Cecilia's Secret

by Patricia Gallinetti

  Annie replied.

  “Denny, I must be going crazy; I thought I saw my great-grandmother looking at me in the rear-view mirror.”

  “Golly, Annie my friend, you are spooking me out,” laughed Denise “Cecilia is haunting you,” she smirked. “Come on, we want to get there before nightfall and find a place to stay.”

  About an hour later they had reached Florence. They kept on the autostrada. Annie without hesitation, turned off at a sign for Tavernelle val di Pesa

  “Where are you going Annie. Do you know where we are?”

  Annie didn’t answer Denise, she continued driving, she was looking for a smaller road to the right and she felt a leap of excitement, why? There. Turning right she drove up the hill. By this time Denise was getting worried, Annie hadn’t said a word for ages, although she did seem to know exactly where she was going. They passed a little shop on the left and after about a kilometre Annie turned left to a dirt road. This private road was full of potholes and very bumpy and the little car was rocking from side to side.

  “We are nearly there.” Retorted Annie excitedly.

  Denise said. “Well, that’s a relief mate, nearly where?”

  A cherry tree was drooping over the fence, passing this they went through double gates. Annie stopped the car and at the end of the driveway, stood a charming old Tuscany farmhouse, a bright cerise Bougainvillea cascading down the wall and a steep staircase leading up to an open door. To their left down a steep bank, they caught a glimpse of a large swimming pool and past the pool the valley stretched out with a tiny house in the distance, nestling in a clump of trees.

  “Ooh Annie,” breathed Denise “How did you know about this magic place?”

  “I didn’t know about it, but you know what? I think that Cecilia knew about it and she loved It.” replied Annie.

  Three dogs came running up to the car barking and behind them followed a tall distinguished man of about fifty. He walked towards the car smiling.

  “Buongiorno,” he said in a deep melodious voice. “I am Riccardo Moretti,” he introduced himself “Are you looking for accommodation?” He politely held the door open for Annie as she was preparing to alight, she tilted her head looking up at him and replied.

  “Yes please.”

  “I have a small one-bedroom apartment around the back, if you don’t mind sharing a large bed.”

  Although he had an accent he spoke English perfectly. He led them towards the house and the girls followed him through a small cobbled courtyard, turning a corner, they came to a patio with Wisteria just beginning to bloom, there was the strong perfume of Jasmine growing among the Wisteria creeper, two reclining chairs and a table in the middle were arranged before the double glass doors which led into the apartment. Annie turned around and looked at Riccardo, she knew this was what she wanted. Before they even went inside she said.

  “Yes, this is it; this is what I want,”

  She looked at Denise, who was gazing at her mesmerized, “Uh, sorry Denise,” said Annie “Is this okay with you?” Denise nodded.

  Riccardo laughed uproariously.

  “But Signorina, you haven’t even been inside.” He said as he opened the door. They walked into a small kitchen. Going through the kitchen, Riccardo led them up four steps and at the top on the left was a tiny bathroom, walking past the bathroom they came to a large bedroom, a double bed and a free standing old- fashioned wardrobe stood at the side of the bed, to the left was a dressing table with four drawers and under the window, through which they could catch a glimpse of an olive tree clinging to the bank, was a small couch with a beautiful patchwork quilt draped over it.

  “Bene,” said Riccardo with a broad grin “Now you can tell me if you still want to take the place?”

  “Yes, we still want to take it, thank you Riccardo, but we don’t know for how long, is that alright with you?”

  “Si, I don’t let it out too much because most guests want more, but I can see you two will fit in nicely,” He looked at the two girls. “Did you bring any food with you? If not, there is a Co-op not far from here, about two kilometres drive, you can get everything there and they close quite late, you still have plenty time to do some shopping.”

  As they walked into the kitchen there was a huge black Labrador sitting waiting for them, his tail wagging vigorously

  “Caio Leo,” Said Riccardo affectionately “You have come to welcome the guests, Si?”

  He turned to the girls and introduced the dog,

  “This is Leo, he always picks the guests he likes best and then he spends time with them,” Riccardo said with a grin. “His full name is Leonardo da Vinci.”

