by J. R. Sharp
The driver was getting close to where the container of food was buried. Catherina watched nervously, as did the others in her family.
“I am going outside to see what is going on with the Germans,” she said to her mother.
“Be careful, my dear, and stay close to your father. Take the water container and some glasses for our visitors.”
Catherina took the tray and some drinking glasses and headed for the main door.
The driver looked up and saw the very beautiful Italian woman with refreshments coming out of the house. The driver thought, I am not going to collect any more of these hazelnuts while those other bastards sit around and look at that beautiful woman and drink something cold. I am done doing this ridiculous order from the major. The driver picked up the bag full of nuts and started to walk towards Catherina.
Major Klein immediately pushed his way past Francisco to meet this very pretty young lady and get some refreshments from her. It’s amazing how one very beautiful woman could change a whole situation, thought Francisco who was smiling now. He missed seeing Catherina in town and was very excited to see her again. Even though he didn’t show it, Pietro was mad at his daughter for coming outside with the refreshments. It meant that they were staying longer and Pietro wanted them gone as quickly as they arrived.
“Major Klein, this is my daughter Catherina, she lives on the farm with us,” replied Pietro. The major was already getting a glass of water from Catherina during the introductions. Bruno moved to the right so that the goons and the driver could get to their water, and at the same time Pietro moved in closer to his daughter to make sure nothing happened to her. The major smiled at Catherina and thanked her for the water.
“So, Mr. Zucchet, how many other people live on the farm other than your very pretty daughter?” asked the major. Pietro looked at the major and was about to answer his question when Francisco interrupted and answered him in German.
“Mr. Zucchet has a total of seven people living on the farm. His mother, wife, and another son and daughter also live on the farm.”
Major Klein turned and looked at Francisco and immediately noticed the connection. “Do you two know each other?”
“Yes, I have known this family my entire life, Major. They are one of the best farmers in the region.”
“Well if Francisco thinks you are one of the best farmers I will have to take his word for it and come and visit more often. Besides, I will need to get more hazelnuts when I run out. Thank you for your refreshments, Mr. Zucchet, and have a good day.”
The major’s car pulled out first as their entourage continued down the road towards the other farmers and the big estate of the local count, who owned a large parcel of land.
“I was afraid that the driver was going to see the wooden door to the food,” Catherina said. “He wasn’t just picking up the nuts; it seemed that he was digging at the same time trying to get to the nuts under the ground.”
Bruno ran over to the area that she was talking about and there it was, the wooden access panel. How the driver missed it was anybody’s guess. Bruno would have to make it deeper and harder to get to the access panel. It would be done that night in the cover of darkness. He pretended to pick up a couple of nuts just to distract anybody’s curiosity.
Pietro walked next to his daughter and said, “I was worried about the driver as well and he did get really close. Good thinking coming out here with the water. Was that your idea or your mother’s?”
“It was both of our idea. Great women come up with great ideas.”
As Catherina entered the house, Pietro stopped to speak with his son.
“Bruno, you need to keep your cool around the Germans and Fascists or something bad is going to happen to you, or to us. Do you understand?” Bruno looked at his father with disappointment in his eyes and nodded.
“Do you want to be in the same situation as Gino’s father?”
Bruno was now getting upset with his father and lashed out. “Dad, those people just come on our farm and take what they want and just leave like they own this farm. Where are the police or army to stop them? Why don’t you stop them?” asked Bruno.
Pietro took a deep breath. “Listen, this is going to last for a long time just like War World I, so we need to be patient and take care of this farm and family the best we can. If we fight the Germans or the Fascists we will lose. Now I need you to go to the Martins, Manzon, and Pelliccia farms and tell them about how we are getting more seeds from the Fascist and Germans and that they should tell them they don’t have enough seed as well. Also, tell them that if they haven’t started to hide food, they need to start as soon as possible.”
Bruno went to the barn and took off on his new motorcycle to tell the other farmers what had taken place at their farm that day. He was very proud of the motorcycle that he had bought from the money he had saved over the years working with the railroad company.
***
Catherina was in the kitchen cleaning the glasses and pitcher from their visitors when Pietro walked into the room. He stood next to his daughter and gave her a kiss on the cheek and put his right hand over her stomach.
“When are you going to tell us that you are expecting?”
“Pietro, don’t you have something else to do other than harass our daughter about the new addition to our family,” Anna scolded. “We were just talking about what the new living arrangements will be when you walked into the kitchen. Go take the children outside for some fresh air.”
Pietro looked at Anna, took a deep breath, mumbled something under his breath, and then he walked to the back door with Valerie and Velasco. Catherina and Anna said nothing to each other until Pietro and the children left the house. Anna took her daughter’s left hand with her right hand, moving her away from the kitchen counter, and then took her left hand and put it on her stomach while at the same time looking into her oldest daughter’s eyes with the biggest smile, and then she hugged her.
“We are going to have a baby!”
