Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

young assistant to death. What does it matter to him if we use the illusion of servitude to protect me?"
    "You are the one who heals, Nicoletta. Even as a mere bambina, you had the gift. I can aid you, and I have some experience, but I am not able to cure as you can. I do not even understand what it is you do or how you do it."
    "The don does not know that I am the healer, Maria Pia," Nicoletta said firmly. "He cannot know.
    Perhaps this is a test. He may be suspicious and is hoping we will do something to give away our secret."
    "He has set a trap for us." Maria Pia let out her breath slowly. The thought of her and her precious Nicoletta coming under the close scrutiny of a man as powerful as Don Scarletti was terrifying. "Perhaps it is time to send you away from here," Maria Pia ventured reluctantly. "We knew this could happen."
    Nicoletta stood very still, recognizing the faint hint of resolve in Maria Pia's voice. She rarely used that inflection, but when she did, she meant business. "We do not know yet, and I will not let him drive me away from my home without even knowing. Perhaps we should turn the test back on him," she said thoughtfully.
    "Nicoletta!" Maria Pia was used to Nicoletta's defiance of convention, but defying a man as powerful as Don Scarletti was suicide.
    "We know there is no one sick enough at the palazzo that you cannot care for alone. Take our neighbor, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    old Mirella, with you. She will enjoy being frightened by and later gossiping about the experience.
    Besides, she has accompanied you many times in the past delivering bambini in the villaggi. You can easily claim to have more than one assistant. The don did not say which of your assistants you were to bring. Should he ask about me and why I did not accompany you, tell him you wished me to rest my leg another day or two." Nicoletta suddenly began to laugh. "Don Scarletti left us a way to slip out of his noose. He thought mere women would be easy to trap."
    Maria Pia took her time thinking over Nicoletta's plan. The branches overhead swayed gently, making the leaves glint silver in the sunlight. They could smell the ocean, fresh and salty. The breeze was beginning to pick up, bringing a fine spray of mist with it.
    Ketsia stayed very quiet, but her fingers were wound tightly in Nicoletta's skirt. Her eyes were wide, and her lower lip was trembling. "Nicoletta cannot go far from us, Maria Pia," she said. "What would we do without her?"
    "It will work, Maria Pia. It will allay his suspicions," Nicoletta said. "A man such as the don will not continue to waste his time on something so insignificant. He will accept you as the healer, believe you have several assistants, and soon his busy life will continue, and—poof!—we will be gone from his thoughts." Nicoletta's dark eyes were twinkling in anticipation. "I know it will work. He had curiosity, that is all, but it is fleeting, soon to be lost amidst more important matters of state."
    Ketsia was nodding in agreement. "Do not make Nicoletta go away, Maria Pia. I do not want her to go."
    "Neither do I, piccola. I will go to the palazzo with Mirella while Nicoletta rests her leg. You will watch over her and make certain she does not dance around. I do not wish to utter a lie, may the good Madonna watch over me." She made the sign of the cross. "Nicoletta must rest her leg," she decided piously. "She is really not nearly as healed as I would like." She fixed Nicoletta with a stern eye. "I will take no nonsense from you, bambina. You must rest while I am gone. I will not get on the bad side of the good Madonna."
    Nicoletta raised an eyebrow, her expression innocent.
    "I did not know the good Madonna had a bad side, Maria Pia."
    Outraged, Maria Pia erupted into a barrage of scolding, even going so far as to deliver a rap to the young woman's behind. Ketsia backed away, frightened by the unexpected display from Maria Pia, but Nicoletta stood her ground, smiling and slipping her arms around the old woman. "Scusa, Maria Pia. I am so ignorant, I am uncertain what is causing you distress." Her dark eyes were alight with mischief.
    Maria Pia firmly pushed her away, blessing her several times in the process. "If I did not see you devoutly at your prayers, Nicoletta, I would fear for your soul. You have more knowledge than is good for a woman. Go to your bed and stay there while I attend the don."
    "I can rest up here, Maria Pia,"