Riddle Of The Diamond Dove (The Arkana Archaeology Mystery Series Book 4) Page 6

  Cassie regarded the snake in silence for several more seconds, debating with herself. Then she sighed. “It’s OK. I needed a minute to process the idea but I’m over it. Stuff like this is in my job description, right?”

  “I believe you said the same thing just before you touched that obsidian dagger in Turkey,” Griffin commented. “It proved to be a most unpleasant experience for you.”

  Erik turned pale at the mention of the episode. “Cass, don’t do it. This artifact doesn’t matter to the relic hunt. It’s just a side trip.”

  “Thanks,” Cassie said in a soft voice. “I appreciate that you guys want to give me an easy out but we’re already here. It would be a shame to pass up a chance to understand what happened in this cave just because I got cold feet.”

  Abruptly, she walked toward the back of the python where its body joined the rock wall and sat down beside it. “I think I should be sitting for this. It beats passing out from a standing position.”

  “Good grief!” Bobbye gasped. “If that’s what you expect will happen then you definitely shouldn’t try.”

  Cassie smiled up at her. “Too late. My mind’s made up. The train has left the station.” Focusing her attention on her two teammates, she said, “Guys, if I do anything strange, be prepared to shake me out of it, OK?”

  They both dropped to the ground on either side of her.

  “Got it,” Erik said with great determination. “At the first sign of trouble, you’re out of there.”

  Bobbye knelt down a few feet from the others so as not to interfere. “I have to admit I’m curious,” she said. “I’ve never seen a Pythia in action before.”

  “It’s not always a pretty sight,” Cassie replied. “Trust me.” She glanced around at the three of them. “Everybody ready?”

  They all nodded solemnly.

  “Then let’s get started.” She leaned her head back against the stone and shut her eyes.

  It took only a second to make the connection. She was still inside Rhino Cave but had landed in the consciousness of a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of the snake’s head. There were a dozen other people dancing, singing and chanting around the spot where she sat. Night had fallen outside but a bonfire illuminated the interior of the cave. The flames cast flickering shadows over the snake, making it appear to sway from side to side.

  The woman was looking at a bowl resting on the earth in front of her. It held a single flower with a large white bloom. Her dark arms moved forward to grasp the flower and to cut the root at its base with a stone knife. She mashed the juice of the plant against the sides of the bowl. Then she raised the knife and made small shallow cuts in her own forehead. She smeared the juice into the cuts. After this operation was complete, she stood and joined the dance. The other people in the cave chanted and clapped louder. A few stamped their feet in time with the chant. The woman took a position at the front of the line, stamping her feet rhythmically. Cassie understood that the woman was the magic-worker— the shaman. She also understood that the land had suffered a prolonged drought. The delta had dried up and all the game had fled. This ritual was meant to call the waters back.

  As she danced, the shaman’s eyes became blurry. Objects doubled and changed color. The woman floated like a feather on the wave of music that bounced off the cave walls and Cassie floated right along with her. The shaman swayed from side to side and then, without warning, dropped on all fours. Mimicking the movement of a snake she crawled across the cave floor on her stomach, making for a dark gap in the stone right below the python’s raised head. There was a short tunnel hollowed out in the cave wall. She followed the tunnel as far as she could go and when she could go no further, she curled up next to the rock. The shaman rested her forehead on the cool stone that formed the python’s flank until she felt her mind merge with the creature. She became the great snake. Her awareness diffused and spread through the stone reptile’s body until her eyes were seeing out through the eyes of the python. She watched the dancers in front of her.

  Then, the snake shed its stone skin and came to life. The shaman raised her snake’s head higher and willed herself to break free of the connecting rock. The dancers parted and the great serpent slithered through the entrance and out into the night. It threaded its way down the hill until it reached the flat plain. Then it circled each of the four hills before turning in the direction of the star that does not wander. The shaman controlled the motion of the snake’s body, commanding it to find the place where the waters still flowed. They traveled on and on through the night, all the while the snake’s movement hollowed out deep gullies through the parched ground. When it was almost dawn they came to a rushing river. The sky had broken open and rain was swelling the stream to the point of overflowing.

