by Amy Lignor
Anippe nodded. Her stomach felt queasy. But the minute the lotion began to sink below the surface of her skin, the pain disappeared completely. Under the protection of the paste, the gash that’d made her hand feel like it was dangling in a roaring fire, now felt cool and completely numb. It was as if her appendage from the wrist down had gone to sleep.
“Thank you,” she said.
Neith turned to the men who looked like small boys pacing the linoleum floor. “See? There is something useful in all this hocus-pocus.” She looked at her husband. “Please tell that to your other daughter the next time she calls.”
David attempted a smile through his anxious frown. “Leah doesn’t listen to me either, Neith. Maybe Anippe should try to convince her that we’re not all bad.”
Reaching out, Anippe touched his arm. “If I can change my mind,” she said, staring at the woman who she now realized was a friend, “Leah can, too.”
“But I’ll never be the man she turns to for help, or looks up to.”
“No,” Anippe agreed with her father’s remark. “Gareth is that man.”
Neith walked over to him. “As with any woman in love, the husband has to be a step above the father. That is just the way life works.” She kissed him on the cheek. “My father was my hero, until I met you. You became my whole life after that, so it is right that Gareth has taken that place for Leah. I am so very grateful for him.”
David looked over at Aaron and motioned toward the back door. “Let’s look at those maps.”
Aaron nodded. But as David and Neith shared a hug, Anippe caught a small look of envy sparking in her uncle’s eyes.
“You’re still going to Alexandria?” Neith asked.
“Yes.”
“Follow the lions,” Uncle Aaron added the unusual statement.
Anippe watched the secretive trio. She was too tired to even attempt to understand the muddled words they were speaking. “I wish Leah was here,” she sighed.
Her body jumped as a cell phone rang out in the room.
David fumbled as he tried to open the beeping contraption. “Hi. Hello? Hi.”
Anippe could hear a strong voice come through the line. “I need Anippe. I think her phone’s off.”
“How are you?” David said.
Pause. “Fine.”
“We were just talking about—”
“Please put Anippe on the phone.”
“Let me try.” Anippe put her hand out.
Her father shook his head. His face was filled with disappointment when he handed the phone over to her and walked out the door.
Aaron followed behind, making one last check. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Anippe nodded.
The voice crackled through the room immediately. “Will you be okay? Why? What’s wrong? Anippe? Are you there?”
Neith smiled and exited the room.
Anippe raised the phone to her ear. “Sorry. I think I left my phone in the office. We had a storm here and it broke a window. No emergency. I just cut my hand.”
“Did you go to a doctor?”
“I am fine. Really.”
“Great, another one. You two really are sisters.” Gareth’s gruff voice filtered through the phone into Anippe’s ear.
Leah spoke through the airwaves. “He’s just being a pain. But you should go to a doctor. What if you get an infection?”
Anippe smiled at Leah’s worried tone. “Neith fixed me up. She made a paste of some kind and it really feels better.”
The pause was brief. “Great. More magic from the queen of shtick. Just be careful, Anippe. Your hand might turn green and fall off with her methods.”
“Leah, I do not think she is as bad as you thought she was. I believe you should sit down and talk to her.”
Dead silence met her ear.
“Are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you hear me?”
A deep sigh broke through. “Yeah. Whatever. Long talk. I’ll look forward to it.”
Anippe smirked, knowing that Leah would do what she wanted when she wanted, and no one’s plea would ever quicken her step.
“So did she throw some wooden squares and come up with anything that would be remotely helpful?”
Before she could stop herself, Anippe laughed. “Ever hear of the magi?”
“I should hope so. My mom made me serve time in the Christmas Eve pageant at church every year. Three guys bearing gifts. What about them?”
Anippe stopped, wondering if this was really the right time to put more hocus-pocus on Leah’s plate. “You know what? I will tell you the story when I see you. There is really nothing new to report from here. Where are you, anyway?”
“Heraklion.”
“Why there?” Static crackled in her ear and Anippe shivered, feeling like someone was listening on the line.
“I received a…tip about a place called Kissamos, but we wanted to stop here first and check out the museum. We’re hoping someone may remember Gareth’s father, if he came here. It’s a long shot, but at least it’s a shot.”
“I really hope Gareth gets some good news.”
“Me three.” Leah’s tone grew serious. “Got anything on Hansen? I would assume the stone is still there.”
“Like I said, nothing here but a broken window and a crazy lady throwing wooden squares.”
“Good.” Silence filled the line once again. It was as if Leah was searching for the right words to end the call. “Um…well, be careful. If you need me for anything call, okay?”
“I will.” She cleared her throat, suddenly wanting to make her older sibling proud. “I will not let you down from here.”
“You’re not the one I’m worried about.” Leah’s voice grew distant, “Say goodbye, dear.”
Gareth laughed into the receiver. “Goodbye, dear.”
“Keep safe,” Anippe replied quickly. And with the familiar click, Leah was gone.
Neith walked back into the kitchen. “Are they all right?”
She nodded. “They are in Heraklion looking at the museum. They are going to ask around about Gareth’s father. It seems there’s a chance he may have been there.”
