Laurent turned to Duncan. “Ready to get to work?”
35
12:18 p.m.
Sharyn initially tried to follow the efforts of Laurent and Duncan, but their arcane language and the flowing algorithmic screens defied her.
Instead, she drew the physical book closer to her. As the two men delved deeper into its digital version on the screen, she moved forward on her own. The next few pages showed views of jagged mountain tops. Their sharp-edged slopes flowed with lines of cryptic text, strange symbols, and bewildering passages.
She flipped between a couple pages, trying to judge if what was drawn was the same peak, sketched at different angles.
She frowned, still unsure.
No wonder this proved to be so challenging.
Laurent had claimed some progress, even saying he knew roughlywherethe Second Adage’s treasure might be hidden. As the Frenchman stepped back from the computer to allow Duncan to work, Sharyn pointed at the page and challenged him.
“You said this location might be in the Alps. Why do you think that?”
Laurent turned toward her. “If you look through the rest of this section, you’ll see many mountains depicted. We were able to compare this to peaks around the world, but we didn’t have to look far. Several of the sketched mountains are perfect matches to those found in the Alps. But which of the peaks—if any of them—might hold the treasure still confounds us.”
Sharyn flipped through more pages and saw he was right. She counted at least two dozen mountains scattered through the fifty pages of this section. When she reached the end, a turn of the last page revealed the greater challenge ahead.
The Third Adage.
A cold shudder passed through her.
The title page—inscribed in Latin, like the others—was similarly illuminated, in brilliant whites, ochres, and darker inks. They ominously rendered a large skull and a scatter of bones.
Despite the disturbing imagery, Sharyn could not help but skip ahead. Laurent had said many of theGardiensthought this final Adage might hide the key to immortality, a way to conquer death.
No wonder they believed this . . .
She opened only a few pages to see what else might be depicted in this section. She wished she had shown more caution. The sketches inside looked like something from a macabre anatomical textbook.
They showed gruesome images of bodies stripped of skin, some down to their bones. Many disarticulated or decapitated. Yet, there remained a clinical detachment to the horrors shown within. Again, passages and lines filled the empty spaces, along with arcane symbols that looked like measurements. It all boiled down to an obvious conclusion, an indication of the research being recorded:
Human experimentation.
Sharyn shook her head, wondering if this book should be burned. This was a path no one should pursue. She quickly flipped back to earlier in the book, returning to the title page of the Second Adage, leaving the horrors ahead to others.
As she sat back, a rush of footsteps set her heart to pounding. She turned to the door. Gabriel appeared, followed a moment later by the panting bulk of Tristan.
The young man, breathless, skidded to a stop. “Update from below. From my mother.Gendarmeriearrived on scene, but they look to be staying at the crash site, where arguments continue. Still, Mother remains suspicious. She keeps to a nearby field, pretending to hunt rabbits with Izzy.”
“Merci, Gabriel,” Laurent said.
“But I know Mother. Without saying so, she implies you’d best not tarry here much longer.”
“Understood,” Laurent noted.
Gabriel gave a nod, turned, and set off to return to his patrol.
Laurent frowned. “We should heed Anna’s good senses. If we can’t solve this riddle soon, we will move on.”
“To where?” Sharyn asked. “The more we move, the more likely we’ll be discovered.”
Naomi groaned, as if fearing the same, but her attention was focused on her small iPad. Archie looked equally ill as he peered down at the tiny screen.
