“So that’s why we’re here?” Cassie squinted off into the gloom. “To watch for Sirius on the horizon?” The sky was turning from inky black to a deep shade of grey. Fewer stars seemed to be visible now.
The scrivener shook his head. “Alas, if only that were true. It would be a wonderful sight to behold but the earth wobbles, you see.”
Cassie turned helplessly to Erik. “Do you have any idea what he’s talking about now?”
Erik snorted in exasperation. “Do I ever?”
“I think I know,” Fred offered helpfully. “The earth spins kind of like a top. You know how when a top slows down the upper half will wobble while the bottom is still spinning on its axis.”
Cassie and Erik both nodded uncertainly.
Fred continued. “Well. There’s this thing called the precession of the equinoxes which means that the earth is wobbling on its axis, so the constellations don’t appear in exactly the same spot in the sky that they used to. It takes about 26,000 years for the wobble to make one complete revolution and then all the constellations line up in their original positions. What that means for Sirius is that it doesn’t rise with the sun on exactly the same date as it would have done a few millennia ago.”
“Bravo, Fred,” Griffin said appreciatively. “Couldn’t have explained it better myself.”
“No, you would have taken longer,” Erik muttered in a surly undertone.
Ignoring the comment, Griffin pressed on. “So now you understand why I’ve been working frantically with my team back at the vault to find the day when Sirius would have risen at this latitude three thousand years ago. By sheer accident, we managed to arrive here at approximately the right time of year, but we only have a narrow window of time to hit it exactly right. Three thousand years ago, Sirius would have risen several weeks earlier than it does now. My team had to calculate the approximate date of its heliacal rising in 1000 BCE and translate that into our own calendaring system.”
“But if we’re not gonna see the soul of the lady rise with the sun, then why are we here?” Cassie was confused.
“Because Sirius won’t point us to the artifact we seek. The sun will. The angle of the sunrise needs to be the same as it would have been for the Minoans when Sirius rose at dawn.”
“You think the sun’s going to cast a shadow across these stones some way that will show us where the artifact is buried?” Erik asked.
Griffin nodded hopefully. “That is my theory, yes.”
“Guess we’ll know pretty soon if you’re right.” Erik pointed toward the east. “Look’s like it’s almost show time.”
They all focused their attention on the eastern mountain range. The sky was vaguely beginning to glow. Cassie pulled her jacket more closely around her shoulders. Even though it was mid-summer, the pre-dawn temperature on the mountainside was chilly, and the ground was soaked with dew.
No one spoke. It was as if they’d all been turned to stone. They seemed to fuse with their surroundings. The standing stones and the seated humans all waiting for something. But what?
Then it appeared. The first weak rays of sunlight shot over the horizon and began creeping toward them. The mountain peaks in the distance took on a rosy glow. The light seemed to crawl in slow motion, sliding up the side of Gargarus to the plateau.
At the eastern end of the circle, two megaliths stood close to one another. The giant stones on either side had cracked and begun to lean at odd angles. The sun cast oblique shadows around the other megaliths but shot straight through the center of the two pillars. The light advanced forward into the circle. The Arkana team scattered. They took up positions on the perimeter to allow the rays to move unimpeded. Across the grass, across the gravel, until the light illuminated a small boulder toward the rear of the circle that measured about three feet high. The rock was completely undistinguished. No one had noticed it during their previous search. It contained no markings. It stood in a pile of rubble with smaller rocks strewn all around its base. The sun lingered on it persistently.
Cassie felt herself being pulled to the spot. She ran forward. Without knowing what she was doing, she began shoving aside the smaller stones piled at the base of the rock. Her efforts revealed a square flagstone recessed level with the ground. On its face was carved a lily.
“Guys! It’s here,” she called urgently. “I found it!”
The men scrambled to join her.
“Wait a minute,” she cautioned. “I want to try something.” The pythia stepped onto the carved stone and stood facing the sunrise.
