Ok, before the chapter, a few notes.
First of, I'm sure the Parco Nationale d'Abruzzo is a lovely place. No more explanation, just read the chapter;)
Second, we had a former Italian missionary over to eat lunch yesterday, and we asked him a bunch about Italy. We actually are doing pretty well with accuracy so far, but a few things need to be mentioned(I will probably change them in the next draft of the story)
1. The church services, at least the ones he was involved in, are all much more informal, so Morning Worship services are more like Evening services. They have testimony time and often one of the young men from the church will give a brief thought(like as a training sort of thing.
2. They take FOREVER to eat meals. As in up to several hours at special events. They take 3 hour lunch breaks from jobs. So the way weve had them eat quick lunches isn't exactly accurate I guess!
3.. The Nutella is better there. Ryn is flipping out;) He said it's much less sweet and more rich and dark!
He told us a lot of other things, we had a wonderful time and were very encouraged, but for now those are all that apply to the story:)
So without further ado-
Chapter 6
Photo by Romano Visci from the Parco website
The next few days passed, pleasant and enjoyable. They all went to the beach and shopping, and mostly hung around the house. Finally Mrs. G suggested in a weary voice, that they all go do something for the day. They banged ideas back and forth until they decided to visit the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo.
It was a nature and wildlife preserve near the mountains. It was about a two hour drive, so they would head out early in the morning, spend the day, then come home in the afternoon, taking their time on the drive. Mrs. G approved of the plan, so they decided to go on Friday.
Wednesday and Thursday they spent preparing and planning, and bright and early Friday morning they were off! They packed plenty of snacks and a picnic lunch of meaty sandwiches.
The freshness of the morning and the early light added to the excited feeling they all shared. They turned up the music and talked and laughed.
Gio was telling the others about a Jazz festival his town held, in which everyone dressed old Hollywood style and had a great time eating, watching performances by local singers, and listening to old records. Even Francis admitted this sounded fun, and Maria was delighted. Gio suggested the cousins sing in the program. He himself was already planning on it of course. Francis didn't sing, but the others all agreed to participate.
Before they knew it, they were pulling into the park entrance, in a little stone town. They all piled out of the car, stretching and laughing and looking around. The old looking buildings were creamy colored, long and rectangular, typical of Abruzzese architecture. Maria loved the church clock tower.
They went in the visitor center and got some informational material, then headed off. They drove through the park, stopping and looking around here and there. They were having a wonderful time, but finally the boys were getting anxious for lunch. Maria, Eva and Sofie spread out the picnic in a nice peaceful little glade. Maria wearily sat down. Even she was ready for food. They blessed the meal, and Maria reached out for a sandwich-
When a huge hairy spider ran across the blanket right in front of her hand. She screamed and grabbed Gio around the neck, practically strangling him.
Sofie was about to try to kill it, while Romeo, who was also scared of spiders, was hysterically reminding her that she shouldn't because this was a nature preserve. Francis, Eva and Ernie were wildly gathering up their things.
"Mar- ee- aah- PLE-eeas-se-" Gio squeaked as he tried to unlatch her arms. Maria buried her head in his shoulder crying.
He half carried, half dragged her to the car, as the others also hurried for this safe haven. Romeo banged the lock about six times before he was satisfied they were safe. He leaned back in exhaustion and glared over at Gio, who was still awkwardly holding Maria.
"Um." He said. Maria, who was managing with effort to overcome her hysteria, realized the situation and flung herself off of him.
"I- I-m sorry- Oh dear." She buried her head in her hands still shuddering. The others remained silent as they gathered their thoughts.
"Well, lets just eat in here." Eva said finally, looking over at Maria with a reproachful expression.
Maria looked back at her with a tragic face of embarrassment and horror. Gio was fixing his shirt with an exasperated air of offended dignity.
"If we'd read the material," Sofie commented, looking up from a brochure, "we would have known there are TARANTULAS HERE!" She gave Gio a pointed stare, as Maria moaned.
"Sorry." Gio shrugged. Romeo had grabbed the messy picnic basket and was devouring several sandwiches in rapid succession.
"Hey, leave some for us!" Francis grabbed the basket and began neatly dividing the food into equal piles. They all ate in the safety of the car. Maria was completely tired out.
As they drove to the 'realm of the deer' (the words of the park website, not me) she rested quietly. She didn't speak to Gio, for she was too embarrassed. Sofie and Eva were poring over the brochures to make sure there were no more scary surprises lurking in the innocent looking park.
