The priest was surprised to see Raphael that morning. What was surprising was that he brought another woman with him- a pale blond lady that did not look at all like the Isabella who had came for her Affirmation not too long ago. They church of the Virgin Margaret did not often see strangers that were outside of the family tree and his curiosity was piqued.
"Raphael, what brings you... and your guest here today?" the priest asked kindly.
Raphael had not been happy that he had to be with Heidi alone for Adrian and Aqurico were accompanying them in their spirit form; unseen.
The church had a very strong power that separates man from horse; body from soul. As an undead over a millennium, the guardians were never allowed to enter unless they were stripped down to their barest form.
"Isabella, is in trouble, Father... and my heart is growing restless each day. This... lady here tells me that there are some words written at the back of this bracelet. It seems that Ella had gotten this from the late Anabella. I was hoping you would know something about it, Father," said Raphael.
Taking the wooden bracelet from him, the priest turned it over. His fingers traced the minute carvings etched skilfully behind the bracelet. He could not make out the words and he did not know what they meant.
"Tell me child, do you know what are these words?" he asked Heidi.
Translating for him word for word and then as a sentence, Heidi tried to explain to him that it didn't make sense. Translated literally, it means to 'protect. rider.'
"Who is to protect who? And who is being protected?" she asked. The priest had a look of surprise on his face but after a while regained his composure. "My child, you see... I am not supposed to reveal any secrets to anyone who are not part of this Church. Perhaps, I should know what has happened? Raphael?"
Raphael looked at Heidi, his eyes still full of mistrust. Looking back at the priest, he launched into a full recount of what was told to him by the remaining three guardians about Isabella's disappearance and Abben's state of comatose- in Italian. Heidi tried to pick out certain words to try to form some understanding but it was of no use. She did not know anything besides 'Isabella' and 'Abben'.
"Your girl is quite something brother," commented Aqurico, watching Heidi from a far.
"She's not my girl," Adrian replied.
"She's here in Saint Margaret's church and you dare say she's not?" questioned Aqurico. He was impressed with Heidi's tolerance of Raphael's mistrust and hatred for her.
"She is a mortal... that... makes me curious. But I have not yet turned mortal and my powers are still strong... so she is not my girl... yet."
"As you wish Adrian... your baby sister would have much more to say if she was here, but I will choose to keep quiet and watch instead. Perhaps we should follow them now... I wonder where the priest is bringing them..."
They were all gathered in an open space; sun shone brightly in the spring sky and warmed Heidi's cheeks. However, in front of her, in all its gloom, were tombstones of marbles and granites.
Speaking in English for the sake of Heidi, the priest spoke: "As a young pastor I was always told that the women buried in this church had a secret but I was never told what. My job was to protect them from the gaze of the public and to allow their secret to continue. But today, we might have a piece of the puzzle in helping us understand a part of their secret. The answers... or perhaps, the next clue should be here. But you must seek it for yourselves."
Raphael stared at the priest. Surely the Father must be joking. They couldn't possibly look at all the tombstones, one by one! But Heidi was already on the move. She didn't know what was it that she was suppose to look for but she kept walking anyway. The names all sounded strange and alien to her but she made a small prayer for each one of the tombs that she passed.
"If the two of you are here, you might as well help out," snapped Raphael. He had already spotted the tombstone that he wanted to visit first and was walking towards it. Kneeling down in front of Anabella's tombstone, he whispered a prayer and plea.
"Please forgive me my love... please forgive your old and helpless husband... I will do all that I can to find our baby... I promise... but I need you to lend me your strength to help me find her..." He raised his eyes, searching for Heidi. She was kneeling in front of another tombstone too, just as he was. Curiosity filled his mind. Did she recognize someone here? Getting up, he walked towards her. She was paying respects to the late Lady Margaret, his mother in law.
"I think this lady is important." "Why?" "I would, but you will have to treat me nicely." Her reply surprised him for Raphael stepped back and considered his options. If this woman knew anything at all to help his baby girl, he would have to play nice.
"Alright Heidi. I will put in more effort. Please tell me..." he pleaded.
"Margaret's name was etched along the width of the bracelet. At first I had thought that this bracelet was a property of someone called Margaret... but since you said it was your daughter's, it got me thinking that perhaps this is the first place we should look."
