The Mountain Mother Cipher (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 2)

by N. S. Wikarski

  “Cybele became the state deity of the Romans. She was venerated everywhere.” Ozgur gave a slight smile. “Unfortunately, the Romans were less accepting of her devotees.”

  “Huh?” Cassie asked blankly.

  “He’s referring to the galli,” Griffin explained. “Cybele’s transgender priestesses. Each year, in late March, on what was called the day of blood, men who wished to attain the rank of priestess castrated themselves and thereafter dressed as women.”

  “Yeesh,” the girl remarked. “Glad we all got over our blood sacrifice phase.”

  “Hope they were drunk when they did it.” Erik grimaced.

  “In all probability they were,” Griffin agreed. “The cult of Cybele is a mystery religion which relies on ecstatic communion with the divine. Various hallucinogenic and intoxicating substances would have been a standard part of religious ceremonies.”

  “So the Romans had a problem with these guys or gals or whatever?’ the girl asked.

  “They passed laws prohibiting any Roman citizen from becoming a gallus,” Ozgur explained. “Though in later years, a citizen could substitute the sacrifice of a bull and its genitalia for his own in a ritual called the tauroboleum.”

  “Crazy stuff,” Cassie commented, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Actually most of the early goddess religions were quite tolerant of transgender worshippers,” the Scrivener pointed out. “Cross-dressing didn’t become a problem until overlord cultures and especially the Christian Church actively persecuted such individuals.”

  “Why doesn’t anybody know about all this?” The girl asked of nobody in particular.

  Ozgur picked up the goddess figurine contemplatively. “Once upon a time, everyone knew. Now we have forgotten and need to be reminded of just how ancient and universal the worship of this type of deity was. It echoes backward in time and spans countries around the globe. This image of a woman flanked by lions is repeated in myths around the world of goddesses so old that they are always referred to as the mother of the gods. In Egypt it was the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet. In Minoa, it was Rhea. In Mesopotamia it was Ishtar. In India it was Durga who is called the mother of the universe. Even in remote Scandinavia it was Freya whose chariot is drawn by two cats. This far-flung distribution suggests how very old this image of the goddess really is. Her presence is so all-pervasive that overlord mythology had no choice but to find a way to assimilate her.”

  “And in spite of all that, the guys in charge of this dig are stumped by what this statue is?” Cassie felt incredulous.

  Ozgur smiled. “You must remember that they are approaching this project like scientists with microscopes. Sometimes in the process of studying the details of a subject, one can lose sight of the larger picture. They have no context for understanding this image.”

  “I hope you set them straight,” the girl insisted.

  “One day perhaps they will be ready to listen. For now, it’s enough that we know what we know.” He paused for a moment, considering something, then he held the statue out to Cassie. “Perhaps you could tell us more about her.”

  The girl hesitated.

  Griffin and Erik glanced worriedly at one another.

  “Are you sure it isn’t tainted?” Erik asked Ozgur.

  “Not so far as we know,” the trove-keeper replied.

  Cassie touched the pendant around her neck which Faye had given her. In case the object did have any disturbing associations, she would be able to ground herself. Wrapping her left hand around the pendant stone, she held out her right to receive the statue.

  The room went dark. She was in a box, or she guessed that was how one of the Catal Huyuk rooms would have felt with walls and a roof overhead. The only light came from a fire burning in a corner of the room with its smoke funneling upwards through a hole in the roof. The atmosphere was so thick it almost made her choke. The air reeked with the acrid odor of smoke and unwashed human bodies. There were voices chanting behind her. They made a droning sound. Her consciousness settled in a thick-set, middle-aged woman who was kneeling in front of a freshly dug pit in the floor. Inside the pit a small skeleton lay on its side in a fetal position. The remains of a child of about two. There were bracelets of blue stone around its wrists.

  A little storage chest filled with grain rested on the floor by the woman’s knees. She held the goddess figurine in front of her as she murmured a prayer for renewal. She placed the goddess inside the chest with the grain and closed the lid. Cassie could feel her invoking the goddess to transform the child who had been placed in the earth just as she transformed the seeds of grain into stalks of wheat. That which was planted would grow. This little one would change form in the body of the goddess and be reborn in the Otherland. The priestess sprinkled red powder over the bones. Then she sat back on her heels and bowed her head.