It was an eerie sensation. She felt her consciousness split. Part of her was Cassie, standing on a flat stone watching the sun come up. Another part of her was an old woman wrapped in a shawl and surrounded by four companions. She was standing in exactly the same spot where Cassie stood and she, too, was watching the sun rise. But it was earlier in her time. Cassie felt as if time had rewound itself by three thousand years plus half an hour because the sun hadn’t reached the horizon yet. The distant mountains were dimly backlit by the still hidden sun, but the sky was light enough that all of the stars had disappeared. All but one. A glimmering white dot could be seen just above the peaks. It hung suspended for perhaps ten minutes, glowing fainter and fainter as the sun’s upper rays broke the horizon. When the first beams shot through the pillars and made their way to the boulder at her feet, the star disappeared completely against the brightening day.
“Wow!” the pythia exhaled. “You’re right Griffin. That really was something to see.”
“You had a vision? But you didn’t fall down.”
Cassie laughed. “I guess I’m getting the hang of this pythia business. Besides, I only fall down when I come across something awful. This vision was really, really nice. I saw Sirius.”
“You mean you actually witnessed its heliacal rise?” He sounded flabbergasted.
The pythia nodded. “Yeah, I saw what it must have looked like to them when they planted the artifact here.” She looked at each of her companions in turn. “And it is here. I’m one hundred and seven per cent sure that I’m standing right on it.” She smiled. “And for the first time, I actually felt like I was connected to them.”
“Them?” Erik repeated.
“The Minoans. There were five of them. The ones who buried the relic here.”
“Did they give you a message?” Fred asked hopefully.
“No, it wasn’t like that. They weren’t talking to me. I was just standing with them. I got a sense that this was a sacred ritual for them. They had all taken some kind of vow to see this through. To hide all the artifacts until the time came for somebody to find them.” She looked down at the stone beneath her feet. “I hope you guys packed shovels. We’re gonna have to dig for it.”
“I loaded some equipment in the Jeep,” Fred answered readily. “I’ll get the tools.”
“I’ll help you,” Erik offered.
The two of them loped across the plateau and climbed the rise, animated by the thought that victory was so near.
Griffin stayed with Cassie. “I almost envy you your gift.”
She laughed ruefully. “Bet you wouldn’t have said that two days ago when I was tossing my cookies after that artifact of Stefan’s.”
The scrivener shrugged. “I imagine it was worth the price to be able to witness what you’ve just seen.”
“It was pretty cool,” she admitted. “I’ve lived all over the U.S. but always in cities. You never get to really see the night sky when you live in a city. Out here…” she trailed off, contemplating the mountains in the distance. “Out here, it’s easy to understand why people used to think the stars were holy.”
Griffin positioned himself beside her, so he could gaze across the same vista. “When I was a boy back home in England, I spent my summers in the lake district with my grandparents. They had a cottage in a small village near Windermere. In the evenings, after it grew dark, I would lie on the grass and look up at the Milky Way. I’ve heard peopl
e say how cold and distant the stars are. How they make one feel small and insignificant. But it wasn’t like that at all for me. There were moments when I almost felt as if I could breathe them in. Drink them in. I would find myself getting lost in them.”
Cassie stared up at the scrivener. “You?” she asked incredulously.
He shook himself out of his reverie and returned her glance. “Why do you find that so strange?”
The pythia shrugged. “I guess I’ve always thought of you as somebody who likes facts and statistics. But what you just said. It sounded almost…” She struggled to find the right word.
“Mystical?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s it. Mystical.”
“All of us who’ve joined the Arkana have a bit of the mystic about us.” He looked over his shoulder. The other two were approaching. “Even tough-as-nails Erik.”
“Not sure I buy that,” Cassie remarked skeptically.
“Nevertheless, it’s true,” Griffin replied softly. “We’ve none of us lost our sense of wonder. Only someone who’s come face to face with the numinous can say that.”
