Annette took Antonias’s hand and crept down the dark staircase, towards the front door. She opened it carefully, then turned and took one last look around the hallway, before stepping out into the darkness of the vineyard.

She winked at Antonias and put her finger to her lips, to indicate to him to be quiet. Slowly, they started to walk the long path that led up to the main road.

Annette had to carry Antonias half of the way. Although he was excited by the game, he was tired, and the night air made him shiver.

As Annette got closer to the main road, she looked around frantically. She was nearly out of breath. What with the holdall and little Antonias to carry, she was exhausted.

She looked around again and finally spotted the truck. It was parked in a lay-by, with its headlights on low beam. Carlos got out and smiled at her, and then he saw Antonias and the smile faded.

Carlos had made life worth living again. Annette had met him at the vineyard – he’d been one of the many extra hired hands they used when the grapes were ready for picking. That was a busy time – when all the grapes were ripe and needed to be picked and stored quickly.

Carlos was exciting and funny. Annette had first seen him when she’d heard the loud, clanging dinner bell and looked out of her bedroom window. All the workers were coming in from the fields to the tables that were laden with food for them all, but it was Carlos who caught her eye.

Normally, Annette never bothered with anything to do with the vineyard. She didn’t like being away from the excitement of big cities, and the place had seemed like a prison to her, especially over the last couple of years. Her husband, Marias, worked all the hours God sent and seemed to expect her to settle down here, like his mother, Miriam, had, all those years ago.

Once Carlos was on the scene, however, Annette amazed the household with her sudden eagerness to help out, as she joined them outside and offered to pour the wine and help serve the food to the workers.

Some of the hired hands, men and women who temporarily worked at many farms, offering manual labour, were grateful just to have food in their bellies. The Lambrianus were good employers who paid good wages. They were a reputable family, and had worked hard all their lives. They knew the meaning of giving their workers a good meal in their bellies, and money to pay the rent. Some of the workers were regulars who came back year after year.

Annette had watched Carlos in the hot midday Italian sun, strutting around and flirting with the young women who were working there. He also laughed and joked with the older women. He was a charmer and everyone liked him. Annette certainly liked what she saw. Tanned from the sun, and wearing only shorts and a white vest, stained from all the red grapes he had picked, he would flex his strong, muscled arms, knowing that the women at the vineyard were watching him. He was vain and proud, but as poor as a church mouse.