CHAPTER 15
Leonardo quickly received a new commission—Sforza asked him to help design a castle for the court, and it was to include a double-spiral staircase.
Hedy, at the right time, decided to have a set of tools custom-made for him. Protective leather for his wrists, sharp steel files, more precise compasses, and tape measures... She was accustomed to teaching him various methods every day and was constantly inspired by him.
Recently, Hedy began preparing to write a new book, systematically discussing the operations of chemical experiments. Originally a beneficiary of modern science, she had now transformed into a foundational figure in the field.
Hedy thought more about how to create practical and necessary things rather than simply transferring modern knowledge to the present for profit. Just like in her past life, she was focused on creating things that were more useful and essential.
In this world of continuous openness and freedom, people did not do things to please the gods; love and desire were things that could be equally accepted.
In such a dark age, if she could protect women and children, reduce the mortality rate, and help people avoid plagues, it would have a much longer-lasting impact than inventing things like radio.
Hedy was feeling a little tired from work. She reached up to rub the bridge of her nose, and suddenly she noticed a pair of brown eyes filled with a smile outside the window.
"Leonardo..." she called instinctively. "Did you come back from the Sforza court?"
"Come with me," Leonardo said, placing a bunch of freshly picked white hyacinths into a vase through the window, signaling her to follow him outside. "I finally made it, the thing you mentioned before."
Hedy, a bit puzzled, followed his steps to the backyard. A few craftsmen had brought something over, panting and bowing to them, then took their pay and whistled as they left.
The wicker basket contained two massive wooden wheels, a saw-toothed iron chain, and some triangular wooden frames and other components.
—When Leonardo had been drawing a means of transportation, she had casually mentioned something, and to her surprise, half a month later, the drawings and parts were all completed.
Hedy chuckled as she helped him take out the two wheels.
Together, they adjusted the position of the wooden wheels and began securing the components with nails and ropes.
It was clearly a bicycle, the wheel rims wrapped in durable leather, and the shapes of the handlebars and pedals were exactly as she remembered.
Leonardo was unsure about the position of the pedals. Halfway through, he hurriedly ran to get his notebook and started calculating various angles and distances.
"If the distance between the two wheels is closer or farther apart, will it make cycling easier or harder?" He wrote and sketched quickly, gradually losing awareness of Hedy's presence, becoming fully absorbed in studying the relationship between the frame and the supports.
During one of his distracted moments, Hedy squatted down and picked up a nail from the toolbox. This wasn’t a screw, but rather a nail with a spiral thread.
"Leonardo," she frowned, seeing that he was still rapidly calculating, and called out, "Leonardo!"
Leonardo looked up, quickly walking over and squatting next to her with a concerned and careful expression. "Did you accidentally scratch yourself?"
"Look at this," she extended the iron nail to him, asking, "Do people use this now?"
Leonardo smiled and explained, "Adding a spiral thread to the edge increases friction, helping the nail grip more tightly."
They had already thought of this step, yet these craftsmen couldn't be a little smarter?
Hedy took the pencil from his hand and, using his knee as a support, began sketching in the notebook.
"Look," she drew a hexagonal nut and the spiral threads of the nail. "What if we add a restricting element to this nail, how would that affect friction?"
"But the end of the nail—no, we could grind the end of the nail flat, keeping it the same thickness as the top," Leonardo’s thoughts began to flow faster, taking the draft and continuing, "As long as we have a good enough hole punch, like a drill bit!"
Hedy smiled, nodding. "It would be more reliable than a nail, and it wouldn't hurt anyone's fingers."
Leonardo helped her stand up, bent down to brush off the dust from her dress, and, with his head lowered, smiled. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm different from everyone else."
"They like and revere things, things they are fascinated by or resist—yet it all seems completely unrelated to me."
Compared to the distance from his parents, what he felt from adolescence to young adulthood was more of a solitary sense of not fitting in. During Mass, when sharing the Eucharist, he felt like he was just playing the part of a devout townsfolk.
"But," he raised his head, holding the drawing and looking at her, "after meeting you, I suddenly realized, there are others like me."
