by Glenn Cooper
‘These men who held him. It’s true they were hired to provide a measure of local security for the Riordans but they undertook the criminal act against Joseph Murphy wholly on their own. I deeply regret their involvement.’
‘Tell me why the girls were taken in the first place?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Pole said. ‘We live in the twenty-first century, Professor. The world is fully interconnected and information flows seamlessly and instantaneously. And then suddenly, we have three teenage girls in our midst, all with a shared name, the evocative name of Mary, all who are blessed with virgin conception. You’ve seen Dr Benedict’s medical assessment. The evidence is incontrovertible.’
‘You’re the one who sent it to me.’
‘Not me personally but, yes, it came from us. We’ve thought for a while that you were someone we might be able to work with. It’s the one thing the pope and I agree on. You visited Manila and Lima. You saw the crowds of jostling pilgrims, the slums, the inadequate security. These very exceptional girls and their precious progeny were at risk. Thank God there were those with the vision and resources to keep them safe and ensure that they came to healthy, full terms. These girls and their sons belong to the world, just as the Blessed Mother Mary and Jesus Christ do.’
‘Could the girls leave if they wanted to?’
‘Why don’t you ask them that?’
‘I will.’
‘Any other questions before you’re brought to them?’
Cal chuckled. ‘Yeah, I’ve got a few. Beginnings beget middles and middles beget ends. What’s your role going to be in the next phase of whatever this is?’
Pole opened his arms to the ceiling. ‘All will be revealed.’
‘Tell me, is all this intended to be a stick in the eye of Pope Celestine?’
Pole had been sporting a benign smile up to this point. He put his cup and saucer down and said, ‘I wanted the Vatican to open a formal miracles investigation. Did the pope convene the Congregation for the Causes of Saints? No, he did not. Did he pay lip service with some kind of ex officio panel that as far as I know hasn’t even met? Yes he did.’
‘Since we’re being honest with each other, the informal panel was my recommendation and I believe the term “lip service” was actually used during the conversation.’
The smile returned to Pole’s face. ‘Honesty is so cleansing, don’t you think?’
Pole saw Mrs Torres passing through the entry hall and gave her a thumbs-up sign. Shortly afterwards Sue arrived.
‘Professor Donovan, I’d like you to meet the woman who works particularly closely with the girls. I’ve only just met her myself although I’m familiar with her wonderful work. She’ll take you upstairs. Feel free to ask her anything except for our location. Everything else is fair game.’
‘I’m Sue,’ she said, ignoring Pole and taking Cal’s hand.
‘And I’m Cal.’
It was a familiar feeling, that tingling in his chest when he first set eyes on an interesting woman. Beauty would always turn his head but it took something else to trigger that chest sensation. Sometimes it was intangible but with her it was her duality, a look that simultaneously expressed confidence and fragility. And there was something about her swinging pony-tail and piercing eyes.
Pole told Cal he’d see him again at the end of the visit and went off in search of Torres.
‘Are you comfortable with a couple of flights of stairs or would you prefer the elevator?’ Sue asked.
‘I think I can make it.’
He followed her up the marble staircase and, half a flight up, he figured out what it was about her hair. ‘You were the nurse in the videos, weren’t you?’
‘Midwife, but yes.’
‘Sorry for my ignorance. I’ve successfully avoided everything to do with pregnancies and their aftermath.’
‘How did you know it was me?’
‘Your hair.’
‘Dead giveaway. One more flight. Some of the staff live on the second floor. The girls and I are on the third. They told me you were a professor from Harvard.’
‘Do I look the part?’
‘Not really. I figured you’d be older.’
‘Listen, is there somewhere we could talk before I see them? I want to get some background on their last few months.’
‘We can use my room if you’re comfortable with that. I made my bed.’
She left the bedroom door open and had him sit on the sofa in her TV area. She opened her mini-fridge and said, ‘Limited choices. Water or wine? It’s a bit early for wine, I suppose.’
