Feehan, Christine - The Scarletti Curse (25 page)

"I think they will get me soon," Sophie confided, her lower lip
trembling. She took Nicoletta's hand. "They got
mia madre,
and
Margerita says they will take
me
away, where I will never be in her way
again."

"Margerita seems a very unpleasant young woman," Nicoletta pointed
out, "and she is not very bright. Your
zio
has said you must attend
me in the wedding. No one disobeys your
zio."
But Nicoletta's teeth
nibbled nervously at her lower lip. She'd had a strange premonition of danger
when Sophie mentioned the whispers in the night. Nicoletta had the feeling the
child really was in danger, but why? What danger could she possibly represent
to anyone? She was not in line to inherit the palazzo, not with Giovanni about
to be wed and Vincente and Antonello so young and virile. Certainly one of the
three brothers would eventually produce a male heir.

"I do not want to go back to the nursery," Sophie said. "I
only hear them at night, but I have never heard them there before." Her
dark eyes were trusting as she looked up at Nicoletta. "What if they are
there now?"

"I will go with you to the nursery and help you dress," Nicoletta
offered instantly. "You must tell me immediately every time you hear the
voices, Sophie. Come, we are already late, and Maria Pia is sure to scold us
when we arrive in the kitchen."

They walked together out into the wide corridor, Nicoletta nodding to the two
guards. As she took Sophie down the hall, Nicoletta couldn't help marveling at
the beauty of the building. It did have a strange, haunted feeling to it, an
oily evil that seemed to hang in the eaves and cling to the strange carvings.
Perhaps it was emanating from the grim, demonic sculptures staring at them so
solemnly. There appeared to be many eyes watching them at all times, and
Nicoletta feared some of them were human.

Sophie suddenly gasped and tightened her grip. "Nicoletta!"
Panic-stricken, the child halted in the middle of the corridor, staring in
stark fear at the man coming toward them from the opposite direction. He was
tall and thin with silver hair sticking out in all directions. He would have
been handsome still had his face not been twisted into a permanent scowl.

Nicoletta watched as servants scurried out of the eldest Scarletti's way,
crossing themselves, clutching crucifixes to them as talismans. As the don's
grandfather approached several workers, they hastily turned away from him, as
if they thought him a devil and dared not look upon him. She watched the old
man's face. It was proud, arrogant, twisted with a kind of fierce anger. His
head was high, and he struck several retreating servants with the cane he used
more as a weapon than as an aid for walking.

"Run, Nicoletta," Sophie whispered. "We must run." She
tugged and pulled at Nicoletta to get her going but did not let go of her hand.
Sophie would not run away herself and abandon her only friend. When Nicoletta
refused to move, Sophie scuttled behind her for protection, attempting to hide
in the folds of her wide skirt.

Nicoletta squeezed the child's hand in reassurance. She waited calmly while
the older man came toward them, his scowl darkening with every step, his bushy
brows meeting in a fierce, straight line. Nicoletta smiled at him when he was
almost upon them, dropping a graceful curtsey and pressing Sophie to do the
same. "Good morn, Signore Scarletti," she said determinedly. "We
are going to the kitchen to see if we can coax Bernado to fix us something to
eat, though we are very late. Would you care to join us?"

The old man's step faltered. He spluttered an unintelligible answer, looking
suddenly vulnerable. He stood still for a moment in apparent indecision, then
resorted to shaking his cane at her. It looked a halfhearted attempt to
Nicoletta, but Sophie ducked her little head back behind Nicoletta, frightened,
and the guards rushed forward protectively.

Nicoletta laughed softly, the sound merry and inviting in the wide halls.
"If I had a cane, good signore, you could teach me how to duel. We could
have much fun here in the big palazzo, although I am certain we would be
severely reprimanded by the don." She leaned close to him. "He can be
quite fierce in his reprimands, but I am willing to risk it if you are."

There was a small silence. Nicoletta sensed the guards tensing to spring
should they need to protect her from her own folly. Several of the servants had
turned and were watching the exchange in horrified silence.

