The three walked briskly through the park without turning around to look back.
“Is he still following?” asked Nicole as they neared the street.
“I’m sure of it,” said Cameron. “He would not be allowed to let you slip out of his hands a second time.”
“I guess you are right,” said Nicole.
“Stay between Pepe and myself, it will be over soon.”
“Is there another way? You know I detest violence.”
Pepe answered for Cameron, “There is no other way. Ce qui sera, sera.”
The three waited on the curb for the light to change and then crossed the street. Cameron led them down the sidewalk to the corner where they turned, and then up the street passed a jeweler and a café. Between the café and the next building was a small alley walkway, only wide enough for two. The alley walkway led to a parking lot behind the street side shops.
Cameron stopped them in front of the café.
“Wait for it, wait for it,” said Cameron.
“Wait for what?” asked Nicole.
Pepe replied, “You will see. Our friend Christophe needs to take the bait.”
“Wait for it,” said Cameron a third time. Nicole realized now that Cameron was looking at the metal napkin dispenser to see the reflection of the corner behind them.
Christophe was not far behind and would soon be making the corner.
In a softer tone Cameron said, “Ok, now.” He quickly led Pepe and Nicole into the alley walkway.
Christophe saw them dart into the café-side alley walkway and followed them. When Christophe reached the back of the building, he found the large parking area. Christophe stayed inside the mouth of the alley walkway. He peeked out into the parking area and was unable to see Nicole and the men right away. A large planter at the mouth of the opening blocked his view. He stuck his head out farther to get a better look. Still unable to find where they had gone, Christophe took a few steps out into the open. Up to the right, he finally saw Cameron and Nicole. Christophe reached into his waist and pulled out a large black .44 magnum. In the secluded parking lot away from the park, Christophe was confident he could use the heavy weapon the other operatives had given him.
Christophe tried to pull back the slide as he had been shown. Because he was nervous, Christophe could not remember exactly what to squeeze.
In Christophe’s ear came a voice. “Let me help you with that.” Christophe felt a sharp pressure on his throat and let his hand go limp as Pepe gently removed the useless metal from his grip.
In Christophe’s excitement, he did not notice that the dark haired man had split off from the other two. The large planter with the huge bush at the mouth of the alley walkway that had hid Christophe from the parking area also shielded Pepe from his view. When Christophe had stepped out into the lot he had walked right passed Pepe.
“Let me go, please. Please. I will disappear. You will not see me again,” said Christophe.
“If I let you go, you will leave and not return to your friends?” asked Pepe.
Christophe’s gaping open smile returned to his face, “Oui, yes, yes.”
“I’m sorry,” said Pepe, “I do not believe you.” With a sudden thrust, Pepe pushed the tip of his Opinel into Christophe’s throat at once severing his jugular and puncturing his larynx.
Christophe’s knees went weak and his hands wrapped his throat to block the sputtering blood. Pepe squeezed his shoulders to support him and gently backed him up to the building. Pepe slowly stepping backwards while his eyes scanned the parking lot for witnesses. There were none. When Pepe felt the wall on their backs, he gently eased Christophe down to a sitting position then kneeled in front of him.
Blood already soaked Christophe’s t-shirt and he gasped for breath. His sunglasses had fallen off when Pepe had set him down and now his eyes stared wide at Pepe, still pleading on his behalf. Christophe tried to speak releasing only scarlet bubbles and short high-pitched wheezes.
Pepe said in a soft voice, “Do not try to speak. I would make it short for you, and I am sure you would like me too. I cannot.” Christophe held one hand away from his throat, impotently grasping at Pepe. Pepe did not flinch, safely out of Christophe’s reach.
“Now, now,” said Pepe, “You know why I cannot. Cameron told me you were a traitor. That because of you many people died.”
Christophe rested the arm that he had taken such effort to claw toward Pepe. His eyes also rested, no longer wide.
