Time Travelers Never Die Part 33

"That might be Cardiac City."

"That's begun to seem a little silly now. Anyhow, you're okay, aren't you?"

"I'm okay. I'm not sure whether that would hold true if we didn't put the converter back." Dave was taking off his jacket. "Shel, remember the Atlantic."

"I know." Shel sank into a chair. "We're down to one converter now. So we're not going to be able to do this anymore, the way we have been."

"Maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe maybe?"

"Shel, I'm not sure, but I think I've found your father."

CHAPTER 24.

Galileo was obliged to retract by those mitred marionettes who are today tyrants and the shame of Italy.

-VOLTAIRE, NOTEBOOKS NOTEBOOKS

"WE put the extra converter away too soon," said Shel. put the extra converter away too soon," said Shel.

"I guess," said Dave. "Let's hope this is the last time."

Shel used the working converter to go back to the early morning and retrieve both units, for a total of three. That provided an additional one for his father, should they find him. He a.s.sured the Powers That Be that he'd replace them literally within seconds after their return from Italy.

Now they were ready to go after Michael Shelborne again. By then, both were convinced that the man in Florence would indeed turn out to be Shel's father. "We're going to find out," Shel predicted, "that he dropped the converter. And got stuck. Just the way I did."

They arrived in open country, in a field, on a cool morning in May 1640. Two young men, probably teens, were working in the field, about a mile away, and the first thing Shel did was look for dogs. The kids saw them. One waved. Shel and Dave waved back and started in their direction.

They were on their knees, doing something to the soil, spreading fertilizer, perhaps. One got up as they approached. "h.e.l.lo," he said. "Are you lost?"

"Yes," said Dave. "We're looking for Careo."

"You have to get back on the road." He pointed in the direction from which they'd come. "Go left. It's about a twenty-minute walk."

DAVE stopped an elderly couple traveling in a cart and asked if they knew of a Michael Shelborne, who lived in Careo. stopped an elderly couple traveling in a cart and asked if they knew of a Michael Shelborne, who lived in Careo.

"Well, he used used to live here," said the woman. to live here," said the woman.

"Has he moved?"

"Oh, no, sir. He's dead. dead."

Mrto.

Shel didn't have to wait for the translation.

"Are you sure?" asked Dave.

"Oh, yes. It was three or four years ago, wasn't it, Poppa?"

"Yes," Poppa replied. "He was a good man. Did you know him?"

Shel showed the photo.

"Oh, no," Poppa said. "Michael was much older than this man."

The woman studied it. "It could be him. When he was young."

A young woman confirmed it. "That's him," she said. "He's buried at Santo Pietro." young woman confirmed it. "That's him," she said. "He's buried at Santo Pietro."

"A churchyard?" asked Shel, in English.

Dave translated.

"S."

"He wasn't much of a churchgoer," Shel objected. "It must be somebody else."

"Can you show us?" Dave asked.

The woman's name was Carlotta. She was attractive, with dark, luminous eyes and a quiet smile. She said it was only a short distance, and they fell in behind her. Shel walked almost in a daze. He wasn't sure what he'd expected to find in Galileo's Italy, but certainly nothing like this. For one thing, his father was immortal. Whatever else might change, he would be there, always ready to laugh, to demonstrate what living really meant. Carpe diem. Carpe diem. Make the most of your time because you will not forever enjoy the daylight. And that very att.i.tude had somehow imbued him with a cloak of invulnerability. Make the most of your time because you will not forever enjoy the daylight. And that very att.i.tude had somehow imbued him with a cloak of invulnerability.

Carts clattered past. People worked in the fields. Farm animals nibbled on gra.s.s. Occasionally, someone rode by on a horse.

Carlotta knew everyone by name, greeted every person they pa.s.sed, answered questions about her mother's well-being by saying she was all right. Coming along. Bene. Bene. When Dave asked, she explained that her mother had recently delivered another child but had had a difficult time for a while. When Dave asked, she explained that her mother had recently delivered another child but had had a difficult time for a while.

When she learned that Shel was Michael's son, she offered condolences. "You look like him," she added. The remark induced another chill.

