The Flames of Time (Flames of Time Series Book 1) (32 page)

‘It took me over a week to confirm the details when I got back to Rome, after leaving you. And it was me that had to visit her family to tell them what had happened to their daughter, while sparing them the details that would have destroyed them. That is the reality of what you are all trying to do. These spirits that you are all thinking of as benevolent are offering you a knowledge and understanding that mankind should not possess…’

I could see he was still hesitating about telling us something.

‘Even if, by some ungodly means, these tablets you seek were hidden by people able to extend their lives. You already know it will mean no longer being able to live amongst the rest of humanity. Living instead on the fringes away from those who cannot or will not understand what you have become, and all of you, just like those mentioned in the tablets, will end up existing apart from society until you too finally find a way to die.’

A lot of what Luke was saying echoed and resonated with my own initial thoughts, and to hear about the terrible experience he’d had after drinking the potion at the Singing Stones, well that helped to explain even more. But even while he was telling us all of this, I think he realised he’d made a mistake.

It was a polite exchange, heavy with regrets, but without recriminations. We talked about things for a short while longer before saying our final goodbyes and leaving the hotel to get into our waiting car. Luke came out to join us, never asking what we planned to do next, and as we drove away to rendezvous with the boat on the other side of the canal, I looked back only once to see Luke walking down toward the sea front and away from the hotel. He could’ve rushed off to tell Selene and her party what had transpired, and perhaps try to catch us before we could get to the boat, or out of Greek waters. But instead it seemed, he’d chosen to give us some time to make good our exit.

CHAPTER 21 – COMPLETING THE CIRCLE

It was a sad moment leaving Luke behind, even knowing how he’d betrayed us. But we’d taken the risk of confronting him with full knowledge that we might then have a race to get away from Greece and Greek waters before the authorities could catch up with us. We’d done it anyway, both because it was the right thing to do, but also because, despite everything, we still felt some bond of friendship toward him.

After leaving the hotel we sped through the Greek roads, expecting to see signs of pursuit by the police, or to be stopped by a roadblock at any moment. But neither happened, and in no time the hotel car had dropped us off and we’d rendezvoused with the boat on the other side of the island away from Corinth before heading out into the open water. With every mile we sailed the odds of us being caught shrank, until finally after skirting past the western edge of Crete toward north Africa, we began to relax a little.

Stopping overnight in Alexandria, it was then only a short hop by boat along the north African coast and down through Suez into the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa. As soon as we entered Suez I began to smell Africa again, the rich aroma of fertility and decay so redolent of the land beyond the coast. But it wasn’t until we came out into the Indian Ocean and started to head south toward Mombassa, that the heady scent of East Africa, brought out to sea by the warm offshore breeze, really got its claws into me. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed it, but as I stood on the deck of Stephanos’ boat watching the land come closer I almost started to crave the feel of that rich red soil beneath my feet again.

And then we were there, and I was stepping ashore, just as I had nearly three years previously. A few minutes later and we’d unloaded our things and then I was watching the boat that had brought us, depart and sail away into the fading light.

Stephanos had brought us as far as he could. He wasn’t particularly comfortable taking his boat out of the Mediterranean and the waters he knew, only agreeing to do it as one final kindness before leaving us. But as we lost our guide to the waters of the Mediterranean, we regained one we’d lost when we left Africa, for even as we alighted at the port in Mombassa I found Mkize waiting for me. He’d dreamed of the drums on the same night we’d heard them, so had come down to the port to meet us somehow sensing we would return.

It was a peculiar thing to be retracing my steps again after so much had happened in the meantime, but it felt good to be back, and good to know exactly where we were going this time. No research, no maps, no matching antique descriptions to landmarks. This was a route we all knew by heart, and we followed those hearts first to Nyrobi, then on to the hunting lodge where we’d all first met.

And just as we’d picked up Mkize in Mombassa, Nbutu was also waiting for us at the lodge. Much to the exasperation of the otherwise affable hotel manager, who welcomed us back warmly, but couldn’t understand how this inscrutable Maasai could know of our return, before even he himself had known we were coming.

