The Night of the Comet (36 page)

He waited for her to leave. She wouldn’t. She rolled down her window. He put his head down near her face, said something, and stepped back. He slapped twice on the hood of the car,
bam bam
. Finally she started the engine and, her humiliation complete, she drove away, fallen leaves rippling sadly in the wake of the car.

Gabriella by now had given up hiding and stood beside her mother near the garage. Mr. Martello turned and gave them an over-the-head wave with both his arms from the top of the drive, as though to signal,
It’s safe. She’s gone. It’s all right now
. Barbara didn’t wait for him but, putting her hand on Gabriella’s back, turned and headed inside with her daughter.

And although the distance was great, and although my eyes by now were clouded with outrage and shame, I could’ve sworn that before they disappeared into the garage, I saw Mrs. Martello’s face relax into an expression of satisfaction.

SOME
more of history’s most legendary and fearsome comets, as described to our class by my father and recorded by me in my notebook that year:

Moses’s Star: At the birth of Moses, a moving star streaming long radiant tails of light was seen by the Magi of Egypt; they read it as an omen for the Pharaoh, who ordered that all male Jewish babies born under its sign be drowned in the River Nile.

The famous Comet of Carthage: Shone over Hannibal’s armies as he marched his elephants across the Alps and into Italy to defeat the Romans. Twenty years later, the same comet reappeared and shone for eighty-eight days over Asia Minor with such a furious, horrible luster that Hannibal the Great drank poison and killed himself.

Mithridates’s Star: Upon seeing this dreadful comet that was so bright it eclipsed the noonday sun, Mithridates, King of Pontus, conqueror of Asia Minor, drank poison and then had his eldest son decapitate him with his sword.

Caesar’s Comet of 50 BC: Lit Julius Caesar’s way as he crossed the Rubicon River into Roman Italy, initiating a great civil war from which there could be no return. Caesar’s wife Calpurnia saw another comet in a dream and warned Caesar of the omen, but this could do nothing to forestall its appearance on the Ides of March, when Caesar was murdered by Brutus in the Roman senate. The comet lingered for seven nights, rising always at midnight, and was visible to all the citizens of Rome, who recognized it as the soul of Caesar ascending to heaven.

St. Peter’s Comet hung like a sword over the city of Jerusalem, portending the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 AD.

Vespasian’s Comet in 79 AD accompanied the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which covered the city of Pompeii in lava and ash. Emperor Vespasian himself was warned of the dangers of this comet; he scoffed at the warnings, and then died a miserable death.

Constantine’s Comet, seen burning in the shape of a cross above the battlefield, prompted Constantine the Great to kneel on the ground and become a Christian. 312 AD.

In 410 AD, under an immense sword-shaped comet that shone over Italy for four months, the Visigoths sacked and plundered Rome, bringing an end to the Roman Empire.

Attila, King of the Huns and Scourge of God, was overthrown in a great battle against the Romans on the Catalaunian plains under a terrible comet that appeared as a brilliant white angel brandishing a fiery sword; Christianity was saved. 451 AD.

Mohammed’s Star: A great scimitar-shaped comet that appeared over Arabia in the year 570, heralding the birth of the Prophet.

Charlemagne’s Comet: A torch-shaped comet seen above Germany in 814, foretelling the king’s death. Upon sighting the comet, King Charlemagne divided his empire among his successors, made his confession, and died.

In January of the year 1000, the Great Millennial Comet was observed all over Europe. Many feared it heralded the end of the world. The comet was shaped like a horrible dragon, and its mysterious light was said to be able to penetrate walls, illuminating the interior of homes and palaces with a sinister red glow. Followed by floods, famines, earthquakes, and universal panic.

The Easter Comet of 1066: A seven-rayed comet that shone for forty nights, waxing and waning with the Moon; it guided William the Conqueror across the English Channel to his victory over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

Genghis Khan’s Star: In 1222, appeared as a demon’s head with a crown of fire as the Great Khan slaughtered 1 million people in the city of Herat. When the comet retreated, Genghis Khan took it as a bad omen and also retreated. He soon died.

