Chapter Eight

The first few days had been such an adventure the two of them had hidden in barns and outhouses, stealing food whenever they could, it was exciting and exhilarating as they kept one step ahead of their families. It was summer and the days were warm and golden, it was easy to find food the farmer's wives felt sorry for the beautiful young couple who knocked on their doors begging for scraps. They would bring them into their kitchens and feed them a nourishing meal or give them bread and cheese to take with them. Sleeping under the starlit sky and making love whenever they wanted it was a magical time for the young couple.

Both of their Fathers had been enraged and blamed the other and it almost started a full-scale war between the families it was Nonna who stopped them. She called both Fathers to her cottage and raged at them telling them they were to blame for their pigheadedness and could they not see it was they who had pushed the young couple together. If they just backed off and ignored them she was sure it would all settle down but then she did not know they were already sleeping together. Nonna saw them as silly children who were having fun defying their parents she was more shocked than their Fathers when word came through that Gabriella was pregnant. She was eighteen years old and had caught the first time they made love, she was terrified and then ecstatic when Alessandro said he was thrilled and could not wait to be a Father to their child. He did not tell her he was terrified, he was only twenty and they had no viable income but the reality of life did not dim the aura of excitement that had surrounded them. He was determined to do his best for Gabriella, he loved her with all his heart and he would love their child too, it was up to him to provide for the both of them. So they still kept themselves hidden and only visited farms that welcomed them and fed them. They knew it could not last and after only a week Alessandro felt the panic building in his chest as he heard their families getting closer, Gabriella was almost full term and the farmer's wives friendly smiles turned to frowns of disapproval. Now they were not invited into the warm cosy kitchens, the women still gave them food but also made their feelings clear,

‘Qui prendi questo, devi rimanere forte per la nascita. Mi dispiace ma devo dirti di non venire più qui. Quello che hai fatto è un peccato, vai a casa, dillo al tuo sacerdote e alle tue famiglie. Non ci sarà più sostentamento dalla mia porta’ [Here take this, you need to keep strong for the birth. I’m sorry but I have to tell you not to come here again. What you have done is a sin, go home, tell your Priest and your families. There will be no more sustenance from my door.]

The women, and all the rest of those who had given to them so freely before the pregnancy, all turned their backs on them. The teachings of the Catholic church dominated their lives, sex before marriage was a sin and carrying a baby outside of wedlock was a huge cardinal sin that condemned them both. They tried to argue that they had married in the eyes of God in a Catholic church but no one believed them,                 ‘Surely if that were the case there had been no need for them to run away?  

They were told as more and more doors were closed to them and when word came through to them that Gabeiella’s father was telling anyone who would listen that Alessandro had raped his innocent daughter. They knew the war between the families would escalate quickly with tit-for-tat murders. Don Ricardo, Gabriella's father, sent his men to destroy clubs, casinos and other properties that belonged to their enemies burning them to the ground and cutting off their income supply. Of course, Alessandro’s Father retaliated but Ricardo was the Grand Don and he never really stood a chance. Alessandro’s whole ‘Family’ were eliminated, any that survived were forced to join The Grand Don or face a firing squad as traitors. He put a price on Alessandro’s head saying anyone who caught him, dead or alive, would be well rewarded. It left the young couple with no choice but to keep running but there was nowhere they could hide any more. No other family would help them, if they found them in their barns they reported them, Ricardo was too powerful and he hunted them down relentlessly. They knew they would be caught sooner or later, especially as Gabriella could no longer physically run and they lay in a barn one night listening to the sound of the rain hammering on the roof curled safely in the warmth of each other's arms he told her of the only person who would help them now.                                                                                                           Nonna would do what she had to do she would never turn her back on ‘Family’ and her heart had gone out to this young couple. They explained their plan to her in a hurried telephone call and both of them cried with relief when she agreed to help them. At least they knew their unborn baby would be safe as they held each other close knowing they had done all they could.

When Gabriella had left her baby boy in his pretty blue and white crib she knew she would never see him again. Alessandro was waiting for her in the elderly car he had stolen and they raced through the small back streets to their ‘spot’, a tiny secluded beach only ‘Family’ knew about. They spent their last night together holding each other and talking quietly surprisingly neither of them was afraid, deep down they had always known it would come to this. When dawn broke they had headed for the mountain pass that would take them to the safety of the border knowing they would never reach it.