The Secret Of The Cathars (2011)

by Michael Hillier

  “Good God!”

  “When it comes to the modern world of the media and its attendant publicity,” she reached across and patted his hand, “I’m afraid you’re still an innocent, Philip.”

  He leaned back and looked at the ceiling. “I suppose I am,” he said at last. He shook his head. “What am I going to do?”

  “I tell you what we’re going to do,” she said brightly. “You tell me you have a week to find out whatever you can about the hiding-place of this treasure. In the morning I have to see the police about what they may have turned up in the forensic investigation so we won’t be able to do much tomorrow. But at eight o’clock on Saturday morning I suggest you and I are going up to the chateau to have a hunt round for the most likely location for this hiding-place you have described.”

  “You should read the journal first.”

  “Oh, I will. After that we’ll decide what to do next. I’ll tell the guys they can have the weekend off to go back to their families because we will be returning to work at full effort from Monday.”

  “All right.” He grinned at her. “You’re on. My grandmother called the treasure my inheritance. I might even give you a share of this inheritance if you behave yourself.”

  She wagged a finger at him. “Watch out. Don’t forget I’m the boss at le Bezu.”

  An argument was prevented by the arrival of the special pudding.

  - 16 -

  Philip and Jackie left the hotel before eight on Saturday morning. Nobody was around to see them go. Even the town seemed still to be sleeping in the early morning sunshine.

  “I wanted to get away before Gaston appeared,” she said. “He was the only one who didn’t accept my offer of a weekend off to go home. He seems to have given himself the task of watching out for me.”

  Philip chuckled. “I expect he’s trying to make sure you don’t come under the evil influence of the foreigner.”

  “He was still going on about you when we met Sergeant Leblanc yesterday morning.”

  “What did you see Leblanc about?”

  “It was to obtain clearance to continue working at le Bezu.”

  “And did you?”

  “Oh yes.” She smiled. “There was no problem. They’d already received instructions from Paris to let us continue. Obviously Alain Gisours has been pulling a few strings.”

  They took Philip’s car to minimise the man’s suspicions and drove straight up to the castle. It was a trip of some fifteen kilometres on narrow, winding roads which took them nearly half an hour despite the lack of traffic. However they were climbing the path to the site soon after eight-thirty.

  Jackie had read the copy of the translated journal during the previous day and was as interested as Philip in its contents.

  “Your ancestor says the tubes were hidden behind a wall which was built across a shallow cave in the lowest room of the castle,” she said. “I get the impression in the journal that this room was some way from the entrance and also from the main accommodation area of the castle. That area would have been centred round the great hall which is the area where we are currently clearing the collapsed rubble and other detritus.”

  “OK. Let’s go down and start from there.”

  They made their way to the roped-off section of the hillside where the archaeologists had been working for the last couple of weeks. Then they partly circumvented it to the bottom corner.

  “I think it must be down in that direction.” Jackie pointed down the hillside close to the foot of the sheer rocky cliffs on which the few remains of the castle still stood.

  “The undergrowth looks pretty thick down there.”

  “It’s an area we haven’t cleared yet.”

  “Well, let’s get started.”

  There was a bag of tools in the site shed containing secateurs to cut back the brambles and other scrub which crowded the site. Jackie began to cut a path as close to the rock face as possible. Philip used a mattock and a spade to cut steps on the steep slope. Cutting the path was slow work but they had known that it would be.

  The office was equipped with a kettle and the materials for making coffee. So, after a couple of hours she went back and brought them cups of steaming liquid. They sat on the rocks and looked at the view as they rested. The coffee tasted good.

  “I’m enjoying this,” he said.

  She winked at him. “So am I. It’s a change for me to get involved in mundane tasks like clearing the site. Once I’ve told them which areas need stripping the others normally carry on while I’m working out locations for trenches, checking finds, etcetera. It’s a change to actually be doing the physical work.”

  “Well, we’ve got a beautiful day for it. I must say I’ve been lucky with the weather since I arrived last Tuesday.”

  She smiled but said nothing. Philip discovered he was feeling happier than he had for a long time.

  After a quarter of an hour’s break they restarted their work, cutting deeper into the undergrowth which was shoulder-high in places. By lunchtime they had got down to an area where the rubble under foot had formed a small dip in the hillside. When they cleared the scrub beyond the hollow the land began to fall away very steeply and they seemed to have crossed a rock ridge where only fragments of masonry remained. Jackie stopped them going any further.

  “I believe this is where the outside wall of the castle was located. The hillside is so steep here that I don’t think they would have extended the construction beyond this point. This is such a good, naturally defendable boundary.”

  “So?” He looked at her hopefully. “Do you think we might have reached the location of the room that the journal talks about?”

  She pulled a face. “Could be. That’s if we’ve chosen the right area of the castle. However I can’t think of a more likely location.”

  “But I’ve got to point out that there’s no stone wall to our right as there should be. It’s just sheer rock. Where do you think the hiding-place might be?”

