Devil at the Vatican (BL)

Chapter 17

Before they left for the ship at dawn, Elio packed his clothing and supplies needed during the voyage in a canvas bag Sister Gwen provided. He said nothing to the woman and did not bid her farewell when they left. There was no sight of Moses or Father Elisha when they departed. It felt strange leaving after all he had learned the night before, but he needed to be on his way to the Vatican.

When they arrived the harbor by carriage, Fathers Ellery and Landon bid their farewells to Petru, Marcel and Elio.

"We have been called away on assignments," Father Ellery explained. "A messenger came to deliver this." He held up an envelope with a broken wax seal.

"An exorcism?" Elio asked before he could catch himself. Father Marcel mentioned the possibility of him becoming an exorcist last night, and he hadn't had much time to muse over the idea. Now the thought of it intrigued him.

Father Landon nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes."

"And both of you are needed?" Elio eyed them suspiciously. The memory of Ellery's face being buried deep in Landon's rear flashed before his eyes and Elio clenched his jaw.

"I am to go to London," Ellery explained.

Landon glanced at the shorter priest, slightly too long, and said, "I am needed in the great southern continent."

They were separating. The realization dawned on Elio with bitterness. Instead of being glad that their uncoupling will bring about a temporary pause in their debauch ways, he felt his mouth twitch with a frown.

Father Marcel and Petru embraced the two priests and whispered their farewells while Elio stood apart from them, watching.

The ship they were to board was called Citta di Madonna, bound for Naples Italy. It was a steamer passenger class ship, capable of bringing them to Italy in a matter of weeks instead of months. It looked massive to Elio, like a mountain.

They got into a line for first class passengers. There weren't many people boarding the ship for it to be so large, but this also was a ship bound away from America than towards it. He understood that many immigrants were filtering into the country via New York from all over Europe. Even from the harbor, Elio was overwhelmed by the different languages and smells.

"Your father covered the tickets," Marcel explained to Elio. "This should be a pleasant voyage."

"I get my own cabin," Petru teetered gleefully. "We are usually in steerage."

Once they boarded the ship, a crewman checked Elio's ticket several times before allowing him, Marcel, and Petru to be on their way.

Elio and Marcel's cabin was first class with a large goose-down bed, settee, dining set, and gilded decorations all around. It was almost just as nice as the room he had at his father's estate. In the next cabin over, they could hear Petru's excited whoops. Elio never pegged him to be so jovial, but he'd only known the man for a few days anyway.

Their main luggage went to the cargo hold on the ship, leaving them primarily with their canvas bags. Marcel gathered an extra blanket and pillow from a passing crew member and placed them on the settee.

"You will have the bed," Marcel told him as he organized his belongings into a small chest of drawers beside their port window. He then arranged a small worn leather kit on the dining table, along with a Bible.

"You can have the bed," Elio said back, taking a step away and gesturing to it.

"I need you to be comfortable, Mr. Ellsworth." Marcel stepped up to the port window and peered out at the ocean. "If you aren't comfortable, your sleep will be disturbed, and you will be tired. The demon will take advantage of your weakened state to conquer your body as it did in the rectory. You must sleep well, eat heartily, and pray regularly."