The Roman November was cold and chill. Steam clouded the kitchen windows as Mavis Hazelton, our cook, prepared the Noon meal at the Generalate. Mavis, a short, chubby woman in a white blouse and dark skirt, was usually disheveled by the middle of the day, but today she had a panicked look about her. As I entered, she caught my eye and said frantically: "Helen, you've got ta do something about her, you have to get her out of my hair. She's me own flesh and blood and I love her, but she's driving me crazy, the poor gel. Monsignore Elephant is growling with frustration, and I have to keep him happy somehow. Please, Helen, please."
She had to be talking about her granddaughter, Betsy Birkitt, and her lover, Monsignore Carlo Maria Farinelli, otherwise known as the Elephant. Betsy had been in the country for a long holiday after his twin sister's wedding to Kieran Hali, an Anglican seminarian I'd known from England. "I'm busy this afternoon, Aunt Mavis. I have to go over to the Cardinal's office while they're on siesta and check on the books for him."
"That's three times you've been there this month, Helen," she said, shaking her head while stirring a pot. "I suspect there's something going on between you two."
"No, Aunt Mavis, there isn't. His Eminence isn't even around while I'm there, he's terrorizing the Philippine Dominicans this month and all I'm doing is a bit of secret auditing. It's part of the price of keeping his friendship."
She shook her head in disbelief. "I'll never know what you Romans are up to, there's wheels within wheels with your lot."
"Like the Church of England is devoid of politics and chicanery?" I said, tapping my foot impatiently.
"All right, point taken." Stirring a pot with more enthusiasm than necessary, she begged: "Can ye get her out of my hair tonight, at least? You and Sister Juli take her to your dance club and let her get some energy out of her system? Please, Helen, please?"
"The way you've been running around the past three weeks? I'd think she was tired."
"My family is infamous for its stamina, especially the women," she said proudly. "We saw everything in Venice, Florence and Naples, and still had enough to run around Rome for three days." A sigh escaped her lips and she shrugged her shoulders. "She's tired of sightseeing, wants to have some fun, and neither one of us can have it if we're stuck with each other all the time." A timer went off and she pulled a pan of rolls out of the oven, putting it on the counter to cool. "And I'm worried."
"Worried? How?"
She looked around and lowered her voice. "I'm worried the Elephant will get her. What he might do to her if he found her alone."
"I don't understand. Isn't he happy with you?" I said, shaking my head in disbelief.
She shrugged her shoulders. "She's young and beautiful, and his eye might wander. Men are all alike, especially one as virile as Carlo is. I want her to find a young man and have a family, be happy like her twin sister is, not be the concubine of some greasy old Italian priest."
I shook my head. "I still don't understand completely. Some people might say you're the concubine of a greasy old Italian priest."
"Yes, but I've had my family and my home and I've earned my chance at a little fun. I don't have a future like she does, poor gel at the start of her life. The Elephant might ruin her for other men."
"I see your point. So you want me to get her out of the way. . ."
"So I can make some time for Carlo and me. I didn't come here to be a nun."
I spread my hands and nodded. "Okay, Aunt Mavis, I'll set something up. I'll get her out of here after Evening Prayers. Is that enough time for you?"
"More than. I've considered hauling him into a closet, I'm so randy."
It took me a moment to work through that image, which was difficult since I didn't think we had any closets big enough for Mavis and the Elephant to do anything significant. "Just let me check with La Rossa. Need to know if she wants us for anything else tonight."
A quick cell phone call, and we were free. Sister Juliana was relieved to be going out; it had been almost a month since we'd been dancing and she was getting cabin fever. I found her ironing purificators and corporals in the laundry room with a worried look on her face. "I'm going crazy, Sister Franny. It's too cold to use the roof afternoon, and I miss the sun. Winter's always my least favorite season. And something's wrong with Senora Mavis: the Elephant's been chasing me again!"
"Tonight should help both your problems, Sister Juli. I'm ready to get out of here, even if it means babysitting a relative."
"Senora Mavis' granddaughter?"
"You don't know the half of it. I knew the twins when I was living in England: we were all kids at St. Dunstan's together, and I'd just swum the Tiber when Vicar Alfred came to town. The girls were on the prowl all the time, and I think they set their caps on the Vicar until Agnes Sterns landed him."
"Didn't she have that accident in Kansas. . .?"
"Yes, but don't get me sidetracked. When Kieran Hali came to live with the Vicar, the girls adjusted their sights and had a little competition for him. Beatrice won, and Aunt Mavis went to their wedding last month in England, bringing Betsy back for an extended recuperation after losing."
"I see. But what's the other connection? Did this Kieran mean something to you?"
"He's my half brother." Sister Juliana's jaw dropped and she gasped. "My birth father was an Irish Holy Ghost Father who was an African Missionary."
"I've heard of those Holy Ghost Fathers," Sister Juliana said with fear, crossing herself. "They were absolutely wicked."
"Yes, I know. It explains a bit about me, doesn't it?" She nodded her head and shut her mouth. "Anyway, he was in Nigeria where Kieran's mother was a young novice, and impregnated her about a year after she impregnated my birth mother. The younger Kieran came to our convent for a individual retreat once, we started talking to each other, and that's how we found out we were brother and sister. The only thing we have in common is red hair, but we've become good friends and stayed in touch."
"I thought you were an only child, Sister Franny. This is so charming: being raised apart and not even knowing. . ."
I nodded my head. "So I know from both sides what Betsy is like. We'll have to stick to her like glue: she's likely to wander off and get into all kinds of trouble."
"How come?"
"She's like her grandmother: insatiable."
Sister Juliana crossed herself again.