Free The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen by Nicholas Christopher Page B

the door behind us.
    “Have you any idea what you’ve done?” he demanded. “Did you set out to make fools of us?”
    “No, signor.”
    “Sit down,” he said, righting one of the chairs, “and tell me what you could possibly want to say to the Master.”
    My mind was racing. “That I’m sorry.”
    “Sorry you were caught out?”
    “No. I’m sorry I broke the rules and left my bed.”
    “The rules? You should never have had a bed here!”
    “I am sorry that I deceived him, and you, pretending to be a girl. The truth is I am an orphan. I did lose my family. When you found me in the street, I was cold and hungry with nowhere to go.”
    “Am I supposed to feel bad for you, after all your deceptions? Why did you come down here tonight?”
    I glanced at Aldo, who was itching to get at me again. “Because he threatened me.”
    “What?”
    “He said if I didn’t bring Adriana dalla Viola, he would expose me.”
    Luca turned to Aldo. “You knew he was a boy?”
    “No, he’s lying. He came here to drink wine. I caught him.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “Why would Aldo want you to bring Adriana?” Luca asked.
    “So he could assault her.”
    “That’s a fantastic accusation.”
    “And he would have turned her over to a man who was hiding here.”
    “What man?” Luca said.
    “He had a gray beard, an ugly face.”
    “He’s a liar!” Aldo cried.
    “I tricked Aldo,” I went on, “to protect her, so he started beating me.”
    “Why would I believe anything you say?” Luca said with disgust. “You lied to me the first time we spoke, did you not?”
    “Yes,” I admitted.
    “And you’ve done nothing but lie since you entered the Ospedale. Your very presence here is based on a lie. And you’re lying now.”
    “I’m not.”
    “I’ve had enough of this,” Luca said, hauling me up by the collar of my dress.
    He dragged me to the door and threw it open, and to our astonishment, Signora Marta was crouched outside, obviously peering through the keyhole and listening.
    So she could hear! I thought.
    “Marta, what are you doing?” Luca said.
    Without a word, she slapped me across the cheek, so hard that it stung for the next hour, which was so chaotic and frightening that I barely noticed.
    She put her face inches from mine and shouted, “You’re a disgrace!” Then she whacked my head, and would have continued hitting me had Luca not stopped her.
    “Let’s just get him out of here,” he said.
    As we climbed the stairs, she in front, and he close behind, Marta looked over her shoulder at me with disdain. “I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were no good. You came here to spy on the girls, eh? You’re a dirty little fellow. I’d like to call the constables, so they could throw you in jail with the other criminals.”
    “I’m a musician,” I said, pulling the two halves of my dress together to cover my exposed parts. “I respected the girls’ modesty.”
    “How dare you speak to me of respect.”
    In the lobby, Carmine was at his post now. Silently he watched us pass. He looked wide awake, and nervous.
    When we reached the landing outside the dormitory, Luca left me alone with Signora Marta for a moment.
    “Signora, I must speak with you,” I said. “You don’t know what’s going on here.”
    This only infuriated her more. “I don’t know? Even now, you’re ready to invent more lies. Say another word and I will call the constables. Just do as I tell you: go to your bed in the dormitory, get some other clothes, and come back here at once. And don’t make a sound. Speak to no one. You have one minute. Disobey me and you go into the street naked.”
    I did as she ordered, first placing my clarinet and my few possessions and two soldi that I’d saved into my bag. I removed my torn dress and put on the one I wore to my audition, and then my cloak over that.
    As I made my way back to the door in the darkness, one of the girls intercepted me. My heart skipped, for I hoped it