Chapter 2: May 1349
Barcelona, Spain
It had finally arrived. We had done so much to prevent its arrival, but we were silly to think we were immune. My aunt was sick. She was the first case in my family and the first to die. There was no ceremony, no funeral, no last rites, since a priest refused to go near her. Someone came and loaded her onto a pile of others destined for a mass grave outside the city.
My name is Franchesca Gianinie and I am but only fourteen years. News of the great sickness terrified me. It seemed like a blanket that covered towns and killed everyone. Symptoms were death sentence and it was such a painful ordeal. Some people tried to leave the city, while others stocked up on supplies and went into hiding.
I ran along the brick streets to find my friend Arabelle. I wanted to tell her that my aunt was finally gone. When I knocked on the door her brother answered and told me that their mother was sick. In order to keep his sister safe, he sent her to the church. I kindly thanked him and ran off to the nearby church.
As I walked I saw some people looking around themselves suspiciously. It was as if someone was out to get them…that Death was like a pickpocket that chose his victims at random.
I kept my hands close and I stayed away from those that looked ill. By the time I made it to the church I wanted to cry and return to my bed.
"Bella?" I called out at a whisper.
"Franny?" She popped her head up from a pew.
I rushed over to her and gave her a hug. "I went to your house. Julio told me….I'm sorry."
Her body shook as I could tell she was starting to cry again. We were the same age, but Arabelle always felt like a little sister to me. She seemed safe here and that's what I wanted for her. We talked for some time before I had to head back while there was still daylight.
"I wish I could stay here with you, but my dad wants me home. I just came to see how you were. Then I'll send you a letter and we'll communicate that way. It's too dangerous otherwise; I might bring the sickness with me."
She gave me a hug and wished me luck on my journey back home. I didn't want to return home. I feared what I would see along the way…not just the coughing, the vomiting of blood in the streets, but the lack of people in the streets to begin with.
It was empty just as I had imagined it. I ran as quickly as I could back home…but when I turned a corner I ran right into someone and hit my head on the stone ground.
Raphael Quintero was a musician. He practiced day and night to follow in his older brother's footsteps and become famous…it was his destiny. Rafe was worried about his family and his city. So far his family was untouched by the terrible sickness. It only made him more paranoid when went out and saw the people wandering around sick. No one seemed to know how people were getting sick. They were afraid to get food…could they trust the people selling it not to be sick? What about the water? There were rumors that the water was poisoned.
Rafe rubbed the sweat from his eyebrows as he carried a basket of foods from one of the few markets still open. As he turned the corner he ran right into a young woman and she fell back and hit her head. He panicked and dropped his things to help her. Rafe had completely put aside the fact that she might have the illness as he got close to her. With his hand on her chest he realized she was still breathing. He tapped her but she wasn't moving. When he moved his hand he noticed a mark on her chest. It was a scar that seemed to mark like an "X" on her chest.
She didn't look familiar to him at all. It was a shame too because she looked lovely…even if she was lying on the ground unconscious. Rafe really had no idea how long he had been staring at her before he realized he needed to do something.
"Great…just great…" he looked around. There was no around to help and he couldn't just leave her there.
He put the basket down his arm so his hands were free, and then he was able to pick her up. It wasn't easy carrying her, but he made it to his house and his brother was the first to say something sarcastic.
"Amazing, your looks finally struck a woman dead?" he patted his back.
"She's not dead. She fell and hit her head…there was no one else to help her. I had to!"
He grinned, "You did good brother. She looks about your type…who knows, maybe she'll wake up and think you're her honeeeeeey!"
He laughed at Rafe and teased him a little more until his mother got him to go away. She helped him clean her up a little since she had fallen down on the dirty ground. She listened patiently as Rafe told her of what happened.
"How long till she wakes up?" he asked.
"I don't know…shouldn't be too much longer for a bump on the head. Reminds me of the time your father fell from the ladder," she gave him a warm smile of hope.
