บททั้งหมดของ DON'T MESS WITH THE HEIRESS : บทที่ 91 - บทที่ 100

The morning of the hearing was gray and damp. The cobblestones in St. Peters Square were wet and slippery because of the mist. We didn't go in through the tourist gates. We went through a side entrance past the Swiss Guards in their uniforms and into the Palace of the Chancery.The room where the Tribunal of the Roman Rota sat was full of papers and rules. The ceilings were really high. Had paintings of Justice on them. Three cardinals sat on a raised platform and their red capes stood out against the benches.We were there for the Rossi Valley case. Elias was already in the room wearing a charcoal suit. He looked strong and fierce like a wolf in a suit. Next to him sat a priest who was also a lawyer. He had a face that looked like paper and eyes that seemed to see right through everything.The main Cardinal started speaking. He said, "The matter before us is the Underlying Title of the Rossi Valley. The Vane family has been using the land for a hundred years. The Church still owns th

My friend Stephen. I stood outside in the courtyard for hours. The city was really quiet because of the walls around us. We did not say a word to each other. There was nothing left to talk about. We had given the valleys project to the Cardinal now we had to wait and see if they liked the gold or the garden more. The Cardinals were going to make a decision about the valleys project.Then we were called inside the room. The main Cardinal looked at Elias then he looked at me. The Cardinals face did not show any feelings all. The Cardinal said: The Rota has looked at all the evidence. The Church says the Vane family has the right to use the land. But who takes care of the land is another matter altogether. Elias Vane you said you want to take things out of the land. I Hannah Vane said I want to keep the land safe for everyone. The Church has to make a decision about the land.The Cardinal stopped talking. Everything felt still and quiet. The Cardinals were very serious. The Church will k

By the time we got to the archway the whole village was awake. The church bell was ringing fast. Not like it does on Sundays. It was clanging in a way like something was seriously wrong.We had to act to stop the fire. I jumped out of the car before it even stopped. "Marco get the water pumps ready!" I shouted."The power is out Hannah!" Marco yelled back over the roar of the fire. It sounded like a flying plane. "He cut the power lines before starting the fire!""Then we do it by hand " Stephen said. He was already pulling out hoses from the shed.This was it. The moment we had to take action. It was no longer about papers or what the Vatican said. It was about saving our village. We formed a line from the well to the forest. Sofia, Brigitte, the teachers and the fishermen were there. Everyone was helping.We passed buckets of water to each other. They were really heavy. The smoke, from the fire was burning our lungs. It smelled like pine and gasoline. Every time we threw a bucket of

Stephen came out of the smoke like a ghost who wanted revenge. He did not have a weapon he had a wet wool blanket. He did not wait. He jumped on Elias just as the flare went off the bright red light flying harmless into the mud of the creek.The two men fell into the dirt, a mess of arms and legs and anger. I saw Stephen hold Elias down not by hitting him. With the weight of a man who wants to keep something safe."Look at this Elias!" Stephen said loudly making Elias look at the line of villagers. "Look at the people you are trying to hurt! They are not ordinary people. They are the reason this land's still alive!"Elias stopped fighting. He looked at the line of people, dirty and still working together passing buckets in the dark. He saw Sofia, who was seventy years old refusing to give up her place in the line. He saw the people he had made fun of. For the first time the crazy look, in his eyes went away replaced by a sad and empty feeling of being alone.The silence after the flar

The valley was filled with the smell of charcoal and ozone. When the sun came up over the ridge it did not see the burned up wasteland that Elias had said it would. Instead it saw a landscape that was silver and green like mud. The rain had helped the vines. The hunting lodge, which was the thing that connected me to my grandfathers secrets was now an empty frame with black beams.I was standing in the middle of the ruins. My boots were sinking into the ash. Stephen was next to me. His hands were wrapped in bandages because the heat had hurt his skin. He looked at what was left of the porch, where Elias had made his stand."He is gone Hannah " Stephen said. The police had taken Elias away at dawn. He would not have to go to the court in Vatican. He would have to go to a regular Italian prison and he would be charged with starting a fire."Elias did not just want to burn the house Stephen " I said, picking up a melted flask from the ash. "Elias wanted to burn the idea that we could be