
Scacchi threw aside the hose and looked around for something, some iron bar or timber, that he could use to pry open the entrance. The quayside was empty save for a few boxes of broken gla.s.s, ready to feed the new firings. Then he looked again at the windows and knew there really was no other way.
He"d saved a couple of lives on the lagoon before. Idiots from terra firma playing stupid games with boats, unaware of the dangers. If he"d been willing to risk his neck for them, there really was no excuse to stand back and allow a good man like Uriel Arcangelo to die in these flames.
"No choice," he muttered, and grasped the pipe beneath his arm. "None . . ."
Scacchi"s attention fell to the cobbled terrace by the boat. The dog had left the boat to find him. The animal now stared back from the edge of the quay, its terrified eyes burning with the reflection of the fire inside, black fur shiny and slicked back against its skinny body. Xerxes must have swum the short distance to the steps by the bridge, away from the ladder where the subterranean entrance lay with the Sophia Sophia moored next to it. Swum there in spite of his fear. moored next to it. Swum there in spite of his fear.
The spaniel threw back its head and let loose a long, pained howl.
Scacchi looked at the dog. He"d brought it up since the day it was born. It did everything he asked. Usually.
"Bark," he ordered. "Bark, Xerxes. Wake the dead, for G.o.d"s sake!"
Then, as the fevered yelping began to rise in volume, as the animal started racing back and forth along the waterfront, he tucked the hose beneath his arm and took a deep breath of the outside air, wondering how long it would last him in the ordeal ahead.
Cuts and bruises. Smoke and flame. In the end they didn"t matter much at all when a human life was at stake.
Piero Scacchi hammered out an entry route with the iron nozzle of the decrepit hose, widened it with his elbow. Then he launched himself through the remaining spikes and shards, feeling nothing because that would require a loss of concentration and, at that point, there was too much for one man to focus on. Everything-machines, walls, worktables, timber beams and pillars-seemed to be ablaze. He was entering a world that was not quite real, a universe of flame and agony where he felt like a dismal foot soldier fighting a lone battle against an army of bright fiery creatures.
One brighter, more animated, than the rest.