Fatima

Chapter 12: The Mistake

May 13, 1917, Late Afternoon

Marto Residence, Aljustrel, Fatima, Ourém, Beira Litoral Province, Portugal

It's already late in the afternoon, Lucia heads home in her village in Fatima. When she reached home, she didn't say a word about her vision about the Lady. Meanwhile, Francisco busily works in the yard while Jacinta waits at the entry door for her parent's arrival. As minutes passed by, Jacinta turns and sees her parents, Ti and Olimpia Marto, arrive at her home and get down from the carriage. Olimpia walks towards her home while Ti tries to get the pig out of their carriage. Jacinta runs and hugs her mother while Francisco gets inside the carriage and helps his father by pushing the pig out of the carriage.

"Hi, Mother, I'm so happy," Jacinta excitedly burst. At that time, she forgot Lucia's solemn warning.

"We saw a beautiful Lady from Heaven at the Cova da Iria today," Jacinta said as Francisco becomes shock when he hears that his sister told their mother the vision that they saw earlier.

"My, my," Olimpia Marto surprised. "Don't tell me. You must certainly be a good little girl to see the Lady from Heaven."

"It's true, Mother, I did saw the Lady. Before we saw her, there's a flash in the sky and a light,  standing into the carrasqueira as she forms into a beautiful Lady," Jacinta storied. After that, Olimpia decides to ignore her story for awhile and starts making food for the pigs. 

Meanwhile, Ti Marto watches and feeds the pigs and the other animals inside the pen. After feeding the pigs and other animals, he goes back inside the house and eats his supper near the kitchen fire. A few minutes later, Olimpia turns at her daughter, Jacinta, and asks her to repeat the whole story about the beautiful Lady that she saw.

"Did Francisco also saw this 'beautiful Lady' too?" Olimpia Marto asked Jacinta.

"Yes, Mother. Francisco was with us when we three saw the beautiful Lady," Jacinta replied.

"Francisco, come here," Olimpia called her son, Francisco, as he approaches them.

"Jacinta, when you saw this 'beautiful Lady', what does she look like?" Olimpia asked Jacinta. 

"It's a beautiful Lady, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was dressed in white and Her head was covered with a white mantle. She wore a chain of gold around Her neck which extended down to Her breasts. Her dress covered her feet and it was embroidered in gold. She kept her hands together in a praying position. She had beads between her fingers. The rosary and it's crucifix is as gold as the stars at night," Jacinta described as she imitates the vision.

"What did this 'beautiful Lady do after she appeared to you?" Olimpia asked Jacinta.

"The Lady talked to Lucia a lot, but not to Francisco and I. I heard and listened their conversation. The Lady told Lucia to we need to pray the Rosary every day. She also told us that She would take the three of us, Lucia, Francisco, and I, to Heaven. Then, I don't know the rest, but Lucia does," Jacinta reported.

"Francisco, is it true what Jacinta said?" Olimpia asked Francisco.

"Yes, Mother," Francisco confirmed as he nods yes. His female siblings are interested, but his male siblings laughed at Jacinta's story.

"What? You saw a 'Lady?' Do you think we could believe this supernatural nonsense?" one of their male siblings doubted as he continues laughing.

"A good little saint you are, for the 'Our Lady' to appear to you," one of their male siblings echoed to Olimpia.

"If the children saw the 'Lady' all dressed in white, is Jacinta referring to 'Our Lady,' the Blessed Virgin Mary?" Antonio da Silva, Ti Marto's brother-in-law, thought.

"From the past until now, the Blessed Virgin Mary or the 'Our Lady' has appeared many times to convey message to us and to help us. If the world is in bad shape today, it would be worse and I heard that the Germans and their ally, Austria-Hungarians, continue to fight against our country. But I believe that the power of God is great! We don't know yet what it is, but there will be something... God's will be done. I know Jacinta and Francisco would never lie and therefore, I believe what the children saw was true," Ti Marto thought in mind as he believes the three shepherd's vision at the Cova da Iria. After that, Francisco approaches Jacinta and whispers something to her ear.

"Now, you broke your promise to us. If you remember, you swore to us that you wouldn't tell our vision to another soul. This the worst mistake that you ever made," Francisco whispered. After that, Jacinta turns at him.

"At least our parents believe us on what we saw at the Cova da Iria today. I believe they won't tell our vision to our neighbors or the whole village," Jacinta replied.

"Hope so they won't tell anyone," Francisco said as he's worried.