Luca Junior Novel Deluxe Edition

by Disney Books

  Alberto was frustrated, but determined to master the fork. He would eat all the pasta necessary to get that Vespa.

  After the pasta session, it was outside and on the streets for Luca to get in some bicycle practice. He was on the fish-cart bicycle, of course, struggling to stay ahead of some kids walking along, eating watermelon.

  The boys were ridiculously tired from their day of training and, after dinner, promptly fell asleep.

  They were awakened the following morning not by the sound of Giulia’s mock trumpet, but by Massimo. “Buongiorno!” he hollered from the backyard. “Andiamo, dai!”

  When the boys scrambled down the tree, they saw the fish-cart bicycle waiting for Luca. And for Alberto? Massimo held up a butter knife. His own knife!

  On the fishing boat, Alberto watched in amazement as Massimo pulled up the heavy fish net with one arm. He wanted to do it just like Giulia’s father, so Alberto tried to pull a net from the water with one arm.

  It was a lot harder than it looked.

  As he pulled on the net, Alberto saw a shadow in the water. He recognized it instantly. It was a sea monster!

  Before Alberto could do anything, Massimo was already in motion. For he, too, had seen the shadow, and reached for his harpoon. Alberto gasped as the fisherman hurled it into the water.

  “Sea monster!” Massimo shouted.

  A moment later, Massimo retrieved the harpoon, only to discover what he had captured was a large clump of seaweed. He sighed heavily—and so did Alberto.

  Alberto was about to get back to pulling up the fishing net when he got a good, close look at one tattoo on Massimo’s arm.

  It was a sea monster, getting harpooned.

  “Rise and shine! Only two days till the race!”

  Luca could have sworn he heard Giulia calling to him and Alberto from her window, but then again, he was so tired, it could just as easily have been some kind of waking dream. He resolved to get back to sleep even harder than before.

  Unfortunately, Giulia, who had actually called them, wouldn’t be so easily deterred. She marched right into the backyard and practically dragged both boys down from the hideout and into the house. Once inside, she handed the two zombie-like boys each a cup of hot, steaming something.

  “Espresso,” Giulia said.

  Like robots, the boys took the cups. With one sip of the super-strong coffee, they perked right up. From that moment on, training intensified.

  Luca was poring over the pages of a book called Advanced Techniques in Cycling. But he wasn’t just reading it. He was cycling. At least, he was pedaling. Upside down. Lying on his back.

  Nearby, Alberto was exercising his pasta-picking-up arm muscles, using Machiavelli as a reluctant weight.

  As Giulia looked around, she began to think they really had a shot at winning this thing. And for once, she wouldn’t be doing it alone.

  Another day went by, and Luca was once again training on the bicycle. This time, he was out on the streets of Portorosso. More confident than ever, Luca pedaled furiously, passing a group of kids eating gelato.

  Someone else was watching Luca.

  Ercole.

  When the gelato kids called, “Go, Luca! You got it!” Ercole grimaced.

  “Hey! Don’t cheer for him!” Ercole screamed as the kids ran away in fear. “Argh! A casa!”

  That night at dinner, Alberto was having a really rough time. He struggled to get pasta on his fork. It kept slipping off! The plate of spaghetti might as well have been a mountain, and he cursed the horrid thing.

  Massimo noticed, and he patiently showed Alberto the precise way to twirl the fork and wrap the pasta.

  Alberto sighed, then imitated Massimo’s motions with the fork perfectly. His eyes lit up when he saw that he now had a massive forkful of twirled spaghetti.

  Victory!

  He shoved the spaghetti into his mouth and looked at Luca to share his joy.

  But Luca didn’t notice. He was too busy reading a book with Giulia.

  Narrowing his eyes, Alberto grunted and returned to eating.

  The next day, Daniela and Lorenzo once again wandered through the piazza, searching in vain for their son. They sat down at the fountain, feeling completely hopeless.

  “I don’t know, Lorenzo,” Daniela said. “Was I too hard on Luca?”

  “No. You were just trying to keep him safe,” he said. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t paying enough attention to him.”

