Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes

Author:Shirley Hughes [Hughes, Shirley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6359-9
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2012-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

They were awoken late the following morning by the ominous sound of gunfire coming from the hills north of Florence. It sounded as though the fighting was getting ever nearer to the city. Maria was in a particularly unmanageable state of panic mixed with stubborn bad temper, and she slammed around the kitchen, muttering dire warnings. Joe was still asleep in the cellar, but she refused to go down there or have anything to do with the americano, as she called him, insisting that he would get them all shot.

It was Constanza who went down to wake him and give him breakfast. He was almost too exhausted to eat and just wanted to drift in and out of sleep.

“Poor Joe — it’s so dark and stuffy down there,” Constanza said to her mother when she came back upstairs, “and it smells of damp.”

“It’ll begin to smell of Joe, too, before long,” said Paolo, chewing a roll, his spirits and appetite now fully restored.

“It’s too risky for him to come out, not even into the yard,” said Rosemary. “There are German troops on the move everywhere.”

“I can try to find the Partisans,” said Paolo. “I’ve got my bicycle.”

But Rosemary was adamantly against any such suggestion. “I absolutely forbid you to leave the house, Paolo, and that’s final. You could put us all in danger, maybe even get us arrested. We’ll just have to hang on until they contact us. They’ll get in touch somehow.”

But, as it turned out, it was not the Partisans but the police who broke the silence that hung over the house that day. Around noon the telephone rang. Rosemary answered.

“Signora Crivelli? This is Captain Spinetti of the carabinieri. Is it possible to have a private word with you? I must be brief.”

“Of course, Captain.”

“Both your children are at home?”

“Yes — we’ve been told to keep indoors. We have enough food to last for a day or two.”

“Good. I thought I might warn you — in absolute confidence, you understand. . . .” He lowered his voice. “You know, of course, that the Gestapo is very active here, based in my office.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Colonel Richter came in early this morning. The German military authorities have informed us that there was an incident in the city last night. An escaped prisoner of war was captured, but another got away.”

“Really? We hadn’t heard. . . .”

“The one who escaped was not alone. He had an accomplice — a boy on a bicycle.”

There was a long pause.

“Signora Crivelli? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

The captain’s voice dropped still further.

“Of course you realize that it’s highly irregular for me to telephone you like this. The city is under military law and — as you know — it’s a capital offense for Italian civilians to aid the enemy in any way.”

“I know.”

“As we are old friends, I thought I might mention that you may have an official visit from the Gestapo later today. Someone has mentioned your name to them as being possibly suspect.

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