Chiara – Revenge and Triumph (49 page)

"Yes, and the direction of the arrow could mean, flowing in a southwesterly direction."

On the following page, a round chubby face could be seen peeking out from behind one of three poplars.

"This could be another one to confuse, because it actually refers to a scene of lovers hidden in the shade of a clump of poplars, except that the artist drew three trees in a straight line, not a clump. A very clever way to disguise a message, if it is one."

"And the message could be that there are somewhere three poplars in a straight line, and if we put it together with the previous page, possibly near the kink in the water course."

"I think you are right, Jacomo."

There were again several pages of mystery, but then they came across two arrows that met over the Latin word "shatter" of the line "whilst thou shatter my heart, O cruel fate," while a little cherub was peeking over a house, partially hidden in bushes, on the opposite margin.

"If we put ‘shatter’ and ‘house’ together it could mean a ruin —"

"— hidden in bushes."

"Oh, you two are so clever," cried Veronica.

"Yes, our little brother is clever enough to become a priest —"

"A priest?" protested Jacomo. "Not me, never!"

"— or a lawyer. Law is a highly respected profession and can make you a lot of money, Jacomo."

"I would never be admitted to study law."

"I wouldn’t be so sure about that. All you need is the right sponsor, somebody like Count d’Appiano, and the professors would accept you without question."

"Oh, Jacomo, I’d be so proud of you. My brother a lawyer!"

"Chiara, it isn’t fair of you to put such ideas into his head," reproached Alda.

"Alda, it’s not beyond him if he wants it. Maybe even Casa da Narni might do as sponsor. All he needs is being able to write and speak Latin."

"You really think so, Chiara?" His voice had assumed a wistful tone.

"Yes, Jacomo, I’m serious."

19

End of November, Chianciano 1349

Alda had recovered from pneumonia, and I made sure that it stayed that way by pampering her. Two or three times a week, whenever the weather was reasonable, we went bathing in a hot pool, only a few minutes walk from the secluded little mansion where we expected to spend the coming winter in comfort and peace, becoming ever more a close family.

 Veronica and Jacomo were as eager as I had been to learn Latin. We had fun translating Amphitruo by Plautus. And most important of all, I finally began deciphering the mystery of the treasure, ably supported by Jacomo and Veronica. In fact, Jacomo often made the connections that led us slowly but surely to pinpoint the general area of its likely location. When I first heard about that treasure, I had always figured that it was on our land on Elba. What a surprise to discover that it was almost under our noses. It was as if destiny had ordained that Alda was to get sick and force us to stay in this very part of Tuscany to find that treasure.

You will not be surprised that Jacomo and I could hardly wait to scout out the area, hoping that this might help us make sense of the few, but crucial links that had escaped us so far. To say that we literally stumbled on its location is no exaggeration. It was a day of excitement and success, and then, before it was over, disaster struck. My past, the curse of the Baglione vendetta, had caught up with me.

Opting to go to Rome, had not our reason been precisely to get out of their reach? If destiny had ordained by Alda’s illness to keep us in Tuscany and thereby find the treasure, had the encounter with the Baglione not also been ordained? Would God be so twisted as to ordain both jubilation and a fight to the death? I was not a believer in destiny, but rather in coincidences, and that day only served to harden that believe.

* * * 

It took the three young people another two long sessions, before they managed to decipher most pages. There were in fact quite a few they were sure had been put in specifically to confuse. Others, they were less sure of, particularly the four close to the beginning. Chiara had this strange feeling that they were crucial — the missing link between Chiusi and the ruin — but their meaning eluded them. Intense excitement alternated with frustration, only to erupt in jubilation when they made another breakthrough. At times, they let their imagination go wild and laughed a lot.