  “But I was the one who tried to send him away,” Daniela insisted. “I just never in a million years would have thought he’d do this. It’s like I don’t even know who he is.…”

  As her voice trailed off, Daniela stared into the distance, her eyes growing ever wider. There was a boy, pedaling a bicycle, with another boy and a girl.

  “Dai forza! You can do it, Luca!” said the girl on the bicycle. “Go! Go!”

  The boy on the bicycle looked just like—

  “Luca!” Daniela cried.

  Daniela took off running after the bicycle. Lorenzo was right behind her. But as fast as she could run, Luca on the bicycle was faster. He went down a side street and was gone.

  “Where are we going?” Giulia asked.

  Luca had turned the bicycle onto a different street. He thought for a second and said, “Uh, a shortcut!”

  Giulia looked at Luca, impressed. “Steeper, rough terrain. I like it!”

  Alberto rolled his eyes.

  “Why aren’t you training?” Giulia asked Alberto.

  In response, Alberto pulled a big clump of pasta from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth. “I’m always training,” he mumbled around the food.

  As the bicycle reached the top of a hill, Luca looked thoroughly exhausted. He turned toward the bottom of the hill and saw no sign of them.

  His parents.

  He had seen them, back near the piazza, and in that moment, he’d panicked. That was why he had ridden so hard, so fast, and taken the “shortcut.”

  “Bravo, Luca,” Giulia said. “That was your bestest yet!”

  Then she pointed down the hill at a train that was leaving the Portorosso station and heading up the coast.

  “Oh! Guys, look! That’s the train to Genova!” she said.

  “That goes to your school?” Luca asked.

  Giulia nodded as Luca looked at the train longingly.

  Alberto rolled his eyes again. “Pffft,” he said.

  “I was wondering, actually,” Luca said slowly. “Is your school open to…everyone?”

  “Well, it costs a little money, but…I guess!” Giulia replied.

  “Great,” Alberto said. “Thank you, Giulia, for showing us the boring thing that takes us to the terrible place. Now can we focus on what matters? If we lose this race, we’re not going anywhere.”

  Luca grasped the handlebars of the bicycle a little tighter, and looked down the hill.

  “Santa Mozzarella, the downhill,” he said softly.

  “I know it looks scary. But here’s what you need to know,” Giulia advised.

  “Would you stop bossing him around?” Alberto said, interrupting her.

  “What is your problem?” Giulia demanded.

  “I’m his friend! I know what he needs!” Alberto insisted.

  “Oh, yeah? Well, then what does he need?”

  Alberto moved in front of Luca on the bicycle and said, “Me. We’ll just ride it like we did on the island! Together! Andiamo!”

  Alberto pushed off, taking everyone by surprise. The bicycle started down the hill, wobbling, weaving left and right, as Giulia and Luca shouted “No!” and “Alberto, stop!” The bicycle was totally out of control, going way too fast.

  But whenever Luca protested, Alberto just said, “That’s Bruno talking!”

  “No, I’m pretty sure that’s just me!” Luca replied.

  But Alberto wouldn’t brake for anything. And when Luca tried to take control of the bicycle, they ran into someone playing chess.

  The boys continued
to fight over control of the bicycle, and this time, they smashed into a guy carrying a crate full of lemons. Both Luca and Alberto ended up with a lemon in their mouth.

  Just as they spit out the lemons, the bike came to a cliff.

  And then it went over the cliff…

  …where it hit the sea with a resounding SPLASH.

  “Porca paletta. What was that?” Ercole wondered aloud. He had just heard the splash. Ciccio ran over to the water to scout things out.

  Ciccio shrugged, then offered Ercole a bite of sandwich. Ercole knocked the thing out of his hands and barked, “Not now, Ciccio!” He rose from his seat, harpoon in hand. “Eyes on the water! Move, move!”

  Giulia had already reached a railing above, but Luca and Alberto were still underwater. Luca could see that Giulia was looking around in a panic, trying to find them.

  But he also knew that he couldn’t let her see them like this. Like sea monsters.

