“That’s it?” Maddie sounded shocked.
“I’m afraid so,” the scrivener agreed.
“I guess our Minoan buddies figured we should be on to their tricks by now,” Erik concluded.
Maddie stared at him. “Meaning?”
“Meaning they use these relics to give navigational bearings. They went easy on us with the first two sets of riddles. Now they’re writing in shorthand.”
“Hmmm,” the operations director growled. “Cryptic is never good.”
“At least we know that the dove is supposed to be used to find latitude,” Cassie observed helpfully. “If the riddle says she’s waking somebody, then that would mean morning. Since the sun rises in the east, that’s the direction we should go.”
“East from Spain,” Griffin corrected.
“Right,” the pythia agreed. “They had no way of knowing the relic would end up in North America.”
“So, does that mean you have to go back to Greece and Turkey?” Maddie asked.
Griffin shook his head. “I think not. Judging from the size of the dove and the fact that the riddle only mentions one for measurement purposes, the latitude in question is well south of either Greece or Turkey.”
“But that could be only one place,” Faye murmured. “Africa.”
“Yeah, we figured that much,” Erik agreed. “But Africa is a pretty big continent. Thousands of miles across.”
“We thought we’d calculate the latitude and work our way from the west coast to the east,” Cassie explained.
Maddie raised an eyebrow. “That’s still an awfully big chunk of real estate, and some of those countries are a little dicey as tourist destinations. Especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”
“This design may offer an additional clue.” Griffin pointed to the dove’s back. The area between the wings was encrusted with gems.
Maddie focused on the jewels as if seeing them for the first time. “There’s a fortune sitting on that little birdie’s backbone. I know because I had to spring for the sparklers that went onto the fake.”
“Why didn’t you just substitute paste rocks?” Cassie asked.
“Because if Metcalf ever had the dove examined by a jeweler, the jig would have been up,” Maddie countered. “It had to look completely authentic.”
“We think aside from the monetary value of the gems, the design is meant to tell us something.” Griffin traced his fingers over the dove’s back. “A circle of diamonds with seven emeralds scattered in the center.” His finger stopped tracing and rested on a red gem. “And then the diamonds that comprise the circle are interrupted at opposite ends by two rubies—one larger than the other.”
“It’s a fair bet that the diamonds are meant to stand for calendar stones,” Erik remarked. “The Minoans really have a thing for big rocks in the middle of nowhere.”
“Africa is riddled with megalithic formations,” Faye said. “And they’re scattered over thousands of miles.”
“Looks like you won’t have much downtime,” the operations director commented.
“We have to wait until Griffin can get around,” Cassie demurred. “And I don’t mean on crutches either. He’s got to be ready for the rough stuff in the field. That could take a month or two.”
“In addition, there may be a time element associated with these mysterious stones,” the scrivener said. “If they’re anything like what we encountered on Ida, an astronomical event is a key component of solving the riddle. I haven’t cracked that bit yet.” His voice held a note of worry.
“It doesn’t matter. You three have seen all this before.” Maddie tried to sound encouraging. “You know how the Minoans think now. This next retrieval should be a slam dunk.”
The Arkana team remained ominously silent.
Faye was the first to speak. “Things which appear simple at first glance are rarely what they seem to be.”
“Like she said.” Cassie nodded vigorously. “I’ve got a feeling that whatever is coming next will be something we’ve never seen before.”
“Does that thought disturb you? Does it make you want to give up?” Faye asked pointedly, apparently already guessing the answer.
The pythia gave a mischievous grin. “As long as there’s a prize at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box, you know we’re gonna turn it upside down and shake it. It’s what we do.”
“Was that some new kind of American slang?” Griffin asked in puzzlement.
“Erik can explain it to you.”
Maddie stood abruptly as a signal that the meeting was over. “It looks like you’ve all got enough research to keep you busy until Griffin heals up. As for me, I have someplace to be right now.”
“An urgent meeting in the chimney,” Erik observed slyly as he rose to turn Griffin’s chair around.
“Don’t be so cocky, kid. You’re still not off the hook as far as I’m concerned.”
“Oh, Maddie, leave the boy alone. He’s injured.” Faye leaned heavily on the desk in an attempt to stand.
Cassie flew out of her chair to assist the old woman to the door and then stood aside to allow Erik to wheel Griffin out.
After they left, she remained leaning in the doorway and watched them retreat down the hall.
She heard Erik say, “So, Grif, how about we shoot some hoops later?”
“Shoot some hoops? Are you mad? I can’t even walk properly yet, nor can you.”
“It was a joke, man, relax.”
Then Cassie caught the echo of Faye confiding to Maddie, “...standing up to you the way she did. Our new pythia certainly has pluck, don’t you think?”
“I can think of several choice words to describe what she’s got but pluck isn’t one of them.” She added grudgingly, “At least she’s on our side. Now, where the hell did I leave my lighter?”
Cassie gave them all a final affectionate glance before shutting the door behind her. For the first time in her life, she felt that she was home.
RIDDLE OF THE DIAMOND DOVE
Riddle of the Diamond Dove
Book Four of Seven—Arkana Archaeology Mystery Thriller Series
http://www.mythofhistory.com
Copyright © 2013 by N. S. Wikarski
Second Revised Edition 2017
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