‘Waiting is always dull. Get used to it.’
When a loud whistle pierced the air followed by the sound of an engine high above, she crossed her fingers and gazed up. Was that light she could see, an early hint of dawn maybe, or was she only imagining it in the still dark sky?
‘No sight of a plane yet, but I think this is it,’ she said and she could feel Aldo tense up as he stood beside her.
To guide the pilot to the target area, Marco and another partisan began flashing their torches repeatedly. Maxine narrowed her eyes to see more clearly as the plane slid into view. No interior lights had been switched on, but it circled twice and then suddenly she could make out a parachute falling. She held her breath again. If the equipment crashed to the ground it would smash into pieces – but no, the canopy opened and now two parcels were drifting downwards. The drop looked so obvious she couldn’t believe the Germans wouldn’t have spotted it. She saw the dark shapes of two men running to retrieve the parcels and gather up the parachute silk, then with Aldo’s help they carried the parcels to the waiting motorcycles and strapped them on. Despite one being Maxine’s, Marco indicated she should clamber up behind him while another partisan climbed astride the other motorcycle with Aldo on the back. Then they raced at breakneck speed through the trees and on to the narrow, tortuous lanes, finally winding up around the hill to the Castello where Sofia would be waiting.
Before they approached the huge archway into the village, the sound of a vehicle reached them from some distance behind. A German lorry or car? So soon? Had they been watching? Seen everything? In the ticking silence of the night, noises and distances were difficult to judge. Close. Far. You couldn’t tell. The vehicle could be much further away than it sounded. Maxine held rigidly to Marco as he increased his speed, taking a risky shortcut through the woods, impossible for anything but a motorcycle. When they reached the village, she saw the tall gates had been left open and Sofia was pacing back and forth, not at all her usual composed self. The men pulled up and she ran to help unload the equipment.
‘I think somebody might be coming,’ Maxine whispered to Sofia. ‘We heard a vehicle.’
Sofia seemed to consider for a moment then indicated they all should follow her to the nearest door. This she unlocked and they climbed down five steps into the shadowy basement where the wine barrels were stored.
‘Here?’ Marco asked, with a dubious look at Sofia. ‘Not the cellars under the house?’
‘There’s no time for that. This is closer.’ She pointed to a barrel at the back. ‘It’s empty. We’ve been using it to hide produce. Tip it up. It opens at the back. You can shove the equipment in there. We’ll move it when the coast is clear.’
‘Is there a lamp?’
‘Use your torch. Quickly.’
Aldo steadied the barrel as the men tipped it up and then slid the equipment into the empty space. They set it down slowly and secured the back.
‘Now hurry,’ Sofia said, and watched as the two men wheeled the motorcycles into the darkness of the woods. Sofia and Maxine, with quite an effort, pulled the main gates shut.
‘We need to make ourselves scarce before anybody notices we’re out here at the crack of dawn,’ said Sofia.
‘Shouldn’t we wait to see if a vehicle comes?’
‘No, far better they find the place deserted and silent,’ Sofia replied, her voice tense.
They made their way back to the house and ascended the stairs.
‘Come to my room,’ Sofia said.
In the bedroom a window was open and just one lamp was lit. Sofia quickly put it out and went across to look out at the square. Maxine tapped her foot restlessly, her heart still pounding with excitement. In the light from the moon she saw Sofia’s shoulders relax a little. ‘It’s fine,’ she said. ‘There’s no sign of anyone.’
‘Can I see?’
‘Take a look if you want. But I think whoever it was must have lost the trail.’ She went to her bed and pulled down a corner of her eiderdown.
‘You’re surely not going to bed?’ Maxine asked, astonished Sofia could be considering sleep.
‘No.’ Sofia gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I’d never sleep but I need to rumple up the bedclothes and get into my nightdress. You’ll have to as well.’
Maxine went to look out at the square, her hands resting on the sill, but there was still nothing to see. Disappointed by such an anticlimax after the night’s adventures, she wanted more.
‘Anything?’ Sofia was looking at her with an amused expression.
Maxine sighed and shook her head.