In 1453, Constantinople, the magnificent capital of the Orient, succumbed to the fire and sword of the Turks under the illumination of an immense, terrifying comet that resembled a fire-breathing snake.

In 1519, the Aztec emperor Montezuma witnessed a bright, white-bearded comet that foretold the end of his empire and the return of the god Quetzalcoatl; that same year, when the Spanish conquistador Cortez appeared from the eastern sea, the emperor Montezuma fell to the ground to welcome his white-bearded god.

The Great Parisian Comet of 1528 appeared over Paris as a bent arm holding aloft an enormous sword, as though ready to strike the city; at the point of the sword shone three bright stars, and on both sides of the sword were visible a great number of knives, axes, and blood-colored pikes. The air all about the comet was filled with a ghostly hoard of hideous faces with silver beards and bristling hair. The Seine River overflowed. Fires, famine, pestilence.

In 1556, upon seeing a terrible blood-red comet in the sky, Charles V abdicated his throne and became a monk. There followed widespread wars over Europe, the Turks ravaged Hungary, and Bloody Mary, Queen of England, began her persecution of Protestants, burning thousands alive at the stake.

The Great Comet of 1607: Seen all over Europe. Floods, plagues, massacres. Called “the Red Knife in the Sky” by American Indians, it incited them to war against the English settlers; by its light, they captured John Smith, who escaped with his life only when the Indian maiden Pocahontas laid her head across his own as the fierce Chief Powhatan, her father, raised his club to murder Smith.

Napoleon’s Comet glowed with a ruby-red luster at the birth of Bonaparte. Later, the Great Comet of 1811 blazed for a full year and a
half like a giant torch on the horizon, lighting the Emperor’s invasion of Russia. The Comet of 1821 shone for only one night over France and the island of St. Helena, the night Napoleon died.

Halley’s Comet, in its 1835 apparition, was shaped like a giant red whale in the sky. Bloody wars erupted throughout Central and South America; bubonic plague wiped out the population of Alexandria; the Great Fire of New York burned for three days and three nights, reducing much of the city to ashes; and in Texas, under its red glow, the Mexican army massacred Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and hundreds of American soldiers at the Battle of the Alamo.

The Great Sun-Grazing Comet of 1882 appeared suddenly one morning in September above the Southern Hemisphere. It shone so brightly that it could be seen alongside the midday sun, until, six months later, it exploded into five pieces and faded from view.

The San Francisco Comet of 1906: It flared for one night only over California as the earth shook, buildings fell, and San Francisco burned to the ground.

THE
sky was a gunmetal gray with low bundles of pink-lit clouds. The air smelled damp, like wet leaves, and here and there smoke snaked up from a neighbor’s chimney. Some houses already had sheets of newspaper or pieces of cardboard taped up inside the windows, per my father’s suggestion. Squirrels skittered around to the sides of trees and froze on the bark, their tails flicking, their eyes alert, as Peter and I pedaled our bikes through the neighborhood and turned onto Franklin Street.

We rolled down the sidewalk toward the square, cars passing us on the road. Peter wore his oversized army coat, along with the hat he’d made from his rabbit pelt; it looked like a furry swim cap with flaps covering his ears. Swerving back and forth on his bike beside me, he talked excitedly about what we might expect from the comet tonight.

Lots of people had seen it already, he said. You just had to know where and when to look. His cousin Trent, in Napoleonville, he saw it three days ago. They were at his farm, they walked out into the field,
and it was hanging right in front of them like a burning spear. Some people were afraid to even go outside at night now. They were buying up food and water. His daddy said his tanks were almost dry and soon there wouldn’t be any more gas left in town. Since Peter had begun working at the Conoco, he’d seen people coming in every day to fill up their cars and generators, just in case.…

I was barely listening. I was still thinking about the horrible scene I’d just witnessed between my mother and Frank Martello. I knew that marked the end to any association between my parents and the Martellos; they wouldn’t be crossing the bridge to visit one another again anytime soon, I was sure of that. But what about me and Gabriella? What did this mean for us? Despite this complication with our parents, and despite the fact that I hadn’t been able to deliver my note to her, I clung to the hope that I would still see her tonight, and as Peter and I approached the center of town, I kept my eyes open for her.