“You will go fast enough,” said Pepe. “Use this time to think about your mistakes. It builds character.” Pepe patted Christophe atop his tweed cap, stood, and then walked away.
* * * * *
Chapter 46
Quebec
Pepe slid into the backseat, “So.”
“I promised Marie that I would take Nicole to Nova Scotia,” said Cameron. “I think that will finally be the last stop.”
“I will go with you,” said Pepe.
“I would like that.”
Nicole turned toward the backseat. In her hands she held up a Canadian highway atlas, “I know the way to the retreat in Nova Scotia.”
“I am sure you do demoiselle,” said Pepe.
“I am glad somebody does,” said Cameron.
Nicole ran her finger down the indexed list of provinces. When she found the page she was looking for, she opened the atlas to the provincial map of Nova Scotia. “We need to get here,” said Nicole. She lifted the book for both men to see and pointed to a field of white in southern Nova Scotia, not far from the ocean. “Once we are here, I know I can get us the rest of the way.”
Cameron did not challenge her or care to. He knew that she was incapable of lying, and whether or not Nicole really could get them there, she believed she could.
* * * * *
Chapter 47
The Cathari Treasure
“Then it is true. Je le savais,” said Pepe.
“What is?” asked Cameron. They were a few hours out of Quebec driving into the indigo dusk.
“Les Chevaliers du Christ, they really exist.”
“Chevaliers, Knights, The Knights of Christ. Lady Mani, the old woman back in Toronto, she called me a chevalier.” Cameron rattled his fingertips off into a series of taps against the steering wheel, “So did Marie.”
“Les Chevaliers du Christ, you know, that is another name for Les Templiers. You said Marie told you that brotherhood we are going to meet are Knights whose order have been caretakers of the treasure in times of strife for 800 years,” said Pepe.
“That’s what she told me.”
“My grand-mère told me that many of the people of Acadia were descended from Les Templiers, the Knights of Christ.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Cameron.
“Have you been living under a rock? Everyone knows of Les Templiers, the Knights Templar. The books, the movies, really Cameron you should get out of the restaurant more often.”
“You got me there,” said Cameron.
“Grand-mère told me that the Knights of Christ were fathers of Acadia, the part that is now Nova Scotia, long before the area was settled by other French or the British. She said the British forced everyone to take an oath of allegiance and those that did not fled to other parts of Canada, some to Louisiana, all descended from the Knights of Christ.”
“Yeah, well. After the last few days I am not the least bit surprised,” said Cameron.
“Fascinating,” said Pepe, his voice becoming distant.
“Sure,” said Cameron, unimpressed.
“Ah, but you see,” Pepe lifted his hands above his head and then dropped them on his lap, “of course you don’t see.”
Cameron adjusted the rearview to look Pepe in the eyes, “See what.”
“If that part is true, then the other part my grand-mere told me may also be true.”
“And that is?” asked Cameron.
“The Knights fled from Europe when the were being persecuted,” Pepe paused
for a second and then locked eyes with Cameron, “and with them they brought a treasure.”
Cameron cocked his brow, looked at the road, and then back to Pepe, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying.”
“Am I saying what you think I am saying? Vous êtes ridicule. You know that is what I am saying. For centuries people have been guessing what the treasure was and where they hid it.” Pepe gestured to the young woman sitting in front of him, “I am saying that people have been guessing wrong. The treasure is not an it, the treasure is a she.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Cameron shook his head, “you read too many conspiracy books.”
“No, no, I believe this could be true. You said so yourself. Marie told you that Nicole is the treasure that can change the world.”
“I don’t know,” said Cameron.
“It is as Mister Pepe says,” said Nicole. They had thought she had dozed off as she had been facing the window quietly since they left Quebec.
“It is?” asked Cameron.
