Chapter 259: Mallory

Chapter 259: Mallory—The Moment He Saw Her

 

 

            Father Mallory was not surprised at all when they said on the news that Cecile would have given her life for the child. He knew that it would have been the only option in the girl’s mind. Now it was his job to see what was left in that mind. Cecile had called him, and made an appointment to see him in private. He had been hoping for that call, she needed some stability, a foundation to draw off so that she could start the process of her mental and spiritual healing. No doubt she would be questioning God’s purpose and why he would let this happen in the first place.

            He had his bible in his hand; he had the proper scriptures outlined. He was prepared for the process of guiding her. She was a rare creature, and he was pleased to be able to witness her moral righteousness and strength.

            The moment he saw her face when she entered the room he used to meet people in the church, he knew there was something completely, and permanently transfigured about her. She had missed morning mass and he had wondered if she would come at all, it had been odd for her to miss any sort of church service. She was on time for this appointment however.

            Cecile’s face seemed aglow, as if she were illuminated from within, it was not something physically obvious but he could sense it, and somehow, she looked more beautiful than he could ever remember her. Even though her left eye was slightly blackened and there was a slight cut underneath it, she looked angelic. He felt his mouth dry and fall open, and he almost stumbled back from her, feeling speechless and embarrassed.

            Her jet black eyebrows knit in confusion. He noticed at that point that there were points of red in her eyes, small vessels that had broken. Still, she was beautiful.

            Esther, Mallory thought and he skittered behind his desk, pressing his palms on the top of it. The biblical Queen Esther was never this beautiful, the Shulamite Maiden never this enticing. Why have I never noticed this before?

            Her mouth never really opened wide when she spoke and he watched the subtle move of her soft lips when she spoke. “Father are you alright?”

            Her voice was the same, husky yet girlish at the same time, her expression so much like that of an adult woman. Her jet black hair was not as meticulously combed and glossy as he remembered it before, it was neat but hung over her shoulders in tresses and lines that made it seem heavier. Her simple sweater was formed to her body, the fabric light and airy and expensive, and he could see that yes, she was indeed the form of a full blooded woman.

            King Solomon, Mallory thought to himself bitterly, I know how you feel. I understand what you saw in the maiden and the fire that made you compose for her and lust for her. But Cecile, child, why are you so different now in my eyes? What have you done to deserve this evil from me?

            “Father?” Cecile said, her chin tilted down, her emerald eyes pinning him with the force of her gaze. “What’s wrong? You look terrified.”

            Mallory closed his eyes, was appalled at the warmth firing in his groin and he held his breath. O Lord my God, he thought, please help me fight this sin, this lust, this fire that the devil is seeking to ignite inside of me at the expense of this pious girl. Please calm my fire, Amen.

            He felt it dissipate and he opened his eyes and saw her as she was and he remembered her. He looked into her distracting eyes. “Forgive me,” he said. He sat down and he gestured for Cecile to do so, which she did. “I have not been feeling well today and..”

            “Oh I’m sorry,” Cecile said with concern. “I did not want to bother you.”

            Mallory shook his head, “No,” he said. “You are never a bother.”

            Cecile nodded and looked at her hands. He could see the crucifix hanging just below her breasts and on a shorter chain the glint of a locket. Then he noticed the blood red shine of the ring on her finger and he felt something completely irrational. He felt rage. Marriage was holy, and binding and sanctioned by God and Cecile was obeying that law to the letter, retaining her purity and morals. He thought he was proud of her for that. But that ring meant something else to him. It meant that a boy, a boy who was not even of the same religious fiber as her would have her for keeps, and he would undress her, and take from her everything that made her untouched and pure. He would take her innocence and who was he to take it. He was no one.

            Mallory swallowed. “You’ve been through the worst scare of your life. Begin there.”

            Cecile ran the tip of her pink tongue over her lips flickering the flame inside him back to life. “He was going to harm Jana, the little girl; he was going to do the worst possible things one could ever think of to her. He never said as much but I could see it in his face. It was obvious.”

            “Yes,” Mallory said, “Go on.”

            Cecile closed her eyes. “I won’t go into great detail, he tried to kill me I fought and I was rescued by the police who shot him down as if he were a rabid animal. Simple enough I guess.” She opened her eyes. “I should be grateful to God that things were not worse, and that Jana was shielded from harm, and that I was able to bring that about.”

            Mallory nodded, feeling his theology bubble forth in his brain, rescuing him from his baser feelings. “Yes, yes!” He said. “Of course you would see that, you’re so intelligent Cecile. It’s the truth, you should be thankful to God that it was not worse and that so much danger was averted and that…”

            “That’s what it is,” Cecile cut in and she sat erect her eyes flashing and her cheeks blushing. She looked for all the world like a startled bird. “Danger was averted, Father and it was because of me and… and I cannot just say that it was dumb luck or fortuitous happenstance. It was something deeper and if I put words to it, it would be sacrilege and presumptuous hypocrisy.”

            Mallory felt his mouth dry again. He knew at this point that Cecile was going to open a door between them, and it was going to be something he would not have a ready answer to. He felt fear now, he felt fear looking at this young woman, and the movement of her body breathing and pulsing. “What is it?” He asked.

