Devil at the Vatican (BL)

Chapter 15

The train ride was similar to the carriage ride, with Father Marcel either napping or reading and Elio gazing out the window. They sat in the Colored section of the train car with the other priests sitting up ahead. Elio sometimes watched them from beyond the dividing wall. It seemed Father Ellery and Landon were always discussing something. The only thing that betrayed their secret was their lingering glances.

Arriving in New York was like arriving in a different world. There were no endless fields of wheat or tobacco, no smell of manure, and no Colored Only sections. A pair of black men walked past them wearing fine top hats and gold monocles, and there were women with feathery hairdos and flowery hats. People were everywhere.

Outside of the strong stench of urine, the city held the scent of life itself. Elio followed the priests out to the street, tripping over his own amazement and nearly falling face first in a mystery puddle beside a newspaper stand. The freckled paperboy waved the latest edition at him, saying, "New York Tribune is paying its respects to late owner Whitelaw Reid. May he rot in hell just like you're going to. One copper for a paper, sir."

"Mr. Ellsworth, please stay with us," Father Landon called. Elio noticed they were about twenty paces away, following the sidewalk north. He rushed after them, his suitcases wobbling at his sides. When he looked back at the paperboy, he only found him peddling per usual.

"Are you a priest?" Elio asked Petru once he caught up to them. The three priests walked in the front with Elio and Petru trailing behind. Petru dressed much shabbier than the priests and didn't wear the special collar.

"I am a friar of the Seraphic Order," Petru responded. "I am a Brother, not a Father." Those curious blue eyes of Petru sank into Elio's.

"How is that different?"

"Well, I live according to the ways of St. Francis and go where God calls me. Priests go where the Pope calls them. Exorcists go where the demons call."

After a twenty-minute walk, they arrived at a church across the street from a row of shops. This street was incredibly busy, yet most people seemed to ignore the church. It took Elio's breath away. It was a large stone building with a bell tower at least fifty feet high and a geometric stained-glass window at the front showing a figure of Jesus. The doors were enormous and arched with carved windows above them, and peaks with intricately carved crosses.

The priests headed to the back of the church through an alley. There was a small building tucked behind the massive church, made of faded brick and dark curtained windows. Father Ellery knocked on the door of this building.

"This is the rectory, where the clergy live," Father Marcel explained.

Elio nodded. "I appreciate your explanations, Father. You answer my questions faster than I can ask."

Father Marcel cleared his throat and moved over to stand by Father Landon. For a moment, his ears looked like they might have been red, but Elio could hardly tell underneath his hair.

The door of the rectory opened and a nun appeared, wearing a black habit and long black tunic. She was older than them, probably around Sophia's age with wrinkled eyes and a small mouth.

"Good afternoon Sister Gwen," Father Ellery said. He handed her an envelope, which she tucked into the long sleeve of her tunic. She kept her head low, avoiding all eye contact.

"Please come inside," she murmured. Her voice sounded like a cold winter's day, both unpleasant but expected.

They all entered, Elio being last. When he passed her, she made the sign of the cross and clenched her eyes shut until he moved on. Inside the rectory was just as dingy and unappealing as the outside, dark and divided into many rooms. They walked into the entrance hall with dark wooden floors and stale wallpaper. They placed their luggage down here.