  Reluctantly, he swam off, down the coast, away from Giulia. Alberto followed.

  A little while later, Luca surfaced, and then Alberto’s head bobbed up.

  “Look,” Alberto said, trying to explain his behavior. “I was just trying to show you how to do it right.”

  “You don’t know how to do it right!” Luca shot back. They walked out of the water and onto shore. As they dried off, they transformed into their land monster selves.

  “I got us down the hill, didn’t I?”

  “You crashed! Into the sea!”

  “It’s fine!” Alberto insisted.

  “Nothing’s fine! My parents just saw me!”

  “Luca, your parents aren’t here.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  Alberto shook his head. “Look, this town is making you crazy. We just need to win that Vespa, and we get outta here.”

  Then he put his arm around Luca, attempting to make peace. But Luca wasn’t having any part of it, and threw his arm off.

  “It’s not gonna be any different! I don’t want to…,” Luca said. Then, summoning his strength, “I want to go to school.”

  “That again? We can’t go to school!”

  “You’re just afraid you can’t do it!”

  “I’m not afraid,” Alberto said. “You’re the one who gets afraid.” He shoved Luca.

  Luca shoved back. “Shut up!” he said.

  Then the fighting started.

  “What happens when she sees you?” Alberto gasped as he got Luca in a hold. “When anyone sees you?”

  Luca shoved Alberto off, but before the fight could resume, Giulia came running over.

  “You’re alive!” she shouted, and hugged them both. “Hey, you’re never allowed on my bike again. Stick to food, big guy.”

  Giulia was just glad to see the boys, and was trying to make light of what had happened before. But she immediately sensed that something was wrong between them.

  “Uh, what’s going on?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” Alberto said. “Let’s just get back to training.”

  “Actually, we have something to ask you,” Luca said. “We were wondering…if we could come with you to your school?”

  Giulia couldn’t believe it. “Santo Pecorino! That’s the best idea ever! Yes! Of course!”

  Alberto was fuming. That was it. “Uh, Giulia, your school…does it take all kinds of people? I mean, what if some of them were…not human?”

  “Alberto?” Luca said, utterly afraid that his friend was going to say something rash.

  “What if some were, oh, I don’t know, sea monsters?”

  “Sea monsters?” Giulia repeated, not getting it.

  “I doubt your school would even accept sea monsters, right?”

  “Oh!” Luca said, erupting in a fake laugh. “Ha, ha! That’s a weird joke, Alberto.”

  “Yeah, I know, it’s kinda hard to imagine,” Alberto said. “So let me just show you.”

  And Alberto fell into the water.

  Luca screamed, “No!” but it was already too late.

  Giulia was annoyed. “Ugh, come on—we don’t have time to goof around.”

  But Luca told her to wait. A moment later, Alberto came out of the water.

  As a sea monster.

  Instantly, Giulia was afraid. “Don’t hurt us!” she shouted.

  “See?” Alberto said, happy to be right. “I knew this would hap—”

  “Sea monster!” Luca screamed, pointing at Alberto.

  “Luca?” Alberto asked, confused.

  There were tears in Luca’s eyes as he shook his head.

  Giulia positioned herself between Luca and Alberto, and said, “Stay back.”

  Whatever it was that Luca was trying to do, he picked a really bad time to do it. Because at that moment, Ercole and his friends heard the shouts of “sea monster” and ran to see what was going on.

  As they emerged over some rocks, harpoons in hand, Ercole shouted, “Sea monster! There it is!”

  Ercole charged toward Alberto, screaming, “Ragazzi, now!”

  Alberto shot Luca a look of utter disappointment and misery, then dove into the water. Ercole aimed his harpoon, throwing it into the sea.

  “No!” Luca yelled.

  But the harpoon missed, and Luca could do nothing but watch as Alberto swam away.

  “Gah,” Ercole said, then turned to face Luca and Giulia. “Idioti! You let it get away!” Then, looking at Ciccio and Guido, he said, “To the boat! We’re gonna kill a sea monster!”

  Giulia and Luca stood on the shore, watching as Ercole and his friends ran off.

