The Thief Lord

Renzo bent down and threw the pieces into the fire. Then he looked pensively at Scipio. A log crackled in the flames and sparks flew out and died down again between the scattered toys.

"I will show you the merry-go-round," Renzo said. "And if you really want to, you can ride it."

44 The Merry-go-round

Prosper could feel Scipio shiver with anticipation and impatience as they followed Renzo through the large door into the garden. He wasn't sure himself whether he should feel excited. Ever since they had stepped onto this island everything had felt so unreal. Like in a dream. He couldn't even have said for sure whether it was a good dream or a bad one.

Morosina didn't come with them. She stood between the pillars with the dogs by her side.

Renzo led Scipio and Prosper to an arbor behind the house. Frozen leaves hung from the wooden trellis. The arbor led into a labyrinth. The hedges were overgrown and the labyrinth had turned into a dense thicket. But Renzo didn't hesitate for a moment as he led Scipio and Prosper through it. Suddenly, he stopped and listened.

"What is it?" Scipio asked.

The sound of a bell drifted through the cold air. It sounded as if someone was ringing it rather impatiently.

"That's the bell by the main gate," said Renzo. "Who could that be? The only person I'm expecting is Barbarossa and he wasn't due to come until tomorrow." He looked worried.

"Barbarossa?" Prosper looked at him, surprised.

Renzo nodded. "I told you it was his idea to pay you with fake cash. He even procured it for me. But of course the red-beard expects to be paid for his services. He wants to come tomorrow to pick up his reward -- the old toys. He's had his eye on them for quite a while now."

"That crook!" Prosper muttered angrily. "So he knew all along that we would be given fake money for the job?"

"Don't worry about it! Barbarossa cheats everybody." Renzo listened again, but the bell had stopped. The dogs were still barking, however. "Probably some tourist boat," he explained. "Morosina keeps spreading terrible stories about this island whenever she's in town. But we still get the occasional boat coming here. The dogs soon chase away even the most curious visitors."

Prosper and Scipio looked at each other. They could both understand that.

"I've been doing business with the redbeard for quite a while now," Renzo told them as he struggled on through the overgrown hedges. "He's the only antique dealer who doesn't ask too many questions. And he's the only one Morosina and I have ever allowed to come to this island. He thinks, of course, that he's dealing with the Conte Valaresso, who is so impoverished that he has to sell off some of his family's treasures every now and again. Morosina and I have lived for a long time off what the Valaresso left behind. However, there'll be no one to answer the door to Barbarossa when he comes to the gate tomorrow to pick up the toys. The Conte will have disappeared for good."

"Barbarossa always pretended he didn't know what we were supposed to steal for the Conte," Prosper said.

"He didn't know," Renzo answered.

"Does he know about the merry-go-round?" Scipio asked.

Renzo laughed. "Good heavens, no! The redbeard is the last person I'd show it to. He'd immediately start selling tickets at a million lire apiece. No, he's never seen it. And luckily" -- he pushed apart some thorny branches -- "it's quite well hidden."

He squeezed between two bushes and seemed to disappear. Thorns scratched at Prosper and Scipio as they followed him. They emerged into a clearing surrounded by trees and hedges with their branches so densely intertwined they hid their treasure completely from the outside world.

The merry-go-round looked exactly as Ida Spavento had described it. Prosper may have imagined it a bit more colorful and magnificent -- the paint had long faded, worn off by the wind, the rain, and the salty air -- but all this could not diminish the magic and gracefulness of its figures.

All five of them were there: the unicorn, the mermaid, the merman, the sea horse, and the lion, who now spread both his wings as if he'd never lost one. They each hung on their pole beneath the wooden canopy, and seemed to float. The merman held his trident in his wooden fist, the mermaid looked into the distance out of pale green eyes, dreaming of the waters of the open sea. The sea horse with its fish tail was so beautiful, it made you forget that there were horses with four legs at all.

"Was it always here?" Scipio asked. He approached the merry-go-round cautiously.

"As long as I can remember," Renzo answered. "Morosina and I were still very little when our mother brought us to this island because the Valaresso were looking for a kitchen maid. Nobody told us about the merry-go-round. It was kept very secret, but we found out eventually. It was already standing here by then. I sometimes crept out here to watch the rich children as they rode on it. Morosina and I would lie in the bushes and dream of riding on it just once. But they always found us and chased us back to our work. Years went by and our childhood disappeared. Our mother died and we grew older and older. The Valaresso finally lost all their money and left the island. Morosina and I found work in the city. Then, one day in a bar, I heard the story of the beautiful merry-go-round of the Merciful Sisters. I knew immediately that it had to be this merry-go-round on our island. I suddenly understood why the Valaresso had kept it so secret -- it had been stolen! I couldn't get the story out of my mind. I dreamed of finding the missing wing, of reviving the merry-go-round's magic, and of riding it with my sister. Morosina laughed at me, but when I decided to return to the island she came with me. It was still here, and I decided to search for the missing wing. Don't ask me how long it took me to find out where it was." Renzo climbed on to the merry-go-round and leaned against the unicorn. "It was worth it," he said, stroking its wooden back. "You brought me the wing and Morosina and I took a ride."

"Does it matter which figure you sit on?" Scipio jumped on to the platform and leaped on to the lion's back.

"Yes, it does." For a moment, Renzo stood hunched, just like the old man he had once been. "The lion was the right mount for me. You and your friend will have to sit on one of the water creatures -- each animal works in a different way."

"Come on, Prop!" Scipio called, waving at Prosper. "Take your pick. Which one do you want? The sea horse? Or the merman?" Prosper stepped curiously toward the merry-go-round. He could hear the dogs howling in the distance.

Renzo had obviously also heard them. Frowning, he walked to the edge of the platform. Then he said to Scipio, "Get off. I think I'll have to go back to the house to check on Morosina ..."

But Scipio had already slipped off the lion's back and was now climbing on to the sea horse. "What are you waiting for, Prop?" he called out impatiently.

But Prosper didn't move. Even though he could picture himself, tall and grown-up, striding into the Sandwirth and simply pushing Esther and his uncle out of the way, then marching out with Bo by his side, he still couldn't step on to the merry-go-round.

He looked up at the unicorn, at the merman with the pale green face, and at the lion, the winged lion. "You go first, Scipio," he finally said.

Disappointment clouded Scipio's face. "If you say so," he said. Then he turned to Renzo. "You heard him. Let's go."