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CHAPTER TWO

Allegra Two

She was pale and beautiful, like the girl in my room. But this was a different girl. This Allegra had long black hair and her eyes were brown.

‘Hallo,’ she said.

Was it the same voice? It was soft and sweet but - I wasn’t sure!

This is Adrian,’ said Chiara. ‘He says that you went into his room last night, Allegra.’

The girl looked at me in surprise.

‘No, Mummy, I wasn’t in his room.’ She spoke English beautifully, but she couldn’t say the letter ‘r’!

‘You see, she doesn’t remember,’ Chiara said to me. ‘I think that she was walking in her sleep again.’

When I went to bed that night, I couldn’t sleep. I was waiting for the girl and I was afraid. But after about an hour my eyes closed and I slept. I woke up suddenly when a cold little hand touched my face. The girl’s voice spoke softly in my ear.

‘Wake up, Adrian, wake up–’

I turned on the light. She was there; but was she real? Her skin was like milk, her blond hair was like sunlight in the room. She was wearing the long, white nightdress.

‘Is she real or is this a dream,’ I thought.

And I touched her face. It was cold, very cold. But it was real.

‘Will you take me to Mama now,’ she asked.

I looked at the window. It was closed. Then I went to the door. It was locked. I began to feel very afraid.

‘How did you get in here,’ I asked.

‘You weren’t here so I waited for you. I was sleeping behind that curtain.’

She showed me a curtain in a corner of the room. There was another, smaller bed for a child behind it. So she was in the room before I came! But where did she come from, and who was her mother?

‘Okay, I’ll take you to your mother,’ I said. ‘Where is she?’

Suddenly the girl began to speak in Italian. ‘She’s at Bagno a Ripoli, near Florence.’

‘But we can’t go to Florence tonight!’ I said, I could understand Italian, but I spoke in English.

‘You must take me,’ Allegra said angrily, speaking in English again. ‘I want to see my Mama tonight. I want to see her before I die.’ Then she began to cry.

Die! What did she mean?

‘Why do you say that,’ I said in surprise. ‘You’re not going to die.’

‘Yes, I am. I know, I know! Papa didn’t like Mama and he took me away from her. I didn’t see her for a long time. I wanted to see her and she wanted to see me too. Oh, I must see her before I die!’

Again I couldn’t understand why she spoke in the past. I really couldn’t understand anything! Was this all a little girl’s fantasy? I decided to ask her some questions.

“Who is your mother? what is her name?”

“Claire”

Clair was the English for Chiara. I thought for a second.

“Come with me, Allegra,” I said. “We’ll go downstairs.”

I wanted to show this little girl to Chiara. Then she would know that her daughter wasn’t walking in her sleep-and I would know that I wasn’t dreaming! I took the girl’s cold little hand but she wouldn’t come.

“No, no,” she cried in Italian again.” My dear Mama is at Bagno a Ripoli near Florence. I want to go there.”

I said, “Wait here, Allegra. I’ll go downstairs and bring my friend. She wants to see you. Wait here.”

I found Chiara in the long room. She was reading a book in an armchair by the fire. I told her that there was a girl in my room again. She looked surprised and followed me upstairs. We went along the corridor. My door was open and we went into the room. The child wasn’t there.

We looked everywhere but found nothing. The only child in the house was Chiara’s daughter.

“She’s sleeping in her bed,” Chiara told me. “Perhaps you had a dream, Adrian.”

“No, it wasn’t a dream! There was a girl in my room a few minutes ago. I saw her and talked to her.”

Then I told Chiara everything about the girl. When I finished, she said: “Well, it’s very strange. Who is this girl? She isn’t my daughter. My Allegra has got black hair and brown eyes. And my husband didn’t take her away from me. I know that he wants to take her away, but he can’t. Allegra lives with me. You see, I don’t love my husband anymore, and so he doesn’t live here with us. He’s in England. But Allegra likes him a lot and I know that she wants to see him.” She was silent for a minute, then said, “So the child in your room wants to see her mother, and Allegra wants to see her father. It’s strange, isn’t it? I don’t understand it.”