“I hope they find him.” Neith turned away and opened a cupboard. “What about Gareth’s mother?”
“No one is quite sure. His father is the only one they discovered any information about.”
Neith went silent. When she finally turned back around to face her, she was wearing a smile.
Anippe stared at her mother’s face. “Is Father okay?”
“He and Leah were a team for a long time. Now that she is angry with him, it has become difficult. He wants to prove to Leah that he is the same caliber of man she has always looked up to. I think he is looking for—”
“—absolution,” Anippe finished.
A sad smile crossed her mother’s face. “Or, perhaps, redemption. I just hope your sister will allow him the chance to attain it.”
CHAPTER 28
“We should come back here someday,” Leah remarked as they walked past the large Ferris wheel towering above the outdoor carnival. “It’s incredible.”
Gareth nodded, shifting his gaze from the colorful scene to the massive ramparts of a huge structure overlooking the harbor. “That’s cool, too.”
“That’s a Venetian fort; The Koules, I believe they call it. The people protected the city from there,” Leah related the data she knew, and shook her head in awe. “God…pictures in books certainly don’t do this place justice.”
“Isn’t there some librarian god that can strike you down for a comment like that?”
Leah rolled her eyes. “Tread carefully or I’ll leave you here.” She continued, “This place substituted as a prison from time to time. Been standing since around 1540.”
Gareth raised a mocking brow. “Here for the grand opening, were you?”
She sighed. “I certainly feel old enough to have been.”
“You look good to me.”
“You’re biased.”
Smiling down at her, Gareth wrapped his arm around her waist. “Hey, it doesn’t help me that I have a couple of years on you. Don’t think I am unaware that every step closer I get to the grave means you can inherit quicker and go frolic with your tan young athletes in a field of Roman hot tubs.”
Leah swallowed a sudden burst of fear at his silly words. “I still like you better…for now.”
“How big of you.”
“What can I say? I’m sweet.” Arching her back, she pressed her lips against his cheek.
“Ugh.” Gareth clasped his hand over his mouth before she pulled away.
Her eyes wide, Leah stepped back. “Thanks a lot.”
“No.” Gareth held his stomach and pointed toward the small alley behind her.
Leah could smell the delicious scents wafting out into the open area. Her stomach rumbled, begging to taste the home-style cooking that seemed to surround them. “What? It smells fantastic.”
Gareth shook his head. “I still feel a bit…”
“Gotcha.”
“I have got to get out of here.”
Taking his hand, Leah led him through the marketplace. The farther away they got from the strong smell, the healthier Gareth’s pallor became. When Leah was sure he was on the road to recovery, she slowed down and went back to staring at the fabulous things all around.
She could barely contain her excitement when they turned a corner and found themselves standing in front of a glorious fountain. There were people everywhere, hustling around the square. Large buses circled the road, and tourists snapped their cameras left and right, trying to record every work of art they saw. The road was lined with small bakeries, ice cream shops, and clubs selling cocktails.
Gareth smiled wide. “Figures you’d find it.”
Leah laughed. “Lion’s Square. Again, the pictures do not do this justice.”
“And that,” Gareth pointed at the intricate monument sitting dead center in the square, “is the Morosini Fountain.”
Leah walked around the structure, trying to avoid the seemingly angry and disappointed group of people standing near one of the large vehicles.
“What do you mean it’s closed?” a man in the group yelled at the bus driver. “You can’t close a monument.”
Leah watched the driver wipe a line of sweat from his upper lip. He reminded her so much of the weary cab drivers back in her own city who basically wanted nothing more than for the fare to shut up, pay up, and then get the hell out.
She smiled when she heard the driver’s distinct southern accent. No wonder they mumble about Americans. We’re everywhere.
The driver attempted yet another explanation. “There’s some clean-up work being done out there, y’all. Nothing I can do. But there are a lot of other interesting things to see.”
“How can you clean a place that’s been buried in the sand for four thousand years?” The brash, annoying tourist huffed. Grabbing a woman by the hand—a woman who looked like a highly embarrassed wife—he marched away from the bus.
The couple passed by Leah so fast that a breeze created from their quick moving figures blew her hair in front of her eyes. She heard the man mutter, “This is ridiculous. Pay all this money to come here and they won’t even let us see the damn thing. And if I wanted to hear a damn confederate, I would’ve saved our money and stayed the hell home.”
Leah tried to stifle her laughter so the red-faced woman who looked her way wouldn’t hear. The woman shrugged as if to say: “For better or for worse, I’m stuck with him.”
Shooting her an understanding smile, Leah watched the couple barely avoid a head-on collision with another transport before marching into a small bar where hopefully, she thought, the poor woman could get a drink and forget this afternoon ever happened.
Gareth started to laugh. “Ain’t love grand?”
“I hope when we’re old…er, we’ll be just like them.”
“Oh, we will,” Gareth replied. “Except you’ll be the one screaming and I’ll be wearing the red face.”
“As it should be.”
