Leroy stood up and put his Stetson on. “I gotta say, I had a high old time on this job and I didn’t expect to. You give me a jingle when you’re ready to get this show on the road again. I’ll be there.” He tipped his hat to both of them and left.
Metcalf patted Daniel on the shoulder as he escorted him out of the room. “My son, I’m sure God is well-pleased with both of us this day.”
Daniel turned away without comment. He seriously doubted that his father had the vaguest notion of the deity’s true intentions. His conscience was telling him that God’s reaction to what had transpired on Crete was the opposite of pleasure.
Chapter 44 – Double Trouble
Two days after their near brush with death, the Arkana team was standing on the front porch of Faye’s farmhouse waiting for her to answer the door. Cassie looked around at the apple tree and the blue gingerbread railings with a strange feeling of discontinuity. It was the sensation a person might have if they visited their childhood home after being gone for decades. Everything looked smaller. Although Cassie had paid her last visit to Faye’s house a little over a week before, it felt like a lifetime had elapsed. Nothing in her world would ever be the same again.
Erik was about to try knocking one more time when the old woman opened the door and beamed at them with a radiant smile.
“My dears,” she held out her arms and gathered them all into a hug. “I’m sure you must be hungry. I’ve set up some refreshments out in the garden. Come in.”
The trio followed her out to the latticework shelter in the yard.
“Nobody gets out of this place without eating,” Erik said sotto voce.
Cassie noticed that every flower in the garden seemed to be blooming at once. The wisteria that covered the pergola had leafed up to form a green roof over their heads.
They spent several minutes arranging their chairs, pouring lemonade and iced tea and helping themselves to freshly baked peach pie.
“I bet M never baked James Bond a pie when he got back from a mission,” Cassie noted to Erik.
He grinned at her without malice. “One of the perks of working for the Arkana. Though I do have to hit the gym pretty hard after a visit to Faye’s.”
The old woman seated herself and folded her hands in her lap, an expectant expression on her face. “Tell me everything.”
“We actually don’t know everything yet ourselves,” Cassie offered. She stared pointedly at Griffin who avoided her gaze while trying to look innocent.
“I thought it best to discuss the matter once we were all together,” the Scrivener explained. “It was hardly something we could talk about over the telephone.”
“Why don’t you begin at the beginning?” Faye suggested.
They all started talking at once until she held up her hands for silence.
“One at a time, please. My hearing isn’t what it used to be. Cassie, dear, why don’t you start.”
The girl didn’t need much encouragement to regale Faye with her impressions of Knossos and the Cretan trove even though neither location turned up any key symbols.
Griffin picked up the narrative to relate the part of their journey involving Psychro cave.
“Psycho,” Cassie giggled.
Her male companions exchanged a look.
“You think she’s ever gonna get tired of that?” Erik asked bleakly.
“Oh I have great hopes that in a decade or two she’ll give it up,” Griffin replied in resignation.
Faye gave them all a searching look followed by a secret smile which she didn’t choose to explain. Apparently she was satisfied that the three had somehow worked out their issues during the course of their adventure.
Griffin continued to talk about the tombs at Karfi and Cassie’s role in discovering the key symbols on the boulder.
Erik took over the story when it came time to explain their narrow escape from Leroy Hunt.
Faye appeared troubled by this part of the tale. “I am so sorry you three were subjected to such an experience,” she sighed. “The Nephilim’s ambition to possess these relics seems limitless. I only wish I knew why.”
“It must be pretty important because I think they sent one of their leader’s kids along,” Cassie offered.
“Really?”
“We never got to see his face but the cowboy had somebody with him. Somebody he called Daniel. Kind of a wimp but it didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt us. Hunt threatened him and said if he didn’t help that his father would hear about it.”
“One of the Diviner’s own sons,” Faye mused. “This relic quest certainly has top priority. They generally don’t allow their young people to mix with conventional society at all. The Diviner must want the Bones Of The Mother very badly indeed.”
The three were silent for a few moments, each speculating on a reason for the Nephilim to pursue the relics.
“Then what happened?” Faye prompted.
Cassie leaped in to explain about their return to the boulder and the hidden line of code.
“What was the translation?” the old woman asked eagerly.
“We don’t know,” Cassie and Erik said in unison. They both shot Griffin an exasperated look.
“He wouldn’t tell us,” the Security Coordinator clarified. “The minute he got done with his secret decoder ring he said we had to come back here and talk to you about it.”
Griffin defended himself. “I thought it was something that needed to be discussed by the whole group. Faye’s input will be instrumental in deciding what to do next.”
“That sounds ominous,” the old woman observed.
“It isn’t really. In fact, it’s quite amusing.” Griffin looked as smug as the cat who swallowed the canary.
“Then let us in on the joke!” Cassie had to resist the urge to shake him.
“Very well. As I said earlier, the translation of the first three lines of symbols is: ‘You will find the first of five you seek, when the soul of the lady rises with the sun, at the home of the Mountain Mother.’ While we aren’t sure of the meaning of the second line yet, we do know the term Mountain Mother refers to the peak sanctuary of the goddess on Mount Ida.”
