Bella Notte (16 page)

“
Don't worry
about it. Grandpa said we needed to get ready to take the car or
something. Where are we?” I figured he would know the answer to
that question, even though he couldn't answer any of the questions
that seemed to plague my every action and thought.

“
We are in
Grosseto
then? It is very lovely, but I guess we will leave very soon. Then we
will drive over to the
Castiglione
della
Pescaia
and someone will be waiting for us to take us to
Isola
d'Elba
.
Once there we will have a small drive over to
Pomonte
,
to our home,
Castello
di
DeDominico.
”
He sounded distracted and the words sounded like a quick travel
guide.

I didn't want to
hear his tone any longer so I didn't ask any questions. I got up out
of the bed, straightened my wrinkled clothes and went to the door. I
looked back to the bed and I could only imagine what it would have
looked like. I sighed. Dominic followed me very closely. I opened the
door and stepped into a draft of the cool night air flowing in.
Night?
How long did I sleep?
I stepped out into the darkness and found my family getting the final
things out of the plane and placing them into the trunk of a large
black car. I looked about as I wrapped my arms around myself for
warmth. It was lovely. The sky was a beautiful black with twinkling
stars. The airport was clearly not a common place for landings. It
was more like a really big field with runways cut into it. Off to the
right was a road, surrounded by trees leaning into each other. It was
beautiful. I got out my camera from my pack, that I found sitting
next to the car waiting to be put in the back seat for me, and
snapped a few shots.

“
Hey, Dad, why
is it so dark here? I thought the difference in time was like ten or
eleven hours? This seems like way more,” I asked over my
shoulder as I snapped a few more shots of the various roads that went
off of this deserted airport.

“
Well, we had
a layover, more importantly we needed to make sure everything was
okay before we went to fly overseas, so we had to stop in New York.
Don't get angry. We didn't wake you because you will need your sleep.
These next two weeks will be filled with non-stop activities.”
He smiled at me like there was something I was clearly missing.
Ugh,
I hate not knowing what's going on.

Dominic walked up
next to me and didn't say anything, merely wrapping a large black
coat around me before walking away. It was an odd gesture but I
figured he was starting to get excited about almost being home.

We all piled into
the car and then it pulled out of the airport onto one of the small
roads with touching trees. I snapped pictures until my brain could
feel the flash permanently burned in.

We drove on this
road for a while, and then I saw some cobblestone buildings and took
a few pictures but we quickly got back on another small, lonely road.
I
want to come back through here and see all these beautiful places
without the night sky hiding them from me
.

The next hour
dragged on as the world was filled with trees and stuff I couldn't
really make out. I got bored. Then, there were lights ahead. They
looked like small pin pricks in the night
.
It's a town!

I leaned out the
window as far as I could with both Grandpa and Dominic hanging on to
me.

“
I'm not going
to jump, you guys, I want to see the town. I mean I so didn't get to
see
Grosseto
,
and that is supposed to be bigger than these little places, so I want
to see it before it disappears too.” I sighed at them
breathlessly as I struggled to get a clear view of the small town
coming into view.

“
Emma,
darling, this is
Castiglione
della Pescaia
.
You
will be able to come back here. We will arrange it. But we cannot
have you getting hurt falling out the car window because you want to
see it now, and we are not close enough anyways.” Grandpa was
clearly trying to reason with the irrational.

“
I can see how
excited you are, Emma. I promise I will bring you here,
mia
bella
.
But please be patient. For your grandfather's sake at least.” I
knew he was smiling, and I knew he would keep his word.

“
Okay. But you
promised. Don't forget that,” I mumbled.

I could tell as we
came down off a hill that the town was covered in red topped roofs.
It was odd as that was the only real detail that stood out. The
little houses seemed to sleep with this dark night. I still didn't
know the time or how I had slept most of the day away. It didn't
matter in the end I suppose. I knew if I really wanted to know the
time I could do the math of figuring it out in relation to our time
back home. But I didn't really care to know. Somehow time had stopped
mattering. I was in a beautiful and mysterious place and it was all
new and fascinating.

I stared out of the
window as the ocean came into view and I saw a boat meant for
carrying cars.
Wow,
we don't even have to get out of the car? That is freaking awesome!

The car windows were
rolled up and the cool night air stopped blowing into my face. It
somehow saddened the experience. Someone said something about the air
being cooler on the water and what not, but I didn't care. I watched
as we drove onto the small boat and then my father waved to someone
and something clanked shut. I figure it was the ramp being raised.
Shouldn't
we get out and talk to people?
I
mean, this is a bit rude
.
But I didn't know the customs here and I sure as heck wasn't going to
get out of the packed car and start talking to people who probably
wouldn't understand me anyways.

