Bless the Child (14 page)

“Why would God send such a soul, Father—assuming such as you describe exists—only to let it be destroyed by evil people? That doesn’t make sense at all.” Maggie was shocked by the implications of what he’d said, and equally by the fact that he seemed to accept the idea of reincarnation so casually.

“Souls are never destroyed Maggie,” the priest replied patiently. “If the theory of reincarnation is correct—and I have always tried to keep an open mind about that possibility, insomuch as many great spiritual teachers have subscribed to such a theory—each one chooses his next lifetime before birth. Or to put it a bit more scientifically, each one is drawn ‘energetically’ to a place that will provide the right circumstances to fulfill its destiny—its karma—if you will.”

“But you said Cody has no karma,” Maggie reminded him, fascinated, puzzled.

“I said she has no karmic
debts
,” he corrected. “But she does appear to have a mission to accomplish, and I suspect she may have ties to you that are forged of great love . . . ties she accepts of her own free will. It’s also possible, Maggie, that Cody could be here to help you unfold your own gifts of the spirit . . . as well as to help humanity.”

Maggie attempted, with great difficulty, to process, all he’d said, and Father Peter continued looking through the books he’d pulled out. “Hers is a very difficult chart to interpret, Maggie . . . I’m afraid I’ll have to delve into some of the more esoteric sources, before I can come up with the specific information we’re looking for.” Then, as an afterthought, he said, “Perhaps you should give me similar birth information about yourself, Maggie . . . it might provide some clue to your part in this drama.”

Somewhat bewildered, Maggie left the priest late in the day. It was no wonder the Church had a problem with Peter Messenguer.

Early the next morning, Father Peter called her, urgency in his tone. “Would it be all right to visit with her at home?” he asked. Two hours later he was at her door.

“I think I know what this is all about,” he said without preamble. He carried an armload of books and two full shopping bags, which Maria plucked from his hands, muttering something Portuguese under her breath that had to do with a priest in a sweater, instead of a cassock. With a dazzling smile, Father Peter replied in the same idiom and Maria begrudgingly thawed enough to reserve final judgment of the man for later.

Maggie led the priest to her library; it was her favorite room in the old Federal house, and still sported the original satinwood paneling and plaster ceiling cherubs.

“I think your granddaughter is in terrible danger, Maggie,” Father Peter said quietly. “Perhaps more than you’ve even imagined.”

Maggie bolted upright in her chair. “You found some answers in her chart?”

Peter leaned forward, visibly disturbed by what he must report. “It’s a bit mad,” he began. “And I can’t even begin to venture an opinion on whether what I’m about to say is fact or pure fantasy . . . but I feel I must let you know what I’ve unearthed.” He paused for a breath.

“There’s an ancient legend, Maggie . . . I’m not an authority on Egyptology, mind you—at least not on the dynasty in question—but I do have some knowledge, and I read hieroglyph, so I’m not a neophyte, either.” She saw he was skirting what he must tell her. Then, in a voice that suggested a kind of reverence, he said, “Cody could be the Isis Messenger.”

The ground shifted under Maggie with the words. Like a double exposure on a film,
something
imposed itself on her vision for a split second. Too fleeting to recognize.
But old
. Jesus, it was ancient! Whatever it was. And that
sound.
Like high-pitched wind bells, barely audible . . . but it sent shivers through her nervous system.

Maggie blinked herself back into focus. “Did you say the Isis Messenger?” She tried to reach out to touch the eerie experience of a moment ago, but it was gone. “What in the world is the Isis Messenger?”

Father Peter put on his glasses, and referred to the notes in his hand, but it was apparent he didn’t need coaching.

“There’s an ancient legend, Maggie—references to it first appear in Egypt, nearly five thousand years ago—that at is some unspecified future time, when humanity is at great peril, a child will be sent who has the correct vibrational frequency to resurrect the Isis Amulet.” He raised his hand to stay the torrent of questions he saw forming.

“The precise shape this Amulet takes has been lost in the mists of history, but every single source that has ever referred to it, did so with awe. You see, it was believed to possess unprecedented occult power, invested in it by the great Mother Goddess Isis herself. It is empowered, so the legend goes, to save the world from final destruction, by reinforcing the strength of all that is Good, and undermining all that is Evil.”

Maggie tried to interrupt, but he gestured again. “Let me finish, my dear, then I promise I shall do my best to answer all your questions.” He glanced again at the page in his hand. “According to Hermes Trismegistus—who was the greatest authority in history on all things magical—if the forces of Evil should ever get hold of the Amulet, they will use it to retrieve its cosmic opposite, the Sekhmet Stone. With the Sekhmet Stone, all powers of annihilation and war can be controlled.” He paused.

“You must understand, Maggie, that just as Christians have sought the Grail, and Alchemists have sought the Philosopher’s Stone, Magicians, White and Black, throughout the ages, have sought the Isis Amulet and the Sekhmet Stone.” Maggie looked somewhat stunned.

He took a deep breath and began again. “The maze that the Universal forces have constructed to keep this unrestricted power out of the wrong hands is, according to Hermes and others, convoluted and fraught with dangers. In order to retrieve the Sekhmet Stone, an occultist of the highest degree must first gain possession of the Isis Amulet . . . and
only
the Isis Messenger can materialize the Amulet. If by evil chance, the Dark Forces come into possession of the two talismans, Sekhmet will help them destroy the Isis Amulet and its potential good, forever. I needn’t tell you the results for mankind if all good were nullified.”

Father Peter looked directly into Maggie’s troubled eyes. “If my suspicion is correct, Maggie dear, Cody is the Messenger and you are the Guardian, sent to defend her.”

