A Darkness Descending Read Online Free PDF Page A

distracted.
    ‘They let him go,’ she said, twisting her fingers together on the desktop. ‘No one thinks he’s all right.’
    ‘Giuli,’ said Sandro gently, prising her hands apart and holding them. ‘What is this political thing of yours? You were never into politics. What is this man to you?’
    She looked up and he could see she was all prepared to go into battle, eyes burning, but then it seemed to dawn on her that she was talking to him, to Sandro Cellini, the closest thing to a father and protector she had ever had, and the blaze went out of her. ‘Is it – Enzo?’ He tried to sound reasonable, friendly. ‘Has he got you into this?’
    ‘No,’ she began indignantly, pushing his hands away and shoving herself back in the seat. ‘No! Do you think I haven’t got a mind of my own?’
    ‘That’s the last thing I think, cara .’ He could see her frown at the endearment: he never called her by anything but her name. And saw her decide not to feel patronized. She was growing up, his Giuli. She let out a breath and her narrow frame collapsed a little more in the chair.
    ‘I just don’t understand this – this Frazione Verde thing.’ He could hear the unease in his own voice. ‘And I don’t like to see you like this. All fired up, all emotional – I don’t know. I like – an even keel. The middle of the road, a quiet life. What do they stand for, after all? Your party.’
    Giuli was staring at him. She knew what he was saying, all right. ‘I’m clean, Sandro,’ she said distinctly. ‘I’m not in it for the rush. I love my place, the city, Santo Spirito, the people. And it’s all going to ratshit, isn’t it? This government … I want to – do something for other people, to be part of something. You ask what the Frazione stands for?’
    Sandro lifted his head, listening.
    ‘Change,’ Giuli said defiantly. ‘Concentrating on the local, and working up. Just – change. It feels good, yeah. But it’s the right kind of good.’
    Sandro shoved the briefcase with the insurance claim away from him across the scuffed leather of the desktop. Reluctantly he leaned over and turned the computer on under Giuli’s gaze, her arms folded as she waited.
    ‘What are you, my conscience?’ he said irritably. ‘Bad enough with Luisa at home. I’ve got work to do, you know,’ nodding towards the briefcase. ‘I’ll manage better without you looking over my shoulder.’
    ‘I’m nobody’s conscience,’ she said stubbornly. ‘I’m just worried about him. Nobody’s telling us anything.’
    Sandro leaned back in the chair and examined her fierce, frowning face. ‘Who is there to ask?’ he said.
    The frown relaxed, just marginally. ‘That’s the trouble, really,’ said Giuli. “The Frazione – well, it’s grown, kind of, organically.’ Sandro winced at the word: even Giuli seemed embarrassed saying it. What did it mean?
    ‘Because of that, there aren’t any – any structures,’ she said uncomfortably. ‘Power structures, hierarchy. It’s all very – democratic. The office is a little box room behind the hall, with a couple of computers. We all turn up to the meetings, everyone who wants to can have their say, and Rosselli – well, he kind of listens, then sort of puts our thoughts into order. Reinterprets them.’
    ‘So what’s the – um – manifesto?’
    Giuli shifted, uncertain. ‘It’s to do with local people, and resistance to city hall decisions that affect lives. To do with asking questions.’
    ‘For example?’
    ‘Rubbish collection,’ she said, ‘education, local health provision, the clinic. Money pulled for a new nursery and put into roadbuilding for some retail park instead. You’ve heard of the development on the edge of Scandicci? Business interests are being set over people’s interests.’
    Sandro looked at her mildly. ‘Isn’t there an argument about economics in there too? Jobs being provided – for local people? Aren’t you being a bit simplistic?’ He