Page 62 of Knight of the Sword

“Oddly enough, she supposedly was a devout Catholic who attended Mass regularly and also worked with the orphans and the poor.”

“How can she be Mother Theresa and practice voodoo at the same time?”

“I don’t think anyone would compare her to Mother Theresa,” Michael said, “but remember what I told you about Emperor Constantine converting pagan festivals into Christian ones? The same thing applies here. African slaves brought their own religion with them, but slave owners forced them to convert to Catholicism, so they merely changed the names of their spirits to be in accord with the Catholic saints. For example,” Michael said as he stopped before a painting, “this is Ogun, spirit patron of warriors and blacksmiths. You know him as St. Jude.” He moved on. “So, while the slave owners thought the Africans had docilely accepted their new religion, it was a ruse—merely a subterfuge to keep practicing voodoo under new circumstances.”

“That makes sense, I suppose,” Sophie said as they completed their tour of the museum. “Speaking of blacksmiths, wasn’t that the ruse Jean Lafitte used to run his illegal business?”

“Yes, but most of the French aristocracy benefited from the bounty that the Lafitte brothers brought in, so he was considered more of a kingpin than a criminal except by the American governor, Claiborne. And the French didn’t like the Americans meddling in their business anyway, so they more or less protected the Lafittes.”

“Well, Jean is definitely remembered here. His name is everywhere,” Sophie said as they stepped out to the sidewalk.

“True. In fact, the blacksmith shop that you mentioned is only a couple of blocks from here. Want to go see it?”

“Why not? We don’t seem to be making much headway on clues for the Sword. Maybe it’s hanging in the old blacksmith shop.”

“You’re being sarcastic again,” Michael said with a grin.

She gave him a droll smile and pointed. “There’s a Tarot card reader across the street. Maybe you should ask her.”

Michael looked in the direction she pointed to an old woman sitting at a card table. “That may not be a bad idea. Looks like she’s got a couple of clients right now. We’ll stop on the way back.”

“I was kidding.”

“Tarot can be a useful tool,” Michael said as they continued down the street. “It’s possible there’s a connection, since the four suits are divided into wands, swords, cups and pentacles, representing air, fire, water and earth. Clues to the Celtic relics are turning up in the same order. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Sure. I mean, why not?”

Michael looked at her. “Are you being cynical again?”

She paused. “I don’t know. Last spring, if someone had told me I would experience the things I have, I’d have thought they were lunatics. Now it’s nearly August and I…I’m not so sure what to think anymore.”

“Lugnasad.”

“Huh?”

“August first is the Celtic festival of Lugnasad. It’s a thanksgiving of sorts to celebrate summer’s abundance and first harvest. All things come to fruition.”

Sophie studied him as they stopped in front of the blacksmith shop. “Does that mean we’ll actually find the Sword soon?”

“I think so,” Michael said. “My intuition has gotten stronger here. I just need some small clue—a slight nudge—and I think we’ll find it.”

“Maybe Jean Lafitte’s ghost will be waiting for you,” Sophie said and then laughed at Michael’s indignant look. “Okay. Well, let’s just enjoy history then. You’ve got to admit a guy who seems more like a swashbuckler than a bloodthirsty pirate is interesting.”

They spent a good thirty minutes wandering through both the front part of the smith’s shop, which served as a legitimate business, and the back area that was a warehouse for all sorts of goods that had nothing to do with being a smithy.

“I find it interesting that the expensive stuff—like silks and china and coins—was kept on some little island instead of safe in a place that could be locked up,” Sophie said as they started back toward Rue Dumaine.

“The island was well protected by Jean Lafitte’s men,” Michael replied, “and it was out of the grasp of the American governor, so Jean could hold his auctions there without too much fear of being raided.”

“But to call it the Temple was a bit ironic, wasn’t it? Or even blasphemous? ”

“Maybe. It actually was a ceremonial site of the original aborigines that inhabited this area. But remember what the Africans did with their voodoo rituals. They covered them with the cloak of Christianity. Anyone not knowing what the Temple really was would be clueless, so the Lafittes were free to practice their not-quite-legal trade.”

“Well, it looks like someone else isn’t practicing her trade either,” Sophie said as they approached the empty table where the Tarot reader had been. “Looks like she’s gone for the day.”

“We can come back tomorrow,” Michael said and then squinted at the ground. Bending down, he pulled a Tarot card out from under one of the legs of the table.

“Did she drop one?” Sophie asked.