  Cassie blinked. She returned to the present. The girl laughed at the tense expression that her teammates wore. “Relax, guys. This one wasn’t so bad.” She then told them what she had witnessed. “I’m not sure what the red powder was though.”

  “It would have been red ochre,” Griffin answered. “It was used in the burial practices of many ancient cultures. It symbolized the blood of life. The belief that the earth mother would give new life to the deceased.”

  “Transmutation? Resurrection? Hmmm. Seems to me that sort of power is a little beyond a mere fertifility figure, don’t you think?” Fred asked archly.

  “Sure sounds like it to me,” Erik concurred.

  “Too bad we can’t just trot out the Pythia to end the great debate with Percival,” Fred commented. “It could save a lot of time.”

  Ozgur gave a fleeting smile. “You must know he wouldn’t believe her.” He turned his attention to Cassie and his expression became serious. “I am very grateful to you for the additional insight into our artifact. Thank you.” He inclined his head in a slight bow.

  Cassie blushed at being treated so respectfully. She gave a jerky little nod of acknowledgment. “I’m glad I could help.”

  Aydin lowered himself into his chair. Looking at each of his guests in turn, he asked, “And now what can we do to help you?”

  Gloom settled over Griffin’s features at the question. “Where to begin.”

  Erik gave a short laugh. “I think he means that literally. We don’t know where to begin. We’ve got a riddle that tells us to look for a Minoan relic hidden someplace on Mount Ida but that’s all we know for sure.”

  “What is the riddle?” Ozgur settled back in his chair to listen.

  Griffin recited the all-too-familiar lines. “You will find the first of five you seek, when the soul of the lady rises with the sun, at the home of the Mountain Mother, where flows the River Skamandros.”

  The trove-keeper nodded. “Yes, it is clear the riddle refers to Mount Ida.”

  “But Griffin’s having trouble with the second line,” Cassie offered helpfully.

  The old man stroked his moustache. “’When the soul of the lady rises with the sun.’”

  “Do you have any notion what that might mean?” Griffin asked hopefully.

  Ozgur shook his head. “Regrettably, no.”

  “Then perhaps you can recall seeing symbolic markings somewhere on the ruins that match our key.”

  “Your key?” the trove-keeper asked.

  “Oh, very sorry. I left it in the van. Be right back.” Griffin hastened to retrieve the granite key from his knapsack in the car. When he returned, he handed it to Ozgur.

  The trove-keeper examined it briefly. “Some of these characters are Linear B. To find Linear B script anywhere outside of Greece would have been a major discovery. I should certainly have remembered.”

  “But you wouldn’t have found the Linear B characters here,” Griffin corrected. “You would have found the pictograms to which they correspond.”

  Ozgur examined the key again. “I’m sorry to be of so little help. No, I do not recall seeing any of these.”

  Griff
in’s voice held a note of despondency. “Well, no matter. I’m sure we’ll pick up the trail somehow.”

  The old man seemed not to hear him. “‘When the soul of the lady rises with the sun’. Since your riddle speaks of time, perhaps you should begin with the stone circles.”

  “What stone circles?” Erik sat forward.

  “The megaliths on Ida.”

  “Megaliths?” Cassie echoed.

  “Yes, large stones set in circles, like your Stonehenge in England. We believe the ancients used them as calendars to measure the seasons.”

  “That’s brilliant!” Griffin exclaimed. “It makes perfect sense. If there’s an event we’re meant to witness, the most likely observation point would be a stone circle.” He frowned as another thought struck him. “But we must be facing east. The riddle makes a reference to sunrise.”

  “It just so happens that one of the circles on the mountain does face east,” Fred informed them. “I was part of a team that was checking overlord shrines on Ida. A lot of them were built over the ruins of goddess sites. While we were collecting Cybele artifacts, we stumbled across a stone circle.”

  Ozgur turned to his assistant. “Do you think you can show our guests where to find it?”

