About

​​​Renata bit her lip and murmured in agreement. “But the question remains: where are they?”

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She looked over the cloistered town and took it all in—just an hour. That’s all she wanted—a few moments to let go of the situation they had found themselves in. It was real and awful and was not going away. But this one afternoon, she sought a respite for her brain and to enjoy a bit of Christmas, too, with her friend and matron-of-honor.

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The driver helped them dismount from the sleigh, and they walked the cobblestone streets and greeted the townspeople. Everyone was in a good mood because it was the season of Christmas. As they passed Petrarca’s house, Renata blew a kiss at the Moorish-style windows of the library set into a corner of the scholar’s last home and promised to return soon.

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The women turned the corner into the square and were instantly assaulted by organ grinders, a horse-drawn omnibus, and all manner of food vendors. Stone masons ate roasted turkey legs next to a merchant tending a fire in a metal drum that held turkeys on a spit. The candymaker dipped small apples on sticks into a kettle of hot sugar syrup that hardened around the fruit when he lifted it. A baker had a giant vat full of hot oil. A crowd of children chattered away next to him while waiting for their precious donuts—a rare yet much anticipated holiday treat in these parts.

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A cap was passed to those listening to the canticles that told the Nativity story, thus securing a few coins for the musicians singing and playing. Natalia made a mad dash for the baker’s queue and clapped her hands in time with the music. Renata joined her, and when it was their turn, she ordered four donuts, and Natalia beamed with gratitude. They strolled through the stalls, enjoying their sweets. Renata bought Eletta a Christmas present—an embroidered handkerchief of tea-stained linen—to thank her for her help that week. Next, she bought a set of yarrow-dyed linen squares for her maid Alissa, who was back home sick with a cold.

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“There’s a glover over there, and I must see him about this hole in my left glove. I will not be long.” Natalia trotted off, and Renata wandered until she spotted a stall with a row of pendants. Drawn to jewelry from a young age, Renata could not help herself and strolled to a Roma woman’s cart to peruse her wares.

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“Good day, signorina. Can I interest you in a ring or a pendant?” Renata had barely set foot near the Roma woman, and she was already peddling.

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“Good day to you,” said Renata, scanning the merchandise. Nothing grabbed Renata’s attention after touching and holding several pieces until she spotted a pendant lying on the bench behind the woman. “May I see that pendant?”