by Steve Berry
He caught that irony. "Another message?"
"Clearly. Check out the stations of the cross."
The carvings began at the pulpit, seven along the north wall, then another seven on the south. Each was a colorful bas-relief that depicted a moment in Christ's crucifixion. Their bright patina and cartoonish detail seemed unusual for something so solemn.
"Strange, aren't they?" Mark asked. "When they were installed in 1887, they were common for the area. In Rocamadour, there's a nearly identical set. The Giscard House in Toulouse made those and these. Much has been made of these stations. Conspiratorialists claim they have Masonic origins or are actually some sort of treasure map. None of that's true. But there are messages in them."
Malone noticed some of the curious aspects. The black slave boy who held the wash bowl for Pilate. The veil Pilate wore. A trumpet being sounded as Christ fell with the cross. Three silver discs held aloft. The child confronting Christ, wrapped in a Scottish tartan blanket. A Roman soldier throwing dice for Christ's cloak, the numbers three, four, and five visible on the faces.
"Look at station fourteen," Mark said, gesturing toward the south wall.
Malone stood and walked to the front of the church. Candles flickered before the altar and he quickly noticed the bas-relief beneath. A woman, Mary Magdalene, he assumed, in tears, kneeling in a grotto before a cross formed by two branches. A skull rested at the branch base and he immediately thought of the skull from the lithograph last night in Avignon.
He turned and studied the image of the last station of the cross, number 14, which depicted Christ's body being carried by two men as three women wept. Behind them rose a rocky escarpment above which hung a full moon in the night sky.
"Jesus being carried to the tomb," he whispered to Mark, who'd approached close behind him.
"According to Roman law, a crucified man was never allowed burial. That form of execution was reserved only for those guilty of crimes against the empire, the idea being for the accused to slowly die on the cross--death taking several days and for all to see, the body left for the carrion birds. Yet supposedly Pilate granted Christ's body to Joesph of Arimathea so that it could be buried. Have you ever wondered why?"
"Not really."
"Others have. Remember, Christ was killed on the eve of the Sabbath. He could not, by law, be buried after the sun set." Mark pointed at station 14. "Yet Sauniere hung this representation, which clearly shows the body being carried after dark."
Malone still didn't understand the significance.
"What if instead of being carried into the tomb, Christ is being carried out, after dark?"
He said nothing.
"Are you familiar with the Gnostic Gospels?" Mark asked.
He was. They were found along the upper Nile in 1945. Seven Bedouin field hands were digging when they came across a human skeleton and a sealed urn. Thinking it contained gold, they smashed the urn open and found thirteen leather-bound codices. Not quite a book, but a close ancestor. The neatly written, ragged-edged texts were all in ancient Coptic, most likely composed by monks who lived at the nearby Pachomian monastery during the fourth century. They contained forty-six ancient Christian manuscripts, their content dating from the second century, the codices themselves fashioned in the fourth century. Some were subsequently lost, used as kindling or discarded, but by 1947 the remainder were acquired by a local museum.
He told Mark what he knew.
"The answer as to why the monks buried the codices came from history," Mark said. "In the fourth century Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, wrote a letter that was sent to all the churches in Egypt. He decreed that only the twenty-seven books contained within the recently formulated New Testament could be considered Scripture. All other heretical books must be destroyed. None of the forty-six manuscripts in that urn conformed. So the monks at the Pachomian monastery chose to hide the thirteen codices rather than burn them, perhaps waiting for a change in church leadership. Of course, no change ever occurred. Instead, Roman Christianity flourished. But thank heaven the codices survived. These are the Gnostic Gospels we now know. In one, Peter's, it is written, And as they declared what things they had seen, again they saw three men come forth from the tomb, and two of them supporting one."
Malone stared again at station 14. Two men supporting one.
