The next morning, as Carlo shared coffee and rolls in Filomena"s kitchen, the talk returned to the young German visiting Altamura. It was obvious that neither Zia Filomena nor Cristiano trusted him. Their comments were openly disparaging, and any statements Carlo made that even slightly defended the man were waved away without a thought.
“The people of Altamura don"t trust the German,” Cristiano warned, and he told Carlo to avoid him.
“He"s harmless,” Carlo said, “and quite sincere in his quest.”
“Stay away from the straniero,” repeated Cristiano, thinking that calling Bernhard a foreigner would be enough to get his point across.
“But I"m a straniero, too,” Carlo responded.
“No, you"re not. You"ve got Italian blood in your veins.”
“So did Mussolini,” Carlo said.
“Mussolini was a Mex
