A Quiet Provincial Town

CATERINA…

CATERINA…

The long weekend of Ferragosto1 had passed quickly and on the morning of the 17th I found myself on the Ancona – Genoa flight again to return to my place of work, immersed in my thoughts once more. It had been lovely to spend two whole days with Stefano, making plans for the future, talking about ourselves and the child we were expecting and exchanging the affection we feel for each other. In the short time I had been in Liguria, my partner had changed his lifestyle, and I'm not talking about just his passion for music. He had left his room in the clinic to move to a farmhouse a few kilometers away. It was a wonderful place, immersed in the green hills of the Marche region. The house was cozy and tastefully decorated, in perfect rustic style. A fireplace, standing proudly in the living room, would warm the cold winter evenings. By passing through a large courtyard, ideal for spending summer days and evenings outdoors, you reached the stables where there were already two horses and a pony. A little further on were the kennels for the dogs, two of which were already occupied by a Great Dane and a Gordon Setter. The farmhouse bordered a small wood at the rear and cultivated fields on the other sides.

"It's wonderful," I said to Stefano, while we were in the courtyard enjoying the colors of a beautiful sunset. "Too bad I won't be able to enjoy this place with you for very long!"

"Oh, not necessarily. You could ask to be closer because of your pregnancy. And anyway, from the moment you start maternity leave, you’ll come here and there’s no way I’ll let you leave until our son has grown quite a bit. We’ll ride the two horses, but the pony is reserved for the little guy."

"Or little girl! Why do you only talk about a boy?"

Smiling and joking, Stefano took me by the hand, led me quickly to the stable, untied the horses, and without even saddling them, invited me to hop onto the mare, while he mounted the male. The horses were docile and it was easy to ride them even without saddle and harnesses. All this reminded me of the times when, as a young girl, I often competed with him to get the best horse in the stable we frequented, spurring the unfortunate animals along tracks and dirt roads, clinging to its mane. Great times! Of course, I would have loved to live my life there with Stefano, but how could I have been able to do that with my work? I loved my work too and I wouldn't have swapped it for anything in the world.

On Monday morning Stefano had accompanied me to the airport, staying close to me until the call for boarding. Saying goodbye was really hard, but duty called and, somewhat reluctantly, I got on the plane. Now that we were about to land, my emotions were giving way to the desire to return to work. All said and done, I liked being in Imperia and got on very well with my colleagues. I realized that the Precinct was a bit like a big family and I now felt like a good boss that everyone accepted, not because I imposed my will, but because I had the ability to coordinate that wonderful group of willing policemen, showing that I did my part when it was necessary. It was certainly true that, apart from the investigation into the killings in Triora, it was a rather quiet place. Of course, there was no lack of episodes of petty crime and considering the fact that police districts are chronically understaffed, we were all forced to do prolonged work shifts to cover the service adequately. I had been happy that Inspector Giampieri, faced with the choice of whether to stay in the precinct or return to work alongside the police commissioner, had chosen the first alternative without hesitation. I was now very fond of him, he was my deputy, I considered him my alter ego and it would have been difficult for me to have to do without him, also in consideration of the good chemistry that had been immediately established between the two of us.

This time neither he nor anyone else was waiting for me in the arrivals hall of Genoa airport, so I picked up my luggage and got a taxi to Imperia.

When I set foot inside the Precinct, I realized that there was an unusual hustle and bustle. There had been a brawl at the port during the night between foreign immigrants, and my colleagues had arrested some colored people who were making a terrible noise. I asked D'Aloia for explanations.

"Almost all of them were drunk, Commissioner. They started arguing, I think it was for reasons related to their religion and when the discussion degenerated they started throwing empty bottles of beer. Someone got hit in the head and was medicated at Emergency. Now I’m about to take their statements, check their residence permits and kick them out of here as soon as possible."

"Good luck, D'Aloia! I don't see that as being easy."

At six in the afternoon, when I left my room, Walter was in fact still dealing with some of them who, despite not having a residence permit in order, claimed that they worked for some construction companies, obviously off the books.

