‘Where are you taking us?’ asked Alec, but Lee ignored him. The path twisted round to the left and then they saw ahead of them the big stone arena they had glimpsed when they first arrived. The path led to the entrance gates, which were wide open. They passed through them into the arena itself and, standing in the middle of it, they saw two people waiting for them: Wolfe, in his purple robes and finery, and Ellen McBride, who was wearing a white tunic and leather sandals. Alec noticed that she too had a metal collar around her neck.
‘Ellen,’ said Ethan, hurrying forward. ‘Are you all right?’
She nodded, but looked far from happy about the situation.
‘She has not been harmed, Mr Wade,’ said Wolfe. ‘Nobody has. I’m sorry it was necessary to drug you, but there was no other way to get the collars of obedience around your necks. Once they are in place, everything becomes so much simpler.’
‘What are you talking about?’ snarled Ethan. ‘What is going on here? And why are we dressed up like we’ve escaped from the Funny Farm?’
Wolfe smiled thinly. ‘It’s quite simple, Mr Wade. I have brought you here to undertake a series of challenges, ones that I have designed especially for each of you. Hopefully, you will survive them.’
There was a silence while Ethan and Alec stared at Wolfe, trying to understand what he had just said.
‘You must be mad,’ said Alec, at last. ‘Why would you do such a thing?’
‘Because I am King Minos and you are my captives. A king does not have to explain what he does. A king has absolute power over those who come to pay him tribute. The first challenge will be to recreate a sporting event that would have been performed for the man who first bore the title of King Minos. You are going to help me revive an ancient and noble tradition.’
‘King Minos?’ Alec laughed. ‘What are you talking about? How could you be King Minos? Don’t you remember? I told you, he’s a myth.’
‘And you may recall that we spoke about the idea of reincarnation,’ said Wolfe, looking quite unperturbed by what Alec had said. ‘You might also remember that I was explaining how I am King Minos, reborn.’ He waved a hand. ‘But it doesn’t really matter whether you believe that or not. The simple fact is, you are here and your first task is about to begin.’ He gestured around the arena. ‘You two will be helping Miss McBride to undertake the challenge she came here to attempt.’
Ethan stared at him. ‘You want us to do . . . gymnastics?’ he cried.
‘No, Mr Wade,’ said Wolfe. ‘I want you to do bull-leaping.’
And with that, he beckoned to Lee, and the two men strode past their captives and walked out of the arena. Then, with a loud slam, the gates swung shut behind them.
CHAPTER NINE
Leap of Faith
BULL-LEAPING? ALEC knew that this was an ancient custom, supposedly practised by the Minoans, though pretty much the only real evidence for it was derived from wall paintings at Knossos. It even had a name – taurokathapsia. The idea was fairly straightforward and also terrifying. You taunted a bull until it ran straight at you. You grabbed it by the horns, and as it tossed its head, you somersaulted over its back. Hopefully, you landed on your feet behind the bull.
Alec looked at Ellen McBride and realized that this must be what she had been training for since her first meeting with Wolfe. It was hard to believe she’d agreed to it, but then she had mentioned that she’d been desperate to secure financial backing for her Olympic ambitions. And, like Alec, she’d been taken in by Wolfe’s charm.
She came forward now and looked grimly at Alec and Ethan. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I had no idea you were going to be involved in this. When Wolfe told me he’d provide assistants, I assumed he meant people who had been specially trained for it.’
‘What do you need us to do?’ asked Ethan, without hesitation.
Ellen strode over to a bench and picked up a couple of red rags, then handed one to each of them. ‘I need you to wave these and get the bull to chase you,’ she said. ‘You run towards me. At the last minute, you swerve to one side and take shelter.’ She gestured around and Alec could see that the outer circle of the arena was ringed by stout upright metal bars, about six feet high and maybe a foot apart, wide enough to allow contestants to push through, but too narrow to admit the bull’s horns. ‘Once you’re out of the way, I make the leap. Wolfe has promised me that if I make three successful jumps, then I’ve passed the test and he’ll let me go.’
