Annamarie shrugged. “I’d heard there were some people coming from Bolzano. I got curious, that’s all. So what are they like?”
“The boy’s an apprentice, and his father is the big boss. Some more arrived yesterday. Engineers, geologists, group of bureaucrats too.”
Annamarie indicated the dining room. “Is this all of them?”
Henri grinned, his eyes hinting he knew what she was up to. She raised the glass again and gulped half of it down.
“No,” Henri said. “The big boss and his son—the ones you spied on when they came in—they don’t take their dinner here. Maybe they’re at the Il Dante.” He winked. “Just to get back at Tante Jutta. She charges an arm and a leg for their stay. Or they might still be at the lake.”
The lake. Or the Il Dante. Annamarie gulped down the fizzy drink and stifled a belch, then slid off the barstool. “I have to get going now.”
“I thought you were going to wait for Tante Jutta.” His voice was teasing.
“Sorry.” Annamarie kept up the game. “I didn’t think she would take so long.”
***
W hen she got to the edge of the lake, Annamarie didn’t see anyone, and she hoped the boy and his father were not on the west side. That would take her forever to get to. She scanned the shores and finally saw a few people on the hill on the back road to Arlund. She thought she recognised Marco. The others were milling about on the slope. She guessed that the adults had assigned him the mundane jobs, the ones they were too important to do themselves. Lucky for her, they were located on the road that led to home. She could always pretend she was going there over the hills.
Her heart jumped every few steps as she approached. Everything about him was pleasing to the eye, and as she strode closer, she braced herself for those green eyes of his. His hair was dark with coppery tints and a little wavy. He finally noticed her coming and immediately ducked behind a set of field glasses on a tripod. She waited while he wrote something down on a clipboard.
“What are you doing?”
He pulled up straight. “Measurements and surveillances for the reservoir.” His eyes were the colour of glass bottles.
Say something smart. “That sounds really important.” She bit her lip.
He looked up the hill. “You live around here?”
“Just up the road. I’m Annamarie.” She waited, and when he didn’t say anything, she stuck out her hand. “It’s your turn,” she said confidently, though the rest of her felt as wobbly as a plate of aspic.
“Marco.” His handshake was so quick and soft, Annamarie hardly felt a thing.
“Do you live in Bolzano, Marco?”
“Yes.” He picked up a flask and a container. His dinner. He seemed unsure of where to go with it.
“How long have you been here?”
“Since day before yesterday,” he said. “Didn’t I—”
“Yes, of course,” Annamarie said, pretending to recall just now. “I saw you at my aunt’s inn. I mean, she’s not really my aunt, by blood, I mean…anyway…”
He glanced at the men farther up the slope.
“Those your bosses or coworkers?”
“Coworkers and bosses. One of them is my father too.” He looked down at his dinner things. “I have to go now.”
“I can show you a nice place to eat that.”
“I was just going to eat it here.”
“After the workday?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll meet you here. After supper. Right here.” She hurried past him up the way, turning only once to smile again. He’d be here. She was sure of it. What else was there to do in the valley?
***
A nnamarie’s foot slipped on the bark of the tree. She liked the burning and tingling moving from below her toes to the arch. When the sensation passed, she took hold of the branch above and tried again, propelling herself into the cradle of the branch just below. The setting sun warmed her cheeks, and she closed her eyes. She imagined she looked good like this.
“I could have helped you,” Marco said as he scrambled up next to her. “You farm girls are strong though.”
She opened her eyes. “I’m not a farm girl.”
“What are you then?”
“I’m going to be an actress,” she said. “In the cinema.”
He seemed to want to tease her, but then the look evaporated. “I thought you said something about studying in Bolzano.”
She shrugged. “It will take some time before I’m discovered. If I have an education, I could make my way to Rome and take acting classes.”
Marco faced the sun, where it dipped between the peaks. “I suppose. It must be boring to live here. It’s so quiet. So provincial.”
She wanted to say something good about the valley. “It’s all right. What do you do for fun in Bolzano?”
“I don’t have time for fun,” Marco said. “I go to school, have a full-time apprenticeship coming up, and I serve the country.”
“What do you mean, you serve the country?”
“I’m captain of the local pioneers, the Avanguardisti. If you claim you’re Italian, Annamarie, then you have to join the Giovane Italiane. That’s how you serve and support Mussolini’s agenda for our strong future. He’s even founded free universities, and you can register if you’re a party member.”
Her head reeled as if she’d stood up too fast. “For free? If I become a Fascist?” You must seek out your own opportunities, Father always said.
“I come from a career military family. I should have gone to Abysinnia, but I hadn’t come of age,” he said.
Something in his eyes made her change the topic.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing the African war is over,” she said
“There will be other wars. Italy is committed to helping Spain. There’s still a chance for me.”
“Are they very important, these countries and