The old man stared at her. For a moment his mouth appeared to twitch as if
he might be struggling to smile, but he seemed to have forgotten how. Muttering
beneath his breath, he pushed past her without speaking and hurried on down the
corridor. Once he looked back, and it seemed to Nicoletta, as she watched him,
that his old eyes were watery.

"Nicoletta," Sophie said softly, "the don's
nonno
does
not like anyone, and no one likes him. Zia Portia says he will kill me one day
in my sleep if I do not stay out of his way. He killed his own wife. Even
Margerita is afraid of him. You cannot talk to him, Nicoletta. It is possible
even Zio Gino cannot protect you from his
nonno."

"It is possible we need to be his friends," Nicoletta pointed out
gently. "It is not good to be always alone, Sophie. And I do not think
your Zio Gino would ever allow his grandfather to kill you in your sleep. You
are much loved by your Zio Gino, and who else would keep track of my shoes for
me if you did not?"

Sophie laughed. "I have never seen you wear shoes, Nicoletta. Do you
even have shoes?"

"Little imp," Nicoletta scolded teasingly. Sophie was exactly what
she needed after the trauma of the night before. The child was engaging and
sweet and eager to please. She didn't have Ketsia's self-confidence, but she
was growing quickly in assurance. As long as Nicoletta remained beside her,
Sophie seemed a normal child, happy and curious and willing to please and play.
She winked at the little girl. "Guess what we are going to do today!"

"What?" Sophie asked eagerly, skipping in her exuberance. She
pushed open the door to the nursery and stopped to allow Nicoletta to go in
first.

Nicoletta entered without hesitation. "We are going exploring."
She laughed softly at Sophie's horrified expression. "We are. We are going
to clean the passageway between the nursery and my room. I do not want all
those terrible spider webs hanging from the walls."

Sophie shook her head so vigorously that her hair flew in all directions.
"We cannot go in there. What if Papa catches us?"

Nicoletta helped the child dress. "That is the fun of it, silly
piccola.
We have to sneak. You will be the lookout."

"What is that?" Sophie asked. It sounded an important job, and a
bit thrilling.

"After we tease Bernado into getting us a meal, we shall go back to my
room and lock the door. While I am in the passageway, you will stay in my room
and watch that no one finds us. We will make up a signal, like singing or
humming, to warn me if someone is coming." Nicoletta laughed gaily.
"And after we see to the passageway, we will have to do something about
making this room much nicer for you."

Sophie shook her head quickly. "The voices found me here. They do not
want me in here. I have to sleep with you." Her eyes were large and somber.
"I am not making it up. Zia Portia says I am a wicked child to tell such
tales, but I
heard
them. I hid beneath the covers, but they would not
stop."

Nicoletta brushed Sophie's hair once again after the child changed her
clothes, more to give herself time to think and to soothe the little girl than
anything else. "Sophie, could you understand the words? Do the voices ever
say things to you?"

"They want me to go away. They are like Zio Gino's
nonno.
They
want me to go far away and never return." Sophie reached up to take
Nicoletta's hand, opening her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead,
tears shimmered in her eyes.

Nicoletta knelt instantly and gathered the child into her arms. "Tell
me,
bambino.
Do not be afraid to tell me."

"Zia Portia told Margerita I am losing my mind like
mia madre.
She said
mia madre
heard voices at night, and we were both mad. I do not
want to be mad." Her dark eyes held sorrow. "Do you think I am?"

Nicoletta hugged Sophie tightly. "Well, I heard the voices also,
Sophie. So if you are mad, and your
madre
was mad, then I must be mad,
too." She smiled at the child, shaking her head. "There is nothing
wrong with you,
bambina,
believe me. Nothing at all. We will find out
just what is going on with those voices. Mayhap it is only a silly prank. There
are many possible explanations."

Privately, Nicoletta thought something very sinister was going on.

Unbidden, the thought of the don's drawling voice crept into her mind. If he
could send his voice to her mind, he certainly must be able to send it to
others. But why little Sophie? What would be the purpose of driving a child
insane? Nicoletta rubbed her temples and looked around the nursery. In the
light of day, the room had every potential of being really beautiful. A young
mother could manage to do quite a bit with such a room. Removing the heavy dark
curtains would go a long way toward dispelling the gloom. She shook her head,
trying to rid herself of Giovanni's voice brushing seductively in her mind. It
created such an intimacy between them. But she could see the danger if such a
gift was misused.

