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you ..." He gave Prosper a curious look. "Actually, what would you want?"
    "I don't need anything." Prosper hunched his shoulders as if a cold draft had gone down his neck. He looked around uneasily. "Just stop talking about stealing things. Have you forgotten how they nearly caught you last time?"
    "Yes, yes," Riccio said angrily. He really didn't want to remember that. He gazed after a woman with huge pearl earrings.
    Prosper added, "And you won't tell Scipio about this job, agreed?"
    Riccio stopped. "Don't be an idiot! I don't understand what's the matter with you. Of course I'll tell him! How can this be more dangerous than breaking into the Doge's Palace?" A young couple holding hands suddenly turned around and Riccio quickly lowered his voice. "Or into the Palazzo Contarini!"

    Prosper shook his head and walked on. He wasn't quite sure himself why he didn't like Barbarossa's offer. Lost in thought, he walked around two women who were arguing noisily in the middle of the street -- only to walk straight into a man who had just stepped out of a bar with a slice of pizza his hand. The man was small and stocky. A piece of cheese clung to his thick walrus mustache. He spun around angrily -- and then stared at Prosper as if he had seen a ghost.
    Prosper muttered, "Scusi," and quickly pushed past the man and disappeared into the crowd.
    "Hey, why are you running?" Riccio followed him awkwardly, nearly dropping the cake box.
    Prosper looked around. "Someone just gave me a very weird look." He eyed the passing crowds uneasily. The man with the walrus mustache was nowhere to be seen.
    "A weird look?" Riccio shrugged. "And? Did you recognize him?"
    Prosper shook his head. He looked around once more. A couple of schoolchildren, an old man, three women with stuffed shopping bags, a group of nuns...suddenly he grabbed Riccio's arm and pulled him inside a doorway.
    Riccio nearly dropped the cake box again. "What now?"
    "That man's following us." Prosper started to run, keeping his hand firmly on Barbarossa's money so it wouldn't fall out of his pocket.
    Riccio called after him, "What are you talking about?"
    "He's after us!" Prosper gasped. "He was trying to hide, but I saw him."
    Riccio looked around for their pursuer but all he could see were bored faces staring into shop windows and a bunch of giggling schoolchildren.
    "Prop, this is really stupid!" He caught up with Prosper and blocked his path. "Calm down, OK? You're seeing things."
    But Prosper didn't answer.
    "Come on," he hissed. He dragged Riccio into an alley so narrow that Barbarossa would certainly have gotten stuck in it. The wind whistled past them. Riccio knew where this tiny passage led: into a labyrinth of alleys that could confuse even a Venetian. It wasn't a bad route if you wanted to lose someone. But Prosper had stopped again. He flattened himself against the wall and watched the people passing by the entrance to the passage.
    "And what are you doing now?" Riccio leaned against the wall next to Prosper. He shivered and pulled the sleeves of his sweater over his hands.
    "When he walks past, I'll point him out to you."
    "And then?"
    "If he sees us, we run."
    "Great plan!" Riccio said sarcastically. He pushed his tongue nervously into the gap in his front teeth. He had lost that tooth during a chase.
    "Let's just go now," he whispered to Prosper. "The others are waiting for us."
    But Prosper didn't move.
    The schoolchildren skipped past the alley. Then the nuns walked past. And then came the short and stocky man, with big feet and walrus mustache. He looked around, he stood on his toes, he craned his neck, and then he cursed.
    The boys hardly dared to breathe. Finally, the man walked on.
    Riccio was the first to move. "I know him!" he hissed quietly. "Let's get away from here before he comes back."
    Prosper stumbled after him, his heart beating like mad. Soon he had completely lost his bearings, but Riccio kept running as if he knew the way through the maze of alleys