by Kris Tualla
“It’s not just that.” Hollis walked around the stacks of blue, black, and white topped plastic bins. “They would still have to hire someone like me who would either disperse the stuff to museums where it fit their mission, or store it in here, taking up space where no one would ever see it.”
Sveyn followed her. “Do you believe Ezra knew that?”
Hollis turned to look at him. “I hadn’t thought about that. But now that you mention it, I bet he did.”
“He was very meticulous with all of his other behaviors, was he not?”
“And obsessive.” A slow smile lifted Hollis’s cheeks. “I would bet he visited here a dozen times or more before he wrote that will.”
Sveyn looked around the huge room and its tall shelves, piled with artifacts of varying value. “He trusted the people here to take care of his life’s work.”
“His life’s work…” Hollis drew a slow deep breath. “Yes. That must be how he saw it.”
Sveyn smiled down at her. “You are doing good work here, Hollis. I am proud to be with you.”
She always blushed when he complimented her.
I wonder if he notices.
“Let’s go. I was serious about the shower and movie.” Hollis scanned her employee ID card to lock the storage area’s door.
She collected her purse from her office, then closed and locked that door as well. Lastly, she scanned herself out of the building, listening for the confirming whoop. The museum was locked and loaded.
“Speaking of moving pictures,” Sveyn said. “Might we go to another one in the theater?”
“Sure.” Hollis started her car. “Any ideas?”
He shook his head. “I want you to make the selection this time, as I chose the last one.”
An amusing thought caused Hollis to giggle. “I have the perfect suggestion.”
Sveyn cocked an eyebrow. “Should your laugh concern me?”
Hollis backed out of her parking space. “No. But I am going to introduce you to the concept of a cult classic.”
“What is that?”
“A movie so outrageous that it becomes famous. Sometimes, for being unbelievably bad.”
She shifted into drive, foot still on the brake, and grinned at him. “In honor of Halloween, the indie theater on Mill Avenue has reinstated weekend showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. At midnight.”
She shifted into drive. “We’ll go tomorrow night.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Saturday
October 17
Hollis and Sveyn didn’t talk on the way to the museum. She knew he hated it when she handled the Blessing, or even spent any time in its vicinity.
“He is going to use special machines to see if the icon emits any radiation, electromagnetism, or seismic waves,” she said last night. “But please don’t ask me to explain what they are.”
Sveyn looked at her like she was a fool, but he didn’t argue with her. “I can see that you put a lot of weight on these instruments and will heed none of my warnings. But know this: I will be by your side the entire time.”
“That’s not—”
“Necessary? Yes, Hollis. It is.”
“What? Are we finishing each other’s sentences now?” she grumbled.
Sveyn leaned down into her face. “If that is what is required to make you listen.”
Hollis turned into the employee parking lot ten minutes before her noon appointment with Everett.
“He is not here as yet,” Sveyn observed.
“I told him to come through the front door since the museum is open today and to text me when he gets here.” Hollis got out of the car and locked the doors. She left her purse under the driver’s seat and only carried her key card.
Once inside the administrative area, she went to her office to collect the white cotton gloves Sveyn insisted she wear when handling the Blessing.
“Do you have gloves for him?” Sveyn prompted.
Hollis gritted her teeth, but pulled out a second pair without comment.
Her phone chimed.
I’m here.
Be right out, she answered.
*****
Everett had three carrying cases which looked like three old-fashioned suitcases, complete with stitched leather trim.
“Can I carry one for you?” Hollis offered.
“They’re heavy,” he warned.
Hollis tsked. “Do you understand what my job entails? I move things all the time, and most of them don’t have handles.” She leaned down to grab the closest case.
Everett held out a hand to stop her. “That’s the heaviest one. Take this one.”
She accepted the rectangle case, which was not at all light. Probably a good thing she didn’t try to pick up the heaviest one after all. Sveyn wiped a smile from his face.
Everett hefted the remaining two cases, one in each hand. Their weight pulled his shoulders down.
“Did you carry these from your car in one trip?”
He shook his head and grinned at her. “As much as I would like to say yes and impress the heck out of you, no. I didn’t.”
Hollis laughed. “Okay, then. Follow me.”
She led him around a corner, down a hallway, and into the office area. “This is the door to our storage area.”
She scanned her key card and the door’s lock clicked. She pushed the handle down and leaned her shoulder into the heavy steel portal.
“This area must be pretty well secured,” Everett observed. “Can anyone with a key card unlock the door?”
“No. Only four of us have access.” The door swung open and Hollis reached for the light switch.
LED lights in the tall ceiling bathed the room in soft blue-white light. Sveyn was already inside.
“Whoa…” Everett stepped into the huge room and set his cases down. “This is amazing.”
Hollis set her case down next to the others. “I would say that in any museum, what is on display is only about fifty percent of what that museum actually has in its possession.”
Everett continued to stare at the tall rows of packed shelves. “I had no idea… This must be worth a fortune.”
