I had learned how to pray to Mary from Antonio’s story. Like Antonio before the Christian missionaries came to his village and taught him never to pray written prayers but just say anything he wanted to God, I prayed “Hail Mary, full of Grace.” I didn’t actually ask anything because in Pete and Penny Play and Pray they hadn’t told you how Roman Catholics asked for things, just how they prayed false prayers that were written down by the Pope so he could make money from his poor deluded followers. So I said it again, “Hail Mary, full of Grace,” and this time I crossed myself too.

It was then I got the idea on how to see Jennifer. Because the idea was really clever, I knew it wasn’t mine but a miracle. I looked up at Mary and said, “Hail Mary, full of Grace, I thank thee.” That sounded about right. Anyway it was respectful. I wished that there had been more false prayers in Pete and Penny Play and Pray so I could have known how to thank Mary properly, but I did my best.

I left the church and went down to the hotel to look for Rachael to ask her to help me to write a letter to Grandmother.

“Dear Grandmother,” I said, while Rachael sat on the edge of my bed writing it down. “I miss you very much. Dad says we won’t be able to see you now for a while. Today we had a fun time on the beach but I was bad and got into trouble. So I have been punished by not being able to play with Jennifer until the end of vacation. That’s O.K. though because there are still plenty of other things to do. I can go out and meet other people on my walk on the path from Paraggi to Portofino.

“At night the path is beautiful. Sometimes we have taken long walks even at eleven o’clock at night right up to the top of the path by the wall where you can see Portofino’s harbor.

“I wish you could be here with us. I hope your hips aren’t giving you too much trouble. I’d love to meet you here and show you the walk we take. Love, Calvin.”

When Rachael finished writing it all down she said, “You’re a sweet boy to remember Grandmother, she’ll love this letter.”

“Well, thanks for helping me, now it’ll be spelled right. I’ll copy it, get a stamp, and send it.” Rachael had always helped me like this when I couldn’t write. Because of going to school in England now I could write better but I still couldn’t spell anything so for something important like a letter to Grandmother she would still help me.