TWISTED DESTINATION - TRIMVIRATE

CHAPTER 9

 

  AT THE CHURCH

  THAT SAME TIME

  When Mother Maria took Lucy to the priest and told him what she was telling others, a young priest called Father Gustavo who also grew up at the monastery next to Lucy’s nunnery and who was the only boy she always talked to, convinced Father Michael not to be harsh on her. Father Michael always heard what he said and accepted the request of his pupil.

  Since her blasphemous sin couldn’t go unpunished, he talked to the bookkeeper to set specific rules to the library’s most assiduous visitor, Lucy. Mr. Morgo established that she was not to take nor read any book that could in a minuscule part of its sentences be entertaining to an atheist.

  The bookkeeper, Mr. Morgo, was probably the oldest member of the Church at Maputo. He was a short mysteriously scary man at his eighties. He almost never spoke but when he did, all the clergy paid attention because if they didn’t, they would pay by some other unpleasant ways, he had this look on his face as if he was saying that he sees everything, he was the first to wake up and the last to go to sleep, he never left the Church Library, what made Lucy wonder where he slept only to find out that he had a private room inside the library. Rumours had it that he used to work at the Vatican but no one could prove anything and he never admitted it.

  Lucy started to get impatient and bored with the books she was allowed to read didn’t satisfy her hungry curiosity. Actually, not reading those so called polemic and heretical books only gave them more value. Lucy decided to do something about it.

  One day in the past, when looking for a particular book, she had found a hidden place between the book shelves that no one ever goes, between the Latin shelves. She had found the answer.

  The next day, like a junky looking for a stronger drug to please himself, she entered the library, took two specific books that Steve had told her not to read, Atheist Universe by David Mills and

  Losing Faith in Faith by Dan Barker. She hid and read them at the Latin department. She was so focused on her books that she didn’t see the time passing. When she finished the second book, she noticed that the library had closed half an hour ago. If she was discovered, Father Michael wouldn’t be as generous as the first time. She had to sneak out undetected. But how?

  While she was still trying to find a way out of that situation, Mr. Morgo appeared from nowhere. Lucy kept herself unseen, watching his every step. She saw Mr. Morgo going towards his desk, the receptionist desk, click a bottom at the lower part and the desk moved, opening a subterraneous hatch. Mr. Morgo descended the stairs and came out two minutes later. Then he went towards his bedroom.

  Lucy’s curiosity took the best of her. She wanted to see what was inside that secret place hidden in plain sight. She made sure Mr. Morgo was absolutely not coming back and went towards the desk. She pushed the bottom and voilà, the secret door was open. She couldn’t help it but to wonder what was down there.

  The closer she got to the bottom, the scarier she became. – What if he’s a homicidal psychopath? – As she went close to touching the bottom, faster her heart pumped. When she got there, she couldn’t believe her own eyes. There were literally thousands of ancient scrolls, manuscripts, sculptures, maps, and a lot of other unknown objects hidden from everyone. It was like a messy private museum.

  While still in pure amazement, a rat passed between her legs, she got so frightened that she fell and broke a very ancient vase. The crash made a lot of noise so she was struck by unsettling fear. She had to flee but decided to take a souvenir. She took a scroll that was inside the vase she had broken. She got out running, clicked the bottom again to close the hatch, forced a window to open and jumped from 6 metres high.

  The following day, she was terrified. – What if anyone saw me? – Believing that the book lifter’s news was trending, it surprised her that Mr. Morgo hadn’t reported any break-in. It meant that the Church wanted it to be kept a secret. But why? What was so important about it that they were keeping it in secrecy? Perhaps they didn’t know anything was missing because the manuscript was hidden inside the vase. Or were they thinking that whoever stole it was a highly skilled thief contracted by the Church’s enemies? Those questions made the scroll beg to be read.

  She got a lot more interested in reading it. When all sisters left the dormitory, she took the manuscript, put it in a bag, and left towards the mango tree she used to be with Steve and Gabe. That was her private spot and it was far from everything and everyone.

  When she got there, she took the manuscript out of the bag. It was in Latin. She started to unroll it and as she deciphered the letters, her mind told her to stop but her fingers carried on. She was shocked with the content. She couldn’t believe her own eyes. The manuscript contained sensible information that if exposed, it could destroy the Catholic Church. Those were not writings of any freethinking writer whose statements can easily be ignored, those were writings of Jesus Christ himself. She had grown up knowing that he never wrote anything. At that moment she felt so naïve, how could a man so wise and influential not keep at least a diary, especially one who foresaw the treachery nature of men.

  Her next step was crucial. Was she to make an enemy out of the Roman Church or keep herself quiet?