"We should watch out for the bears." Eva noted. Sofie nodded agreement. They pulled up at the deer area. They watched the deer or a while, delighted with the sweet graceful creatures. They even were able to pet them. Ernie and Eva were the most thrilled. Gio immediately went for some hand sanitizer,
"Ouch." He said. "Hand sanitizer- the stuff used to find cuts." Maria giggled.
"We probably should think about getting going." Francis reminded them, checking his watch.
Ernie patted the deer one last time and came, with reluctance. They drove along, the scare of the spider(and the embarrassment), forgotten. Eva and Francis commanded the others to buckle several times but no one listened. Romeo was driving, with Eva in the passenger seat. Gio, Ernie, Francis, Sofie, and Maria all piled into the back seat. This was not exactly safe as the back seats were really made for a maximum of three, but no one listened to Eva's protestations to this fact.
Suddenly Francis demanded, "Romeo where are we headed?"
"Uh, I dunno."
Eva bent over the map, a concentrated frown on her face. The red car careened along.
"We're lost, aren't we?" Sofie snapped.
"No, no, I'm looking at the map-" Eva said.
"Where do I go from here?" Romeo cried as they reached a turn. He was beginning to panic slightly.
"I don't know, I don't know, I'm no good at reading maps-" Eva wailed, also panicking. Romeo snatched the map and put it on the steering wheel, his brown eyes darting over it to the road as he read it.
"Romeo what are you, you're going to kill us!!" Francis tried to take the map.
"Err!" Romeo snatched it away, swerving the car. maria and Gio were so busy talking to each other that they hardly noticed the peril they were in. Sofie, Ernie and Eva were not so oblivious, and were vocalizing this fact loudly.
"Shut up, shut up!" Romeo was getting frantic. Just then a car appeared right in front of them!
"ROMEO LOOK OUT" Eva screamed. Romeos eyes went wide. He violently swerved, tipping partially over a ditch. Maria, who was not buckled, grabbed for something to catch her balance- and flung open the door. SHe was flung out by the momentum of the car, just as it re-balanced onto the road.
Romeo brought it to a screeching halt. Gio shoved Sofie out of the way and leapt out of the car. He scrambled into the ditch and knelt next to Maria.
She was dusty and bruised, and blood trickled from a wound in her head. He gathered her limp, unconscious form into his arms as the others, just realizing all that had happened, appeared at the top of the embankment. To Gio's surprise, Eva was now completely collected.
"Gio, bring her up here quickly." She commanded.
Gio, with some difficulty, managed to get up the bank. Romeo was still sitting in the car, staring straight ahead with a look of blank horror. Francis and Eva took command
.
"Lie her down in the back seat. Is she unconscious?" Eva's voice broke for a moment. Francis patted her shoulder. Gio gently put Maria in the car with her head on Sofie's lap.
"Ok.. ok. We need to bring her to the hospital I think." Eva was beginning to waver. "Or should we call an ambulance?"
"Let's just go." Francis removed his brother from the drivers seat. he briefly considered sticking him in the trunk but decided against this, and shoved him in beside Gio instead. Eva was still in the passenger seat but was now turned facing the back. Maria was still not conscious.
Francis sped along, watching the road like a good driver should. Silence filled the car, but each was praying ceaselessly in their minds. They exited the park and reached the hospital. Gio carried Maria into the emergency room with Eva at his side. Romeo was no use as he was crushed with the responsibility of what had happened. Sofie and Ernie followed them in, while Francis decided to stay with Romeo for the moment, until he could convince him to come inside.
Maria was rushed off to a room, leaving the others standing helplessly in the waiting room. Eva stood irreseloutly for a moment, then looked up at Gio and dropped into a chair. Sofie patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.
"I'm sure she'll be totally fine." She assured Eva.
Gio was still staring at the door way through which Maria had disappeared. Ernie was curled on one of the magazine tables, which had knocked the magazines on the floor. Gio finally turned and stiffly sat down. He banged his knees together and tapped his hands on his legs, a nervous habit he had. Francis entered with Romeo. Romeo collapsed into a seat and buried his head in his hands.
"What have I done??" His voice was muffled. Eva looked brave.
"She'll be fine, Rome, I- I-" Her voice trailed off and she stared ahead, her shoulders quivering slightly. Gio wondered heatedly why she was being so unfeeling about her own sister?! She wasn't even crying or anything!! Then he looked at her again, and noticed her clenched jaw and wide eyes, and realized he was wrong. She just dealt with her stress differently than he.
Francis was pacing, with slow, methodical steps, back and forth in front of the row of seats. this was partially due to his own nerves and partially to the fact that there was no more empty seats. He prayed silently, as were they all. Suddenly he smacked his hand on his forehead.
