Stones of Fire

ark.’

Not nearly so amused, C?dmon led the way to the next panel. Again, he began the slow process of identifying each and every biblical figure, his gaze systematically beginning at the top and moving down. A monumental window, the panel was divided into seven horizontal sections, each section containing three separate scenes. When he came to the fifth section, he did a double take.

‘Bloody hell! I think I’ve found it.’

Edie’s eyes slowly scanned the length of the window, opening wide when they hit the telltale image. ‘Ohmygosh! It’s a four-sided gold box.’

‘Actually, it’s the four-sided gold box. None other than the Ark of the Covenant.’ Barely able to contain his excitement, he had the overwhelming urge to laugh aloud, to raise his voice to the heavens and whoop with joy. Instead, he pulled Edie into his arms, hugging her close. ‘We’ve found it,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘We’ve actually found the bloody thing.’

Disengaging her right arm, Edie excitedly pointed to the window in question. ‘Did you notice the two baby geese in the basket?’

He nodded, certain they’d found the very panel that Philippa had intended them to find. The scene, the presentation of Christ, depicted the well-known New Testament story of Mary and Joseph presenting the infant Jesus to the high priest in the Temple at Jerusalem. Two seemingly innocuous items within the scene screamed at him: Joseph carrying a basket that contained two goslings, and Mary, holding the baby Jesus aloft, standing before the Ark of the Covenant.

‘Yesterday you and Sir Kenneth were rambling on about the medieval comparisons between Mary and the Ark of the Covenant. Is this what you were talking about?’

Deciding not to take issue with the ‘rambling’ charge, he nodded. ‘It was a religious concept known as Faederis Arca. No less a theologian than St Bernard of Clairvaux explicitly compared the womb of Mary to the Ark of the Covenant, for, as the Ark contained the Ten Commandments, so Mary carried Christ within her womb.’

‘The symbolism of the Old Testament reinforcing the New Testament.’

‘Precisely.’

Clearly excited, Edie yanked the Virgin bag off her shoulder. Unzipping it, she hurriedly rifled through its contents, removing her digital camera.

Excitement was soon replaced with a crestfallen expression. ‘It’s a dead dog,’ she muttered, showing him the darkened display. ‘The digital camera has yet to be invented that will run on a drained battery.’ She glanced at the exit located on the far side of the nave. ‘I could run out and buy some new batteries at one of the souvenir shops.’

C?dmon checked his watch. ‘I don’t know if you’ll have enough time. The cathedral closes in twenty minutes. The photo will have to wait until the morning.’

‘Do you really want to wait that long? Yeah, we found the window, but now we have to figure out what it means. And to do that, we need a picture.’

‘I agree. However —’

She put a hand on his chest. ‘Don’t move. I’ll be right back.’

He watched as Edie rushed towards the northwest transept. When she disappeared from sight, he returned his gaze to the stained-glass panel. As he stared, spellbound, the distinctive scent of incense wafted through the chill air. It suddenly occurred to him that here, within the confines of one of the world’s great cathedrals, where man-made bread daily became God’s flesh, anything was possible.

Turning away from the panel, he watched as Edie returned with a bespectacled, long-haired young man in tow. ‘This is William. He’s agreed to do a quick line drawing of the window.’

A man of few words, William removed an artist’s sketch pad from his satchel. Ignoring them, he negligently leaned against a nine-hundred-year-old column and began to draw.

‘I earlier noticed him sketching the St Thomas memorial inside the transept,’ Edie explained.

‘A budding artist then.’

‘More like a budding con artist,’ she replied, lowering her voice to a whisper. ‘He refused to put pencil to paper for less than fifty bucks. Since we need an image in order to decipher the window, I agreed.’

The silent seconds ticked past. C?dmon anxiously checked his watch, hoping the young artist completed his masterpiece before the attendants herded them out.

‘What happens if we actually find the Ark?’ Edie asked, staring at the four-sided gold box in the glass panel.

That question again.

And still he didn’t have an answer. Only a mounting sense of excitement.

The Ark of the Covenant.

Truly the stuff of dreams.

Having yet to utter a word, the artist ripped the sheet from his pad. Paper in hand, he walked over to where they stood and silently handed Edie the drawing he’d made. She in turn handed him a small wad of American bills. Transaction concluded, she politely thanked him for his services.

‘This better be worth fifty dollars,’ she muttered under her breath as William wordlessly took his leave.

C?dmon examined the drawing, pleased with the result. ‘I’d say it’s bang on.’ Thrilled that all was going so well, he unthinkingly said the first thing that came into his mind. ‘Fancy a quick bonk?’

Her eyes opened wide. ‘What? Here? In the middle of Canterbury cathedral?’

‘We passed a dimly lit niche on the other side of the choir earlier on.’

‘Are you crazy? In case you haven’t noticed, O horny one, we’re in a church.’

This being the stuff of fantasies, he smiled. ‘Nothing the Almighty hasn’t seen countless times before. Come on, Edie. Surely you can spare me a moment of your time?’

‘Not with all the angels and saints watching from on high, I can’t.’ She glanced pointedly at a haloed figure in a nearby stained-glass panel. ‘But just so you don’t think me a complete killjoy, I might be amenable to a bonk in a hotel room.’

C?dmon grabbed her by the hand and dragged her towards the nearest exit. ‘We passed a guest house on Mercery Lane. If we hurry, we can be between the sheets within the half-hour.’

55

‘It’s not the Savoy. But then again it’s not the almshouse,’ he’d remarked drolly, surveying the modest accommodation.

Edie glanced at the iron bedstead. ‘What now?’

‘A drink, I think. No, let’s skip the pleasantries and get right down to it, shall we? In the prone or upright position? Your choice, love.’

After a moment’s thought, she picked the latter…

Trousers refastened, C?dmon bent down and retrieved a pair of lacy knickers from the threadbare carpet. Somewhat sheepishly, he handed them to Edie. His embarrassment stemming from a decided lack of finesse, he glanced at the undisturbed bed.

He could do better. He would do better.

He’d always considered himself a considerate lover, but for some inexplicable reason he’d acted on his animal urges, behaving like a testosterone-driven oaf.

‘I just need to, um, you know, freshen up.’ Her cheeks flushed, Edie pointed to the adjoining bathroom.

‘Er, right.’

A few moments later there was the sound of a running tap, followed by a muttered complaint about the lack of hot water. Unable to find a vacant room at an accredited B & B, they’d been forced to take a room at a small guest house, the only available one an attic. In an attempt to add some charm to the claustrophobic space,