Chapter 9

There was nothing unusual in the way Orlanda led the maids (Dafne included) back to Capricorn's house and into the kitchen. And that was the point. Tonight Dafne had witnessed something that had completely shattered her opinion of Orlanda as Mortola's loyal lackey. Now privy to this she thought that she might now be able to glimpse subtleties in Orlanda's behaviour, which might further indicate this contradiction. However, in Orlanda's scowling face, there was not even a flicker of anything that suggested that this was a woman profiteering right under her mistress's beak-like nose. Instead Dafne realised that Orlanda's skill at maintaining this façade of an iron matron had probably allowed her to survive without being detected by the sharp eyes of Mortola. Dafne just hoped that Orlanda would uphold the pact she had made with Silvio.

Upon entering the kitchen, the maids dispersed to their stations for a cleaning ritual that took place every night before they were retired to bed. Dafne had been given the duty of sweeping the floor. This in itself wasn't a laborious task but it was one, which gave her time to agonise over what was to come. She wished she could at least confide in Resa but her friend was upstairs in Capricorn's sleeping quarters. Every night Resa would take up Capricorn's meal, staying to dress him in evening attire and turn down his bed. She would not return until Capricorn dismissed her and sometimes that was after the others had been locked in their rooms. Dafne didn't know how Resa summoned the courage to be alone with Capricorn but somehow she did. If Dafne was in her place, she doubted that she would be the same. Dafne had not seen Capricorn since being brought to him in the church and was grateful that her duties were confined to the lower regions of the house, away from his presence.

Nonetheless, she hoped that Capricorn would let Resa off early so she would have the chance to talk to her about what had happened. Unfortunately by the time that kitchen had been meticulously cleaned through the joint effort of the maids, Resa was still nowhere to be seen. As the maids grouped together at Orlanda's command, Dafne tried her best to dawdle. But there was no delaying the inevitable and soon Dafne found herself walking down the servant corridor with everyone else. As they approached Dafne's room, she began to feel a sliding sense of disappointment. It seemed that her chances of actually meeting with Silvio had been non-existent. Orlanda unlocked the door and held it open for the women to file past. As Dafne moved forward, she could not bring herself to look at the woman who had cruelly deceived her into thinking that she was the one who could help her do it.

Then she felt a firm, large hand latch onto her shoulder. Dafne froze, stricken by the touch.

"You stay here," Orlanda said.

Agnese, Mariana and Vannetta shuffled past her. Agnese and Mariana did not look back but she did catch sight of Vannetta's pale worried face before Orlanda closed the door. As Orlanda turned the key into the lock, Dafne knew that her fate was now at a crossroads. She would either be taken to Silvio or Mortola, and this woman had the power to decide which. In all likelihood, it was probably going to be the latter. After all, there was no reason why she should keep to the arrangement. She had already gotten her end of the bargain. And Silvio had little power against Mortola's second in command if she chose to break their agreement. Still she couldn't blame Silvio. For someone who lived with a gang of criminals, he was surprising naïve when it came to judging the moral character of someone like Orlanda. It was her fault. She should have been firmer when trying to deter him. But now it was too late and Dafne could see Mortola's ugly pinched face looming triumphantly down upon her…

"Well come on then!"

Orlanda's voice sliced through Dafne's thoughts. Dafne looked up to see that Orlanda had moved a little way back up the corridor.

"I haven't got all night," Orlanda continued, her tone impatient, "Do you want to see this kid or don't you?"

Dafne starred at her in shock. Had she heard correctly? She had said 'kid'. She was taking her to Silvio. At this revelation, she struggled to find her voice,

"Y-yes," she stammered.

Orlanda regarded her for a moment before turning back around.

"Follow me then," was all she said.