“And we know that particular mountain is on Crete,” Cassie added helpfully.
“It would be reasonable for one to reach that conclusion,” Griffin commented though he seemed to be smirking when he said it.
“OK, there’s something else you aren’t saying,” the girl challenged.
“Oh, a great deal, I assure you.” The Scrivener was enjoying the suspense he’d created.
“So spill already!” Erik cried in annoyance.
Faye seemed to be chuckling to herself. Cassie suspected she was already five steps ahead of them and had probably guessed the part of the puzzle that Griffin was concealing.
“Why don’t you just give us the translation of the final line of code, dear,” the old woman prompted. “The suspense is killing your colleagues.”
“Yes, I imagine I’ve tortured them enough.” He laughed. “But it was just too good—”
“Griffin, I swear to goddess!” Erik threatened.
“Yes, yes, all right,” the Scrivener conceded. “The fourth line translates to say: Where flows the River Skamandros.”
“Huh?” Cassie asked blankly.
“The full translation of the code is: You will find the first of five you seek, when the soul of the lady rises with the sun, at the home of the Mountain Mother, where flows the River Skamandros.”
“Ah!” Faye exclaimed appreciatively.
“Glad you two get it,” Cassie said bitterly. “Want to explain it to the mythologically-challenged over in this corner?”
Griffin beamed. “It’s brilliant actually! As you know, there is a Mount Ida on Crete where the Mountain Mother has a shrine.” He paused for effect. “But that isn’t where the relic is.”
“What?” Cassie and Erik both sprang to attention.
Faye picked up the explanation. “The River Skamandros isn
’t on the island of Crete.” She turned to Erik. “Perhaps you’ll remember it from the Illiad as the Skamander River?”
“But that means it’s in Turkey!” he exclaimed.
“In Turkey! But what about the Mountain Mother business and Mount Ida?” Cassie added.
“That’s the brilliant bit,” Griffin said. “There are actually two Mount Idas. One is on Crete, the other in Turkey. The Skamander River flows from Mount Ida in Turkey.”
“And the Mountain Mother business?” Cassie was still puzzled.
“That name also refers to Cybele, the great goddess of ancient Anatolia—modern day Turkey.”
Erik looked thunderstruck. “Holy sh—”
“Language, dear,” Faye corrected him gently.
He looked at Griffin, then turned to Cassie, flushed with excitement. “They won’t have a clue that they’re looking for the relic in the wrong damn country!”
The girl laughed jubilantly. “They could be at it for months before they figure out their mistake!” she exclaimed. “If they ever figure it out at all!”
“Precisely,” Griffin agreed, still beaming. He shifted his attention to Faye. “I believe there’s a way we can take advantage of this misdirection. It can do far more for us than give us a good head start. That’s why I wanted to wait until we could speak to you before taking any further action.”
Faye’s expression had grown solemn. “What do you have in mind, dear?”
Griffin sat forward. “When we started on this expedition, we assumed that this would be a race against the Nephilim and that sooner or later they might become aware of the Arkana’s involvement, perhaps with disastrous consequences. But that is no longer the case.”
“What do you mean?” Cassie was lost again.
The Scrivener smiled. “They think we’re dead and if we orchestrate this correctly, they need never know about our resurrection.”
“How are we gonna pull that off?” asked Erik, just as bemused as Cassie.
“Time will be on our side,” Griffin explained. “We should get to the first relic long before they realize their mistake.”
“Yeah, but assuming they do realize their mistake, they’ll know somebody took it the minute they get to the right spot and find it’s missing,” objected Erik.
“But it won’t be missing,” the Scrivener said quietly.
“Aha!” Faye nodded wisely. “I see where you’re going with this.”
Griffin continued. “We will substitute a forgery for the real relic, whatever it turns out to be. We succeeded in duplicating the granite key, didn’t we? As long as we remain two steps ahead of them, we’ll have time to retrieve the artifact, duplicate it, and place the forgery in its original location.”
“Of course,” Faye concurred. “Unless they decide to authenticate the date of the relic, and there’s no reason why they should, they’ll assume they have the original.”
“But we’ll collect all the originals in our troves, right?” Cassie asked.
“Yes,” Griffin chimed in. “Given the lead we’ll establish with the first relic, there’s no reason why we can’t stay several steps ahead of the Nephilim in retrieving the other four. They’ll never discover the Arkana’s involvement at all. Let the Diviner have his forgeries and welcome to them.”
“We will have to plan our strategy carefully,” the old woman murmured half to herself. “Forgeries, substitutions. This may require the full resources of the Arkana if we’re to orchestrate it correctly.” Then she lapsed into silence.
The other three gazed at her eagerly, waiting for her to say something more. She remained silent for several minutes, lost in thought.
