“Well, I guess I should go first then,” the pythia offered. “It all started right after we buried the fake. Everything was fine up till that point. We’d gotten back to the Jeep when I realized I’d dropped my hotel key back at the site.”
Cassie recounted how they retraced their steps, only to find the relic had been unearthed by the three Turks. She then explained how the Arkana team trailed the men through the woods and how she was captured.
Both Faye and Maddie appeared horror-struck as the pythia zestfully recounted how the trio held her at gunpoint while they decided whether to kill her or hold her for ransom.
“You should have seen her,” Erik butted in. “She was amazing.”
Cassie blushed.
“I mean, she stood her ground. Didn’t lose her head. Cool as a cucumber, she cut a ransom deal with those guys. It was incredible.” He beamed at the pythia.
“Erik, stop,” she murmured, obviously pleased by his approval.
Faye and Maddie exchanged raised eyebrows.
“You two seem to be fast friends these days,” Faye observed.
“The new pythia is officially aces in my book,” Erik enthused. “You can quote me on that.”
“I’m glad you don’t want to drum her out of the Arkana anymore,” Maddie said sarcastically, “but can you get on with the story?”
“Oh, yeah, right.” Cassie continued. “After that, the bad guys took me to this run-down cabin, and I wrote a ransom note to send back to the hotel.” She described how her teammates stormed the shack and rescued her.
“You should have seen Erik,” she added. “He came in with guns blazing.”
“Me?” he protested. “What about you. The Turk had a knife to your throat. I was gonna put the gun down before he cut you, but then you stomped on his foot.”
“She did what?” Maddie and Faye were both aghast.
“Swear to goddess!” Erik was beaming again. “Like I said, she was amazing. While the Turk was hopping around, I rushed him.”
“Yeah, talk about amazing,” Cassie smiled back at him. “The guy never knew what hit him.”
Faye glanced at Griffin who had remained silent during this interchange. “Dear, you seem awfully quiet. Don’t you have anything to add?” she prompted.
The scrivener shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Nothing that would do me credit, I’m afraid. If I hadn’t tripped over my own legs and stumbled into Cassie while we were following the bandits, she would never have been captured in the first place.”
“Griffin!” Cassie protested. “You shouldn’t think like that. It could have happened to any of us.”
“Yeah, dude,” Erik added. “Lighten up. If it hadn’t been for you figuring out where to find that artifact, we would have come home empty-handed.”
“At least you would have come home alive without needing to risk life and limb,” the scrivener murmured.
Erik slapped him on the back consolingly. “It was a field mission, man. Stuff like that always happens on a field mission. I could tell you stories.”
“Really?” Griffin brightened. “You’re not just saying that to make me feel better?”
“Nope,” Erik protested. “Swear to goddess.”
“Like the time he trashed an entire hotel room in Venice,” Maddie offered.
“Aren’t you ever gonna forget about that?” Erik moaned.
Maddie folded her arms resolutely. “What do you think?”
Faye forestalled any further comment from Maddie by asking, “What happened next?”
“We tied up the bandits and left them for the sweepers,” Griffin explained.
“By the way, I checked with Anatolian Security while we were at the airport,” Erik interjected. “The creeps got bagged and tagged. Turns out they had a rap sheet as long as my arm.” He paused to glance at Maddie who was several inches taller than he was. “Might have even been as long as your arm.”
“So, they’re in custody with the Turkish police?” the operations director asked.
“Yup,” Cassie answered. “I hope they stay that way for a good long time. Nasty guys. Bad breath too.”
“What about the Nephilim?” Maddie asked.
“Oh, they showed up at the worst possible second, and that’s when everything got real interesting.” Erik picked up the thread. “We were about to rebury the fake artifact when we heard their car coming up the trail. We were boxed in. Couldn’t drive away and there was an empty hole in the ground where the relic should have been. If they found that, they would definitely know somebody else was looking for the same thing.”
