Two Steps Onward by Simsion Graeme & Buist Anne

Author:Simsion, Graeme & Buist, Anne [Simsion, Graeme & Buist, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Adult, Contemporary, Romance
ISBN: 9781922330697
Amazon: 1922330698
Goodreads: 56316522
Publisher: Text Publishing
Published: 2021-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

45

ZOE

CARTOON: A middle-aged man: large, hairy chest with gold chains peeking out of a too-small shirt, hair slicked over a bald patch, oversized watch, feet in Gucci loafers—a caricature of an Italian American. He is standing in the courtyard of a three-storey house with high brick fences and security cameras, incongruous in a rural setting, holding a bottle of wine in each hand.

The pellegrini are his guests, awkward, not comfortable in the accommodation or with the hospitality. An overweight man attacks his blisters; a woman, separate to the others, with pen and paper, looks lost; a younger man looks at Signor with frank dislike. A woman, only visible from the back, is taking in a picture of the Madonna on the wall—the Madonna’s face is suffused with light. A younger woman holds her hand. A bearded man is close to the woman but contemplating the young woman with what looks like concern.

STORY: Roberto was born in the US but has returned to his roots in Italy, where his retirement will be funded by tourists renting his properties. His house is large, gaudy and decorated with posters of stills from The Godfather.

The pellegrini have been travelling for a month. They came for different reasons and the Chemin brings them together each day, yet they are further apart than ever. They search for love and meaning but find their lives obstruct the path: responsibility, guilt and the past hang over them.

The Chemin has yet to provide them with an answer, and the accommodation and owner remind them of the commercial world they have left behind. How do they reconcile that world with the peace they feel in the abbey hostels and at homes offering a pilgrim’s welcome?

If a village could have suburbs, Roberto’s B&B was in one, or had created one for itself, at the edge of the wild. High fence, cameras, graphic of a guard dog. I entered the security code we’d been given, dumped my pack and followed the instructions in the communal kitchen to the retail strip half a mile away. No dog.

I’d offered to fix dinner, and the town had sounded big enough to have a supermarket. It wasn’t. Just one tiny store with basic stuff—not much fresh. I’d picked the wrong evening to show off my cooking skills.

‘Antipasto,’ I said, when I returned and had started opening jars of pickled vegetables. ‘Salami for the carnivores. After that, pasta with pesto. It’s all they had. Bananas for dessert—same deal. And no wine.’

I wasn’t being totally truthful. There had been wine in the shop, but I didn’t know what Gilbert would think of it and he wasn’t going to have a night off unless he was forced to. At home I drank alcohol only once or twice a week, but since we began walking we’d had wine every evening.

‘Meditation class after dinner to help us sleep,’ I added.

I hadn’t even served the appetisers when Roberto arrived. With three bottles of wine.

‘Always wine,’ said Gilbert. ‘We will need it to survive the next days of mountains.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.