  “Ah, there you are! I made your favorite,” Massimo said, holding a large pot full of pasta. “Trenette al pesto—”

  Giulia and Luca entered the dining room, their faces looking anything but happy.

  “Where’s Alberto?” Massimo asked.

  “Ah, he uh, he left, Signore Marcovaldo,” Luca said.

  Massimo set the pot down and walked over to grab his coat. “Do you know where he went?”

  “No,” Luca replied nervously. “But I don’t think he wants anyone looking for him.”

  “Maybe not,” Massimo said. “But just in case.”

  Massimo left the house, leaving Giulia and Luca to sit there in stunned silence.

  “Okay. Well. The two of us can still do the race,” Luca babbled, trying to fill the awkward silence.

  “Luca, I—” Giulia began.

  “You’ll swim, you’ll eat—you’ve done both before—and I’ll do the ride.”

  “Luca—”

  “I mean, that’s allowed, right? It should be fine, we’re still okay—”

  “Luca!”

  But Luca kept babbling. Finally, Giulia grabbed a glass from the table and splashed some water onto Luca’s hands.

  They transformed.

  “‘Sleeping under the fish,’” Giulia said, gritting her teeth. “Now I get it.”

  “I—I can explain,” Luca said.

  “Of all the places for sea monsters to visit—Portorosso? Have you seen this town?” Giulia pointed at the harpoons on the walls. “My father hunts sea monsters! Ugh, what were you guys thinking? Luca, you have to get out of here!”

  Giulia pushed Luca toward the door.

  “But I thought we were underdogs,” he said.

  “Do you think I want you to leave?” Giulia replied, anguish in her voice. “This is the happiest I’ve…look, it’s just not worth it!”

  “You don’t understand—”

  “No, I don’t,” Giulia said. “Risking your life? For a Vespa?”

  “My parents were gonna send me away!” Luca said, near tears. “I was never gonna see him again! That’s why we…did all of this.”

  Suddenly, Luca realized what he had done.

  “But it’s over now.”

  He went to the door. “Goodbye, Giulia. I’m sorry.”

  Then he was gone.

  As Luca walked along the shore, he knew there was at least one thing he could do
right. He could try to talk to Alberto.

  He swam back to Alberto’s hideout and climbed up. But as he called out Alberto’s name, Luca was shocked to find the place had been completely trashed. The cool human stuff that Alberto had spent all that time collecting had been ripped from the shelves and strewn around the floor, broken.

  “What are you doing here?” Alberto said coldly, looking down at Luca from the top of the stairs.

  “I’m—I’m sorry,” Luca said. “I never should have done that. I wish I could take it back.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Alberto said, not buying it. “You’re sorry. Now go away.”

  Alberto turned, and Luca sighed. He stared at the wall where the Vespa poster had been, only to see that it had been torn away. And behind it, there were little tally marks on the wall that Luca hadn’t seen before.

  “What are those marks on the wall?” Luca asked quietly. When he wouldn’t answer, Luca became more insistent. “Alberto, tell me what they mean.”

  “I started when my dad left,” Alberto replied.

  Luca couldn’t believe it.

  “You were living here alone for that many days?”

  “I just stopped counting after a while. He said I was old enough to be on my own,” Alberto said quietly. “I just thought maybe he’d change his mind. Honestly, though, I get it. He’s better off without me. You are, too.”

  “That’s not true,” Luca said.

  “Yes, it is. You’re not like me. You’re the good kid. And I’m just the kid that ruins everything.”

  “Silenzio, Bruno!” Luca shouted. “That’s just a dumb voice in your head. You taught me that.”

  “Well, I was wrong,” Alberto said.

  “And getting a Vespa—seeing the world…”

  Alberto exploded. “Just let it go! Okay? Look, you and I should never have been friends in the first place.”

  “Don’t say that. Alberto.…”

  “Get outta here!” Alberto screamed. “I’m not gonna tell you again!”

  Luca began to cry, but he refused to give up. “Okay, I’ll go. I’ll go win the race.”

  “What?”