Carpathian 00 - The Scarletti Curse

She tried to look strong, but Nicoletta could see the pain in her eyes. Sophie's little hands twisted together, and she looked very forlorn.
    "Your madre must have been very beautiful, Sophie, because you certainly are," Nicoletta said softly.
    She sat on the bed and patted the spot beside her. "Come visit with me." The child was obviously starved for attention, hungry for any affection, and Nicoletta's compassionate heart went out to her. "How did you know I was here? And how did you brave i fantasmi to sneak past the guard?" She sounded conspiratorial and admiring.
    Sophie immediately smiled, looking self-important as she skirted around the cot where Maria Pia slept beside the fire and perched on the edge of the bed. "It is dark in the passage, but I light a candle and carry it. I fantasmi will not come out during the day. Only at night. Never use that way at night."
    Nicoletta nodded. "I understand. Where does the passage go? Does it lead outside?" She sounded more hopeful than she intended, and the child shook her head, her eyes wide with alarm.
    "You cannot go around in the passage. There are spiders and rats and terrible things. The spider webs are very thick and sticky. I only go between the nursery and this room and…" She trailed off, looking disconcerted. "It is a bad place."
    'Thank you for telling me," Nicoletta said solemnly. "I certainly would not want to meet i fantasmi or spiders and rats. Is everyone else still asleep?"
    "Zia Portia and Margerita sleep very late." Sophie again looked impressively self-important as she imparted the information about the household. "No one dares disturb them. Do not talk loudly or laugh, or they will get very angry. But Bernado is in the kitchen early, and he will fix special treats for you if you ask him. He is nice," she confided.
    "And what is Don Giovanni Scarletti like?" Nicoletta prompted shamelessly.
    The child sighed. "Everyone does what Zio Gino says. Even Papa. Margerita acts silly around him and always giggles whenever he comes near her." Sophie rolled her eyes. "She says I am an ugly little peasant."
    Nicoletta's eyebrows shot up. "She does not say such a thing in front of your papa or Don Scarletti, does she?" she guessed shrewdly.

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    The child's eyes grew large, and she shook her head. "And then there is Zio Antonello, Papa and Zio Gino's middle brother. He does not talk much at all, but Margerita giggles around him, too. She also acts very silly around my papa."
    The elusive Antonello Scarletti. Nicoletta had seen him once in the forest. A few months earlier, he had sustained a terrible injury while out hunting. An arrow had struck him in the thigh, and he had bled profusely. His horse, nervous with the smell of blood, had thrown him. Antonello had crawled into the brush and lay unconscious. The raven had led Nicoletta to his hiding place. She had immediately set about saving his life. It had been a struggle, and she had had no choice but to heat a blade in flame and press it to the wound to stop the flow of blood, a painful process. He had not spoken a word or uttered a sound other than one throaty cry torn from him when the hot knife seared his thigh.
    He had not wanted anyone to know where he was, shaking his head repeatedly when she offered to send word to the don. In the end she and Maria Pia had dressed his wounds, arranged him in his bedroll, brought him food and water, and stayed silent despite the soldiers combing the hills for him. He was gone on the third morning, and Nicoletta had never so much as heard a whisper of a rumor that the don's brother had been injured. Twice, in the winter, though, someone had left a deer, all dressed out for them, on their doorstep. Nicoletta suspected Antonello
    Scarletti had left the meat for them, to reward them for their aid, but she never found out for certain.
    Nicoletta tapped her fingernails on the coverlet. Antonello Scarletti had been afraid for his life; she was certain of it. He must have suspected that someone from the palazzo had attempted to murder him. Why else would he have refused to allow Nicoletta to call his famiglia to aid him? It was a frightening thought.
    "Sophie, did Bernado make soup for you before you became so sick? Do you remember? Was it for your supper?"
    Obviously uncomfortable, Sophie glanced quickly at Maria Pia, who continued sleeping heavily. The little girl looked down at her hands.
    Nicoletta