“We’ll begin here, at Rome,” said Giancarlo, tapping his pencil on the map.

With Carter watching and listening, Giancarlo pointed out Milan, Venice, Naples, and the other major cities. Italy, he explained, was divided into regions, somewhat similar to America’s states, each with its own capital. The regions were organized into provinces, and the provinces in turn into municipalities, the towns that dotted the map around the larger cities. As detailed a map as this one was, it still could not show the innumerable frazioni, the little hamlets and villages surrounding the municipalities. Giancarlo went on to discuss the topography of Italy. He described the Apennines, a mountain chain that ran the length of the country, and the Alps and the Dolomites, which separated Italy from the rest of Europe, to the north. As his hand roamed across the map, Giancarlo would pause now and then to point out a popular tourist destination or some place of historical interest—and there were many, Carter discovered.

It was all very interesting, and Carter paid close attention. Just the same, as il Professore rambled on, he found his thoughts wandering to Elena. He was truly grateful for the detailed overview of the country, but in truth there was at the moment only one place in all of Italy about which he really wanted to learn.When at last Giancarlo paused, Carter could not keep himself from asking the question that was foremost on his mind.

“Roccasale?” he asked. “Where is it?”

Giancarlo clicked his tongue and shook his head, though from his bemused look it was plain that he had anticipated the query.

“Sempre la donna,” he harrumphed. “Always the woman.”

“Sorry, Professore,” shrugged Carter.“But I really need to know.”

“I thought as much,” replied Giancarlo. Then he leaned over the table and lowered the tip of his pencil onto the map. “It is here,” he said, tapping a region in the approximate center of the country, “in the east of Abruzzo. First you find Pescara, here on the Adriatic coast. You see? And then you go inland this way, toward the mountains.” As he said this, Giancarlo moved the pencil a short distance across the map, until it came to rest on a little dot labeled ROCCASALE.

“So that’s it,” said Carter, unaware that he was smiling from ear to ear. He looked up at his teacher. “Have you ever been there?”

“Oh yes, I’ve been there,” said Giancarlo matter-of-factly.

“Tell me, what is it like?”