"Ok! It's all ready to go!" Alberto finished moving the ramp in place as I gazed down it nervously. "Uh, Alberto? Are you sure this is such a good idea?" "Course! Look, you need to practice riding downhill. This is easier than taking the Portorosso hill head on." "But… I don't how good I am with ramps either." "It'll be fine. Just keep your eyes on me. I'll be right here if anything happens, ok?" "Um, ok." "Good! Now take a deep a breath, look at me, and start peddling," he instructed.
All the kids from before had gathered around to sit on the ground and watch us. It's like Alberto and I biking had become local entertainment. They weren't a silent audience either. "Ten to one she falls again," one of the eight-year-old boys told his friend. "You're not helping," I frowned their way in response. "Don't pay attention to them. Keep your eyes forward. You got this, Ilaria," Alberto coaxed. I sucked in a long inhale and held my breath for a moment. With a brief wince of the eyes, I set my feet on the peddles. "Ok, here I go… Here I go….."
Down the bike moved, my hands gripping the handles afraid the whole way. "Good! Good! Yes! You're doing it!" I'm… doing it? I feel like I'm going to die. As I rode down the ramp, my speed picked up- unsurprisingly so. Once again, fear started overtaking me the faster I got. My bike began to shake. "Uh, Alberto?" My voice trembled. "Hang on! I got ya! I got ya!" Alberto didn't hesitate to run over to my side. He caught the bike handlebar in his owns hands, slowing me down and steadying me. He held the bike upright as I sat there now motionless and still trembling a little. When I looked at him, he immediately met me with a smile. "See? Told you you could do it." "I got…. ten feet." "That's still ten feet more than last time!" But while Alberto was clearly pleased with my progress, the kids were too busy laughing at me to notice or care. "Man, talk about lame!" "She's never going to the hang of riding around here." "Hey! Ilaria's doing great!" My dear friend came to my defence, shooting them all a glare. Then he turned back to me. "Come on, let's try it again."
"You two." All our heads spun in the direction toward our estate. Uncle was walking up the way, carrying an empty bucket and bundled rope in his hand and on his shoulder. "Hello, Zio. What are you doing here?" "I'm here for you. You two are coming with me today. We're going peaching." "Peaching? Oh how wonderful!" I hopped off the bike. Alberto blinked to me confused. "Uh, what's "peaching"?" "We're going to pick peaches." "Oh….. What are peaches?"
Uncle hooked the cart back up the bike; the peach orchards were a way from the village so we'd be riding there. Alberto and I loaded the equipment onboard. Just the typical stuff: a ladder, a couple of empty buckets, a rope, and some canteens of water. It was a bright, sunny day out, so I brought my parasol as well. The two of us climbed onto the back of the cart, I opened my parasol, and Uncle began biking to the orchard.
It was pretty busy there today. The owner of the orchard- this grizzled old man who was also childless- let people come and pick fruit on his land, so long as we paid him a small upfront fee. Then you could go on inside the chicken-wire gates and pick as much fruit as you like. Uncle rode us to a quiet part of the orchard. It was just rows upon rows of peach trees. The farmer grew other fruit but it wasn't in season. Uncle stopped the bike and Alberto and I started unloading everything.
Uncle slung the rope over his shoulder and picked up the ladder. "Now, Alberto and I will go up in the trees to pick the fruit. Ilaria, you stay below and catch what we toss down." "Yes, Zio." "Yes, sir…. Wait, we're gonna climb in trees?" Uncle's big broad hand landed on top of Alberto's shoulder. "A strapping man like you, it should be no problem. We've got the ladder for the really high trees." "Great! This should be fun! I've never picked fruit before," Alberto said with enthusiasm. "There's a first time for everything. Bring that bucket, niece," Uncle next told me.
Alberto and I each carried a big wooden bucket while Uncle led the way through the columns. He'd inspect the occasional tree along the way, but kept moving on until he found the perfect one. Or at least one that he liked. He positioned the ladder up against the tree trunk and motioned for Alberto to come forward with his hand. "Come hold the ladder while I tie it up top." "Yes, sir," he went right to Uncle's side. I watched the two men work, patiently waiting for when I would be useful. Uncle climbed on into the tree first, followed by Alberto. I'll admit, it was interesting watching the two of them work so well off each other.
