floor by her foot pedals. She started up the harmonium again. Maybe for her it was just that bit more interesting than a pedalo, but we were seeing it for the first time. It was a crazy act. A forty-two-year-old Valkyrie, spaced out in motorbike boots.
She stopped pedalling for a second, reached down for her drink and took a long, throat-saving swig. Instantly she spat out the sickly sweet guck and half-puked an enormous arc that cascaded through the spotlight beam.
It echoed on and on through the sound system from one speaker to another. Laughter in the cathedral.
âIâm going to fire you aaaall ⦠Assholes!â She was sitting in Demetriusâs seat in the bus back to the hotel. âYouâre a bunch of rejects.â She went round each one of us. âInvalids ⦠freeee-loaders ⦠nymphomaniacs ⦠morons ⦠shysters ⦠Donât bother turning up for the next show ⦠Iâll have you all thrown out!â
âSo ⦠this is the predicament â¦â
We were gathered around the four-poster bed in Dr Demetriusâs Bridal Suite, minus the bride.
âSheâs out of stuff already, hence the tantrum ⦠although I must say, I find it unlikely that even Nico with her legendary appetite for self-destruction could possibly have cleaned up four grams in two days. I feel she must have had a little chivalrous assistance on the way.â He sneered at Echo. âAs for the sackings, I determine who stays and who goes ⦠however, Iâm afraid there will have to be a certain stringency regarding your immediate remuneration. I canât get another lira out of the Eyeties until weâve done a few more shows. Thereâs no recourse but to use what little cash we have in order to keep Nico pointing upwards ââ
ââOld on a minute,â interrupted Echo, âooâs payinâ fer this gaff?â He scanned the Bridal Suite.
Demetrius propped himself up on a pink satin cushion. âI have certain personal, private funds at my disposal, but these are exclusively for my own use in an Absolute Emergency. This does not constitute an emergency, but rather a tiresome interruption in our joyous progress towards the golden South ⦠much in the manner of Keats and Shelley, wouldnât you say, Echo?â
âWhat about the beers?â asked Toby.
ââWith beaded bubbles winking at the brimâ,â continued Demetrius abstractedly. âPerhaps something could be arranged with regard to the refreshments, we shall have to see ⦠In the meantime, frugality, my friends, frugality.â He pulled a tasselled rope and the heavy velvet drapes fell round the four-poster bed.
I had regular sleeping habits, as did Nico, who preferred to sleep all day, fearing disintegration in daylight. I wanted to sleep but couldnât. Italy was out there â the bars, the bamboozle, the eternal city of flirts, but I felt distanced and disorientated ⦠and tired.
In truth Italy was as far away as it had been back in Echoâs parlour. What we were up to wasnât work exactly, but it wasnât a holiday either. As Echo said, it was what you did when you couldnât do anything else.
I couldnât seem to connect on any level with Nico. I was used to people who talked. Too much chat seemed to irritate her, too much silence made me nervous. I asked her if she wanted to go and see some frescoes. âI can see them in a book.â A stroll maybe? Too far, too tired â the shows exhausted her.
People would give her things. Once, as we were leaving the hotel, a strange girl, emaciated and stricken, pressed a shell into her hand. Nico immediately passed it on to Echo who made the sign of the cross and threw it away. The girl, in Nicoâs eyes a witch, had been waiting up all night since the show, hanging around the entrance, hoping for a glimpse. âAnyone who wants to see me that bad has got to be
She stopped pedalling for a second, reached down for her drink and took a long, throat-saving swig. Instantly she spat out the sickly sweet guck and half-puked an enormous arc that cascaded through the spotlight beam.
It echoed on and on through the sound system from one speaker to another. Laughter in the cathedral.
âIâm going to fire you aaaall ⦠Assholes!â She was sitting in Demetriusâs seat in the bus back to the hotel. âYouâre a bunch of rejects.â She went round each one of us. âInvalids ⦠freeee-loaders ⦠nymphomaniacs ⦠morons ⦠shysters ⦠Donât bother turning up for the next show ⦠Iâll have you all thrown out!â
âSo ⦠this is the predicament â¦â
We were gathered around the four-poster bed in Dr Demetriusâs Bridal Suite, minus the bride.
âSheâs out of stuff already, hence the tantrum ⦠although I must say, I find it unlikely that even Nico with her legendary appetite for self-destruction could possibly have cleaned up four grams in two days. I feel she must have had a little chivalrous assistance on the way.â He sneered at Echo. âAs for the sackings, I determine who stays and who goes ⦠however, Iâm afraid there will have to be a certain stringency regarding your immediate remuneration. I canât get another lira out of the Eyeties until weâve done a few more shows. Thereâs no recourse but to use what little cash we have in order to keep Nico pointing upwards ââ
ââOld on a minute,â interrupted Echo, âooâs payinâ fer this gaff?â He scanned the Bridal Suite.
Demetrius propped himself up on a pink satin cushion. âI have certain personal, private funds at my disposal, but these are exclusively for my own use in an Absolute Emergency. This does not constitute an emergency, but rather a tiresome interruption in our joyous progress towards the golden South ⦠much in the manner of Keats and Shelley, wouldnât you say, Echo?â
âWhat about the beers?â asked Toby.
ââWith beaded bubbles winking at the brimâ,â continued Demetrius abstractedly. âPerhaps something could be arranged with regard to the refreshments, we shall have to see ⦠In the meantime, frugality, my friends, frugality.â He pulled a tasselled rope and the heavy velvet drapes fell round the four-poster bed.
I had regular sleeping habits, as did Nico, who preferred to sleep all day, fearing disintegration in daylight. I wanted to sleep but couldnât. Italy was out there â the bars, the bamboozle, the eternal city of flirts, but I felt distanced and disorientated ⦠and tired.
In truth Italy was as far away as it had been back in Echoâs parlour. What we were up to wasnât work exactly, but it wasnât a holiday either. As Echo said, it was what you did when you couldnât do anything else.
I couldnât seem to connect on any level with Nico. I was used to people who talked. Too much chat seemed to irritate her, too much silence made me nervous. I asked her if she wanted to go and see some frescoes. âI can see them in a book.â A stroll maybe? Too far, too tired â the shows exhausted her.
People would give her things. Once, as we were leaving the hotel, a strange girl, emaciated and stricken, pressed a shell into her hand. Nico immediately passed it on to Echo who made the sign of the cross and threw it away. The girl, in Nicoâs eyes a witch, had been waiting up all night since the show, hanging around the entrance, hoping for a glimpse. âAnyone who wants to see me that bad has got to be
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