"Your mom!" He exclaimed, yanking his phone from his pocket. Gio looked at him with surprise.
"Oh no, that's right!!" He cried.
Francis motioned him to silence.
"Hello, Mrs. Guttuso? This is Francis. Yes, well, we're at the hospital."
He paused, wincing as he pulled the phone away from his ear slightly. He was silent for a moment, then informed Mrs. G, as gently as possible, of the accident. This took him longer than it should have as Mrs. G kept interrupting. At last he finished and hung up.
"Ok, she insists she needs to come here, but I told her to just stay put until we know whats going on." He informed them. Gio nodded.
"Good," He exhaled and ran a hand through his dark curls. Ernie looked up from his reverie and stared with round eyes at Francis.
"She's not going to die, is she?" He asked. Francis started.
"No!!" He half-shouted. Ernie flinched. Francis' face softened.
"I'm sorry, Ernie, I didn't mean to shout. Maria is going to be fine. Just keep praying for her, ok?" He glanced at Eva.
Her golden brown eyes met his, their expression strained and frightened. He tried to look reassuring. He didn't know if he was succeeding, but Eva's tension seemed to ease, if ever so slightly. She took a deep breath
Romeo suddenly stood up.
"I'm going out to the car." He stated, heading out the door.
"Wait, why?" Sofie asked in alarm, worried about what her big brother might do under the circumstances. Romeo didn't turn around. Sofie was about to go after him, but Francis stopped him.
"I think he's fine, Sof. I'll go in a couple minutes. I think he just needs a little time by himself."
Reluctantly Sofie sat back down. Just then a doctor entered the room. They all looked at her in breathless anticipation.
"Well, she has some bumps and bruises, and a fracture in one arm, but other than that she seems to be in stable condition. She is still unconscious, but she should be just fine."
Eva began to half laugh, half cry, her voice shaky. The doctor smiled her sympathy.
"Do you all have somewhere to stay the night?" She asked.
"No..." Francis looked at the others. "We could just stay in the car i guess." He suggested with some reluctance. Sofie sighed.
"I think there are some extra blankets and the picnic ones too." She told him.
"Alright, I just wanted to make sure" the doctor looked at Eva.
"You're her sister, right? You can come see her for a moment if you'd like." Eva quickly stood up and followed as the others headed outside.
Eva slipped into Marias room. She looked down at her still face. She still felt sick inside with the horror of what could have happened. A tear trickled down her cheek. She brushed it away with a quick sigh of impatient embarrassment.
"We'll let you know just as soon as she regains consciousness." The doctor whispered. Eva looked at her and nodded.
"Thanks," She said, her voice squeaking. The doctor smiled again.
"Would you like to stay herefor a while?" She asked. Eva nodded again.
"Ok. You can sit here." She pulled a chair over next to the bed. Eva sat down. The doctor left the room. Eva took a deep breath and settled herself into a comfortable position.
Outside, Francis, Sofie, Ernie and Gio headed across the parking lot, silent and relieved.
"Guys, we have a lot to be thankful for." Sofie stated.
when they began to get closer to where they were parked, they noticed strange clanging sounds form the direction of Romeos car.
"Oh, no..." Francis broke into a jog. He turned a corner to a bizarre sight.
Romeo had gotten his emergency tool kit from the trunk and was proceeding to take pieces off of his car. Francis paused.
"What are you doing?" He asked as the others came up behind him. Romeo didn't reply but continued with his demolition..
"Romeo stop it!" Francis grabbed the tool from his brother. Romeo looked at him with desperate eyes.
"It's all my fault!" he cried. He took a deep, shaking breath and leaned against his car with both hands, still breathing heavily.
"Romeo, Maria is going to be fine!" Francis said softly, putting his arm on Romeos shoulder. Romeo paused and looked at him.
"She is?" He said, hope dawning in his voice. Francis smiled.
"yes, she is."
Romeo stared at him a minute longer, and then without further comment leaned over and began reassembling removed pieces of his car. The four others watched him for a moment, then, glancing at each other with uncertain looks, began to get blankets out of the trunk.
"I'm hungry." Ernie said in a somewhat whiny voice. Gio looked over at him.
"Well we haven't eaten in hours." Sofie interjected, "and we've been slightly busy since then."
Francis heaved a weary sigh. Such responsibility.
"Well I suppose we have to find some food." He acknowledged, trudging back towards the building.
"Let's try the cafeteria."
"Do you have money?" Sofie asked, following him.
"Yes." Francis said. Gio turned to Romeo,
"Do you want us to get you something?"
"No, I don't deserve it."
"We'll bring you something." Gio headed after the others, with Ernie bringing up the rear.