The motion of the
water and boat was lulling, but I fought against it. Why
the
Hell am I so damn tired?
It was frustrating. I watched the twinkling lights of the small town
fade into a dim haze and disappear. I knew we were headed for some
sort of land mass, I guessed an island, though no one ever thought to
explain anything to me. I couldn't see it out there.
How
far could it be?
I started to feel worried about being out in this ocean, in the dead
of night, with no clear end in sight.
What
if something went wrong?
Who
would save us?
Panic stiffened my body and froze my movements. Dominic noticed right
away. He gripped my hand softly, yet firmly. This soothed my nerves
slightly.

“
Do not worry,
my Little Emma Bird, we are almost there.” I wondered how he
could possibly know such a thing in the middle of this darkness.

Once again I was
shocked into silence when the boat touched the island and lowered the
ramp for us to drive on. I wanted to get out and thank whoever had
stayed up to let us get across the frightening sea in the middle of
the night, but we pressed on.
I
really don't understand this lack of manners. Or maybe I am missing
something?

We drove on a bumpy
dirt road that made me think of Dominic's description of what
turbulence would feel like and I smiled to myself. It felt like a
long time, but I am sure it couldn't have been that long.

I think I must have
nodded out because I woke up with my head on Dominic's shoulder and
he was absent-mindedly stroking my hair. He stopped as soon as he
felt me shift, but I did not move my head. The road was still dark,
but I could see that we were coming up on a large castle-like home
that was well lit.
Dude,
he wasn't kidding when he said he lived in a freaking castle!
There
were many people standing outside waiting for us and as we got closer
it was like there was a party going on.

“
What's with
all the people?” I asked to no one in particular.

“
It is a
celebration of your visiting. Yes,
you
personally, and my home coming,” Dominic said to me in nothing
more than a whisper.

The car stopped and
we piled out, everyone looked so groomed and well dressed, and then
there was me in my crumbled t-shirt and wrinkled yoga pants. I sighed
and I pouted visibly.

“
Don't worry,
mia
bella
,
you can change. They won't be going anywhere. I will show you to your
room, quickly,” Dominic said as he took my arm and led me
through the crowd of people.

It was terribly
difficult for me not to stop and stare at the exterior of the castle,
but once I got inside it was impossible. It was decorated in a
collection of different cultures and places. It was as though each
room was designed after a different location on the Earth. It was
breathtaking.

“
Dominic, it's
beautiful,” I breathed.

“
It is a hobby
of my family to try and recreate parts of the world that they find to
be beautiful and misplaced.” He spoke as he guided me through a
room that was clearly decorated after a part of Africa.

We walked up granite
stone stairs into a hallway that had walls covered in paintings from
every genre and era I had ever studied.
I
bet they are all originals.
It was beautiful to see so much beauty in one place. He stopped in
front of me, which I didn't see, so I walked straight into him. I
smiled at him apologetically. He smiled back and pushed the heavy
wooden door open.

“
This will be
your room. It is one that I had designed for me, but I could never
figure out why. I think it must have been because of you.” He
stumbled over the words as he stepped inside the room and set down my
bags- which I hadn't even noticed he had picked up.

The room was not
decorated as a location; rather it was done in a style. It was as
though a fairytale bed chamber and a classic monster movie had been
smashed together in such magnificence that I wanted to cry. The huge
bed was the central piece in the room and it was a lush feather bed
that had sheer red curtains surrounding it from the ceiling to the
floor. All the bedding on it was black and I could guess that the
sheets were satin. There was a window that held the shape of a tower
window. It had thick wooden shutters drawn shut. The entire room had
a slight curve to it. There was a dressing cabinet that was a deep,
red wood on the left side of the room by the window; it had intricate
carvings surrounding the outside edges. There was a full length cast
iron mirror standing next to it. The metal curved into a bat on the
top and bottom of the mirror. On the opposite side of the room was an
emerald overstuffed reading chair with a small side table with a
tiffany-like lamp that had dragonflies on it. The last piece of
furniture was a desk that was the same deep, red wood of the cabinet.
It had nothing on it, but it too had carvings on it.

I stepped into the
room and felt the thick, black shag rug that was placed so that it
surrounded the bed. There was nothing on the walls, but it was the
exact kind of room I would have dreamed for if I had a room in a
castle.

“
It's perfect!
Thank you, Dominic.” I turned and gave him a hug.

“
I am glad you
like it. There is a bathroom connected to this room as well, but I am
sure you didn't notice it. You see that piece of wall that is just to
the right of the bed? It doesn't look as rough as the rest of the
stones?” he told me as he pointed to a spot on the wall.

I nodded my head.

“
Well, if you
press the engraved bat on the wall right there, it will open, and you
will be in your own private bathroom. Now, I shall leave you to get
freshened up. I will tell them you will be down shortly.”

He looked at me once
more and then quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.