Daisy watched them as they left the room, awkwardly left behind. Sam made sure to close the door behind them once they were in the hallway so Daisy wouldn't hear. As much as he was skeptical of her and her qualifications, Sam didn't want her to overhear his opinions since they were justifiably harsh.
Sam kept his voice down to a frantic whisper. “Why the two of us?”
Purdue shrugged. “I think you two would work very well together.”
“No, we won't. I don't think we would work together well at all actually. And why just the two of us?”
“Because two people is all that this assignment should hopefully require.”
“What do you mean?”
“If this is just a matter of returning that pearl to its proper place, then we need not worry about much guarding it.”
“And the other two pearls?”
“Use the one we have to find the others.”
“When is it ever that easy? Why can't we send everyone to figure this out? I’m sure everyone else would jump at the chance, especially after the pearl broke all of their baths, toilets, and gave us all showers that no one asked for. Who knows? If we had given that water a few more minutes, it might have even tried to drown all of us! Everyone would want to make sure that never happens again.”
“Just because we have close to an army now doesn't mean we should use it at the drop of a hat. We might need our resources spread out, not all crammed together in one place. That could leave us vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable to what?” Sam asked but Purdue remained silent and didn't give an answer—but that silence was enough of one. “Oh, I see. This is about your invisible enemy again. You're worried about what they might do...that's fine. But while you're scared of people who we aren't even sure exist, we have a real visible problem here that also requires your attention, and is something that should be taken seriously.”
“Aye,” Purdue said, letting out a sigh of annoyance. “I am taking it seriously. That is why I'm asking you to get this job done. I need someone that I trust can handle it to get this done.”
Sam was still irritated but couldn't help feeling a little flattered for a second. However, his frustration quickly took back control.
“But why not give me Nina to work with? Or you? You're not the only one that needs someone they trust to handle things properly.”
“Nina is currently on another assignment and as you already know, I'm in the middle of my own investigation. Not to mention, Daisy Judge is more qualified to handle the subject of this far more than Nina or I.”
“Is she?” Sam asked with a little laugh. “Because all she is probably going to do is regale me with old fairy tales.”
“Just give her a chance,” Purdue said. “She may be a bit out there but she has an incredible knowledge of mythology. I know your more factually oriented mind might struggle with this but keep an open mind. After everything that you've seen—that we've seen—with our own eyes, is the existence of the Greek gods really such an impossibility for you?”
That was a hard question. Sam had certainly seen a lot that he would never have thought possible before. He had seen things that weren't supposed to exist but had yet to fully cross into the most extreme things—like the existence of gods.
“Fish gods are a bit more difficult to believe.”
“Just keep an open mind, aye? I know you two can handle this together. Whether you believe it or not, Daisy knows what she's talking about. Now, let's stop being rude.”
Sam felt a bit embarrassed when Purdue opened the door and led him back into the room to Daisy. Sam didn't want to be mean or petty but it just felt like nothing had been going right for him since they took over the Order of the Black Sun. He just needed a win, and so far, this didn't seem like it was going to be one. But maybe Purdue was right. Maybe Sam just needed to pry open his mind a bit more.
Sam and Daisy sat across from each other in one of the facility's lounges. There was an unfolded map of the world on the table between them. They were trying to plan out their venture but it wasn't like the water man gave them much to go off of and he definitely hadn't given them coordinates or an address. That would have been too helpful.
The pearl rested beside the map and Sam's attention would often drift to it during the conversation. They had to reunite the pearl with its two siblings before it triggered another watery disaster inside the facility. Or maybe next time, its power would create a much larger catastrophe somewhere else. The only problem was that they could be anywhere in the world. They could even be at the very bottom of the ocean just like the first pearl had been—and Sam wasn't keen on hopping in a tiny vehicle and venturing down that deep like Purdue had done.
“I know a man in Greece, heavily into the old myths like myself...if anyone would have a real concrete idea of where those pearls are, it would be him.”
Sam wasn't enthused about another myth expert. He didn't realize that they all knew each other, probably chatting about Dionysus or Persephone, or all of those convoluted stories. Daisy could definitely see the lack of enthusiasm on his face. She laughed and muttered something under her breath.
“If we're going to find Poseidon's pearls, you are going to have to stop shaking your head at everything I say.”
Sam shook his head just to counter that point. “We still don't even know that these are Poseidon's—”
“I do,” Daisy said firmly. “And for the sake of this mission, let's call them that whether you believe it or not...but you really should.”
They sat across from each other in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Sam still had no idea how this was supposed to work. They were just far too different of people. They couldn't agree on the most basic facts of life so how were they supposed to agree on the best path to take in their search?
Sam conceded. “Fine. We'll see this associate of yours. We'll hear him out.”
“Yes,” Daisy said, pleased to be out of their standstill. “Just really listen, okay? He's a bit...out there.”
This expert must have been extremely strange if someone as odd as Daisy thought that he was weird. That wasn't very comforting to hear. It made Sam somehow even more pessimistic, and he didn't think that was possible. He glanced down at the map in front of them.
