"Is everything alright? It happened again, didn't it? That thing that flusters you..."
Elio neither answered nor hugged her back. He was still far, far away, deep in his thoughts. He could not feel on his skin the warmth of her embrace. It was as if he were made of stone.
Gaia slightly let him go as Elio came to his senses.
The first thing that he did was check if that odd manuscript were still there where he had seen it, or if he had only imagined it.
Unfortunately, it was still there. And his stare turned cold once again.
Gaia noticed what had just happened and walked towards the old volume. She wanted to see if it was the cause of her brother's distress. She analyzed the trajectory of Elio's stare.
He was precisely staring at that old book. She turned around and grabbed it. And with the book in her hands, she addressed him:
"Is this the reason why you are so creeped out?"
Elio did not mutter a single word.
"Elio, talk to me. I can't help you if you insist on shutting me out."
"The train." whispered Elio.
"The train? What do you mean?"
"I saw exactly the same book on the train."
"What's weird about that?"
"This weird old man was reading it when you were off to the restaurant car. He was sitting in the row beside mine.
"A lot of people read books when they're travelling."
"But it's not an usual book, can you not see it?" replied Elio, who was getting upset.
Actually, Gaia had not noticed how particular the cover of the book was, and she looked even more astonished when she opened it.
It was written in a foreign language. The black and white pictures were portraying odd figures standing against some woods and full moons. Most of those figures were distressing,
but she pretended not see them. She immediately closed the book and threw it in the corner.
"Come on, it's just a coincidence. It's just an old book."
Elio remained silent; his ears were ringing again.
The young girl tried distracting him, although those spectral images were not leaving her mind.
"Come on, help me move these boxes towards the light. And let's make some space under the skylight. That's where I want our bed to be. Unfortunately, we'll have to sleep in the same bed, and I want to fall asleep under the starlight."
They worked all morning at a good pace. Gaia managed to distract Elio with her gab and he seemed to be reacting with more energy after what had happened.
They spent most of the afternoon tidying everything up until aunt Ida encouraged them to freshen up a little bit. That night Ercole was coming back home and they wanted to celebrate.
Libero had promised that he would take them dancing at the harvest festival that was going to be held in town.
They heard the sound of a car's horn honking. It was the old local bus that would pass by twice a week. After going through different neighbourhoods of the city, it would eventually reach their town. Usually, kids would use it to go back from the summer camp in Tresentieri, a wood not too far from the main town.
Libero jumped out of the house, and, as usual, he lifted up his brother, who did not even manage to his massive backpack, and spun him around up to the front door. After Ercole had managed to move out from the "squeeze" position, he had to deal with his mother.
He was happy about that expression of affection, but it seemed to him they were slightly overreacting considering that he had been away only for five days.
He affectionately kissed Gaia on her cheeks, whom he found very pretty, and coldly said hello to Elio, because of whom the TV and his beloved video-games were gone.
Ercole was the same age as Gaia, and just like a greek hero, he was tall, muscly and athletic, and he was in the local wrestling team.
His black hair was combed in a crew cut. His dark eyes and olive skin made him look more rugged that he actually was. In fact, he was a good-natured boy, incapable of holding grudges.
Dinner was served earlier than usual so that they had plenty of time to get ready for the festival. They had hours before the actual festival, but Ida had prepared a real feast for the occasion, and they needed all that time only to pass on to everyone all the dishes.
After that, they would be set to go.
All the men in the house had to wait longer than expected, of course. Both Ida and Gaia were taking ages. Elio was not in the mood. Plus he thought that the outfit he had showed off all day was more than appropriate. Ercole put on a pair of jeans and an exorbitant amount of hair gel.
Among the boys, Libero took the longer. He did not get out of his bedroom until he was fully ready. He looked lively with his blue capri pants and his multi-colored shirt that would have looked excessive on anyone, but was great on him.
His eyes were sparkling. It was one of the festivals he enjoyed the most.
As soon as everyone got ready, Elio tried escaping that torture, but was caught up in his auntie’s enthusiasm, who looked unrecognisable. She was wearing a black flowery dress, high-heeled shoes and her hair was loose on her shoulder. Moreover, she had put make up on her face. She took him under her arm and escorted him outside.
Along the way, they could admire the lights, the little flags and the decorations that were set up by the organizers of that year's festival.
On the edge of the road, bales of hay in all shapes were decorating the town.
In the city centre, the war memorial was surrounded by enormous wheels made out of straw.
The main square was hosting the stage where the marching band would be performing.
All around the dance floor, all the chairs were occupied by the elderly, who were chatting and waiting to admire all the young things dance. The younger kids were already running around the dance floor, imitating the adults that would have to avoid them during the dances.
That night everybody in town was talking about the arrival of Gaia and Elio. The elderly and the adults were recalling the old times when the two siblings would come into town.
People had different views: Some of them would recall them as two hotheads, some others as good kids. Their old friends, on the other hand, were remembering the old the times they would skip school and get lost in the fields.
Someone would say that Elio looked like his father, some others would say that Gaia did. Others would try and solve the mystery by saying that they looked like their grandparents.
In the meantime, the marching band was rehearsing. Everything was almost ready. The host, or stated more correctly, the man that every year was responsible for speaking from the stage, invited to the stage by the local authorities.
He finished up his speech by thanking the sponsors, whilst all the town dwellers were utterly uninterested in what he was saying and began yawning. Shortly after that, the audience broke into an applause hoping that the host had finished his speech for good and he would finally leave space for the band.
When it was announced that the host would be stepping down, the wilder applauses broke out. The orchestra's conductor jumped onto the stage and began waiving the baton around. At that precise moment, the trombone kicked in, followed by the drums, then by the saxophones and lastly by the clarinets.
Libero was the first to throw himself on the dance floor, accompanied by his favourite partner with whom he would always start the dance. Surprisingly, Libero was a graceful dancer and all the local women were used to enjoy at least one dance with him. He would give attention both to the younger girls and the older women. He loved to dance