Wordlessly, Dafne fell into step behind Orlanda as they moved through the lower passageways of Capricorn's house. From the direction they were going, Dafne guessed that they were heading towards the servant's entrance at the back of the house leading out into the yard. She turned out to be right. Orlanda opened the door and Dafne stepped through into the night. She immediately felt the prickling coldness of the air on her skin, her simple serving dress offering small protection against the onslaught. But she didn't care. She was outside and little else mattered. She heard the door closed behind her. She looked back. There was a metallic click and a small flame appeared, illuminating the stern lines of Orlanda's face as she drew the lighter to the cigarette she held in her mouth. The air soon became acrid with the smell of smoke and Dafne turned away.

A few moments passed, during which neither of them attempted to speak. They just stood together in darkness. The yard and beyond was coated in black, lit sparsely by the shifting speckles of moonshine filtering through a cloud-covered night sky. Dafne starred ahead intently, watching for some glimpse of movement, a sign of life that was Silvio, listening for every sound. Her eyes watered from the fumes of Orlanda's cigarette. Then she caught sight of him in distance, his form briefly outlined in moonlight being swallowed in shadows. Orlanda must have also seen him as she murmured dryly,

"Looks like your lover boy's arrived."

Dafne didn't bother to respond to the jibe. Just waited with bated breath. She heard the faint tread of footsteps and then a voice rose out of the darkness.

"Dafne."

She could make out a human form, not far away from where she stood. She couldn't see his features but she had just heard his voice. It was Silvio, without a doubt.

"Silvio," she returned the greeting, her mouth breaking into a smile.

Forgetting Orlanda, she moved towards him. She was close enough to see his face, though not in great detail. She could hear his breath. Impulsively she threw her arms around him, filled with relief. She felt his body tense in the embrace.

"Um…" Silvio said sounding embarrassed.

Self-consciously, Dafne released him, muttering "sorry". She looked apologetically up into his face. But he grinned and she could make out his teeth.

"It's okay," he said, dismissing the incident with youthful casualness, "Let's go."

"Wait a minute."

It was Orlanda and they turned their attention from each other to her. She remained in the doorway and addressed them from there,

"Before you go merrily on your way," she said with somewhat of a sneer, "There are a few things I want to remind you as part of our… arrangement. First, I expect you to be back here, on time. If you're not here, the door closes. I'm not going to waste my night waiting for you. Next of all, be discreet. Don't just go gallivanting across the countryside like you own the place. Make it a point to not to be seen by anyone. The men here have big voices that could jeopardise my quiet little operation and I don't want that. Finally, if you do happen to get caught, by Basta or that loudmouth Cockerell, you're on your own. Do not bring up my name. If you do, be sure that I will find a way to make you both sorry you did. But if I were you, I would try to avoid being caught in any case, for both your sakes."

There was no escaping in the seriousness in Orlanda's voice. She meant every word. Orlanda was taking a personal risk by letting Dafne out. The only way out of Capricorn's house was by key and the all the keys were in the possession of Orlanda and Mortola. Therefore it was obvious that if Dafne were to be caught, Orlanda would somehow end up being implicated in her escape. Dafne doubted that Mortola would not show mercy on the person considered her most faithful servant if she uncovered what Orlanda was doing.

"We understand," Dafne said.

Orlanda grunted noncommittally, as though she wasn't inclined to believe her.

"Be sure you do," she said, "Now get out of here."

Dafne turned back to Silvio.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, laying a hand gently on his arm. She looked back at Orlanda, "Thank you."

Orlanda made a huffing noise, flicked her cigarette on the ground and extinguished it under her heel with a deft stamp. She didn't look up. It was like she hadn't heard her.

"Come on, Silvio" Dafne said.

Together they moved off into the night with Dafne holding onto Silvio's arm to guide her through the darkness.

Silvio knew the village well and was able to steer them down the less-frequented streets to avoid being seen. There was only one tense moment when they had to crouch unmoving in the shadows while two men walked by, conversing in loud, coarse voices. There were no working streetlamps but the men carried torches and candles glowed in the windows of occupied houses. Tonight seemed more peaceful than previous nights. Dafne could hear raised voices in the distance but there were no gunshots. It was not long until they reached the village's perimeter. Once there, they were able to slow to a more relaxed pace and Silvio produced a torch to light the terrain ahead.

