As we approach the Final Chapter [that is what it will be called], I want to thank those of you who followed this lengthy story to completion.
This chapter is a little long, and I got tired of proofreading it, so if I missed some error, I promise I'll fix it later on.
I appreciate comments and suggestions, so if I ever embark in another project as ambitious as this one, I'll have a few more tools to dig out of the toolbox as I go along.
The characters of Hannibal Lecter, Clarice, Barney and Mischa belong to Thomas Harris. I'll derive no financial profit from this story.
Exchanges XXX
Lost and Found
The little boy stood by the pram of his newborn sister and observed his mother and her companion. The two women were walking towards him, talking, giggling, and laughing from the pure joy of each other's company. His mother looked tiny, slender, and fragile, whereas the other woman was tall, willowy thin, and appeared built of steel wires. He noticed the resemblance in spite of their different built.
When they reached him, his mother bent down to kiss him, then straightened up, and placed a hand on his head, "Hannibal, this is your aunt Etna."
The tall woman squatted to be at his level; when their eyes met, he noticed hers were the same color as his own. "Hello, Hannibal, I am very pleased to meet you," she kissed him on the cheek.
"Is nice to meet you Aunt Etna; how did you become momma's half sister?"
The sisters exchanged an amused look; the boy's mother made a gesture as if saying "I told you…"
"We are half sisters because we have the same father, but different mothers."
The boy was not about to be deterred
"How did that happen, grandfather had two wives?"
The women chuckled
"Not at the same time, Hannibal. My mother died when I was little and a few years later, my father married your grandmother, she became my second mother; then a couple of years later they had a baby; that baby is your momma."
He nodded solemnly
"Were you very sad when your momma died?"
She nodded and he went on
"Your parents named you Etna for the Volcano" the little boy stated, tilting his head to one side.
The two women laughed, "For the Volcano indeed!"
"My grandmother said that Etna was going to visit, she told me you were named after a Volcano in Sicily, and showed me in the map."
"You know how to read already, Hannibal, you are not yet 4 years old, right?"
He nodded again, his composure remarkable for someone so young.
"I learned a little while ago, my grandmother helped me, learning is fun." He studied her carefully, his head tilted to one side again. "Come, let me show you our new baby."
The women exchanged glances
He reached for her hand to lead her to the pram then lifted his eyes to her
with a puzzled expression on his tiny, solemn face. "You hand looks just like
mine," he extended his left hand to show her.
She placed her hand next to his, and they silently compared them.
"Do you have any children?"
"A boy, he is thirteen and acts like a grown man already."
He pointed to baby sleeping in the pram,
"Look, at her, she is beautiful, look at her perfect little hands. Her eyes are blue, like my father's."
"You are a very observant little boy, Hannibal."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He was brought back by the sound of Lucy's voice,
"I am so sorry that we ruined your wedding."
Hannibal Lecter dismissed the thought with a gesture
"We could get married again in every city we visit, whereas Sal's loss is a tragedy, a terrible loss."
Lucy nodded, then turned to Calvacanti,
"What is this nonsense that Luke refuses to allow me to see Sal's body and says you agree?
You two actually believe that I'm going to brush off my husband of 40 years without so much as a good bye?"
"No Lucia, we never expected such a thing…not from you. But, I do side with Luke. Mostly because we both know this is what Sal would have wanted. Even after death he should be allowed to preserve his dignity, especially in front of you."
"Luke went as far as refusing to explain why I'm not allowed to see Sal's remains. What is wrong with you two?" she was raising her voice. "Well, I demand to see him."
They faced each other now as if ready for battle, each taking an opposite stand.
He put his head down and reached for her hand, she backed off, eyes flaring with anger.
"The fact is, Lucia, there is not much for you to see, only a part of his head and one hand is all what's left for burial."
His words seemed to paralyze her; she just stood there, her mouth slightly open, eyes filled with tears.
Calvacanti reached for her and placed his arms around her. "He was a good man, Lucia, do you honestly believe he would like you to see him like this? Remember when you were little and he fell in the pigsty and refused to come out until he was certain you wouldn't be around to see him, all filthy and embarrassed?"
The memory made her chuckle, just as he knew it would. "Oh God, Marco," she sighed and straightened up, extricating herself from his arms. "I guess you are right."
She turned to Hannibal and Clarice. "Let's go back to the house."
"Signora Etna is very anxious to talk to Hannibal, but I think we should eat something first."
There was a silent nod of approval
"In the meantime, please keep me distracted." She addressed no one in particular.
"Did Marco explain things…how much did he tell you so far?"
"Not enough" Hannibal said, "he was just telling us that you two fell in love in the summer of your 18th birthday."
"We did; that was the best summer of my life; when I felt that, at last, my life had begun!" She chuckled bitterly.
"Marco had no intention to come back to the mainland without me; as for me, the very idea of spending time away from him was out of the question. He wanted to talk to my father and set a wedding date, but I was afraid that my father would ruin everything, or at best he would keep a tighter grip on me; and Marco and I wouldn't be able to meet as freely as we did. So I begged him to wait."
Marco stepped in.
"Three month into the relationship we found Lucia was pregnant. That did it! I wanted to ask her father for her hand right away and set a wedding date as soon as possible with the excuse that I was coming back to Ravello and wanted to take her with me.
Lucia's father was most gracious, which should have made me suspicious, because he was never gracious. I remember he called Lucia's mother and made a big show, toasting to our happiness and the union of the two families. Thus, we were engaged."
"My father had other plans though, but he didn't want to blow his cover." Lucy felt the need to explain.
Calvacanti continued
"Three days later, while driving from a business meeting with 4 bodyguards, we were attacked by a gang of about 15 men. They killed my bodyguards and left me for death, I remember one of them saying 'don't touch the face, the boss want him to be easily identified!'
