Last Train from Liguria (2010) (39 page)

Ten minutes to go before the train.

She sits on the end of a bench away from the other passengers. Alec stands beside her, keeping a watch for the train.

‘Remember all we said in the car? In a minute we’re going to stop speaking English. Will you be able do that, keep it up until tomorrow?’

‘What time tomorrow?’

‘Well, it depends, but I’ll give you plenty of notice. You call me Mamma and I call you Alberto. If anyone speaks - don’t answer. I’ll say you’re shy and answer for you.’

Alec smiles, liking the game.

‘And I’m going to have to leave you in charge of this bag. This was my mamma’s bag and for now anyway it’s yours. Look, it’s made out of an alligator.’

‘An alligator! Where’s his teeth?’

‘The dentist took them out,’ Bella says and Alec laughs.

‘Are my things in it?’

‘Actually yes, some of your things are in there. So you must carry it on and off the train, and keep a good eye on it at all times.’

‘Should I put my
portafortuna
in it?’

‘If you like - where is it?’

‘In my pocket - here.’

Bella takes the tennis ball from him and slips it into the bag.

He cups his hand over her ear. ‘May I play my harmonica on the train?’ His voice drifts into her head. ‘May I?
Please
.’

‘No, Alec, it will only annoy people. And we want to be invisible - remember?’

‘I mean silently play it. You know, like pretend.’

She whispers back down into his ear, ‘All right then, but only pretend playing. Absolutely no sound.’

He lifts his shoulder and stretches his neck at her whisper.

‘Tickly?’

‘Yes.’

‘And no questions about Maestro Edward.’

‘Signora Bella - why were you fighting?’

‘Aha, what did I just say?’

‘Oh yes, I forgot.’

‘One more thing - you must say nothing when we come into Bordighera station. You must act as if you’ve never seen it before.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we don’t want anyone to know we live there. We are pretending to be from a place called Oneglia. Oh Alec, wait till you see where we’re going! It will be such a surprise. A wonderful surprise. You won’t believe it until you see it. Your eyes will pop out of your head! But you must be patient or it will never happen. All right?’

‘All right.’

‘One, two, three,’ Bella begins. ‘
Allora, solo Italiano - d’accordo?
’

’
D’accordo!
’

Two minutes to go.

’
Andiamo
,’ she says and stands as the signal post drops.

They find their carriage, the luggage already racked and the porter the priest had earlier spoken to waiting in the corridor to guide them in. He tells them they can pull down the blind if they don’t want to be disturbed although it will be quiet enough until San Remo. After that, he says, dipping his knees and throwing his head back, hands up - the train will be crazy. Like a hive full of bees. ‘
Un alveare d’api!
‘ He makes a buzzing noise as he takes the bag from Alec and swings it overhead.

Alec laughs. ‘
Questa e la mia valigia - solo per me
,’ he says proudly, watching the bag being jostled into place.

’
Che bravo!
‘ the porter says, then winks and leaves them.

Alec sits opposite her. ‘
Mamma?
‘ he says.

’
Si, figlio mio?
’

’
Niente
.’ He grins.

The train begins to move and Alec picks up his comic book. He seems happy enough, now and then heeling the riser under his seat, or lifting his head to look out the window or getting up to take a peep into the basket at the baby.

’
Ciao, Edda
,’ he whispers. ‘
E carina - non e vero, Mamma?
’

’
Si, e vero
.’

She is hopeful that today will be one of his better days.

A few minutes later the porter returns. ‘
Mi dispiace Signora
,’ he says, joining his hands as if to beg forgiveness. Bella sees there’s a man in uniform behind him. Her mind turns white. The porter is explaining something she can’t even try to understand, all she can think about is the uniform out in the corridor.

Until Alec stands up. ‘
No! E la mia valigia
.’ He is pointing to the alligator bag and she realizes then that the porter has been telling them that all luggage must be labelled and checked into the baggage car. A new rule, he is very sorry.

’
Non c’e problema
,’ Bella says. The other man steps in and she sees it’s only the inspector after all, the
capotreno
.

’
Uno, due, tre - ci sono tre valigie, Signora, vero?
‘ he asks her.

’
Si, tre
.’

He sits beside her, pulls a pen from his breast pocket and leaning the labels against a raised thigh begins, ‘
Allora - nome, cognome?
’

’
Non e guisto!
Alec whines. ‘
E la mia!
‘ He folds his arms and flings himself back down on the seat with an angry little bounce.

The porter explains they are going to write his name on a label and put it on the bag so everyone will know it belongs to him. No one will touch it, he promises.

’
Mi chiamo Anna Magrini
,’ she says.

’
Da?
’

’
Via Torino, Oneglia
.’

Now the
capotreno
is asking if her husband is not with her.

’
Sta lavorando in questo momento - ci raggiunge piu tardi
.’

He begins rolling one hand, unfortunate men, always working, always having to come along later. The women have it easy enough. He smiles and tells her he’s only joking, then looks at Alec. ‘
E il tuo nome, Signor Bravo?
’

Alec presses his lips together and looks over at Bella with two startled eyes.

’
Alberto Magrini
,’ she says. ‘
Mio figlio
.’

The
capotreno
ties the labels on the two suitcases and the alligator bag. When he turns around he notices the baby bag on the seat beside her.

’
E questa, Signora?
’

’
Cose per la bambina, anche per il viaggio
.’ She opens the bag to show baby bottles and nappies. Fruit and panini.

He nods, takes an admiring look at the baby, tells Alec to be a good boy for his mamma, then apologizes for taking their bags but with so many illegals smuggling money out of the country - what can be done? He wishes them, ‘
Buon viaggio e buone vacanze
,’ then signals for the porter to take out the luggage.

