Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Father Re wakes Pino up early in the morning before the other boys. He tells Pino to get dressed for a hike. In the dining hall, Pino meets with Father Re and Brother Bormio for breakfast. Father Re gives Pino two jugs of water, a large lunch, and an oilskin anorak in case of rain. Father Re then tells Pino to take the easy way to the Passo Angeloga below Pizzo Stella. He also tells Pino to try to stay out of sight of other people if he can help it. Pino is confused by Father Re’s instructions, but sets out on his hike.

During Pino’s journey, it begins to storm, and he hears someone shouting ahead of him on the trail. Pino can tell that the voice is angry and turns to run. After running for almost 15 minutes, Pino doesn’t hear shouting anymore and assumes that he’s lost the man.

When Pino returns to Casa Alpina, Father Re asks Pino why it took him so long. Pino tells Father Re about the rain and the encounter with the angry man. Father Re wakes Pino up the next morning for another hike. He tells Pino to flank to the north this time on his journey. As Father Re outlines the route on the map for Pino, Pino asks why he doesn’t take a faster alternative. Father Re tells Pino that he’s not interested in speed, just that Pino can find his way and not be seen. When Pino asks why Father Re doesn’t want him to be seen, Father Re replies, “I have my reasons, which I’ll keep to myself for now, Pino. It’s safer that way” (66). Father Re also tells Pino to look for the game trail that goes up and over into Val di Lei but not to climb it unless he feels ready.

Pino leaves on his hike, taking the route Father Re has outlined for him. The weather is beautiful this time and in 90 minutes he reaches the north cirque. Pino finds the goat trail and considers climbing it, but his feet hurt from the hike the day before. Instead, Pino travels to Madesimo and reserves a room at the Contes’ inn. Pino looks for Ascari at his uncle’s shop, but the shop is closed. Pino leaves a note for Ascari detailing his plan to return to Madesimo that evening.

In Madesimo, Ascari gives Pino his first driving lesson, teaching him “how to read the gauges and use them, and how to adapt to terrain, elevation, and direction changes. He showed Pino how to drift through some turns and to knife through others, and how to use the engine and gears rather than the brakes to keep the car under control” (68). Two Nazi patrols stop Pino and Ascari while they are driving and demand to know what they are doing on the road.

The next morning, as Pino is driving, he goes around a blind corner too fast and almost crashes into “a German jeep-style vehicle called a Kübelwagen” (69). Pino and Ascari make a run for it and outrace the Germans until they are out of sight.

When Pino returns to Casa Alpina, Father Re warns Pino not to provoke the Germans. He tells Pino, “I want you to practice being unnoticed” (70). The following morning, Father Re wakes Pino up for another climb, this time along a razorback ridge that climbs all the way to the peak of the Groppera. Again, Father Re tells Pino that if he doesn’t think he can make it, that he should turn back and not go any farther.  

Pino leaves at dawn to hike up the Groppera. The hike is challenging and Pino knows that he can’t afford any mistakes or he might fall down the side of the ridge. Several times during the hike, Pino becomes fearful of what might happen to him if he makes a mistake, but he can hear Father Re’s voice inside of his head telling him to “have faith and to stay alert” (72). After four and a half hours of dangerous hiking, Pino reaches the base of the Groppera. When Pino reaches the top of the ridge, he gives thanks to God and realizes that the climb “had been the greatest physical challenge of his life” (73). Exhausted, Pino takes a nap on the mountain.

Pino wakes up later in the afternoon and makes his way down the backside of the Groppera’s north cirque. By the time Pino makes it back to Casa Alpina, the sun is setting and Father Re tells him he’s late. When Pino again asks about the purpose of these climbs, Father Re offers a vague answer: “I’m trying to make you strong. You may need to be in the months ahead” (75).

In the days following, Father Re continues to send Pino on different routes to Val di Lei. Pino continues to visit Ascari on the weekends, this time practicing his driving on back roads and avoiding the attention of German patrols. One afternoon, Ascari and Pino pick up two girls, Titiana and Frederica. Pino wants to like Frederica, but keeps thinking of Anna back in Milan.

One day after hiking, Pino discovers two men and a woman talking with Father Re at Casa Alpina. Pino briefly wonders who they are, though it isn’t unusual for visitors to come to Casa Alpina. The next morning, Pino walks in on the three visitors having a heated, whispered discussion in the dining hall. They are talking about how they can’t wait any longer and wondering how much longer they will be safe at Casa Alpina. The woman of the group sees Pino and silences the other two.

