Milo looked for Teo. He checked the back corridor first, then the side garden. He wasn’t sure where an eight-year-old would spend his time in a house this size.

He had only spoken to Teo a handful of times, and most of those exchanges had been brief. Mostly, Teo brought him things and clothes.

He had been walking for a few minutes when Teo appeared from around the side of the building, carrying a large bucket with both hands.

When the boy got close to him, he could see the bucket was empty, but it smelled like raw meat.

Teo looked up and saw him. "Hi, Milo! Do you need something?"

Milo smiled widely. "Mr. Portello asked me to find you."

"Oh, did something happen?" Teo asked.

"No. He just said we can go outside and play." He paused. "What were you doing?"

Teo looked down at the bucket. "Feeding Mr. Bogli."

Milo remembered the white tiger that had scared him to death. He was so embarrassed. He didn’t bring it up.

Teo carried the bucket back inside and left it somewhere in the back of the house.

Milo followed him. "Do you want some cake?" He offered the coffee and the cake.

The boy looked at it and nodded happily. He finished the coffee and the cake in a minute. "Thank you!"

He went to the kitchen and washed the small plate and the cup. When he walked back to Milo, he was already thinking about something, the way children make decisions.

"It’s a good day for swimming," Teo said. "Do you want to swim?"

Milo looked at him. "Swimming?"

"Yes. There’s a small lake not far from here. We can walk."

"Is it okay if we just go?" Milo looked back toward the house. Everyone inside was working. He felt uncomfortable leaving while they were all busy.

"If Salvatore told you to play, then you can play," Teo said casually. "I’ll wait here. Go get a towel and a change of clothes."

Teo had already walked to his room.

Milo hesitated. But he went to his room. He changed into lighter clothes and folded a towel over his arm. He stood at the door for a moment and thought about it.

Salvatore had told him to go. Even if that man got angry later, he’d only face punishment. And whatever punishment Salvatore gave him for something like this wouldn’t be extreme.

The man wasn’t as crazy as Nero, and Milo had begun to understand where the limits were.

He went back outside.

Teo had already started walking before Milo caught up to him. He fell into step alongside him.

They passed the animal enclosures. Milo kept his eyes forward and walked slightly faster through that section. Teo greeted two of the handlers by name without slowing down.

They walked past a low fence and across an open field where the grass was long and dry, then into a stretch of trees that grew taller and closer together the farther in they went.

Teo talked the entire way, about Mr. Bogli’s eating schedule, about a bird he had seen the week before that he couldn’t identify, about a small argument he had witnessed between Maureen and two of the kitchen staff that he found very entertaining.

Milo listened and kept his eyes on the tree line and the path ahead.

The sounds changed along the way. The noise from the house and the grounds faded, replaced by birds, the wind rustling through the upper branches, and a distant, unidentifiable sound that made Milo slow his pace slightly.

"Is it safe to come here?" Milo asked.

"Yes, don’t worry. Salvatore comes here sometimes," Teo said.

"That’s not what I asked."

"It’s okay. There are no wild animals here."

Milo looked at the trees around him. In the afternoon sun, the canopy was thick enough that the light filtered through in uneven patches, and the spaces between the trunks were dark.

He wasn’t exactly afraid, it was just that the place gave him a strange feeling. It was as if he had entered a magical world.

So peaceful.

Then the trees parted, and he saw the lake.

It was a fairly large lake, surrounded by flat stones and low bushes. The water was clear enough to see the bottom near the edges, and it had a faint green tint further toward the center where it deepened. It was still, quiet, and looked cold.

Teo dropped his towel on a stone, pulled his shirt over his head, and jumped in before Milo had taken three steps toward the edge.

The splash echoed off the trees.

Teo surfaced and shook the water from his face. "Come in!"

Milo crouched near the edge and looked at the water. He looked at the bottom, the stones, the place where the shallow edge dropped away into the green center.

Milo, be careful with the water, it wouldn’t be fun if there were crocodiles.

"Is it safe?"

"Yes. Come in!"

Milo sat down on a flat stone and dipped his feet in. The cold hit his ankles immediately, and he drew a sharp breath through his teeth.

He sat on the stone, dangling his feet in the water. It actually felt good. His feet and calves had been sore since morning training, and the cold water soothed that pain in a way that helped.

"I’ll stay here," Milo said.

Teo stopped swimming and looked at him. "Why?"

"I can’t swim."

Teo stared at him. "You can’t swim?"

"I never swim."

Teo considered this. "It’s not deep. You can stand. Come in up to your waist."

"I’m fine here."

Teo looked at him for another moment, then shrugged and went back to swimming. He moved back and forth across the width of the lake with effortless confidence.

Milo watched him with envy, but he didn’t dare try. No one would save him if he went under. Teo certainly wasn’t strong enough to pull him out.

He leaned forward and splashed water up over his arms and the back of his neck. He washed his face. He sat in the sun on the rock with his feet in the cold water and let his shoulders drop for the first time since morning.

Teo surfaced near the edge and, without warning, threw a wide, flat splash directly at Milo.

The water hit him across the chest and face.

Milo sucked in a breath. "What the—" He leaned forward and threw a double handful of water back.

Teo laughed and ducked.

Milo threw another.

Teo came back with a bigger splash.

Both of them were laughing.

After an hour, Teo climbed out and sat on the rock next to Milo. They were both wet, Milo more from splashing than from swimming.

They sat in the sun and let it warm their bodies.

Milo looked at the water. "Mr. Portello really won’t be angry that we came here?"

"He told you to play," Teo said. "So don’t worry."

Milo nodded slowly.

"He always stops me from working," Teo said. He pulled at a long piece of grass near the edge of the stone.

"He’s nice to you."

"Yes. But I help around the house, mow the lawn, feed the animals, little things. But he doesn’t like me to do too much of it." He paused. "Actually, he wants me to study. He’s sending me to school next year."

"That’s cool!"

But Teo pouted. "What’s cool about it? I hate it."

Milo looked at him. "You don’t want to go?"

Teo made a face. "I hate school."

"You haven’t gone yet."

"I know what it’s like. You sit inside all day and someone tells you things, and then you have to write it down and remember it." Teo pulled the piece of grass apart. "And I already earn money. Salvatore pays me for the things I help with. Why do I need to go to school?"

Milo was quiet for a moment. He thought about how to say it without sounding like a lecture, because he saw school in a different light. He had always wanted to go to a real school and meet lots of friends.

"School teaches you things you can’t get from working," he said.

He looked at the water. "You can earn money now because someone allows you to. School gives you what you need so that one day you don’t need someone’s permission."

Teo was quiet for a moment. He wasn’t convinced, because he still hated the idea of reading books.

"I hope I won’t meet annoying kids," Teo said.

Milo just smiled, he didn’t say anything in response. He had never studied with other children. Nero had made sure his education took place at home, with private tutors, in rooms with closed doors.

He had never had the chance to interact with other kids or play with them.

"When you’re older, you’ll be glad he made you go," Milo said.

Teo looked at him sideways. "Did you go to school?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

Milo thought about it. "It wasn’t really fun. But I learned a lot of new things."

"See, it’s not fun!"

Milo laughed softly. It wasn’t fun for him because he did it in Nero’s prison.

Teo looked back at the water.

Then he stood up.

Milo looked up at him. Before he could react, Teo had already pushed him into the water. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Ah!" Milo gasped in shock.

The cold hit him all at once. His feet found the bottom, but the stones were covered in something slippery, and his feet slid, and he couldn’t get a foothold.

Damn! He was going to drown!