A new beginning (Miracle High School Mysteries book 1)

This is an excerpt from the first chapter of my first novel.

Chapter 1

Flight Venice-Toronto, Wednesday, August 27th

Looking out of the porthole, Maria was gazing at the amazing scenery below the plane: the wonderful mountain landscape of the Alps. She had never left Italy, her home country, in her life, and this time she was not leaving for a short holiday, she was beginning a new experience in a country she had often dreamt of but she had never seen: Canada. This was the opportunity she had longed for since she had become an Italian language teacher almost thirteen years before. When Father Giulio had called her to tell her about the possibility of teaching abroad, at first she had thought it was only a dream… But Father Giulio had something more to tell her, something more difficult to hear and accept… He had given her the letter she was now holding in her hand. She’d read it a hundred times in the past months. The letter had been written by her father who had died six months before her departure. He had decided to write a long message to his daughter to reveal something he had never had the courage to tell her in person, a truth that was really difficult to digest, but that helped to explain many events in her past. She opened the letter with trembling hands and a lump in her throat and read once again.

“My dearest Maria, first of all, let me tell you that I sincerely hope that what I am writing will not affect the remembrance of the years we shared as father and daughter, especially after my wife died twelve years ago. I have learned to love you and to appreciate your sweetness, your trustworthiness and your sincerity even more, but… maybe, because of this harmony we had created, I didn’t find the courage to tell you a truth that doesn’t lessen in any way my love for you as the daughter who has given me such comfort in every moment. When your sister was eight years old, Father Giulio called your mum and me �" he knew we would have liked to have another child, but your mum had problems during your sister’s delivery and she was scared. Father Giulio told us that a very young girl (she was seventeen at that time), coming from Canada, was in Italy on a student exchange when she discovered she was pregnant. She was worried and confused, and at first, she didn’t want to keep her baby. Father Giulio convinced her to renounce the abortion, promising that, once the baby was born, she could leave her at the hospital in complete anonymity, as the law in Italy grants. Father Giulio told us that the baby was due in three months, and asked if we would consider the adoption. That wonderful little baby that was born in July was YOU, my darling.”

Maria had difficulty holding back the tears when she reached this point in the letter and she had to stop for a few moments. On one side, she thanked God that she had been adopted by her family. She had been spared living in a foster home or an orphanage. On the other hand, she understood only now her mum’s and sister’s attitudes towards her, some knowing smiles they exchanged, some harsh words they said to her… The constant hint of her not being like her sister, the veiled envy when she started to get good marks at school �" better than her sister, to tell the truth! And the painful expression on her dad’s face when he noticed this behaviour. She was, in fact, very different from her stepsister in everything, from the physical aspect to the personality.

Maria was slim but not very tall, she had shoulder-length light brown, wavy hair, a small nose and green eyes, which nobody in her family had. Her sister was tall like her dad but she was not very slim, she had dark eyes and dark, straight hair. Maria was very sweet, sensitive and generally cheerful, while her sister was pessimistic and often in a bad mood. Maria didn’t like elegant clothes, she dressed casually, she liked wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt or a sweater, her sister liked dresses, high-heeled shoes and expensive bags.

Maria resumed her father’s letter.

“I was very happy to have you in our family, to give a sister to my child, I imagined you growing up together. Your mum, instead, was not easy to convince. She kept saying that she would never be able to consider you and your sister as her two children, and in fact, she was never able to treat you as her child �" I know that and this was a cause of great distress and suffering for me, and I know, for you too. Instead of growing fond of you and of teaching your sister to love you, your mum became more and more distant and hostile as the years went by. You can’t imagine how many times I begged her to change her attitude but she never listened to me. Then, when you were at university, I implored her to tell you the truth but she never agreed. In fact, she forbade me to talk to you about your adoption… After her death, I tried to find a justification for her behaviour, but in all these years, I have not been able to find any and it surely is not your fault because you were always kind and considerate to her and you assisted her with great affection at the time of her illness.”

Maria was reliving all the harshness of her mum and sister and a great bitterness pervaded her… 

“You will certainly ask questions about your real mom, but I must tell you that we never knew her name and that Father Giulio had recently told me he has lost all trace of her since she went back to her family immediately after your birth.

My darling, I hope you will forgive me for not telling you the truth in person… If only your mum had agreed for us to speak to you! What I can tell you is that I love you with all my heart and I have always been grateful to Divine Providence for having adopted you, because you have brought affection into my existence… I hope God will help you to accept my weakness and that you’ll never doubt my love.

Your Dad”

Maria folded the letter and placed it once more in the envelope, thinking of her dad with great affection and longing. When her sister, Raffaella, was in her early twenties, she had gone to live in Bologna where she had had one boyfriend after the other but she had never introduced them to her family. She had kept at a distance until her mum had become ill, and after a few months, had died, twelve years before. In those months, she had sometimes come home to visit her. After her stepmother’s death, Maria remained with her dad and they had seen her sister just a few times, even in the last months of her dad’s life.

