The Missed Appointment of Fatima

On the 10th of August 1917, the parents of the Fatima seers were ordered by the county administrator to appear at noon the next day, with their children, in Vila Nova, seven miles away. The administrator interrogated Lucia in order to make her tell the secret she had been revealed and promise never to return to Cova da Iria, but the little girl remained silent. The official then threatened Lucia, saying that he would make her confess the secret, even if he had to kill her to make her talk. The morning of August 13th, some men arrived at the Marto family's house with an ironmonger who pretended to have come to see the miracle too. He managed to convince the children to climb into his carriage, and took the direction of the Cova da Iria, but, once on the road, abruptly changed direction toward Vila Nova de Ourem, where the children had been thrown in jail. However, confronted by the children's silence and the beginning of revolt in the crowd, who didn't understand why those children were locked up, the authorities decided to free them on August 15th. Meanwhile the Blessed Virgin Mary had come anyway to the Cova da Iria on August 13th. 18,000 people were there. They first heard a strike of thunder, then saw the reflection of a light, and immediately after the crowd saw a small cloud that hovered for a few minutes above the oak tree, then rose up to the sky and disappeared. At that moment there appeared a man-sized rainbow. Our Lady had indeed, apparently, kept her appointment of the 13th of August 1917.