SALVE ROMA! A Felidae Novel - By Akif Pirincci Page 0,50

my words as a kind but rhetorical compliment. But I knew from experience that to the ladies especially the most pathetic compliments are music to their ears.

»To get back to the recent cruelty in my second job: I told you that on this creepy conference down in the catacombs the capeman talked about an upcoming miracle, about il miracolo. Does that ring a bell? I mean, have you ever heard rumors regarding a so-called miracle amongst our kind?«

Sancta thought for quite a while, whereas her patina-green eyes totally disappeared between the slits of her eyelids, then she shook her head. I just wanted to ask the next question, when she suddenly looked up as if she just got an idea.

»Well, come to think of it ... there actually is a miracle with a certain connection to us. But it is not about to come, it has existed for ages and it is quite alive. All Romans know it. And since the TV stations, which bless the people with pathetic impressions at Christmas and Easter, have broadcasted his pictures ad nauseam, everyone has been sick of it.«

Instantly I changed from the passionate lover back to the passionate detective.

»What, there actually is an il miracolo?«

»Unfortunately! And that’s his name, too.«

»Excuse me?«

»Miracolo is the name of the Pope’s pet! And ever since these cute media reports this creature carved out a career as the Vatican’s secret mascot. That’s okay. But this guy, who unfortunately is one of our kind, has more air than the pope himself. He’s a Persian, who meanwhile has seen more springs than the Temple of Apollo. He surrounds himself with flunkeys who even support him in his megalomania. Anyway, from time to time he sends our kind some bluenosed messages, which outdo the pope’s encyclicals by far. At best we don’t get them and at worst we shake our heads.«

»I got to meet him!« I yelled so loud as if I had spotted a fire.

»Quare?« she replied and looked at me, dumbfounded.

»Seriously? I’m looking for a miracle in Rome, Sancta, and Miracolo is the only miracle I can get a hold of.«

»Iste non est miraculum, sed vir stultissimus!«

»Okay, he may be a moron. But an unerring instinct tells me, that there may be much riding on this conversation. But how on earth can I arrange a meeting between him and me? He is a star, and I’m just a miserable tourist.«

»Don’t worry, Francis.« Sancta smiled mildly like a mother to her small son, who is scared Santa won’t come because he hasn’t been quite good enough during the year. »A star needs his audience, and Miracolo doesn’t have a lot. He will meet you for sure. And I will let you know about the easiest way to him when you leave me for good.«

She didn’t smile anymore now. Quite the opposite, sheer cloud fields browsed her face.

»Are you that lonely, Sancta?«

»Sometimes«, she said and struggled to keep her composure. But her whiskers vibrated, and her snout trembled persistently. She was about to burst out in tears. »This area suits our kind better than any other place, and yet sometimes I don’t hear a single meow for weeks, or even for months. It has nothing to offer for our brothers and sisters. Awestricken, the tourists don’t even dare to throw away a half-eaten bologna sandwich. Everything is nice to look at, but this beauty is due to those whose bones crumbled into dust ages ago. Life itself doesn’t live here anymore. But I’m alive, and that’s my tragedy.«

My heart tensed up listening to her words. Though to me she had appeared to be a beauty queen, now I knew that actually she was a queen without a kingdom. How said she must feel, wandering about this whole splendor all day and never walking into a fellow at all? Without using the worn thin comparison to a golden cage, I sensed that even sparkling beauty and fabulous wealth couldn’t make up for everyday occurrences like tender rubbing against a friend’s cheeks or a little scrap about the best place in the sun. No, Sancta didn’t live in a golden cage nor was she kept hostage by some monster. She herself was the cage; that was the nub of the matter! The Forum, the old myths and legends, the Latin language, this whole freaking sunken world had rubbed off on her and had made her a ghost. She wanted to live, only she didn’t have the guts to go outside to the