"Oh…I left the food in the kitchen," he said to her before she left.
Rafe watched her as it seemed she was just sleeping. She also looked cold to him, so he got a blanket to lay on her. There, now she looked perfect. Yes, she had the most beautiful dark hair, smooth olive skin, and could imagine she had brown eyes…or maybe a majestic green?
She began to stir and was immediately confused.
"Where am I?" she sat up and rubbed the back of her head and her eyes squinted with pain.
Rafe was speechless at first because her Spanish was so flawless and sounded like a lullaby from her lips.
"Hi, you're at my home. We ran into each other and you hit your head on the ground. I couldn't just leave you there on the ground. How do you feel?"
She looked at him as if to ask if he was serious, "Hurts a little, but yes, I'm fine. Wait…who are you again?" She asked since he might have introduced himself, but she couldn't remember.
He smiled. Her eyes were a majestic green. As he looked at her it seemed like he had known her from somewhere, but he couldn't place it.
"Sorry, Raphael Quintero…but my family calls me Rafe. What were you doing out there anyway? It's dangerous."
She was looking at him in complete shock. Was he just ridiculing her for walking down the street? Since when was that a crime? How was this any of his business anyway?
"Excuse me, but you were out there as well Senior Quintero. So, I don't think it is your place to judge me. I should really get going. Yikes is it almost sundown? My family must be worried." She got up to her feet and waited to be escorted to the door.
"Wait...I haven't yet caught your name—"
"Franchesca…Gianinie," she offered him a smile.
"That's a beautiful name. I wish you could stay for dinner. You see, I was out getting food when we crossed paths. Please, stay and eat? It's the least I could do for that nasty fall you took."
She studied him as he sat on the edge of the bed still. It made her wonder if there was more to this. Since she was entering the age of marriage, Franchesca had been leery of the boys around her. He was cute though, she had to admit that. There was a charm to him that made her want to know more about him. Of course there was her family. What would they be thinking right now? Probably that she had decided to stay with Bella for a bit longer.
"Alright, but let me first send a letter to my family. Otherwise they'll be worried about me."
She moved to his desk and started to write. This amazed Rafe because not too many women had the means to be educated.
"Please don't take offense to this but, how did you learn to write?" he stood over her.
Franchesca only briefly paused, "I had someone teach me when I was seven. It took a few years, but I think I've gotten pretty good at it."
She handed him the letter with the address on the outside. "My aunt was widowed at a young age. She taught herself to read and write in order to run his business. My mother thought it would be important for me to learn as well. Especially since women in my family tend to outlive their husbands."
He was blown away by her and intrigued. There was so much he wanted to know. Rafe left her to give the letter to a neighbor to be sent right away. When he went back inside he found her admiring his guitar.
"Do you play well?" She sat down again with her hands folded on her lap eager to listen.
"Yeah," he blushed a little in admitting that to her. "I take it you'd like me to play?"
"Yes, please? It's been so long since I've heard music," she sat down and gave him her full attention.
He agreed and picked up the instrument and tuned it before playing a tune. Rafe chose something upbeat. It was a sharp contrast to the ballads that he enjoyed playing to beautiful women. Franchesca seemed different. He played and tapped his foot on the floor
"Oh!" she jumped up from her seat and started to dance in the open space. The young woman was grabbing up parts of her dress to swing about as she twirled in circles to the sweet melodies.
At first Rafe wanted to tell he to stop because she was still recovering from hitting her head, but he was too fascinated in her movements to make her stop. She was also smiling and that he loved seeing.
This pushed Rafe further to something he had never done before: he started to sing the lyrics to one of his favorite songs.
Franchesca had heard this song and knew enough to sing along with him. She danced around his room and ignored the face of his brother in the doorway.
They were having a good time until Rafe had to pause as he started coughing. It made her concerned, but he waved it off saying he had something get in his throat.