"The Gnostic Gospels were extraordinary texts," Mark said. "Many scholars now say the Gospel of Thomas, which was included in them, may be the closest we have to Christ's actual words. The early Christians were terrified of the Gnostics. The word came from the Greek gnosis, which meant 'knowledge.' Gnostics were simply people in the know, but the emerging Catholic version of Christianity eventually eliminated all gnostic thought and teachings."
"And the Templars kept that alive?"
Mark nodded. "The Gnostic Gospels, and several more that theologians today have never seen, are contained in the abbey's library. The Templars were broad-minded when it came to Scripture. There's a lot to be learned from these so-called heretical works."
"How would Sauniere know anything of those Gospels? They weren't discovered until decades after his death."
"Perhaps he had access to even better information. Let me show you something else."
He followed Mark back to the church's entrance and they stepped out onto the porch. Above the door was a stone-carved box upon which words were painted.
"Read the writing beneath," Mark said.
Malone strained to make out the letters. Many were faded and hard to decipher, and all were in Latin.
REGNUM MUNID ET OMNEM ORNATUM SAECULI CONTEMPSI, PROPTER AMOREM DOMININ MEI JESU CHRISTI: QUEM VIDI, QUEM AMAVI, IN QUEM CREDIDI, QUEM DILEXI
"Translated it means, 'I have had contempt for the kingdom of this world, and all temporal adornments, because of the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I saw, whom I loved, in whom I believed, and whom I worshiped.' On its face an interesting statement, but there are some conspicuous errors." Mark motioned. "The words scoeculi, anorem, quen, and cremini are all misspelled. Sauniere spent one hundred and eighty francs for that carving and for the letters to be painted, which was a sizable sum at the time. We know this because his receipts still exist. He went to a lot of trouble to design this entrance, yet he allowed the misspellings to remain. It would have been easy to repair them, since the letters were only painted."
"Maybe he didn't notice?"
"Sauniere? He was a type A personality. Nothing slipped by him."
Mark led him away from the entrance as another wave of visitors entered the church. They stopped in front of the garden with the Visigoth pillar and statue of the Virgin.
"The inscription above the door is not biblical. It's contained within a responsory written by a man named John Tauler early in the fourteenth century. Responsories were prayers or poems used between scriptural readings and Tauler was well known in Sauniere's time. So it's possible Sauniere simply liked the phrase. But it's pretty unusual."
Malone agreed.
"The misspellings could shed some light on why Sauniere used it. The painted words are quem cremini, 'in whom I believed,' but the word should have been credidi, yet Sauniere allowed the misspelling. Could that mean that he did not believe in Him? And then the most interesting of all. Quem vidi. Whom I saw."
Malone instantly saw the significance. "Whatever he found led him to Christ. Whom he saw."
"That's what Dad thought, and I agree. Sauniere seemed unable to resist sending messages. He wanted the world to know what he knew, but it was almost as if he realized that no one in his time would understand. And he was right. No one did. Not until forty years after he died did anyone ever notice." Mark looked over at the ancient church. "The whole place is one of reversals. The stations of the cross are hung on the wall backward from every other church in the world. The devil at the door--he's the reverse of good." Then he pointed to the Visigoth pillar a few feet away. "Upside down. Notice the cross and the carvings on the face."
Malone stu
died the face.
"Sauniere inverted the pillar before carving Mission 1891 at the bottom and Penitence, Penitence along the top."
Malone noticed a V with a circle at its center in the bottom right corner. He cocked his head around and envisioned the image inverted. "Alpha and omega?" he asked.
"Some think so. Dad did."
"Another name for Christ."
"That's right."
"Why did Sauniere turn the pillar upside down?"
"No one has come up with a good reason."
Mark stepped away from the garden display and allowed others to surge forward for pictures. He then led the way toward the rear of the church, into one corner of the Calvary garden where a small grotto stood.
"This is a replica, too. For the tourists. World War Two took the original. Sauniere built it with rocks he would bring back from his forays. He and his mistress would travel off for days at a time and return with a hod full of stones. Odd, wouldn't you say?"
