Fatima

Chapter 13: The Spreading

May 14, 1917, Between 6-10 am

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

The next morning, the mother of Jacinta, Olimpia Marto, quickly go to her neighbors and she happily tell them her children's secret. The news about the children's secrets caused such a sensation until one day, it spread the whole village. The news also reaches to Maria dos Anjos, who was living at the Santos Residence.

"Lucia," Maria dos Anjos called her as she approaches to her sister. "I have heard people and our neighbors talking, saying that you saw Our Lady at the Cova da Iria yesterday. Is that true?"

"Huh? Who told you?" Lucia shocked after learning that their secret spread throughout the village. She stand in front of her, thinking. In a short time, she begins to mumble.

"I-I...I already told Jacinta not to tell anyone about it," Lucia said.

"But, why did you keep this as a secret?" Maria dos Anjos asked Lucia.

"I don't know if it is Our Lady. It was a most beautiful Lady that I have ever seen," Lucia replied.

"And what did the Lady told you?" Maria dos Anjos asked her sister.

"The Lady wanted us to go to the Cova da Iria for every thirteenth day of six months at the same hour and then She would tell us who She is and what She wants," Lucia replied. Then, Maria Dos Anjos begins to wonder if Lucia asked the Lady's name.

"Didn't you ask Her name?" Maria Dos Anjos asked Lucia.

"I asked Her where She came from; and She said to me, 'I am from Heaven,'" Lucia replied as she becomes silent. She doesn't want to tell anything more about it but Maria coaxed her to tell her about this "Lady." One day, Francisco enters Lucia's house to tell Lucia about Jacinta's mistake yesterday evening. 

"Francisco, did Jacinta tell our secret to your mother or someone else?" Lucia suspected Jacinta for telling their secret.

"Yes, Jacinta probably forget her promise to us that she won't tell anyone even to our parents. She just couldn't control herself yesterday," Francisco confirmed Lucia's suspicion. When Senhora Maria Rosa hears the news, she begins to laugh and make fun about it. After that, Maria Rosa quickly tells this news to her eldest daughter, Maria dos Anjos. After hearing the story from her mother, her eldest daughter realized something serious about this incident. 

"I realized something serious about what they saw," Maria Rosa's daughter, Maria dos Anjos, realized. She calls Lucia immediately and asks her to repeat the whole story. 

"Do you believe that this gossip is true?" Maria dos Anjos asked her mother, Senhora Maria Rosa. 

"No way...I refuse to believe that. I guess that Lucia begins to become a liar like some any other children," Maria Rosa doubted. She believes that Lucia is lying. One day, as Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco are going to outside of the village to tend the sheep, one of their neighbors gossip about them.

"Have you heard the news about this children? Many say that they saw a "Lady" from Heaven," the first neighbor gossiped.

"Children these days, I don't believe telling lies like that," the second neighbor doubted.

"But many say it's the truth," the first neighbor replied.

"They're lying," the second neighbor convinced to the first neighbor that the children are lying. "I guess they're trying to tell that lie to us in order for us to remain hopeful that we'll win the war against Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire because of this "Lady" from Heaven that gives the Allies victory over to the Central Powers."