Thankfully they had some baked goods and milk cartons in the cafeteria. Francis bought enough for everyone, including Eva, who's whereabouts he was beginning to worry about. He sent her a quick text.
-Where are you??
-Maria's room, the doctor said I could stay up here.
-Ok, well we have some food if you want it.
-Thank you
- No problem.
Francis stared down at his phone screen for a moment. His face relaxed into a slight, fond smile, and he put his phone away. He looked up to see Gio staring at him with a bemused expression.
"What?" He asked in a defensive tone. Gio shrugged.
"Nothing," He said in a tone that suggested the opposite, walking away. Francis scowled.
They ate in the car, then curled up as comfortably as possible in the various blankets and tried to sleep. In the back, Sofie, placed between her brothers, managed to nod off, her head on Romeos shoulder and her legs across Francis' knees. Ernie curled up with his head on the steering wheel and fell asleep. Gio sat still in the passengers seat until his eyes slowly closed. At last they all managed to rest.
When the first blush of dawn lit the sky, they began to wake up.
"Sof, my legs are falling asleep," Francis groaned. Sofie sat up and put her feet on the floor. She yawned.
"I wonder how Maria is doing?" She wondered. At the sound of Maria's name, Ernie rose.
"We need to go see." He begged, wide awake. Sofie raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"I'm sure if anything was important, Eva would have texted."
"Unless her phone died!" Ernie insisted.
"True." Sofie sighed, and poked Romeo to wake him up more fully.
"I'm awake." He said. Then he remembered why they were in his car, not home in bed.
"Oh no!" He gasped. Francis was already out of the car.
"Come on," He led them inside.
When they got to Maria's room, they quietly went inside. Maria was still sleeping, and Eva was sideways in her chair, her brown curls over her face. Gio went to Maria's side and gazed down at her. Francis watched him with suspicious thoughtfulness as he himself gently tapped Eva.
Eva jerked up with a startled noise. Francis grinned at her. She stared at him with a blank, disoriented look for a moment, then glanced around herself.
"Oh," She inhaled and flexed her back, wincing. She stood up.
"maria's still not awake?" She asked.
Gio shook his head. Just then, Maria stirred slightly. Her eyes flickered open, up to the anxious faces. She smiled groggily, tried to strech and took a sharp breath of pain.
"You really are accident prone, aren't you?" Gio half laughed, his voice husky with relieved emotion. Maria gave him a weak smile.
"Sorry..." She said.
"Are you all right?" Eva asked her. Maria nodded.
"I'm... fine." She winced again. "Fine-ish." She amended, looking at their critical faces. Sofie heaved a dramatic sigh. Romeo looked ready to cry with relief.
"I'm really sorry, Maria!" He told her, his eyes imploring her for forgiveness. She waved a weak hand.
"Oh, Romeo it's not your fault, I should have been buckled." She said. Romeo's face broke into a huge smile, his feelings finally soothed. He sat down in Eva's chair and leaned back with a happy expression.
The doctor came in.
"Oh, good, she's awake." She did a quick vitals check.
"Well, young lady, you should be very thankful you didn't get any worse injuries than you did." She admonished Maria.
"I am." Maria said.
"And so are we." Eva added.
"I know I owe it to a lot of prayer." Maria continued, but the doctor, looking uncomfortable, cut her off.
"Ok, well we'll have to keep you a while longer just to make sure everything's fine, but you should be able to go home tonight or tomorrow morning." The doctor said. She looked at the others, standing about the room.
"What are you all going to do? I'm afraid you can't really stay here all day."
Francis dropped his head back and groaned.
"I'm sorry I'm such a problem." Maria sighed. Suddenly she frowned. "Oh no- OH no. Where. Is. My phone?" She demanded. They looked around for a minute, to no avail.
"You probably lost it in the park." Was the unanimous conclusion. Maria looked at them beseechingly.
"Fine, we'll go see if we can find it. We've got nothing else to do."
Francis, after the overwrought stress of the previous night, and also having to sleep in the car, was a bit grumpy. His face relented when he looked at Maria, staring up at him with her big green eyes.
"Get some rest, Mar." He said brusquely, heading out the door. Gio lingered behind the others.
"I'm glad you're ok, Maria." He said awkwardly. Then he gave her one of his famous half smiles.
"I actually rescued you, you know," Gio began in his nasal, smooth Italian accent.
"I was already carrying you up the bank before the others had even realized what happened." Gio played started fiddling with the side of the hospital bed, then glanced up at her again, his droopy hazel-green eyes quiet. Then his gaze broke and he flashed another half-smile.