  Denise and Annie laughed

  “What a name for a dog.” said Annie

  “Si,” replied Riccardo. ‘We named him that because he is an inventor and very clever,” Riccardo grinned again. “He invents ways to go for a ride or to get food from his favourites and he understands English perfectly.”

  The girls went out to do their shopping and after buying all the basics at the Co-op they set out to explore the town. They found a pizza shop in the village and parked near the piazza, to enjoy their meal with a bottle of coke each.

  Denise said to Annie.

  “I am sure somebody must have mentioned this place to you, I have read a lot about Italy since we decided to take this trip and never ever heard of- what’s the name?”

  “Tavarenelle val di Pesa” She answered Denise. “No,” smiled Annie “I have never heard of it myself, I would have remembered, it’s such a cool name.” Eventually they made their way back to their digs, and when they walked around the corner, there was Leo waiting for them with a big grin on his beautiful face, thumping his tail.

  “Hi Leo,” said Annie, bending down to kiss him on the head. “We’ve bought a treat for you.” she fished a dog biscuit out of the grocery bag.

  That night the girls sat out on the patio watching the sun go down below the mountains, the sky had turned red and as the shadows deepened, they heard a Cuckoo in the distance and another answering from the olive tree outside their bedroom window. It was so peaceful, no sounds of traffic, occasionally they would hear murmurs, maybe from the other guests, but too far away to distinguish any words. As it got later Denise yawned and said,

  “I’m for bed - coming?”

  Annie answered her

  “You go in; I won’t be long after you.”

  Annie sat a while longer in quiet contemplation, Leo was dozing at her feet contentedly, she knew that Cecilia had brought her to this magical place, and knew there was a reason. What message was Cecilia trying to send? Annie had no doubt she would know soon enough. She also recalled the drowning sensation, she had experienced the night before. Eventually Annie sent Leo home and went inside to bed, there was no locking up to do, no need. Annie climbed into the huge bed, Denise was already asleep, snoring softly, Annie grinned, it was like old times when they had pyjama parties in their school days. Annie was dozing off when the room became very cold, she felt somebody was watching her, she sat up in bed and looked down at Denise who was still fast asleep, she then let her gaze wander around the room, there was a silhouette outlined by the light of the moon streaming through the window, Cecilia was sitting on the little couch.

  “Cecilia?” Annie whispered. She heard a soft voice, an echo. “Annie, help me to find him, please help me to tell them everything.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Italy – Present Day

  A nnie opened her eyes slowly, yawning and stretching, what a wonderful sleep, she felt refreshed, ready for a day of exploring. She looked at Denise who was still fast asleep and decided to make breakfast for her friend and bring her a Café Latte in bed, there was a noise in the kitchen and then click-click coming towards the bedroom, knowing what had made the noise she called out.

  “Come in Mr. Leonardo da Vinci.”

  Leo pushed his nose around the bedroom door which was half closed and made a beeline for the bed, he leapt on the be
d and his great big tongue was licking her face, she laughed. “Leo, you are too big, off mister, how on earth did you get in, I am sure I pulled the door closed last night before I came to bed.”

  The huge dog jumped down and plumped himself on the mat next to the bed and Denise woke up with a grumble. Annie grinned and looking down at Denise who was burrowed under the blankets said. “Well, I was going to leave you sleeping until I had made you a Café. Stay in bed, I am going to brew some and bring it to you and then we can think of breakfast.”

