by Carmen Amato
“What about this?” Kurt took a leather-bound book out of a matching leather box. Both looked worn by time and use. “An antique Bible.”
“Madre de Dios,” Emilia murmured. She looked over his shoulder as Kurt paged through it and found an inscription dated 1790. “Definitely not. This should be in a museum.”
Kurt found the price. “Ten thousand pesos.”
“I told you this place was too expensive.”
Tifani looked crestfallen as she watched Kurt replace the Bible in the cabinet.
Emilia wandered across the room to the glass-topped counters. Small items were tastefully arranged under the glass. Rows and rows of gold religious medals were pinned to cream satin pillows; everything from simple engraved crosses to Virgin of Guadalupe medallions as big as a plate. Crystal, wood, and precious metal rosaries were displayed in open boxes, each set curled in on itself, with the cross on top of the beads. Little rosary carrying cases were set out next to them, ranging from small brocade pouches to palm-sized enamel tins inset with the Virgin's likeness or a vial of holy water.
Most rosaries were dedicated to the Virgin Mary but Villa de Refugio had rosaries dedicated to specific saints like Saint Joseph, the patron saint of families, or Saint Theresa who was known as the Little Flower. The most expensive rosaries were sets of sterling silver beads with matching silver pillbox cases embossed with the silhouette of the Sacred Heart. There weren't any rosaries or cases made of gold.
“May I help you, señora?”
Emilia gave a start. The other salesgirl was standing behind the counter.
Her nametag read Lupita. “I can take out any rosary you'd like to see,” she said.
“No, thank you,” Emilia murmured. She tightened her grip on her shoulder bag and wandered around a bit more, noticing a row of framed pictures on the wall opposite the velvet chairs. All the pictures were of people standing by the signature turquoise door; a timeline of the famous who'd visited the store, dated by clothes long out of fashion. She recognized the owner who'd scared her all those years ago. He looked old and ordinary.
Twenty minutes later Kurt had narrowed his choices down to three different items: the antique statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a silver icon of Saint Luke done in the repujado punched metal technique, and a delicate clay tree of life depicting the life of Saint Francis with his animals surrounding him. Tifani had placed them all on the low glass counter and Emilia and Kurt sat down on the velvet chairs to decide.
“The Virgin is very nice, from a very old church in Guadalajara,” Tifani said encouragingly.
“It's nice,” Kurt said. “But ubiquitous.”
Tifani smiled uncertainly. “A very special piece,” she said.
Kurt picked up the repujado icon. “What do you think, Em?”
“It's beautiful, but I think it's too fancy,” Emilia said. The silver was inlaid with seed pearls and what she hoped were crystals and not real jewels. It was stunning but she could hardly see it in their plain little house.
“You sure?” Kurt asked.
“Yes,” Emilia said honestly. “Don't get that one. Word would get out that they had it and the house would become a magnet for burglars.”
“All right,” Kurt said and laid the work of repujado aside.
Emilia touched the tree of life. "I like this, too. But it's so fragile and Ernesto isn't the most careful person." She visualized the knife grinder's work-worn hands and the way he sat, elbows out, in his chair at the kitchen table waiting for Sophia to serve up his breakfast. "Maybe the Virgin is the safe choice."
"Look, Em, I don't want to sound godless," Kurt said. "But everybody has a Virgin of Guadalupe in the house. It would hardly be special."
With a jolt, Emilia realized that Kurt was nervous. She'd been so worried about others' reactions that it hadn't occurred to her that meeting her family and making a good impression were important to him. The thought made her feel happy and queasy at the same time.
"Wasn't there an icon of Saint Jude?" she asked, turning around in her chair to peer at the shelves across the room. "He's the patron saint of impossible causes. It would be fitting."
"Em," Kurt reproved her.
Tifani smiled desperately as if starting to see her sale slip away. "You like the saints, no?" she asked. "Saint Jude is very special, but we have some even more special items. Perhaps you'd like to see them."
"For a wedding gift," Kurt reiterated. "Something simple but elegant."
Tifani slid over to her colleague. Emilia watched out of the corner of her eye as the two girls had an urgent conversation in low voices. Lupita disappeared through a doorway behind the cash register. She came back a moment later with a box decorated in the traditional rayada carved lacquer technique. It was the size of a loaf of bread and the bottom was fitted with a small drawer with a tiny gold knob.
"This is a most special and precious item," Tifani said as she moved the other items aside and spread a velvet cloth over the glass-topped counter. Lupita placed the box reverently on the fabric. "A relic of the most holy martyr Padre Pro."
Emilia's breath caught in her throat. "Really? Padre Pro?"
"Who's that?" Kurt asked.
"Padre Pro," Emilia said, as her heart thumped. She was glad she was already sitting down. The rayada box was lacquered in blue and black with an etched design of crosses rather than the usual animal motifs. "He was a priest. A martyr of the Cristero War."
Kurt frowned. "The what?"