Chapter 6
MARIA ARRIVES
BY THE FALL OF 1940, Germany had already taken over France and were attacking England. Italy had joined the war in June, but only because Mussolini was afraid that Germany would get all the rewards of the war. So Mussolini ordered his troops to attack his nearest rival geographically, which was France, who surrendered to Germany in mid-June. This invasion grabbed a small piece of land but the French put up a fierce resistance, and a full-scale invasion of southern France never occurred. In September, Mussolini gave another order to attack the British troops based in Egypt. This was the start of a war that was to be disastrous for Italy and caused Mussolini to lose support.
After the invasions of France and Egypt, the Italian government made it very difficult for individuals to leave military service. The only real strength that Italy had was that their army was one of the largest, with over a million troops. But what most outsiders were unaware of was their lack of heavy equipment support, which was very vital in modern warfare. This meant that any chance of Gino returning home was not going to happen anytime soon.
During this period, most of the farmers in Northern Italy were left to their crops, but the pillaging and harassment by the Fascists and Germans continued. Additionally, the call for all Jewish family names to be reported to the Fascist supporters and then turned over to the Germans gained momentum. Although most families in Northern Italy did not have Jewish names, the threat of turning their names over always produced positive outcomes for the Fascists.
The Zucchet family was enjoying one of their best crops in recent memory and celebrating the birth of Catherina and Gino’s daughter, Maria. Bruno was still at the farm but his health was starting to affect his ability to do work. He struggled to keep any weight on his body. Bruno wasn’t travelling in town as much for the fear that they would take him into the army or the Fascist party. His mother had suspected that when he last went to work with the railroad company he contracted tuberculosis, but she kept that
information to herself and wasn’t about to let the other family members in on her theory. Just to be safe, they had Bruno move to the other side of the house to prevent him from infecting the others. All the other members of the family continued to be healthy.
The other farmers in the region were not as lucky as the Zucchet farm. Pietro would venture into the town to catch up on the news about once a week. Pietro was doing more traveling than in the past, but he didn’t mind. It allowed him to stay up with the news and see what the other farmers were doing in the region. During one of his visits, he learned that the most notable farm in the region that was affected by the recent visits from the Fascists and Germans was the farm owned by the Italian royal family. The farm was on the east side of the Zucchet farm and was a very large plot of land. The rumor in Cimpello was that the royal family refused to supply the Fascists and Germans with food. The Germans shut the farm down, sending those working it away.
The Zucchet farm was mostly one plot of land and it was this parcel that most of the locals knew about, but Pietro also owned a plot of land just on the other side of the Italian royal family farm. Since the visit by Francisco and Major Klein, the Zucchet farm needed to produce more crops, which meant that this plot was needed for planting. In the past, it was mostly used for grazing of the animals.
During the summer planting season, Pietro and Bruno were constant travelers on the main road to their extra plot of land. This gave them a perfect view of the main farmhouse and of the royal farm. Pietro noticed that there wasn’t much activity at the farm throughout the summer and he knew he needed to keep his distance for there was a very successful movement to disestablish the royal authority by the Fascists and Germans. Pietro didn’t want to be known as anybody’s supporter.
Although the Fascists and Germans were seen more often than in the past, their visits to the Zucchet farm were not as frequent. With the exception of the seed drop off and one other visit by Francisco, everyone stayed away. The only concern for Pietro was that after Francisco’s visit, he left very angry after finding out that Catherina was pregnant and married to Gino.
The royal farm had largely been abandoned. The plot of land that was usually full of corn, beans, or other crop was not planted or being attended. Pietro knew what was going on and warned the other farmers during the gatherings to stay clear of the royal farm for the fear of being guilty by association. By the end of September, the royal farm looked deserted and pillaged. Pietro could see that the caretaker was still living at the main house as smoke came out of the chimney most of the evenings.
During the early part of October, Pietro was settling down one evening with Anna and his youngest son and daughter. Catherina was in the main house feeding Maria before putting her down for the evening. Anna had brought his evening cup of coffee to him while he was smoking his pipe. His son was chasing his daughter through the chickens near the north side of the main house near the barn when they all heard the loud noise coming from the royal farm. Pietro immediately recognized the sound and told Anna, who was already moving in the direction of her two youngest, to get the children inside the house. Pietro sat calmly and smoked his pipe as he noticed the Fascist cars go by his farm. Francisco was sitting in the back of the sedan with his uncle as they drove by. At that moment, Pietro realized that no matter what the future held for this family and his country it wasn’t going to be easy, and there was another war getting ready to start in Italy. Pietro called out to Bruno.
“Was that a gunshot we heard?” Bruno asked.
Pietro nodded. “It was a pistol shot we heard.”
Anna and Catherina looked at each other in horror and shock. “What are we going to do now?” asked Catherina.
“We are not going to do anything until it gets dark. Then Bruno and I will go see if something has happened,” Pietro said.
Pietro finished his coffee and cigar while Bruno went to the barn and brought out two bikes. His father didn’t want to make any noise to attract attention so he told Bruno to be quiet when getting the bikes ready. When Bruno finished bringing the second bike to the side of the house, Pietro told Bruno to go get a shovel and a lamp from the barn and bring it with them.