Later that night in the chapel, Father Re asks Pino whether he feels confident enough to travel most of the northern route to Val di Lei in the dark. When Pino questions Father Re about this further, Father Re tells Pino that the three visitors who he saw earlier are Jews. He also tells Pino that in the last month, more than 50 Jews were executed in Meina and the surrounding villages, and that the Nazis have brought a special SS team to hunt the remaining Jews. Pino is shocked by this information and calls it evil. Father Re agrees with Pino and tells him that the pope has given an order to all Catholics to help any Jews in need of refuge or escape. Beyond Val di Lei, on the other side of the Groppera and beyond the lake, there are thick woods that lead to Switzerland. Father Re asks Pino to help guide the three Jewish visitors there to safety. Pino agrees, but Father Re also stresses to Pino that by agreeing to do this, Pino is risking his life. If Pino is caught, he will likely be executed. Pino still agrees to help and leaves the chapel “believing that he’d entered it as a boy and now exited it having made the decision to become a man” (80).

Father Re introduces Pino to the three travelers and tells them that he will be their guide in the mountains. At first, the smoking man in the group is hesitant. He asks Father Re if he has anyone older to guide them. Father Re insists that Pino knows the mountains very well and that he has faith Pino will deliver them safely to Switzerland. Pino asks the names of the three travelers. The younger man’s name is Ricardo, the woman’s name is Maria, and the older man who smokes is named Luigi. Father Re and Brother Bormio help Pino to pack supplies for the journey.

Pino, Maria, Ricardo, and Luigi leave Casa Alpina at night for the Groppera. Pino tells the group, “We speak in whispers from here on out” (85). When Luigi tries to light a cigarette, Pino takes control of the situation by telling him that any flame could possibly be seen from far off through binoculars. Pino ties the four of them together with rope as they cross the steep face of a plateau, putting Ricardo in the back as an anchor.

As they make it into the bowl at the bottom of the north cirque, Pino notices that Luigi, the smoker, keeps lagging behind the group. He coughs and hacks as he travels, and Pino must tell him to keep quiet. When Pino tells the group that they now must travel up a steep goat trail, Luigi decides to give up. He tells Pino that he can’t make it and that they should all leave him where he is to die. Pino forces Luigi to continue the journey, saying, “I promise you you’re getting to Val di Lei if I have to carry you myself” (89).

As the climb becomes more difficult, Pino distracts Luigi by asking him about his cigar shop and telling him the story about how Pino and Mimo had survived the first night of bombing in Milan. As they talk, Luigi tells Pino that his wife died from an illness, which reminds Pino of the Beltraminis. Pino distracts Luigi all the way until they reach the top of the mountain. Pino begins to feel a sense of accomplishment, having guided the travelers safely to their destination. Suddenly, a man steps out from behind a tree and points a shotgun in Pino’s face.

The man with the shotgun asks Pino who sent him. When Pino tells the man that Father Re sent him, the man lowers his gun and tells Pino, “We must be careful these days, yes?” (95). The man introduces himself as Bergstrom and tells Maria, Ricardo, and Luigi that he will take them from here. Luigi gives Pino a Cuban cigar as a thank you for getting him up the last leg of the mountain.

Father Re had instructed Pino not to make the journey back to Casa Alpina in one day. Instead, Pino is meant to spend the night in an old shepherd’s hut along the way and return to Casa Alpina in the morning. However, as Pino hikes back, he feels energized by saving people from the Nazis and decides not to spend the night in the hut. He makes it to Madesimo to stay at the inn and see Ascari.

After Pino stops to eat, he notices four men traveling in the distance. When he looks closer, Pino can see that the men are carrying rifles with them, and he begins to worry about who they are. When Pino makes it to Madesimo, Ascari tells him that a “band of partisans” was in town last night (97); they claimed to be fighting against the Nazis but were also asking about Jews. While they are talking, the innkeeper’s son, Nicco, discovers an egg-shaped object lying in the grass. He holds it out to show his friends right before the grenade explodes. Pino almost falls over due to the force of the explosion. The boys closest to Nicco and the explosion are thrown to the ground and seriously injured. Part of Nicco’s face and most of his right arm has been blown off. Pino rushes Nicco to the inn. Nicco’s mother holds him as he dies. Nicco’s father blames the partisans for his son’s death and asks Pino to send for Father Re so that he can bless Nicco’s body. Pino is determined to run the entire way back to Casa Alpina to get Father Re.

In the following weeks, Pino continues the pattern of leading travelers in small groups at night to Bergstrom at the border of Switzerland and then stopping at the shepherd’s hut on his return. The shepherd’s hut is crude, and Pino often feels lonely staying there. He attempts to comfort himself with thoughts of Anna. In December of 1943, Father Re grows worried about the increased Nazi patrols. The Nazis know that the Jews are being helped to escape. Father Re and a priest in Campodolcino come up with an improvised communication system to track Nazi patrols: if the shade in the upper floor of the rectory in Campodolcino is drawn, then the Germans are patrolling the Splügen. If the shade is up during the day or a lantern shines there at night, refugees can be safely taken up the mountain.