Erik and Fred were now within earshot.
“Everyone grab a shovel,” Erik instructed.
By now the sun was high enough to illuminate the task at hand.
“So, you think it’s right under the lily rock, Cass?” Erik glanced at her for confirmation.
She stepped aside and nodded. “Positive. We’ll have to be careful not to disturb the ground too much. If those Nephilim guys show up any time soon, we don’t want this looking like a construction site.”
“Understood,” Erik agreed.
They all worked carefully to displace as little dirt as possible in moving the stone. Once they lifted it out of place, they were surprised to discover that it fitted like a lid over an underground storage box. Inside the box was a covered urn made of polished alabaster. And inside the urn was the object they had traveled five thousand miles to find.
“Wow!” Cassie exclaimed in admiration. “Will you get a load of that!”
Her teammates stared in amazement at the object for several moments.
“This has been buried here for three thousand years. Waiting,” Griffin observed. “Waiting for us to bring it back into the light.”
Erik snapped them all out of their collective trance. “Let’s hustle people. We need to cover our tracks and get this intel to Faye and Maddie ASAP!”
Chapter 28 – Duty Call
Faye woke out of a deep sleep to hear a sharp banging coming from downstairs. Disoriented, she looked at her alarm clock. It was five a.m. Zachary came skidding into her room.
“Gamma, who’s that?” he asked, his voice filled with panic. “Is it my parents? Because you promised I could stay the whole week and I’ve only been here two days.” He rushed to the bed and stood over her with accusation in his eyes. “Tell me you didn’t narc on me. I trusted you!”
“Calm down, Zachary. It can’t possibly be your parents. They agreed to your visit. It’s probably one of my associates.”
“Your associates?” the boy asked cautiously.
Faye caught herself. Grogginess had caused her to slip up. “Did I say associates?” She laughed lightly. “How odd. That must have come from the dream I was having. I thought I worked in an office in downtown Chicago.”
The banging started up again.
“Be a dear and find out who that is while I get my dressing gown on.” She shooed him downstairs and slipped on her robe. As she hobbled to the top of the steps, she heard two raised voices.
“Where is she?”
“Where do you think? She’s sleeping. What do you want?”
Faye leaned heavily on the railing and made her way down to the landing where she saw Maddie, frizzy-haired and dressed in a jogging suit, glaring at her descendent. “Listen, kid. I didn’t come here to get the third degree from you.”
Zach wasn’t about to be intimidated. He stepped in closer to the dragon lady and stared up at her. “No, you listen, Maisie…”
“It’s Maddie!” she snapped.
“Whatever,” he brushed the name aside. “Do you know what time it is?” He glanced at her wrist. “I bet you don’t even own a watch. How about a sun dial? They’re easier to read except, oh wait, the sun has to actually be up first!”
“Why Maddie, how lovely to see you.” Faye smiled graciously as she descended the rest of the stairs. “What brings you round so early? Out jogging again?” She trained her eyes pointedly at Maddie’s attire hoping the operations director would take the hint.
Maddie glanced down briefly at her sweat suit and hesitated. “Yeah, uh, that’s right. I was out jogging. And I saw this really weird thing, and I tried to call you about it, but I couldn’t get through.”
“Couldn’t get…” Faye paused. “Oh bother, my phone must be out of order again. The signal keeps fading in and out. I’ll have to get in touch with the phone company.
“What about your cell?” Maddie pressed.
“I’ve had to lock up the cell phones during Zachary’s stay to keep temptation out of reach. Sorry, I forgot to check my voice mails. I’ve become so distracted these days now that I have a house guest.” She put significant emphasis on the last two words.
“I don’t suppose you checked your email lately,” Maddie persisted.
“Not since yesterday evening.”
The operations director rolled her eyes.
Zachary had listened to this interchange in silence, but the suspicious look never left his face. “You sure do ask a lot of questions, lady.”
