by Mary Pearson
“What…?”
“Your mom said to hurry. She’s almost out.”
“Oh.” Sofia quickly gathered the plates and brought them to her mother.
“Can you help serve?” Her mother thrust a pitcher into Sofia’s hands. Having no choice, she got to filling cups. Although she pasted a smile on her face her mind was going at the speed of light. She had nearly convinced herself that the Pillar episode had been all imaginary. Now the Hall was back. Of course she could ignore it. She should ignore it. That snake thing was in there somewhere. Maybe it could even get loose out here in the parish hall. Where had she stashed that St. Michael prayer, anyway! Maybe she could recite it by memory, though. “Saint Michael, the Archangel,” she muttered under her breath, “defend us-”
“What was that, Honey?” Her mother was staring at her with concern.
“Nothing,” she said, resolving to ignore the door. She smiled and handed a glass to the next lady in line.
Chapter 9
But it wasn’t easy. Every day at lunch when she looked into the corner she could see the brass marker. No one said a thing about it, not even when she pointed it out. They just shook their heads, like she was seeing things or something.
Of course Grampa Jack believed her. He even believed about the dream. He had given her another Saint Michael card and she had prayed it faithfully every day, but the marker was still there, waiting. For her. After seven days she decided to get it over with.
Sofia waited until everyone had left for the school day and then she veered across the street to the church. Thursdays, adoration of Jesus was scheduled. For ten minutes she stayed in the main part of the church with the other adorers. Then, pretending that she needed to use the washroom she slipped downstairs to the basement. She went into the washroom area and faced her reflection in the mirror: thin, pale, blond. She was tiny. Why her? Why was she the only one who could see the door with the brass marker? She splashed water on her face and dried it roughly with a paper towel. Now her cheeks were rosy splotches in her almost ghostly face. If there was no way of avoiding this she might as well get it over. She prayed one more Saint Michael prayer and left the washroom, the automatic lights clicking off as the door shut behind her.
Scanning the basement she saw no one, so she hastily crossed the great hall and made her way to the little door under the stairwell. She reached for the knob.
Chapter 10
As the door clicked shut behind her, she could see the blue glow at the end of the dark hallway, this time on the opposite side. She could hear the faint hum. She could smell the scent of roses, freshly picked. There was no sign of the snake. Before she could change her mind she made herself take the necessary steps down the hall toward the statue in the circle of blue. It was Mary with a different face, but still the eyes were the same. In her arms she bore a wreath of roses. Dropping her backpack at her feet, Sofia read aloud, softly. “Our Lady of the Rosary.” That was all it took. She started to whirl. This time the trip was mercifully snakeless. She landed in a white fog which was covering a field of red roses. Mary was there. “Where am I?” Sofia gasped, when she found her voice.
“We are in a dream.” Mary’s voice was distant and melodic, like bells.
“Whose dream?”
“His name is Dominic. He doesn’t know we’re here yet. Gather roses for me.” She gestured, so Sofia stooped down to pick, handing the delicate stems to Mary one at a time while the Virgin, effortlessly, formed them into a wreath. “Enough,” she said when the circle was complete. “Now we wake his mind.”
At this, another, more ghostly, figure of a man entered the field. He was bearded and dressed in clerical robes. He looked around in wonderment at the roses, the fog, and the Lady. He didn’t seem to notice Sofia. “Lady, why have you come to me?”
“There is a cancer in the church,” she prompted.
“Yes.” Dominic spoke as if to himself. “Many have come to believe that creation is of the Devil and the things of the earth are all evil. I cannot find the words to convince them that creation is from God.” He wrung his hands and looked up at the Lady. His face was forlorn. “This heresy, it grows more by the day.”
The wreath of roses in her hands disappeared and in their place she held a string of glittering red beads. She handed these to the startled man. “Ask them to pray my prayer, and do not worry,” she said with her bell voice. “My Psalter is powerful against all troubles. I will intercede with my Son. The church will be healed.” Then all began to shimmer and once again Sofia was whirling in a grey haze.
Chapter 11
“St. Dominic didn’t invent the rosary,” Grandpa Jack swung his computer chair around to face Sofia, “but he did do a lot to promote it.” He met Sofia’s eyes as he spoke gravely. “It was called the Albigensian Heresy and, yes, it was defeated through a grass roots rosary campaign. But the concept came from the first martyrs of the church who wore crowns of roses as they were led to their death. Afterwards the believers would pray a prayer for each rose in the crown. The actual prayers evolved over time-- at first they were Jewish psalms, but only a genius could memorize very many. The rosary is repetitious, but it’s meant to be meditated-- especially during times of stress or peril. What I’d like to know is what all of this has to do with my granddaughter?”
Sofia shrugged. She had absolutely no idea why these things were happening to her or what she was supposed to be doing. But she did have the feeling, kind of an inward dread, that she was supposed to be doing something, and that there was no way of escaping it.
Chapter 12
Guadalupe
“What’s up with you?” Anna slammed her locker door and faced Sofia. “You’ve been really quiet for the past few weeks.”
“You should talk.” Sofia grabbed the books she needed for Spanish class. “You haven’t been at dance practice the last two times.”
