Page 147 of Silence Is Golden (Storm and Silence 3)

---

Amém.

Pai nosso, que estais no céu

Santificado seja o Vosso nome…’

‘Is he starting all over again?’

‘Priests have been known to recite the Lord’s Prayer up to thirty times in a row, especially in situations of carnal temptation.’

‘Carnal temp- I’ll give him carnal temptation!’

Fuming, I marched over to the young man kneeling on the ground.

‘…Venha a nós o Vosso reino,

Seja feita a Vossa vontade…’

‘Hey, you!’

‘…Assim na terra como no céu.

O pão nosso de cada dia nos dai hoje…’

‘I’m talking to you! Open your peepers!’

‘…Perdoai as nossas ofensas,

‘Assim como nós perdoamos a quem nos tem ofendido.

E não nos deixeis cair em tentação…’

‘I’m not going to bloody tempt you! I don’t even want to tempt you! And trust me, you most certainly don’t want to be tempted by me!’

‘Mas livrai-nos do mal,

Amém.

Pai nosso, que estais no céu…’

‘Are your ears corked or something?’

‘…Santificado seja o Vosso nome,

Venha a nós o Vosso reino…’

I decided that extreme measures were necessary. Taking a few determined steps, I positioned myself behind the priest.

‘Mr Linton?’ Mr Ambrose stepped forward. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Getting this gentleman’s attention,’ I told him, and booted the priest firmly in the backside. He ended his prayer in a yelp and flew forward, landing face first in the mud. Spitting out dirt and a few surprised bugs, he rolled around to stare up at me with a mixture of horror and incredulity.

‘You…you are real?’

‘As real as it bloody gets!’

The priest’s eyes wandered up and down my figure, cautiously.

‘You are not a figment of my sinful, lust-filled imagination?’

---