Nights in Tuscany still hold the day’s heat long after sunset. It lingers in the stone walls and the packed earth, rising in a faint breath as Rosa walks, careful to place her feet where the path dipped between olive roots. She does not carry a lantern. The night is silent, and still, and does not ask her to pretend - it covers her without question. But the night is brutal, and picks no sides. It covers the wolves in the same darkness that it covers the herd.

She did not carry a light. She counted instead.

Not because she might lose her way, but because counting gave her something to do with the nervous energy that crept in whenever the road narrowed and the trees closed ranks. The cicadas were loud, almost obscene in their persistence, but she welcomed the noise. Silence was worse. Silence meant listening for sounds that did not belong.

Seven minutes from the farmhouse to the bend in the road. Thirty steps from the bend to the fig tree. Then the gate, always unlatched, always complaining softly when pushed. She had walked it enough times that her body moved ahead of thought. The satchel crossed her chest did not swing. The paper inside it—freshly printed, still faintly damp—pressed flat against her ribs.

The churchyard twenty steps later, its low stone wall pale in the dark, the cross at its center barely visible against the sky. Rosa slowed. She always did here. The ground changed texture, packed dirt giving way to scattered needles and gravel, and she felt them through the thin soles of her shoes. The satchel at her side is heavier than it looks - paper is deceptively dense when stacked. She takes out a flyer - Né Dio Né Padrone - in red print, bold against the white paper. Places it on a bench and repeats the words to herself like a prayer. She tries to evade the irony of that fact - and she slips into the shadows once again. Tuscan nights are bipolar, and she prays that the balmy heat will not be overtaken by the wind and ruin her work.

Then the churchyard dog barked.

It was a single sharp sound at first, startling in its suddenness, followed by another, deeper and angrier. Rosa froze, one foot half-raised, her body instinctively lowering its center of gravity as if she could make herself smaller by will alone. The dog threw itself against the gate, chain rattling, nails scraping metal. It was a big animal—she could tell from the sound of it—and it barked as though insulted by her presence, as though she had broken some private agreement.

She did not move.

Her breath came shallow and fast, and she forced herself to slow it, counting again. The dog’s barking echoed off the church wall, loud enough that she imagined it carrying across the fields, reaching the nearest house. She pictured a light flicking on, a man stepping outside, pulling on his jacket and his authority in the same motion.

The dog barked again. She imagined its eyes—dark, bright with agitation—its mouth open, tongue lolling, teeth white and bared behind the iron bars. She thought absurdly of how close those teeth were to her calf, how easily they would tear through skin.

She waited.

After a moment that stretched too long to be comfortable, the barking slowed. The dog whined, paced, barked once more for good measure, then settled into a low, resentful growl. Rosa let her foot touch the ground again. Slowly, carefully, she backed away from the gate and took the long way around the churchyard, keeping the wall between herself and the sound.

By the time she reached the far edge of the trees, her heart was hammering hard enough that she pressed a hand flat against her chest, as if to keep it from betraying her. She did not run. Running made noise, and noise invited questions. Instead, she walked at the same steady pace she always did, her posture relaxed, her face composed, as though she were nothing more than a woman returning late from a neighbor’s house.

She took the long way home. At the farmhouse on the edge of the valley, she tapped twice on the back door, paused, then tapped once more. The man who answered did not speak. Neither did she. He took the satchel, weighed it with a practiced hand, and nodded once. Rosa turned and left before he closed the door, the exchange complete.

She did not breathe easily again until the lights of home came into view—one window dimly lit, the others dark. Lupo, a small, aging mutt with graying fur around the muzzle, lifted his head when she pushed open the gate. His tail wagged once, politely.

He was a foolish animal, half-grown and earnest, with ears too large for his head. He whined softly from inside, the sound rising into a thump as his tail struck the floor. Rosa smiled despite herself and slipped through the door, bolting it behind her.

“Good,” Rosa murmured, crouching to scratch behind its ears. “Good boy. Quiet,” she murmured, crouching to scratch behind his ears. Rosa pressed her forehead briefly to his warm neck and breathed in the smell of fur and dust.

Inside, the house smelled of oil and soap and the faint medicinal tang that never quite faded, no matter how much they aired the rooms. Rosa hung her jacket by the door and went straight to the basin, scrubbing her hands until the water ran pink, then clear. Ink clung stubbornly to the creases of her fingers. She left it there. Complete cleanliness was a luxury these days.

She dried her hands on her skirt and stood for a moment, listening.

From the other room came the soft, familiar sounds of Viola settling herself—the creak of the chair, the controlled exhale as she shifted her weight. Rosa crossed the room and pushed the door open. Viola was already in bed, propped against pillows, a book open but unread on her lap. The lamp beside her cast a warm circle of light that softened the angles of her face. When she looked up, her expression shifted from concentration to something gentler.

“You’re late,” Viola said, closing the book and placing it on the seat of her wheelchair beside her.

“Not by much.” Rosa crossed the room and leaned down to kiss her. Viola smelled faintly of lavender soap. “The dog was restless tonight.”

Viola’s mouth tightened. “The one by the church?”

“Yes.”

“They should move it,” Viola said. “It’s not safe.”

Rosa smiled faintly. “You know how people are. They like to feel protected.”

“And does it protect them,” Viola asked, “or just warn them when someone is passing through?”

Rosa did not answer. She slipped off her shoes, shaking loose a few pine needles that scattered across the floor, and pulled her dress over her head. The night clung to her skin, and she welcomed the cool sheets when she slid into bed. Viola shifted to make room.

For a moment they lay in silence, their breathing slowly syncing. Rosa stared at the ceiling, tracing familiar cracks with her eyes. The adrenaline drained from her body in stages, leaving behind a heavy, aching fatigue.

“You’re shaking,” Viola said quietly.

“I’m fine,” Rosa said, hurriedly.

“You say that every time.”

“You weren’t followed?”

“No.”

“Stopped?”

“No.”

Rosa turned onto her side. Viola’s hand found hers under the blanket, fingers warm and sure. “I was careful,” Rosa said. “No one saw me.”

Viola did not say this time. She squeezed Rosa’s hand instead. “Good.”

Viola nodded once, satisfied for the moment. “You’ll need to change the route tomorrow,” she added.

Outside, the cicadas continued their relentless song. Rosa closed her eyes, letting the noise wash over her, anchoring herself to the small, solid facts of the room: the weight of Viola’s hand, the rise and fall of her chest, the familiar scent of home.

For this night, Rosa let herself believe it was the only thing that mattered.