Sapphire Moonlight

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Mrs Dantas was sitting on the left side in her bed, not at right angles as people do when they sit on a sofa, but obliquely. She had her feet on the ground. She was saying her prayers before going to sleep. She had already said the Hail Mary's and the Our Father's, and a prayer for the Guardian Angel which she repeated twice. She was now saying a prayer from the prayer book, a prayer which she did not know by heart. She was focused on the words. She had a calm expression on her face. Her rosary lay by her side on the bed. Earlier she had phoned her husband to say good night. She hadn't said good night to her children yet. As soon as she would have finished saying her prayers she would have a look around to check that everything was in order.  

Joaquim had gone to the bedroom where Otavio Sergio had been staying, which they would share, and which was beside Juliana's bedroom. Luiza had gone to Juliana's bedroom. 

'Juliana, can I sleep in here with you?' she asked her sister. Instead of sleeping in the bedroom where she had slept the night before, she had decided to spend the night in Juliana's.  

'Which bed do you prefer?' There were two single beds in the bedroom, one close to the inner wall with the foot near the doorway, the other close to the window.  

'May I take the one close to the wall, near the door?' 

'Yes, you may. As a matter of fact I prefer this one, close to the window. It was where I used to sleep when we came here when I was a child.' 

'Is everything OK, girls?' said Mrs Dantas at the door.  

'Yes, mother, everything's OK,' Juliana said. 

'So Luiza is going to sleep in here too,' she smiled at her daughter. 'Isn't there anything you need, girls?' she added. 

'No, mother,' both girls said. 

'Aren't you hungry?' 

'No, mother, we're not.' 

'There's plenty of milk in the fridge.' 

'Yes, mother.' 

'What about Joaquim and Otavio Sergio?' 

'They've already gone to sleep,' Juliana said. 

'Good night, then, girls. Sleep well. God bless you.' 

'God bless you, mother,' both girls said. 'Good night.' 

'Do you want me to switch off the light?' Mrs Dantas said at the doorstep, her hand close to the light switch. 

'For me it's OK, mother. What about you, Juliana?' Luiza said. 

'Yes, mother, please. But just a moment, mother,' Juliana said as she searched for the light switch that was on the wire of her bedside lamp. After she switched it on, her mother switched off the bedroom main lamp, on the ceiling. 

'God bless you,' Mrs Dantas said. 

'God bless you too, mother.'  

Before getting to sleep Luiza told Juliana about her walk in the yard, how marvellous it had been and how different. She tried to give all the details, she told about all the places she and Joaquim had gone to and how it had been and how she had felt, and she said she couldn't wait until they would come back again the following night.  

Luiza asked Juliana about the things Juliana used to do in the farm when she was thirteen, Luiza's age, and Juliana tried to give her an account of what she had done and the adventures in which she had taken part. 

Then Luiza became quiet and that quietness extended over a period, and this made Juliana sit up in bed in order to make sure her sister had fallen asleep. She kept looking for a while at the tender, sweet, innocent expression on Luiza's face. Then she gently made a move and turned off the pale bluish nocturnal glow of the 40 watt bedside bulb.