Play@YSDC

"Thank you," says Felicity. She turns to her companions. "Shall we have dinner now?"

Having already met a few of the blackshirts, Archie can't help but shiver a little as the clerk sings their praises. "Well, those guys didn't exactly make a good first impression on me. I hope this Rossini is a more pleasant fellow."

Then to Felicity, "Dinner sounds delightful."

The group gathers in the hotel´s restaurant for dinner to decide their next move.

"The next step is to talk to Maria," says Felicity, after ordering a thick, juicy steak. "She'll probably know where her father was working on the statue and may even have access to it. We may want to go this evening. If we wait until morning, the blackshirts are likely to show up again first. They probably weren't surprised that we weren't here during the day, but they'll figure we'd likely sleep here."

'Any chance of a bit of beef Wellington?,' asks Andrew. 'I do find this foreign food to be a bit strongly flavoured, don't you think?'

He orders a drink and sits with it sullenly for a few minutes. 'These darned Blackshirts could scupper our plans. I don't want to end up in prison or seeing the wrong end of a stiletto. But it does look like Miss Stagliani is our best lead. Is it going to be safer walking the streets of Venice at night or during the day?'

"I'm rather fond of Italian food myself," says Felicity. "English food isn't the greatest, though much depends on the chef. The streets, or should I say the canals, could be dangerous at any time. I frequently go out at night in London, though I always have company when I do, and I haven't been in any danger, but this is another place entirely."

Archie sips his wine. It's magnificent, but it does nothing to dull the tingle in his arm, and he wonders if it will ever stop. For the thousandth time since they left, he wonders if he will ever see his home again. If the Turks have anything to do with it, he supposes not. She sighs and forces himself to stop playing with the risotto and take a bite.

"Yes, I suppose Miss Stagliani is our next stop. I hope she does still have access to the statue."