The Vessel of Ra

Chapter 6: The Errand Boy

Venice surrounding the barracks next to San Marco had been preserved as a war zone to remind the Venetians they were a conquered people. The tourists loved it, as it was a prime example of Venice's decay from when it was the merchant scourge of the seas to its impotent present. So it was sometimes travelers to Venice could find husks of buildings they romanticized, scorched and abandoned. The area right around the palazzo was not safe at night for the unaccompanied. Dark alleys provided excellent niches for thieves.

The impoverished occupied these buildings until they were discovered by peace-keeping Austrians and moved along. Left behind in the district were shells of previous businesses, like the apothecary Paolo used to own on the main square. The building Lucy, Carlo, and Paolo stood near was a dusty gray marble, previously magnificent, but now with crumbling ledges and main doors locked with rusty chains. The doors were scarred with deep scratches from forcible entry. Like many buildings in Venice, there were elaborate carvings on the walls. Three suns topped columns standing a short space from the facade. One pillar was cracked, its crowning sun crumbled into pieces around its base. The windows of a balcony were broken, like ice after a thaw. Lucy could just make out a dome peeking over the ceiling top, glass and metal crushed, a soufflé fallen flat.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"It's Nonno's old store," said Carlo. "The army let him keep what's left of it. We leave things for the Austrians here since it's close to their barracks."

"Serpentine, this morning," said Paolo.

Lucy looked blankly at Carlo.

"Gunpowder to you. Cakes for cannons."

"You can make gunpowder?" asked Lucy.

"And cough drops," said Carlo.

Paolo rocked from heel to toe, waiting for them to finish. "Once this building was my glory. Now, Carlo, he is my glory. Shall we go inside?"

"Is it safe?" asked Lucy. It looked less sturdy than the tomb of Erasmus, at least from what she'd heard.

"As safe as any circumstance you have found yourself in so far," said Paolo.

"He means no," said Carlo.

Paolo led them around the back to an alley. Lucy imagined the shadows whispering, speaking of lives cut short, of violence and war. She swallowed. Ra's head perked up and she could feel him drinking in the pain. "Stop it," she said.

Carlo paused. "Stop?"

"Not you. Ra. People died here?"

"So many people," said Paolo. "The occupations have not been entirely bloodless and the poverty around us is full of blood."

"Can you feel that?" said Carlo.

"The shadows do," said Lucy, "and they pass it on to me."

Paolo pointed to a broken window on the second floor, its glass jagged like an old man's teeth. "There," said Paolo. "We'll go in there."

"Don't you have a key?" asked Carlo.

"I can't use it. We are keeping Miss Lucia a secret. You don't use keys when you are keeping a secret."

A gentle breeze drifted from the canal, covering them with drizzle and the stale, fishy, salty smell.

"You want us to climb up there?" Carlo asked.

"If I can do it, so can you."

"I'm not thinking about you, Nonno. Lucy, maybe, cannot."

Lucy's eyes climbed to the second story. "Don't worry about me," said Lucy. "We can manage. Can't we?"