"Ilaria, catch!" Soon enough, I was having peaches hurled down at me. "Pick the ones that are red and orange. The yellow ones are too ripe to eat," Uncle next instructed Alberto. Alberto's eyes wandered over to the fruit he'd just plucked from the branch. He bit into it, only for his face and eyes to instantly light up. This was followed by three more bites. "This is sooooo good! Hey, Ilaria?! Did you peaches are delicious?! You should try one!" "I will but let me wash it first. Here, I'll wash one for you too, Alberto," I offered. But he- somehow rapidly- shook his head. "Uh, n-no; that's ok. I just wipe it on my shirt. But I'll pick you a good one first!" "Hey, less eating and chatting, more picking," Uncle lightly scolded. "Sorry," we said simultaneously before flashing each other a smile.
Like clockwork, both of my men got the hang of peach-picking soon enough. They'd strip one tree, climb the ladder down- or in Alberto's case, jump down-, and move onto another tree. It was up to me to keep any peaches they selected in the bucket, which was a lot more time-consuming than you'd imagine. By the third tree I was already panting and sweating- something very un-lady like. Some birds had perched themselves along the edge of the cart and buckets. Uncle originally told me to shoo them away for fear they'd nibble on the peaches, but I didn't have the heart to. Besides, they weren't eating any of our fruit anyway. They watched me with those spinny head jerks of theirs and I grinned over at them.
"Can you believe I'm working in a peach orchard? Me? The great, great-granddaughter of Marie de' Medici? Heh, everyone back home would have a heart attack if they knew. But we'll keep this our little secret," I brought my finger up to my lips in a hushing manner. The birds all tilted and twisted their cute little heads at me. Grinning, I rested my chin on my arm that was on the edge of one of the buckets. "But this isn't unusual for Papa's side. It really is the mingling of two worlds, isn't it?" One chirped, making me giggle. "You understand, my good sir. But I best get all the classist nonsense out of my head. It doesn't serve me any good out here." "Ilaria! What are you doing?! We need those buckets!" Uncle hollered over to me. "Coming!" The birds observed me scurry back off.
"Watch out down there!" Uncle immediately tossed some peaches down my way. I caught most and placed them securely in the bucket. Then I reached down to pick up the ones that landed on the grass. After collecting one, I reached for another. That's when I flinched in pain, yanking my hand back up. A quick check revealed a thorn on the tip of my forefinger- a big one too. I winced as I pulled it up, a drop of blood rolling down the body of my finger. I was still looking at my little wound when Alberto came up behind.
"Hey, Ilaria! Check out how many peaches I picked! I'm awesome at this! Massimo said that I…. Hey, what happened here?" He peered over my shoulder to see the blood on my finger. He proceeded to set down his bucket and grab my hand for a closer look. "Oh, you hurt yourself." "O-Oh, no! It's no big deal; it doesn't hurt," it hurt a little.
My eyes grew gigantic when Alberto suddenly stuck my forefinger in his mouth. Without any hesitation, he sucked off all the blood. Then he removed my finger and, while still holding onto my hand, he tore a strip of his shirt off. He used the little strip to wrap it around the tip of my finger as a make-shift bandage. It all happened so quickly, and ended with a kind, affectionate grin. "There, all better. Now come on! I found a really good tree over here!" While Alberto ran off merrily, I stood there staring forward with my finger still up in the air in front of me. Slowly my eyes drifted to the bandage on my finger.
What…. What just happened? I was bleeding and without any second thought in his mind, Alberto mended me. No one, and certainly no boy, has ever touched me like that before. A proper gentleman wouldn't do such a thing- especially not in public- to a lady he wasn't engaged to. Of course Alberto had no way of knowing that…. He just wanted to help me. He did what came most natural to him. My intent start scrolled over to Alberto busy picking peaches in a tree close by. He was smiling and looked like there wasn't a thing wrong in the world. Then his smile turned back towards me….
"Come on, Ilaria! I got some peaches for you to catch!" Alberto… My eyes locked onto him in a thoughtful manner. I've realized it before and I'll realize it again: being near him just makes me so happy. But it's a different sort of happy; a new kind of happy…. It's a happiness I've never experienced before. "Should I go get you the ladder?" I called back. "Don't need it! Now hurry up! I've picked an extra juicy one especially for you!" I smiled, because of course I did. Smiling was my natural state whenever he was nearby. And judging by how happy he always looked, I'd say the feeling was mutual.
Both him and Uncle were smiling very, very happily that night when I made a peach pie with all those peaches. And there was a lot of them. Looks like I'll be cooking, canning, and baking with peaches for the next half a year- at minimum. But it was worth it… to see their eyes light up in delight at that first bite of pie. I made sure to bundle away a few extra goodies for Alberto to take home with him that night.