Two blocks before the square, the traffic backed up to a crawl and the sidewalks became crowded with people. Peter and I hopped off our bikes to walk them. We passed Mr. Coot’s Conoco; the lights were off, the bay doors closed, and Mr. Coot’s truck was parked out front. Across the street, the McCall’s Rexall had stayed open late; a teenage boy stood to one side of the entranceway filling helium balloons from a tank as folks passed in and out of the store. At the end of Franklin Street a policeman stood next to his car, directing traffic around the square.

Seeing all the cars and people, I felt a surge of confidence in my father. I hadn’t expected to see this kind of turnout; I hadn’t expected to see much of anything, really—maybe a handful of people in a near-empty square. But he’d pulled it off, hadn’t he? Everything was just like he’d said it would be.

Peter and I pushed our bikes between cars and across the road. We saw some of our classmates from school, as well as some teachers, parents, and a young mother pushing a baby stroller. Coach DuPleiss raised a hand in greeting as we passed him on the sidewalk; he was accompanied by a thin, anxious-looking woman with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

We found my father in front of the courthouse. It was a square, modern building with a broad concrete porch and a low flight of steps flanked by two lamps. He stood beneath one of the lamps, giving instructions to three or four Cub Scouts and their den leader. One scout wore binoculars around his neck; another rested his hands on a long cardboard telescope box propped up between his feet, listening carefully to my father. The rest of the scouts were busy carrying folding chairs out from inside the courthouse. Mr. Coot directed them, waddling and huffing as he showed them where to set up the chairs.

“Line it up. Line it up,” he said. “Pete, Junior, give these kids a hand.”

We left our bikes at the side of the porch and helped the scouts arrange the chairs in rows facing the courthouse. Looking up from under their caps, the boys asked if we had seen the comet yet and how big we thought it’d be tonight. Peter told them about the sighting by his cousin Trent in Napoleonville. One kid insisted that he wasn’t afraid of the comet, he just wanted to get a good look at it, that was all. They hoped to earn their astronomy pins tonight, and they told us what all they needed to do for that.

My father, meanwhile, had started helping people set up their telescopes near the bottom of the steps. He was an unmistakable figure in his black raincoat, plaid hat, and glasses, and as he hustled back and forth, people seemed drawn to him. “Hey, Professor!” they called, and he turned and waved, pointing repeatedly to the southwestern sky for anyone who asked.

“Look who’s here,” Peter said, and pointed to Mark Mingis cruising along the edge of the square in his red Camaro. He had his window down, his elbow resting on the door, the radio playing loudly. Peter said that since Mark had gotten his driver’s license he came by the station two or three times a week now. He always ordered full service, and if Peter was working he had to wait on him. “Hey Pete-Pee, use your premium. None of that watery stuff,” he’d say. “Hey Pete-Pee, don’t get any grease on my car.”

“Asshole,” Peter said. “I hope he wrecks his damn car.”

Mark disappeared behind the courthouse as he looped around the
square, and just then I had the notion that he was looking for Gabriella, too. Like me, he must’ve come here tonight expecting to meet her. Maybe she was already here, out strolling with her girlfriends. I scanned the crowd, searching for her dark head of hair. Dusk was lowering in the square, swelling the sky with orange and pink. Suddenly I was sure that our whole future together, my and Gabriella’s, depended on who would be standing beside her when the comet came.

“Where’re you going?” Peter asked as I turned to leave.

“I have to find Gabriella.”

“Is she here?”

If she was, I was determined to reach her before Mark did. As I hurried off, the lamps at the courthouse were just coming on. Their white globes glowed in the air like small moons floating above the heads of Peter and the scouts.