Miha Mazzini - The Collector of Names

The threat did not seem to have any effect on Adriano.

Bruno went over to Adriano’s side.

Luka calmed down noticeably.

“Don’t be silly, lads, let’s not fall out over this little brat!”

“We mustn’t do that to him,” repeated Adriano. Bruno nodded. Even the two boys loyal to Luka did not look overenthusiastic.

“At least we’d get rid of him!” groaned Luka, looking rather uncertain.

“With something even you didn’t dare do?”

Adriano sounded quite malicious.

Luka sighed deeply, jumped towards Adriano and pushed him in the chest with the open palms of his hands. Adriano stumbled but did not fall.

“What didn’t I dare? What didn’t I dare?”

“You didn’t dare,” added Bruno.

The two silent ones were also nodding, even though they did not dare say anything.

“ARE YOU COMPLETELY MAD? DIDN’T YOU SEE THE GREEN…?”

Luka ran around them all, screaming in their faces.

“DIDN’T YOU SEE? WELL, DIDN’T YOU?”

“We did,” said Adriano, “we did, and that’s precisely why none of us dared go nearer. Not even you.”

“I’ll go! I’ll do what he didn’t dare!”

They all turned round in surprise, staring at the new volunteer, who did not even know himself why the offer escaped his mouth. Was their astonishment really worth the risk?

“Don’t be silly, boy! You don’t even know what this is about.”

Adriano sounded genuinely upset.

The others nodded, apart from Luka who grinned.

“Well, now, you see! He himself wants to do it! Let him go then! Let him go!”

He opened his arms wide.

“Well? Well? You see!”

Adriano came closer.

“Now, let me tell you what you’re getting yourself into. Do you know where that diplomat’s villa is?”

The boy nodded. It was right at the other side of the island, where he did not often go.

“That wooden one, with one floor? With a summer house and cabins on the beach?”

The boy nodded.

“I know. I’ve seen it.”

Only once, in the company of his father. They had gone around the island in a boat and his father had answered all his questions very briefly. Yes, the villa was inhabited. It had been built by a diplomat, a man from the mainland — there were always problems with those — as his retirement home. No, he was already dead.

He had stared at the house until it disappeared behind the peninsula, it was such a surprise to see it there. You got used to the rocks, the little coves, the seemingly endless pine-trees, which had an even greater lulling effect than the rocking of the boat. And then suddenly, a bigger cove, a meadow behind it with a building in the middle and only then the edge of the pine-trees.

Adriano continued:

“Well, that woman from India lives there. The one whose husband died. Five years ago.”

“Seven years,” interrupted Bruno sternly.

“OK, seven then. It doesn’t really matter. Do you remember her?”

The boy shook his head.

“Yeah, I thought so,” said Adriano. “You’re too young. Since her husband died, she’s never come out. She’s living alone with a son I’ve never seen.”

“Me neither… me neither…” went round the circle.

That was no news. The whole village was speculating about the stranger and her son. They lived in complete isolation and that alone was a good enough reason for curiosity and gossip.

Adriano returned to his story:

“Well, the other evening, we were wandering around there and saw…”

“Miro saw it first,” explained Bruno.

“Bruno, you’re a real bore! What will become of you! Well, Miro saw a light shining from the cellar window. But it was no ordinary light. It was… how shall I put it…”

Suddenly they all started describing it.

“Green…”

“…a poisonous green.”

“Satanically green…”

“A terrible green!”

“…light,” continued Adriano. “And then Luka said somebody should go and see what was going on in the cellar.”

“Somebody should go and see!” said Bruno meaningfully. “Somebody!”

“Yes, and nobody went. Nobody dared. At the end, after he’d shouted at each one of us,” Adriano pointed to Luka, “he didn’t go either. He took five steps towards the house and shat himself.”

Luka jumped again and this time he caught Adriano unawares and knocked him over. He wanted to jump on top of him when the boy said:

“I’ll go and see what that light is. If it’s there again tonight?”

“It will be. We’ve gone there three evenings now and it’s always there. But don’t boast prematurely, you’ve never seen that kind of green ever before. There’s nothing like it!”

Luka slowly relaxed his hands from the fighting pose and stepped back.

“Are you scared, boy?”

“No!”

“You’re lying!”

“That’s nothing, just to go there and look.”

“You don’t have to!” interrupted Adriano whilst shaking the sand off his T-shirt.

“I’ll go!” repeated the boy calmly.

It was getting dark as they stood on the edge of the woods, hidden in the pine-trees. They had not come along the path which they could still just about make out at the end of the valley; they had walked here along the sea, which took them a lot longer. They had plenty of time before evening. There had been no conversation and they had passed a very silent afternoon.

The sun swelled and turned red above the sea, leaving its signature on the windows of the villa, behind which no movement could be seen.

The boy started hoping that there would be no green light that night. He was not anxious or scared. All the way there he had a strong feeling that nothing would come of it all. The trial he had set himself would not take place. Fate would make sure of that. Definitely.

The sun sank into the sea and in spite of the rays of light left behind, darkness started spreading amongst the trees.

“It won’t be there today,” said Adriano in a whisper (and with hope?).

They waited a bit longer.

“Let’s wait for the darkness,” said Luka, “the light always comes on with the darkness.”

The boy knew his mum and dad were already looking for him around the village, so far probably still without a belt in their hands. But if he did not come back soon… Anyway, he was too far now and there was no chance of getting back early enough to avoid a beating. Even if he got up straight away and ran along the cart-track which cut the island in two, he would need more than half an hour to reach home, which would be too long for his father’s patience. He could imagine the familiar figure opening the door forcefully and taking the “educational belt” hanging on a hook as a warning to the children. He would grab it with his right hand, fold it so that it became very short and give his palm a short slap. As a warm up. Without realising, the boy stroked his backside.

“It’s dark,” said Bruno.

“It won’t happen. Let’s go.”

Luka persisted, as expected.

“Let’s wait! Maybe it’s still too light. The moon is so bright tonight!”

The boy looked through the branches of the trees and stared at the moon. Only a sliver of it was still missing. Its silver light made them look like princes. He looked at Adriano, who was breaking a pine-tree branch by beating it against the ground. He picked up a new one, squeezed it in his palm and rapidly hit the stones. The thin wood broke without a noise.

Suddenly Adriano’s left cheek became green.

They jumped to their feet and grabbed hold of the tree trunks.

“That’s it!” breathed Bruno.

“Don’t go!”

“I’m going!”

The boy stepped forward and only now got a front-row view. The whole house was completely dark, apart from the cellar window. It did not look as if somebody was shining something to light the stairs while they walked down. The window just lit up suddenly and completely with a dense green light, which cut across the meadow and penetrated the pine-trees.