  For an answer she pointed between his feet.

  “Straight down?”

  “That’s right. We’re standing on rubble and earth and vegetation which has accumulated over centuries from the collapse of the castle walls above - the walls that aren’t there anymore.”

  “You mean what’s been left by the masonry robbers?”

  She nodded. “I told you about that on Thursday.”

  “I know you did. How deep do you think the rubble might be?”

  “I don’t know.” Jackie shrugged. “It might be five metres.”

  “Five metres! That’s more than fifteen feet.”

  “It could easily be that deep - maybe even deeper.”

  “So we’ve got to dig out this whole area more than fifteen feet deep and we may still not be in the right place anyway?”

  She thought for a moment. “Actually it’s not as bad as it sounds. We can dig a metre wide trench against the rock face and heap the spoil over the other side of the hollow. And, if you remember, the journal says the wall across the hollow in the rock face was high up in the room. So you won’t have to dig all the way down to the original floor level.”

  “Thank you.” Philip grinned. “You mean I may only have to dig down ten feet or so.”

  “Perhaps not even as far as that.”

  “But it’s still going to take me several days,” he pointed out. “I won’t be able to finish it this weekend.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that.” Jackie rested a hand against the rock wall. “I have decided that this work is a separate part of the main excavation which I will set up here. I can easily manufacture a reason which nobody will dispute. In that case I will allocate one or two of the workers to start on this task and you can help them.” She smiled mischievously. “It’ll mean that I’ll always know where you are and at the same time it’ll keep you out of Gaston’s way. He’ll be less likely to create trouble for you if you’re out of sight.”

  “I suppose that would suit me well enough as long as yo
u promise not to forget that I’m here.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I always make sure I keep an eye on what’s going on in every part of my sites - even down here in the depths.”

  Philip thought for a moment. “What do I do if I find the wall across the cave?”

  “You just record it. You wouldn’t expect to be allowed to remove it without the approval of the site manager. That’s me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “If we do find a wall we’ll look for a later opportunity for you and I to explore behind it together.” She pondered for a moment. “I think I’ll allocate young Armand to take charge here. He’s very enthusiastic and he’s learned quite a lot in the few weeks he’s been with me. He’ll know how to look for finds and report on anything that you turn up.”

  “Can’t I do it alone?”

  “Certainly not.” She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. That would immediately make everybody suspicious. In addition to that, you haven’t been trained to look for finds. You don’t know how to strut a trench to make it safe. You don’t know the correct form in which to make notes of progress. You’ll have to learn all that from Armand who’s picked up quite a lot in the last few weeks. I’ll tell everybody that he’s the person doing the excavation to try and find the floor level of the lowest part of the castle. You will be his helper.” She stepped back. “Actually I think it will do Armand good. It’ll give him a sense of responsibility.”

  “So I’ll have to do whatever he tells me.”

  “You certainly will.” She grinned. “I think I might also allocate his wife to sieve the soil and search for finds. That’ll complete the team.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “I think we should leave everything just as it is for now. It would give the wrong message to the others if we had commenced work here before the site has officially restarted. You and Armand can begin digging this trench on Monday morning. I’ll give you a list of kit and clothing you’ll need.”

  “OK. So what happens next?”

  She turned and faced him. “What about lunch? The other day I was taken to a lovely little place up the river near Cavirac.”

  “What a good idea.” He grinned. “You do have some brilliant ideas from time to time.”

  “Come on then. Let’s put the gear away and lock up.” She preceded him up the steep, rough path which led back to the main part of the site.”

  As they approached the store shed they saw the door was open. “I’m sure I shut it when I got the coffee,” Jackie said. “I think somebody’s been here.”

  They had almost reached the timber building when a man stepped out. He was tall and well into his fifties and was dressed more as though for a walk in the city than on a wild, rocky outcrop in the foothills of the Pyrenees. However Philip did notice that he wore smart new walking boots below his cavalry twills.

  The man seemed not at all embarrassed by their arrival. He gave a little bow and said, “Bonjour, ma’mselle. Quel beau jour.”

  “What are you doing in our shed?” demanded Jackie.

  The fellow smiled in a superior way. “There was no sign to say it belonged to anybody. It was open and I was intrigued by the contents.”

  “It was not open.”

  “Well,” he acknowledged. “It was unlocked at least. You can’t blame me for being interested in what was going on in an out of the way place like this.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My name,” he said with another little bow, “is Alain Hebert. Before you ask, I am staying near Rennes-les-Bains and I enjoy walking in the area. May I ask who you are and what you are doing here?”

  Her demeanour softened a little. “I am Jacqueline Blontard and this is Philip Sinclair. We are excavating at le Bezu for Cathar remains under licence from the Department of Ancient Monuments.”

  “I am very pleased to meet you.” He stepped forward and shook them both firmly by the hand. “How nice to know that these old remains aren’t being left to moulder away completely. Have you found anything interesting yet?”