‘You think he’ll keep his word?’ Ethan scowled.
She shrugged. ‘I seriously doubt it. There was no mention of these things’ – she tapped her metal collar – ‘when I first made the arrangement with him. And besides, if he did let me go, he knows I’d tell the authorities about what’s happened here. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a fair assumption we’re not the first people who’ve been lured to this place.’
‘So don’t do it,’ said Alec. ‘He can’t make you.’
‘I’m afraid he can. I had a little demonstration earlier of how these collars work. Wolfe says if I don’t attempt to leap the bulls then he’ll tell Lee to tighten my collar. I saw it done to Professor Isherwood earlier. The poor man nearly choked to death before I could get Lee to switch it off.’
Alec nodded grimly. ‘He did the same thing to Coates.’
A movement up in the stands caught their attention and Alec saw that Wolfe was taking a seat on what could only be described as a throne in an enclosed area on one side of the arena. Ariadne was with him. Wolfe had one hand on her shoulder, and as Alec watched, he pushed her down into a seat beside him. It was clear from the look on her face that she did not want to have to witness this. Lee took up a position a few steps behind them.
‘Look at Wolfe,’ snarled Ethan. ‘He really believes he’s royalty, doesn’t he? If I could just get close enough to land one good punch—’
‘And end up being choked to death?’ muttered Alec. ‘That would be stupid.’
‘It might just be worth it,’ said Ethan. ‘And it would sure give me a boost. If I could only—’ He broke off because now, Wolfe was lifting one hand as if to signal to somebody. A barred gate at the top end of the arena rumbled open and for a moment, nothing happened. Then there was a bellow that made Alec flinch, and a huge black bull galloped into the arena. The three contestants ran to the nearest set of bars and ducked into cover.
The bull came to a halt in the middle of the arena, tossing its head and pawing the ground with its front hooves, flinging up plumes of sand. It had clearly been goaded before it was released, because fresh blood was running down its flanks and its eyes were rolling wildly in their sockets. A thick string of mucus trickled from the beast’s flared nostrils.
‘He doesn’t look in the best of moods,’ observed Ethan quietly.
‘They’ve worked him up into a rage,’ Ellen said. ‘Not like the American steers I’ve practised on.’
Ethan looked at her. ‘I did wonder how somebody would prepare for something like this,’ he said.
‘I have a friend who has a ranch in Wyoming,’ Ellen explained. ‘He let me practise on some of his young bulls.’ She shook her head. ‘I must have been crazy to have even considered this. But when I met Wolfe, he was so . . . convincing. He talked about how I’d be helping him to revive an ancient tradition. He told me he’d always wanted to see the sport practised and he offered me a huge amount of money to make it happen. I guess I was just blinded by my desire to get into the Olympic team.’
‘We weren’t any better,’ Ethan assured her. ‘He invited us to see the wonders of his island and it never occurred to us there might be strings attached.’
‘Coates did try to warn us,’ Alec reminded him, ‘but as usual, we ignored him.’
‘Let the challenge commence!’ roared Wolfe impatiently.
Ellen took a deep breath. ‘OK, here’s how we do it. One of you stays here, the other needs to make his way through the bars around to the far side of the arena. I’ll move down to the bottom
end. On my signal, we all step out from cover together. The idea is to lure him down towards me.’ She looked at each of them. ‘Whatever happens, when you veer off just keep going, and get into cover behind the bars. Don’t look back to see what’s happening with me, OK? I’m sorry you even have to be involved in this.’
‘Don’t sweat it,’ Ethan told her. ‘This takes me back to my cow-punching days.’
Alec stared at him. ‘You used to fight cows?’ he cried.
Ethan shook his head. ‘It’s a cowboy thing, I’ll explain another time,’ he promised. ‘Alec, you stay here.’ He started making his way behind the bars around to the far side, while Ellen moved her position to the midway point between them. Alec crouched behind the bars, studying the bull, noting how its powerful muscles were flexing and twitching beneath its black hide and how it kept twisting its head to one side, as though jabbing at an imaginary foe. He swallowed. He had never been so close to a bull, and he realized he was going to have to get a lot closer.