            Don’t tell me child, he thought, don’t tell me and walk out that door and spare us both, and marry that boy and bear children and become old and forgotten.

            Cecile took a deep breath and Mallory felt his gaze flicker over the large swell of her breasts. Her mind was not suited to this body, it was not right.

            “I walked into that bathroom and then I saw the man’s face, he was talking to me or Jana, I can’t remember to whom. But Father, his face, his face, do you remember that dream I told you about, the one you told me I should not forget?” she said, and he could see the desperation tugging in her eyes.

            “Yes,” Mallory said. “I remember that. What about it?”

            Cecile leaned forward on the desk and placed her palms face down on the surface and her eyes steeled, the pupils seemed to dilate. “The man I told you about, the one that was drowned in the bathtub, his face swollen and his tongue hanging out…” Her fingers slid across the table surface and she leaned forward further. “It was the exact same man. He was the man from my dream. Every detail of him was identical.”

            It was sacrilege. Cecile had been right, Mallory thought. She should have said nothing.

            “No,” Mallory said, “You must have associated the two things in your mind until they seemed identical but no it can’t be the same, you didn’t…”

            “I did!” Cecile exclaimed. “I saw his face when I walked into the bathroom and I knew immediately he was the one from my dream and I tried to get Jana out of there without him noticing because I knew it, that something horrible was about to happen.”

            Mallory saw the truth in her words. No, he thought. No do not condemn yourself with this. God no longer grants the powers of prediction and miracles, only the Devil does this nowadays, run from it, close your mouth.

            “In our struggles he fell into the bathtub and his face, it was bloated and his tongue was hanging out and it was everything that I had seen, it was realized and drowing! Father in the dream I was being drowned and this man, he had me by the hair and he had my face in the bathtub and I was drowning,” her voice faltered and she closed her eyes. “It’s wrong but it’s true.”

            Mallory felt his heart shatter. The Devil.

            She took another deep breath and she sat down. “You can’t speak,” she said. She half grinned. “Father it gets worse.”

            Don’t tell me! His mind screamed. Don’t go further.

            “I was filled with desperation to save that child,” Cecile said. “That was the only thing in my mind and it happened. She was saved. And later, in the middle of the night, after Danny had given me this ring,” she held up her hand showed him the ring, “and after the girl was asleep and he was gone, I woke up and I was angry. I was infuriated that this sort of thing goes on thousands of times every day to thousands of women and children. I was angry that there are entire lands out there on this Earth and there are children starving and innocent people dying and I am sitting here right now wearing a cashmere sweater that costs three hundred dollars and I own five more of them and what kind of hypocrite does that make me?”

            “Cecile,” Father Mallory said weakly, “Your heart has the right concern but…”

            “I dreamt about this happening,” Cecile cut in, “You were right the dream was important and it had a higher purpose a much higher purpose.”

            “Don’t!” Mallory exclaimed.

            Cecile’s eyes closed. “I know,” she whispered.

            “Listen carefully,” he said. “I did not mean to tell you to see the dream as face value, a prediction sent from God. I only meant for you to see it as a guideline, a compilation of moral warnings. If you see it as something more spiritual then you are telling me right now that a miracle has happened, a bonafide miracle.”

            She swallowed. “And who are we to say that it wasn’t?” she said. “Who are we to say that perhaps God is not leading me to a calling, a higher purpose, something where I could be useful to this world and could contribute something meaningful.”

            Mallory shook his head. “Cecile, please,” he said. “We know that God has touched us lowly humans in the past. But before you walk hastily into the belief that He has blessed you with a miracle, think about what else could have happened, the more likely things that could have happened. You’re bright, you can understand?”

            Cecile nodded. “The Devil,” she said.

            “Lucifer tempted Jesus with the prospect of ruling the entire Earth, he laid it out for him with one condition,” Mallory said. He opened the bible to the book of Matthew where the story was laid out.

            “I know the story,” Cecile said. “Jesus was fasting and Satan approached him with those gifts if he would do an act of worship to him.”

            “Yes,” Mallory said, “and can you imagine? Jesus must have known that he could have had the power at that point to take rulership of the world and try to save it, to fix it under his good intentions, and they would have started out perfectly and as the years passed by Satan’s influence would taint his reign and destroy it.”

            Cecile nodded.

            “What I am saying,” Mallory said. “Is that you must be careful that you do not accept the gifts that Jesus himself did not touch. That you do not put yourself on a pedestal so high that God would be ashamed of you and your fall would be hard and painful. The Devil tempts us under so many disguises, try to examine this one. I do not doubt that you had a prophetic dream, but who do you think is more likely to have visited you during the night and slid it into you brain?”

            Cecile pressed her hands over her face and laughed. It was an exhausted, defeated laugh and it gave Mallory hope that she was seeing the light and would again be under good grace.

            “I was visited during the night,” Cecile said, uncovering her face and dazzling him with a smile. “And I have a feeling that perhaps the Devil would be afraid of this one. I understand Father, thank you.”

            Father Mallory sat back in his chair, stunned by her womanly and worldly expression. Again he was taunted by how desirable a creature she was. And he was enraged with the knowledge that he would never be able to touch her.