The trio looked at one another, not sure if they should tiptoe quietly out of the garden and come back another day but then the old woman roused herself from her reverie. “Yes,” she said decisively. “Yes, I believe this is a workable plan.”
She gave them each a probing look in turn. “My dears, you are about to play a very dangerous game. You should understand the risks.”
“You don’t need to tell us,” Cassie said in a rueful tone. “We already caught the preview.”
“Of course we can’t go anywhere just yet,” Griffin interjected. “There’s still the small matter of interpreting the second line of code.”
“Any chance our friends will figure it out first?” Erik asked warily.
“Unlikely,” the Scrivener replied. “And even if they did, it wouldn’t change the fact that they would be searching the wrong mountaintop in the wrong country.”
“Before we get cracking on cracking any more codes, I need to get a few hours of beauty sleep. I want to be well-rested for the next time I’m in mortal danger,” Cassie observed.
“I need to get in touch with some of my Turkish contacts. This isn’t gonna be a walk in the park,” Erik admitted.
Faye looked around searchingly at her guests. “Judging from your comments, I take it you’re all up to the task?”
The trio exchanged glances. A wordless message seemed to fly from one to the next.
Cassie laughed and decided to translate for the group. “I think I speak for all of us when I say try and stop us.”
Chapter 45 – The Key To The Kingdom
Abraham retreated to his prayer closet for a few moments’ reflection at the end of a very long but very satisfying day. So much welcome news. Daniel had discovered the whereabouts of the first relic and the thieves who coveted the artifacts had been dealt with. He could see the hand of Providence in all these things. God surely smiled on his efforts.
He walked over to the locked cabinets that lined the wall. His hands mechanically performed a task he had done a thousand times before. A task so familiar that he could go through the motions with his eyes closed. He unlocked the middle cabinet and withdrew a leather-bound volume of Diviner prophecies. The pages were worn. The prophecies it contained were over a hundred years old but he knew they referred to him just as surely as if the Diviner who gave the prediction was standing in the room and pointing at him, speaking his destiny.
When Metcalf had first ascended to the position of Diviner, he followed the traditions of his predecessors. As their founder Jedediah Proctor had ordained, they were to live blameless lives apart from the Fallen and await the end of days. It was not until he began perusing the divinely-inspired prophecies of his forebears that he felt this course of action to be a grave error. God had decreed an entirely different plan for the Blessed Nephilim. They were not to wait meekly for the end times. They were to bring them about. It was clear that God had grown tired of human folly. He had chosen his servant Abraham to cleanse the world of the Fallen abomination and replace it with a godly kingdom of Blessed Nephilim. The first time Metcalf had read that prophecy, it sent chills down his spine. The words could not possibly refer to anyone else but him. It was as if God, himself, were whispering in his ear and he would not fail his master.
He imagined how sweet the day of his ultimate triumph would be. The day when he was finally called to his master’s side, his work on earth completed. God would look upon him with favor and announce to all the heavenly host that Abraham was his good and faithful servant. He would raise Metcalf above the rank of the archangels. They would kneel before him. The Lord Jesus would take him by the hand and call him brother.
Metcalf returned to the present moment. There was work yet to be done before that joyful day arrived. He understood God’s plan for him with fierce clarity and a renewed sense of purpose. Now nothing stood in the way of its fulfillment.
He opened the volume of prophecies to a familiar page and read the words aloud though he knew them by heart:
“And in the end times shall arise a mighty leader. He shall rule the Blessed Nephilim and set their feet upon the path of righteousness. His name shall be called Abraham for he shall be the father of his people as it was in the beginning. And he shall cleanse the world with pestilence and plague. He shall grind the Fallen to dust beneath his feet. But let him be m
indful of the Bones Of The Mother. For whosoever shall lay hands on them will claim the Sage Stone and receive the power to change the world forever.”
He kissed the volume reverently and placed it back on the shelf, locking the cabinet afterward.
“In hoc signo vinces. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,” he said.
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The treasure hunt and cast of characters in this series are purely fictional but the underlying historical assumptions are based on new theories about our distant past. I am indebted to the authors listed below for having the courage to challenge cultural beliefs which we’ve accepted without question for far too many generations. I would encourage readers who want to delve more deeply into those topics to have a look at the works cited in the bibliography.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Craig S. In Search of the Lost Feminine: Decoding the Myths That Radically Reshaped Civilization. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2006.
Biaggi, Cristina, ed. The Rule of Mars: Readings on the Origins, History and Impact of Patriarchy. Manchester, CT: Knowledge, Ideas & Trends, 2006.
Davis-Kimball, Jeannine. Warrior Women: An Archaeologist's Search for History's Hidden Heroines. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2003.
DeMeo, James. Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence, In the Deserts of the Old World. 2nd Edition. Ashland, OR: Natural Energy Works, 2006.
Eisler, Riane. The Chalice And The Blade. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
Fagan, Brian. The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization. New York: Basic Books, 2003.
Gadon, Elinor W. The Once & Future Goddess. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1989.
Gimbutas, Marija. The Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991.
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