Chapter 10
“Caterina, where are you?” After the earthquake subsided, Ava scrambled from her bed and raced upstairs to Caterina’s bedroom. Her daughter’s rumpled bed was empty. She called out again for her, but there was no answer. Wearing a thin silk nightgown, she sprinted barefoot through the house in the dim morning light searching for her daughter, but she was nowhere to be found. Adrenaline and terror flooded her.
The back door slammed, and she heard Nina and Raphael yelling for her. She ran back downstairs, sidestepping broken vases and windows in her path. A shard of glass cut her heel; she yanked it out and hurried on.
“Dios mío, are you okay?” Nina ran to Ava and hugged her, crying and praying in Spanish. Juliana trailed behind, her dark tangled hair tumbling around her shoulde
