揑 am not unmindful of the dissension that exists within our ranks. We are divided on what we have done. But I ask that you put all that aside. We will soon be challenged, and we cannot allow Sister Rachel to have died in vain.?
No one spoke.
Claire heard movement behind her and turned to see Ellen and Isabel escorting Sister Deal into the church.
揟hank you for coming,?the abbess said to Deal.
揇id I have a choice??
Claire stood and faced the newcomer. 揘one of us has a choice any longer. Thanks to you and Nick Lee.?
揧ou broke into my workshop, set a masterpiece on fire, attacked me, and stole my computer. And this is my fault? Nick抯 fault??
No one replied.
Sister Deal pointed toward the altar and the wicker coffin. 揑s that the woman who died??
揑t is,?Claire said. 揘ick helped us retrieve her.?
揧ou抳e met Nick??
Claire nodded. 揌e and I worked together.?
揥ho are you??
揝ister Claire.?
揥here is Nick??
揑 left him in Belgium.?
揕eft him where??
Deal抯 voice had risen.
揑t doesn抰 matter,?Claire said. 揟hrough whatever twists of fate, the two of you managed to take advantage of my mistakes and expose us, something that has not happened in over fifteen hundred years.?
揂nd the Just Judges panel was vital, because it pointed straight here??
揌ow do you know that??Claire asked.
Deal told them what she抎 discovered on the ride south.
When she finished, Claire said, 揓an van Eyck visited this site in the spring of 1428. He抎 been on a spy mission into Spain. At that time there was no defined border between what would eventually become Spain and France. So we marked our land, which then extended down into the valley, with a symbol that the Moors understood.?
She stretched back the left side of her smock and displayed the tattoo.
揂 vulture,?she said, 搘hich we had long adopted as our symbol.?
揂 strange choice,?Deal noted.
揘ot really,?Claire said. 揟hey are quite formidable. Live solitary lives. Have few enemies. And never kill a thing. That抯 us. We carved them into tree trunks. The Moors respected us. We抎 nursed several of them back to health after they抎 been severely wounded in battle. We talked with them. Prayed with them. Learned from them. We were friends. So they honored our territory. They were not the barbarians the church and history would have everyone believe. Quite the contrary, in fact.?
揤an Eyck came here??Deal asked.
揌e did,?the abbess said. 揌e spent a few weeks, resting and painting. He was an inquisitive sort and the maidens at the time came to like him. That friendship proved invaluable a few years later when Joan of Arc was executed.?
Claire heard a soft purr. The silence of the crypt amplified what would otherwise have been unnoticeable. The abbess reached into the pocket of her smock, removed a phone, and tapped the screen. The older woman listened for a moment, then ended the call.
揟hey are here.?
Chapter 58
Fuentes stepped from the car, out into the midday sun. The reflective matte-black lenses of his sunglasses barely muted the harshness of the bright rays. A perfect bowl of blue sky stretched east-to-west. It had been a while since he抎 last been in the mountains. He grew up on the Spanish side of the Pyr閚閑s, close to Barcelona. He and his two brothers had hiked the hills repeatedly. One of them was now dead, while the other lived in Madrid and would surely be there the day he was crowned pope.
And that day was coming.
He had strong support within the College of Cardinals, more than enough to emerge as a serious contender. Many cardinals voted for themselves on the first ballot. Some just wanted to hear their name called out. A once-in-a-lifetime thing. Others did it to alert their brethren that they were interested in the job. But the serious contenders? The ones with a genuine shot to win? They voted for themselves simply to add one more to the tally they抎 already established. And if that initial count came in hearty, then all challengers would know the race was on.
And he was ready.
But he was not unmindful of the idiom.
He who enters the conclave a pope, leaves a cardinal.
A warning about campaigning for the papacy, one many had not taken to heart. There抎 not been a Spanish pope since Alexander VI at the turn of the sixteenth century. Not a man to emulate either. A Borgia. Ascended the ranks through nepotism. Kept multiple mistresses. Fathered several children. Bought his way to the papal throne with bribes. Regarded as one of the most corrupt popes in history.
He抎 definitely do better.
He and Archbishop Vilamur had driven south from Toulouse in a diocese vehicle. They were now standing in a paved car park at the base of Mount Canigou, just outside the small town that sat below the Maidens of Saint-Michael抯 motherhouse. From the signage it appeared this was where visitors left their vehicles before making the trek up to the abbey. Only one other car was there, and a sign that normally displayed the hours the abbey was open for tours sported an over-sign that indicated the site was closed today.