little daunted, is all. Overwhelmed. So much has happened all at once, and I know so little about any of it. I feel like I’ve got a mountain to get over.”
The old lady regarded her with a sudden intensity, then announced, “I’m going to adopt you, dear heart. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” Cass replied. “But do I look like I need adopting?”
“Not in the least,” Tess answered. “I do it for purely selfish reasons. I am far too old to pursue the quest anymore, but I can still be involved in my way. I can uphold you in prayer, for example.”
“Prayer is our greatest and most salutary weapon in the eternal battle,” put in the man called Schecter, joining them. He took a sip of coffee and continued, “No less than gravity, prayer is one of the elemental forces that moves the world. We underestimate it at our peril.”
“Keep your sermons to yourself, Robert,” Tess told him. “I saw her first.” She took Cass by the arm. “Come, we’ll go where we can speak a little more privately.”
“You cannot keep her all to yourself,” Robert called as Cass was pulled away. “We all hope to get to know her better.”
They found chairs in a leafy corner of the courtyard and sat down together. “Robert is right, of course, but he will pontificate so,” said Tess. They settled themselves, and Tess leaned close. “Are you a believer?” she asked in her forthright way.
“In prayer?” wondered Cass.
“In God-Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.”
“Well, yes-ever since I was a little girl.” Cass regarded her elderly companion. It was not easy to believe that she was as old as she claimed to be; the vitality radiating from her was almost contagious. “Why do you ask?”
“Because it means there is so much less that one must unlearn.” She leaned back, and a smile spread across her wrinkled face. “I should know-I was the most obnoxious atheist you ever met. In my unenlightened years I positively relished playing the cat among the pigeons with my God-fearing acquaintances. I thought it great sport to poke holes in their reasoning and rhetoric, to point out all the inconsistencies, and to ridicule their muddled thinking. Although so much religious dogma serves only to buttress power and befuddle the masses, it really deserves to be ridiculed. I mean, you hear these so-called revivalists banging on about heaven and hell and what notwhat do any of them reall y know about such things? They claim to know what God wants and what he demands… Bosh!” She tapped Cass on the arm. “Anyone who tells you he knows the mind of God is selling something. You can take that to the bank.”
She looked at Cass’s mildly perplexed expression and sat back. “Good gracious me-I seem to have gotten rather carried away. This is not what I wanted to talk about at all. I want to talk about your assignment. Has Brendan mentioned it yet?”
“He hasn’t said anything about any assignment.”
“No? Well, in my day all new members were required to undertake a purposeful project-something of material value to the advancement of the society, something we need doing.”
“He didn’t mention anything like that. If he did, it failed to register.”
“Maybe it has gone by the wayside,” the old woman sighed. “It has been so very long since we had a new member, you see. Perhaps we don’t do that anymore.” She passed her gaze around the courtyard. “I wonder what has become of Cosimo? I want to introduce you. I’ve never known him to miss an induction-or a dinner, for that matter. He is usually the life of the party…” Her voice trailed off.
“Cosimo Livingstone?” wondered Cass.
“You know him?”
“Brendan told me about him.”
“Well, I should very much like you to meet him. I shall look forward to introducing you personally.”
“Are you very good friends?”
“Friends, yes, and something more.” Her voice took on a wistful note. “Cosimo and I were once engaged to be married.”
Cass raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, it would never have worked out,” Tess continued quickly. “We had just come off a particularly harrowing journey together- exploring one of the leys on Cosimo’s piece of the map. We had grown very close-extreme danger can do that to you, so take that as a word to the wise.” Her voice quavered slightly, taking on a wistful note. “Dear Cosimo and I had made all these grand plans, and then…”
The silence stretched. “What happened?” asked Cass at last.
“We came back!” Tess laughed, recovering her former good mood. “That is also much the way of things. Once we had returned, we realised it was all a bit fervid and overwrought-passion of the moment, shipboard romance, or what have you. It was simply not to be.”
“Oh, I am sorry,” Cass sympathised. “I’ve never been in love like that, but I can imagine.”
“We were very fond of one another, still are. But I had my life and he had his, and that was that. Marriage would have made us both miserable in the end. Besides, it would probably have meant that I would have had to give up questing-which in those days it did, anywayand I was not about to do that.”
“But you did give it up, eventually,” considered Cass. “Do you miss it?”
“Sometimes,” sighed Tess. “But one gets so old, don’t you know.” She gave Cass a sad smile. “I have my memories, and I still travel a bit-like coming to these society functions. But it is for younger folk to shoulder the burdens now. Still, while there is life and breath, I can help. And that is what I mean to do through you.” She reached for Cass’ hand. “I want you to know that I pledge every resource at my command to aid you in the quest. Whatever you need-money, advice, a soft place to land, the expertise gathered from a lifetime of questing-it is yours. Do not hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, Tess. That is the best offer I’ve had in a very long time.” Cass turned it over in her mind for a moment. “You said Cosimo had a piece of the map,” she continued. “You’ve seen it?”
Tess nodded slowly. “Seen it, yes, and held it in my hands-a hundred times if once.”
“Brendan also told me Cosimo’s piece of the map has gone missing.”
“Has it now? That is interesting. I had not heard about that.” She pursed her wrinkled lips. “I wonder if that is why Cosimo isn’t here-he’s out searching for his bit of the Skin Map.”
“Not exactly,” countered Cass gently. “It seems Cosimo has disappeared too.”
“No!” The old woman gasped. “Disappeared, you say?”
“That’s what I’ve been given to understand,” Cass confirmed. “A man named Sir Henry is thought to be with him-and also someone called Kit, his great-grandson, I think.”
Tess made a sour face. “Oh, I don’t like that. No, I don’t like that at all-not one little bit. Something will have to be done.” She leaned forward and took hold of Cass’ arm. “Finding them is a matter of highest priority.” The old woman leaned close. “I see it now. This is why you are here!”
“Pardon?” said Cass. “I don’t follow.”
“Dear heart, you are here for such a time as this. Someone is needed to find Cosimo and Kit, and someone has been provided.”
“Me?”
Tess gave her a solemn nod and released Cass’s arm. “There is no such thing as coincidence. All that happens to us happens for a reason.”
“I’m happy to help, but I must tell you I don’t know very much about Cosimo-or anything else, come to that.”
“That is easily remedied,” declared Tess. “Cosimo doesn’t have a permanent home, but he keeps a flat in London-a little bolt-hole where he has a bed and change of clothes and what not. He spends a lot of time with Sir Henry Fayth at Clarimond House. I would try there first. Brendan can give you the coordinates.” She stood abruptly. “Where’s Brendan got to? Ah, there he is!” Tess declared, striding briskly across the courtyard. “Come along, there is no time to lose.”
Which is how Cassandra Clarke, the newest member of the Zetetic Society, found herself in the hills north of Damascus, walking along a path between two stones, taking her first steps to find Cosimo Livingstone.
