“Where to?” Beppo whispered.
“Anywhere, anywhere away from here!” said poor Beppina. “I’d rather starve in the mountains than stay any longer. We could creep out without waking them.”
“It’s awfully dark,” said Beppo, “and we’ll have to climb right over them!”
“Oh, let’s try,” urged Beppina. They sat up cautiously and peered out. They could just see a dark mass blocking up the open end of the van. They struggled to their knees. The straw rustled, and they stopped dead, until everything was still again. Then Beppo rose to his feet, and, treading very carefully, took a step toward the end of the van. But alas, he had forgotten the monkey! She slept beside her mistress, and Beppo stepped on her tail! There was a scream as Carina leaped up in the air, and lit on Beppo’s shoulder, chattering furiously, and Beppo instantly dropped down into the straw again.
“What’s the matter?” said Carlotta.
The children could see her dark silhouette as she sat up and looked into the dark interior of the van.
“Carina mia! What is the matter?”
“Lie down,” growled Luigi. “She has had a bad dream. Go to sleep!” The monkey leaped to Carlotta’s arm, snuggled down beside her, and quiet reigned once more. When the snores began again, the children had no courage for a second attempt, and morning found things as hopeless as ever.
They were now descending the eastern slopes of the Apennines, and Beppo, remembering his geography, knew that they were getting farther and farther from Florence. At noon that day, as they were walking ahead of the van, they rounded a turn in the road, and came suddenly upon a view stretching far across the plains of eastern Italy to where the blue waters of the Adriatic lay sparkling in the sun. The landscape was dotted with villages, and far away in the blue distance they could see the spires and towers of a large coast town.
Beppo’s spirits rose a little. “See,” he said to Beppina, “we are coming out of the mountains into a region where there are many towns. Who knows? Perhaps we may find a chance to get away. It would be less dangerous here than in the hills.”