  They decided to visit San Casciano and have lunch there. Riccardo had told them it was one of the towns together with Tavarnelle and most of the small villages in Tuscany, razed to the ground by the allied bombardment in 1944. The friends had a good day and the lunch was superb, they explored the castle ruins which by some trick of fate had been left almost undamaged and stood unscathed through the war. On the drive back to the farm Annie was in two minds whether to tell her companion that Cecilia had appeared the night before, but decided probably Denise was a bit weary of her tales. She had dressed hurriedly that morning, pulled on a sleeveless T- shirt. Over that she threw on a short-sleeved cotton shirt leaving the buttons open and tying the ends under her breasts and her designer jeans with the slashes on the knees, she had glanced in the mirror and patted her hair, satisfied that she looked okay. When they arrived back at the farm, Leo was waiting for them, lying patiently on the patio with his head between his paws, they walked inside and Annie and Denise both kicked off their shoes, each grabbing a bottle of cold water from the fridge and they sat outside on the patio. Jean-Paul (The rooster) and all the hens were rooting around on the patch of lawn in front of the patio, and Annie went inside to get a slice of bread, she crumbled it up and scattered it for Jean-Paul and his wives. to peck at.

  The two girls were dozing in the warm sun, Annie was dreaming of Cecilia again. She was standing on a ship looking towards a young Cecilia who had a shawl around her shoulders and the moon was shining brightly, she turned towards Annie and her lips moved, obviously asking Annie something.

  “Good afternoon.” said a man’s deep voice, waking Annie and Denise from their nap. Annie looked up, but couldn’t see who was addressing them as the figure was standing in front of her sun.

  “Uh,” replied Denise. “Hello?”

  “I’m Riccardo’s son, Vincenzo,” his English was perfect, there was no a trace of an Italian accent. “My Father said he had two lovely Australian girls staying here, I can see he didn’t exaggerate,”

  He moved away towards the table and continued.

  “I’ve brought some vegetables from the garden and here are 4 eggs.”

  Annie thought Oh, my, he is gorgeous. She glanced at Denise to see her gazing at him. Annie jumped up prepared to walk towards him and thank him, but she had forgotten that before relaxing in the chair she had loosened her jeans, for comfort, to her horror her pants slithered down to her bare feet, she heard Denise splutter and then shriek with laughter and as Vincenzo turned his head to look, he too became very amused, but tried not to show it, Annie bent down to yank up her pants, but she tripped and fell back on her chair, sprawling with her legs in the air. Denise shrieked and doubled over, laughing even louder and Vincenzo discreetly turned around with his back towards them, but as Annie glanced his way she could see his shoulders shaking and then he let out a bark of laughter and he also doubled over. Leo put his paws on either side of Annie’s shoulders while she was lying back on the chair struggling to get up and licked her face, he also wanted to join in the fun. Annie eventually managed to wriggle out of the chair and pull up her pants. She thought. OMG thank goodness, I had decent undies on, instead of a G-string. After talking for a while Vincenzo said he had some work to do and strolled away, grinning from ear to ear and Denise again burst out laughing, wiping the tears way she gasped.

  “Sorry Annie, it was hilarious,” she said in between giggles. “You really made a good impression. Wow, he is so delicious.”

  “Denise,” said Annie in her school teacher voice “He is very good looking, but hardly delicious, you only say ‘Delicious’ when something is edible.”

  “Yes, well?” replied Denise. “He is more than edible, he is finger lickin’ yummy.”

  Later that afternoon, Annie and Denise strolled down to have a swim, loaded with towels, sunglasses, sun block and big sun hats. As usual Leonardo da Vinci accompanied them. The view down in the valley was breathtaking; the lazy clouds drifted across the deep blue sky and the birds in the trees nearby seemed to welcome them with a variety of calls. It was a quiet Tuscany afternoon; none of the other guests were in sight. The two girls had the pool entirely to themselves. Annie dived in and swam slowly across to the opposite end and as she broke out of the water two muscular brown legs were standing on the side of the pool above her.

  She heard the familiar sexy voice

  “Can I join you two?” Asked Vincenzo. He was looking down at Annie and she blushed thinking of the last time she had spoken to him.

  “Of course.” She replied and turning in the water swam back to the opposite end.

  She heard him dive in and quickly getting out of the pool grabbed a towel, dried herself and stretched out next to Denise. Vincenzo swam a few lengths and Annie pretended to doze, but she was aware of his every move. Eventually Vincenzo jumped out of the water and threw himself down on the grass close to Annie.

  “Well,” Vincenzo spoke first. “Where do you live in Australia and what made you come to this sleepy village?”