Hollis chuckled. “Not as much as you would expect. The majority of what you see here isn’t display quality.”
He turned to look at her. “Then why keep it?”
“Laws. Rules. We can pass it to another museum, but if it’s not ‘good’ enough for our display, then no one else will want it either.”
“Huh.” Everett rested his hands on his hips. “Can you sell it? Surely amateur collectors might be interested.”
“Yes, we can auction things off, and we do,” Hollis explained. “But it’s time consuming. The museum just doesn’t have the personnel.”
Everett grinned. “Well, I’m impressed anyway.”
Warmed by Everett’s interest in her world, Hollis offered, “Let me show you something.”
She walked around a corner to her right. “These,” she said, pointing to stacks of plastic bins with blue, white, and black lids. “Are what we brought in from the Kensington bequest.”
The stacks were ten bins high, two bins deep, and extended twenty-five feet along the wall. “The color of the lid indicates the importance of the artifacts inside. Blue bins hold items that are probably the most valuable and display-worthy.”
Everett walked down the row with Sveyn on his heels. “How many bins are there?”
“About three hundred, give or take.”
He stopped to look back at her; Sveyn politely stepped out of the way. “I had no idea.”
Hollis shrugged. “No one does. Not outside of the staff.”
“This was a huge undertaking!”
Hollis laughed at Everett’s incredulous expression. “And why I currently still have a job.”
A wash of concern dampened Everett’s expression. “Is the Blessing buried somewhere in here?”
“If only it were,” Sveyn muttered.
Hollis ignored the Viking, n
ot even glancing at him. “Oh, gosh no. All of the items which have been on the website are set aside, because they will be put on display. At least temporarily.”
Everett walked toward her. “That’s a relief.”
“Over here.” Hollis led Everett to another area with a long stainless steel countertop and additional lighting. Several black and blue lidded bins waited there. “These are the pieces we deemed web-worthy.”
“Gloves,” Sveyn prompted.
Hollis turned her back on the annoying apparition. “Let’s bring your monitors over here and get set up first.”
Everett’s gaze moved to the bins and stuck there. “Which one is it in?”
“One of the black ones.” Hollis looked over her shoulder at the waiting containers. “I’m not sure which one, but it’ll be easy to find.”
Everett’s eyes shot toward hers. “You don’t want to look for it first?”
“Eager, are we?” Hollis wanted to laugh; Everett’s interest in the outrageous myth was amusingly serious. Really? “Why don’t you go get your equipment and I’ll look for the Blessing.”
Everett nodded, looking as if he was unwilling to walk away when the treasure was so close. “Okay. Good idea.”
“Gloves. Now.” Sveyn spoke into her ear, so close that she imagined she felt his breath.
But he isn’t breathing, Hollis.
“Fine.” Hollis pulled the gloves from her pocket and laid one pair on the counter before donning the other pair.
“Are those for me?” Everett asked, setting one case on the counter.
“Yep.” Hollis flashed an apologetic smile. “Standard operating procedure.”
Everett went back to the door to retrieve the other two cases. Hollis opened the black bin closest to her.
“It’s in the one on the end.”
Hollis huffed and closed the lid. She should’ve just asked Sveyn to start with.
She set the bin on the floor to make room, and pulled the designated container closer.
Everett returned, setting one case on the counter and the other on the floor. “Did you find it?”
“Process of elimination.” And apparition. “I think it’s in here.”
Hollis opened the lid. The object in question was wrapped in its leather shroud and sitting on top. She lifted it from the bin and set it on the stainless steel.
“That’s it?” Everett was practically drooling.
“Yep. This is it.” She handed Everett the gloves before she unwrapped the icon and waited for him to put them on. “It’s apparently six thousand years old, so be careful.”
“Six thousand?” Everett did not seem to be surprised by that ridiculous number. “Impressive.”
Hollis pulled away the sueded leather covering, revealing the twelve inch by six inch metal and wood object.
Everett drew a long slow breath. “So this is the famous velsignelse av gudene…”
“Well half of it, if the myth is believed,” Hollis qualified.
Everett cut his gaze to hers. “And you still don’t know where the other half is?”
“No, it wasn’t in Ezra’s possession.” She shrugged. “And even if there was a second piece at one time, it was probably lost or destroyed centuries ago.”
Sveyn shook his head. “It was not.”
“Six thousand years is a very long time.”
“It was made by the sons of god,” he countered.
“No matter who made it,” Hollis stated.
Sveyn leaned closer to make her look at him. “This thing is as immortal as its makers.”
Everett didn’t seem to be listening to her. He reached out a gloved hand and carefully lifted the icon from its leather wrapping. His expression was the visible definition of awestruck.
“The metal parts are intertwined through the wood in ways that shouldn’t be possible.” He nodded. “This really is it.”
“According to my research—” Hollis’s consideration flicked to Sveyn and back. “—when the two halves were locked together, the complete design is a mixture of Nordic symbols.”
