narrow doorways, they reckoned. It was big. Too big for one person.
Hmm!
The second van was even more interesting. No furniture this time, but large, shiny metal items that the more knowledgeable guessed were medical equipment. There were murmurs in the crowd. ‘Dr Fortuno never had any of that stuff.’
‘He was an old man… They say he never read a book after he qualified.’
‘So who’s this new man?’
‘It’s a woman.’
‘Don’t be funny!’
‘That’s her over there.’
‘What, that little thing? She’s young enough to be my daughter.’
But, for all her youth and her dainty appearance, the new doctor had an air of authority, and when she offered twenty thousand lire to anyone who would help carry her heavy goods inside there was a rush from men enduring the unemployment of winter. In a short time everything was in place and the vans were able to leave.
More people had pressed through the open door to regard the new doctor, wide-eyed.
‘Some of you may remember seeing me here last year,’ she told them in Italian. ‘Now Dr Fortuno has left and from now on I’m going to be the doctor here.’ Angie took a deep breath and looked around the circle of faces that gave nothing away. She was gambling everything, and they would never know how nervous she was.
She showed them around the surgery, explaining the new equipment and what it could do for them. At first she was on tenterhooks, ready to beg them not to touch anything, but nobody tried. They seemed to regard it with awe tinged with fear, and she sensed that this part hadn’t gone so well. Their eyes, as they regarded her, were curious, baffled, not unfriendly but not welcoming. She was alien to them.
At last somebody spoke. ‘Where’s Dr Fortuno?’
‘He went to live with his sister in Naples,’ Angie said.
‘He’s not coming back then?’
‘No,’ Angie said with a sinking heart. ‘He’s not coming back. Have I shown you-?’
But she’d lost their attention. She felt, rather than heard the silence descend and turned from the machine she’d meant to demonstrate to see that the crowd had parted and everyone was looking at a man who’d just entered.
Bernardo stood in the doorway regarding her with a look of dismay and anger she’d never thought to see on his face. This was the man who loved her, but he wasn’t glad to see her. For a moment she flinched, then her head went up. She’d known it wasn’t going to be easy.
The little crowd melted away, leaving them alone together, watching each other over the distance of the floor.
‘What the devil do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded at last.
‘I’m Dr Fortuno’s replacement. I’m surprised the gossip hasn’t reached you by now.’
‘It reached me as soon as I came through the main gate. But you know what I’m asking you. Why you?’
She faced him. ‘Why not?’
‘Because you don’t belong here.’
‘That’s for me to say.’
His face closed against her. ‘Why do you have to make things harder on both of us? This isn’t a place to play games. It’s bleak and harsh and it’ll crush you in a week.’
‘I told you once, I’m a lot tougher than I look.’
‘And I told you that this is an old-fashioned place. It’s never had a woman doctor, and it’s not ready for one. You must leave here.’
‘Says who?’ she demanded, beginning to be angry.
‘I will not allow you to stay. Is that plain enough?’
‘Perfectly plain. What isn’t so plain is how you’re going to get rid of me, seeing as how I’ve bought the house, and the practice. You may own a good deal of this village, but you don’t own this house. Nor do you own the convent.’
‘What has the convent got to do with anything?’
‘Sister Ignatia is a qualified nurse. She’s coming in to help me two mornings a week. The nuns are delighted to have a woman doctor.’
‘But how-?’ Bernardo ran his hand through his hair and looked around him. ‘How did you ever get a license to practise in this country?’
‘Because I have excellent qualifications which are completely acceptable over here. The only hurdle was getting the paperwork translated and approved. At every stage there seemed to be a new committee who had to agree, and I know it can take a very long time. One of the officials told me about an English doctor who took two years to get his paperwork approved.’
‘Exactly. Then how-?’
‘But he didn’t have Baptista behind him. First she persuaded Dr Fortuno to go. He’d been wanting to go for some time, apparently, but he couldn’t find a buyer. When my paperwork came through she got onto Cousin Enrico who knows someone in the Sicilian regional government, and
‘Baptista,’ Bernardo said bitterly. ‘Baptista did this.’
‘Perhaps she felt I was entitled to prove myself. Because actually, Bernardo, your attitude to me is pretty insulting. You decided I wasn’t good enough for you-’
‘I never-’
‘That’s what it amounted to. Not good enough for you, not good enough for your home. Just a bird of paradise who’s always had a cosy nest. You dumped that on me, never mind whether it was true. Well, now I’m dumping myself on you, and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.
‘I’m a good doctor and I’m going to be good for this place. To start with I’ve imported some very modern medical equipment, the kind of thing I’ll swear Dr Fortuno had never heard of, and he certainly couldn’t have afforded to buy. But I can, because I’ve got all that disgraceful money that you think puts me beyond the pale.
‘Take a good look at this place and see what my wicked wealth has bought. With Sister Ignatia’s help I could even do operations, although I devoutly hope I never have to.’
‘And how are you going to communicate with your patients?’
‘My Italian is excellent, although most of them speak English. They learned it from the tourists.’
‘In Montedoro, yes. But your practice spreads far out, to the farmhouses where they only know Sicilian. What will you do then?’
‘I’ve spent the last three months learning.’
‘Three months-?’
‘I’ve been working with a Sicilian coach, several hours a day. She says I’m coming on fast. And if necessary I’ll hire someone here to help me.’
‘And when the snow comes-?’
‘I’ll get snow shoes,’ she yelled. ‘I know there are problems, but there are also answers. Why can’t you be a little glad to see me?’
‘You know why-’
‘I’ll tell you what I know,’ she said furiously. ‘You made a decision. It concerned me, but you didn’t involve me. You decided for both of us. Now I’m telling you, it’s not on. You
‘Don’t say that!’ he said harshly.
‘I will say it. It’s true. If you don’t like it, tough!’
Exasperated, he began to look about him at the plain dwelling with its shabby furniture and kitchen equipment that came out of the Ark. ‘You’re going to live with
‘Not all of it. I’m having a new kitchen delivered soon-and, yes, it