  Annie kept silent for a second hoping Denise would answer him, she felt slightly embarrassed and then replied,

  “We live in Sydney, we came to see as much of Italy as we could and we seemed to find ourselves here. We were planning on seeing Venice first, but – here we are.”

  She turned to smile at him as she spoke and caught her breath, he was gazing at her intently.

  Denise cut in, to Annie’s relief,

  “Yeah, we wanted to visit most of Tuscany as well, but Annie seems to have dug in here.” she grinned “I don’t mind, it’s just heaven here. Like another world.”

  Vincenzo said.

  “Have you done much exploring?”

  “We went to San Casciano today” replied Annie “We plan, to go to Sienna, tomorrow”

  “Yes, you won’t see the Palio though,” replied Vincenzo. “It’s a horse race held twice a year, 2nd July, that one is called Palio de Provenzano and the race is run again in August and is called Palio dell’Assunta” Annie noticed him grin and then he continued “Maybe if you stay long enough I can take you. “There’s pageantry, colourful costumes for the men, waving of huge flags. There are ten horses ridden bareback and the riders wear the colours of their various houses. If you like, I’ll take you to Siena and show you the town; we can have lunch there and walk around the shops and I can show you the track. Tomorrow?” He looked at both girls.

  Annie thought it would be great to spend the day with him, she looked at Denise who was already nodding.

  “That’s arranged then, we can leave at about nine tomorrow morning, have breakfast at a nice little place I know and then go and see the race track in Siena.” Vincenzo grinned at them.

  “How come you have no Italian accent?” queried Denise in her usual abrupt way.

  Vincenzo replied.

  “My mother is English and when my parents separated, I did my schooling in England and spent all my holidays here,” he said. “I don’t go back to England much now, just occasionally to visit my mother, I prefer it here. While he was talking Annie closed her eyes, listening to his voice, she heard Denise speak to her.

  “Huh?” she opened her eyes.

  Denise repeated herself.

  “I said, I am going up to prepare supper and I have invited Vincenzo to join us, you stay here and talk. Come up in about a half-hour or so.”

  There was silence between Annie and Vincenzo, but she was very aware of him lying by her side. As she turned her hea
d he was once again studying her features. He smiled and then said,

  ” We should go up and get ready for our meal.”

  Jumping up he put his hand out to help her to her feet, pulling her close to his hard, sculptured body and gazing into her eyes, until, flustered, Annie turned and gathered up the towels and other objects lying around, Vincenzo helping her. Annie put her sunglasses on and they both strolled towards the grass steps leading up to the apartment. Vincenzo left Annie as they reached the top of the grassy bank, he said he was going to get a shirt and would join them in ten minutes. After their meal, the three of them sat on the patio, in the candlelight, each with a glass of wine, the sun again dropping down behind the mountains, in a blaze of glory, when the sun had finally disappeared, the silence and darkness settled in around them and they found themselves talking in hushed tones. Annie saw two little furry figures slinking around the corner. They glided up to the edge of the shadows and sat down on their haunches, two adorable marmalade kittens.

  “Vincenzo,” Annie touched his arm. “Where do these kittens come from?”

  Vincenzo chuckled.

  “This is Ginger and Cinnamon, they’re twins. They are waiting for me to go to bed, they both sleep on my bed at night and it’s past their bedtime – and mine,”

  He stood up and turning to the girls he said goodnight.

  “I’ll see you down at the car tomorrow morning at about nine o’clock. Caio.”

  He was looking at Annie and her heart skipped a beat. He strolled away into the night with the kittens hard on his heels, Leo following. Annie and Denise sat on in silence for a while and then Denise said

  “Whew. That is some man; I think he is very interested in you Mate.”

  Annie shocked herself for thinking I wish I could join him in his bed. She was thankful it was dark and Denise couldn’t see her blush.

  Annie was looking forward to spending the day with Vincenzo. When she and Denise had settled themselves in his car, he drove about a kilometre down the hill towards the Autostrade, and turned right informing the two girls,