“Yes. Long ago, in the old country, Les Templiers and les bonnes gens, the Cathar, lived together and supported each other. The Languedoc was advanced in thought and education. The Catholic Church however, after years of corruption, became a puppet of Rex Mundi. They thought the Cathar threatened their church. They believed that if they did not control the knowledge of faith that their church would suffer. The nobles of the north also were prey to Rex Mundi. They saw the wealth of the region, the wealth of Les Templiers and wanted it for their own. In the year 1209, the nobles of the north and the Catholics joined forces to rid themselves of the Cathar, to take what was the Cathar’s, and to keep people from learning the true way to purity. Over the course of twenty years a great crusade swept through the Occitan, followed by twenty years of the Inquisition. You have heard of this?” Nicole turned her head from the window to Cameron and Pepe, both fixated on her story.
“Yes,” said Pepe, “I know of the Inquisition.”
“Yes, of course,” said Cameron, his thigh still sore from the skewers, “go on.”
Nicole continued, “By that time, except for very few strongholds, all of the towns and forts supporting the Cathar had fallen. The greatest of these was the fort at Montségur, atop the mountain, high above the valleys. Ten thousand crusaders held siege on the fortress for almost a year. The attackers persisted because they believed that those who held Montségur, held with them the legendary Treasure of the Cathar. Down to less than 400 defenders, the Cathar at Montségur finally conceded to surrender. A two-week truce stopped all fighting, and it looked like there would be a peaceful outcome. However, when the two weeks passed more than 200 Cathar, Parfait and Credentes, were brutally forced down the mountain and burned alive.”
“200 people?” asked Cameron.
“Yes, they were put into a wooden, I don’t know the word, palissade maybe,” Nicole looked at Pepe.
“Prison, they put them into a wooden prison. A stockade,” said Pepe.
“Oui, a stockade. They force all 200 people into the stockade to burn to death.”
Cameron anxiously asked Nicole, “And what about the other 200? You said there were 400 Cathar in the fort.”
“Those left in the fort watched this burning. They were the supporters of the Cathar. The attackers believed they had taken all of the Cathar and destroyed them. Four Parfaits stayed hidden in the fort at his time. Then the next night, with the help of those left in the fort these Parfaits secretly escaped by climbing ropes down the flat mountainside. The foolish operatives of Rex Mundi believed that the wealth of the Cathar and Templars had been secretly coming out of the fort over the time of the siege. When they learned of the great escape they decided that the greatest treasure had gone with them down those ropes in the dark.”
“And it did,” said Pepe, “not gold or worthless relics. It was the Parfaits themselves that were the treasure.”
“That is correct,” said Nicole. “Those that held the fort said that the Cathar and Templar took with them their arc of the covenant, or the Holy Grail, things that mean nothing to the Cathar. What escaped that night was the direct line to Christ and the Holy Spirit. The true treasure is purity and salvation.”
“And of the Knights?” asked Pepe. “How did they get here?”
“The Cathar were hid among Les Templiers for the next fifty years. The nobles and the church became further possessed by the greed of Rex Mundi. They no longer needed the Chevaliers du Christ. The nobles wanted the lands and wealth of Les Templiers. The King wanted the great treasure most of all. The French King and nobles killed two Popes to get an operative of Rex Mundi in power. Then, to put their evil plan in action, set a trap for Les Templiers. All over France secret sealed orders were given to the King’s men. When the time came, the orders were unsealed and the trap was sprung. Everywhere Les Templiers were arrested and all of their property taken in the name of the King. The King was disappointed though, even in his surprise attack, the great treasure of Les Templiers, the treasure of the Cathar, eluded his grasp.”
“To the world the story ends there,” said Pepe. “What happened to the treasure of the Templars remains a mystery.”
“Not to the Rex Mundi, they fuel the world with disinformation to help them in their conquest,” said Nicole.
“Hmm.” Pepe pressed his lips together and peered out into the darkness that now blanketed the outside of the car.
“The attack was not totally unexpected, some Chevaliers knew the betrayal was to come. It was inevitable that the operatives of Rex Mundi would strike, as that is the way of Rex Mundi. Measures had already begun to secure the order and the treasure. From across France, wagons brought les Templiers and their papers to their ships in La Rochelle. Not all of the Chevaliers made it out so when word came of the others arrest, those gathered with the Cathar in La Rochelle fled France eventually settling in what is now called Nova Scotia. That was seven centuries ago.”
