The Mafia Emblem

by Michael Hillier

  - 34 –

  “Oh, mama mia!” Francesca burst into a string of grateful Italian.

  Ben was feeling hot and irritable and persecuted. In contrast the girl looked cool and refreshed and beautiful in a bright green dress of some light, filmy material which he guessed she had bought with some of his hundred euros. It only served to increase his annoyance.

  “Where the hell have you been,” he demanded. “You should have met me more than an hour ago.”

  She spread her hands in an expansive apologetic gesture. “I know. I am sorry. I was already later than I thought. But then I found that I did not have enough money left to buy a ticket to get into the scavi. I was just trying to find a way in.” She raised her eyes to his. “And what were you doing here? This is a forbidden area.”

  “I’ll tell you what I was doing. I was being chased by three murderous Italian gangsters. I notice that you were conveniently nowhere to be seen when they were after me.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t know anything about any gangsters.”

  “Don’t you?” He shrugged. “Well, it’s no good arguing about it here. We’d better get out of this area while we can. Have you any idea how we can get away?”

  Francesca pointed. As if by magic an electric train was approaching the station a couple of hundred yards away. With only a second’s pause they ran for it.

  “You can buy tickets on the train,” she panted. “That is - if you have the money. I have none left.”

  He didn’t have the breath to ask how she had got through a hundred euros since this morning. It was a silly question anyway.

  Safely seated on the train opposite Francesca as it drew out of the station, and with no sign of his pursuers, Ben recovered his sense of righteous indignation. “That was a hell of a fix that you nearly got me into back there.”

  “That I got you into?” She wrinkled her nose in that attractive habit of hers. “Ben - what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about those three men who had the Forum staked out - looking for me, I presume.”

  “What men? What is the matter with you?”

  “The matter with me is that ever since I arrived in Italy people have been trying to kill me. If it’s not somebody trying to burn me to death, I am being chased by criminals armed with knives,” said Ben sarcastically. “I wondered whether you or your family might have anything to do with it.”

  Her eyes widened. “With knives? Were they really trying to kill you?”

  “I didn’t hang around long enough to find out. Perhaps the dear little chaps just wanted to trim my toenails for me.”

  “But you do not think that I know anything about that?”

  “Well, how did they know where to look for me? You were the one who arranged the meeting place.”

  “They did not know from me! I have told no one but -.” She faltered for a second. “- but Alfredo.”

  “Alfredo! Why did you tell Alfredo? Perhaps you wanted him to spread my whereabouts all around the Bay of Naples.”

  Francesca looked so upset that he instantly felt he should apologise for what he had said

  “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  “I do not think Alfredo would have told anybody. Although he is weak, I believe he is one who I can at least rely on to do his best to help me. And,” she countered, “what about your friend Donna. I’m sure she knows just where you are.”

  “It was Donna who brought me to Pompeii.”

  “Then she is the one who led them to you.”

  “Donna? How could she do that? She doesn’t know anyone in Italy.”

  Francesca snorted. “Huh. She knows a lot more than she tells you, that one. Don’t you think it funny that she turns up at the Villa Cimbrone in the middle of the night when there is a fire? Then - poof - she finds hotel rooms after everyone has gone to sleep.”

  “You are forgetting,” said Ben, “that she has helped you a lot. And two days ago she just happened to save my life.”

  “Oh, she only wants you to keep her bed warm.” And when he looked shocked, she added, “I could tell that by the look on her face.”

  “I don’t think there’s any point in you talking about things that you know nothing about.”

  “You think I know nothing of love? You wait until I am ready and then I will show you all about love.”

  Francesca’s eyes were flashing. Her breath was coming quickly. Ben was stunned by her beauty. He didn’t know what to say to her. At that moment the train plunged into a tunnel and total blackness descended upon them. Suddenly Ben felt a hand grip the hair on the nape of his neck and warm, trembling lips were pressed against his. She gently rocked her head back and forth in a most provocative way. Almost as a natural reaction he reached out for her, but she had already let go and moved out of reach. The next second the train burst out into the startling bright sunlight again and there she was, seated across the carriage from him, with her cheeks just a little bit pinker and her eyes lit by the ghost of a smile.

  Ben was lost for words. After a few seconds he turned to look out of the window. His eyes were skimming over the bright blue of the bay below him, but his thoughts were in turmoil. The next second there was a rustle and her head was close to his again.

  “I am sorry, Benjamin. Do not be angry with me. I spent this morning trying to find out how to get help in our quest against the Vitelli.”

  Ben hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted his attempts to retain his business to be coupled with Francesca’s declared aim of being revenged against Toni’s killers.

  “Will you forgive me?” she pleaded.

  He swallowed. “Was it Alfredo you went to see this morning?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you said he was useless.”

  She pouted. “So he is if you want him to take any action against the Vitelli. But he knows many things about them that I don’t know – things that have been kept secret from me.”

  “What things?”

  “I wanted to find out about why the Vitelli are involved with the Cimbroni. Why do they have a hold over us? Why are they so powerful?”

  “So what did he tell you?”

  “At first he would tell me nothing. I think he was trying to pretend that his wife is not an evil snake. But then I reminded him that the Vitelli had killed Toni and that they had burned down the guest wing to try and kill you last night. He said he didn’t believe it, of course, but I think he was shocked and he could see that it might be true.”

  “So what did he say?”

  “He says he knows very little himself. But he has told me who we should go to who will tell us all about what happened many years ago. I believe it is that which has led to what is happening now.”

  “So who is that?”

  She looked at him seriously. “Did Toni ever tell you about our Grandpapa? For many years he has lived on Capri in seclusion. But when we have had problems Toni has sometimes gone to see him and he has been able to help.” She sat back on the seat and stretched her arms above her head. “That is where we are going.”

  “We’re going to Capri now?”

  “Uhuh. It is called the island of dreams.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “It won’t take us long. This train takes us to Sorrento. We will get the aliscafi from there. Do you have enough money?”

  Ben pulled out his wallet and checked. “Just over six hundred euros. Will that be enough or should I go to the bank again? What are you planning to buy other than a couple of tickets for Capri?”

  She laughed. “That will be more than enough.”

  “Good.” He nodded. “So - how old is this grandfather of yours?”

  “I don’t know. He just seems to have been around forever and now he cannot see with his eyes any more. But he is very clever - very sensible. In my family we have always gone to him to ask his advice about important matters.” She looked out of the window across the bay as the train began its descent into Sorrento. “He lives in a
little villa high above the sea. I think you will like it there.”

  Ben watched her surreptitiously as she gazed into the distance, lost in her own thoughts. It was remarkable that she seemed to have got over the shock of learning about her brother’s death so quickly. But Ben couldn’t help wondering how on earth her grandfather was going to be able to help him with his own problems.