Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario Read Free Book Online

Book: Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario Read Free Book Online
Authors: Pierdomenico Baccalario
out, almost in unison.
    Moments later, the four kids are feeling their way down the hall leading to the dining room. “I’m seeing less and less yellow … and not so far away anymore,” Sheng tells them.
    He turns to look at Mistral, who says, “They’re almost back to normal.”
    Sheng wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. “So whatever it was, it’s going away, right?”
    “That was pretty cool, though,” comments Harvey. “A flame turning you into a nocturnal animal.”
    “Next time
you
do it, okay?” Sheng jokes.
    Elettra leads the way. She knows the hallway by heart, but in the silent darkness, something is bothering her. And she’s got the nagging feeling that somehow it’s her fault.
    They reach the dining room with its rows of little tables. The white tablecloths, in the near darkness, make them look like big, sleeping flowers. At the other end of the room, the elevator’s emergency light is off.
    “The whole power system must’ve shut down,” Elettra says to herself.
    She crosses the room, her hand brushing against the tables, making the porcelain cups rattle on their saucers.
    “Does this happen often?” asks Sheng.
    “Occasionally,” Elettra lies.
    “I can’t see a thing,” Sheng moans after a while. They’re standing beside the big door leading out into the courtyard, at the bottom of the stairs that go up to the bedrooms.
    “Auntie?” whispers Elettra, hearing a noise coming from the floor above.
    Silence.
    “I’d say they’re all snoozing away.”
    “Actually, there’s not much better to do during a blackout …,” Harvey points out.
    “Could we open up the door to let a little light in?”
    “Sure. Give me a hand,” orders Elettra. She pushes on the heavy, well-oiled bolts, which slide across without making the faintest noise. The door opens up with a decisive clack, as if it were waking up from its silent slumber.
    Outside, a mantle of white has covered everything. Softand light, compact and silent, it gives a graceful appearance to the square courtyard, the well, the awkward shape of the minibus. Over the terrace, the four statues have big heads of white hair.
    “It’s like being in
Lord of the Rings,”
says Harvey.
    “I wouldn’t be surprised if Gandalf jumped out from somewhere,” Sheng agrees.
    Mistral bites her lip, remaining silent. The stone courtyard looks magical to her, too, but she was thinking of something far more poetic than a simple movie.
    With the front door wide open, a glow now fills the hotel’s atrium, allowing them to make out the stairway, the reception desk with its large copper umbrella stand and a thick cluster of garden plants.
    “Elettra?” calls out Sheng when he notices that the girl of the house has disappeared.
    “Coming!” a voice calls back from a distance. The kids hear a few drawers being opened and shut, and then Elettra’s voice. “Great! I knew it!”
    She reappears from behind the reception desk holding a pack of cigarettes.
    “You smoke?” Harvey asks her, horrified.
    Elettra smiles and her perfectly white teeth gleam with the reflection from the snow. “I don’t. But my aunt Linda does. That is, she tries to make us believe she gave it up years ago, but I was sure she kept an emergency pack of cigarettes hidden around somewhere. And this is just what we need.” She opens up the pack and takes out a green disposable lighter.
    * * *
    Harvey’s thumb gives the lighter a flick, and a little flame lights up the stairs leading down into the basement. “Wow! Look at this place! It’s like—” Mistral passes by him, cutting him off before he has a chance to ruin the fascinating effect of this place, too. It’s an ancient stone basement, its stairs disappearing into a maze of rooms piled high with old things.
    “It’s magnificent …,” she remarks, taking in the atmosphere.
    “Hao!
Cool!” murmurs Sheng, admiring the stairs that disappear down belowground.
    “The meters are right over here …,”

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