“Father, this is really too much!” she exploded. “How could such an insane story possibly be true? There are no Amulets that rule the world! No stones that control Evil.
Human beings
control Good and Evil, not inanimate objects. This is just preposterous!”

“But don’t you see, Maggie,” Peter pressed urgently. “What does it matter if this is all balderdash? If the Vanniers are members of some satanic cult, and if they believe in such a possibility, Cody could be in the gravest danger imaginable . . . It isn’t at all farfetched for them to have done the child’s chart, just as I’ve done. If so, they’ve seen the same confluence of planets I’ve seen.”

Maggie tried to stay calm enough to reply, but her voice shook when she spoke. “What would they do to her, Father, if they believed any of this nonsense?”

“I don’t know for certain . . . from what I’ve gleaned so far, they’d either sacrifice her, as part of the Materialization Ritual, or they’d banish her soul and give her body to Sekhmet.”

“And who in the hell is Sehmet?” Maggie demanded.

“The female equivalent of Set, or Satan, Maggie. You might call her the Goddess of Evil—although she’s a bit more complex than that. War, famine, pestilence, death, violent weather, geophysical upheaval, all these forces seem to be within her province.”

“Oh wonderful! Evil Goddesses . . . Amulets to rule the world . . . this is truly ridiculous! I’m not having this conversation, and I’m sure as hell
not
having it with a priest!”

Father Peter reached out and took Maggie’s hands in his, to calm her agitation. His concern for her was obvious.

“Maggie dear, listen to me! For the moment, it seems clear to me that it doesn’t matter one whit if we believe this ancient legend, or we do not. What matters is that we may have found the key to Cody’s importance to Eric and Jenna.

“I fully understand your terror and your disbelief—I know every word I’ve told you sounds like the ravings of a lunatic—but you know I am not a lunatic, Maggie. And you must know I wouldn’t have come all this way to bring this news to you, except that it seems to me terribly important for you to have it. This information may be an opportunity to unravel the mystery we face. To beat them, we must understand how they think. You do see the rationality in that, Maggie?” He waited until she was clam enough to shake her head yes, before he continued.

“Others will be able to help you, my dear, but if any of this seeming madness is true, you and Cody are the two major players on this board. You must not let your disbelief make you vulnerable.”

“How can I even begin to understand what’s happening, Father?” she said despairingly. “And how in the name of God will I ever convince the legal authorities that any of this is real? If I ever told this tale to that bureaucratic automaton I met at the Bureau of Child Welfare, she’d come at me with a net. And I can’t say I’d blame her.”

“I can offer you no assistance on the secular side, Maggie. But on the spiritual side, I do have certain knowledge that may prove valuable, so I want you to pay strict attention to what I’m about to tell you. I have lived in strange places, and witnessed stranger sights than you could possibly imagine. I’ve seen ignorant tribal shamans cut out cancer with a filthy stone age knife and cure their patient . . . I’ve seen headhunters tell the future accurately from the skull of their victims. I’ve seen aboriginals die because a witch doctor pointed a bone in their direction. During Exorcisms, I’ve spoken to demons who are fluent in ancient languages, unheard of by the person being exorcised. I implore you to take this seriously, Maggie! There are many more forces afoot in this Universe than science is currently aware of.”

He paused for breath and it was easy to see how seriously he took what he was saying. Maggie was suddenly aware of how far out of his way this man was going for her.

“I’m hearing you, Father,” she said softly. “I really am.”

He let out a long relieved breath. “Do you own any blessed objects, Maggie? A rosary, a crucifix, Holy Water?”

She nodded her head. “I still say my Confirmation rosary, and I kept the crucifix from my husband’s funeral. No Holy Water.”

He reached into the bag he’d brought with him and pulled out two bottles. “It becomes apparent during exorcisms, Maggie, that sacramentals such as Holy Water and Holy Oil make demonic Presences very uncomfortable. Keep these near you. Try if you can, to get one of them into Cody’s possession. I’ve brought this blessed Miraculous Medal for you to put around her neck, if you can manage it—you’ll remember that Mary is shown on it crushing the head of the serpent. This one was blessed by John XXIII years ago in Rome, and he was close to God.” He paused to think what he’d forgotten to say.

“You must understand Maggie, I’ve never performed ritual magic,” he said. “I’ve merely studied it, which is a vastly different thing. I do, however, respect the power of ritual, and would never dream of underestimating its potential. So, I’ve brought you several prayers for protection.”

He handed her a marked prayer book, then reached into the shopping bag and pulled out an acrid-smelling length of what looked like hay. “I have no idea whatsoever if this will be useful, but I’ve brought it anyway. It’s asafetida grass from South America, Maggie—I was told by an Apache Medicine Man friend that it has the capacity to repel evil.”

He straightened and Maggie saw the concern in his gaze. “I believe I’m right about the child’s value to them. If she is the Isis Messenger, then the forces of Darkness will stop at nothing to get her and use her.”

Maggie stared at him wide-eyed.

“Do you honestly believe, Father, that such a thing could be? Everything I know about the rational Universe rebels at the notion of Amulets that rule Good and Evil, or children who have divine powers. Frankly, I’m shocked out of my shoes that you’d give credence to such possibilities.”

Father Peter stood for a moment, silently considering his reply, then he said, “When I was young, Maggie. I thought I knew everything there was to know about this ‘rational Universe.’ Now, I know only this . . . that God works mysteriously, in a grand design far beyond our ken. That those He chooses as His instruments are never the ones we would expect. That all I know or think I know is insignificant compared to what is yet to be learned.

“Whether Cody is the Isis Messenger, or whether the Messenger possesses any magical powers, isn’t really the point . . . what matters is that some very evil and corrupt people may
think
she has these powers, and because of that fact she is in the gravest danger. And so, most probably, are you.”