“So where is he?”
4
THE HOMELESS MAN
Naturally, the other expert on Greek mythology lived on the coast of Greece. He clearly kept close to his studies. They were supposed to meet him on a bench by the docks.
“So what are this man's qualifications?” Sam asked.
“He is one of the world's top specialists when it comes to Ancient Greece, including its pantheon of gods. He is highly regarded by anyone who has any interest in the study of the Greek gods.”
That probably meant that Sam wasn't going to hold him in high regard. He appreciated the warning, and that he wasn't being led to believe that this man was going to be legitimate. If he was anything like Daisy, then Sam knew that this probably wouldn't be the best use of his time. He was just going to go off about nonsense that couldn't possibly be real and pretend that it was real history. That was so frustrating and Sam wasn't ready for more of it. It was one thing for Daisy to be like that, but multiple people just made him lose hope in the intelligence of humanity. Were we all reverting back to believing that myths were fact instead of fiction? It felt like they were on the precipice of building temples in the honor of Apollo and Zeus again, but that was probably because he was just spending so much time with Daisy and her flexible idea of what was reality.
They waited for quite some time. Whoever this associate of hers was, he was definitely not someone that believed in punctuality. Sam was about ready to throw in the towel and leave when he noticed a figure walking down the pier in their direction. He took one look at the man though and knew it couldn't have been who they were looking for.
Daisy proved him wrong though. “Finally. That's him!”
Sam couldn't believe his
eyes. He must have been missing the real guy, just out of sight or something. But as the man drew closer and closer to them, it became clear that he was the only other person on the docks, and the only option that Daisy could have been talking about.
Mr. Irving wasn't at all what Sam expected. He imagined that an expert on Greek mythology would look a bit more scholarly, but with a few eccentric quirks here or there. He would have settled for a peculiar fashion style or a strange look in his eyes, but what he got was much more extreme. Mr. Irving was a shabby looking man in tattered clothing. A graying brown beard hung from his face and he looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. The worst part was that he utterly reeked of fish and Sam almost gagged just from the smell. He had never been a fan of that smell and was what mostly turned him off of seafood. This man must have had to bathe with fish or something to smell like that. It was overwhelming and Sam instinctively took a step away. Whatever the man's unfortunate situation was, Sam really wished that he would reacquaint himself with personal hygiene because he currently was a threat to anyone nearby and their sense of smell.
Sam really didn't expect much when he heard about Daisy's associate. His expectations were incredibly low, so low that it almost would have been impossible not to be better than them, but somehow this man wasn't even reaching those excessively low expectations. This meeting was already seeming like a waste of time but again, Purdue's words crept into Sam's head about keeping an open mind.
Sam usually tried to refrain from judging a book by its cover, but there was a difference between that and judging someone based on how they presented themselves when that presentation was assaulting your nostrils. It was hard not to judge in a situation like that, and they haven't even gotten to talking about the Greek gods yet. Sam wasn't very hopeful.
“Mr. Irving,” Daisy said with a nod of her head. “It's been awhile. I'm not sure if your remember me. I'm Daisy Judge. We collaborated a few times.”
“I remember,” the man said, still looking out to sea. “When you get to my age, you remember a great many things...or you don't remember anything at all. There is no in-between. It will be all or nothing.”
The man had a bushy brown beard with streaks of gray running through it. His hair was long and unkempt, poking out from underneath his knitted cap. His clothes were dirty and torn, like he had been wearing them for months on end. He looked like so many homeless people that Sam had seen but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. He wouldn't have been surprised, though, since being a Zeus expert probably wasn't a big help in paying bills.
“I love seeing familiar faces but why have you come looking for me, Miss Judge?”
“We need your help,” Daisy said. “And I know that you know a whole lot about Ancient Greek artifacts.”
“I do indeed,” Mr. Irving said, brushing himself off. “But weren't you full of knowledge yourself?” The man let out a hoarse, wet laugh. “And who is this then? Your boyfriend? Your husband?”
Sam and Daisy both broke into fits of uncomfortable laughter at the same time. When they could finally breathe again, Sam shook his head. “No, no. I am definitely not any of those.”
“This is Sam Cleave. He's my assistant on this expedition I'm on.”
Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing and laughed again. “Your assistant...no. I'm pretty sure that you're my assistant on this. I've been with Purdue for years.”
“Sure, but I have far more experience with Greek relics and considering this involves Poseidon...”
“We don't know that it involves—”
“You agreed to keep an open mind. Remember?”
“You sure you are not married?” Mr. Irving cackled from where he sat. “Because you sure bicker like you are. I don't care who is in charge of what. It makes very little difference to me. You mentioned a Greek relic. I hope you have it with you.”
“Of course,” Daisy said, pulling out the pearl.
Mr. Irving practically snatched the pearl from Daisy's grasp and held it in front of his bloodshot eyes. “Well, well, well, isn't that a beauty? A real beauty.”