Mimo and Pino leave Casa Alpina to join their family for Christmas. The Lellas continue to hope that the war will be over soon, but Allied progress has ground to a halt. On New Year’s Eve, Ascari and his friend, Titiana, decide to host a party at the Contes’ inn in Madesimo. A group of four men with rifles interrupts the party. The men claim to be partisans fighting to free Italy from the Germans and demand donations from the people at the party. Mr. Conte lunges in anger at the leader of the partisans for killing his son. The leader clubs Mr. Conte with the butt of his rifle and knocks him to the floor. The leader of the group, Tito, robs Pino of his money, his hiking boots, and his leather-and-magnet money clip that Uncle Albert made for him. Tito has seen Pino in his binoculars climbing over Passo Angeloga with many strangers. Tito warns Pino to stay off those passes and that Angel’s Step belongs to them. Pino is hurt and humiliated by his encounter with Tito and leaves the party after the partisans exit.

Snow begins to blanket the mountains above Casa Alpina, so much so that it takes weeks before the escapes can resume. Father Re continues to send Pino along the Passo Angeloga route despite Tito’s warnings. Pino then finds a note nailed to the wall of the shepherd’s hut during one of his returns. The note reads: “Last warning” (109). Pino throws the note in the wood stove and uses it to light the wood inside. When Pino goes outside to chop more wood, an explosion blows open the hut door. Tito had placed a grenade inside of the stove. Father Re and Pino understand that there’s only one safe route left. Pino is worried about taking this route in the snowy conditions. He knows that “a misstep could mean death.” Father Re tells Pino that he and Mimo will guide a young family and a woman with a violin case who used to play at La Scala.

Pino realizes that the woman with the violin case, Elena Napolitano, is the woman who had played at his parents’ party the night of the first bombardment in Milan. Pino can tell from her breathing that the climb is going to be an ordeal for Mrs. Napolitano. The young family traveling with them is the D’Angelo family: “Peter and Liza, the parents, and seven-year-old Anthony and his nine-year-old sister, Judith” (112).

During their climb, Mrs. Napolitano must stop often to catch her breath. Pino doesn’t say much along the way except to offer her little words of encouragement. He understands that Mrs. Napolitano is not in the physical shape necessary to make the climb. When they reach the tail of the razorback’s spine, Mrs. Napolitano tells Pino that she’s going to go back down the mountain with Mimo because she can’t make it. Pino tells her that she can’t stay at Casa Alpina because it’s too dangerous. When Mrs. Napolitano begins clutching her stomach, Mrs. D’Angelo understands that Mrs. Napolitano is pregnant and encourages her to climb for her baby. Pino becomes afraid for Mrs. Napolitano and her baby. As they continue to help her up the mountain, Pino tells Mrs. Napolitano that she needs to leave her violin behind because of the weight. Mrs. Napolitano refuses and says, “My violin stays with me always” (114).

The snowstorm continues to intensify around the group. Pino guides the group to a catwalk and tells everyone that they must travel one by one through it. He tells Mrs. Napolitano and the D’Angelo family to put their feet exactly where he does, knowing that the snow is covering areas where there is only air underneath. Pino crosses first, followed by the D’Angelo family, and then Mrs. Napolitano. As Mimo is crossing last, Pino tells him to slow down. Mimo stumbles and falls off the catwalk. 

With Mrs. Napolitano and Mr. D’Angelo’s help, Pino pulls Mimo up over the lip of the cliff. Mrs. D’Angelo helps to bandage Mimo’s head. The two brothers feel close to one another after their life-threatening ordeal. Pino continues to lead the refugees through the snowstorm. As the storm becomes worse and Pino realizes it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see the mountain’s physical dangers, Pino decides to stop at another shepherd’s hut to wait out the snowfall. Hours later, Pino wakes up to “a sound like a locomotive engine” (126). An avalanche has buried the shepherd’s hut. When Pino opens the front door, avalanche debris has completely blocked the exit.

Pino realizes that the first thing they need to do is clear a passage up the hut’s chimney to allow airflow. After hours of chipping away at the snow and ice blocking the chimney, Pino and Mimo clear the blockage. Next, Pino, Mimo, and Mr. D’Angelo begin to dig their way out of the hut. Using ice axes, a hatchet, and a small metal shovel, the three dig a tunnel leading from the front door and eventually make it to the surface.