  The snake cut right through the embankment and propelled itself into the midst of the waters. Then the creature raised its head and reversed direction causing the river to flow backwards through the spillway it had created. The flood raced through the furrows made by the serpent all the way back to the base of the sacred hill, bearing the snake along with it. The shaman-python slithered out of the torrent and made its way up to the cave where the fire still burned and the people still danced and chanted. The snake burst through the entrance and fused with its stone form once more. The shaman separated her mind from the creature and settled back into her own body. She knew the waters would return now. She had called them forth and they would come. It was done.

  Cassie opened her eyes. She blinked a few times. The other three were staring at her apprehensively.

  “Are you OK?” Erik asked cautiously.

  “Yeah, I think so.” Cassie rubbed her forehead and looked down at her palm. “I thought I might still be bleeding,” she murmured, a little disoriented.

  “Bleeding!” Griffin echoed. He caught hold of her hand to examine it. Apparently relieved to find no damage, he asked, “What happened to you?”

  Cassie made an effort to get her eyes in focus. “I think I just dropped acid—Stone Age style. There was a shaman and she mashed up a plant and rubbed the juice into cuts on her forehead. It must have been some kind of drug because we took a doozy of a psychedelic trip.”

  She then related the entire experience to her amazed colleagues.

  “How extraordinary,” Griffin commented when she was done.

  “I’ll say,” Bobbye agreed. “We had no idea what kind of rituals were practiced here but you just gave us details we could never have gotten on our own.”

  Erik inched a little closer and rested his hand on Cassie’s shoulder. Staring intently at her face, he asked, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  She gave a small laugh. “This wasn’t like what happened in Turkey. It was strange but not scary or awful.”

  He let his arm drop and nodded curtly. “OK, then.”

  “It’s interesting that you mentioned the Oracle Chamber,” Bobbye said, half to herself. “I don’t think I told any of you about that.”

  “The what now?” Cassie was still struggling to ground herself in the present moment.

  “There’s a small chamber carved out of the rock on the opposite side of the python. I’ll show you.”

  All four of them stood up and walked to the wall beside the massive sculpture. Bobbye crouched down. “You see? Right here.”

  The trio peered into the shadows. There was still enough natural daylight to illuminate a small tunnel which ran parallel to the snake’s body and traveled into the back wall of the cave. The end of the tunnel had been squared off in such a way that it couldn’t be mistaken for a natural rock formation.

  “Yeah,” Cassie confirmed. “That’s where I was. I mean, where she was.”

  Bobbye straightened back up. “It’s been called the Oracle Chamber because there’s a theory that the shaman would have spoken as the voice of the python from that location.”

  “She didn’t so much speak as listen,” Cassie said. “She was listening for the voice inside the stone.
”

  “The rock that whispers,” Griffin murmured. “We’ve heard of that notion before. The Sage Stone itself is reputed to whisper messages to those who are sensitive enough to hear its voice.”

  Cassie barely registered his words. She was having a shocking revelation of her own. “Oh my goddess!” she exclaimed and sank to her knees. The others crouched down around her, concerned.

  “What is it? Erik asked tensely.

  She looked at the three faces scrutinizing hers. “Don’t worry. I’m fine. I just realized something amazing.” She settled back into a cross-legged position.

  Her companions relaxed their vigilance and seated themselves on the ground around her, waiting for an explanation.