"Depends on what else was in that hod."
Mark smiled. "Easy way to bring back a little gold without arousing suspicion."
"But Sauniere seems a strange sort. He could have just been toting rocks."
"Everybody who comes here is a little strange."
"That include your father?"
Mark appraised him with a serious countenance. "No question. He was obsessed. He gave his life to this place, loved every square foot of this village. This was his home, in every way."
"But not yours?"
"I tried to carry on. But I didn't have his passion. Maybe I realized the whole thing was futile."
"Then why hide yourself away in an abbey for five years?"
"I needed the solitude. It was good for me. But the master had bigger plans. So here I am. A fugitive from the Templars."
"So what were you doing in the mountains when that avalanche came?"
Mark did not answer him.
"You were doing the same thing your mother's doing here now. Trying to atone for something. You just didn't know folks were watching."
"Thank heaven they did."
"Your mother is hurting."
"You and she worked together?"
He noticed the dodge. "For a long time. She's my friend."
"That's a tough nut to crack."
"Tell me about it, but it can be done. She's hurting bad. Lots of guilt and regrets. This could be a second chance for her and you."
"My mother and I parted ways long ago. It was best for both of us."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I came to my father's house."
"And when you arrived you saw that somebody else's bags were there. Both our passports were left with our stuff. Surely you found them? Yet you stayed."
Mark turned away and Malone thought it an effort to hide a growing confusion. He was more like his mother than he cared to admit.
"I'm thirty-eight years old and still feel like a boy," Mark said. "I've lived the past five years within the sheltered cocoon of an abbey governed by strict Rule. A man I considered a father was kind to me, and I rose to a level of importance I've never known before."
"Yet here you are. Right in the middle of God-knows-what."
Mark smiled.
"You and your mother need to settle things."
The younger man stood somber, preoccupied. "The woman you mentioned last night, Cassiopeia Vitt. I know of her. She and my father sparred for several years. Should she not be found?"
He noticed that Mark liked to avoid answering questions by asking them, much like his mother. "Depends. She a threat?"
"Hard to say. She seemed to always be around, and Dad didn't like her."
"Neither does de Roquefort."
"I'm sure."
"In the archives, last night, she never identified herself and de Roquefort didn't know her name. So if he has Claridon, then he now knows who she is."
"Isn't that her problem?" Mark asked.
"She saved my hide twice. So she needs to be warned. Claridon told me she lives nearby, in Givors. Your mother and I were leaving here today. We thought this quest over. But that's changed. I need to pay Cassiopeia Vitt a visit. I think alone would be best, for now."
"That's fine. We'll wait here. Right now I have a visit of my own to make. It's been five years since I paid respects to my father."
And Mark walked off toward the cemetery's entrance.
11:05 AM
STEPHANIE POURED HERSELF A CUP OF HOT COFFEE AND OFFERED more to Geoffrey, but the younger man refused.
"We're allowed but one cup a day," he made clear.
She sat at the kitchen table. "Is your entire life governed by Rule?"
"It's our way."
"I thought secrecy was important to the brotherhood, too. Why do you speak of it so openly?"
"My master, who now resides with the Lord, told me to be honest with you."
She was perplexed. "How did your master know me?"
"He followed your husband's research closely. That was long before my time at the abbey, but the master told me of it. He and your husband spoke on several occasions. The master was your husband's confessor."
The information shocked her. "Lars made contact with the Templars?"
"Actually, the Templars contacted him. My master approached your husband, but if your husband knew that he was of the Templars, he never revealed it. Perhaps he thought saying it might end the contact. But surely he knew."
"Your master sounds like a curious man."
The younger man's face brightened. "He was a wise man who tried to do good for our Order."
She recalled his defense of Mark hours earlier. "Did my son help with that endeavor?"
"That's why he was chosen seneschal."
"And the fact that he was Lars Nelle's son had nothing to do with that choice?"
