She spent some time examining the images of Cupid and Venus, recalling the intruder’s reference to the myth of Cupid and Psyche. According to myth, Zephyr, who hovered in the orange grove at the right-hand side of Primavera, had helped Psyche when she was in distress.
I am the monster, hiding in the darkness, the intruder had whispered.
She wondered idly if he was like Zephyr.
Raven was glad she’d studied Greek and Roman mythology as an undergraduate, for it helped her understand Botticelli’s work. She knew, for example, that Maia and Jove were the parents of Mercury and that Atlas was his grandfather.
She knew that Chloris had been raped by Zephyr but that he’d repented of his violence and married her, renaming her Flora. Ovid, who told the story in his Fasti, quoted Flora as claiming she had no complaint in bed, which signified that her husband was kind to her after his former brutality.
She wondered if the intruder was like that—a man who’d engaged in acts of violence, only to regret them later and repent.
She gazed at Zephyr’s face and quivered, recalling how gentle the intruder’s touch had been.
Raven closed the window on her computer and quickly logged in to her e-mail account. Scrolling through a few unopened messages, she found an e-mail from Father Jack Kavanaugh.
Dear Raven,
I hope this e-mail finds you well.
I’ve been transferred to Rome, effective July 1st.
It’s a long, Jesuitical story. The short of it is that I’ve had to resign my position at Covenant House in Orlando. Don’t worry, I’m leaving the house in good hands and I intend to continue helping them in any way I can.
I’m hoping to visit Florence and hear about your good work at the Uffizi Gallery.
How is your sister?
How is your mother?
I remember you and your family in my prayers, praying that you all will find peace, forgiveness, and hope in the extravagance of God’s love,
Fr. Jack
Raven sat back in her chair.
This was an e-mail she had not expected to receive.
She’d known Father Kavanaugh for years. He’d helped her and her sister when they were in crisis. Later, he’d helped her attend Barry University, finding scholarship money to pay for her tuition and residence. Even now, long after graduation, he was still trying to help her by praying to a god she didn’t believe in.
Father Kavanaugh was a holy man. He was pious and he was good. He’d worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and he’d founded orphanages and schools in Uganda.
But more than that, he was the one person in Raven’s life who had never disappointed her. She knew without doubt that if she were in trouble and went to him, he would do everything in his power to help her and he would expect nothing in return.
She wondered what he’d say when he saw her altered appearance. She wondered what miraculous account he would give of her experience wearing the relic.
Although she respected him, loved him even, she was not looking forward to those conversations.
It would be some time before he was settled in Rome and able to travel. She would have to work up the courage to listen to him and not blurt out cynical, offensive words.
She sighed at the thought.
“You don’t look so good.”
Raven was jolted from her musings by Patrick’s voice. He was standing next to her desk in the archives, wearing a concerned expression.
“Thanks a lot.” She grimaced.
“I didn’t mean it that way.” He touched her shoulder. “Are you sick?”
She shook her head.
“Dark.” He pointed to the purple smudges below her eyes. “Aren’t you sleeping?”
“Not really.” Her eyes moved in the direction of the archivist and back to her friend. “I can’t talk about it here.”
“Fair enough. I need to make some photocopies and use the scanner. I probably need help. Join me?”
“What about the archivist?”
“I’ll speak to her. Hang on.”
Patrick walked to the archivist’s desk. Raven closed her computer windows in anticipation and logged out of her computer.
The archivist looked over at her and she offered a restrained smile.
“So what’s up?” Patrick asked as they walked down the hall toward the photocopying room.
“I’m still freaked out about the mugging in Santo Spirito.”
Patrick grimaced. “I don’t blame you. Has there been any other trouble?”
“No. But every time I close my eyes I see it.”
Patrick shook his head. “I’m beginning to think the city isn’t as safe as it used to be.”
“You can say that again.”
They continued walking and Patrick looked down at her feet.
“Are you limping?”
“A little. My leg is stiff today.”
“Do you need your cane?”
“I don’t think so.”
Patrick seemed suspicious. “I thought your leg was better.”
“It is.” Raven straightened her leg and set her teeth against the pain.
“Did you ever look at the radiographs of the figure of Mercury from Primavera?”
“Not very closely. Why?”
“It looks like Botticelli changed Mercury’s hair.”
Patrick gave her a puzzled look. “Changed? How?”
“He had short blond hair in the beginning. There’s a ghost underneath the figure.”
“I don’t remember hearing about that.”
“Me, neither. That’s why I saved the files to my flash drive. I wanted to look at them at home.”
“Did you?”
“I expanded them on my laptop, but the quality isn’t that good. Still, you can see the ghost.”
Patrick whistled. “That’s a pretty incredible find. How did everyone miss it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m looking at it wrong. I need to ask Professor Urbano.”
They entered the photocopying room and closed the door behind them.
Patrick quickly set up his photocopying jobs so they could continue talking.
“How’s life in the archives?”
Raven’s shoulders slumped. “Not that great. Hopefully, Urbano will let me come back on Monday. He said it depended on my replacement.”
“What about Vitali?”
Raven shook her head. “I was his resident gopher this week.”
“I didn’t think Italy had gophers.”
Raven rolled her eyes.
“It does now.”