Chapter 5: Opening up and moving forward

We walk around the Madonna del Sasso Sanctuary for a while, every so often stealing glances of Carlo. The two men were deep in conversations, Marcel asking for my opinion here and there, not that I had much to say or any input into their topics. My hands roamed the cold stone walls, the carved brickwork and finery. " it's beautiful isn't it?" A deep voice whispers beside me, I glance up at Carlo whose eyes were gazing deep into mine sending shock waves through my body. For a moment I felt like the compliment was aimed at me by the way he looked at me. I flinched my hand away from the stone carvings and averted my eyes into any other direction that his " ah yes! It is exquisite, I've never been outside of England before so this is all very new and overwhelming to me" I blurt out, I see a smile apear on Carlos face, I hadn't noticed Marcel had wandered off to read some form of dialect on the wall, leaving myself and Carlo together standing alone together. "Tell me, what brought you here?" Carlo suddenly asks as his gaze tries to figures me out, " oh um, well Marcel brought me here, I'm not quite sure why to be honest, he seems to think I have a talent in art" I say a little embarrassed by the topic at hand, "no I mean to France and now Switzerland, Marcel had told me you came from England and I've heard there were bombings there recently. I don't meen to pry, I'm sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to" Carlo quickly reply's realising he may have hit a sensitive subject. " no no, it's fine, I've been dealing with it surprisingly well really... I came from London, an attack had went off and well I'd lost everyone, I didn't know what to do and I didn't really like the idea of hanging around a war zone so I got a ferry to Calais and I just walked. Eventually I ended up in Dijon where I met Marcel. And now I'm here, that's pretty much it" my words were brought with a saddening silence, Carlo just goggled at me, his expression sorrowful. "I see. This world is a brutal place. I am sorry you had to go through all of that and being alone, must have been hard" He says as his eyes revert over towards to beautiful scenery out of a nearby window.

"It's getting rather late, care to join me for something to eat? Marcel hasn't stopped ranting on about a restaurant nearby, we'd better take him there to quit his yapping" Carlo speaks, changing the point, presumably not wanting to delve further into my painful past. He turns to face me and smiles once again, his smile alone warms me, fills me with a sense of hope and I can't help myself to smile back "that sounds like a good idea" I say.

Marcel leads the way to a little restaurant overlooking the lake, little fairy lights hang amongst the plants overcrowding the restraints signs. We take a seat outside by the water and let Marcel order the food, he orders a selection of different dishes and suggests we share it all so to try what each one is like and boasts how delicious their foods are.  All three of us engage in light conversation, talking about the history of Locarno, the landscapes and architecture in France and what I liked about England, all the while everyone trying very hard to keep the topic of war at hand out of the discussion.

As the night draws forward and the sun sets low, the stars appear in the night sky, the moons light descending down on us all. "Flo my dear, I have spouted on and on to Carlo about your artwork but have yet to show him, would you mind bringing it out for us?" Marcel says with a pleading look in his eyes. "Ah of course! Here, it's just in my bag pack" I bend down to open my bag and display the first page of my sketch book on the table in front of Carlo and Marcel who were seated opposite me. Carlos eyes widen just as Marcels did the night before, his hand traces the scribbles as he takes in the work and reads my notes and thoughts written on every page.  "questi sono magnifici!" He says to himself in a hushed voice. I do not speak Italian but I'm pretty sure magnifici means magnificent so my cheeks burn a little causing the tips of my ears to go red.

"Thank you" I breathe out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear as I look to the floor. "Your art alone is incredible but the story you have laid out along with every image... it is pure poetry" Carlo stammers out still taking in my work, I thought I could see a stray tear roll down his cheek but perhaps I was wrong and it was just the light of the moon playing tricks on me.

Marcel stats to talk to Carlo in Italian, the both of them deep in conversation while I pick at what's left on my plate and look out at the view. "Then it's settled, Flo, you will accompany us to Rome if you're up to the task? Italy has not yet been affected by the war much and it is quite the safe place. I want to show you a few sites and see if you'd be interested in possibly taking on some form of art studies?" Carlo exclaims excitedly.

What in the world have I got myself into. I won't lie, luck has definitely been on my side just as Marcel stated before but this?! This is madness! I flee my homeland, almost get bombed AGAIN while in France then wake up to find out I'm in Switzerland and now, now I've been offered to go to Rome and have been presented the opportunity to study art abroad!

In other words, how could I say no.