“And that’s when Erik came up with the most incredible idea,” Cassie burst in.
“Are you gonna let me tell it?” he scolded, but it was obvious he was enjoying her enthusiasm.
“I just had to say that. It was absolutely genius,” she gushed. Then apparently realizing just how effusive she sounded, she waved him on. “You go.”
“So anyway,” he began, “we had to figure out how to get the fake into their hands without them knowing they were being set up. That’s when I decided to act as a decoy.”
“We hid ourselves while Erik staged a scene,” Griffin chimed in. “He stood by the hole in the ground where we’d found the relic. That way when the Nephilim arrived, they would think he’d just dug it up.”
“And they fell for it too,” Erik continued. “Leroy Hunt saw me and ran down that hill waving a pistol. I hid behind one of the megaliths near the edge, so he couldn’t corner me. I had the fake artifact in my hand. He was with that Daniel guy. Finally got a good look at the kid. Kind of nervous and jumpy for a Nephilim. There was a Turk with them too. He must have been their guide. Anyway, I gave them a line about how I escaped from the tomb at Karfi and my other two teammates were killed.”
“Then they don’t suspect that Cassie and Griffin are alive?” Faye asked.
“Nope. Swallowed the whole story,” Erik replied. “I told them that I’d give them the relic if they let me leave. Daniel was all for it, but Hunt wanted to kill me. That’s when I threw the relic into the air toward them. Then I fell off the side of the mountain.”
“You did what?” both Faye and Maddie asked simultaneously.
Cassie giggled. “This is the genius part.”
“They came rushing over to look and saw a body on a ledge about two hundred feet below. It was a sheer drop, so there was no way for them to climb down to get a good look. No way to shoot the body because Hunt was out of range. They just had to let it go. Daniel seemed kind of broken up about the whole thing, but Hunt said the vultures would get the body before anybody would know it was there. Then they left.”
“But how did you manage to fall that far without being killed?” Faye asked in wonderment.
“It wasn’t me. It was Fred,” Erik explained proudly.
“You allowed Fred to die?” Faye sounded appalled.
“Who’s Fred?” Maddie was mystified.
“Our guide, remember?” Cassie prompted. “You talked to him on the phone during our last group call.”
“Oh, yeah” the operations director seemed to recall. “Now I remember him. Quiet sort.” Then she scowled as a new thought hit her. “So Fred’s dead?”
“No, he isn’t.” Griffin picked up the thread. Turning to his teammate, he added, “It really was a remarkable plan, Erik. To come up with something like that on such short notice. Absolutely brilliant.”
“Aw shucks,” Erik said mockingly. “You guys are gonna turn my head.”
“I’m gonna turn your head backwards Exorcist-style if you don’t wrap this story up soon,” Maddie barked. “What happened to Fred?”
“Fred is alive and well.” Griffin smiled.
“And living in Turkey,” Cassie added.
“We got a couple of lucky breaks that day,” Erik commented. “The first one was the fact that the mountain is honeycombed with hermit cells.”
“Ah.” Fa
ye smiled knowingly. “I’m beginning to see the light.” She was apparently several steps ahead of Maddie.
“So what if there are hermit cells?” the operations director asked.
“There are tunnels that lead through the mountainside out to the rock face. You can’t see them if you’re standing up above. It just so happens that one of those tunnels leads directly out to that ledge on the mountainside.”
“Then that would mean Fred was able to position himself while you were above acting as a diversion.” Faye summarized.
Cassie nudged Griffin in the ribs. “She’s good.”
Maddie turned to Erik. “But how could they mistake this Fred guy for you?”
“It was one of those lucky breaks I mentioned before. We were both wearing the same color clothes that day. Cassie pointed it out when we left that morning. Yellow shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers. He’s blond too. From two hundred feet away, face down, he made a passable double.”
