The group became larger and larger the more we walked. It reminded me of a long line of ants. I didn’t even know there were so many people in this area. But my father had said that parishioners were coming from nearby populations, too, like Quevedo and Palenque.
Dios Santo, what was I going to do now?
Once we reached a clearing among the abundant vegetation, my mother stopped.
“Here,” she determined, and pushed me into a kneeling position. Not far from us was a thin creek. “Hermanos,” my mother said in a loud voice. I’d never heard her talk so loud before; it was as though she’d been the one taken by the Virgin’s spirit. “Please. My daughter needs silence and concentration to receive the Message.”
One by one, people started to kneel and hold their hands in prayer. Others waved white handkerchiefs. As we started praying the rosary, people surrounded us. My father hugged me protectively as I faced the ground, still on my knees. When I looked up, briefly, I spotted someone across from me in a blue cloak. She moved it slightly from her face and I recognized her immediately.
Elisa.
She winked at me.
My mother, who was leading the prayer, helped me lean back, as in a trance. I looked at the vast sky and asked for forgiveness. At that precise moment, two things happened simultaneously: I discerned a bright light beneath the clouds, which seemed to be opening up to make room for it, and Elisa screamed.
“There she is!” she said.
“Yes!” a male voice responded. “Right there. Behind the clouds!”
“Hallelujah!”
“Praise the Lord!”
The prayer became a loud rumble, like a machine that had been turned on. People recited the Hail Mary with a devotion that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. They screamed it.
It was hard to explain what came over me. I didn’t know if it was my posture, still leaning back over my mother’s hand with my legs folded and my knees on the ground, or that I’d entered some sort of ecstasy like my mother called it later. But the truth was that my legs had turned numb and I was so lightheaded that everything started to move in rapid circles around me: Papá’s concerned face, Mamita’s teary eyes, the clouds above my head. Everything was spinning faster and faster and the voices—the prayers—became distant and muffled, as though I heard them through a tunnel. And then, everything turned black.
When I woke up, lying down on the grass, surrounded by my parents and the priest, something had changed. People looked at me with what I could only define as reverence. My mother was pressing a handkerchief with smelling salts against my nose.
“Out of the way,” my father was saying. “She needs to breathe.”
My brother helped me up and as soon as I stood, people made room for me to go through, as though I were some sort of queen. My father helped me down the trail and as I walked by, people touched my arms and shoulders. A woman even cut a piece of my hair.
“She smells like flowers,” someone said.
I searched for Elisa among the crowd, but I couldn’t find her. People crossed themselves as I walked past them, as though I’d turned into some kind of deity. I felt exhausted, physically and emotionally, and it was a relief to arrive back at the plantation. My father had to threaten those who attempted to enter his property. He’d already foreseen a scenario like this one and so his men stood in front of the gates by the dozens, some holding their machetes, others looking majestic on top of their horses.
My mother, with trembling hands, asked me if I wanted dinner. I declined; all I wanted was to lock myself in my room and sleep for hours.
In my room, I experience a deep sense of relief. I locked my door and headed for the bed.
“Hello, Catalina.
I screeched.
“Shhh, it’s me, Elisa.”
She emerged from behind the curtains, still wearing the blue cloak.
“What are you doing here?” I said, petrified. “My mom can’t see you here!”
“I know, I know, I just came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?”
“Yes, we’re leaving. For good.”
I wasn’t sure who “we” were. I knew so little about her.
“Did you show your dad the doll?”
With all the excitement of the Apparition and the Virgin, I’d completely forgotten about the doll request. I could’ve lied, but lying was exhausting. I shook my head.
“Then I’m going to have to take it back.”
“No, please. I promise I’ll show him. Tomorrow. First thing in the morning.”