After the group makes it back aboveground, they begin to head toward Val di Lei. However, Mrs. Napolitano says she can’t go any farther. She’s begun spotting blood and if she moves any more her child might die. While Mimo leads the rest of the group on to Val di Lei, Pino decides to carry Mrs. Napolitano on his back as he skis down the remainder of the mountain, carrying her violin out in front of him as a counter-weight. As Pino skis with Mrs. Napolitano down the mountain, Mrs. Napolitano begins to laugh.

At the base of the mountain, Pino meets Mr. Bergstrom. When the group makes it into Switzerland, the refugees thank Pino and Mimo for what they’ve done for them. Mrs. Napolitano asks Pino if she can repay him. Pino asks her to play “Nessun Dorma,” the same song his father and Mr. Beltramini had played in the countryside, as he and Mimo make their way back into Italy.

Two months have passed since Pino and Mimo guided Mrs. Napolitano and the D’Angelo family to Switzerland. Pino notices that he’s gotten much stronger from all the hiking he’s been doing in the mountains. Pino hears shouting outside the front door of Casa Alpina. Pino and Brother Bormio open the front door to find Tito and his group of partisans holding Father Re at gunpoint. Tito tells Father Re that he’s collecting money that is owed to him from the boys at Casa Alpina using the mountain paths that belong to him. Tito says the money is going to help the resistance fight the Germans, but Father Re knows that Tito is not actually a part of the resistance and that he uses that as an excuse to extort people. When Tito threatens to burn down the school and kill everyone in it, Father Re decides to give him money and three days’ rations.

As Father Re and Brother Bormio are gathering the money and food, Tito taunts Pino about the New Year’s Eve party where he last saw him. Tito hits Pino between the legs with the butt of his rifle and drops Pino to the ground. Father Re comes back outside and tells Tito to stop what he’s doing “or by God, I’ll call the Germans up here and tell them where to find you!” (145). Pino kicks Tito in the kneecap and knocks him over. Jumping on top of him, Pino punches Tito in the face, breaking his nose. Tito’s men eventually drag Tito away from Casa Alpina despite Tito’s orders to shoot Pino and Father Re. Tito tells Pino that it isn’t over for him.

After Pino and Father Re go back inside for breakfast, Pino sees a new group of refugees enter the dining hall. Father Re asks if Pino can lead another hike in the morning, and Pino agrees. Father Re then instructs Pino to go to the chapel tower and watch for the signal from Campodolcino about the German patrols. Through his binoculars, Pino can see the shades drawn in the rectory, meaning there is a German patrol of some kind in the Splügen drainage. Thirty minutes later, Pino sees the shades have come up, meaning the patrol has passed. Pino decides to climb down the chapel spire and take a nap in one of the pews. When Pino wakes, he hears a bell ringing in the church in Campodolcino.

Through his binoculars, Pino can see that the blind on the left window is closed and there is a flashing light coming through the window on the right. Pino realizes that the flashing light is Morse code and copies down the message. Pino doesn’t know Morse code, so he rushes the message to Father Re and Brother Bormio. Brother Bormio reads the message: “Nazis to Motta.” Father Re decides they must hide the refugees. Pino has a plan for hiding the refugees.

An hour later, Pino watches as a Nazi patrol makes its way toward Casa Alpina. Through his binoculars, Pino recognizes Rauff as one of the men in the lead vehicle. Pino becomes very worried about if his plan will work. When Rauff makes it to the front gate of Casa Alpina, Father Re greets him. The Nazis have heard rumors about Father Re and his school, and Rauff is there to search the grounds for refugees. He also tells Father Re that Giovanni Barbareschi, the seminarian Pino met in Milan with Cardinal Schuster, was arrested on forgery charges.

As Father Re gives Rauff a tour of Casa Alpina, Rauff sees some of the boys chasing an ox from the woods. Mimo tells Father Re that they have the rest of the oxen surrounded in the woods but can’t get the others to follow them out. Before Father Re can reply to Mimo, Rauff tells Mimo, “You must form a V and get the first one going where you want. The others will follow” (156). Rauff grew up on a farm and offers to help Mimo and the other boys coral the oxen. Rauff brings four men with him into the woods and helps lead the oxen out. Rauff doesn’t notice that the oxen have trampled the footprints of the refugees hiding high up in the trees. After retrieving the oxen, Rauff remains suspicious, and his men leave Casa Alpina. When the German lorries are far away from Casa Alpina, the boys break out into cheers.

Father Re congratulates Pino on his plan for hiding the refugees from Rauff. The boys of Casa Alpina and the refugee family toast Pino in the dining hall. As they are celebrating, Ascari appears with an urgent message for Pino from Michele: It is a matter of life and death.