The doors closed behind him.
Fuentes entered the rock chapel, tucked away in the fold of the ancient mountain. Sunlight poured inside the towering rocky cleft, the limestone roof, walls, and floor all belonging to nature. Worn pine pews lined up in several rows, all facing three stone steps that led up to a raised platform, two more steps after that up to a marble altar. The whole place reminded him of the grotto at Lourdes. He felt that if he stopped and listened closely he might hear the beating of the mountain抯 heart.
揅enturies ago, people whispered that a secret portal to a feared other world was here,?Sister Claire said. 揝upposedly, a man who ventured through it in 1597 reappeared three days later insane and on death抯 door. His female companion was never seen again.?
揑抦 aware of this church抯 colorful history,?Fuentes said. 揃ut legends simply make a place like this more mystical, attracting people.?
揥hich it does. Mass is said here twice every month for the local population.?
The maidens who抎 accompanied them stood behind Sister Claire. He made a quick count. Eighteen. Of the twenty-five total still alive. That was a serious division. Hell, this order might self-destruct all on its own without any effort from him.
揚erhaps legends are not as fantastical, though, as they might seem,?Claire said.
He was intrigued. 揃y all means, show me.?
Kelsey sat at one of the oak tables, alone with the abbess. Most of the other maidens, including Sister Isabel, had headed off into the building. Two had stayed to keep watch over the friar, one of whom, Sister Ellen, was still holding the gun.
揂re you concerned about what抯 happening??she asked the abbess. 揑抳e never witnessed such a revolt before.?
揑抦 deeply concerned. The remaining maidens have gone to deal with it.?
As had Nick. So she wanted to know, 揥hy did you bring me here??
揗r. Lee seems important to you.?
Her question had been ignored. She抎 been impertinent enough to superiors of late, so she decided to let it pass. 揥e almost married. I ended it, then joined the convent.?
揂 not-so-unusual story. I抳e heard it many times. You still care for him??
揑 still love him. And I always will. But I made my life choice, and I don抰 regret it.?
Though she抎 only met the abbess a few minutes ago, she felt a connection. This woman, with a tinge of an Italian accent to her English, oozed confidence and experience. Both of which seemed needed at the moment.
揟his is a special place,?the abbess said. 揊or nearly two thousand years we抳e had the honor of guarding the Chapel of the Maiden.?
揥hat is it??
揧our prioress did not tell you??
She shook her head.
揑t is the tomb of the Virgin Mary.?
揟hat抯 not possible. She抯 in heaven.?
揘o. She抯 here and has been here for nearly two thousand years.?
How could that be?
揑n 1431 the remains of a second maiden were added, the one who came to be known as Joan of Arc. We now call it the Chapel of the Maidens.?
揧ou have Joan抯 ashes??
The older woman nodded. 揟he church has no idea of that.?
揥hy is Rome concerned about the Virgin Mary??
揊ear and arrogance fuel that quest.?
A curious statement, said loud enough that the Dominican, Friar Dwight, could easily hear.
揑t抯 a story that began long ago,?the abbess said. 揅hrist came and died. Then men created a religion to worship him. They formed it. Molded it. Adapted it. So, understandably, they fashioned it in their thoughts and images. Eventually, they needed a woman, someone to counter the masculinity that they抎 gone out of their way to infuse, so they invented Mary.?
揝he was real.?
The older woman nodded. 揂bsolutely. The Bible tells us that she lived. But, beyond that, it says little more. It was up to the men of the church, in the second, third, and fourth centuries, to make her more. And they did. She was deemed born of an Immaculate Conception, free of original sin. The only human being ever afforded such status. Later, the Archangel Gabriel appeared and told her she would be the mother of God, though remaining a virgin for her entire life. And finally, she was assumed into heaven, body and soul.?The abbess paused. 揟hat story has survived sixteen hundred years, intact, never shrinking, only growing. Finally, in modern times, popes declared it all official dogma, worthy to be believed by every Catholic as absolutely true.?
Which she herself fervently believed with all her heart.
揑magine for a moment if the last part of that legend was false,?the abbess said. 揟here was no assumption into heaven of the Virgin抯 body. She died like every other human being. Her flesh and bones remained here, on earth, like everyone else. If that was true, then the grievous error of the modern popes, who stamped her Assumption with papal infallibility, would be shown clearly.?