  Fred nodded with assurance. “Absolutely. No problem.”

  Griffin could barely contain his elation. “That’s wonderful. We may actually have a chance at solving this!”

  The trove-keeper smiled. “I am glad we were able to be of some small assistance. Fred will accompany you back to the Troad and guide you up the mountain. Perhaps fortune will be with you and you will find the first of five you seek.”

  Erik leaned over and whispered to Cassie. “Better put on your size six and a half sneakers, toots. It sounds like you’re gonna be tripping over some really big rocks.”

  Chapter 15 – The Elephant In The Garden

  Twilight came and went over Faye’s cornflower blue farmhouse. An afternoon thunderstorm had left the summer air muggy. As the old woman opened her front door to let in a breeze, she found Maddie standing on her porch just about to knock.

  “Come in, my dear, come in.” Faye stood aside to let her enter. “I must say this is a surprise.”

  “I was on my way home but I thought I’d swing by and give you an update.” The Operations Director towered over her hostess as she stepped into the foyer. Her briefcase was bulging with papers.

  Faye noted the portfolio. “Taking work home again?”

  Maddie shrugged indifferently. “It’s gotta get done somehow. I’m a little short-staffed just now.”

  “Shall we go outside and sit in the garden?” Faye suggested. “It’s much too stuffy in here.”

  “Suits me. You wouldn’t happen to have a pot of coffee made, would you?” Maddie asked wearily.

  “Of course. In the kitchen. Help yourself.”

  The two women poured mugs of coffee and walked outside into Faye’s immense backyard. It was densely planted with fruits and flowers and vegetables and trees old enough to pre-date Columbus, all of which muffled the sound of suburban traffic. They seated themselves under a pergola strung with miniature Chinese lanterns. The only other light was emitted by fireflies blinking on and off in their meandering flight over the lawn.

  Maddie leaned back in her chair and let out a tired sigh. “What a day!”

  “A particularly rough one, I take it?”

  The Operations Director laughed humorlessly. “Lately, they’ve all been rough. This new relic hunt just added another layer of enrichment to my job.”

  They sat silently for a few moments. Their eyes adjusting to the semi-darkness.

  “You haven’t been around headquarters much lately.” There was a hint of reproach in Maddie’s voice.

  “I don’t like to…what’s the word you young people use nowadays? Micro-manage. That’s it. I don’t like to micro-manage.” She paused. “Besides, I have great faith in all my associates.”

  “Well, I suppose we’re all experienced enough to know what we’re doing,” Maddie grudgingly agreed.

  “Ah, but that isn’t faith. To rely on you because of your demonstrated competence is simply a reasonable conclusion based on observable facts.”

  “You make it sound all clinical and scientific.” The Operations Director smiled through half-closed lids.

  Faye stared off into the distant darkness. “I don’t much care for science myself. Trusting it has a tendency to limit one’s possibilities.”

  Her companion made no comment.

  “You had something you wanted to report to me, dear?” Faye prompted gently.

  Maddie’s eyes were now fully closed. It appeared as if she’d dozed off and not heard the question until she spoke. “I don’t know what it is about your garden. Especially on summer nights. But it makes me feel like I’m falling backward into a dream pool where I can drift outside of time.”

  Faye chuckled. “Why Maddie, that bordered on the poetic.”

  The Operations Director yawned and stretched. “Yeah, I know. It doesn’t sound like me at all, right? That’s what I mean. This place makes me a little dazed in the head.”

  Faye took a sip of coffee. “On the contrary. I think the effect my garden has on people, you included, is to make them sane in the head.”

  “Maybe,” Maddie conceded, sitting up straight. “A little extra sanity would be good right now. I’ve had a few updates about what’s going on in the field. Leroy and that Nephilim they call Daniel have landed in Crete.”

  “We can only hope they aren’t able to make heads or tails of the riddle too quickly.”

  “At least they’re missing the final line.” Maddie paused to light a cigarette. The tip burned red in the darkness. “That ought to buy us some time.”

  “Yes, it should,” Faye agreed but her tone indicated worry. “If only we knew why they want the Bones Of The Mother so badly.”