“Yes. Yes.” Everett lifted an incredulous gaze to hers. “It’s some sort of spell or incantation.”
Hollis frowned. “Really?” She risked another look at the Viking.
“I did not know that,” he admitted. “But it is quite logical.”
She returned her attention to Everett. “Shouldn’t we start your tests?”
He startled as if being awakened. “Yes, of course.” He laid the icon down. “Which one should we start with? Radiation, electromagnetic, or seismic?”
“You’re the expert, here.” Hollis used the word loosely. “Which do you think is the most likely?”
“Let’s start with radiation.” Everett unlatched one of the cases. “That’s the quickest one.”
It only took a moment to get the monitor ready. “Do you need me to do anything?” Hollis asked.
“No. Thank you, though.” Everett’s hand was visibly shaking as he moved the sensor over the icon.
Hollis held her breath. Sveyn leaned over her shoulder. Three pair of eyes locked on the screen.
Nothing happened.
Everett turned a dial. Still nothing.
He turned it again. Ditto.
“I suppose I should be glad to know we are not being irradiated by this thing,” Hollis murmured.
Everett straightened and turned the device off. “Though disappointing, that wasn’t a surprise. I’ll try electromagnetic next.”
Hollis waited silently while he put one monitor away and set up the second one. Sveyn paced around, watching Everett’s every movement like a Norwegian bird of prey. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she left the Bluetooth earpiece in her purse.
“All right.” Everett sighed. “Let’s try this.”
He flipped the switch and the line on the screen jumped. He looked excitedly at Hollis. “We might have something.”
Oh, no.
Hollis stepped behind Everett, out of his line of vision. She gestured at Sveyn.
Go away, she mouthed.
At his puzzled look, she pointed at the screen and mouthed, That’s you!
His eyes widened with shock as he backed away, slowly at first, then more quickly until he was out of her sight. The line on the monitor sank back to the bottom.
“Damn.” Everett messed with the device.
Hollis adopted a neutral tone “What is it?”
“I had something, but it evaporated,” he grumbled, still adjusting the machine’s settings. “I can’t find it now.”
This was definitely a phenomenon she would need to think more about later. According to electromagnetic readings, Sveyn was definitely here.
“Turn it off and turn it back on?” she suggested.
He turned a frustrated face to hers. “Is there a strong magnet or a battery charging nearby?”
“No. Sorry.”
Everett took her amateur advice, switching the machine off. He counted to twenty out loud and then switched it back on. The line registered nothing, but he moved the sensor over the icon anyway.
Zero response.
Hollis laid a conciliatory hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Everett.”
He made a grunting sound and began putting the monitor away. “I doubt that anything will register seismically, but it’s worth trying just in case.”
Not surprisingly, he was right.
A very subdued Everett Sage, Ph.D. packed up the equipment. “If I wasn’t having lunch with you, this day would be a total disaster.”
Hollis bundled the Blessing in its leather swaddle. “I have to admit, even though I don’t believe the myth for a minute, I was hoping something might show up.”
Everett paused in his packing. “Do you think I could take it with me?”
“Take it with you?” The suggestion was so sudden and unprecedented, she asked, “Where?”
“Back to Calico Labs, to run further tests.”
Hollis shook her head. “
No, I’m sorry. That’s not possible.”
Everett frowned. “Why not?”
“Because it belongs to the museum.” Duh.
“I would bring it back.”
“It’s not that.” Hollis searched for the right explanation. “The museum has been entrusted with these items, and they are scheduled to be put on display in just over a month. I can’t allow any of them to be removed.”
“Could Miranda authorize it?” he pressed.
Hollis shook her head. “She might be able to try. But Mr. Benton, the Museum Director, would never okay it.”
“Would you ask?”
“Look, Hollis,” Sveyn said behind her. “Only an hour in that thing’s presence and he is already becoming perverse.”
Hollis would have jabbed him with an elbow if that was possible.
“No, Everett, I won’t ask.”
He bristled visibly. “Why not?”
Hollis stifled her irritation. Now was not the time to antagonize the handsome man for which she had future hopes.
“For two reasons. First of all, because nothing here indicated that the Blessing is anything but a tangle of wood and steel.”
“But—”
“And because I have a reputation to maintain.” Hollis laid her palm over her heart. “I can’t honestly go to bat for this, Everett, because there is no substantiation for the request.”
Everett stared at her. For a long moment, neither one of them moved. Then his expression shifted, easing as if he suddenly realized how unreasonable he was being.
He drew a breath and flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re right, of course. There’s no evidence to back up my request.”
“If any of your machines registered anything, I would totally be behind you.” Maybe. “But unfortunately, they didn’t. I hope you understand my position.”
“I do.” This attempt at a smile was more successful. “I guess I should finish packing up.”
Chapter Thirty
Their lunch date was awkward at first, but after they had a margarita with their chips and salsa, and ordered the shared fajitas special, Everett began to relax. Even though his appeal to borrow the icon was impossible at this time, Hollis understood the man’s point, and she said so again.
