Under a September sun, the great cypresses threw down geometrical shadows across the dead, and tight red fists of rose stood out against the white marble monuments. With his hand resting on her tomb, Cress recited Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘How Do I Love Thee’。 Little catch to the back of the throat by the word-perfect end. Classic Cressy. He waited for Col to ridicule him, but Col didn’t. Col said it was a deeply moving rendition. Col never used words like that, and even Peg’s eyebrows thought it worth a raise.
Walking along a shaded pathway, Col said he was worried about the demolition blighting the terraces. Everyone knew that Col was his pub and without the pub … well, it wasn’t worth thinking about. And then Cress said, What’ll happen to my cherry tree, Col? And Col said, I’ll tie myself to it, if needs be, Cress. I can be that kind of man.
Now, the following day, Cress had planned a trip to Chianti but had forgotten to tell anyone about it. He’d hoped Ulysses would drive them out to the vineyards in Betsy but when morning came, Ulysses had gone. Peg was sunning herself on the terrace. You see anything, Col? she said.
Col was scanning the square with the telescope. Nothing, he said. He’s scarpered.
You seen him? said Peg to Pete, who had just come in from his walk.
No, I haven’t, Peg. Betsy’s gone, though.
Betsy’s gone? said Cress. That’ll be it then. Happens every year, same sort of time. He’s gone for the day.
Gone where? said Col.
Cress shrugged. Disappears, sometimes overnight.
Well I never, said Col. He’s got a woman. About bloody time, and he lit a cigarette.
Peg stayed quiet.
I’m not sure it is a woman, said Cress.
I’d like to think it is, said Pete. Every year, you say, Cress?
Cress nodded.
I don’t think I’ve heard anything more committed, said Pete and he even wrote a song about it later that day. ‘364 Days and Counting’， it was called. He wrote it fast and completed it by the time Ulysses walked through the door later that night.
Hey, Temps, listen to this!
Ulysses put his hat on the stand and walked into the living room. A soft melody, with a soft chorus about a lifetime lived in a day. Pete ditched the obvious reference to a mayfly.
Peg said, And where’d you go, sunshine? She said it all nudge nudge, wink wink, but Ulysses wasn’t in the mood. He went to bed early that night. Contemplative, was the word Cressy used to describe him.
Peg called Pete into the kitchen and asked him to swap rooms with her, and Pete all amenable said, Of course. He’s a lovely fella to sleep with.
Peg tiptoed into Ulysses’ room, slipped out of her dress and got into bed with him. Ulysses said, I really just want to be quiet, Peg. And with arms around one another, they listened to voices give way to bells and bells give way to oblivion. Peg said, You got a woman, Temps? and Ulysses said, I don’t have a woman. They rolled away from one another to sleep, but the soles of their feet touched all night.
Peg, Col and Pete left the following day. In spite of the protestations, they all took up their allotted positions in the van. Cress had fixed a solid sheet of wood to the back as a replacement door and Col had promised Pete they’d stop in Soutigny on the way back. What the fuck’s in Soutigny? he said. Claude flew down from the statue and shat on the windscreen and Pete held up the specially adapted suitcase and tapped it knowingly. No one could bear to watch Ulysses and Peg say goodbye.
All set? shouted Col.
Get on with it, said Peg.
The ambulance jolted back to life and wailed.
Bye, Temps!
Bye, Peg!
Good riddance! shouted the contessa.
And then they were gone.
Cress would never forget them turning up for him for as long as he lived. All that love again. Cress thought he’d had more than his fair share, and that, for Cress, was as bad as having none at all. But the tree said, That can’t happen. Love’s the way. And its leaves quivered as the breeze came in from the southern hills. Tree said, They’re starting the grape harvest somewhere.
That so? said Cress.
And the swallows are lining up to leave.
I’ll miss them, said Cress.
It’s just the way of things.
Sergio Leone rode into the Odeon in 1964. It was the start of the Trilogia del Dollaro. Walking out of A Fistful of Dollars, Massimo said, For me, Ennio Morricone has completely redefined the cinematic soundtrack.
And Cress and Ulysses wholeheartedly agreed.
Massimo said the same thing a year later after watching For a Few Dollars More.
Col sent regular updates on Geoff Hurst and spied on him at the training ground. Col got a bit of a reputation, and not a good one, and Peg told him to lose the binoculars. Col said Hurst was no match for Jimmy Greaves and his acid reflux returned. He blamed it all on Cress and his gambling ways. In October, Alys and Pete were arrested outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square during protests against the Vietnam War. Alys made the banners that said: MILITARISM IS THE SAME AS RACISM. They were released that night without charge because Col knew the station sergeant. Col was waiting for them outside. He said, This is a new low, even for you, Pete. Bless you, said Pete.