  “That’s a riddle in itself,” agreed Maddie. “I’d love to get some intel from inside their organization but they’re awfully twitchy about who joins the ranks.”

  “An opportunity may present itself in due course,” Faye observed. “At least for now we can monitor Mr. Hunt. As long as he stays tethered to this Daniel person, we have some idea of what’s going on.”

  “That’s true,” Maddie conceded. “We might not have much info but at least we’re getting the basics. As for our side, we’re making a little bit of progress. I got some good news from Griffin today.”

  “Yes?”

  “He said Ozgur was able to put them onto a lead about some calendar stones on Mount Ida.”

  “Calendar stones,” Faye echoed. “Of course, I should have thought of that myself. Poor Griffin. He was in such a state before he left. I thought he was going to give himself an ulcer over that riddle.”

  “He is wound kind of tight,” Maddie agreed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that boy relax.”

  A breeze stirred lightly in the treetops releasing the scent of angel’s trumpet into the air.

  “Speaking of boys,” said Faye, “has Erik been behaving himself? I know he had some reservations about working with Griffin and Cassie.”

  “If you’d asked me that question before they left for Crete, I wouldn’t have given it a week. But from what Griffin tells me, it sounds like Erik’s gotten used to the idea of cooperating with them. Then again, Erik’s idea of cooperation is when he holds himself back from punching you in the face if you get in his way.”

  Faye laughed softly. “Are you still annoyed with him about that Venice retrieval?”

  “Annoyed doesn’t begin to cover it! An entire hotel room trashed.” Maddie snorted in disbelief. “Who does that?”

  “Someone who is determined to finish the task you sent him to do,” Faye observed quietly. “No matter what.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” The Operations Director crossed her arms and blew a puff of smoke. “But I’m not letting him off the hook with a smile and a ‘Sorry, chief.’ Not this time.”r />
  “Oh Maddie, you didn’t,” Faye protested. “Sub-standard accommodations again?”

  “That boy’s gotta learn that he’s not ten feet tall and bullet-proof. Being reckless has consequences.”

  Rather than argue the point, Faye changed the subject. “And what about our new Pythia? How is she faring?”

  “It sounds like she wowed the Anatolian trove team with another great performance.”

  “I’m glad of that.” Faye smiled and took another sip of coffee. “Each time she succeeds in bringing hidden information to light, her confidence in her gift will grow.”

  “She’s doing great by all accounts.” Maddie’s voice struck a false note.

  “And this disturbs you?” Faye peered through the darkness at her companion.

  “No, it’s not that. I’m really glad she’s working out but…” She hesitated.

  “But?”

  Maddie ground out her cigarette in the grass. “Dammit! Why isn’t anybody talking about the elephant in the room?”

  Faye looked cautiously around her garden. “Well, for one thing we’re outdoors.”

  Maddie immediately lit another cigarette. “Don’t play coy, Faye. Why isn’t anybody talking about Sybil? I mean the kid lost her sister barely two months ago. Didn’t just lose her. Saw her murdered, in fact. Yet she’s perky and happy to be bouncing off on this relic hunt. That doesn’t seem normal to me.”

  Faye studied the tips of her shoes for a moment. “You’re right. It isn’t normal but nothing about Cassie’s relationship with Sybil was normal.”

  “What do you mean?” Maddie turned in her chair to stare at the Memory Guardian.

  Faye set down her cup and folded her hands in her lap. “When Cassie first came to me, it was obvious she was shattered by her sister’s death but I got the impression that it wasn’t personal.”

  “How in the hell could it not be?” The Operations Director leaned forward. “Sybil was her last living relative.”

  Faye nodded. “Yes, Sybil represented family to her and her family was gone. For that she grieved. But on a personal level, Sybil and Cassie were strangers to one another. Cassie never knew her sister at all.” The old woman paused, lost in thought for a few moments. “If I’d realized it in time, I might have tried to intervene. I’ve always believed that the Arkana has no right to pry into people’s personal lives. In this instance, however, it was a mistake. I should have done something.”