She couldn’t help considering these years a time of grace, because Maria and her dad had shared many pleasant and peaceful moments, especially in the evenings when they sat in her dad’s study to read or to discuss the events of the day, or at the weekends when they went together to visit a neighbouring town or a museum. They had really developed a deep understanding, and even if Maria kept wondering why her dad had not found the right time to tell her about her adoption in person, she had already forgiven him in her heart, because of the precious years together she would always cherish. She had more difficulties forgetting and forgiving her stepmother and stepsister because their attitude hurt her more now than in the past. Why had her mother always refused to tell her she had been adopted if it was obvious she didn’t love her? The answer that came to Maria’s mind was because her mum found pleasure in teasing and tormenting her. This was a terrible answer but it was the only one that she could find.

These were more or less the things Father Giulio had told her when she had gone to him the day after reading the letter for the first time, full of questions and doubts and longing for comfort and support from the man who had known her father better than anyone else.

When Maria entered Father Giulio’s parlour, she was full of anger and resentment towards her dad for not having told her the truth while he was alive, but she was disappointed in Father Giulio as well because he had not convinced her father to talk to her. The priest welcomed her with a sad expression on his face, full of sympathy for what she was going through after reading her dad’s letter.

“Come and sit down, Maria, and don’t be too fast in judging your father’s behaviour.”

Maria, looking at the old minister, had felt her frustration begin to subside. In her heart, she knew that the two people who loved her most had certainly done what they thought was better for her, but oh, how difficult it was to accept this. She had sat down on the armchair in front of the big desk.

“Oh, Giulio! Why didn’t my dad tell me? I would have certainly understood! I feel hurt, betrayed and I am wondering whether he didn’t tell me only because he was afraid of losing me and remaining alone.”

“Oh, no, Maria!” The priest had put a soothing hand on her shoulder, “he never doubted your affection for him, but telling you that you had been adopted as a baby made him feel guilty for not being able to convince your mum and your sister to accept and love you. You know, when I called him and your mom to tell them that I had convinced a young girl to give birth to her baby, your dad immediately offered to adopt you but he had a hard time convincing your mother. Then he was always aware that your mum never really accepted you and it was painful for him to see that your mother seemed to enjoy treating you in such a harsh way, and at the same time, refusing to tell you the truth. But Maria,” Father Giulio had sat down on a chair next to her and taken her hand in his, “I can assure you, your dad did everything he could to change the situation. He always loved you, even more in these last years, which he considered a blessing.”

Maria had felt tears rolling down her cheeks, and for a few minutes, she had been unable to speak, she had just let the silent presence of Father Giulio soothe her.

Finally, she had regained her composure. “Giulio, I knew that talking to you would do me good, but now I need some time to sort everything out. I don’t know if I still want to go to teach abroad, I am so sad and I feel so lonely…”

“You don’t have to take any decisions now that you are so upset, Maria, but don’t abandon your dream of teaching Italian abroad now that you finally have this opportunity. Furthermore,” he had added with a smile, “Canada is YOUR country a little, don’t you think?”

“Do you know anything about my real mum, now she should be in her fifties. Where does she live? Maybe I will be able to meet her if I go to Canada to teach, even if now I don’t know if I would like to see her after so many years…” Maria’s voice reflected the agitation she was experiencing.

Father Giulio had smiled and answered, choosing his words carefully, “ Your mum and dad never met or even saw the girl, I don’t remember her name. The Italian law protects the anonymity of the mother because she was underage at that time. I think she came from Toronto or Ottawa but she went back to her family as soon as it was possible after your birth, and I have never heard from her. Your natural father was a young Italian boy, whose family immediately convinced him not to recognize you as his daughter. So your real mum went through the pregnancy alone, supported only by our community. She was a very courageous I know she suffered when she had to leave you, but she has never kept in touch with us, maybe it was too painful for her. If she had asked to meet you, we could have revealed her name to you, but she has never tried to find you, so, even if I remembered her name, I couldn’t tell you.”

When Maria left the priest, she felt a little better but still confused. Of all the countries in the world, she had always felt attracted to Canada. Was it a sign that she had a connection with this country? Was it just a coincidence that she was being offered a job there, or was her father guiding her to discover something about her past? She had always believed that the people we love in our lives continue to follow us after their death. She had often dreamt of her dad since he had left her; in her dreams, he was always smiling and he seemed happy and this was a great comfort to her, she felt so lonely without his presence… 

After a few days, she had called Father Giulio to tell him she intended to accept the offer she had received from Miracle High School in the town of Trinity, and the priest had put her in touch with Father Mark, the director of the school. They had exchanged emails and talked on the phone a few times and she had started to like the Canadian clergyman �" he was very affable and kind, he immediately offered his condolences for the death of Maria’s father and said he was looking forward to meeting her in person. He even offered to find her a little home to rent. Maria decided she would not look for her natural mum, since she had not tried to get in touch with her daughter in thirty-seven years. She didn’t bear a grudge against her, but she just wanted to concentrate on her new life, on this new exciting experience that was awaiting her. When she had talked to Father Giulio a few days before her flight to Toronto, he had approved of her decision, saying it would be really difficult to find a person she knew so little about, and that this research would be for her only a source of grief in such an important moment in her life.