Coventina Read Free Page A

tad bratty at that.”
    “Haa.”
    She parked at the Student Center parking lot and they made their way first to Starbucks then slowly to the Library. “I forgot to bring a bag large enough to hide our lattes. They won’t let us in with these you know.”
    “Well, not willfully anyway,” Layla laughed. “It’s a nice day to relax and enjoy them outside before we go in.”
    Denise loved the sweet smell of the trees along the walk from the Student Center to the Library.
    As they sat outside finishing their lattes, Denise received a message loud and clear. Inquilina. Mea nomen est Quintus. Tu quis es?
    “Did you hear that?” Layla asked.
    “Hear it? Oh yeah,” Denise laughed. “Why, what did you hear?”
    “Some guy speaking Latin would be my best guess.”
    “How loud?”
    “Quiet. Barely there.”
    “Could you describe what it sounded like?”
    “Yes, it sounded like this. I am trying to contact you and I don’t know how exactly,” Layla whispered.
    “It sounded like that to you hmm?”
    “Yes.”
    “This is how it sounded to me. INQUILINA. MEA SOMETHING SOMETHING QUINTUS,” Denise shouted, the few passersby that were out and about on a Sunday stopping to look at her and laugh.
    “That loud huh?”
    “Louder.”
    “Come on, it’s library time.”
    “Indeed.”
    They proceeded up to the 5 th floor where they found an abundance of books on the Latin language.
    Denise pulled out a small pad and pencil and thought about the line she heard outside. She began to write, Inquilina, placing a period after it because there was a definite pause. Mea nomen est Quintus. Another period for another pause. Tu quis es? She did not need to go farther than the first word to realize her message from the day before had been received. “Inquilina is Denizen,” she said, looking up at Layla.
    “You are Denizen,” Layla grinned.
    “I am Inquilina.”
    “So, then who or what is Coventina?”
    “I have a feeling we are going to find out.”
     
     
     
5
    Latin 101
     
    Layla looked at Denise and smiled. “Mulier pulchra es,” she said softly.
    “Fusce. Pulchriora sunt,” Denise smiled back before kissing her.
    “Not bad after two days I must say.”
    “Conversational Latin coming up, even though next to nobody will know what we’re saying,” Denise laughed.
    They had established that the voice Denise was hearing with the volume turned up was that of someone by the name of Quintus, and that he is coming, and that he wants to find Coventina.
    “Are we matchmakers?” Layla asked.
    “Hardly. We’re not being told everything.”
    They had been at it nearly twenty hours each day hoping that when the time came, they would be able to kind of carry on a conversation with Quintus and whatever else was part of it all.
    “Vis ire ad urbem pizza?” Layla said.
    “Very good. Yes, but only if you drive.”
    “My treat.”
    “Tenues grandia crusta dulcia una pipere?”
    “Haaa. I think you’re ahead of me in this lingo course, but if that means large thin crust sweet pepper, that would be perfect.”
    “And if it don’t?” Denise grinned.
    “Anything but anchovies really.”
    “Let’s get dressed.
    All the way to town they would pronounce the word for objects they were passing and the other had to say what it was.
    “Arboribus,” Denise said softly.
    “Uhm, trees?”
    “Etiam. You’re turn.”
    “Equus.”
    “Horse.”
    They continued all the way to Pagliai’s Pizza. “Bona olet,” Denise said, walking through the door.
    “Always smells good.”
    Layla could tell when Denise was having a conversation, even if it was a one-way link, with Quintus. “Anything new?”
    “He’s not alone.”
    “Oh?”
    “Do you want what I think the lineup is?”
    “Will I still want to eat?” Layla giggled.
    Denise just smiled at her. “Petilius, Odomnus, Venutius, Marcus and Lucius.”
    “Well, they all sound very Roman.”
    “They are arriving soon, I think.”
    “How soon?”
    “I don’t know. I have no