  “Not much. A few coins of low face value and some mediaeval detritus. Nothing to get excited about yet.” She tossed her head. “But so far we have barely scratched the surface of the site.”

  “No secret caches of treasure?” He laughed a little falsely.

  She smiled. “I’m afraid we don’t place much reliance on the local tales of Templar treasure.”

  “What tales are those?” The man’s eyes were suddenly watchful, a shade suspicious.

  “If you spend any time in this area, Monsieur Hebert, you’ll be sure to come across plenty of stories about treasure. The local guide books are full of tales about Cathar treasure hidden in caves, treasure left by the Templars everywhere, Visigoth remains - some stories even lay claims to this area being the hiding-place of the Holy Grail. Not that anybody has actually produced any genuine finds to support the theories.”

  “How droll.” But his expression seemed to suggest that he wasn’t amused.

  “You should go to Rennes-le-Chateau. That is the centre of the story-telling industry. You’ll find that all the shops there are loaded down with books about the subject.”

  “Indeed I shall.” He was smiling again, apparently reassured by her chatter. “Well, I’ll wish you a good day and continue with my walk.” He gave a little bow and touched the brim of his hat. Then he set off down the path towards the road far below.

  Jackie hurried in to check the contents of the hut and Philip followed her.

  “That was silly of me not to have locked it,” she said.

  “Never mind. No harm seems to have been done. I wouldn’t have said that old boy was likely to be one of your archaeological thieves.”

  “You’re right. Everything seems to be in order in here. Except that I’m pretty sure the site diary has been pulled to the front of the desk. He was probably having a snoop at it to see if we had found anything valuable.”

  “Does that matter?”

  “Not really. He won’t have seen anything significant in there, if only because we haven’t found much yet.” She turned to face him. “What did you think of him?”

  Philip thought about it carefully. “Somehow he didn’t look like a walker to me - he was too smartly dressed. And his walking boots were brand new.”

  “I think you’re right. His clothing wasn’t right for this sort of terrain.”

  “The other thing was that he seemed very interested when you were talking about the treasure. Do you think he might be some sort of treasure hunter?”

  “Hah.” She laughed. “I’ve never seen anybody look less like a treasure hunter than he does.”

  “In that case it’s not worth wasting our time bothering about him.”

  They deposited their tools in the hut and carefully locked the door before setting off for their lunch.

  -17 -

  The archaeologists were at breakfast on the Monday morning and the dining room was alive with conversation when Jean-Luc Lerenard arrived. The big man walked in from reception and stood looking round at the scene. A single large bag swung lightly from his left hand. Maybe it was his arrogant expression which caused the conversation to die away.

  His gaze alighted on Jacqueline sitting at a table with Gaston, Armand and Jeanette.

  “Mademoiselle Blontard?”

  She rose to greet him. “You must be Monsieur Lerenard. I hadn’t expected you to be so early.” Her manner was cool.

  “I only had a short way to come. Early rising is no problem to me.”

  “Would you like some breakfast?”

  “No thank you.” There was no explanation.

  Philip put him down as a man of very few words - not such a bad thing among these chatty Frenchmen.

  “Very well. You’ll excuse us while we finish ours. A room has been reserved for you. Reception will give you directions. We’ll meet in the lounge in half an hour to plan our day.” She resumed her seat as he left.

  Gradually t
he conversation started up again but it was no longer quite so cheerful. Now there seemed to be a certain tension in the air. Philip was astonished at the way in which the arrival of this big man seemed to have changed the atmosphere.

  After another five minutes Jackie gave up and went up to her room leaving a half-full plate behind her. Even she seemed to have been discomfited by the appearance of Monsieur Lerenard. Most of the others followed her example in a short while. Only Gaston remained, stolidly working his way through a large plate of croissants.

  The meeting in the lounge at eight o’clock was a restrained affair. Jackie brought all the members of the team together. Philip had almost been accepted by now within the group, although Gaston was still unwilling to address more than a few words to him.

  She started by introducing the new arrival. “This is Jean-Luc Lerenard who has been head-hunted to replace Andre.” She smiled sadly. “I’m afraid you’re going to have your work cut out. My old friend won’t be easy to replace.”

  The big man said nothing. There was no smile. He clearly took his new role seriously.

  “The other thing to tell you all,” she said, “is that I’ve decided to open up a second area of excavation. It’s way down near the bottom of the site. It will only be a small operation - at least at the start.” She switched her attention. “Armand, I’m going to put you in charge of it. I’ve been very pleased with the way you’re coming on.”

  “Thank you.” The young man nodded with pleasure.

  “What’s the purpose of this new area?” asked Lerenard.

  “Well.” She half-smiled at him. “Let’s call it an insurance policy. So far not much has turned up on the main site or near the main entrance. I’m hoping that we may get some finds near the bottom of the site - stuff that has gravitated from higher up.”