Turning her attention back to the wondrous sight, Leah studied the pool that looked like a waterfall of brilliant white pearls backlit by the blazing sun. From the top, the water cascaded over four magnificently carved lions sitting below the spout, standing guard on each corner. The mighty beasts that were Leah’s favorite had their eyes wide and alert, aiming their stern gazes in every direction of the square, keeping watch over the city.
Gareth spoke beside her, “See the coat of arms around the base, and the frieze? It shows different scenes from Greek mythology.”
Leah searched for the mighty Athena among the familiar faces. Finding the warrior, she smiled. “When was this put here?”
“It was built to commemorate a huge construction project that the people undertook; some labyrinth that brought drinking water to the town from a mountain miles away from here.”
“Impressive,” Leah remarked. “I do so like smart people.”
“Which is why you were attracted to me.”
She gazed at the handsome face. “You bet. It was your brain that definitely took me off the market.”
“That’s what I thought.” Gareth winked, staring at the buildings around them. “Let’s get to the Archaeological Museum before it closes.”
For a split second, Leah looked up into the bright sunshine and whispered a prayer to anyone who happened to be listening. Please let there be good news coming.
CHAPTER 29
Walking down the brightly-lit corridors, Leah studied the unusual artifacts left behind by the ancient Minoan world. She glanced back over her shoulder, watching Gareth’s body language and hoping to see a look of happiness dawn on his face.
Huddled with a small group of older men that included the museum’s curator and two of the archaeologists on staff, Gareth showed them the picture taken of his dad in Pergamon. Desperation made the lines of his face more pronounced as he glared at the men, going silent, waiting for news that he was on the right track and not going completely insane.
Leah sighed, turned back around, and continued her walk down the well-organized space filled with antiquities. She smiled at a museum worker dressed in a bright blue, well-ironed uniform, and inwardly groaned when the woman took her show of acknowledgement as being an invitation instead.
She quickly walked over. “May I be of help?”
Leah shook her head. “No. Thank you. I just want to see as much as possible before you close.”
The young woman, her badge reading Waiola, kept her smile firmly in place. “I understand. We do apologize for any inconvenience you may have met with on your trip here. We had to close yesterday. And,” she glanced down at the golden watch on her wrist, “we only have another fifteen minutes before today’s end. But it is for a wonderful purpose, I assure you.” She pointed toward the end of the hallway.
Leah saw the dark red curtains closing off a large door. Above the curtains was carved the words: Hall of Frescoes. “Exhibit going in?” Leah asked.
“Exhibit coming home, thankfully,” she replied. “I hope you remain in the city. We will be opening the hall back up first thing in the morning.”
Leah gave a polite nod. “Thank you for the information.” As she turned to move on, the woman followed along right beside her.
“It is very thrilling to have them home.”
“Them?” Leah tried not to sigh, wondering how she could get the woman to disappear.
“The original frescoes from Knossos and the Hagia Triada sarcophagus are in there. They went on tour for six months, but they have finally been returned.”
“Originals? These were things actually taken from the sites?”
Leah could tell from the wideness of the black eyes and the immediate straightening of the woman’s neck that she had hit a nerve, somehow offending her.
“We did not take them. They were taken long ago by raiders of this city.”<
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“I apologize,” Leah tread carefully. “I was unaware of that.”
“The frescoes from Knossos are ours now. People have actually been renovating the Palace over these past decades, recreating images instead of just leaving them be in the first place.”
The statement was spoken with so much venom, Leah found herself staring at the woman’s mouth, waiting for a forked tongue to emerge through the pink lipstick. “That sounds terrible.”
“Yes, it is horrible what others will do,” Waiola said. Straightening the blue scarf around her neck, Leah watched the woman close her eyes and take a deep breath, releasing it slowly. It was as if she were adjusting her temper along with her uniform.
“Well,” the guide said, “I will leave you to explore the wonders we have here. But seeing as that only fifteen minutes remain, I really do hope you will come back in the morning.”
“Thank you. I’ll try,” Leah replied. There was no part of her that wanted to further anger a woman she completely agreed with. After all, every time a person had the nerve to stick a wad of chewing gum on the bodies of Patience or Fortitude back on her own home turf, it took all Leah had not to strangle them right where they stood. People could never seem to leave artifacts alone.
As Waiola walked away—spine straight, head high—Leah turned in the opposite direction. But when a small statue of a slightly frightening deity met her eyes, she halted in her tracks. Leaning forward, she read the descriptive copper plate that told of the figurine being one of two discovered in 1903, found in the temple repositories at the Palace of Knossos. “Snake Goddess,” she read. “Well, your name certainly fits.”
The small, bare-breasted priestess wore a lavish costume with a headdress that was almost bigger than her entire body. A small panther sat atop the molded head, and her arms were outstretched. In each hand she grasped a writhing serpent.
Suddenly, Gareth walked up beside her. “They’ve seen him.”
She turned so quickly at his statement that Leah thought the Snake Goddess pedestal would crash down on the shiny floor and she’d be sued for whatever billions equaled the word “priceless.” Not to mention, Waiola would appear like a shot, label her as one of “them” and most likely punch her square in the eye. But the fear passed the moment she recognized the excitement coming from Gareth. “What? When?”