At midnight Pietro went and got Bruno up from his deep sleep. They made their way to the royal farm using the bikes, with Bruno carrying the shovel and Pietro carrying the lamp. As they went down the main road, Pietro looked up to see all the stars and the half-moon in the sky and he knew that what they were about to find wasn’t going to be good. Based on his experience in the past war, he knew that pistols were never used unless there was close combat or for executions.
As they came off the main road and started down the side road to the royal main house, there was no smoke coming out of the house and it was very still. Pietro could see something on the ground. As they got closer, he noticed that there was blood. Pietro looked at his son and put his finger to his mouth. “Be quiet; we don’t want anybody noticing us here.”
***
Catherina was getting Maria ready for bedtime when Anna came to her room with a letter from Gino. Pietro had made a run into town earlier that day and stopped by to get the mail. He also stopped by to read the latest news that was posted in the town center. Pietro was very concerned with what he had learned during this trip to Cimpello. First, the Italians attacked the British in Egypt and the Germans were starting to move more soldiers into Italy. This is worse than World War I, thought Pietro, after sitting in front of the farm at his usual bench waiting for Bruno.
The weather was getting colder; the fields were in need of one more turning before the winter set in.
“We need to turn the ground one more time before the ground gets too hard. Tomorrow should be the day when we start, and we could be finished in three days if we don’t push the horses too much,” Pietro said.
Bruno just looked at his father and shrugged apathetically.
Anna was in the kitchen washing dishes when Catherina entered with the baby.
“Mom, I have some great news about Gino. He is going to be transferred to Rome soon. That means he will be closer to us and will be able to come visit us real soon hopefully.”
“Let’s go find your father and tell him the great news,” replied Anna.
Pietro heard the girls laughing in the kitchen, so he got up from his bench after putting his pipe down in the ashtray to see what was making his wife and daughter so happy.
Catherina was holding a letter, which meant there was good news about Gino. Anna saw her husband enter the kitchen.
“Gino is getting moved to Rome soon. Isn’t that good news, Pietro?” asked Anna.
“Yes, that is good news. Does he say what he will be doing in Rome, Catherina?”
“He will be doing the same thing he did in Naples, working on electrical equipment, but he doesn’t know exactly where in Rome as of yet,” replied Catherina.
Pietro walked up next to Catherina and she exchanged hugs with her father. Pietro was feeling a moment of real joy for the first time in a long time, so he simply reached for Maria and took her from his daughter. He made his way into the main room of the house next to the main window and yelled the good news to Bruno. He sat down on the chair next to the window with Maria in his arms, covering his granddaughter with the blanket he took from the chair. As Bruno walked towards the back of the house, Pietro could see that his son looked like his was getting worse. He held Maria and wondered if she, or any family member, would survive the war.
The next day Pietro and Anna were in the barn getting ready for the meeting with all the other farmers. It was their turn this month but they had been doing it more often because the other farmers were having hard times. Anna set up the table with the usual food and drinks.
“Anna, what is going on in that mind of yours?” asked Pietro. She stopped and turned around to talk with Pietro so he could hear her better. He was getting older and was losing his hearing.
“I was just thinking how lucky I am for having such a smart farm
er as a husband. You always seem to know what to do when we need you the most, and we are never without food,” answered Anna.
“Well, honey, you help me figure out what to do most of the time and it probably was a good thing we didn’t get that tractor a couple of years ago,” answered Pietro.
The other farmers always looked at Pietro as an “old farmer” who didn’t want to change his ways because his attitude was if it works, don’t fix it. The other farmers were already using tractors, updated spades, and other mechanical advancements that made their crops more productive and they could produce more. The farmers were forced to go back to the old ways of farming by using just cattle, horses, hand picking crops, and a spade. Most of the farmers did not have the know-how or physical ability to go back to the old way of farming. Only the Zucchet and the Martin farms produced the same amount of crops as they did their previous year.
***
It was around seven o’clock when the farmers started to arrive at the Zucchet farm. Pietro went out to the driveway to greet everyone. The Martin’s were always first; they only lived just a short walk to the farm. Then came the Manzon, and then, finally, the Pelliccia family arrived by horseback; their motor vehicles had been confiscated long ago. Not as many people attended the meeting as previous meetings and it was obvious this had to do with transportation. In the past, vehicles were available, but now only horses and cattle remained, making transporting large groups of people more difficult. The heads of each farm, which usually meant heated discussions about the future of farming, would only attend tonight’s meeting.
Anna was leaving the barn, knowing that she could not be the only woman there, but she would get the minutes of the meeting from her husband just as all the other wives would get from their husbands. She noticed that Anthony Pelliccia was very distressed and not looking very healthy. He deserves whatever is making him sick, she thought. As Anna exited the barn and the door closed behind her, Pietro turned to the other farmers and looked at all three family heads. It was starting to get cold and the wind started to pick up; each one of them looked really tired and frustrated. Francisco really was causing a lot of problems for everyone, and there seemed to be no stopping him and the pillaging.