From the safety of the upright bars on the other side of the arena, Ethan waved a red rag. He looked at Ellen and she nodded. Alec took a deep breath and then all three of them stepped into the arena together. It was a horrible feeling, to put yourself into the path of those great curved horns, but Alec willed himself to stand his ground.
The bull snorted. It turned its head to look at Ethan and then at Alec. For a moment, it hesitated, as if debating which one to charge at, but then, without warning, it launched itself towards Ethan, head lowered. Instinctively, Alec ran forward, yelling his head off and waving the rag. The bull skidded to a halt and then lurched around to face Alec. It charged at him and he took off straight down the arena towards Ellen. He was horribly aware of the bull’s hooves, thudding into the sand behind him and sounding uncomfortably close. He looked up and saw Ellen waiting, her expression grim but determined. At the last possible moment, Alec veered to one side and Ellen ran lightly forward.
Alec made it to the safety of the bars and turned to see that Ellen was already in flight above the bull’s charging back. She seemed to hang effortlessly in the air for a moment and then she completed the somersault and came down on her feet, her back to the bull. She hesitated only a moment before running to the cover of the steel bars.
Wolfe stood up and applauded. He looked thrilled by what was happening. He lifted a finger and shouted, ‘One!’ Beside him, Ariadne looked absolutely terrified, her face deathly white.
The bull, meanwhile, was running around the arena, clashing its horns against the metal bars, trying to find the people that were sheltering behind them. The bars clanged and shuddered under the impact. Eventually, the bull galloped up to the top end of the arena and came to a halt, pawing the ground, facing away from its adversaries. Ellen signalled to Ethan and Alec, and once again, all three of them stepped into the arena. Alec began to move cautiously closer, waving his red rag and shouting. Ethan followed his example. The bull seemed to be ignoring them at first, but quite suddenly, it spun round and came running straight at Alec. This time Ethan intervened, yelling and waving the rag, and the bull veered towards him. Ethan waited until the beast was dangerously close and then began to run towards Ellen. She took up her position and as Ethan moved aside, she ran forward, her hands outstretched.
This time Alec saw everything. He saw Ellen’s hands clamp themselves around the bull’s horns, saw the beast toss its great head, and saw Ellen throw herself upwards in a somersault. This time, her balance wasn’t quite as good. The bull threw her to one side and she came down too soon, her feet brushing the bull’s back. She tipped to the left and missed her footing on the ground, falling in an awkward sprawl. The bull bellowed, twisted round, and came running at Ellen, its head lowered.
Instinctively Alec raced forward, waving the rag, and managed to get between Ellen and the bull just before its horns made contact. One horn hooked under Alec’s right leg and he was lifted from the ground and sent spinning across the arena. He rolled over several times, horribly aware that the bull was still coming at him, but then a yell from Ethan stopped it in its tracks. It wheeled round, giving Alec and Ellen the chance to get to their feet and make a run for the nearest bars.
As Alec ducked into cover, he turned to see that Ethan was standing perfectly still, only a few yards in front of the bull, calmly holding the rag in front of him like a Spanish matador. The bull pawed the ground again, gathering its strength for a charge.
‘Ethan, get out of there!’ yelled Alec, but it was too late. The bull lunged forward. Ethan stood his ground, not moving a muscle until the final instant, and then he stepped quickly to one side and the bull raced past him. One of its horns caught the rag and tore through it. Then it charged up to the top of the arena, bucking and kicking, frustrated by its inability to strike the humans who were taunting it.
Again, Wolfe stood up and applauded. ‘Two!’ he shouted.
Alec stared up at him with undisguised hatred. Beside her father, Ariadne was now in tears. Alec had met evil people before, but it seemed to him that they had always been motivated by their belief in some higher power. Here was a deluded madman who was doing unspeakable things purely for his own twisted idea of entertainment. It only now occurred to him that Wolfe was almost certainly responsible for the other travellers who had gone missing from Crete, the ones Lieutenant Sideras had mentioned back at the taverna. Who could say what terrible ends they might have met at Wolfe’s hands?
