“Griffin?” Faye approached cautiously. She was wary of disturbing him when he was researching. It tended to disorient him.
“What?” The young man looked up. His hazel eyes were blank as if he didn’t recognize his visitor. When his mind returned to the present, he looked alarmed. “Oh, Faye, do forgive me!” He jumped out of his chair and came around the table to help her to a seat.
“May I get you something? A coffee perhaps?” He bent his six-foot frame nearly in half to hover attentively at her side.
“Yes, I could use a pick-me-up. It was quite a drive.” Faye laid her purse on the table.
“Of course, absolutely.” Griffin had flown halfway down the stairs before he whirled around and asked, “What kind?”
Faye looked puzzled. “I don’t understand.”
He trotted back up to the loft. “I mean what kind of coffee would you like? Columbian, Sumatran, Ethiopian? Would you like light or dark roast? And then there’s the question of temperature. Hot or iced. And what about milk? Soy, rice, or cow’s milk? And what size cup do you want?”
“Oh, my,” she murmured. “So many choices. In my day we just said coffee, and everybody knew what we meant.”
Griffin waited nervously.
“Why don’t you surprise me?” Faye’s smile was angelic.
A look of dread crossed the young man’s face at the prospect of surprising her.
“Just do your best, dear. I’m sure whatever you choose will be fine.”
Griffin nodded uncertainly and ran down the stairs to fetch her beverage.
Faye looked around the loft. Very quiet. Noise didn’t seem to filter up from the lower floor, and all the other customers were seated below. She knew Griffin was a solitary creature which was the reason he chose to sequester himself in this aerie. Less chance of being disturbed. That suited her needs perfectly considering what they were about to discuss.
The young man returned in a few minutes bearing an oversized cup and saucer. “I didn’t think you’d enjoy anything extreme, so I made a conservative choice.” He set it down in front of her. “There you are. A hot cup of medium roast Brazilian with cow’s cream.”
He returned to his seat and watched in apprehensive silence as she took her first sip.
Faye nodded her approval. “This is really very good. Just the way I like it. Brazilian, you say?”
Griffin relaxed and flashed a smile. “Yes, the trick, you see, is in the roasting process. A medium roast will give just enough body without overpowering the palate.”
“Heavens, it sounds as if you’re discussing wine.” She laughed.
“In a way, I suppose they’re quite similar. Coffee drinking in this country is a very serious business.”
She took another sip. “What do you drink when you go back to England for visits?”
“Instant coffee.”
“Really?” Faye sounded shocked. “Can’t you get anything better?”
“Oh, it’s quite normal, I assure you. Europeans drink it all the time. And with no ill effects, I might add.”
Faye gave a half smile. She wasn’t convinced of his enthusiasm.
Griffin sighed guiltily. “All right. You’ve caught me out. I confess I prefer the marvelous variety one finds in American coffeehouses.”
Faye made a mental note. Given his high-strung behavior, she wondered if he liked American-style coffee a bit too much for his own good. Of course, she was polite and didn’t tell him that. Instead, she opened her purse to retrieve a thick envelope which she slid across the table. “What do you make of that?” she asked.
Griffin removed the envelope’s contents. He scanned the photographs with growing excitement. “I say, is this what I think it is?”
Faye nodded gravely.
“But this is brilliant!” He shuffled through them again before placing them on the tabletop side by side. “Fascinating pictograms.”
“Can you translate any of them?”
He shook his head, still intent on the pictures. “Sorry, but I haven’t a clue what they mean.”
“You will try though, won’t you?” she urged.
Griffin looked up and stared at Faye, bringing his mind back into focus. “Oh, absolutely! This is quite exciting, isn’t it? We had no idea what object Sybil was recovering, and here we sit with photographs of it.” He scowled for a moment. “By the bye, how do you come to have these?”
“Cassie brought them with her when she visited me.” Faye sounded troubled.
The young man took note. “Didn’t your talk go well?”
“It went very well. During the course of the afternoon, I discovered that she is our new pythia.”
“What!”
Griffin’s exclamation was so loud that Faye winced. “Please, dear, keep your voice down. We do belong to a secret society, after all.”
The young man overcompensated by lowering his voice to a whisper. “But this is incredible, Faye! This is beyond coincidence! If I believed in such things, I would call it a miracle.”
Faye sighed. “It is certainly a stroke of good fortune for us, but Cassie is having some trouble coming to terms with it.”
Griffin’s face took on a look of owlish concern. “You mean she doesn’t want to be the pythia?” He sounded as if he could barely comprehend such a possibility.
“I think she needs time to accept her new role. I do believe that she’ll come around in the end.”
“But what if she doesn’t?” Griffin’s tone was anxious. “What are we to do then?”
Faye remained serene. “I am quite confident she will reconsider. After all, we are the only people who