“Do you know what it is?” Purdue asked.
“Of course I know what it is!” Mr. Irving chuckled. “This right here is unmistakable. One of the three pearls that once adorned Poseidon's trident. That much is obvious!”
Sam ignored a glance from Daisy. She must have felt very validated but it would take more than a second opinion from another crazy person to convince Sam. Just because two people were saying the same thing, believed the same thing, it didn't necessarily make it a fact.
Sam took the pearl back from the man's hand, looking him over suspiciously. “You sound pretty certain. How exactly do you know that?”
“Because like your friend, Miss Judge, said...I know a lot about this.”
“Yeah?” Sam was trying to keep his irritability in check but it was proving to be difficult. “Do a lot of studying? A lot of research? With what book exactly?”
Mr. Irving laughed again, a throaty laugh like he was drowning in his own saliva. He launched a glob of spit to the ground. “More like firsthand experience. It's the only way to learn about anything. These eyes of mine have seen years and years more than you, boy. Plenty of time to do some real learning.”
“What else do you know about the pearls?” Daisy asked. “I only know the stories...”
“But not the details,” Mr. Irving said. “Yeah, they do tend to leave the most important parts out of those bedtime stories, don't they? It's a real shame. Some of the best things are the things that don't get talked about.”
“What else?” Sam asked again.
All of the investigative work he used to do was full of interviewing witnesses that like to beat around the bush. They liked to drag things out and getting answers from them was like pulling teeth. He was used to questioning people like Mr. Irving—people who didn't seem to be right in the head. Sam was just out of practice, a bit rusty in his approach. He didn't quite have the patience that he used to have with these kinds of people.
“What else!?” he repeated when Mr. Irving just grinned.
“You only have the one?”
“Yes,” Daisy said. “We're looking for the other two.”
“And where did you find that one?”
Sam could feel his annoyance building again. They didn't owe this man any answers but he was the one asking most of the questions. That wasn't how this was supposed to happen. “That's none of your business.”
Daisy gave him a hard nudge to his side with her elbow and spoke in a much friendlier tone. “We found this one at the bottom of the ocean.”
Sam hated her use of “we” when talking about that. Daisy had nothing to do with finding the pearl. She wasn't there when Purdue made that dive to the deepest, darkest depths of the sea. She had no right to pretend that she helped find it.
Mr. Irving's eyes widened with surprise and he looked taken aback. For the first time in this conversation, he didn't seem to have control of the situation. He scratched his hairy chin and ran his fingers through his beard.
“The bottom of the ocean...imagine that...that is certainly interesting.” He started mumbling to himself under his breath but Sam thought he heard something about a nose. “One of the pearls was found by some pirate hundreds of years back. Last I heard, he was using its power to give him an edge on all of his enemies at sea. They could fire their cannons as much as they wanted...with the pearl, this pirate could sink their vessels with just a thought...not exactly a fair fight, was it? If that pearl ended upon the ocean floor, that pirate must have finally sunk too.”
Purdue had told Sam all about the pirate, Walton Ogden, and how he had thrown the pearl into the sea to get rid of it, seeing how dangerous it was to have. Mr. Irving wasn't entirely right, but he was on the right track.
“Which means the other two pearls...” Mr. Irving started looking out at the ocean contemplatively, pursing his lips while thinking of the right thing to say. “One is sitting on a
small piece of land on the eastern coast of America, a shore where horses like to tread. The other...well...it's somewhat complicated.”
“I've dealt with complicated before.” Sam wasn't posturing. He'd been through plenty of challenges that had taken all kinds of effort to overcome. He had faced death, loss, and done things he never imagined that he would for the sake of the search.
“You aren't the only ones that have one of the pearls. There is another person who has one in their possession. And that's only since last I heard, which was some time ago. There is a chance that they might not have it anymore.”
“Who was it?”
“An heiress...” Mr. Irving seemed to be searching through his own memory banks, filing through it for a name. “Erica Diosa, I believe. She lives in Athens...or at least she did.”
If that was the truth, then it complicated an already complicated situation. It was quite a bit harder to steal something than it was to just find something. It presented a whole different set of risks—including that you were guaranteed to make an enemy of someone if you stole from them. Succeeding in your heist guaranteed that someone was going to be very angry.
“So we're what? Supposed to just steal it from her?”
“How should I know?” Mr. Irving said with a raise of his shoulders. “It's entirely up to you how you would like to handle it, if it's even still there at all. I can only tell you what I know, I can't tell you how to get your job done. So yes, one of them should be in Athens with Erica Diosa and the other, last I knew, was on an island called Assateague Island.”
“If you knew where the pearls were, why didn't you go get them?”
“They are not mine to take,” Mr. Irving said and shrugged again. “This might surprise you, Mr. Purdue, but not everyone wants to own everything. Some things just need to be left alone. It wasn't my place to take them from where they have ended up.”
“How noble of you,” Sam said. “It would have saved us some trouble.”
Poseidon's Secret Page 3