"You've never heard of the Cristero War?" Emilia was surprised. Kurt had lived in Mexico for nearly three years and although she knew he wasn't Catholic, it seemed inconceivable he had never heard of the religious upheaval that had taken place in the country during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
"No," Kurt said.
Emilia got her heart rate under control as she considered how to explain it to him. "The Church was deemed to have too much power," she began. "The government tried to shut it down. Made it illegal for priests to wear their vestments. Placed quotas on the number of priests in each state. Eventually made it illegal for priests to even say Mass. Convents and churches were closed and the property confiscated."
"Here?" Kurt sounded incredulous. "This is the most Catholic country I've ever been in. Are you sure?"
Emilia nodded. "We studied it in school. It went on for a long time, into the 1930's. Priests and Catholics who wouldn't renounce the church were arrested and executed. At first the protests were peaceful, but when the army started killing people there was an armed rebellion. Really tore the country apart."
"And this Padre Pro was caught up in it?" Kurt lifted his chin at the enamel box.
"He was a Jesuit priest who defied the government ban on priests giving the sacraments and saying Mass," Emilia explained. "He wore disguises. Used safe houses. Was a good actor, apparently, and had a lot of narrow escapes. He actually got famous as the priest the government couldn't catch."
"Until," Kurt said leadingly.
Emilia nodded. "They trumped up charges and blamed him for an assassination attempt on a famous general. Someone turned him in. He was executed by a firing squad after forgiving the soldiers. Right before he was shot he spread his arms and shouted Viva Cristo Rey. He didn't die immediately so a sergeant shot him point-blank in the head. The government publicized pictures of his execution. It was pretty gruesome."
"They wanted to make an example out of him," Kurt said.
"Exactly." Emilia glanced at the lacquer box and at Lupita and Tifani hovering protectively around it. "But it backfired. Viva Cristo Rey became the Catholic rallying cry and the Cristero War really blew up after that."
"So this Padre Pro is a saint?" Kurt said.
"I don't think he's officially a saint yet," Emilia said. "But he's famous to Mexican Catholics."
Kurt looked up at Tifani. "Well, let's see this relic of the famous Padre Pro."
Tifani and Lupita exchanged glances, then Tifani carefully opened the shallow drawer set into the bottom
of the box. "These are the letters verifying the authenticity of the relic," she explained. "Please do not touch."
She took out four letters, each encased in a glassine archival protector, and laid them on the velvet next to the box. Through the cloudy glassine, Emilia could see that two were folds of paper nearly crumbling with age. The other two were envelopes; one with a broken wax seal on the flap and the other relatively new with foxing on the corners.
"The relic of Padre Pro is genuine," Lupita said softly. "The bodies of saints do not, how do you say, corrupt after death. The relic is proof of his true sainthood."
Tifani slid the drawer closed and opened the lid of the box. She took out two pieces of styrofoam and set them aside. She reached back inside the box and drew out a small rectangular display case. Lupita whisked aside the now-empty enamel box and Tifani set the glass case on the velvet pad and turned it so that the front faced Emilia and Kurt.
The sides and top of the display case were made of clear glass. The wooden base was stained a dark mahogany and bore a small brass plaque with an inscription that read A Relic of the Most Holy Martyr Blessed Padre Miguel Pro Juarez, S.J. 1891-1927.
The back was decorated with a color picture of a priest in a bloody cassock lying with arms outstretched at the feet of an officer holding a sword and wearing a garish Napoleon-style uniform.
But it was the object inside the display case that took Emilia's breath away. A long-lost relic of Padre Pro. Her life had come full circle.
Was she actually in the presence of something so holy? Was it proof he was a true saint? She started to make the sign of the cross.
"Damn," Kurt said, his voice stinging like a bucket of cold water. "I don't know much about saints and their bodies staying intact after death, but this is somebody's finger, Em. And they didn't lose it all that long ago."
About the Author
In addition to political thriller The Hidden Light of Mexico City, Carmen Amato is the author of the Emilia Cruz mystery novels set in Acapulco, including Cliff Diver, Hat Dance and the collection of short stories Made in Acapulco. Originally from New York, her books draw on her experiences living in Mexico and Central America. A cultural observer and occasional nomad, she currently divides her time between the United States and Central America. Visit her website at http://carmenamato.net and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.
One last thing . . .
When you move to the next page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to rate the book and share your thoughts through an automatic feed to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. If you enjoyed HAT DANCE and think others will, too, your input would be greatly appreciated.
If you would like to recommend this book to other readers looking for a new mystery series, please consider posting a review on Amazon. Just click here to go directly to my Amazon author page where you can follow the links to post a review of HAT DANCE.
To keep updated with exclusive excerpts, sales alerts, and book release news, plus get a free copy of THE EMILIA CRUZ COOKBOOK: 7 Mexican Recipes from the Mystery Series, please click here to go to my website and subscribe. Once you confirm your email, you’ll be directed to the cookbook download page. Enjoy!
Thank you and happy reading.
All the best, Carmen