  Cassie stared off into space and began. “The very first object I validated was a bowl that belonged to the oracle at Delphi. When I connected with her spirit, I found her sitting underground in a cave and she was breathing some fumes that put her into a trance. Faye told me that the place I saw in my vision was called the Oracle Chamber. It was once the mythological home of a giant female python who was the daughter of the earth goddess. She protected the omphalos stone at the center of the earth and also the priestess who made her prophecies in the chamber. The python and the priestess served the goddess there for thousands of years until the overlord god Apollo killed the snake and took over the shrine. He couldn’t get rid of the priestess though because the people would have rebelled. So she continued to foretell the future in the Oracle Chamber and, because of the snake who used to guard her, she was always called a Pythoness.”

  “Or as we know her today, a Pythia,” Griffin added.

  Cassie nodded solemnly, still gazing off into the distance. “It all survived,” she whispered, half to herself. ‘Over seventy thousand years. The python, the priestess, and the secret chamber.”

  “Yes, I see what you mean,” Griffin agreed eagerly. “It’s remarkable when one considers the temporal and geographic distances involved, that a ritual originating in Africa seventy thousand years ago should manage to find its way, almost intact, to classical Greece.”

  “It seems to me,” Bobbye chimed in, “that the combination of the python, the priestess, and the secret chamber must be so deeply ingrained in our collective unconscious that nothing could dislodge it. Not time, not distance, and not even the encroachment of overlord mythology.”

  “Like Cass said,” Erik added. “What happened in this place is beyond ancient.”

  Cassie shook herself out of her reverie and gazed at her colleagues. “It’s something more than just an archetype or just ancient. When I validated the Python Stone, I did something a lot more important—to me anyway.”

  They all gave her a puzzled look.

  She beamed back at them. “I think I came face to face with my psychic ancestor—the first Pythia.”

  Chapter 11—Tea And Rookies

  Faye watched as the waitress poured her cup of tea and set the pot down on the table along with a platter of small cakes, assorted cookies and crustless sandwiches.

  The old woman sighed and consulted the clock on the wall. 3:30. He was late. As she took her first sip of the steaming beverage, the door to the cafe swung open to let in a cold blast of early spring air and Zachary along with it.

  Faye’s descendent headed straight for her table and threw his backpack on the floor beside his chair. “Hey, Gamma, how’s it going?”

  He sat down and without ceremony began piling an empty snack plate with pastries.

  Faye poured him a cup of tea. “This will help warm you up,” she suggested.

  “Thanks.” He consumed half a cup at one gulp.

  The old woman witnessed his gustatory performance in silence for a few moments. With an amused smile, she remarked, “I believe there are starving children in India who would wolf down their food less quickly.”

  Zachary stopped in mid-bite. He swallowed hard. “Sorry, Gamma, but I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

  “No food for an entire three hours? Well, I suppose you’re still a growing boy.” She chuckled indulgently. “Please do chew your food more thoroughly, dear. It aids digestion.”

  The boy’s ravenous appetite slowed once he finished his second helping. Shifting his attention to his ancestor, he exclaimed, “Wow, Gamma, you clean up really nice!”

  “Clean up?”

  “I... uh... I... That’s a compliment. I never get to see you all dressed up.”

  The old woman adjusted the rhinestone brooch on her jacket. “I don’t often get the opportunity to show off my good clothes. Thank you for noticing. I feel it’s important to look one’s best in public.”

  Zach’s restless gaze was now scanning the porcelain tea cups, linen tablecloths and liveried wait staff. “I thought we were just gonna hang out at a fast food restaurant.”

  “As you young people would say nowadays, I don’t do fast food.” Faye helped herself to a cucumber sandwich. “A meal is meant to be tasted and savored, not inhaled.” Her eyes surveyed the cafe. “I think high tea is a most civilized way to conduct a conversation.” She noted that the other patrons were all engrossed in their own affairs. So much the better.

  Focusing on her descendent, she asked, “I assume you wanted to meet away from my home in order to discuss something about Hannah?”

  Zach blushed at the unexpected mention of the girl’s name. “No, not exactly.” He dusted crumbs off his mouth. “I wanted to talk about some other stuff too.”

