Arcadia Awakens Read Free Page B

limousine pulling up not far from the entrance. Rosa was just in time to see a no parking sign painted on the tarmac disappear underneath the car. It didn’t seem to bother anyone. The soldiers were chewing gum and casting curious glances at the gleaming luxury limo. Cars first, girls second. She was glad of that.
    “Well?” asked Alessandro.
    “Zoe should be here any moment now.”
    “Zoe?” He tilted his head to one side. “Are you and your sister Americans?”
    “Born here, grew up in Brooklyn.” She took half a step back, because being so close made her nervous. Oddly, he made the same movement at exactly the same moment, so that suddenly there were almost three feet of space between them.
    “Of course,” he said, suddenly catching on. “Zoe Alcantara. Related to Florinda Alcantara, right?”
    “Her nieces. She’s our aunt.”
    The door of the limousine swung open. All the windows were mirrored glass. The driver who got out looked surprisingly young. Black hair, rather disheveled, no older than eighteen. A black shirt hanging loose over his belt, black jeans. Brown eyes that fixed on her and then quickly looked elsewhere. He came over, shook Alessandro’s hand, and reached for his suitcase.
    “Hi, Fundling,” said Alessandro. “This is Rosa Alcantara—Rosa, meet Fundling.”
    At this introduction the boy with the odd name raised one eyebrow and swiftly offered her a hand, then quickly withdrew it when she didn’t immediately take it. “ Ciao ,” he said briefly, and put Alessandro’s suitcase in the trunk of the car.
    She looked at him, surprised, since she thought he seemed like a nice guy, but then Alessandro spoke again. “Don’t mind him,” he said.
    “I don’t.”
    “We can drop you off at your aunt’s palazzo if you like.”
    She fidgeted from one foot to the other, craned her neck, and looked for Zoe, but in vain.
    She’d come to Sicily to find peace and quiet. To be alone and think. Meeting new people was definitely not among her priorities. The fact that she now had met new people was beyond her control, and she hated that. Inside, she struggled to feel in charge again. Don’t do anything you don’t want to do. Don’t let them put pressure on you.
    “It’s your decision, of course,” he said with a smile. He had no idea how that remark made her feel.
    The air temperature around her seemed to drop several degrees. “No thanks,” she said, her tone dismissive. “No need.”
    With that she turned around and walked along the row of cars. God, how she hated that expression. It’s your decision. She’d heard it far too often last year.
    Her decision. She wished things had only ever been her decision. Hers and hers alone.
    She almost expected Alessandro to call after her. To try to hold her back. But he didn’t. And she didn’t turn around.
    A few moments later the limousine passed her at walking pace. Rosa couldn’t help looking at it. But she saw only herself in the reflective panes, with her short black dress and long, tousled hair.
    Once the car was past her, it drove quickly down the street and turned off in the direction of the expressway. She felt dizzy.
    The soldiers were laughing again.

THE CLAN
    S HE DROPPED HER CARRY-ON bag and had to steady herself.
    At that same moment she saw Zoe. Her sister came hurrying up with a beaming smile and said something that reached Rosa’s ears as if delayed, and with a curious echo, like a droning old vinyl record.
    Rosa was leaning against the baking-hot side of a taxi, gasping with pain—and then, all at once, the world was back to normal. Traffic moved faster, sounds returned, her dizziness passed.
    Zoe put her arms around her sister and hugged her. “It’s great to see you here at last.”
    Rosa breathed in Zoe’s perfume, which wasn’t the same one she used to wear. Rosa said a few things that she assumed would be expected—she was glad to be here, she’d felt she could hardly wait. They weren’t exactly untrue, just a