“It’s what I do. You’ll get used to it.”
“Well, I’ve got a few for you too,” the boy pressed. “Do you make it a habit to come over and harass little old ladies in the middle of the night?”
“Middle of the…” Maddie was speechless. Her face began to turn an unhealthy shade of red.
Faye tried to forestall an explosion. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen and I’ll make some coffee.”
“No time.” The operations director shook her head. She glanced briefly at Zach, apparently realizing the need to come up with a plausible explanation. “Look kid. You may not know it, but this nice old lady is the head of …”
Faye caught her breath, afraid that Maddie would divulge too much.
“The neighborhood watch,” Maddie completed the thought. “I saw something really strange when I was out—” She swallowed. “Jogging this morning. I can’t talk about it. Top secret stuff that might involve the police. Anyway, we need to call an emergency meeting of the watch, and your granny is the only one who has the authority to do that.”
Zach looked at his ancestor with surprise. “Huh, go figure. Who’d a thunk it? Harmless little old lady by day. Scourge of criminals by night. Gamma, you’re quite a character.”
“You have no idea,” Maddie murmured under her breath. She shifted her attention to Faye. “So anyway. We’d better get a move on. No time to waste.”
“How come you don’t have your meetings here?” Zach challenged.
Faye intercepted her associate’s response. “We have a special meeting place.”
“Like a bat cave?” Zach asked eagerly.
“My dear boy,” Faye laughed. “What an imagination! Next, you’ll picture me heading a secret organization to save the world or some such nonsense.” She turned back up the stairs. “I’d better get dressed. Maddie, please make yourself some coffee in the meantime. I’ll be with you shortly.” She paused as a new thought struck her. Turning around, she asked, “Zach, will you be alright alone? This could take a few hours to sort out.”
The boy snorted. “Gamma, I’m not retarded. I think I can manage by myself for a whole ninety minutes without falling down and drowning in the toilet or getting myself lost in the backyard.”
Faye smiled. “Of course. What was I thinking?”
Zach smiled back, but there was a glint of someth
ing in his eyes that Faye found troubling. Was it suspicion? Curiosity? Those were both impulses that led to a desire for answers. She hoped this wasn’t the day when she’d have to supply him with any.
Chapter 29 – Sting Operation
“Give me the phone!” a disembodied voice demanded.
“No, me! Let me tell it.”
The receiver dropped. There was the sound of a scuffle.
Maddie was seated behind the desk in her office while Faye sat in the visitor’s chair. They were both staring at the speaker on Maddie’s phone which emitted a series of scraping sounds.
Maddie drummed her long red fingernails impatiently for several seconds before deciding to take charge of the situation. “Hey!” she barked at the speaker box. “One of you pick up the damn receiver and say something useful right now!”
There was dead silence on the other end. After a few seconds, Griffin’s voice emerged. “Very sorry about that. I’m afraid we’re struggling with a low-tech environment on this end. Couldn’t manage a video telecon since we’re stranded in a dead zone on the mountain. I suppose we ought to count our blessings that there’s a land line, but only one of us can speak to you at a time.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Maddie replied coldly. “You woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me you had urgent information for me and Faye, but you wouldn’t tell me what.” She regarded her superior with exasperation for a few seconds. “When I tried to reach Faye, she was incommunicado which means I had to jump in a car and drive to her house. This didn’t put me in a very good mood, and that was before her great-great-whatever-grandson treated me to the third degree. That kid’s got a great future ahead of him as a Rush Street bouncer.”
“Faye had children?” The amazed voice was Cassie’s. Apparently, they were all listening in on the single earpiece on their end.
“Another time,” Maddie said curtly. “Now what’s the big to do and I’m warning you it better be big.”
“Oh, it is,” Griffin hastened to reassure her. “We’ve found it!”
Faye sat forward eagerly in her chair. “Do you mean to say you’ve actually found the first relic?”
The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set Page 44