“I’m surprised you noticed.” She rolled her eyes and Sofia now noticed how puffy and red they looked. “I had something better to do.”
“Like what?”
“Like none of your business.” Anna must have realized how abrupt she sounded because she shrugged. She was looking at her hands when she said, “I really don’t want to talk about it.” Now her eyes looked up to meet her friend’s. “Not yet.”
Sofia and Anna had never kept secrets from each other. There was a pause before Sofia answered. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Anna nodded and cleared her throat. “You, too.”
Chapter 13
How could Sofia tell her friend about the Hall of Apparitions? She’d think Sofia needed good psych meds. And it wasn’t just Anna who was acting strange. Her younger sister barely talked to Sofia anymore. Emily just nagged their parents for a room of her own. Daily. It was kind of insulting, not that Sofia would mind having the extra space. But she would miss having Em there. Wouldn’t her sister miss her…?
Considering her previous avoidance of the Hall of Apparitions, it was strange that the only thing which was going well for Sofia was these secret adventures. But then there had been no snake-thing. Only the Lady and the rosy dream field. Sofia closed her eyes and tried to remember the Heavenly scent of those roses. But she couldn’t. She sighed. She found herself looking forward to her next opportunity. Every day she looked for the bronze HA marker but it was never there.
And then, on the seventh day from her trip to St. Dominic, all of a sudden the marker was back.
Chapter 14
She knew she was in trouble almost from the moment the little door shut behind her. She could hear them in her mind. Drums. Steady like a heart beat-- or maybe it was just her own heart pounding in her ears. Sofia took a deep breath and tried to think the rhythm away… impossible. It was getting stronger. The sound made her think of snakes. She could almost see the strange light down the little hall pulsing with the beat. The snake.
Sofia quickly turned and grabbed the door handle but it was locked. She screamed and pounded but her efforts wer
e swallowed up in the drum beat. Desperately she gave the door knob everything she had and threw in a body slam. It didn’t budge. It was inevitable. There was no choice but to face her fear.
When people would ask her later how she had ever been brave enough to walk down the hall toward that light with its evil snake pulse she would tell them it was as though a calm dropped over her like a cloak. She knew she had no choice but, weirdly, she also knew she wasn’t taking this trip alone. Maybe it was St. Michael. Before she took the first step, she had clutched the little card Grandpa Jack had given her. Too frightened to remember the words, her fear melted away, and she began to walk.
This time, instead of blue, the statue was bathed in golden light. There was the Virgin wearing a dusty rose dress covered with gold flowers and with a teal mantle covered with stars. She was standing in front of a sunburst and on top of the moon. “Our Lady of Fatima,” Sofia read aloud. And then the devil drums became deafening as she spun. Like those horrible fair rides that you wish you’d never stepped in, it never seemed like it would end. Just darkness and whirling until she thought she would vomit.
And then there was light.
Sofia found herself on the top of a hill which was covered with exotic flowers. When she saw the Lady, who was also Mary, it was as though she were seeing her own mother. She threw herself into her arms and sobbed like she had not since she was a little child. After she was past her fear she realized she was clinging to the Queen of Heaven. Embarrassed, she backed away, “I’m sorry,” she stuttered.
The lady, who was barely older than Sofia smiled. “Am I not your mother?”
And Sofia knew in the core of her soul that it was so. “But why was I so afraid?”
“You were feeling the combined fear of hundreds of thousands of innocent people who were offered in sacrifice to the false gods of the sun, moon and stars on this very hill. This moment I bring my Son to them.” She beckoned to the area below the sash of her gown. “Listen.”
Sofia leaned into the Virgin and there where the woman was pointing she could hear another heart beat. Very like the sound of the fetal monitor which recorded her cousin’s heartbeats when her mother had taken her to visit Aunt Nicole before Fred-Therese was born. Then she knew that the Holy Queen was pregnant.
“It is the sound of Love,” she said, the faintest smile upon her lips. Then, tilting her head, she said, “He is come.”
And she floated down the hill, a dazed Sofia tripping in her wake.
“Juanito,” she said to the little old man who was standing there, “Where are you going?”
“Loveliest little Mother, My uncle is ill and he calls for a priest,” the man stammered.
“Do not worry about your uncle. He is better now.” She gestured upwards. “The sign you seek is on the hilltop. Gather them.”
Chapter 15
“And the rest is history,” Grandpa Jack settled back in his chair. He pulled up the story of the Image of Guadalupe. “The little man, Juan Diego, opened his cloak-- it’s called a tilma, and it’s made of cactus fibers. The flowers cascaded to the ground -- flowers which could not possibly have grown on that hill at that time -- and imprinted on the cloak was an image of the Lady.” He clicked a few keys. “Is this what she looked like?”
Unable to speak, the shock of seeing her so exactly as she was, Sofia nodded.
“Here’s what’s cool. It’s still here, 480 some years later, even though they tried to destroy her with a bomb.” He showed her a picture of a mangled iron crucifix which had been beside the image, protected only by glass. “And,” the old man’s eyes sparkled with mischief, “they say she is alive.”
