chapter 54: the island of Elba

At the fairgrounds, five miles outside of Civitavecchia, were a dozen large, colourful balloons spread across the field, looking like round rainbows.

They were moored to trucks while ground crews were busily filling their envelopes with cold air. Half a dozen chase cars stood by, ready to track the

balloons, two men in each car, the driver and the spotter.

Robert walked up to a man who seemed to be in charge. “It looks like you’re getting ready for the big race,” Robert said.

“That’s right. Ever been in a balloon?”

“No.”

They were skimming over Lake Como and he dropped the balloon down until it touched the water. “We’re going to crash,”Susan screamed. He

smiled. “No, we’re not.”The bottom of the balloon was dancing on the waves. He threwout a sandbag and the balloon began to lift again. Susan

laughed and hugged him and said …

The man was speaking. “You should try it sometime. It’s a great sport.”

“Yeah. Where is the race heading?”

“Yugoslavia. We have a nice easterly wind. We’ll be ta