"Commissioner, I don't know what to do. I should give them expulsion orders, but I feel sorry for them!"

"There would be a solution: they report the people who make them work illegally and we give them a temporary residence permit for up to three months." I smiled at D'Aloia, because I knew very well that not one of them would have the courage to file a complaint, perhaps putting other friends or relatives who worked for the same companies in difficulty, and I left the Precinct to head home. I was about to stop a taxi, when Mauro appeared behind me.

"I have my own car and for today I'm done. I’m going to Ventimiglia to meet Anna, I think that I can make a detour to accompany you home and I won’t be too late."

I gladly accepted the ride and within a quarter of an hour I finally arrived home. Clara was in the garden playing with Fury and I noticed that as she greeted my colleague there was a lot of complicity. At the time I didn't pay much attention to the thing, after all we had spent a lot of time all together recently. And then I had other things on my mind.

One of the priorities I had in the next few days was to contact a gynecologist to follow me during pregnancy. Laura recommended a young doctor who worked in the Obstetrics department of the Imperia Hospital.

“Dr. Valeri is always available and very easy going. The department here in Imperia is avantgarde and people prefer to be visited in the public structure rather than in external private clinics. You’re sure to be happy with that."

Laura's advice was excellent and, after a few days, I left the gynecologist's office with the first ultrasound images of the creature I was carrying in my womb and the list of an endless series of laboratory tests to be performed. The s*x of the fetus was not yet certain, but the Doctor had given me a hint.

"Eighty percent female, but I wouldn't swear by it yet."

The next ultrasound, about a month later, would confirm that she was a female and in my heart I decided that she would be called Aurora.

Being pregnant did not bother me and I was able to carry out all my commitments, both work and extra. Going towards autumn I had started to attend a gym to keep fit, and the instructor had proposed a personalized plan, also appropriate to the fact that I was pregnant.

In mid-October, in record time, the restoration of the Della Rosa house had been completed, and it was ready to welcome Clara as Director of the Esoteric Studies Foundation of Triora. I had supported Clara in those months and helped her develop her ideas. The girl was really smart and had a remarkable intelligence and wisdom. I think she listened to my advice more out of courtesy than because she needed it. She already knew the texts and manuscripts inside the witch's house, for having cataloged and arranged them at the time, even if much material was then lost in the fire at the dwelling. The pentacle hall would become a study center open to all those who wished to enrich their cultural baggage in the field of magic and esotericism, under the watchful guidance of the director and librarian Clara Giauni. Mauro was increasingly present to help our friend, especially for the heavy work such as setting up shelving, arranging furnishings and so on. The most delicate part, adapting the secret passages and the underground tunnels to a guided tourist tour, was in practice directed by Mauro, who seemed almost a real expert of the Superintendence of Fine Arts or Cultural Heritage. What amazed me the most, and worried me a little, was that instead I saw Anna more and more rarely beside him. I was already beginning to suspect something, when one day I surprised Mauro and Clara exchanging tender effusions. Caught off guard by my unexpected presence, Mauro mumbled something.

"Don’t worry, Anna has known everything for a few days. We broke up as good friends."

Of course, that’s what they always say, but then you have to see how the person who has been abandoned is taking it, who usually feels an unfillable void inside, even though they try to pretend everything’s alright and not make the thing weigh on the other. So I phoned Anna and realized she was not taking it well.

"I know I shouldn't get so upset, Caterina. Mauro and I have always lived our relationship in complete freedom and I have always considered it very normal that it could end at any moment, but now I feel bad. I’m not angry with him or Clara, of course, but I miss Mauro very much."

We decided to go to dinner together and it took me a lot of effort to console her and try to take the conversation to other topics. After dinner in a trattoria2 in Sanremo, we decided to devote ourselves to total leisure, and went over the border into the principality of Monaco to spend the night at the casino in Montecarlo. I returned home at dawn, but that was the last madness I allowed myself, since the increase in the circumference of my waist suggested that I begin a phase of my existence that was quieter and more regulated.

