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It was almost dinnertime whenLucia heard a noise in the hallway, then the echo of men talking. Dante was dozing, so she got up and peeked out of the cell. A doctor in a white coat was walking down the hall toward them, with two uniformed guards.
“Dante, wake up. They’re coming!”
Dante awoke, alarmed. “Go! Run!”
“I’ll stop them!” Lucia stepped into the hallway, pulled a knife from her bag, and threw it hard. The knife whipped through the air, flying end-over-end until it reached its target, a textbook held by the doctor.
“Lucia?” Dante said, shocked.
“My God!” The doctor dropped the book in terror.
Lucia ran for the back door and raced outside to the broken part of the wall. Her chest heaved with effort, her legs pumped with power. She didn’t stop running until she reached her hiding place, a shallow cave in a hill in the countryside.
She crouched against the wall, sweaty and panting. The cave felt cool, dark, and comforting. A mouse family lined up on a ledge, watching her with big eyes. She stopped panting, and her heartbeat returned to normal. She had left her cap in Dante’s cell, but still had her knife bag, minus one knife.
She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She didn’t know how long she could stay away from Dante. She couldn’t bear it if they were going to harm him. She didn’t know when it would be safe to go back or if she should go to Palermo tonight.
She bit her lip and tried not to cry, worrying about him.
“Dante, I’m Baron Pietro Pisani,the new administrator—”
“Get out!” Dante threw his dirty plate at Baron Pisani, enraged that he had scared Lucia away.
“No!” Baron Pisani’s hands flew up, but the plate hit him in the chest, leaving tomato pulp clinging to his white coat.
“Go away!” Dante wished for something else to throw, but his chamber pot was empty.
“Dante, please.” Baron Pisani looked worried under a pile of dark curls. “Are you okay? Did she try to harm you?”
“Go away!”
“Where did she get the knife?”
“Leave me alone!”
Baron Pisani motioned to the guards. “Go close the exit door. I knew leaving it open was a mistake—”
“Leave it open!” Dante lunged at the doctor, but the guards rushed into the cell, grabbed him, and slammed him against the wall. His head hit the hard stone, stunning him. He fell to the floor.
“Don’t hurt him!” Baron Pisani pushed the guards away and rushed to Dante’s side. “Dante, are you okay?”
Dante’s head throbbed. He slumped against the wall while Baron Pisani examined the wound, his dark brown eyes animated with compassion.
“Dante, I’m sorry, I instructed the guards not to enter—”
“Leave the back door open!”
“I can’t. I have a duty to protect you. That girl’s a killer.”
“No, she isn’t!”
“She threw a knife at me.”
A guard frowned, interjecting, “Baron Pisani, we must lock the back door.”
Baron Pisani patted Dante’s arm, something no doctor had done before. “I know you haven’t been treated humanely. You’ll be treated with respect from now on.”
Dante glowered at him. “Then leave the back door open!”