Sofia sat on the edge of her bed. ‘I’ll knock on your door as soon as it’s light. We’ll go to the kitchen for coffee then.’
‘And the vehicle we heard?’
‘Like I said. It must have lost the trail. Now close the window and the shutters. If I hear anything, I’ll deal with it. You stay put.’
Maxine nodded her agreement and left the room. However, whatever the Contessa might say, if anything were to happen there was no way she was going to sit in her room and miss out.
In her bedroom she undressed, put on a flimsy robe and then lay down under the chilly covers, not expecting to sleep at all.
Some hours later she awoke to see daylight slicing through the slats of the shutters. Shivering with cold, she jumped out of bed, whipped a blanket round her shoulders and then listened. From the square, insistent German voices rang out, followed by shrill Italian ones. As doors were hammered and orders issued, people were congregating, arguing, objecting. A woman screamed and then a child began sobbing. Christ, they were here already. She opened her door and crept along the corridor to Sofia’s room. She knocked gently and then entered.
Sofia was already dressed and was now brushing her hair.
‘Aren’t you going outside?’ Maxine asked.
‘Not yet.’
‘Why not?’
‘I will not be intimidated. They’ll come for me soon enough. Let them search the village and find nothing first.’
‘And then?’
‘And then I shall offer them coffee.’
Maxine didn’t hide her scorn. ‘Always the lady?’
Sofia sighed in exasperation. ‘It’s what they will expect. I don’t want them to think I’m worried. It would only arouse suspicion.’
‘And if your husband were here?’
‘Naturally he would go out, as head of the household. They’d expect it. They won’t expect me.’ Sofia rubbed her eyes. ‘Now get dressed and come down to the kitchen for breakfast.’
‘I’d still rather go outside.’
Sofia shot her a warning look. ‘Do as I say. What’s to be gained from going out there? They’ll do whatever they’re going to do anyway. Take your time.’
‘Why?’
‘You’re filthy. In any case, it’s my guess they’ll be some time.’
Back in her room, Maxine washed her body as best she could at the washbasin in the corner. She didn’t linger. The water was freezing and so was her room, but when she glanced in the mirror hanging on the wall she grimaced. Sofia had been right. She wiped dark streaks of mud and possibly grease from her cheeks and saw that her hair was a tangled mess. Her eyes were too bright, glittering and feverish. Too cold to wash her hair now, it would have to do. She dragged a comb through it several times with very little success. It was still a mess but maybe Sofia could lend her a ribbon.
She marched along the corridor once more and tapped on the door. Without waiting for an answer, she opened it. ‘Well,’ she muttered as she stared in. ‘How did you get here?’
14.
Sofia stared at Maxine, who was standing in her doorway with a perplexed expression on her face.
‘Quickly. Come in and close the door,’ she said.
Maxine came across and, with her head tilted, settled her hands on her hips. ‘So? How did James get here?’
‘Aldo collected him earlier. He’s been sleeping in the guest room next to you.’
&nbs
p; ‘And he’s in your bedroom now, because …?’
Sofia sighed deeply.
‘And undressed?’ Maxine continued with a grin.
‘We’re trying to see if any of Lorenzo’s clothes will fit. Anyway, he isn’t entirely undressed.’
Maxine pulled an amused face. ‘You don’t have to play-act on my account. No offence, I didn’t think you had it in you.’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ Sofia snapped, because Maxine was utterly maddening. Then, seeing the funny side, she began to smile too. ‘Think what you will.’
James nodded at Maxine. ‘Hello, Maxine. I see you’re still up for a joke.’
‘Always,’ she said and gave him a flirtatious look.
‘And since you asked, now that the radio equipment has arrived, I’m here to operate it. They call us the Pianists, you know, us operators.’
‘You know the Germans are here too? Didn’t you hear them banging on the doors?’ Maxine faced Sofia. ‘For Christ’s sake, what are you going to do with him?’
‘Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.’
‘They’ll search the whole house.’
‘Indeed.’
‘How can you be so calm?’
Sofia ignored her. The truth was, she was a bag of nerves but getting a lot better at hiding them.