“But I still don’t understand, dear,” Faye said. “You said you fell off the mountain. How did you keep from sliding all the way down? You couldn’t have had more than a few moments lead time before your attackers would have reached you. Where did you go?”
“I got lucky again when we left the bandit shack. I decided to bring along the extra coil of rope that was left over after we tied them up. Because the Nephilim were standing in the middle of the stone circle and I was on the other side of a megalith, they couldn’t see that I had a piece of rope lying right next to my foot. I grabbed it when I went over the side.”
“Heavens!” Faye exclaimed.
“Cassie and Griffin were hiding in another hermit cell just a little below the top of the cliff. Griffin had the other end of the rope, and he pulled me up to where they were hiding.” Erik glanced at his two companions. “We cut it close though. I’d just barely managed to tuck into the hole in the rock before I heard Hunt talking right above where we here hiding.”
“Quite an extraordinary adventure,” Faye observed.
“I need a smoke,” Maddie announced abruptly. “Don’t say anything important until I get back.”
Her companions watched open-mouthed as the operations director grabbed her pack of cigarettes and headed for the chimney.
“She really has been worried about you,” Faye apologized. “I think the stress this morning has been too much for her, poor dear. Let’s give her a few moments to quiet her nerves. I’ll just take this opportunity to phone downstairs for some food while we wait. I’m sure you’re all hungry after your trip.”
“That’s why she’s the memory guardian,” Cassie confided to her teammates. “She remembers when it’s time for a snack.”
Chapter 45 – Relic Redux
“Oooh, spinach dip,” Cassie enthused. “I haven’t tasted that since we left.”
“We haven’t been gone that long, toots,” Erik objected.
They were both diving into plates of cold cuts and crudités.
Cassie looked at Faye quizzically. “I didn’t think there was a kitchen in the vault. Where did all this food come from?”
“We do have a cafeteria, actually,” Griffin explained. “We’re miles from nowhere out here, and people have to eat. I just didn’t show you that part of the facility when I was giving you your tour. It didn’t seem relevant.”
“It’s plenty relevant when you’re hungry,” Cassie said as she built herself a turkey sandwich.
At that moment, Maddie walked back into the conference room. Her clothes reeked of cigarette smoke, but she appeared to be in a much pleasanter mood than when she’d left. “That’s better,” she announced taking her seat on the couch and immediately helping herself to the deli platter.
Faye looked around at her team benevolently. “All’s well that ends well,” she observed.
“All isn’t ended yet,” Maddie said, crunching into a dill pickle. “What about the artifact?”
“Right you are!” Griffin wiped his hands on a napkin and reached into his duffle bag. He dug around until he located a small box. “Here it is.” He held it out to Faye.
The old woman opened the lid and removed the tissue that surrounded the object. “Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “What exquisite craftsmanship.”
She held the golden bee in the palm of her hand. It measured about three inches in length. The bee’s wings were outstretched as if in flight. The entire surface of the wings was covered with the peculiar markings which had become all too familiar to the Arkana team.
“It was quite a feat to duplicate something this intricate on such short notice,” Griffin commented. “We’re indebted to the Anatolian goldsmiths who helped us out.”
“I’ll be sure to express your appreciation to Aydin,” Faye remarked.
“Let me see.” Maddie held out her hand, and Faye passed the object to her. She flipped the bee over and traced the hieroglyphs that covered the underside of the wings. She handed the piece back to Griffin. “Did you get a chance to translate what these symbols mean yet?”
The Brit sighed. “Translate, yes. Understand, no.”
“He told us what the message says,” Cassie offered.
“But it’s all Minoan to us.” Erik completed the thought.
“More tea?” Faye held out the pot, but everyone shook their heads now that a pitcher of cola had been brought up from the cafeteria. The old woman filled her own teacup and resettled herself. “Perhaps Maddie and I can help decipher the message. Just tell us what it says, dear.”