When they are gone Alec looks at her with sheepish eyes and she knows he is worried that he’s let her down. She smiles to let him know that everything is fine, then reaching into the end of the Moses basket wipes the sweat from her palm on a fold of the baby’s eiderdown.

The train pushes on.
Contadini
with crates of fruit and vegetables to sell in the markets, farm labourers and flower pickers on their way to work. As the morning progresses each station becomes brighter and busier, each delay that little longer. The sun is beginning to warm the windows. The shape of the passengers changes. Now office workers and schoolchildren, women with shopping baskets, old men on the way to funerals. Everything so normal, people chatting, smiling; children running out of waiting rooms shouting, ‘
Arriva il treno!
‘ Men leaning on counters in station cafes, throwing back a last-minute espresso. She begins to think how ridiculous all this is, to be here on the Milan to Paris train, pretending to be Italian, smuggling two children out of the country. Diamonds sewn into the lining of her bag, for God’s sake! This is Italy, after all. These are children - who could possibly want to harm them?

She begins to seriously consider getting off at Bordighera, returning to Villa Lami. She could pay a visit to the British Consul, find a lawyer for the hearing, put in a call to her father for advice. She could do all she should have done in the first place and forget about this foolish charade.

San Stefano station. A young priest comes to the door of the carriage and asks if she could endure two of his pupils, just as far as Taggia. The school inspector arrives today, the priest explains, and these
birbanti
need to look over their homework, the train so full and noisy. ‘
Molte distrazioni - prego, Signora, per cortesia?
’

’
Certo, Padre
,’ Bella agrees, not knowing how to refuse his kind eyes.

The schoolboys duck under the priest’s arm, throw a Roman salute her way and sit down beside Alec. As they sit, Alec rises. He takes a place next to Bella.

The priest stays out in the corridor, opens his newspaper and leans against the glass in the compartment door. One of the boys takes out a book and opens it -
Il primo libro del fascista
. He begins reading aloud: ‘Guidelines for the Treatment of Jews’. He reads each rule then closes his eyes and repeats it until he knows it off by heart. The other boy pushes his finger along the lines in the book and whispers the words disconnectedly as if he hasn’t a clue what they’re supposed to mean. So this is their homework. She feels Alec fidget beside her. He takes out his harmonica and mashes it into his lips.

Bella looks away. Out in the corridor, the priest catches her eye and smiles. She nods and makes an effort to smile back. He turns to the side, leaving the front page in her sight. She reads a headline: ‘FRANCIA E INGHILTERRA RICHIAMANO TRUPPE’. France and England recall troops.

He shakes the paper out, turns it so the back page is now on view and she can see what appear to be columns of advertisements from Italians denying they are Jews. ‘LA FAMIGLIA TREVISI NON E CONTAMINATA! - the Trevesi family is not contaminated!

She abandons all thoughts of getting off at Bordighera.

*

Taggia station. The boys thank her on the way out and salute again. The priest steps in to say goodbye, leans into the Moses basket to lay his hand on the baby’s head and then moves to touch Alec. Alec folds himself into the corner.

’
E timido, Padre, scusi
,’ she says.

*

Now San Remo. Smartly dressed women appear through the steam; travelling suits, hats and high heels. Anxious faces - obviously in a hurry to get away. Around them hotel porters fuss. Men in sports jackets carrying bags of fruit and magazines come and go from the
Informazioni
window.

A good twenty minutes’ delay. The compartment is beginning to feel like they’re being cooked inside a casserole dish. Alec takes off his jacket and begins whinging for his
portafortuna
.

She sees a group of middle-aged women, stout shoes and sketch pads under-elbow, form an orderly queue behind a drawing master and climb onto the train. Bella recognizes them as English Dots, making a point of
not
being flustered or feeling compelled to go anywhere. She tells Alec to pull down the reserved blind on the door of their compartment so they can remain alone and undisturbed.

The early start is beginning to show in his eyes. She tells him the
portafortuna
will keep the bag safe, then tells him to lie down. ‘No!’ he argues, but they have barely left the station when his head and his eyelids begin to yoyo in time with the train. He slides down, lays his head on the seat and sleeps. Bella stands for a moment and stretches out her back.

*

Ospedaletti. Just one stop away from Bordighera. She hopes Alec will stay asleep as far as the checkpoint at least. But then a bicker of English voices breaks out in the corridor. One high-pitched woman: ‘And not even a bloody seat to be had. Honestly, Peter, you’re such a bore, we might have stayed one more night, it’s not as if rotten Hitler is going to come and personally drag us out of our beds, after all we did pay for it and how! It’s supposed to be our honeymoon. If this is what—’

‘Oh, do shut up, Audrey. Your voice is piercing my head!’

’
Well
, I can’t believe—’

The voices are cut by the shudder and slam of the connecting door to the neighbouring carriage. Alec’s eyes open and he sits back up. Bordighera. He stays with his forehead butted into the window, gazing out through the blurts of steam.

’
Ricorda-ti, Alberto?
‘ she warns. ‘
Silencio
.’

He nods tiredly against the glass and for a moment it looks as if he’s about to slip back down into sleep. But then he’s jumping up and down and gasping out the window. His head jerks around and looks at her. She signals for him to be quiet and stay out of sight. But he looks back to the window, craning his neck, pressing his face against the glass. Any second she expects him to start shouting that this is Bordighera and they are home.

She sees the English Dots follow their drawing master out of the station. Bella stands up and pulls him away from the window. Alec’s face is flushed, his eyes wide awake. ‘
L’ho visto! L’ho visto!
’

‘Yes, I know it’s Bordighera, now for goodness sake sit down and be quiet.’