After another fruitless session trying to clear up the remaining holes, Chiara said: "It’s no use. Let’s just forget it for a while. Maybe if we look at it again in a week, we might suddenly see through the fog. We know that the entrance to the treasure is in the ruins of a structure, possibly a house. In fact, we know more, it’s in a corner behind a pile of rubble. We also know that the ruin is partially or completely hidden in bushes or a dense forest, that it’s either near the top of a pointed mountain or hill or that from it one can see such a top, but we don’t know how far away. We have a further clue about three poplars along a water, a creek or river —"

"— and that we should be able to identify them, because they’re near a bend in a creek or stream —" interjected Jacomo.

"Yes, but again we have no idea of how the poplars are related to the location of the house. This is one of the two missing links. The other is the connection of the church tower in Chiusi and the area where the treasure is hidden. The secrets to both are hidden in the pages we struggled with all this afternoon."

"Why don’t we go to Chiusi and try to find out which church tower it is? Maybe that might help solve the first mystery. Anyway, we need to clear that one up before we can tackle the other one."

"Yes, we could do that. In fact, let’s do it the first sunny day. If we leave early morning, we should have ample time to look around and be back by the evening."

"Are you sure it’s safe for you to go to Chiusi?" asked Alda.

"Don’t worry,
mamina
, I’ll not go as Chiara, but as Anselmo, the young priest. That should be safe enough."

Two days later, Chiara woke early as usual and went to wash herself at the fountain outside the kitchen. Dawn offered the first light and the last of the stars were fading in a clear sky. A mild wind was blowing softly from the west.
This looks promising,
she mused and decided to wake Jacomo.

While he got the horses ready, she prepared a hearty cooked breakfast. By the time it was daylight, they were on their way to Chiusi.

As they rode along, Jacomo asked: "Chiara, were you really serious when you said that I could study to become a lawyer or it is only wishful thinking?"

"No, Jacomo, it’s not wishful thinking. All you need is a sponsor."

"But am I intelligent enough to study at a university?"

She smiled. "Yes, little brother, you’re intelligent enough. In fact, you will find that you’re smarter than most of the other students and then you’ll look down on poor me."

"I will never look down on you. You know that."

"Yes, I know. I was only teasing you. Would you like to become a lawyer? Don’t you like the life of a traveling artist?"

"It’s fun to be a player, but not for the rest of my life. I think that I would like to have a respected profession like the law. Then I could also provide for Veronica."

"Oh, don’t you worry about Veronica. She’ll be married to a rich man before you know."

"But I would rather she married a kind man, one who’ll look after her, even if he’s poor."

"I’m sure that she’ll find a rich man who’ll be also kind to her."

He remained quiet for a while, looking at her repeatedly as if he was trying to muster up the courage to ask her something personal. "Will you ever get married?"

"I don’t know. I hope so. I would like to have children of my own."

Again he hesitated. "Veronica said that you loved somebody."

Dear Veronica, trying to make it easier for her brother,
she mused. "Yes, I think I do, but it will never come to anything. Right now, I don’t even want to think about it."

"Sorry, I didn’t want to —"

"It’s all right, Jacomo. You may ask me anything you want. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll tell you."

In Chiusi, they left the horses at an inn and walked through town, looking for churches. There were a half dozen with towers tall enough to see over the surrounding countryside. Chiara did not expect the treasure to be hidden in town, although, when they had stayed there while Alda was ill, she had heard that there were underground caverns and tunnels, but these would all have been thoroughly plundered of any valuables a long time ago.

She figured that the tower of the old sixth-century cathedral, the tallest one in town, was the most likely one referred to in the book. When the sacristan saw her black robes, he immediately granted permission to climb the free standing tower a few steps to the left of the church entrance. He even offered to accompany them, but she declined, preferring to be alone with Jacomo, and saw that the man seemed relieved. He carried much weight and was not the youngest anymore.

A sequence of four steep ladders led to higher and higher wooden platforms and finally to the top which had a window in each direction. It took her only two seconds to discover the prominent peak dominating the southern horizon. Would whoever had masked the location of the treasure in the book use a point of reference four or so leagues away? But there clearly was no other cone-shaped feature or object anywhere close-by in any direction, and she was fairly sure that they were not mistaken about that aspect.

