Snapshot Fiction: A Brother Returned

Cries of joy and laughter mixed with running steps to echo through the casa as both Vinca and Fina raced from the cucina on the second floor to the sala below. The simple rattle of a cart and a call from outside set them on their mad dash to the front of their home to greet the new arrival who stood so calmly in the doorway.

“He’s here!” “Pietro!” Their cries washed over each other and the smiling man standing there waiting as they rushed into his arms. He staggered only slightly as both young women collided with him, catching him in a fierce hug. Amid laughter he kissed their hair and held them close as they each rushed to give him a dozen heartfelt greetings at once.

“Sisters, please! I cannot understand a bit of your nattering and I fear you may crush my chest!” He laughed as he spoke over their excited voices and the girls reluctantly stepped back, each taking one of his hands.

“You’re here! You’re finally here! It has been so long! We have so many tales to tell and so many things to show you!” Fina’s cheeks lit up a lovely pink in her excitement and Vinca smiled, letting her younger sister have Pietro’s attention first. “You are arrived just in time to move into the palazzo with us! Papa says it is beautiful beyond imagining! We have not seen it yet but it must be glorious!”

Pietro laughed and squeezed Fina’s hand. “Yes, I know of the palazzo. It sounds lovely.” He cast a knowing glance at Vinca which she understood he wanted to discuss the matter privately with her. “I am pleased we have been graced with such a magnificent home.”

“We are preparing a feast for you as well! Anna knew you would be here today! We will have capons and boar and fruits and that special sweet bread of hers that you like so much! She has taught me to make it.” Vinca began to wonder if her sister would take a breath in her excitement to report everything to Pietro now that he had arrived.

“Fina! Child get back to the cucina! You forgot about the capons!” Anna’s call startled the girls and Fina stopped her excited chatter. “Coming Anna!” She gave Pietro a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing out of the receiving room.

“Still as full of energy as ever I see,” Pietro commented. He tugged Vinca to the side as what seemed like a small army of bodies paraded through carrying boxes and trunks of his belongings. “Be careful of that big one. It has the gifts for my sisters in it.” He winked broadly at Vinca and pulled her further into the sala.

She smiled and held his hand firmly following him to the large trestle table where the family took meals. “You did not need to bring gifts,” she said as she carefully arranged her skirts on the rough wooden bench. “Everyone is just so excited you are returned to us.”

“Of course I could not return without gifts for my sisters! Though I must admit, your gift is a fair bit simpler than Fina’s. Sadly all I could find for you was a set of sable brushes. They had nothing more exciting!”

“Oh Pietro! Sable brushes of my own?” She threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. “Thank you so much! Brushes that I do not have to borrow from Papa!”

She had forgotten how safe she felt in her brother’s arms and they just held each other for several moments. “You see? I might have been gone but I did not forget you.”

She sat up suddenly and clutched at his hand. “Oh Pietro, I know you would never forget us.” The sadness in his eyes when he held her hand in both his callused ones confused and frightened her. “Pietro, what is wrong?”

“My sweet sister. I cannot apologize enough for being away from you during your time of sorrow. It has hurt me for so long and I hope you can forgive me.”

Vinca felt tears creep into her eyes as the wound of her lost husband began to ache anew. Not until this moment had she realized how much she missed her brother during that time. Growing up she had always been closest to Pietro of all of her brothers; he was her guardian, her strength and her friend. She knew his journey to Florence had been important for him to learn matters of business he could not learn in a town so small as Piombino, and she never begrudged him not being there for her. She could now admit, however, that not having him there had hurt a great deal.

“Oh Pietro, I know why you could not be there. I cannot forgive you for there is nothing to forgive! You did no wrong.” She wrapped her arms around him again and huddled against his chest. “I am well and strong! All is fine and now you are returned to us! You must tell me all the fantastic things you saw in Florence.”

“Truly you are well then?” He leaned back and tilted her face up to look at him and carefully wiped the single tear that had escaped from her cheek.

She smiled though she could not keep all of her sadness from it or her voice. “Truly. The pain will always be there but I bear it better each day.”

He nodded in acceptance and patted her hand. “Very well. I will take comfort in the knowing that I am here to watch over both of my sisters now.” He frowned then and looked around the sala taking in the details. Vinca knew his green eyes missed nothing from the warped wood of the window frames to the cracked and broken floor tiles. Stains down one wall told tale of a leak in the roof that had yet to be successfully repaired. He shook his head. “So you must help me to understand. I see this casa and know there are things that are due to be repaired but it otherwise seems sound. A very suitable place to live. You help father with his ledgers. Has he really done so well with his work to afford such?”

Vinca took several moments to compose her thoughts for she did not expect her brother to echo her concerns so quickly upon his arrival. She did have access to her father’s accounts and while he was doing better than they ever could have hoped in Piombino, by her figuring it wasn’t enough for such a grand residence. She would never speak ill of Papa and tried to present her thoughts as gently as possible. “Papa does not discuss the palazzo with me,” she said slowly, forming her words with great care. “I have found that it was not so long ago this property was reclaimed by a lender for a great debt. A business man had poor luck with some imports and he was unable to meet his debts. Certainly it is not so grand as some in Siena.”

Pietro sighed and she saw the wrinkle form between his brows that always appeared when he was deep in though. “I can tell a great deal about your thoughts by the way you dance about, my sister. You know you have never needed to hedge your words with me. Speak clearly. Father has not done so well to afford this home, has he?”

She shook her head. “He will not discuss it, Pietro, but I know his accounts better than he does. We thrive and prosper because of his great works. We sell more of his paintings each day and he has been contacted by three prominent families for portraits. Why the advance given to him by Vettori was astounding. More silver than we’ve ever seen!”

“But not enough,” the furrow in his brow deepened and Pietro stood to pace the space in front of the bench.

“It is more than that, Pietro,” Vinca continued. “There has been no great spending. He has put out nothing for the palazzo that I can find. It is as if…as if it is a payment for something but what could Papa offer to be worth that and will it prove to be an expense too great for the family to bear? I mean no disrespect for Papa but he is not always wise in the ways of business. I fear for the family.”

“I will talk with father. You need not worry about it further.” He took her hands and pulled her up from the bench. “I will help tend his business now that I am here and when Blasio comes from Piombino he will be well suited to it as well.”

She chuckled and hugged him, resting her cheek on his chest and taking comfort from him. “I am concerned about the price of such grandness and I am very glad you are returned to us to help with such matters. I have no wit for such matters and a woman has no place in such things.”

He poked her in the side like he used to do when they were children causing her to squeak and pull away. “You parrot Agneta. Regardless of your sex you have more wit and wisdom than many men. I will not hear you debase yourself such.” His grin was mischievous and he tapped her on the tip of her nose with a single finger, something else he had done since they were both children. “Now, you do realize I cannot tell you my tales of Florence.”

“Why not?”

He took her hand again, pulling her after him with a smile. “Because if I do not share the tale with Fina as well she will have a fit as never before seen! Come, let’s go find her and I’ll tell you both of my adventures.”

Like children once more they rushed through the casa with laughter and raucous footsteps to find their sister and snatch her from the cucina to the wailing dismay of Anna.