In some ways our return to Africa and to Kenya had been a bit too quick. We were suddenly here, back in the heat and humidity but without the time to become accustomed to it. It was particularly tough on Androus who didn’t have the more recent experience of the climate, nor the long days in the saddle that the rest of us did, and after the several days it took to travel to the lodge he was obviously beginning to suffer from the exertion.

The rest of us had obviously lost most of our African conditioning having spent over eight months in the far more moderate Mediterranean climate, but after even just a couple of days I was beginning to get used to it again.

Still by the time we reached the lodge it was clear to us all that we’d have to stop for a day or two to give Androus time to rest and acclimatise. We all knew this environment, as well as what to expect from the journey ahead. So it was vital for Androus, and the rest of us, to be up to it.

On the plus side, the spring rains had already been and gone so the Serengeti was now filled with that verdant lushness that twice a year turned it into a paradise on earth. Another few weeks and the colour would start to slowly bleach and fade beneath the unrelenting sun. But for now, the bush was an Eden of plenty for all, and had an almost relaxed feel, which we knew to make the most of while it lasted.

On the journey back through Mombasa and Nyrobi we’d had a lot of planning and preparation to do, so hadn’t really stopped to digest the situation we now found ourselves in. But having got to the lodge, with all the equipment and supply arrangements made, we now had the time to start thinking about things more seriously.

As usual it was Jean who started us off. We’d had a pleasant evening at the lodge, with a good meal and comfortable beds to go to. And as we’d now decided to have a least a couple of days here, I’d decided to get up early the following day in order to go out for a ride before the heat got too much. Nobody had really seemed interested when I’d asked, but when I came down the following morning Jean was already up and dressed to join me.

It was a nice surprise, but I thought nothing more of it until we got out into the cool morning air and started our ride. The Serengeti is a glorious place even at the worst of times, with its low rolling hills and vast plains, but just after dawn when the bush is green and full of life from the rains, it becomes almost magically beautiful.

We’d ridden out to a small area of rocky high ground that would afford good views of the surrounding country, and had been chatting amiably and drinking in the enchanting view for several minutes, when Jean suddenly changed the subject.

‘I must apologise mon ami, I do not wish to spoil such a pleasant morning,’ he began, ‘but I have been thinking again, about Selene and her companions, and I am having difficulty resolving some of the things we now know.’

I knew better than to doubt Jean when he chose to raise something, but I had to ask him why he wanted to talk to me about it rather than getting everyone together to talk it through.

‘Well it is very easy to jump to conclusions, is it not?’ he continued, ‘Especially when so little is known for certain. But I particularly wanted to discuss my thinking with you, because you were also a witness to much of what we know.

‘Now our encounter with the officials in Greece could not have been predicted by any of us,’ he began thoughtfully. ‘There was no way we could have guessed Selene and her friends might have such influence. But… the fact that these young women obviously do have this kind of power made me reconsider some of the other things we know.’

I was with him so far, but wasn’t quite sure where he was going. ‘Are you talking about one of the times we saw Luke with Selene in Jerusalem?’ I asked uncertainly.

‘Precisely! Perhaps not the first encounter in the park. But you recall the second when we stumbled across them in the alley?’ he asked.

I indicated I did.

‘You remember then that it appeared as though Luke had gone there to meet her for some reason, but she seemed reluctant to allow him into the building?’

‘Yes, yes,’ I answered, still not quite understanding where he was going with all this. ‘It was at the back of some old church, which you subsequently insisted we stop and admire the front of, even in the falling snow!’

He smiled at my description, but seemed hesitant to go on, as though I hadn’t quite answered in the way he would have liked. But after another moment he continued.

‘Well the question has been going through my mind, why would he go to meet her at a church, or more specifically at the private entrance to a church? Could it be that Selene and her companions are in some way linked to that church, and if so, in some way be acting in that organisation’s interests?’

