The Sands of Time

It had been a good season in the French countryside, showering farmers with an abundance of crops. I wish that every year could be as wonderful as this, Rubio Arzano thought. It has been a good year in more ways than one.



First, his marriage, and then, a year ago, the birth of the twins. Whoever dreamed a man could be this happy?



It was starting to rain. Rubio turned the tractor around and headed for the barn. He thought about the twins. The boy was going to be big and strapping. But his sister! She was going to be a handful. She's going to give her man a lot of trouble, Rubio grinned to himself. She takes after her mother.



He drove the tractor into the barn and headed for the house, feeling the cool rain against his face. He opened the door and stepped inside.



"You're just in time." Lucia smiled. "Dinner's ready."



The Reverend Mother Prioress Betina awakened with a premonition that something wonderful was about to happen.



Of course, she thought, enough good things have already happened.



The Cistercian convent had long since been reopened, under the protection of King Don Juan Carlos. Sister Graciela and the nuns who had been taken to Madrid were safely returned to the convent, where they were allowed to retreat once again into the blessed solitude and silence.



Shortly after breakfast, the Mother Prioress walked into her office and stopped, staring. On her desk, shining with a dazzling brightness, lay the gold cross.



It was accepted as a miracle.