‘Ready,’ called Ellen, and Alec snapped his attention back to the bull. The animal seemed calmer now; it was standing stock still, watching as its three adversaries stepped back into the ring. Alec got the impression that it was weighing them up, getting the measure of them, and that made it somehow more dangerous than it had been before. Alec thought about saying something to Ellen, but then told himself that she must know more about this than anyone else; after all, she had spent the last year training for today.
The three of them approached the bull from different directions. It didn’t react. It just stood there, its horned head lowered, staring at them as they moved steadily nearer.
Ethan felt compelled to try and entice the bull into action. ‘Hey!’ he yelled, shaking the rag. ‘Hey, toro!’
Alec followed his example, but the bull seemed to be rooted to the spot. Ellen hung back a little, awaiting a charge.
‘Come on!’ yelled Ethan impatiently. ‘We haven’t got—’
The bull shot forward without any warning, like a bolt from a crossbow, launching itself headlong at Ethan. The American tried to twist aside, but the bull’s shoulder struck him a glancing blow and sent him sprawling. The bull turned in an instant and came racing back, but Alec ran in front of it, brandishing the rag in its face, and the bull turned to pursue him, with a bellow of rage. Alec ran desperately towards Ellen, horribly aware that he was already pretty close to her, and he saw her preparing herself to jump. He left it till the last possible instant then threw himself aside, losing his footing in the sand as he did so. He slid to a stop and turned his head just in time to see Ellen make the third leap.
But she’d mistimed it. Her right hand found a horn, but her left missed, and as she rose into the air, her right hand lost its grip too. The bull’s head lifted to meet her and she came down onto one of the curved horns. Alec felt a jolt of horror go through him as he saw the horn pierce Ellen’s left side, just under her ribs. She gave a scream of pain and then the bull was charging along with her sprawled across its back. It came to a halt, tossing its head, and she fell off and hit the ground, rolling over in the sand, a red stain blossoming on her white tunic.
‘No!’ Alec was up in an instant, and then Ethan was with him and they were running to try and draw the bull away from her, but it was intent on finishing Ellen. It closed in on her sprawled figure and tossed her like a rag doll, hooking its horns left and right, while she struggled helplessly to escape.
Alec raced up to the enraged creature and recklessly aimed a kick at its haunches, trying in va
in to distract it; and then several other men were running into the arena, men in tunics with prods and sticks, and they were driving the bull back to the top end of the arena; the barred gates were opening and the bull was driven out of sight. The gates rumbled shut. Alec and Ethan ran to Ellen, who lay in the sand unmoving, blood gushing from the wound in her side.
Ethan put an arm under her shoulders and lifted her head. She stared up at him, her face unnaturally pale. Blood was welling on her lips.
‘That didn’t go . . . as well as it should have,’ she gasped.
‘You’re OK,’ Ethan assured her. ‘We’ll get you some help.’
Ellen shook her head. She coughed and blood sprayed from her mouth. ‘Don’t think so,’ she whispered. ‘It went deep. Too deep.’ She broke off for a moment and gave a low groan. ‘Promise me . . .’ she whispered, and Ethan had to lean very close to hear what she was saying. ‘Promise me . . . you’ll make sure Wolfe gets . . . what’s coming to him.’
Ethan nodded grimly. ‘I will,’ he said. ‘You can depend on it.’
Ellen opened her mouth to say something else, but then her body shuddered and her eyes rolled back in their sockets. She was very still.
Alec felt his eyes filling with tears. ‘Ethan,’ he whispered. ‘She’s not . . . ?’
Ethan nodded, his expression grave. He lowered Ellen’s head gently back to the sand and then turned to look up into the stands, his eyes blazing with anger. Wolfe was no longer there, but Ariadne was still sitting in her seat. Her face was buried in her hands and she appeared to be weeping.
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