I couldn’t help but smile at this last point. ‘Well,’ I started diplomatically, ‘it may be possible… But isn’t it more likely she was just meeting Miriam or Thea there and didn’t want to intrude upon them?’

‘Yes I have considered this,’ he responded, ‘and if it were the only link to the church then I would probably think your interpretation plausible. But then there is the presence of the Phanar in Athens when Androushan and Peter had been forced to defend our possession of the tablets and other artefacts. His colleague at the university was under no illusions about the dangers for us all if we stayed in Greece.’

I remembered Androus mentioning this Phanar organisation before, but I hadn’t understood the relevance at the time, so asked Jean to explain.

‘The Phanar mon ami? It is almost as ancient as those very artefacts to which we devote so much of our time. Perhaps you have heard of it by one of its other names; the Church of Constantinople perhaps, or the Eastern Orthodox Church? Just as you will have heard the Church of Rome referred to as the Vatican. Well it is the same with the Orthodox Church, based in the Phanari district of Constantinople they are sometimes referred to as the Phanar.’

‘And this Church of Constantinople is in some way related to the church we saw Luke entering in Jerusalem?’ I asked trying to put the pieces of Jean’s thoughts together in my own mind.

‘Ah if it were only so simple,’ Jean replied, as we turned our horses to continue our journey along a track. ‘But unfortunately, the church into which we saw Selene and Luke disappear was related to a Jesuit order of the Vatican.

‘Now you may know from your history that the two great traditions of Christianity had a violent and serious separation in the Middle Ages?’ he continued, ‘Well, they may not be as mutually antagonistic as they once were… but the possibility of someone having influence within both would be… unthinkable!

‘But if it is not a link through the church, then what could it be,’ he continued, obviously thinking out loud. ‘Perhaps I am missing something, or perhaps the organisation these young women are working for was just fortunate, and in going to Greece we… happened to enter a country where they are able to exert some influence.’

Seeing Jean so evidently struggling to put the various points he’d mentioned together. I began to wonder whether I might have listened a little more patiently or tried to be more constructive in my criticisms. We had the time to kill after all and it couldn’t do any harm if I tried to go along with his thinking for a bit, and not to dismiss his ideas quite so quickly.

‘Alright!’ I conceded. ‘Just to be thorough and to make sure we’re not underestimating anyone.

‘We know that Selene and her friends are working for someone else, but according to Luke someone whom we would not have heard of. We also know Selene, Miriam and Thea are all from Italy and have the means to travel with a large retinue of servants. And, that they have quite a bit of pull within the Greek government, but not so much that they can afford to ignore the law, like they did at Uruk, and try and achieve their aims via… unofficial channels. And now it seems they may also have influence within the Greek Orthodox Church, as well as access to one of the Catholic churches in Jerusalem…’

‘If only we knew how Luke came into this situation,’ Jean continued to speculate, ‘then we might have a clue to the organisation or individual for whom these young women are working.’

‘I don’t think it matters Jean,’ I said, feeling a shiver run down my spine, as I suddenly realised a mistake we’d made. ‘Before long they’ll know where we are, and they’ll come in force to stop us.’

I’d stopped my horse and was turning it around now as I spoke.

‘What is it George, how can you suddenly know such a thing?’ he said, also turning his animal around.

‘Stephanos,’ I said simply. ‘Whoever it is Selene is working for, they’d have to be fools not to look in Jerusalem for us after we disappeared. And if they look in Jerusalem then they’ll look at the coast to try and find the boat, where by now they’ll find Stephanos, who will tell them where he took us, because we never thought to tell him it was a secret.’

We weren’t far from the lodge. But by the time we got back, and got everyone together I was already beginning to think we might be too late to set off that day.

‘My friends,’ I began my explanation, ‘I believe we may have made a very unfortunate mistake, which means we cannot stay here a moment longer than we have to, and that we may not be able to come back to this place once we leave.’