La Brigantessa by Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli

Author:Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2018-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

PART VI

LA BRIGANTESSA

August-September 1862

GABRIELLA RETREATS INTO THE HUT, breathing hard. Her leg is throbbing, though not as intensely as the previous day and night. Her thumb is still painful and the sweat that is already trickling down her face and neck and under her petticoat is causing an unbearable itchiness. She extracts her handkerchief from her skirt pocket and wipes her face and under her collar. She wishes she were by the river in Camini, washing clothes and cooling herself off. She fingers the embroidered “E” on the now soiled handkerchief and wonders what horrible fate awaits her and Don Simone. Her instinct urges her to pray, but she represses it, and instead makes a silent appeal to her dead mother. Help us, Mamma. Wherever you may be, send us an angel of mercy to protect us, to lead us away from this place. And please, please send one to Tonino.

Gabriella brings a hand to her mouth, thinking of the last moments she spent with Tonino. Where is he now? Is he safe? Will he return to Camini alive? How will he ever find me? Will Galante release me and Don Simone?

She starts at the approach of footsteps. The blanket at the doorway is pulled aside without warning and the brigand chief enters brusquely, the panels of his black cloak resembling the dark wings of a vulture. Gabriella gulps, clenching her handkerchief.

“Sit down,” he orders. “There are instructions I need to give you.”

Gabriella slips the handkerchief back in her pocket and walks to her pallet. There is no other place to sit, other than on his pile of blankets. She slips her hand into the pocket of her skirt, touching the knife she placed there earlier, and she pauses, wondering how successful she might be at plunging it into him, before he can….

And then she feels the brigand chief directly behind her, and her head jerks slightly in alarm. His breath is even, fanning the side of her neck and face. Her fingers tremble. She clenches the knife handle and then releases it. Whatever she might be able to do to him, she would ultimately have his band to deal with. The brothers. The brigantessa Dorotea. Her heart pumping, she turns without looking at him, and lowers herself onto the pallet, wincing slightly.

He crouches down and she opens her mouth to scream when he lifts the hem of her skirt, only to realize that he merely wants to examine the wound on her calf.

“No infection.” He readjusts her skirt but does not rise. “You’ll be able to travel if we need to leave, but for now, you and Don Simone will remain here with the band.” He stands, and when she tentatively looks up, his eyes are narrowed. “It will be necessary for you to wear the appropriate clothing,” he says, pausing to make a sweeping gesture with one hand, “for this kind of life.”

Gabriella blinks. At the sound of footsteps, she turns to the doorway, where a slight movement of the blanket makes her release her pent-up breath.

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