"The Third Mission"
by
Paul D. Buchanan
Paul D. Buchanan
All rights reserved by Denlinger's Publishers, including the right to reproduce this electronic book, or portions thereof, in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Paul D. Buchanan is a historian, a naturalist, a student of metaphysics and mythology, a licensed counselor, a former lay minister, and a social worker. He has worked for the last thirteen years as a social worker in California, and has maintained a practice as a Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor.
A professional writer, Buchanan's "day job" provides insight into the personalities and behaviors he has researched and portrayed in his writings. A professional author, publisher, editor, and writer for fifteen years, Buchanan's works include:
Author
Historic Places of Worship, (1999), McFarland & Company, Inc.
Famous Animals of the States, (1996), McFarland & Company, Inc.
Publisher, Editor, Writer
La Gente (I 989-1992), a Spanish language information and resources newspaper (Circulation 10,000)
Taulama (1992), a Tongan language information and resources newspaper (Circulation 2000) Resource Bulletin (1987-1993), an English language information and resources newsletter (Circulation 4000)
Home Now, (1988-1991) a newsletter for Homeless
Freelance Writer
Works published by companies from Catholic Digest to Oatmeal Greeting Cards Company
Worthy's initial terror is overcome by his curiosity. He persuades the ghost to tell his life - and afterlife - story: his tumultuous journey from Scotland to America; his friendship with Bostonian artist and sailor Thomas Doak; their subsequent journey in 1817 around Cape Horn to the central coast of Alta California. With Doak, Sinclair finds work and lodging at the Mission San Juan Bautista. Eventually - on a supply trip to Mission San Francisco - Sinclair meets the beautiful but mysterious Miraya, ward of the stern mission administrator Fr. Luis Munoz. The bigoted Munoz forbids contact between Miraya and Sinclair, which only fuels the longing between them.
Sinclair relocates at the newly established sanitarium at San Rafael, where he begins a series of clandestine rendezvous with Miraya. During these meetings he discovers Miraya's secret: the existence of a strange and wondrous place, "The Third Mission" between Monterey and San Francisco' There, a rebellious Socinian heretic named Antonio Balsa has been teaching Miraya the world's eclectic truths, knowledge, and perspectives, beyond the stark, repressive walls of the Franciscan missions. Balsa's exotic teachings inspire Miraya to break away from Munoz's cage. She and Sinclair make plans to marry and go away together.
But Munoz, infuriated at discovering their continuing relationship, has Sinclair tortured and Miraya confined. One stormy February night, the couple launches a daring escape from Mission Dolores, fleeing to the safety of The Third Mission. They are married among friends at the mission's St. Jude's Chapel, the very chapel Sinclair will be destined to haunt. But just as they embark on a new, wonderful life together, Miraya and Sinclair are killed in a bizarre accident the following day, separated for eternal life.
Taking pity upon the poor spirit, Worthy offers to help him find the truth of his fate. Enlisting the help of colleague Professor Anne Parsons, Worthy searches for the truths behind Sinclair's ethereal predicament. Through the course of their investigation, Parsons and Worthy are immersed in a world of Spanish California, of native Californian culture, and of conflicting religious beliefs. At the same time, the relationship between Parsons and Worthy blossoms beyond their previous hurried, singular, and lonely lives.
Finally at the Chapel of St. Jude, with the help of a priestly descendent of Antonio Balsa, Worthy and Parsons facilitate a dramatic, romantic, supernatural resolution to the spiritual puzzle.
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