They were finally drawing near the Casa when a shadow that was not a shadow detached itself from some bushes near the house. There was a flash of flame, and the shadow's face was momentarily illuminated. The man then cast the match aside and ground it under his boot.

'That's the man I met on the boat!' Kara mouthed, shocked by this revelation. 'The one who told me about Secret Island!'

Roman's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow. 'Do not move from here for any reason,' he said. Then, silent as a cat, he moved away towards where the man was standing, and melted into the shadows. Moments later there was a muffled thud as Roman laid the man out and dragged him off into the darkness. He soon returned with an object in his hand- Kara shuddered involuntarily and clamped her hands over her mouth as she caught the silhouette of the revolver Roman now carried. The air was very still, and thick with the promise of violence.

Roman then moved to the side of the house to where an iron drainpipe lay. Within seconds he had climbed to the second storey, jimmied open a window, and disappeared inside.

The interior of the house was in total darkness, the only source of light coming from a lamp hanging from the back porch. Kara gasped harshly and almost jumped out of her skin as there were two flashes of light and two sharp reports from inside the Casa. Her heart pounding, she waited, terrified that something horrible had occurred. But a moment later a light appeared, and Guiseppe came running, lantern in hand, calling her name.

'Kara! Come quickly!'

When she reached his side, she saw that he was armed and unsmiling. 'Go inside. The Señora and Maria are waiting for you.'

'Where are you going?'

'To get the bad man Roman took care of. Now go! No more questions!'

Almost running to the back door, Kara found it held open for her by Señora Castellan, who appeared at once unshaken and unshakable. She accompanied the Señora to the sitting room. There sat Ricardo, uninjured but looking shaken, Roman standing over him, every line of his body expressing a dangerous anger. Kara glanced around the room, trying to make sense of what she'd heard and seen. As though divining her thoughts, Roman said, 'No one is hurt, thankfully. This fool squeezed off two shots at the fireplace after I'd pinned him to the floor. As it turns out, these are not the two that were waiting for us on the road. Mother tells me that one of them is tall, with a scar on his face, here, wearing a Greek sailor's cap identical to the one Anana put a bullet through, while the other fellow is shorter and thickset, and bareheaded. The tall one had a marksman's rifle and was erudite when he chose to be, whilst the shorter of the two was a lout and a thug, and would have harmed the captives had he not been controlled by the other.




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