Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

are my famiglia. I have all of you and my plants and the outdoors. I could not ask for anything else to make me happy."
    The wind rustled, a mere whisper of sound, but Nicoletta instantly spun around. "Where did you say my shoes were?" She looked around the ground strewn with flowers of every description, pushing a hand through her hair in agitation. "Subito, Ketsia, we must find them at once."
    Ketsia laughed again, the childish sound joyful. "Maria Pia is coming up the trail," she guessed sagely.
    No one else could get Nicoletta to be concerned over her lack of footwear. Her present shoes didn't even fit properly. Ketsia's mother had donated an old, worn pair to Nicoletta when she returned shoeless from the palazzo. Ketsia didn't question that Nicoletta sensed Maria Pia nearing them; Nicoletta knew things others did not, though no one spoke of it. When she had tried to tell her mother of the wondrous things Nicoletta could do, her mother shushed her severely.
    "Yes, you little imp, it is Maria Pia coming. Now where along the stream are those shoes?" Nicoletta was torn between desperation and laughter. If Maria Pia caught her barefoot again after the incident at the palazzo, which everyone thought terribly amusing, Nicoletta was certain to get a long lecture on growing up and becoming a lady.
    Ketsia quickly ran downstream several paces and snatched up the footwear just as Maria Pia came into view down on the trail. The older woman stopped to catch her breath, waiting for them to come to her, clearly out of breath, as if she had been hurrying to reach them.
    Nicoletta took the shoes from Ketsia almost absently, her face lifted to the wind. She opened her arms to the earth, and turned in the four directions—north, south, east and west—seeking information. She glanced skyward, searching for the raven, studying the birds, listening to the insects. Puzzled, she turned once again toward Maria Pia.
    "Do not stand there gawking, piccola. Don Scarletti has summoned the healer once again. You did not come. I waited, but you did not answer the call." Maria Pia sounded impatient.
    Nicoletta began walking slowly, thoughtfully, toward her, swinging her shoes absently. 'There was no call, Maria Pia. There is no one sick at the palazzo."
    "You must be mistaken. He sent word that he wanted the healer and her assistant to return." Maria Pia put her hands on her hips, scowling fiercely at Nicoletta. "Why are you carrying, not wearing those shoes?"
    Nicoletta didn't appear to hear her. "There is no illness, Maria Pia, and no injury. I do not know why the don has summoned the healer, but it is not to attend the sick."
    The color drained from Maria Pia's face. "Are you certain? You know?"
    "I know. There are no disturbances. I feel nothing of consequence. I would know. I have never been wrong, not even as a bambina, and I have grown much in the last few years."

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    Maria Pia cleared her throat noisily and made several not-so-subtle gestures toward Ketsia with her chin to remind Nicoletta they were not alone. "I was there when his servant arrived. He said to come at the first opportunity."
    Nicoletta whistled softly, a sound that had Maria Pia gasping anew at the young woman's wild, unbridled ways.
    "You do not see?" Nicoletta asked. "Look at his order. 'At the first opportunity.' He did not command the healer's presence as he would if a member of his household was ill. He sent for the healer in such a way that she could complete her work should she be aiding some other who is ill. He has not summoned the healer because her skills are needed. He has another motive."
    Maria Pia devoutly crossed herself repeatedly. "He has found us out!" she wailed. "He knows we deceived him. Our lives will be forfeit."
    "He could not know." Nicoletta pointed out calmly. "He may suspect, but he cannot know. It's possible this is a test."
    "Your disguise did not work." Maria Pia sounded fearful, and for the first time she looked her every decade.
    "Not with Don Scarletti," Nicoletta agreed, unruffled. "But we made no false claims outright. He cannot condemn us. There was no dangerous deception. I altered my appearance, that is true, and praised you as a healer but how can he prove peril or malice in such things?"
    "Don Scarletti does not need proof, Nicoletta," Maria Pia said hopelessly. "Remember who he is."
    "I do not think he has called the healer to condemn her and her