‘Is it?’ he said but when she reached for a bottle of Riesling he said, ‘Just joking. Water’s fine. Tell me, were you with the girls from the beginning here, wherever here is?’
‘I was here when they arrived, setting up for their blessed deliveries.’
‘Blessed, huh?’
‘Sorry, that’s just me being me.’
‘When you talked to the girls, did you get the idea that their parents went along willingly with their leaving?’
‘There’s a language barrier with the Marias and I didn’t want to upset them so I guess I don’t really know the details. I wasn’t there. Mrs Torres was. Maybe you should ask her.’
‘I haven’t met her. What does she do?’
‘She’s the manager of the ranch.’
‘Does Mary Riordan know about her mother?’
‘She only found out after the delivery. She’s very sad, of course. They were worried the shock would cause a miscarriage.’
‘Who’s they?’
‘I really don’t know. You may hear me say that a lot. I haven’t met anyone in charge beyond Mrs Torres. I never saw the man you were talking to downstairs. Maybe he’s the “they.” My contract’s with a company called Miracle Ranch. I’m sort of in the dark. That’s probably why they let you talk to me. I only know about the girls.’
‘How’d they find you?’
‘I answered an ad. One thing led to another. I had no idea what I was getting into.’
‘Where were you before?’
‘I’m a New Mexico girl.’
‘Could I ask? Are you religious?’
‘Funny question.’
‘Is it? I’m sorry. I’ve got religion on the brain. I’m a professor of religious studies.’
‘I wasn’t told about you. Look, it’s not as if I don’t understand the significance of what’s going on here. It’s just that I’m not sure why you want to know about me.’
‘I withdraw the question. It was intrusive.’
‘It’s OK. I’m a Christian but I’m not religious. You’re probably wondering if I’ve been affected by them. Honestly, I’ve been too busy to think about it. Maybe it’ll hit me later.’
‘How do you think the girls have adapted to being here?’
‘I think they’ve done really well. It hasn’t been without its little dramas. They were plucked out of their normal environments, away from their families, and pretty much forced to live together. Each one has her own personality and cultural frame of reference but you’ll see – they’ve bonded in a kind of sisterhood. This place has been a cocoon. They’re unaware of most of the fuss going on around the world. They’ve just heard a few snippets when they’ve called home. Now they’re all mothers, the bond’s gotten even stronger. Ready to meet them?’
Rising, something caught his eye out one of her windows.
‘Jesus, what the hell is that?’ he said.
‘Probably what it looks like. They’ve been building it ever since before I arrived. A few hundred men at times but it’s almost finished. I don’t go up there. It’s not my department.’
‘Does it worry you?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe it should. Ready?’
The girls were waiting for them in their lounge. They had all participated in making a colorful sign pinned to their cork board: Welcome Professor Donovan.
Mrs Torres and Mrs Simpauco were in the room to translate for the Ma
rias. The older babies were sleeping in a communal crib. Mary Riordan was holding her newborn.
On cue the girls all repeated the sign in English.
‘Hello, girls, I’m very pleased to meet you,’ Cal said. ‘What a lovely greeting.’
He went to each girl in turn, shaking hands, exchanging some personal words. He told Maria Aquino it was good to see her again and asked after her mother. The girl told him that she spoke to her mother every week and missed her very much. To Maria Mollo he said that he’d met her parents in Lima. That surprised her no end. She too spoke by phone with them regularly.
‘And you must be Mary Riordan,’ Cal said.
‘Process of elimination,’ she said, not making much in the way of eye contact.
‘I wanted to tell you how sorry I was to hear about your mother’s passing.’
‘Yeah, sucks,’ she said, concentrating on the baby. ‘You met her?’
‘Not me, a friend of mine told me about her.’
‘The priest?’
‘Yeah, Father Murphy.’
‘Priests have friends?’
‘The friendly ones do.’
She laughed.
‘So, this is where you all hang out?’ Cal asked.
