noon
It was then that they remembered that it was Easter Sunday . `` If we were at home , we should now be hunting Easter eggs and sugar lambs in the garden , '' whispered Beppina . `` Teresina said there would n't be any there , anyway , '' Beppo answered , winking very hard ; and then neither one said anything for a long time . All day long the donkeys plodded up the steep slopes , only stopping by the wayside for rest and food at noon . It was evident that Luigi thought best to keep to the least-frequented mountain ways , so all through the sunny hours the sad little travellers walked behind the van , or climbed inside to rest their weary feet , not knowing where they were going and not daring to ask . At sunset they reached the crest of a high hill , and , looking back , they could see far , far away in the purple distance , the twinkling lights of the city of Florence , looking like a sky full of stars fallen to earth . On the slopes of nearer hills there were other twinkling lights like chains of jewels winding in and out among the trees .