In November Clara and Mauro moved permanently to the former Della Rosa house and I was left alone to share the farmhouse in the lower Argentina Valley with Furia. The inauguration of the Study Center, in the presence of important authorities in the middle of November, was a beautiful celebration. Casa Della Rosa shone with new life. The hall of the pentacle, restored, was wonderful, the fire had not ruined the marble of the floor at all and, polished, was spectacular. The mirror had been left open, so that the library full of ancient texts and manuscripts were visible. A long solid wood table had been placed in the large living room, available to scholars who wanted to consult the texts which were dispensed through a desk set up at the passage from the living room itself to the library, once bordered by the sliding mirror. It was still working, but the complicated opening mechanism had been replaced by a convenient remote control. The long table was at that moment set up for refreshments and, after the speeches of the Mayor, an Undersecretary of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Dr. Leone and Dr. Honoris Causa Clara Giauni, a catering company covered it with every delicacy known to man.

When, one by one, all the illustrious guests had left, I was left alone with Clara and Mauro. I was really happy to have been able to help that girl, not only had I saved her life, but now she had a future ahead of her, and it was not little. And she had also found a very good partner, albeit at the expense of another woman. And there was Anna looking in from the front door.

"I came to give you my sincere congratulations, Clara, it's all wonderful and you deserved it."

She kissed both Clara and Mauro with affection, and I noticed that there was no shadow of resentment in her gestures, which were clearly sincere.

Thank goodness I said to myself, The storm may have passed. Or maybe Anna is very adept at hiding her true feelings!

"Well, guys, I wish all of you well. Unfortunately in a few days I will be leaving you. I have already prepared the request for maternity leave and I really believe that I’ll be spending the last phase of my pregnancy in the Marche with to my partner. But even if we don't see each other, we'll keep in touch!"

Mauro, Clara, and Anna all assured me that not a day would go by when we didn’t speak by phone, or perhaps with a simple SMS. I went home happy, full of that human warmth that I had rarely felt in my life. It would be hard to leave those places, wonderful in so many ways. I was convinced that in any case I would return there in a few months, not knowing then what life and destiny had in store for me.

When I entered Dr. Perugini's room to deliver the envelope containing my request for leave, I saw that the Police Commissioner in turn had a large envelope in his handwith my name written in block letters.

"I knew that your contacts with the witches of Triora had endowed you with supernatural powers, but this is pure telepathy, my dear Commissioner. I was just about to call you here!"

"Good. You first or me first?" I said, alternating my gaze from my envelope to his.

"I believe that after you have read the contents of this, there will no longer be any need for you to present anything to me, requests for vacation, leave or anything else...", he said, handing me the sealed envelope, but judging by the complicit smile he had printed on his face, he knew the contents of it very well. I opened the envelope, which came from the Ministry of the Interior, and began to run my eyes over what was written.

Given the remarkable investigative skills, as well as the contempt for danger, the self-denial and attention to the people involved in the investigations... Dr. Caterina Ruggeri, currently stationed at the Police Headquarters of Imperia with the rank of Commissioner, by decision of this Minister, is promoted to Deputy Vice Commissioner and assigned to the Police Headquarters of Ancona, where she will need to take service by December 15 p.v. The Police Commissioner will arrange her place of service, according to the needs, taking into account Dr. Ruggeri’s excellent qualities...

I could hardly believe what I was reading. In a very short period of time I had advanced in my career in an unexpected, I would say incredible, way. The Minister of the Interior himself was dispensing praise to me and, moreover, after only a few months spent away from my places of origin, I could return to work close to home, and precisely in conjunction with becoming a mother. I said goodbye to Dr. Perugini, thanking him for all he had done for me in that short period and left the Police Headquarters with my head bursting from all the thoughts that were crowding it. I got in the car and didn't even notice the road I had taken to get home, I was so absorbed in my mental elucubrations. There were no decisions to be made, as had happened a few months earlier. At that moment the decisions had already been taken for me, and I certainly couldn’t oppose it. Yet I loved these places, even though I had lived there for a very short time, and I couldn't stand the idea of going away, perhaps forever, from my new friendships. In my entire life I had never had such intense human relationships, of friendship, of solidarity, as those I had experienced in that recent period. I didn't even have the courage to say goodbye to Mauro, or Clara, or Anna, but neither did I have the courage to say goodbye to Laura, D'Aloia and even Inspector Gramaglia or the last agent who worked at the Precinct.

