Ravenna, however did not miss a divinatory beat, true to her Scorpion Sun. "Perhaps we might meet in Venice next year for Carnival? My family owns the Casa del Corvo not far from Tintoretto's house." "The Casa del Corvo!" Olivia's fingers typed..."Didn't Aleister Crowley stay there once? Didn't he?" "You know your Venetian history well," the Italian Fornarina teased. "My grandfather had many friends and an inquisitive intellect. More than that, I cannot say." Holy scheiss! Olivia whispered after reading the cyber-reply. "I wonder if grandpapa knew Jimmy Mage, too..." "Was your grandfather alive in 1912?" the Peyton lass inquired of R del C, acting on a hunch. "Yes, he was living then in Venice at his palazzo." The Peyton Pumpernickel smiled because she knew Crowley had written a work about Venice entitled Mortadello that same year. A comedy that included a character named Magdalena. "I can't say that I recommend the play," the Garlic Biscuit winked online. "Not my taste at all - rather a peverse Othello, if you ask me...although in Crowley's version, his name is Orlando and yes, he gets...whacked. Very high Gothic, that one..." "How did you know I was thinking about Mortadello?" "How could I not?" "Speaking of high Goth, ever been to Sant'Abbondio a Como?" "I was baptized there," R del C admitted. "So you've seen the famous frescoes firsthand," O exulted. "They are amazing, aren't they? I particularly like the one of the skull right under the Cross...you know which one I mean, right?" "It's rather difficult to miss." "Yes, it is so difficult not to miss Italy...I do. Duke and I were so happy there, it seems so long ago...an eternity. Oh well, back to the cathedral of Ravenna's youth, designed by the Comacine Masters, a mysterious guild of builders, indeed." "Ah, the Isola Comacina, home of the Bretheren," R del C informed. "You know the Grail was carried to this place in the 6th century?" "What?" Lucky K interjected. "Carried by whom??" "Carrying what?" Olivia pounded out on the keyboard. "Yes, the Grail...the Cup. The sole bell tower on the Isola, called The Sleeping Beauty Island by the way, is dedicated to...Santa Maria Magdalena, of course." "Are you kidding?" Komrade joined-in. "Nope...very Pre-Raphaelite, isn't it?" Ravenna observed. "Is the Grail still on the island?" Lucky K asked through the aether. "No, it is gone. Vanished. Some claim taken to the Val Codera in the Italian Alps long ago." "Really?" Olivia replied in a few moments time. "I just ran a search on that spot and it barely comes up on a map. Gods...could it be? In Lombardy?"    Text Copyright © 1999 - ad infinitum cybersybils.com Bovican Books All rights reserved.