"Oh Gio!" Maria felt butterflies in her stomach. "Thank you so much." She smiled up at him, her eyes soft and sweet. Eva poked her head in the door.
" 'Let another man praise thee', Gio." She quoted drily. He jumped in surprise, turned red and hurried out of the room. Eva smiled at Maria.
"You are a stressful person." She said caringly. Maria smiled back. Eva disappeared again.
Maria lay back with a sigh, silently thanking God for protecting her. She shut her eyes. Then she remembered what Gio had said. Had he really carried her up the embankment? She thought back to the moment she had been flung out of the vehicle. The terrifying moment she had hung weightless before crashing into blackness. Blackness... exhausted, she drifted back to sleep.
The others drove back to the park. When they reached the sharp curve and steep bank, they pulled over and piled out of the car and began searching in the brush.
"Don't forget to look out for Tarantulas." Eva reminded them, as she gingerly dug about in the grass. Romeo looked up in alarm.
"Oh no."
"Zebra spiders, too" Sofie added, "I read about those in the brochure."
Romeo stared at them with dismay, then with great care began to search again. After a moment, Francis noticed that as he was 'searching' he was edging back towards the car.
"Hey, were are you going?" He demanded of his younger brother. Romeo glanced up.
"Uh...."
"Keep looking, don't be such a scaredy cat." Francis was disgusted.
"Ah I found it!" Gio called. He held up Maria's phone. It was dusty, but otherwise seemed fine. Eva grabbed it from him and tried a few pass-codes until she got in.
"Looks fine." She said. She dialed Mrs. G. They hadn't been able o contact her because all their phones were dead at this point.
"Mrs. G? Maria is just fine." The others could hear Mrs. Guttusos relieved cry.
"Well we have to stay here until they release her, tonight or tomorrow morning. Oh, in the car. Yes Ernie is fine. Well, we're almost out of money, but we won't starve to death. Yes. Yes. Ok. Ok. Thanks. NO. Bye."
Eva stuck Marias phone into her pocket.
"Ok lets go." She scrambled up the bank. At the top she looked down at Gio with unusual respect.
"Huh. I'm surprised you could make it up this." She admitted, disappearing over the side of the ditch.
Gio smiled with great self-satisfaction as he began to climb. Romeo slyly tripped him.
"Ouch!!!"
"Whoa, careful." Romeo teased, as he climbed past Gio.
"Humph."
"Well it's a good thing it was Maria not me you had to carry. You probably couldn't have made it with me." Sofie panted.
How do i respond to that? Gio thought, but without considering it further, replied
"Oh, I probably could have, I'm really strong." he paused as realization of what he had just implied struck him.. "NO, no I didn't mean that the way it sounded, oh no..."
Sofie just rolled her eyes and kept climbing, amused that she had gotten Gio to embarrass himself. Gio grimaced at himself, looking like a little monkey as he climbed. Eva sadly didn't see it to be amused by this simile.
"I'm hungry." Ernie said.
"Again?" Francis asked him. Ernie nodded. Francis sighed.
"I'm sorry Ernie but we have to skip lunch. I haven't much money left."
Ernie looked tragicized for a moment, then turned away with his shoulders slumped in resignation.
Gio moaned.
"I need lunch."
"Do you have money?" Francis asked him testily. Gio scowled.
"no." He trudged over to the car and banged into his seat. Eva and Sofie watched him with disgust.
"It will do him good." Sofie commented. Eva nodded agreement.
"I'm hungry too though." She admitted. Sofie frowned, then shrugged.
"Well, yes. Oh well."
They drove away. A few miles before the park exit, Francis noticed something not good.
"We're almost out of gas!!!!" He exclaimed.
"What?" Eva craned over to see. "Oh NOOOOO"
"Do we have enough?" Gio demanded.
"Hopefully." Francis kept going.
They made it to the hospital, but just as they were pulling in, the engine began to sputter. As they crossed the ambulance entrance, it coughed miserably and died. And there they were, stuck right in the way. Francis banged his head back against the headrest.
"Come ON." He said. "I assume you don't have any extra gas, Romeo?"
"Nope."
"Naturally." Francis got out and slammed his door. Just then a siren blared, startling Francis violently.
"Get out, get out!" He cried. The others jumped out. An ambulance screamed around the corner, straight towards Romeo's beloved car!!!
By Nina with a few contributions by Ryn.
Thanks for reading! Tell us what you think!
http://www.parcoabruzzo.it/Eindex.php
If you go to the multimedia section there are tons of pictures!! You can see the animals, etc. and of course a tarantula;) I haven't watched the videos yet:)