But, on the other hand, I would return to my beloved places of origin, I would be close to my love, to the father of my child. And the little girl would be able to live in a normal family atmosphere and enjoy the presence of an affectionate father. I knew that my job would keep me out of the house a lot and that, if my daughter had to grow up alone with me, I would have to continuously entrust her to nurseries and babysitters. In this way, however, everything would be easier.

There were only a few days left to spend in Liguria. Winter was just around the corner and the cold, also due to the proximity of the mountains already covered with snow on the tips, was making itself felt. More and more frequently Furia tried to come inside to crouch in front of the flames of the fireplace. Not without a touch of melancholy, I began to gather my things together, preparing some boxes to load in the car along with the suitcases.

Who knows why! I wondered. Even in a short time a person is able to accumulate an incredible amount of objects and don’t want to separate from them for any reason.

Among other things, I found the precious book written in Hebrew with translation in Latin opposite, which had remained in my hands on the day of the fire at the Della Rosa house. I had always kept it as a souvenir of the investigation and the close escape, but at that moment I decided that it was right to return it to Clara. So I took the opportunity to visit her and say goodbye to her and Mauro.

"Thank you, Caterina. I thought this book had been lost forever in the flames, and instead... But let me give you a copy of the Key of Solomon translated into Italian. You can keep it as a souvenir and you’ll be able to understand the power, wisdom and mysteries that are hidden in the text. Only you know how that night you were able to recite by heart the invocation that allowed you to save my life. And you recited it in perfect Hebrew."

Mauro had gone out to get some wood for the fireplace, and since we were alone I confessed to her what I think she already knew.

"It was Aurora Della Rosa who instilled the words in my mind, but I never spoke about it with anyone. I think you’re the only one who can understand me. In fact, after having the relationship with the sorceress I’ve changed, I have perceptions that previously I would not even have dreamed of having. If I concentrate, I see people’s aura, and I have the impression that I can also guess what those in front of me are thinking."

"These are powers, my dear Caterina, that we all have innately. The frontiers of the human mind are still unexplored. There are those who learn to make use of certain skills and those who neglect them, they don’t train themselves to use them and therefore it is as if they didn’t possess them."

"Be that as it may, I believe that it was Aurora Della Rosa who favored the development of these perceptions in me, new and fantastic for me, and so I’ve decided that my daughter will be called Aurora in her honor and in her memory, and also because I feel partly responsible for her death, or at least for not having done enough to avoid it."

I saw that as she heard that name, Clara's eyes had become misty.

"All this does you honor, Caterina. Certainly your little girl, regardless of the name you give her, will have an exceptional personality. Don’t think that, because of the distance, I won’t get to know your daughter! It certainly won't be a few hundred kilometers that will stop me!"

Mauro had returned with an armful of wood, cut into logs, and dropped it near the fireplace.

"If the housewives chatter is over, I’d like to say goodbye to my colleague too, before she leaves for a remote region of Central Italy. The State Police over there must still be in the Stone Age!"

"Oh, they certainly don't have a Lamborghini Gallardo as a service vehicle," I said, imitating his sarcastic tone. "But nothing will prevent me from asking for your specific collaboration, when I’m entangled in a particularly complicated investigation."

"Ah, the way you attract them, I don't think it will be long before you call me!"

I stopped for dinner with them and, what with one quip and another, a glass of red wine, a grappa and a mandarin punch, I got back in the car with a blood alcohol level higher than was allowed, but happy to have spent an evening with real friends.

I decided not to return to the Marche by plane, but face the long journey in my car, so Furia would travel with me too.

Fall/Winter 2009/2010