‘James, put these on,’ she said, passing him a sweater, jacket and some trousers. ‘They’ll have to do. Maxine, take a pile of warmer clothes from my closet and put them in your room. You have so little with you, I want to make it crystal clear to the Germans you really are staying here.’
Maxine grinned. ‘Doubt they’ll fit.’
‘And I doubt the Nazis will ask you for a fashion show. Now hurry.’
‘Surely you’re not going to pass James off as Lorenzo?’
At this, and despite the gravity of the situation, Sofia struggled not to laugh.
‘Go!’
She was not about to let Maxine into all her secrets, at least not yet, so only after she’d gone, and James was dressed, did she move her dainty dressing table aside and press a small section of the panelled wall opposite the bed. A door slowly creaked open.
‘Go into this passage. It’s totally sealed and concealed. After several yards, you’ll find a ledge. Your code booklet is there,’ she told him. ‘Perch on the ledge until I knock on the panel. I may be some time. I’ll knock three times, count to three, and then I’ll knock three times again. Come to the door and do the same and then I’ll open it.’
‘Where does the passage lead?’
‘I’ll tell you later. And remember, as quiet as a mouse, please. Don’t even cough. How’s your shoulder feeling now?’
He waved her question away but, from the look on his face, it was obvious the pain still lingered.
Once he was safely hidden, she moved her dressing table back, slid her pistol into her skirt pocket – she’d taken to having it with her – and then glanced around at her high-ceilinged room, its floorboards always polished to a shine, the light softly diffused through the embroidered silk curtains she’d bought in Venice.
Five minutes later it was Anna who came to inform her that a captain was waiting in the hall.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Now, please could you knock on the guest room two doors from mine and ask Maxine to come down for breakfast?’
She made her way down the imposing main staircase. It reminded her that she still commanded status and it comforted her a little. Just being able to make an entrance was something to cling to.
‘Good morning,’ she said, feigning surprise. ‘Whatever can I do for you at this early hour?’
He was a solidly built man, his Nazi greatcoat flapping at his ankles. He wore round horn-rimmed spectacles and had mild, myopic blue eyes which she had no doubt belied the reality of his character. She took in his smooth, unlined skin, his high forehead and thin dark-blond hair. He took a few steps towards her, each movement slow, precise, menacing, calculated to demonstrate his power over her and emphasize her own powerlessness.
‘I am Captain Kaufmann. I believe you have already met Commandant Schmidt.’
With a hint of a nod, she acquiesced politely. ‘But of course. He came to dinner.’
‘We need to search the villa.’
‘Feel free. I’d appreciate it if your men tried not to break anything. We do have some priceless antiques. You know the kind of thing. Been in my husband’s family for generations. Oh, and paintings too.’
She watched him peer through the open door of her small salon and then he faced her with a tight smile. ‘If I am correct, that is the golden painting of San Sebastiano by Cozzarelli. No? A rare piece.’
‘Yes. My husband is very proud of it.’
‘Well, you need not fear. I am not here to damage your belongings, Contessa.’
‘I’m happy to hear it. So, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you here for?’
‘Last night there was a parachute drop.’
‘Really? And what has it to do with us, Captain Kaufman?’
‘It is thought whatever it was may have been brought this way. By motorcycle.’
Eyes wide, she fabricated astonishment. ‘I see. And when do you think this might have happened?’
‘The early hours of this morning.’ He spoke concisely, his words clipped.
‘Goodness,’ she said, making sure she looked shocked. ‘I certainly didn’t hear anything, but I do sleep soundly. Maybe ask some of the villagers. Someone surely will have heard something.’
‘Indeed.’
‘And what do you think might have been dropped?’
His eyes narrowed with suppressed anger. ‘I am not here to answer your questions.’
‘Forgive me. I was just curious. But I suppose you must be worried it might have been armaments, weapons, that sort of thing.’
