• Quest for the Holy Grail

    Chapter 1



    "Infernobella, you're impossible!" Well, not impossible, just Sicilian. And stubborn.
    "I'm impossible?!? You want to sneak out of a hotel on a school field trip and find the Holy Grail, and I'm impossible?"
    Robbie and Infernobella were sitting in a treehouse midway between their respective houses, and he was losing the argument, as usual. She was speaking with her hands, as usual.
    "It's not too hard," implored Robbie, "We don't even need to leave the plaza."
    "How come you know where it is, anyways? The only person I know who knows where it is has a hat and bullwhip!"
    Robbie was a major history buff however, and had spent months researching any and everything related to the Holy Grail.
    "Well, it's obviously in Rome. That's the seat of the Pope's power. When you have the most sought-after artifact in Christendom, you're gonna keep it where you can protect it, not in some ornate ancient temple west of the third River of Eden or anything dumb like that. Pass the cookies."

    The cookies were nigh on destroyed, but a couple fragments remained on the paper plate. Infernobella’s mamma was an amazing cook, even before her family immigrated to the U.S. She named her daughter Fiorenza Campabella, but as her personality was far more kin to a wildfire than a wildflower, her nickname, from an early age, was Inferno. This got run-in with her last name and shortened, until she was the notorious, hard-headed Infernobella, ready for any sort of fight or adventure.

    "Alright." Robbie finally gave up. "I'll tell you more details when I figure them out. It might take a few months."
    "What? Months?" she interrupted. "And why can't I - "
    "Cool it, 'Bella. These things take time."
    Infernobella sighed, and rolled her big dark eyes. "Good enough. I gotta go, Mamma doesn't like it when I leave the horses out too late."
    "See you later."
    "Ciao."

    On the way home, Infernobella could hardly keep from smiling to herself. Robbie had called her " 'Bella," something that had never happened before. She wondered if he realized that the word bella meant beautiful, or if he had just gotten fed up with her arguing. She idly picked a wildflower and played with the petals as she toyed with the more favorable possibilities brought up by Robbie's use of her name.

    Robbie tidied up the fort, and then went home. The success of his plan depended on secrecy, and so he went through three months on autopilot thinking about every outcome. On the day before the trip, he slipped her a coded message.

    AIAILIDO BRKHHOPE EHSDEYLA ESOTEWYL FTTIBNLN IOGTLCWO LTUIBSOL LNTWAOUG NNHMLOIW NFEINEED OIAGTLLW RENNOBHN

    She rolled her eyes at his secrecy. He could have just written it in Italian, for heaven's sake! It's not like anyone else at school could read it! Robbie spoke Italian almost as fluently as 'Bella because they'd grown up together. Oftentimes they would converse using both, to make sure no one else could understand their plans. She sighed, and looked closer. Each sequence was in alphabetical order, she noticed, and the first letters were the letters of her name. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote them in columns, in the right order.
    I N F E R N O B E L L A
    O N T H E F I R S T N I
    G H T S N E A K O U T A
    T M I D N I G H T I W I
    L L B E O N T H E B A L
    C O N Y B E L O W S O I
    W I L L H E L P Y O U D
    O W N A N D W E L L G O

    - Infernobella, on the first night sneak out at midnight. I will be on the balcony below so I will help you down and we'll go.

    She tucked her dark, wavy hair behind her ears, a classic gesture, rolled her eyes again at his desire for secrecy, crumpled the paper up and threw it into the trash. They'd talk later at the treehouse.