They moved at a steady pace, around a curve out of a cl.u.s.ter of trees, and a town came into view. It was a small town, maybe a hundred houses. Carlotta pointed out an attractive villa with a broad deck and bright green shutters, atop a hill. "That is where he lived," she said.

"Michael Shelborne?"

"Yes."

They pa.s.sed a winery and more houses. And finally they approached an old stone church. It was small and looked abandoned. Shel doubted they could have gotten fifty people into it.

"No," said Carlotta. "Santo Pietro's still has an active congregation. But they have no money."

Its lonely steeple thrust up through the trees. "It doesn't look safe," said Dave.

Carlotta smiled. "I can't imagine anyplace safer."

An angel with spread wings dominated the churchyard, standing guard over three graves. "Priests," their guide said. "Father Patrizio, Father Agostino, and Father Cristiano. They were good men. Father Agostino baptized me."

"Carlotta," said Dave, translating for Shel, "do you know what Shelborne's connection was with this church?"

"Only that he was a member."

"Of Santo Pietro's Santo Pietro's?" said Shel. "That's not possible."

"I think he must have been. He left his estate to the parish."

"You mean, to the church church?"

"Not directly. As I understand it, it was left to the parrchia parrchia. Had he left it to the church, it would have simply gone to Rome. This way, Father Valentini was able to use it to help the poorer families in the district."

"You think well of him," said Dave. "Father Valentini."

"Of course."

"You do not sound as if you care much for Rome, however."

"It is like everything else. The priests have no real power. They do what they can to make life easier for us. Without them, I'm not sure what hope we would have."

THEY went behind the church, where there was another statue, probably of Mary, looking heavenward. She held a tablet, inscribed with the words RIPOSI IN PACE. And maybe two hundred headstones. They looked through the markers, and it was Carlotta who found it. She pointed and stood aside. went behind the church, where there was another statue, probably of Mary, looking heavenward. She held a tablet, inscribed with the words RIPOSI IN PACE. And maybe two hundred headstones. They looked through the markers, and it was Carlotta who found it. She pointed and stood aside.

It was a plain headstone with an engraved cross.

MICHAEL SHELBORNE.

M. 1637.

"Date of death?" asked Shel.

Dave nodded. "Yes." The graveyard was very still. "Three years ago."

"That can't be right. The Internet entry said he died in 1650."

"It was a guess."

"He's only been gone a few months," said Shel.

"It's different here. It looks as if he's been here for years."

"He wasn't a believer."

While they stood looking at the marker, a door opened in the church, and a priest appeared. He raised a hand in greeting, seemed about to go back inside, when Shel signaled, asking him to wait.

It was Father Valentini. Carlotta introduced them, then explained she had work to do. Shel gave her some carlinos carlinos. She tried to decline, but he insisted.

When she was gone, the priest invited them inside. "How may I help you?" he asked.

"Adrian," said Dave, "thinks that Michael Shelborne may have been his father."

"There is is a resemblance," said the priest. a resemblance," said the priest.

"Father," said Shel, "can you tell me if there was a connection between Michael and Galileo?"

The priest's features brightened. He was about sixty, his hair almost gone. His beard was white, and he had sharp amber eyes. "Galileo? Yes. Michael Shelborne knew him, but it was a long time ago."

"Galileo denied all knowledge."

"Ah, you've been to see him. I'm surprised you got past the Inquisition."

"Is there any reason he would have lied?"

"I don't think that's what happened. Your father was, as far as I know, only a casual acquaintance, and that was a long time ago."

"Can you tell me when?"

"I believe it was at the time of the nova."

"The nova?"

"The new star. Professor Galilei was teaching mathematics at the University of Padua when it happened. It was visible for a year and a half, I believe, and was for a time the brightest object in the sky. Except the sun and moon, of course." He shook his head. "It was so bright, we could see it in the twilight. But you're too young to remember. We never did figure out what it was. A sign of some sort, perhaps."

"When was that?"

"I believe 1604. It was one of the things that got the professor in trouble with the Church."

"Why?"

"Because the new star did not move through the sky like the moon. So he said it was farther away than the moon."

"And . . . ?"