  “Such as?” The old woman leaned back in her chair.

  Zach peeked furtively at the other diners. “About your side business.”

  There was a mischievous gleam in Faye’s eye when she asked, “What side business would that be, dear?”

  “You know.” He leaned forward and dipped his head slightly. “Your ‘people’.” He made air quotes around the word “people.”

  “I suppose I did promise to give you some information about my group.”

  “Hey, I held up my end of the bargain. I’ve been tutoring Hannah all winter. Not that I mind.” Both his arms flew up in the air in protest. “But you did say you’d throw me a bone.”

  “I’m sure I said no such thing,” Faye protested good-humoredly.

  “Well, maybe not exactly in those words but you get the idea. C’mon, Gamma!” he wheedled.

  “Alright, alright.” Faye lowered her voice. “I will answer three questions today and three questions only.”

  “Great!” Zach exclaimed eagerly. “Let’s start small since I already know you aren’t gonna give me the whole scoop up front.”

  “Very wise of you,” Faye agreed. She poured them both another cup of tea while the boy considered his first question.

  When he began to speak, his tone was pensive. “Spending so much time with Hannah got me to thinking about the people she used to live with. That crazy cult and especially the old guy she was married to. He went to a whole lot of trouble to get this ancient whatsit that your group is chasing too. He even killed people to do it. So here’s the question. What does he want it for?”

  Faye sighed. “We don’t know.”

  Zach’s eyes widened in surprise. “That’s it? That’s your answer? I wasted one question on that?”

  “No, dear. I’ll give you the background on the artifact.” Faye pulled her chair up closer to the table so as not to be overheard. “There are five relics scattered all over the globe that point to its location. Each one is inscribed with a clue to find the next one. All five must be retrieved in sequence to find the ultimate prize—a legendary object called the Sage Stone. Some people in my organization think it’s mythical—like the Holy Grail. However, the evidence we’ve turned up so far suggests that it’s quite real and was hidden about three thousand years ago. It is reputed to have some sort of mystical power though I myself don’t credit that rumor. Sacred objects only have meaning to the people who believe in them. It’s the power of belief that imbues them with whatever properties they are reputed to possess.”
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  “Sounds like that preacher believes it’s got some major mojo,” Zach observed.

  “Yes, I’m sure he does. Once my retrieval team has located it, we intend to substitute a forgery for him to find.”

  “One that he thinks is real,” the boy added uncertainly.

  “One that he thinks is real,” Faye concurred.

  Zach was silent for several seconds puzzling over something. He unconsciously reached for another tea cake.

  “I appear to have lost you somewhere, dear,” the old woman remarked gently.

  The boy frowned in concentration before answering. “No, I was just thinking. If what you say is right and this Sage Stone only has power because he believes in it, then it wouldn’t matter if you gave him a fake. He’d still believe he had the real deal and he’d go ahead with whatever mayhem he wanted to cause with it. Right?”

  Faye stared at her descendent in shocked silence.

  Zach waved his hand in front of the old woman’s face. “Gamma? Are you having a stroke or something?”

  She laughed ruefully. “That was an excellent second question. It’s given me quite a turn. You’re absolutely correct, of course. My council and I hadn’t considered the Diviner’s faith in the forgery. Perhaps because we’re so close to the problem we couldn’t see the obvious hitch in our plan.” She paused to give him an affectionate glance. “You really are a remarkable boy, Zachary. My instincts were correct in bringing you into the Arkana.”

  He pounced on the word. “The Arkana! Is that what your group is called?”

  “Was that your third question?” Faye asked archly.

  The boy blanched. “Crap, I didn’t mean to ask that.”

  His ancestor chuckled. “As a reward for your keen observation, I’ll answer that one gratis. Yes, my organization is called the Arkana because it preserves secret knowledge—arcane knowledge.”

  “I can’t wait to get the 411 on them.”