William.

Episode 2 : William The Spy

She looked around the bend in the road behind the house and followed him with a laugh through the bushes. From one point you could see the window of the living room, and there stood a restless Ruberto, pale with anxiety, stiff and erect in his newly curled trousers (rolled tight to show the new blue socks), his eyes full of soul was watching intensely at the bend of the road by which the beloved would arrive. Every now and then his nervous hand reached out to touch the shiny new tie and collar, which was a little too high and too tight for comfort, but which the salesman had told his enthusiastic customer was in "the best shape the last one is the most correct". .

Meanwhile, the boyfriend had arrived at William's "dig". William had made it himself with the branches cut from the trees, and had spent many happy hours with one or other of his friends. "Here's the wigwam, Paleface," he said in a grave voice. "Stay here while I decide with Snakeface and the other leaders what to do with you. It's Snaface and the others," he added in his natural voice, pointing to a small group of bushes.

Approaching them, he stood there and spoke harshly and unintelligibly for several minutes, turning his ugly face, suffocating, and from time to time pointing his finger at her, as he apparently described his capture.

Then he approached again. “It was really the red Indian who was talking to me then,” he explained in his usual voice, then lowered it to his low note, booming and grimacing more wildly than ever, “Snake Face said Pale Face must be carved, cooked and eaten!

He took a penknife and opened it as if to perform the operation, then continued: "But I and the others say that you are a squap and you will cook us, we will leave you alive." »

Signora Cannone fell to her knees.

"Thank you very humbly and gratefully, great Red Hand," he said. "I'll be happy to be your team." »

"I have a fire here," said William proudly, leading him to the back of the wigwam, where a small log fire was burning half-heartedly, smothered by a large box full of black liquid. "O Squaw," said Red Hand with a dramatic gesture, "that was a pale face we caught last night!"

Squaw wrung his hands.

"Oh, how nice!" she said. - Do you cook? »

Red Hand nodded. then,

"I'll give you some feathers," he obliged. "You must have feathers too." »

He retreated into the depths of the wigwam and returned with a handful of chicken feathers.

Mrs. Cannone took off her large shaded hat and tucked the feathers into her woolly brown hair, laughing.

"He's happy!" she said. "I love Indians!"

"I have a cork you can use for make-up too," William continued with carefree generosity. "Believe quickly in fire."

She looked at the paths of the house that could be seen through the trees and shook her beautiful head regretfully.

"I'm afraid I don't," he said sadly. "Okay," he said, "I'll go hunting, I'll take your pale face off, and we'll eat it when I come back. Now I'm gone. Watch me chase."

He opened his key with a b****y gesture and, casting evil glances around him, slipped on all fours into the bushes. He was circling, in full view of his team, obviously determined to impress. She stirred the mixture in the box with a twig and occasionally gave him the admiring glances he so clearly craved. He returned immediately, carrying a cloth over his shoulder which he threw at their feet.

"A deer, squaw," he said in a grand voice. "Let them cook. I've been drinking all morning," he added in his usual tone; "They haven't lost it yet."

He took two small earthen pots from the wigwam, and, taking the larger one from the fire, poured a little into each. "Now," said he, "here's a Paleface for you, squaw."

"Oh," she said, "I'm sure he's very nice, but...".

"You needn't be afraid of him," said William defensively. "It's very good, I can tell you." He took the wrapping paper from a shoulder from behind the trees. "It's just this and water and it's really good!"

"It's adorable!" Would you allow...? »

"They won't let me," he interrupted hastily, "but there are piles of them in the pantry and they don't even notice anyone!" Frankly, I don't! I'll have more soon.

Bravely, he raised the can to his lips and took a sip.

- Wonderful, he said, closing his eyes. William's face was beaming with pride and happiness. But it gets dark when someone rings the doorbell.

"Frenzy!" It's you! »

Signora Cannone hastily removes the feathers from her hair and puts them in her hat.

"You have no mirror in your wigwam, I suppose?" she said.