Griffin set the bee on the table and reached back into his bag for a tablet. He flipped through several pages of field notes before he came to the right section. “Ah yes, here it is. I must say, this seems even more cryptic than our last riddle was.”
The group waited in silence for him to begin.
“The first line reads: Let Eurus fill the sails twelve days, then follow Eberos where it climbs to the sky.”
“I don’t know about the Eurus or Eberos business, but the word ‘sails’ has to mean twelve days by boat to somewhere,” the operations director speculated as she popped a handful of olives into her mouth.
“Twelve days’ worth of sea travel to anywhere leads me to believe the relic won’t be in Crete or Turkey,” the scrivener said.
“I agree,” Faye concurred. “You’ll be traveling farther afield on your next expedition.”
“Yeah, but they couldn’t have gone that far,” Cassie objected. “Everybody thought the world was flat so they all stayed close to home, didn’t they?”
The old woman smiled knowingly. “The ancients were far more sophisticated in their navigation techniques and in their understanding of the world that our current history books would lead you to believe.”
“Ooops.” Cassie grinned sheepishly. “You can chalk that comment up to my overlord education.”
Faye nodded and then directed her attention to Griffin. “What’s next, dear?”
The scrivener consulted his notes. “Set your course three bees from the dragon's wing to the sea.”
The memory guardian frowned in perplexity. “Are you sure you translated that correctly?”
“I’m afraid so. I checked it several times. I confess I’m as mystified as you are. It’s some sort of nautical reference. That’s all I can determine at this point.”
Cassie reached across the table for the pitcher of soda and poured herself a refill. “We also figured the bee has something to do with it.”
“She means that the bee is supposed to be used as some kind of yardstick for us to measure with,” Erik expanded helpfully.
“How interesting,” Faye murmured half to herself. “So even if one had the text of this clue, without the artifact itself, it would be impossible to determine the location of the next relic.”
“Wish we’d realized that in time,” Cassie said ruefully. “We might have made the fake relic half an inch shorter. Could have thrown the Nephilim off for a while.”
“I don’t think it’s going to matter much,” Maddie observed. “If you guys are having a tough time understanding it, I don’t think they’ll figure it out any quicker.”
“I’ll just keep reading, shall I?” Griffin flipped a page in his notebook. “When the bull turns the season, mark where the goat grazes the spinner’s peak.”
They all looked at one another blankly.
“Huh,” Maddie grunted. “Sounds like complete gibberish to me.”
“Is there any more?” Faye asked.
“One more line: There lies the second of five you seek.”
“We figured that one out.” Cassie laughed.
“Yeah, that was a freebie,” Maddie murmured.
“Why don’t you read the entire message back to us now,” Faye suggested.
The scrivener obliged. “Let Eurus fill the sails twelve days, then follow Eberos where it climbs to the sky. Set your course three bees from the dragon’s wing to the sea. When the bull turns the season, mark where the goat grazes the spinner’s peak. There lies the second of five you seek.”
“That sure is a mouthful.” Cassie scowled as she considered the diminutive bee. “How the heck did they fit all those words on the wings?”
“My translation is somewhat liberal,” Griffin admitted. “I attempted to turn the message into something coherent and, to whatever extent, poetical. In its original form, it reads more like Morse Code or semaphore.”
Cassie regarded him skeptically. “You sure you didn’t lose anything along the way?”
“Oh no, the gist of what I recited is faithful to the original symbols.”
“Well if that’s true,” she remarked bleakly, “then we’ve got a ton of work ahead of us to figure this out. And I was hoping for a break!”
Griffin smiled. “Then I have good news for you.”
“Really?”
“We will have quite a lot of time to figure this out.”
Cassie picked up the bee, turned it over and shook it. “I don’t see anything falling out that says, ‘Take your time. No rush.’” She set it back down in dismay.
The scrivener was beaming smugly. “Ah, but that’s exactly what it says. It’s in the third line of the message.”
The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set Page 52