Sophie didn't seem to notice that Nicoletta had gone very quiet as they left
the nursery. She was happy enough with Nicoletta's reassurances, and she
skipped along the corridor to the lavish staircase. Nicoletta followed at a
more leisurely pace, the ominous meaning of the murmuring voices whirling
around in her head. The voices had to signify something. Perhaps they were even
a portent of death. Nicoletta believed it possible that spirits were living in
the house, evil or good. At times the impression of evil was quite strong in
the palazzo. Nicoletta shook her head. She didn't want the notion of evil to
persist. She wanted to reason out the possibilities, not frighten herself with
superstitious nonsense. More likely it was a living person behind the evil at
the palazzo, not a spirit.

Sophie had entered the kitchen before Nicoletta, and one of the guards had
gone ahead also. She wandered in behind them and looked up in time to see the
guard drinking from a cup and placing it carefully back in place at the table.
He moved away, not looking at her, to stand against the wall.

Nicoletta greeted Bernado. He was acting strangely, too, almost guilty. For
a moment, when she sat down across from Sophie at the little table, she was
afraid to eat, afraid the food was tainted. She touched the cup the guard had
sipped from and replaced. She looked at him, then back at the cup. Realization
dawned. She glanced at Bernado, who was suddenly very busy with his
preparations. Celeste, his assistant, was stirring something in a large bowl
quite vigorously. Only Sophie seemed normal, chattering away to everyone as she
ate quickly, grateful for Bernado's cooking and for Maria Pia's scolding
absence.

Nicoletta pushed the food around on her plate. She glanced at the guard
again. "The don gave you orders to taste everything I eat and drink."
She made it a statement, but her dark eyes were steady on the guard's face,
compelling him to answer.

He tried to look away, then glanced helplessly at the other guard, clearly
looking for aid. He cleared his throat. "Yes, signorina. It is one of my
duties."

She drummed her fingers on the table. "So if the food was tainted, you
would become ill." Exasperated, she looked toward Bernado for help, but
the cook steadfastly refused to look at her. He was busily checking Celeste's
work. "I doubt tainted food would act that quickly. In any case, I would
not want you ill because someone wanted to harm me."

The soldier shrugged. "It is a common practice, signorina. It is done
for all members of the household."

"The don has his food tasted?" It seemed out of character for Don
Scarletti to allow another to take risks on his behalf. The image of him
standing with his arms out, away from his sides, as the killer attempted to
assassinate him near the caves crept unbidden into her mind.

The guard exchanged another rather sheepish look with his partner and then
with the cook. A slow smile curved Nicoletta's soft mouth. "You do not
have to answer. I think I understand." They could not speak of their
"conspiracy" behind the don's back. It was obvious they were
attempting to protect the don despite the fact that he would never allow them
to endanger themselves by tasting his food. "But, of course, I do not want
you ever taking such a risk on my behalf again. I mean it. I will speak to the
don and have him rescind the order. There is no need, nor would I want the
responsibility should one of you become ill. I do understand your need to
protect…
him."
She glanced again at the wide-eyed child, who was
distracted by Bernado's latest offerings. "Well, you know who I mean. But
I am not of the same position he is." She said the last a little lamely.
The two guards were grinning at each other and looking pointedly at her bare
feet. They were not about to listen to
her
orders over their don's.

Nicoletta gave up, determined to have a talk with Don Scarletti at the first
opportunity. While the guards were busy eating their own breakfast some
distance away, Nicoletta teased Sophie, distracting her quickly from the
earlier conversation. Deliberately she wiggled her eyebrows and made whispered,
outrageous references to the passageway and the grand adventure they were
certain to have together. Neither guard had been on duty the night before, so
they did not realize Sophie had not spent the entire night in Nicoletta's
bedchamber. Nicoletta was thankful she didn't have to provide explanations as
to how the child had gotten there.