Star of Stone by Pierdomenico Baccalario

Author:Pierdomenico Baccalario
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9780375892271
Publisher: Random House LLC
Published: 2007-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

18

PROMETHEUS

ROCKEFELLER CENTER iS A LABYRINTH OF MARBLE HALLWAYS. Ermete and Mistral search every square inch of the public part, staring at their reflections in the shiny black walls. They go up to the top floors and do a complete round of the shops inside. They search every single corridor with a fine-tooth comb. At least they think they do.

Three hours later, they’re back where they started out, sitting at a little table in the café looking over the square with the gold statue. Not even a trace of any guard dogs.

Spread out in front of Ermete is a map of Rockefeller Center, which he picked up at an information desk. He moves his finger over the areas they’ve visited and shakes his head. “I don’t know where else we should look,” he says, discouraged. “Especially because we don’t even know what we’re looking for. In Rome, the guard dog was Jacob Mahler….”

Mistral tries to catch the waiter’s eye.

“A person in flesh and blood …” Ermete groans, deep in thought. “But there are thousands of people here at Rockefeller Center. How could we know who the guardian is? Not to mention what he’s guarding!”

“A postcard, maybe?” Mistral guesses. “Or the top they stole right in front of your eyes?”

“Maybe we should cast the tops on the map of the complex,” Ermete suggests. “That way we could narrow down our search.”

Mistral nods and stares at the fountain on the other side of the glass walls. “What a shame,” she murmurs.

“Don’t give up hope. It’s just our first reconnaissance mission,” Ermete says encouragingly. “We’ll find it.”

Mistral sighs. “Actually, I was thinking of the ice-skating rink. It’s a shame they’ve already taken it down. I’d gladly have gone on it.”

“You can skate?”

“A little. I saw this movie where a guy and a girl met on that rink. They danced there on the ice with the snow coming down and all the lights sparkling around them. They stopped and kissed right there … in front of that statue.”

Ermete smiled. “A giant golden eyesore.”

The waiter comes up from behind them. Mistral orders a hot tea, Ermete a fruit juice cocktail with a slice of orange. “A businessman’s kind of drink,” he explains. They sit there for a while in silence, thinking.

“Ermete?” Mistral asks when the waiter brings their order. “What’s that statue of, anyway?”

The engineer twists his lips. “Beats me.” He turns to the waiter. “Do you know who that guy is, by any chance?”

“That’s Prometheus,” the man replies with a smile.

Ermete sits up straight in his chair. “Prometheus … Prometheus? The one who stole fire from the gods?”

“That’s him,” the waiter continues. “It’s from 1934 and—”

“Keep the change!” Ermete says, almost shouting, as he rushes out of the café together with Mistral.

“Why didn’t it dawn on us before?” the engineer asks the girl, who’s standing beside him in front of the colossal gold statue. “He’s right here, at the entrance … guarding the door! Look at him! He’s just a kid! And there’s the Ring of Fire, too!” The gold carving of Prometheus really does look like a boy.

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