It was not until then that Dafne became aware of her own body. She was shaking, not from fear or adrenalin but from the cold. She had been outside in the night air for a good twenty minutes and the wind had begun to pick up quite vigorously. Dafne crossed her arms against her chest but as a shield, it was provided little protection against the onslaught. Her teeth began to chatter and felt like a violent shudder in her mouth.

"Are you okay?" asked Silvio. He swung the torch in her direction and Dafne narrowed her eyes against the flood of light.

"I'm okay," she said, waving the torch away, "Just cold."

"Oh, right. Hold this for a sec."

Silvio handed the torch to her and began unbuttoning his jacket. He shook it off and held it out to her,

"Here take it."

"Are you sure?" Dafne asked, hesitant of ridding Silvio of his means of warmth. He was now wearing only a worn t-shirt and jeans.

"Yeah," Silvio was adamant, "Take it. I'm used to the cold."

Relenting, Dafne took the jacket and put it on. It was made from itchy woollen fabric that scraped against her bare skin but it was warm and Dafne was grateful.

"Thanks," she said.

"That's okay," replied Silvio, "Like I said, I'm used to it. Normally you don't a jacket until you've done a mission for Capricorn and gotten initiated into the gang. When I first got here, I was freezing pretty much every night since I barely had any clothes."

Silvio remarked all this in a conversational tone, as though it was some kind of normalcy for a young boy to be subjected to the cold at whim of an amoral group of adults. Dafne felt sickened just hearing it.

"That's awful," she said.

But Silvio brushed her concern away.

"It wasn't that bad," he said, "One night I was guarding the bridge all by myself and Basta came and gave me that jacket. He said I was doing a good job and that I could keep it since it was one of his spares. All the guys were jealous when they saw it 'cause I had gotten one before any of them. Some of 'em tried to steal it off me but Basta found out and threatened to go after them with his knife."

After listening to this, Dafne looked at Silvio in surprise. She had not yet heard of Basta being associated with a kind action. She couldn't picture it in her head. After all, her encounters with Basta had dissuaded her of believing he was a person with any inclination towards benevolence. To her, he was nothing more than an angry, spiteful, violent individual who made her especially wary. It had perplexed her as to why someone as good-natured as Silvio could of fostered any kind of closeness to him. Was this the reason, a loyalty stemming from this gesture of generosity? She tugged on the sleeves of the jacket, not quite sure what to feel or say.

But there was no further talk of Basta as Silvio motioned to her to halt.

"We're near the bridge," he explained, "I gotta talk to Ercole first, you stay here and crouch down a little. I'll let you know when he's gone."

Dafne nodded and dropped to her haunches as Silvio continued on. She listened to the rustling of his footsteps in the undergrowth. Then she heard dogs barking followed by voices.

"You're late, Silvio," came an unknown male voice. Dafne knew it must be Ercole and from his tone, he sounded irritated, "We had a deal and I didn't plan spending all night waiting for your scrawny arse."

"Sorry Ercole," Silvio replied, "I lost track of time."

"Well loose track on your time," snapped Ercole, "when I'm not paying for it. If I find out Fiammetta's gone off with someone, I'll be back to wring your neck."

This parting threat was accompanied by the sound of heavy boots stomping carelessly through the scrub. As the noise dissolved into the distance, Dafne heard Silvio call her and saw the torchlight pointing the way. As she emerged from the trees, she caught sight of Silvio. He was standing behind a slightly raised structure that she could scarcely make out as a bridge. Flanking Silvio were a pair of German Shepherds who watched her approach with an intensity that made her glad Silvio had a hold of their leads. These were the dogs trained by Basta as guard dogs. But Silvio grinned, unaware of her caution,

"Dafne, let me introduce you to Remo and Rodolfo. Say hi fellas."