Sofia’s eyes were huge. “What do you mean… alive?”
Her ‘body temp’ stays at 98.6, like any human being. Her pupils dilate when you shine light into them, and there is a heartbeat under her sash. A baby heart beat.” Grandpa Jack let this sink in.
“I heard it, too,” Sofia said.
“My computer can show us a lot.” Grandpa Jack’s eyes blazed into hers. “And we know why she went to help them at that time… but the one thing it can’t answer is why she has chosen you.”
Chapter 16
Lourdes
“You’re a McGuire,” he said. “I can see it through the eyes.”
“My mother’s parents are McGuires,” Sofia admitted. She was uncomfortable with this stranger, all dressed in black. He had called out to her from the no-longer-vacant Blom house as she was walking home from Grandpa Jack’s.
“I see you with your little sister in church. She’s a beauty, too. Just like Donna-- did I mention that I knew your aunt?”
Sofia shook her head. She just wanted to leave but he was blocking her with his body. Casual, but impassable. He made her feel the same way that the snake had-- not that she could put her finger on the reason why. “What was your name?”
“A-l-i,” he said each letter.
“You don’t look Muslim,” Sofia said. He didn’t. Although his hair was jet black, his eyes were blue, his skin pasty white.
“I’m not.” He finally stepped out of her path, sauntered over to the house and leaned against the cracked pillar which supported its sagging veranda. He smiled showing crooked dirty teeth. “I may seem mysterious… but I bet we’ll get to know each other pretty soon.”
Sofia shivered. She knew she should be polite but her gut told her this man was no one she should “get to know”. She just shrugged and tried to walk away casually, but the skin on the back of her neck was prickling and it was all she could do to keep from running. She refused to look back but in the distance she could hear his hollow laugh.
Chapter 17
“Anna! I put your garbage cans in the back.”
“This guy gives me the creeps,” Anna whispered under her breath.
“What…? Oscar?” Sofia gave the sturdy little fellow her biggest smile. “That was nice of you,” she thanked him for her friend.
Oscar was staring at Anna like she was a cupcake or something and if it were anyone but him it would have been quite awkward. Oscar had always been a fixture in the neighborhood. He worked at the center which employed challenged people and he went to their church. His eyes were too close together. His back was a bit hunched. He wore kiddy cartoon clothing. Sofia had always liked him.
“There’s a party at the roller rink,” Oscar continued to stare at Anna, star struck. Remembering himself, he fished in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled flyer announcing the event. He handed the paper to the object of his admiration.
Anna shook her head. “Don’t think I can make that one,” she said, without looking at the date.
“Maybe next time?” Sofia suggested at his crestfallen look.
“Don’t encourage him,” Anna said, after he had left.
“We could both go. He’s sweet. And he carries our packs for us,” Sofia said, following her friend through the hallway, depositing her pack where they hung their coats.
“For you. And like I said, he creeps me out.” Anna’s look said the matter was closed, so Sofia didn’t push it. She didn’t want to have her friend retreat again. She had been pleasantly surprised when Anna had asked her over to study. Maybe now Sofia could figure out what was troubling her friend.
Chapter 18
“My parents are getting a divorce,” Anna said, playing with her jacket string. “Dad moved out two weeks ago. My mom is on a date with some guy from her office.”
“Oh, Anna!” Sofia didn’t know what to say. It was no wonder her friend was so upset. “Are you okay? Will you have to move?”
Her friend looked like this had never occurred to her. “I’m not moving!” Her tone was belligerent. “This is my house!” Then her chin began to tremble and all Sofia could think to do was hug her.
“I’ll bet you could move in with me for awhile. I’m sure my mom would let you.”
“I don’t want to stay with you.” Anna sniffed. “I want my own home and my own life.”
Then the
re was a silence during which Sofia couldn’t help but think of how unfair the whole thing was. Why don’t children ever get a vote? “What time is your mother coming home?”
“Who knows? She told me ten o’clock, but the last time she said that it was two.”
“Then I’ll stay here with you.”
“Would your mother let you if my mom’s not home?”
“If we don’t tell her.” Sofia felt an instant twinge of guilt. She couldn’t remember the last time she had lied to her mother.
“You’d do that for me?”
Sofia nodded gravely. She couldn’t leave her friend all alone. There were lots of creeps in the neighborhood. She shuddered, thinking of that Ali.
Anna’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”
Chapter 19
Sofia would have liked to have been able to say they had a great time that night but, in truth, Anna burned the mac and cheese she made for dinner, she was hopeless for conversation but she didn’t want to play any games or watch a movie. Sofia almost felt like she made no difference being there. Anna just seemed to be waiting for the sound of her mother coming home, which she finally did at 12:30. Then, at least, they were able to really sleep.
A few days later Anna started to wear black all of the time and the following weekend, while Anna’s mother was out on another date, Sofia helped her friend dye her hair black.
Chapter 20
“What did your mother say?” Sofia asked her the next Monday at school.
Anna rolled her eyes. “She said I look pretty this way.”
Well, she did, Sofia supposed. In a dangerous and slightly disturbed way. “So, am I gonna see you at dance practice tonight?”
