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flatlands now replaced by rolling hills that would soon give way to the mountains. It wouldn’t be long before they reached the Abruzzo region.
    â€œI hope I didn’t miss my stop,” said Peppi, stretching his arms and legs.
    â€œWhere are you traveling to, Signore?” the young woman asked.
    Peppi turned back from the window. “Sulmona,” he answered. “And from there to Villa San Giuseppe.”
    â€œVilla San Giuseppe,” she repeated. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”
    â€œIt’s a little paese, outside the city.”
    â€œI’ve heard of it,” the young man offered, hoping to join the conversation. He might just as well have been talking to himself for all the heed the young woman paid him.
    â€œForgive me,” she said to Peppi, “you look like an American, but your Italian is very good.”
    â€œI am an American,” Peppi replied. “But I was born in Villa San Giuseppe.”
    â€œAh, going there to visit family?” she said brightly.
    â€œNo, I’m going there to live.”
    â€œTo live, how nice!” said the young woman. She paused and glanced at the ring on Peppi’s finger. “Is your wife already there?” she asked.
    Peppi shook his head. He glanced over at the young man, who immediately understood the look in Peppi’s eyes. The young man gave a little cough, hoping the young woman would get the hint.
    â€œOh, then she’s waiting for you back in America,” she continued, oblivious to him.
    â€œNo, Signorina,” said Peppi gently. Then he explained to her that Anna had recently passed away.
    â€œO, Dio!” the young woman cried, throwing her hands up. “You poor thing, I’m so sorry for having asked.”
    â€œDon’t worry,” Peppi assured her. “I’m sorry for having told you.”
    Upset with herself at having made what she obviously considered a terrible blunder, the young woman sat there fretting for a time about how to make up for it. The fashion magazine on her lap no longer held any interest for her. She tossed it aside and looked at Peppi with sympathetic eyes.
    â€œI know it’s none of my business, Signore,” she said at last, “but I can’t help asking. Why are you going back there to live all alone? Where will you go?”
    Peppi shrugged and looked out the window. Just then the train entered a tunnel. All went dark for a few moments and the only sound he could hear was the muffled roar of the wind caught between the train and tunnel walls. Just as quickly, the train burst back into the sunlight, the mountains now rising all around them. Peppi turned away from the window and saw the sincere look of concern in the young woman’s eyes. Even the young man had set aside the newspaper to pay attention. Peppi looked at them both and smiled.
    â€œWhat is your name, Signorina?” he asked.
    â€œLoredana.”
    â€œMine’s Claudio,” the young man added.
    â€œAnd yours?” said Loredana, giving Claudio only the vaguest hint of acknowledgment that they were on the same train together.
    â€œMy friends call me Peppi,” he replied.
    â€œTell us about it, Signor Peppi,” said Loredana. “Please, tell us where you are going.”
    â€œIt’s a long story,” Peppi said.
    â€œAnd it’s still a long way to Sulmona,” she replied.
    Peppi gazed at her for a time. He smiled again, for there was something pure and irresistible in her youthful eyes. Peppi had never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, particularly in the company of complete strangers. All the same, he could see no harm in talking about his life and the simple plans he had made for what was left of it. If nothing else, it would help pass the time. Peppi sat there for a moment, rubbing his chin.
    â€œWhere do I begin?” he wondered aloud.
    Loredana smiled. “Begin at the beginning,” she