Silvio reached down to pat their heads and the attention of the dogs shifted away from Dafne to the boy. They nuzzled his hand excitedly with their muzzles and licked him.

"Good boys," said Silvio, looking up at Dafne, "It's okay. They know you're with me."

Feeling more self-assured, Dafne came slowly forward. As she did, one of the dogs turned to face her.

"Hold out your hand so he can sniff you," Silvio told her.

Dafne followed his instruction, stretching out her hand towards him. The dog bent forward, its nose brushing over the flat of her palm.

"Good. Now stick out your other hand."

Dafne reached out her other hand to join the other being investigated. Now the other one craned its head to sniff her, nudging her with its nose. After this reception, Dafne began to feel at ease. The pair might have looked formidable but in Silvio's company, they were placidly inquisitive. When Silvio asked her to pat them, she was confident enough to do so and reached up to stroke one of their heads. The dog responded by licking her, coating her arm in sticky saliva.

"Remo likes you," Silvio remarked with a laugh.

Dafne smiled, tickling the back of Remo's ear,

"Well I like him too."

She straightened up to look at Silvio. He was beaming. He really cares about these dogs, she thought, but why was it so important to show me? Was there something else? I came here to ask him to leave this place with me. The whole situation is pretty crazy. We know so little about each other.

"Silvio," she began, "Are the dogs the real reason you wanted me to come here tonight?"

Silvio's smile receded a little, put off by the suddenness of the question. He made a noise in his throat,

"Um, yeah, yeah it was," he said, averting his eyes from her, "I mean, when I met you I thought… I don't know, I guess you seemed interested so that's why I asked you," he met her gaze again, his face had become quite solemn, "You probably think I'm weird," as he said this he smiled but it wasn't the natural kind of smile she was used to seeing, it sort of twitched itself weakly into being before crumbling back into a grimace, "That's what the other guys think. No one really… talks to me except for Basta. Until you came, that is. But even then, I didn't think you'd… you know, want to come out here with me..." he trailed off, looking embarrassed by his own candidness.

So this was the real Silvio, Dafne thought, a lonely boy yearning for acceptance. She placed a hand on his arm,

"Oh Silvio," she said, "I'm really glad that I came."

In an instant, and to her relief, Silvio's old smile returned.

"I'm glad you did too."

He bent down and once he was at their level, the dogs pounced on him with abandon, slobbering all over him. Silvio laughed, rubbing their coats.

"They're glad to," he managed to say through the dogs' friendly assault.

While Dafne laughed at the sight of Silvio being pinned underneath several sets of paws, she wished that she could be watching the scene in another place, not in a forest in the middle of the night with the knowledge that Capricorn's village lay only yards away in the distance. This brought her back to her original mission and the fact that time was running out.

"Silvio," she said as he struggled to brush the dogs off so he could stand up, "there's something I wanted to talk you about."

"Hmmm?" he said, distracted as the dogs began nudging him to regain his attention.

"I…" she began.

Just say "Silvio, this is a bad place for you so come with me when I escape tomorrow". No, she couldn't just be so blatant. She needed to know more, more about him. Silvio was looking at her enquiringly.

"How… how did you come to the village?" she asked.

Silvio seemed surprised by the question, but he still answered her,

"Basta brought me here, along with some other street kids," he paused for a moment, watching her response. Maybe he hoped such a short answer would satisfy her curiosity but she wanted something further. She waited for him to continue, which he did, "I used to be in an… orphanage," he said 'orphanage' with a certain bitterness, "but I, um, didn't like it so I ran away. I wasn't on the streets long before Basta found me. He said that if I came to work for Capricorn that I could have my own house to live in and food and maybe my own car one day. It sounded better than living on the streets with nothing so I went with him."