"Margaret? Wait... let me look at that bracelet again... oh my... I wonder..." "What is it?" "This first part... is German... but the second part... is Latin... it says Sacrum Romanum Imperium ... and I do not think that my mother in law is the kind to carve her own name on a heirloom. We're looking at the wrong Margaret, Heidi. Look for the Saint Margaret Antioch- the one whom this church is built for!"
An hour later....
They were puzzled as to why the martyr's tomb could not be located. They had passed by so many others but nothing was special about them. After finding the priest again, they asked him about her tomb.
"She is here, buried with her most faithful. This church is built in her honour my children... it does not need a tomb for her followers to pay respect to."
After he left, Heidi and Raphael felt very upset. They were tired and sweaty from their search. "What do you think he meant by 'her most faithful?'" asked Heidi.
"Someone who was steadfast in prayer I suppose... I don't know... arghhhh!!!" groaned Raphael.
"May I say something Raphael? I know it will sound silly... but I've heard of Saint Margaret before in one of my childhood stories but I don't know if it's the same one..." Heidi said kindly. The old man was looking so worn out and she wanted to keep him calm. When he nodded, she continued:
"When I was a little girl, my father would tell me these fairytales... He would tell me about many Saints who did many heroic acts, but my favourite one of all was about Saint Margaret. She was swallowed by a dragon but she fought her way through and emerged, alive. My father always told me that I must be strong as Saint Margaret for the dragon is like the world; it's hard and cruel and we must persevere to emerge victorious." "That's very kind of you Heidi... yes we all need to be strong right now... But you see... a German folktale cannot have had any connection with the Roman empire and its Italian descendants. You see... all these Italian names here- Anicii, Donati, Portinari... Portinari... oh god... that's right... come on!" exclaimed Raphael suddenly, pulling Heidi up and walking briskly.
"What are we finding?" "Beatrice Portinari. She should help give us some clues. If anything, Beatrice died a virgin too... Are you familiar with Dante the poet?" "No, I am not..." "Beatrice had prayed to Saint Margaret at this very church for Dante to be purged of his sins. He had written the Divine Comedy after that happened. I know it's just a piece of literature but I have no doubt that she was a faithful devotee."
"It says nothing much here..." said Heidi when they had reached Beatrice's tombstone. It read: Fore here I lie To rest or to die
"Wait... fore here I lie? Heidi, look behind or around, whatever! I think she's saying that the front is just a façade."
"Are these... I don't know what... what's this?" Heidi asked. She had found carvings behind the tomb, right at the base, hidden partially by the weeds.
"I might need some help here. My Latin isn't that good," Raphael said out loud. He knew the brothers were around somewhere. "Let's write it down. We can ask the boys later on. They are fluent in Latin as well."
****
They decided to meet back in Adrian and Heidi's hotel room. They needed privacy and somewhere not far from the church.
Adrian and Aqurico had already materialised in their human form and were pacing about the main room of the suite. Raphael was excitedly giving ideas as to what Beatrice had possibly meant by her short couplet:
Adjoined as virgins in an aisle, Tales of past to enchant and beguile
"What tales do you think she's referring to?" Adrian asked. He was starting to have an ominous feeling about their discovery that day.
"Dante's travels of course!" exclaimed Raphael. "Perhaps we should make our way back to Princeton now so I can retrieve my book. I have read it a couple of times and annotated it."
"Then what of the 'virgins in an aisle'?" asked Adrian.
"The priest told us that Saint Margaret was buried with her most faithful... and this could mean that they were buried side by side," said Heidi. She really didn't want the two men to start quarrelling again.
"I don't think he meant that literally... Saint Margaret was put to death in AD 304 but the church was built sometime in the year 1032.
Surely her physical body would have dissolved to dust by then!" chimed Aqurico.
"Then why were they adjoined in an aisle?" asked Adrian, slightly annoyed.
"Uh... well... as I was in the church, I noticed that there was an effigy of a woman, whom I assume is Saint Margaret at the altar," said Heidi.
"And I would assume too that in an aisle would refer to her being in front of Saint Margaret? As in a line?" added Raphael.
"I would think so... as would any other devotee in their prayers right?" replied Heidi. Silence filled the room for a few seconds and then she spoke again. "Didn't you mention something about Beatrice praying to Saint Margaret for Dante's sake? She must have loved him a lot to ask for something so unselfish."
"Ah, yes, yes my child... you are absolutely right. But now we are stuck. How will this help us find my daughter..." sighed Raphael.
"Would you like to take a look at that book I was telling you about?" Heidi replied, trying to be helpful.
