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were already familiar with the
lupara,
the ever-present Sicilian shotgun.
    Don Aprile, Astorre, and Caterina spent long summer nights eating and drinking alfresco in the luxuriant garden, the orange and lemon trees saturating the air with their citrus perfume. Sometimes old boyhood friends of the Don were invited to dinner and a game of cards. Astorre helped Caterina serve them drinks.
    Caterina and the Don never showed public signs of affection, but all was understood in the village, so no man dared to present any gallantries to Caterina and all showed her the respect the female head of the house was due. No time in his life was more pleasant to the Don.
    It was just three days before the end of the visit that the unimaginable happened: The Don was kidnapped while walking the streets of the village.
    I n the neighboring province of Cinesi, one of the most remote and undeveloped in Sicily, the head of the village
cosca,
the local Mafioso, was a ferocious, fearless bandit by the name of Fissolini. Absolute in his local power, he really had no communication with the rest of the Mafia
coscas
on the island. He knew nothing of Don Aprile’s enormous power, nor did he think it could penetrate his own remote and secure world. He decided to kidnap the Don and hold him for ransom. The only rule he knew he was breaking was that he was encroaching onto the territory of the neighboring
cosca,
but the American seemed a rich enough prize to warrant the risk.
    The
cosca
is the basic unit of what is called the Mafia and is usually composed of blood relatives. Law-abiding citizens such as lawyers or doctors attach themselves to a
cosca
for protection of their interests. Each
cosca
is an organization in and of itself but may ally itself to a stronger and more powerful one. It is this interlinking that is commonly called the Mafia. But there is no overall chief or commander.
    A
cosca
usually majors in a particular racket in its particular territory. There is the
cosca
that controls the price of water and prevents the central government from building dams to lower the price. In that way it destroys the government’s monopoly. Another
cosca
will control the food and produce markets. The most powerful ones in Sicily at this time were the Clericuzio
cosca
of Palermo, which controlled the new construction in all of Sicily, and the Corleonesi
cosca
of Corleone, which controlled the politicians in Rome and engineered the transportation of drugs all over the world. Then there were the piddling
coscas
who demanded tribute from romantic youths to sing to the balconies of their beloveds. All
coscas
regulated crime. They would not tolerate lazy good-for-nothings burglarizing innocent citizens who paid their
cosca
dues. Those who stabbed for wallets or raped women were summarily punished by death. Also, there was no tolerance of adultery within the
coscas.
Both men and women were executed. That was understood.
    Fissolini’s
cosca
made a poor living. It controlled the sale of holy icons, was paid to protect a farmer’s livestock, and organized the kidnapping of careless wealthy men.
    And so it was that Don Aprile and little Astorre, strolling along the streets of their village, were picked up in two vintage American army trucks by the ignorant Fissolini and his band of men.
    The ten men in peasant clothes were armed with rifles. They plucked Don Aprile off the ground and threw him into the first truck. Astorre, without hesitation, jumped into the open bed of the truck to stay with the Don. The bandits tried to throw him out, but he clung to the wooden posts. The trucks traveled an hour to the base of the mountains around Montelepre. Then everyone switched to horseback and donkey and climbed the rocky terraces toward the horizon. Throughout the trip, the boy observed everything with large green eyes but never spoke a word.
    Near sunset, they reached a cave set deep in the mountains. There they were fed a supper of grilled lamb and homemade bread and wine.