So that was how Capricorn had recruited all these youths. Not through kidnapping but by promising them their wildest dreams. Yet this practice seemed even more sinister like the Piped Piper luring away all the children. It was easy how a deprived boy like Silvio would have leapt at such an opportunity especially when the alternative was to be left fighting to survive all by yourself. But how could he have known that instead of a house, he had choice of dilapidated wrecks and that the fine print demanded him to become a fully-fledged crook in service to an unscrupulous man. And she wasn't surprised to find that it had been Basta at the foot of Capricorn's dirty work.

"Was it like how you though it would be?" she asked Silvio softly.

Once again, Silvio fumbled under the spotlight of her question.

"Um, I suppose so, I mean it's my home, I wouldn't want to leave."

It was discouraging for Dafne to hear Silvio refer to the village in such a way. She just didn't understand his loyalty to the place.

"Silvio, the village isn't a home. It's just a hideout for criminals. To me, it's nothing but a prison."

To her dismay, Silvio looked pained her words as though she had rebuked him.

"Well I think it's home," he murmured, as if speaking to himself, "It's a better place for me than anywhere else."

"No it's not!" said Dafne, unable to prevent her voice rising with the feeling of her conviction, "The people here are thieves and bullies who don't care how they treat others and Capricorn is a cruellest of all of them, anyplace would be better for you than this!"

"Better than streets?" Silvio yelled and Dafne was taken back by the sudden anger in his voice, "Better than the orphanage. Because that's the only places I could go if I wasn't here. I'd rather die than go back to the orphanage!"

He thinks I'm attacking him, Dafne thought, he's trying to defend himself but he's not thinking rationally, he's only a boy, a boy who's had a hard life.

"I didn't mean that," she said, lowering her voice to calm him, "I didn't mean the orphanage or the streets. Please don't think that they're the only options for you. But you definitely shouldn't be here, a boy like you doesn't belong in a place like this."

"A boy like me?" Silvio said, almost spitefully, he was no longer yelling but the anger was still there, "You've only just meet me. How you do you know what I'm like?" he challenging her, but she could see there was a pleading in his eyes for her to convince him.

"You're right," she agreed, "I've only just meet you but that doesn't mean I don't know you. I know that inside you're a good person who doesn't want to hurt other people just as much as you don't like seeing Basta mistreat these dogs. That makes you different from all the other men in the village," she took a breath, "That's why I want you to come with me when I leave tomorrow."

Silvio stared at her wide-eyed,

"Leave?"

Dafne nodded,

"Yes, escape."

Silvio continued to stare at her,

"How?"

"Another maid, Resa, is going to create a diversion, she hasn't told me what yet, but in the commotion, we're going to slip away without being noticed," Dafne explained, "We could meet you and…"

"No!" burst out Silvio, "No, no, no, you can't! You can't do that!" There was desperation in his voice, he sounded frightened by what she had told him. He grabbed hold of her arm, wrenching it so tightly she winced, "You'll be caught and brought back. Capricorn might have you killed. Please don't do it, Dafne, please! Say you won't do it." He was begging her.

"I have to Silvio," she said, cupping his cheek in her hand in an effort to soothe him, so he could understand, "If I stay here, it will be worse than dying."

"But you have me," Silvio said, his voice small and childlike, "So it wouldn't be so bad if you stayed."

"I'm sorry," said Dafne, choking on her words, "But I've made up my mind. Please come with me."

Silvio tore away from her, looking lost and confused.

"I… I…"

Suddenly the dogs started to bark and Dafne jumped at the grating, guttural chorus. She and Silvio looked at each other urgently but did not speak. Sadly Dafne knew somehow that the conversation was over. Finally Silvio managed something:

"I think someone's coming. You should hide."

But as Dafne was looking around for a place to conceal herself, she heard a familiar voice.

"That won't be necessary. Actually, it would be better if you stayed right where I can see you."

Filled with an awful sinking feeling, Dafne turned reluctantly to face Basta. He was smiling with the amused satisfaction of a cat chancing upon some slow prey.

"Well, it seems like you and I keep running into each other, don't we, little mouse?" he said, and like a cat, his voice sounded like a purr.

To Be Continued…