To Catch a Rogue
Page 24
“They say Apollo spent his summers here,” Calliope said, adjusting the tilt of her straw hat. “One would have thought the winters would have been more practical.”
He laughed. “You see, you are still my sensible bride. Come, I’ll show you something else.”
Calliope followed him to the far end of the sanctuary site, where the now-dry pool of Apollo stood, surrounded by the remains of his sacred swans. They were overlooked by a low, flat base of the same silver-coloured marble.
“This is where your Alabaster Goddess once stood,” he said quietly. “Or so they say.”
“Oh!” Calliope gasped. She knew that Artemis had originally come from Delos, long before she fell into the Duke of Averton’s possession. Yet to see where she had once stood vigil, guarding the placid swans with her steady bow, was overwhelming. Calliope laid her hand on the base, feeling the heat baked into the stone rising up inside her like the power of the goddess herself.
And, for the first time, she understood what Clio must have really felt. Her despair at leaving the Alabaster Goddess in the clutches of the duke, when this was her home.
But Clio was on her own path now, gone on a tour of Italy with their father and Thalia. Perhaps one day she would come to this place, too, and would understand things that had been hidden for so long.
Calliope stared up at where the goddess once stood. All she saw was the clear turquoise blue of the sky, the dazzle of the light. In the distance, she thought she could hear music, young voices lifted to the Delian Apollo.
“I heard a tale once,” she said. “Apollo and Calliope, chief of the Muses, once came to Delos together, and here they conceived Orpheus, the greatest of all musicians.” She took one of Cameron’s hands, pressing the palm flat to her stomach. “Will we be blessed with a new Orpheus, do you think, in about, oh, eight months’ time?”
Cameron’s gaze shot to hers, filled with doubt, wonder, and—and joy. Joy to rival the sun, to rival any god’s greatest triumph.
And they kissed under the wide Greek sky, celebrating a new life blessed by the protection of the Alabaster Goddess.
Author’s Note
The trade in illegal antiquities is nothing new, of course. It has probably been going on ever since one caveman envied another’s wall art! But in recent years, with the rise of the internet and the development of more sophisticated equipment, it has become a huge global industry. Every day countries are stripped of their irreplaceable cultural heritage, and the study of the past is obstructed.
Two fascinating sources on this important subject are: The Medici Conspiracy: The Illicit Journey of Looted Antiquities From Italy’s Tomb Raiders to the World’s Greatest Museums by Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini; and Stealing History: Tomb Raiders, Smugglers, and the Looting of the Ancient World by Roger Atwood.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5230-5
TO CATCH A ROGUE
Copyright © 2008 by Ammanda McCabe
First North American Publication 2010
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