Next day I went for a walk with Allegra Henderson.

The big black dog came with us. We walked down a hill and came to a little river with a bridge. We stood on the bridge, while Allegra dropped stones into the water and the dog tried to find them.

“Do you speak Italian, Allegra,” I asked.

“Oh yes! Listen.” And she spoke fast in Italian.

“Did you learn it at school?”

“Yes. It’s a convent school and the teachers are Italian nuns. Look, Nero has got a stone in his mouth! Isn’t he clever? Come here, Nero!”

“Allegra, do you know a place called Bagno a Ripoli?”

“No, I don’t. Oh, don’t shake the water over us, Nero-you bad boy!”

“Do you know anybody called Claire?”

“Yes, of course! That’s Mummy’s name in English.”

Allegra laughed. But she didn’t laugh when I asked:

“Where’s your Daddy, Allegra?”

She didn’t answer me.

“You’re a bad boy, Nero,” she said angrily. “Give that stone!”

I asked her the question again. This time she answered.

“Mummy says he’s in England.”

Was she sad or angry? I didn’t know.

“Do you want to see him?”

“Yes,” she said. And I saw that she was unhappy. She didn’t want to talk about it.

“Why can’t you see him,” I asked.

“Because Mummy says that he wants to take me away from her.”

“Would you to go away with your Daddy?”

She looked at me for a second; then suddenly she began to cry.

“I want to see my Daddy,” she cried, sad and angry at the same time. “I want to see him before I die! Why doesn’t he come?”

And then she ran away. She ran fast up the hill and Nero ran behind her. My parents liked the villa so we stayed there for a week.

But I wanted to go. I was afraid. Every night the blond Allegra came to my room in her long white nightdress, and asked me to take her to her Mama. When I said no, she was always very angry with me.

And every day I talked and played with the dark-haired Allegra, Chiara’s daughter. I liked her a lot, and she liked me. We’ve a good friends. But she was like two different people. Sometimes she spoke to me angrily, like the other Allegra in the night. At other times she was happy, sweet little girl of five again. I often asked her why she thought that she was going to die. She always answered with the same words: “I know, I know.”

During that week’s holiday I began to feel love for Allegra Henderson. But there was the other Allegra who came at night. Who was she? I didn’t believe in ghosts, but I was beginning to think that she was a ghost.

The day before we left, I wrote some notes:

ALLEGRA HENDERSON

5 years old. Tall, black hair, brown eyes, pale.

Speaks English and Italian, but can’t say ‘r’.

Mother’s name Chiara. Calls her ‘Mummy.’

Wants to see her father, who lives in England.

Thinks she is going to die.

ALLEGRA THE GHOST

5 years old. Tall blond hair, blue eyes, pale.

Speaks English and Italian, but – can’t say ‘r’.

Mother’s name Claire and lives at Bagno a Ripoli near Florence. Calls her ‘Mama’.

Wants to see her mother, but her father says no.

Thinks she is going to die.

I read these notes lots of times, but they didn’t help me. Then I saw that I didn’t know anything about the ghost Allegra’s father. So I decided to ask her that night, which was our last night at the villa. I didn’t sleep much that night, I waited and waited. But she didn’t come. No, she didn’t come and I was angry! I felt sure that her father was important.

Next morning we said goodbye to the Hendersons. When I said goodbye to Allegra, I felt sad. She was sad too, and she gave me a kiss.

‘I hope that one day you will see your Daddy,’ I said to her. ‘Then you’ll be happy.’

‘Oh no,’ she answered in a strange voice. ‘Papa is dead now. He was a famous lord and he took me away from my Mama. But he’s dead now.’

We were all very surprised.

‘What are you saying, Allegra,’ Chiara said. ‘Your father isn’t a lord and he isn’t dead! What a strange fantasy!’

But Allegra only smiled, a sad smile. And that was the last time I saw her.