It seemed like the girls had been rehearsed. Maria Aquino got up and with Mrs Simpauco translating, showed Cal their PlayStation and their collection of DVDs. Torres helped Maria Mollo give a tour of their art supplies and board games and took him down the hall to see the classroom where they had their English lessons.
Returning to the lounge, he saw that Sue had climbed on to the sofa next to Mary and that the girl was resting her head on Sue’s shoulder.
‘I don’t suppose you need English lessons, Mary,’ he said. ‘Are you studying anything?’
‘I’m meant to be doing course work online to keep up with where I’d be back home.’
‘Meant to be?’
She looked at him and fluttered her long lashes. ‘What are they going to do? Beat me when I refuse?’
‘Sue doesn’t seem like the beating type.’
‘Oh, I don’t know about that,’ Sue said, playfully holding a fist to the girl’s jaw.
‘The school work is bollocks. All they care about is the baby. My job was to have him,’ Mary said, sullenly, ‘and here it is.’
‘I don’t know much about babies but he’s a nice-looking one.’
‘You want to take him? I could use a pee.’
Cal stuck a hand in the pocket of his khakis, like he was fishing for change. With both hands free he bent over and awkwardly took hold of the baby. Sue counseled him to hold it to his shoulder and quickly placed a towel underneath to protect his shirt.
‘He’s a barfer,’ Mary said.
‘Hello, there, Jesus David,’ Cal said. ‘Pleased to make your acquaintance.’
He did things he’d seen people do with babies in the movies like bouncing around on the balls of his feet. Then he took a chair and cradled the baby on his lap, wiggling his forefinger over his mouth. JD took the bait and began vigorously sucking on his finger.
‘Wow,’ Cal exclaimed, ‘you’re strong.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Mary said, returning. ‘Cripples my nipple.’
Sue scolded her but the two Marias had already learned the expression from their friend and began giggling.
Cal handed JD back and asked if he could hold the other babies.
‘Which one is this?’ he said pointing to the one in the crib with the thickest shocks of brown hair. ‘I’m the worst. They all kind of look the same to me but all babies do.’
‘They do look similar, don’t they?’ Sue said, causing Mrs Torres to shoot her a sharp look.
‘Akin.’ Mine, Maria Aquino said. ‘JR.’
Cal sat down with the robust-looking infant, played with him and tested his sucking strength too. He caught Sue staring at him and self-consciously handed JR to his mother and went for Maria Mollo’s JP. The baby was still a bit of a peanut compared to the others but was catching up.
‘He was really small at birth and had some jaundice but he’s doing great,’ Sue said.
Cal was going to do his finger-sucking again when JP puked on Cal’s midsection.
‘I sorry. Please excuse,’ Maria Mollo said, garnering praise from all the women for her excellent language skills.
‘You speak English very well,’ Cal said, ignoring the spit-up and giving the baby to Maria.
‘Come on,’ Sue said to Cal. ‘Let me help you clean up.’
She took him to a bathroom down the hall and surprised him by going inside with him, closing the door.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ she demanded, turning the faucet on full and loud.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
‘Don’t give me that. The finger cots.’
Cal simply said, ‘Busted.’
He had a little rubber sheath on his pointer finger that he dipped into the spittle, rolled it off, and placed into a baggie he pulled from his pocket.
‘It’s for their DNA,’ he said. ‘You going to turn me in?’
She wet a sheet of paper towel and set about cleaning his shirt.
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘I’ve wondered how they’d test,’ she said.
He mouthed the words, thank you and said, ‘I’m supposed to get samples from the girls too if possible. Hair from brushes, tooth brushes, that sort of thing.’
‘You’re not going to stick your finger into their mouths too?’
‘I’m not good at this. I really am just a professor of religion.’
‘Any more baggies?’
He dug into another pocket.
‘I’ll get you some hair,’ she said, ‘On one condition.’
‘What’s that?’
‘You let me know the DNA results. You’re not the only one who’s curious.’
