Carter had no idea how many people lived in Castelalto, but it seemed to him that all of them must have been gathered there on the piazza when he walked out of the house and into the center of the village. Everyone had come out to talk about the tremor, the young and the old, the mothers and the grandparents, the children, and the fathers, who had rushed home from work the moment it struck to make sure that their families were safe. Everyone was talking and laughing. A lively, almost carnival-like atmosphere prevailed, as the frightening event had obviously now taken on the status of a shared adventure.

Carter wandered into the midst of them, nodding hello to people as they greeted him. After four days in the little village, everyone, even those to whom he had yet to be formally introduced, knew who he was. He quickly learned that the tremor had been felt in a very large radius around the region, but it caused no serious damage anywhere, and none in Castelalto, as far as anyone could tell. There was, he supposed, good reason for their lightheartedness, but as he turned and surveyed the landscape, he was troubled to see a helicopter, most likely the one he had just heard fly over, hovering in the distance over one of the nearby peaks. At seeing Domenico, Carter walked over to get his take on what had happened, and to ask if he knew what was going on up on the mountain.

“Ciao, Il Presidente,” said Domenico lightly. “What do you think? I guess we had a little excitement in Castelalto after all, eh?”

“Yes, we certainly did,” replied Carter with markedly less enthusiasm.

At seeing the distracted look on Carter’s face, Domenico eyed him with concern.

“Everything all right at home?” said Domenico.

“Oh yes,” said Carter, assuming quite rightly that it was not his place to raise any alarms just yet about Giorgio. “I was wondering, though, what was happening up on the mountain where the helicopter is.”

“Didn’t you hear?” said Domenico incredulously. “It’s been all over the news on TV all this afternoon.”

“What news?”

“Remember that rumble we heard this morning right after the terremoto stopped?” said Domenico.

“Yes,” said Carter. “What was it?”

“Una frana,” replied Domenico. “A big landslide way up there on the north slope of the mountain. I guess the quake shook things loose, and it all went crashing down the side, like a freight train.”

Carter went cold inside.

“Was there anyone up there when it happened?” he asked. “Do they know if anyone was hurt?”

“Ayyy, I don’t know for sure,” said Domenico with a shrug. “I heard they rescued a couple of hikers who managed to get out of the way when it happened. Now they must be up there with the helicopter looking around to make sure there was nobody else up there. Hey, ma dove vai, Presidente? Where are you going?”