Salvatore picked up the axe Teo had been using and leaned it against the woodpile.

The boy hadn’t made much of a dent in the log in front of him, but he’d kept at it for a solid ten minutes without complaining once. The wood had a few dents in it and a shallow crack running along the side.

Salvatore hadn’t expected anything more. He’d given Teo the axe mostly to keep his hands occupied. Just to keep the boy busy.

Teo stared at the log, then at the neat stack of split wood beside Salvatore’s block.

"You cut all of it?" Teo said.

Salvatore reached over and took the axe from his hands. "Yes. Now go inside."

"Why do you need that much wood?" Teo ignored Salvatore; he looked around at the pile. "We don’t have a fireplace."

He was right. The mansion had electric heaters for winter, and it was too warm now to need them. There was no obvious reason to have this much chopped wood sitting in the yard.

Salvatore wiped the sweat from his forehead. He waved his hand toward the back of the property without answering.

Bernard was already walking toward them from the direction of the rear building, muttering something under his breath. The old man walked quickly, his expression suggesting that the very existence of the wood was a personal inconvenience to him.

Salvatore looked at Teo. "I want to try the bakery. If it works, next summer we can use it for barbecues."

Teo turned and looked at the building behind the mansion. It was an old structure that Bernard had been repairing for the past few days.

The walls were finished and the roof had been patched. It looked usable now from the outside.

"You want to use that building?" Teo pointed.

Salvatore nodded. Bernard had reached them by then. Salvatore pointed at the wood. "Bring it over there."

Bernard looked at the pile. Then he looked at Salvatore. "It’s still wet. We can’t put wet wood in the oven. Can’t we just use gas? Do we have to do this the medieval way?"

"Just do it. I want to see if it works. Wood gives off a different smell. You can tell the difference."

"I know that," Bernard said. "But it’s a lot of work. And you’re not actually going to use it anyway."

"I will use it. You can try making bread too."

Bernard made a short sound that wasn’t quite agreement. "Well. Thank you. I myself will be buying my bread from the shop."

Salvatore laughed once and turned toward the other guards nearby. He waved a few of them over and pointed at the wood. They started moving it without needing further explanation.

Teo immediately stepped forward. "I want to carry some too!"

Salvatore picked up one piece from the smaller end of the pile and held it out. "Go! Take it over there."

Teo took it with both arms and marched behind the group of guards, each of whom was carrying three or four times as much as he was. He looked completely satisfied with his effort.

Salvatore watched him for a moment, then shook his head and followed.

Once the wood was stacked inside the bakery building, the guards filed back out.

Bernard stayed, walking slowly along the walls with his hands clasped behind his back. He was utterly proud of his work.

"See, I made it look brand new!" he said.

Salvatore moved through the space, inspecting the ceiling, the floor, and the old stone oven in the back corner.

Teo went straight to the oven and peered at it up close. It was large and dark, built into the wall. The metal door was heavy and weathered with age.

"This looks really old," Teo said.

Bernard stopped walking. "Not the oven! The oven is a hundred years old! Look at the walls! I built those myself!"

Teo looked at the freshly painted walls. He tapped one with his knuckle. "Looks good."

"Of course!" Bernard nodded, satisfied.

Salvatore was at the back of the room. "It’s good work. We can start using it this summer."

They discussed a few details: how much wood the oven would need to heat properly, how long it would take, and whether the chimney above it was clear.

Bernard had opinions on all of it, mostly critical, but he knew the building better than anyone, so Salvatore listened.

After a while, he looked over at Teo, who was now sitting on a low ledge near the oven with his legs swinging. "Come on. Back inside."

Teo fell into step behind him as they crossed the yard toward the mansion. His legs were shorter, and he had to take larger steps to keep up.

"I was useful today, right?" Teo asked suddenly. He looked up at Salvatore.

Salvatore slowed slightly. "What do you mean? I didn’t ask you to work."

"I know. But..." Teo was quiet for a second. "You won’t throw me to the crocodile, right? I’ll help as much as I can!"

Salvatore stopped walking and looked down at him. "What? Who told you I’d feed you to a crocodile?"

Teo didn’t answer right away.

Salvatore looked at his face. "You helped me because you thought I might throw you into the swamp?"

Teo looked so serious now. It was cute on his face. "We... saw the guards throw a man to the crocodile yesterday."

"We?"

"Me and Milo. We were at the lake."

Salvatore was quiet for a moment. "Both of you were in the lake?"

"Yes. We were swimming! But Milo was really bad at it. He couldn’t swim at all. He almost drowned. It was good I was there. I helped him!"

He was so excited to talk about it now that he forgot for a moment about the crocodile.

He told everything but left out the part about pushing Milo in, which had caused him to nearly drown.

Salvatore didn’t look surprised that Milo couldn’t swim, but he didn’t say anything about it. He turned and started walking again, faster than before.

Teo kept up. "You won’t throw me to the crocodile, right?"

He repeated it again.

"I will," Salvatore smiled. "If you’re naughty enough and don’t listen."

"No! I’ll listen!"

Salvatore pretended to be serious. "Then you don’t need to worry about it."

Teo seemed to accept this. He stopped asking.

When they stepped inside the mansion, Salvatore paused in the entrance hall and looked at Teo. "Go get something from the kitchen for Milo. Food and medicine. Bring it to his room."

Teo’s face lit up. "Yes!" He was already moving before Salvatore finished the sentence.

Salvatore just chuckled, watched him disappear around the corner toward the kitchen, then turned and walked to his office.

***

Teo carried the tray down the hall with both hands and knocked on Milo’s door with his foot.

"Come in."

He pushed the door open. Milo was sitting on the edge of the bed, upright. He looked like he’d just woken up. When he saw the tray, his eyebrows went up.

"Teo?"

"Room service!" Teo announced and set the tray down on the small table near the bed. There was bread, a bowl of chicken, and the medicine Salvatore had told him to bring.

Milo looked at it. "You didn’t have to do this. I can eat in the pantry."

"Salvatore’s orders." Teo sat down beside Milo with a bright smile.

"You know, I helped him a lot today. He’s not going to throw me to the crocodiles. I’m sure of it!"

Milo smiled. "He wasn’t going to do that anyway."

"I know that now. But you also need to do something. I’m safe, so now it’s your turn to make sure."

"I already helped him last night," Milo said. "So I think I’m safe too."

Teo sat up straight immediately. "Last night? You didn’t tell me."

"You were asleep. It was an emergency."

"What happened?" Teo stared at him curiously. "What did you do?"

Milo picked up a piece of bread from the tray. He smiled but didn’t say anything.

"Tell me," Teo said.

Milo couldn’t say that he’d helped Salvatore sleep with the man. "It was nothing. A small thing."

"It doesn’t sound like nothing. What was it?"

Milo chuckled and looked at the food in front of him. "It really was nothing. Forget it."

Teo leaned toward Milo, his arms crossed and his lips pressed together. "That’s not fair."

"Eat something," Milo said. "Did you have breakfast?"

"Don’t change the subject."

Milo laughed quietly and took a bite of bread.

Teo stayed and watched him eat, still looking suspicious, and didn’t bring it up again. But he also didn’t stop looking like he was going to ask again the moment Milo let his guard down.

Milo just chuckled.

***

In the office.

Felix was already there with an old man. They both stood up when Salvatore walked in.

Salvatore paused for a moment. He recognized the old man. He used to see him all the time when he was a child. But the man looked so different now, and so much older.

"Gallo?"