THE PRIEST OF SANTA MARIA

  ( CHAPTER  49 ) - Let me see. Let me see. She bounded up and down on the spot. Aker lowered his hands to her eye level. It's dead. There's nothing we can do. By the looks of its wound, it was catapulted with a rock. The child smiled humbly and pressed her ear to its body. She closed her eyes for a moment and Let me see. Let me see. She bounded up and down on the spot. Aker lowered his hands to her eye level. It's dead. There's nothing we can do. By the looks of its wound, it was catapulted with a rock. The child smiled humbly and pressed her ear to its body. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them and announced, He wants to live. She kissed his feathered torso. The creature opened his eyes in a daze and found himself staring into the face of the little girl. She smiled at him in adoration. The children gasped as they crowded round with baited breaths. Aker, open your hands, she said. Aker did as instructed. The bird fidgeted, lifted its wings and hopped

  ( CHAPTER  49 )  -  { PT.  2 } - Most likely there will be some scarring, yes. Doctor Conti lifted the last segment of fabric, and they looked eagerly down at the Cardinal's hand. Will you look at that? said Doctor Conti. It's as if the very hand of God came down and made his mark upon you. The Cardinal gazed down at the perfect markings of a Greek cross in the center of his right hand. He was not amused.            EPILOGUE - FOUR-AND-A-HALF YEARS LATER: - BEDOUIN CAMP, SINAI DESERT, EGYPT                                    The sun's unrelenting rays beat down upon a sea of barren desert stretching for miles in all directions. Its blazing heat reflected a haziness that blinded the eye. A solitary tamarisk stood defiant. Firm. Erect. Shooting up from the arid sand. Its branches and leaves spread out to form a vast tent-like structure. A golden eagle lay on the shadowed surface. Its body rigid. Dead. Aker, lank, hazel-brown-eyed boy with bronzed skin, kicked a homemade foo