"N-no," William agreed. "But I'll get one for the next time you come." I'll get one from Ethel's room. »

"He has no problem?"

"She won't know," William said simply.

Mrs. Cannon directed the dress.

"I'm terribly late. What do they think of me? It was terrible to come with you. I always do terrible things. It's a secret between you and me. He gave Guglielmo a smile that surprised him. "Now come in and let's confess." »

"I can't," said William. "I need a shower and a good night's sleep. I promised I would. It's a special day. Because of Robert, you know. Well, you know. Because of... Robert! »

He looked at her confused face with a meaningful nod.

Robert was worried. He had run his hands through his hair so often that it stretched around his head like a spiky halo. "We couldn't start without him," he said. "He'll think we're terrible." This will make me look forever. She is not used to being treated like this. She's the kind of girl people don't start without. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my life and you, my mother, treat her like that. You can ruin my life. You have no idea what this means to me. If you had seen him, you would have felt more sympathy for him. I can't describe it, I..."

"I said four o'clock, Robert," said the lady. Brown said firmly: "And it's after 1:00 p.m. Ethel, tell Emma she can call and bring tea."

Sweat ran down Robert's forehead.

"It is the downfall of all my hopes," he said aloud.

Then, a few minutes after the tea bell had gone off, the doorbell suddenly rang. Robert smoothed his hair with a wild, unbridled movement of his hands and forced a tortured smile to his lips. Mrs. Cannon appeared at the entrance, glamorous and reserved.

"I'm not ashamed at all? he said with his low laugh. "The truth, I met your boy in the street and stayed with him for a while. He's a perfect car, isn't he? »

His brown eyes rested on Robert. Robert licked his lips and smiled a tortured smile, but it was out of expression. "Yes, I know Ethel, and we met your son - yesterday, didn't we?"

Robert muttered incomprehensibly, raising a hand to his too-tight neck, then bowed vaguely in her direction.

Then they went to you.

Guglielmo, his hair neatly combed, his cap partially washed from his face and his feathers removed, arrived a few minutes later. The conversation was mainly led by Miss Cannon and Ethel. Robert made up his mind to a surprising remark, something that would raise him in his esteem far above ordinary youths, but nothing came of it. However, every time her brown eyes rested on him, an unforgettable smile crossed her lips and she raised a hand to ease the tension in her neck that had imprisoned her. He felt desperately that these precious moments were passing, and his passion still not discovered, except in his eyes, that the message he fears she has not read.

As they get up from tea, Guglielmo addresses his mother in an anxious and breathless whisper:

"Did I even wear my best outfit?"

Reserved lights danced in Miss Cannon's eyes, and the look that Robert gave her would have crushed a less brave soul.

William had quite forgotten the order he had received to withdraw from the stage immediately after you. He was indifferent to all suggestions. He followed the invasive Miss Cannon's suite into the living room and sat on the bed with Robert who had taken a seat next to his lover. - Do you like to read, Miss Cannon? Robert began with a painful effort.

"I wrote a story once," William boasted, bowing to Robert before she could answer. "It was a very good story. I told some people. I'll tell you if you want. It all started with a pirate on a raft and stole some jewels. The king who owned the jewels followed him in a steamboat. As he approached, he jumped into the water and took the jewels with him. A fish ate the jewels and the king took them. He stopped to catch his breath.

"I'd like to read it!" said Miss Cannon.

Robert turned to his side and, placing an arm on his knee to exclude William, insisted, speaking hoarsely.

"What's your favorite flower, Miss Cannon?" »

William's little head rested around Robert's arm.

“I have a garden. I walled everywhere. They grow up in no time. Must'erd and watercress also grow in a short time. I love things that grow fast, don't I? Tired of waiting for other varieties, right? »

Robert stood up dejectedly. - Would you like to see the garden and greenhouses, Miss Cannon? he said. "I do," said Miss Cannon.

With a menacing look at William, Robert pointed the way to the garden. And William, all innocent and alive, followed him.