I was in a coma for 4 moths.
I'd been dead if one of Rosario Maugeri closest friends wouldn't have been the first to come upon the scene; when be realized that I was alive; he managed to get me in his car and brought me to the Maugeri's. Later I was transported to a private clinic. All very hush-hush, because my father, who didn't know about Lucia's condition, thought it was best let the world think I was dead, until he could figure out who orchestrated the attack and gather evidence."
"I believed that Marco was dead too", Lucy said, "All long, I suspected that my father was responsible. I just knew it.
When I found that my father had negotiated my wedding to Calvo Donato, the son of the most vicious man in Sardinia, I panic, I had never meet Calvo, but called him on the phone, introduced myself and told him the whole story. To my surprise, he wanted to help. He said he had a girlfriend in Sardinia, and didn't want our wedding any more than I did. He suspected that my father was not the kind of man who would let my pregnancy interfere with his plans; that he would manage to get me an abortion and go ahead as planned.
I talked to my mother, who confirmed that the next day she was supposed to take me to a clinic for an examination, but she suspected it was for an illegal abortion. My mother is very religious; and dead set against abortion."
"So she called Sal" Marco teased
"Yeap… I did, and Sal told me what everyone knew. That he had always loved me. That if I agreed to marry him, he'd make a good father for the baby.
I explained that I was heartbroken, that I loved Marco, but Sal said the main thing was to save the baby, and get me away from my father's grip. He said he was patient, that maybe later I could to learn to love him. 'What better chance do we have, either of us?, that's how he put it. Two hours later he showed up with his father to arrange the marriage. Sal actually claimed that the baby was his and my father knew better than to antagonize Rosario Maugeri."
"WOW" said Clarice, "and I thought Hannibal and I were cross star lovers!"
"You were!" said Calvacanti "For what I heard you were, it just so happens that Lucy and I stayed crossed longer than most"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lunch was quiet, not entirely somber, but shadowed by Sal's absence. During the meal they arranged that Hannibal and Clarice would pay a visit to the elderly Mrs. Calvacanti while her secretary escorted Barney on a visit to one of the local attractions, Villa Rufolo, an exquisite 13th Century villa right in Ravello, that had inspired both Bocaccio and Wagner.
Hannibal Lecter mentioned he wanted to visit the Villa too, and Barney said he'll be happy to visit it again later with the Doctor and Clarice.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Signora Etna Calvacanti's quarters occupied the lower quarters of one of the wings of the huge mansion.
Upon arrival, Marco Calvacanti escorted them to his mother's studio, the light in the room was dim, a large wall was covered with bookcases and the length of another had a built in shelve with three computes, a pile of file folders and a CD rack.
Etna Calvacanti was working on one computer; when they entered the room, she swiveled her chair to face them.
She looked exactly as Hannibal had expected, thin and wiry, her fine features still handsome and barely ravaged by time; her silver white hair contrasted with he olive skin and added to the youthful look. At 95, she was still a beautiful woman, and didn't look her age.
Her son approached her and kissed her gently on the cheek,
"Marco, if you don't mind, I'll like to be alone with the Lecters" her voice was husky.
Once he left, she gestured for them to approach her, while at the same time she reached out for the Doctor with her left hand. Her middle finger was perfectly replicated in the rarest form of polydactyly.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter reached with his own left hand, took hers, and looked into her maroon eyes. His voice was choked,
"Aunt Etna,"
"Hannibal," her eyes were welled with tears. She pulled him to her and kissed him on the cheek, then looked at Clarice. "You are the beautiful Clarice Starling. Is a pleasure to meet you" Clarice leaned over and the woman kissed her cheek, then stood up to led her guests to a sofa. She sat across from them; then turned to Hannibal,
"The last time I saw you, your name was Count Hannibal Ginvera. Why Lecter?
"My adoptive parents name. It would have been too complicated to change it back, especially because Lithuania was under the communist regime when I came to American, to get copies of my original birth certificate was close to impossible."
"No wonder it took me so long to find you, by the time I did, you were, hmm,…detained." she chuckled softly. "After you set yourself free, I tried and tried but there were no leads."
"That was the general idea," Hannibal teased.
"I had hoped to reunite you and your sister. For years that was my only goal."
"Mischa died in Lithuania, Aunt Etna; shortly after our parents."
She shook her head,
"No, Hannibal, Mischa survived.
Her adoptive parents brought her to America when she was a still a toddler; they renamed her Phyllis. I located her abour 20 years ago; unfortunately, by the time I located you, she was already deadly ill. I suppose even if she had been healthy the situation would have been very difficult at best. Her husband and you were on opposite sides of the fence. The conflict of interests would have torn her apart."
Hannibal was very pale and had adopted his legendary stillness; he pursed his lips and turned his head to one side; then seemed to turn to stone. His eyes gave nothing.
The events that developed since they entered the room had thrown Clarice entirely off base. The later development sobered her up.
"Phyllis," she whispered and shook her head as if trying to dispel the growing certainty that she knew the punch line.
"What did her husband do, what is his name?" she made a visible effort to stay calm, to keep her voice under control. "How did you know they were on opposite sides of the fence?"
"His name was Jack Crawford." The old lady said simply.
The stone faced man barely opened his lips to murmur,
"Bella Crawford…?...Mischa was Bella Crawford?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well folks, we are getting closer and closer to the end. The next chapter will be the last.
I'd really appreciate it if you let me know how you liked his chapter and the way the issues are getting resolved as we approach the end of the story. BTW I got the name Ginvera from a Lithuanian royal linage site.
Please comment.
Clariz