"That’s it," exclaimed Jacomo, "the tallest mountain anywhere. Does that mean that the thing we are looking for is way over there?"

"It looks like it. We should have remembered that. We saw that mountain when we came down from Lago di Perugia."

Back on the ground, they asked about its name and location — Monte Cetona, about three leagues from Chiusi, just south of the little town of Cetona, which itself was only a league south of Sarteano.

* * * 

Four days later they went for another search. Since they were not going into Chiusi, Chiara was not in disguise. She was wearing a wide skirt over her boy’s breeches which allowed her to ride astride without embarrassment. Jacomo had found out that there was a mule track directly from Chianciano to Sarteano, a bit more than two leagues south. They left when the first hint of dawn crept over the eastern horizon and an hour later crossed the ford over the Astrone river, leaving the road to Chiusi. Initially, the track climbed steadily and then traversed a gently sloping plateau to Sarteano. It was another hour on a narrow mule track through dense forest slopes down to the little hilltop town of Cetona at the foot of the mountain of the same name. The lower parts of its steep sides remained hidden behind the wooded cliffs rising sharply a short distance beyond the town.

Since it was still early, they decided to explore the slopes below the cliffs. They came across the first creek just northwest of the town, flowing almost east, not southwest, as the little book seemed to show, but then it might only have indicated water rather than also direction. They followed it uphill, looking for three poplars. Although there were a couple of clumps at the bottom, none were aligned in a row of three. Below the cliffs, the thick undergrowth of bushes blocked their path, forcing them to veer south until they could climb up to a sizeable terrace, parts of which were open pasture. By then it was noon and their stomachs asserted themselves.

While eating bread and cheese and sharing a cup of wine, they looked over the gradually sloping valley, the plains of the Chiana beyond, and the chain of hills rising on the other side, the ochre houses and rooftops of a hilltop town exactly east on the horizon. Flocks of sheep and goats were grazing below them. A shepherd waved, and Chiara responded.

Jacomo nudged her and pointed down into a ravine on their right. At a slight bend in the creek three old poplars swayed gently in the wind, perfectly aligned in a row.

"Our poplars," she cried and jumped up.

"And pointing straight to us. That treasure must be near here."

She put a hand on her chest, feeling the sudden pounding of her heart. It had all been too sudden.

When Jacomo wanted to pack up and start the search for the ruin, she held him back. "It has been waiting for us for ages. It can wait a bit longer. Let’s first finish our meal." She was not sure whether this was the real reason or whether she simply needed more time to restore her calm.

"Aren’t you anxious to find out?"

"I am, but I’m also a bit apprehensive. Jacomo, please bear with me. Let’s finish our meal and then we start by first figuring out whether we now can make sense of the missing connection between the poplars and the location of the ruin." She could see that he had a hard time restraining himself, but he sat again. She removed the little book from her skirt pocket. "Here, find the pages."

He poured over the two pages following the one with the illustration of the three poplars. There were no cupids or cherubs on either. "Here is another bow and arrow, but not held by a cupid. Could it be a clue?"

"The poem is an ode to hunting and at the end appeals to the Roman goddess, Diana, for her divine help. So it really illustrates the poem." She took another careful look at the picture. Diana’s arrow pointed diagonally across both pages to a miniature landscape with a cone-shaped mountain. "Maybe it is a clue. Look where the arrow points."

"Monte Cetona, but how does that help us?"

"Diana is depicted on a shrine, carved in stone, not as a living person. So it could mean that we have to look for a shrine, like a church or a chapel —"

"I think I got it. We have a line from this shrine to the mountain and another line through the three poplars. The place we must look for is where they intersect. It’s just a different version of the intersecting arrows." His voice trembled slightly, and he looked at her, uncertain, hopeful.