/ Cremona, Italy/ibrbr“Omero, awake!”brbrTowards the east, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars climbed one by one from the horizon, forming a straight line across the sky. The moon was not yet half full and Orion the Hunter came leaping over the walls of the city, the three stars of his
belt throwing spears of light. Padre Fabrizio Cambiati leaned over the parapet high atop the tower to see the clock on the tower’s face. He read it upside down – 4:45 a.m.brbrAnd then he saw what he had been waiting for. The
comet. Out the corner of his eye – almost behind him. He turned.brbr“Omero, awake!”brbrA
small man with an enormous head which barely reached as high as the priest’s elbow, Omero clambered to his feet and stumbled to the parapet, his mouth hanging open in awe. “iDio mio/i,” he breathed as he cringed in fear of being doused with the comet’s ethereal vapours. “I see the face of the goat-footed one! Save me, Don Fabrizio!”brbr“Calm yourself.”brbrLow on the horizon, the head of the
comet shone silvery white, its tail a haze of glowing feathers, as if someone had set fire to a dove and tossed it over the city wall.brbrTogether they watched and wondered as the
comet coursed up and across the heavens – a slow-moving acolyte, lit taper in hand, passing down a row of candles, lighting them one by one. The light of a great
comet would normally have weakened the brilliance of the stars, but this was not a normal
comet. Far from it. The
comet ignited the firmament. It refreshed the constel@7záG®{ÿ¾Û€
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