"On that, madame, I cannot speak. I only learned who the seneschal was a few hours ago. Here, in this house. So I don't know."
"You know nothing of each other?"
"Very little, and some of us struggle with that. Others revel in the privacy. But we spend our lives together, close as in a prison. Too much familiarity could become a problem. So we're barred by Rule from any intimacy with our fellows. We keep to ourselves, our silence enforced through the service of God."
"Sounds difficult."
"It's the life we choose. This adventure, though." He shook his head. "My master told me I'd discover many new things. He was right."
She sipped more coffee. "Your master was sure that you and I would meet?"
"He sent the journal hoping you'd come. He also sent a letter to Ernst Scoville, which included pages from the journal that related to you. He hoped that would bring you two together. He knew Scoville once didn't care for you--he learned that from your husband. But he realized your resources are great. So he wanted the two of you, together with the seneschal and myself, to find the Great Devise."
She recalled that term and its explanation from earlier. "Does your Order truly believe that there's more to the story of Christ--things the world doesn't know?"
"I have, as yet, not achieved a sufficient level of training to answer your question. Many decades of service are required before I'll be privy to what the Order actually knows. But death, at least to me and from what I have been taught so far, seems a clear finality. Many thousands of brothers died on the battlefields of the Holy Land. Not one of them ever rose and walked away."
"The Catholic Church would call what you just said heresy."
"The Church is an institution created by men and governed by men. Whatever more is made of that institution is also the creation of man."
She decided to tempt fate. "What am I supposed to do, Geoffrey?"
"Help your son."
"How?"
"He must complete what his father started. Raymond de Roquefort cannot be allowed to find the Great Devise. The master was emphatic on this point. That's why he planned ahead. Why I was trained."
"Mark
detests me."
"He loves you."
"How would you know that?"
"My master told me."
"He would have no way of knowing that."
"My master knew all." Geoffrey reached into his trouser pocket and withdrew a sealed envelope. "I was told to give this to you when I thought appropriate." He handed her the crinkled packet, then stood from the table. "The seneschal and Mr. Malone have gone to the church. I'll leave you alone."
She appreciated the gesture. No telling what emotions the message might stir, so she waited until Geoffrey had withdrawn to the den, then opened the envelope.
Mrs. Nelle, you and I are strangers, yet I feel I know much about you, all from Lars, who told me what troubled his soul. Your son was different. He kept his torment inside, sharing precious little. On a few occasions I managed to learn some, but his emotions were not as transparent as his father's. Perhaps he inherited that trait from you? And I do not mean to be flippant. What is surely happening at the moment is serious. Raymond de Roquefort is a dangerous man. He is driven by a blindness that has, through the centuries, affected many of our Order. His is a single-mindedness that clouds his vision. Your son fought him for leadership and lost. Unfortunately, Mark does not possess the resolve needed to complete his battles. Starting them seems easy, continuing them even easier, but resolving them has proven difficult. His battles with you. His battles with de Roquefort. His battles with his conscience. All challenge him. I thought that joining the two of you together could prove decisive for you both. Again, I do not know you, but I believe I understand you. Your husband is dead and so much was left unresolved. Perhaps this quest will finally answer all your questions. I offer this advice. Trust your son, forget about the past, think only of the future. That could go a long way to providing peace. My Order is unique among all Christendom. Our beliefs are different, and that is because of what the original brothers learned and passed on. Does that make us less Christian? Or more Christian? Neither, in my opinion. Finding the Great Devise will answer many questions, but I fear that it will raise many more. It will be to you and your son to decide what is best if and when that critical time comes, and hopefully it will, for I have faith in you both. A resurrection has occurred. A second chance has been offered. The dead have risen and now walk again among you. Make good use of that miracle, but a warning: Free your mind from the prejudices in which it has grown comfortable. Open yourself to conceptions more vast, and reason by more certain methods. For only then will you succeed. May the Lord be with you.