He didn’t reply for a group of uniformed men suddenly trooped in and stamped their way upstairs. As Kaufmann barked orders at them, they immediately picked up their pace. Sofia longed to run after them, follow them to her room, prevent them from unpicking her belongings or discovering anything, but surely there was little chance they’d press the panelling in exactly the right place? Few alive knew of the hidden passage that led through the buildings all the way to the first floor of the tower at the point where it butted up against the houses. Rather like the tunnels beneath the house which snaked out to the woods, there’d been little need to go underground or use hiding places in modern times.
Kaufmann had turned from the men and was now jabbing a finger at her. ‘You must unlock all the storage units,’ he said. ‘Woodshed, vehicle store, wine store and so on. So now, you will come with me …’
He headed towards the door but at that moment Maxine tore down the stairs. ‘Why, hello,’ she said coquettishly and smiled at him.
Kaufmann’s face twitched. ‘And you are?’
‘Massima. But everyone calls me Massi. I’m Sofia’s best friend from Rome. I’m staying here. Rome is such a bore right now, don’t you think, Commandant?’
‘Captain,’ he muttered, and his eyebrows knitted together in suspicion. He turned away.
‘Massi,’ Sofia said pointedly. ‘If you’d like to take breakfast in the dining room, I’m just going to unlock the outdoor storerooms for the Captain.’
To her credit Maxine showed no concern but simply said, ‘I’m not particularly hungry, I’ll help you. Breakfast can wait. Have you got the keys?’
Sofia went to the hall table and opened the top drawer. ‘Here we are. Let’s go.’
‘What are you looking for?’ Maxine addressed the German, but he ignored her.
‘They’re looking for weapons, I think.’ Sofia spoke loudly enough for the Captain to hear.
‘Oooh, how exciting. Imagine. Weapons hidden right under your nose, Sofia.’
Sofia shot her a look that she hoped said Don’t overdo it – the man is not an idiot.
She started by taking him and two others to the vehicl
e store. After unlocking, she threw open one of the wide doors.
‘I see you have a motorbike?’
‘Yes, but it’s been empty of petrol this last month. We rarely use it.’ She glanced at Maxine, glad Marco had kept hold of her motorcycle.
The Captain put out his hand. ‘The keys?’
‘Hanging there on the wall.’
‘Where anyone could take them?’
Sofia raised her brows. ‘They’d have to get inside the shed first.’
‘Who else has the shed keys?’
‘Our manager has them and my husband, Lorenzo, naturally.’
‘And where are they?’
‘Lorenzo, I believe, is in Rome. And our manager was overseeing a little bit of work on our place in Florence. After the bombing, you see.’
‘Was overseeing?’
‘He was called up … by yourselves.’
He fixed his eyes on her. They watched each other for a few seconds, he with unblinking intensity. He was magnetic in an awful way and she stared back, caught against her will. Eventually her eyes watered and the spell was broken. But it had troubled her, and she felt sure he knew it.
He then tried the keys. The motorcycle was clearly dead.
‘And when did you last open this shed?’
‘We took the pony and cart to San Giovanni d’Asso recently, but that’s all.’
They left the vehicle shed and she next took him to examine the wood store, hoping by the time they reached the wine store he’d have been called away. She couldn’t bear to see his men shifting the neat piles of firewood into untidy heaps. Dreading what might happen later, she averted her eyes and glanced at Maxine where she stood, her hair flaming as if it were red, backlit by the sun.
‘Massima, could you keep watch?’ she said. ‘I need some air.’
Outside she looked up at the tower and its familiar crenellated parapets and wanted so much to hang on to her life here. Could it really be about to end? She’d always tried to be a kind person, someone happy to fit in, and ready to help wherever she could. Despite living under the yoke of Mussolini, she’d had an easy life, privileged, and able to do pretty much whatever she wanted. Of course, it hadn’t been entirely painless. She’d hoped for children but after Lorenzo’s accident it simply hadn’t happened. She didn’t know if that had been the reason; maybe he’d been injured in some inexplicable way, although the doctors hadn’t come up with any answers. He’d been lucky to get out alive, unlike the rest of his family. In any case, she’d put the longing for a child away and devoted herself to her husband, the villagers, the farmworkers, her household staff and her painting. She had loved her life here and the thought of it ending sent an icy shiver up her spine.
The Tuscan Contessa Page 9