“That’s a good point,” he said. “But if he didn’t come this way, where could he have gone?”

“I don’t know,” said Giancarlo, beginning to pace back and forth. “But there’s something else I’ve been wondering about. What made him want to take you to a gelateria?”

“We were drinking wine made by a man named Demetrio,” Carter told him.

“Yes, I know him,”said Giancarlo. “Go on.”

“Well, there’s not much to tell,” said Carter. “We started talking about Sunday dinner, and I said that lamb was one of my favorite foods, and then . . . I don’t know . . . somehow I must have mentioned that I liked gelato.That’s when he told me about the gelateria .”

“And that was all?”asked Giancarlo.

“Pretty much,” said Carter.Then he gave a little laugh.

“What is it?” said Giancarlo.

“Nothing,” replied Carter. “I was just remembering that your brother made me laugh when he said he wished they made mushroom-flavored gelato.”

Giancarlo stopped, and gaped at him.

“Mushroom?” he said.

“Yes,” said Carter. “He said mushrooms were his favorite thing in all the world to eat.”

Giancarlo’s head was suddenly awhirl, and his heart began to pound in his chest.

“Of course,” he gasped, slapping a hand to his forehead. “Il Rifugio dei Briganti! How could I have been so stupid?”

With that Giancarlo abruptly turned and set off at once across the mountain, away from the path they had been following.

“The what?” Carter called after him as he jumped up to follow. “Rifugio Briganti? What does that mean?”

“If I’m right,” Giancarlo called back, “it means that everyone has been looking in the wrong place!”

CHAPTER 50

CHAPTER 50

Giancarlo stopped at the foot of the incline and looked up at the grove of trees that still stood near the edge of the grassy step above. He was certain that he had led them to the right place, but he saw no sign of the ancient stone structure that he expected to find.

“Is this the place?” said Carter.

“I think so,” said Giancarlo, his eyes nervously scanning the ridge up above, “but something’s not right.”

If his memory of the place was correct, they ought to have been able to see the corner of the roof through the branches of the trees. Perhaps, he speculated, the building was further back than he remembered, or the trees had grown thicker, or maybe the mist was obscuring their view. There was only one way to be sure. Though weary from the long, arduous trek to reach that spot, Giancarlo gave Carter a nudge, and the two began to scramble their way up.