There were others who, like him, found the Bible dull and uninteresting, who could spend an entire afternoon studying the skeleton of a frog and together buy cow's blood and pig lungs for various experiments.
"What you imagine and create is like a dream," Leonardo paused, then slowed his tone and asked, "Hedy, before coming to Florence, did you ever feel lonely?"
She hesitated for a moment, and for a brief instant, she felt the urge to tell him about everything she had gone through.
Her entire life that she once had, the many regrets of things she had sought but never obtained, the countless stories of failure and being misunderstood.
Not being recognized, not being understood, not being accepted.
The Jewish identity she had concealed for most of her life, her bitterness toward film and performance, and the many moments when she had been made to look like a fool.
She had always been lonely. So lonely that, in that moment, she wanted to tell him, Actually, I come from five hundred years in the future, and I know everything about you.
You will become an unmatched, great artist, and your story will be passed down through the ages.
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Leonardo assumed he had asked something inappropriate. He quickly added, "I didn’t mean to ask such things, please don’t mind me."
Hedy looked up at him, still imagining the impossible choice.
What would Leonardo feel if she told him everything she truly knew?
Would he be shocked, terrified? Angry? Or would it be a deeper sense of helplessness—
The future, five hundred years from now, holds countless things that he has dreamed of and longed for, but ultimately, they are beyond his reach?
She suddenly felt that this choice was both na?ve and cruel.
"I just suddenly remembered a song from my hometown," Hedy continued, trying to focus on assembling the chain and brakes from memory. Not wanting to delve into those thoughts and memories again, she changed the subject and began to sing a nostalgic old song for him:
"Moon river, wider than a mile. I'm crossing you in style some day...
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker.
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way..."
That year, Breakfast at Tiffany's had become a sensation across America, with Audrey Hepburn, holding her guitar, singing by the window, leaving countless people with unforgettable memories.
And at this moment, Hedy's voice, singing the same song, was equally gentle and captivating.
The soothing, lullaby-like melody drifted through the quiet courtyard. Her slightly raspy voice, tinged with a bit of laziness, evoked images of boats drifting on the river.
Leonardo stared at her for a few seconds, then went into the nearby hut and returned with a lyre.
He lifted the bow, and the smooth, long notes of the lyre mingled with her voice, flowing together like the river beneath the boat.
The moonlight filtered through the spruce trees, scattering across the shimmering water like soft satin.
"There's such a lot of world to see..." She realized it was him playing the lyre and laughed as she continued the song:
"We're after that same rainbow's end, waiting 'round the bend..."
When the final notes faded into the wind, Leonardo stopped, wanting to tell her something. He knew she had countless secrets, and this only made it harder to resist everything about her.
The strange language, bold ideas, the countless things related to medicine, mechanics, and firearms...
That exquisite, classical face—that was the last precious thing he saw.
Loving her felt like having half of his heart shared, beating with her breath, stopping with her furrowed brow.
I... don't even know how long I've loved you anymore.
Maybe it's been months, but it feels like it has always been this way.
Hedy...
She realized something and was about to speak, but then they heard Dechio's voice.
"Master—" She still used that form of address, "Sarai stole someone else's wallet at the market, and now they're beating him. You should come and see!"
Leonardo froze for a moment, letting out a long sigh.
Hedy realized something and quickly put the half-assembled bicycle aside. She grabbed a shawl and hurried out with Leonardo.
The little boy had already been slapped several times, his eyes swollen from crying, struggling like an injured animal. Hedy stepped forward to stop the violent shoemaker, apologizing while explaining and promising to compensate him.
As soon as the shoemaker let go, Sarai ran straight into Leonardo's arms, crying uncontrollably and clutching his clothes tightly, not daring to let go. In that moment, it almost seemed like the shoemaker was bullying him.
"This little bastard not only stole my wallet but spent both of the gold coins inside it!" The shoemaker shouted, nearly furious. "How many pairs of shoes do you think I need to make to earn two gold coins? What did you do with the money?!"