"We will hold you down and insert this into your mouth, right into the back of your throat and down into your stomach and then pour in oats and milk; here like this!", Luciana threatened, holding the Cannone close to Niccolo's mouth and motioned to me to hold his arms, as she picked up the jug from the nearby wooden stool.
"I will eat, I will eat", Niccolo wailed, his eyes wide open in fear. "I will eat, I will".
Luciana nodded. I said naught, but silently mouthed the words....what were they, those wonderful, soothing words of the Oratio Sancti Francisci...and we give thee thanks to Thee because as Thy Son...sinners are not worthy to name Thee....what were the words? I could never remember the words.
Niccolo did eat, when he was told to do so by Luciana, who still threatened to box his ears if he did not, yet his demeanour remained melancholic and despondent as he had been for months. Luciana and I kept ourselves busy, collecting firewood from the lower crypt, milking the goat and tending to the horses caged in the adjacent stable. We lost track of the days as the weeks rolled into months, the bitter cold of winter became the insufferable heat of the Tuscan summer and every day, once all the chores had been done, Luciana kept her vigil at the arrow slit.
"Those stinking thieves", Luciana would mutter under her breath clenching her fists, as the death carts rattled by, "those shovel-wielding crooks".
Towards the end of the summer and as the infernal heat abated, Luciana standing with one hand on her hip and the other crossing herself, put her head to her shoulder, her eyes unblinking. "Madonna, the great bell of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore has been silent for days," she said slowly.
Niccolo suddenly started to weep, tears running down his face. I pulled him closer to me and held him tight, with all the strength I had.
"Caterina", he said between sobs, "there is no-one left to ring the bell. We are the only ones left in the world".
Luciana stiffened. A knock. Then silence. Luciana swiftly turned around from the arrow slit. Niccolo grabbed my hand, almost crushing it. Luciana put her finger to her lips. I nodded and placed my hands over Niccolo's mouth. I could feel his stifled sobs and his breath on my palms. Another knock, this time a little louder. Knock, knock, knock...