They exchanged numbers on a piece of paper towel and he used the rest to blot his shirt dry.
When he returned to the lounge he asked the girls if he could pose some questions about life at the ranch. The Marias nodded and Mary, who had put JD into the communal crib, ignored him and played with her phone.
‘So, what’s the best thing about being here?’ he asked.
‘Her!’ Maria Mollo said, pointing at Maria Aquino.
‘Her!’ Maria Aquino reciprocated.
‘What about her?’ Cal asked, playfully pointing at Mary.
‘I don’t give a toss what Minion and Eeyore think about me,’ she said.
The Marias explained their nicknames and Cal asked them if Mary had one too.
‘Baka!’ Maria Aquino said.
‘Baka?’ Cal asked.
‘It means “cow” in Filipino,’ Mrs Simpauco said.
Mary Riordan feigned insult then cracked up and threw a pillow at the girl and soon all three of them were laughing.
‘OK,’ Cal said. ‘What’s the worst thing about living here?’
Torres started to object but Cal said that George Pole had told him he could ask the girls anything he wanted.
Soon they all agreed that being away from home and their families was by far the worst.
‘Would you go home tomorrow if you could?’ Cal asked.
‘If we could take our babies with us, we’d be gone,’ Mary said. ‘We all think that.’
Sue came back in and sat with the girls on the sofa.
‘What would be the next best thing?’ Cal asked.
Maria Aquino said in Filipino, ‘To bring our families here to live with us. This is a big house. There’s room for all of them.’
‘Is that something that’s been discussed?’ Cal asked.
‘Not with me,’ Mrs Torres said acidly.
Cal looked to Sue who added, ‘If it hasn’t been discussed with her it definitely hasn’t been discussed with me.’
Torres felt a need to say, ‘Sue always thinks I know more than I do.’
‘But you must get your instructions from
someone,’ Cal said.
‘That I can’t discuss.’
Turning back to the girls, Cal asked, ‘What is your biggest hope for the future?’
Each girl said the same thing. They wanted their babies to be healthy and they wanted to go home.
‘But we’ll miss Sue,’ Maria Mollo said.
The other two girls agreed.
Sue went to each one, planting a kiss on the forehead.
‘I’m curious,’ Cal said, ‘Do any of you feel holy, like you’ve been touched by God?’
‘No, sir,’ Maria Aquino said in her language, ‘we don’t feel special. We feel like girls with beautiful babies.’
Cal knew this would be his last question. He knew the grim-faced Torres would shut him down but he asked anyway. ‘OK, one last question. Did all of you want to come here or were you forced to come?’
Mrs Torres took a series of short steps forward and turned herself into a physical barrier between Cal and the girls.
‘That’s an outrageous question, Professor Donovan. The girls will not be dignifying it with an answer.’
‘George Pole did tell me—’
‘I don’t care what you were told. The girls are my responsibility and I won’t have them subjected to objectionable questions.’
Cal smiled. ‘Well, I did say it was my last question. Thank you all for your time. As he was saying his goodbyes, Mary Riordan silently mouthed a word to him. He was certain it was: ‘Forced.’
When Sue escorted him downstairs he asked her, ‘Would it be possible for me to spend a few minutes with Mrs Torres? To talk about her experiences when she picked up the girls?’
She gave him a smile that seemed to say ‘fat chance,’ but asked him to wait. A few minutes later she returned.
‘She says she’s tied up,’ Sue said. ‘She apologizes.’
He grunted in frustration. She broke the uncomfortable silence by asking what he thought about his visit.
‘The girls seem well. But obviously, it’s a weird environment for them.’
‘Weird is a word that rattles around my head a lot,’ she said. ‘I think something’s going to happen. I don’t think things are going to stay the same.’
‘What’s going to happen?’
‘I’m in the dark but that man you were talking to?’
‘George Pole.’
‘Yeah, he creeps me out. A lot about this place creeps me out.’
