Scratchgravel Road A Mystery - By Tricia Fields Page 0,65
knees, with a large black men’s T-shirt that effectively concealed the girl’s body underneath it. She laughed when she saw Josie and Sergio watching her.
Sergio turned to face her when she got in the car. “Good girl.” His voice caught in his throat as he watched her close the door. “You have your mother’s beauty. No clothes or hat can hide the beauty you have inside. You always remember that.”
* * *
The bell tower was visible above the caramel-colored stone wall surrounding the church. Sergio pulled up in front of a massive wooden door that blocked the buildings within from sight. He stepped out of his car and pulled a piece of thick rope that hung down the left side of the gate, and then spoke into a small microphone mounted onto the wall. By the time he had gotten back into his car, the left gate was slowly opening inward. Once it was fully open, a nun, dressed in black robes and habit, walked quickly across the stone path and opened the other gate to allow Sergio entrance into the courtyard.
Inside the walls was a maze of stone paths and winding patches of garden filled with red and white flowers and a variety of vegetables. The recent rains had beaten down the plants, but they were lush and full of color. Wooden benches and adobe archways gave way to secret gardens and cubbyholes for meditation. As Sergio pulled his car inside the gates, the bell tower rang to announce it was seven o’clock. Sergio stopped his car and pointed out his window for Teresa to look up and watch the nun pull the rope with both arms, using the weight of her body to move the magnificent iron bell. The sound gave Josie chills. Another nun smiled and waved at Sergio and waited for him to pull the car forward so that she could shut the gates behind them. He followed a round driving path that circled past the church, then past a row of four rustic doors located under a steep overhang that shaded them from the blazing sun. Josie assumed these were the guest rooms.
As they got out of the car, Josie saw Teresa turn and watch the nun replace a thick piece of wrought iron across the gates, then padlock it on both ends. The enclosed churchyard was small and intimate and Josie felt a sense of peace settle over her that she had not felt in quite some time.
Sergio introduced the nun who closed the gates as Sister Agnes. She walked quickly up the stone path, smiling and talking to Sergio as if he were an old friend. She spoke in Spanish, her voice pleasant. After several minutes of friendly chatter the nun pulled a key out of her pocket and unlocked the wooden door closest to them. She stepped back and allowed Josie and Teresa to enter first. A window on the opposite wall let in filtered light through a gauze curtain. Shade trees on the opposite side of the room kept the breeze coming through the window warm but comfortable. A twin-size bed was pushed up lengthwise to the left side of the door and another to the right. On either side of the wall was an armoire and a small washbasin, mirror, and shelf for toiletries. The floor was ancient wood plank, and waxed to a high shine. The walls were stone, like the outside of the building, and helped keep the temperature comfortable without air-conditioning.
Josie smiled and nodded at the nun to show she was pleased with the room, then turned to face Sergio. “Can you ask how much I owe for the room?”
“The rooms are for friends of the church. No cost. If you would like to make a donation, that is up to you.”
After Sergio and the nun left, Josie sat on one bed and Teresa sat on the other, facing each other.
“Now what?”
Josie smiled. “Beats me.”
“I guess we can’t take a walk?” Teresa asked.
“Not outside these walls. I’m not very well liked here by some pretty bad people.”
“Mom told me.” Teresa looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry you had to come bail me out. I never meant to cause all this trouble for you.”
“Just tell that to your mom tomorrow, and we’ll call it even.”
* * *
Mitchell Cowan, Arroyo County coroner, stood at the autopsy table and stared at the black and green flesh in front of him, frustrated and angry at his inability to put all of the pieces