“La Rochelle?” asked Pepe.
“Oui, Monsieur Laroque,” said Nicole.
Pepe lightly sighed and raised his brows.
Nicole had finished her story as quickly as she had started. She turned her head back out the window. The Chevy was now going south down the border of Maine and she could see a peach ribbon in the distant west where the night had not yet stolen the sky.
“So it is true then,” said Pepe, looking west as well.
“So it is,” said Cameron.
* * * * *
Chapter 48
Nova Scotia
After riding in the Chevy for nine hours, Cameron looked forward to the six-hour sleep ahead of him. The ferry would not be crossing from Saint John to Digby until morning. Now the ferry terminal, and most everything else in Saint John, was dark. Nicole and Pepe had been sleeping since Pepe’s turn to drive three or four hours ago, though Pepe would grunt on occasion to let Cameron know he was alert enough if needed.
Cameron parked the Chevy near the ferry dock. He rubbed his eyes and then opened the door to get some fresh air. The smell of the Bay of Fundy was thick as the mist floated inland from the shore. If there were stars or a moon in the sky was a mystery to Cameron. The only light he could see was the misted glow of a white halogen on the eave of the terminal and in the rearview mirror, the brighter defined lights of the gas station.
Cameron thought about walking the block to the gas station to see if there was anything to eat or drink. His coffee laden gut dissuaded him from getting out of the car. The decision to buy the black tarry elixir at their last stop had come out of desperation and had begun to haunt him soon afterward.
If Cameron closed his eyes, and breathed in deeply, the moisture in the mist alone would be enough to sedate him. Still something about being near the ocean exhilarated him, even as tired as he was.
* * * * *
A marker for Kejimkujic National Park broke the tree line. The sign was the first road marker other than the route eight signs that had intermittently popped up since turning off
101 in Clementine.
The ferry had landed in Digby an hour ago and they were already in the heart of Nova Scotia.
“We are close,” said Nicole. She unclasped the necklace and removed the pendant from around her neck. The pendant’s dark emerald swallowed all of the light that hit the gem’s dull surface, encapsulating in the emerald’s center as a muted green fire. Cameron watched as Nicole used her fingernails to pick at the seam where the green gem joined the metal setting.
“I wanted to ask you about that,” said Cameron.
“What did you want to ask?” replied Nicole, as she spun the setting, trying to pry the metal scrolling at the emerald’s edge from different angles.
“I was surprised that the necklace was so significant to Marie. I mean given that it is a physical object and all.”
“This pendant is special because…” with a snap Nicole twisted the large gem away from the antique backing and held the now bare metal up to Cameron to show him what lie behind the stone, “it is a key.”
Across Nicole’s palm, the pendant was splayed open. The emerald was still connected to the setting by a hinge and on the back of the gem and the face of the ancient setting was an image. Engraved clearly and lightly in the metal of the setting’s face was a diamond shaped diagram. Above the diamond to the side was set a tiny emerald chip. A thin line ran from the center of the diamond to the chip. Another engraved line led out of the center of the diamond diagram toward the large emerald, a deeper thicker line.
The Canadian highway atlas was on the seat between Cameron and Nicole, still opened to the provincial map of southern Nova Scotia. She placed the pendant on the map and centered the emerald on an island in the Medway River. Nicole spun the setting to the left until the line between the diamond and emerald chip were pointing at Bangs Falls to the northwest. Cameron could see that the second line, the deeper thicker line, pointed toward the north side of Kejimkujic National Park, right about what Cameron judged to be their current location. Nicole traced the lighter line from the center of the diamond toward the little emerald chip at the edge and continued passed the pendant by making an invisible line to a place on the map that satisfied her.
The Cathari Treasure (Cameron Kincaid) Page 16