“Nobody will ever believe this!” Chris exclaimed.
Daniel gripped him hard by the forearm. “Nobody must know! Swear it.”
His urgency seemed to have a sobering influence on the librarian. “Daniel, it’s alright. Calm down. I promise not to tell anyone. Cross my heart.”
Daniel released his grip. He reached into his briefcase and showed Chris a sheet of paper. “I’ve translated a few of the lines that I was never able to decipher.”
Chris studied the paper. He read the clues out loud. “Set your course four bees from the dragon’s wing to the sea. When the bull turns the season, mark where the goat grazes the spinner’s peak.” After he was done, he stared at Daniel in disbelief. “You thought I would know what this means? It’s gibberish.”
Daniel gave a nervous little smile. “Perhaps you just don’t know that you know. You’ve helped me so much in the past. I wouldn’t understand how to use a computer at all if not for you. Please try. These clues were made by Minoans from Crete. About three thousand years ago.”
The librarian’s eyes sparkled with interest at the mention of the name. “Minoans! So, that’s the reason for all that research on Linear B last year. You even got me hooked. I started reading up on Minoan civilization in my off hours.” He looked down at the sheet of paper and frowned in concentration. “What do you think these ancient Minoans were trying to tell you?”
“All the riddles were used to find geographic locations.”
For a few moments, Chris gazed off into space, lost in thought. “Geographic locations,” he murmured half to himself. “The Minoans were famous sea merchants. They had some fairly sophisticated navigation techniques.” Finally, he transferred his attention back to Daniel and fixed him with a triumphant grin. “I think you were right. I just might be able to help you figure this out.”
Chapter 18—Winging It
Cassie tiredly switched on the light in her hotel room. It had been a long, long day. Throwing her room key on the nightstand, she fell backwards onto the bed. She found herself wondering why she felt so sleepy. After all, she’d done nothing more than sit in a car for most of the day. Faye had once told her that sometimes people with her “special gift” used sleep as a way to escape sensory overload. Dreaming allowed the subconscious to sort out the jumble of information and create a coherent pattern from it. She decided she liked that explanation better than Erik’s opinion that she was a wimp when it came to travel and that she should take some No Doze and power through it. Sighing, she closed her eyes. All she needed was forty winks.
***
Cassie found herself standing in the park in Alok next to one of the strange little monoliths they had visited earlier that day. Time must have skipped forward because now it was dawn. The sun was rising just outside the park off to her right.
She whirled around, but no one else was in sight. Transferring her attention to the park entrance, she saw a figure swathed in a hooded cloak gliding across the grass. It stopped several feet away from her. The figure folded back its hood to reveal the face of a woman with long grey hair. Cassie recognized her instantly as the aged Minoan priestess she had seen in her vision on the Basque mountain. The woman reached into a pocket of her cloak and retrieved an object. With a start, Cassie recognized the lapis dove. The priestess looked her right in the eye and smiled gently. She held the dove out before her with both hands. To Cassie’s amazement, the bird came to life. No longer a stiff carving made of lapis lazuli and jewels, it ruffled its feathers and launched itself directly upward from the priestess’s hands. Cassie’s eyes followed as the bird hovered above her. Its silhouette hung suspended against the sky for a few seconds before it glided on outstretched wings in the direction of the sun.
Cassie snapped awake immediately and scrambled out of bed. In a surreal imitation of her dream, she could see dawn breaking outside her window. She looked at the bedside clock. It was 7 AM. Surprisingly, she’d slept straight through the night although it felt as if she’d been dreaming for only minutes. Her lips curved into a smile. The priestess had given her a pretty good clue as to where to find the next relic.
***
Cassie entered the hotel dining room to find Erik and Griffin at a table, hunched together in bleak conversation. They both glanced up at her approach.
Erik’s gaze narrowed. “What do you look so happy about?”
Griffin was a trifle less surly. “Have you gotten an impression of where we should search next?” he asked anxiously.
“Boy, have I!” Cassie exclaimed as she took a seat. Beckoning the waitress, she ordered coffee and began to peruse the menu. “So, what looks good?” she asked of no one in particular.
Both men stared at her blankly.
“Seriously, all you can think about is breakfast?” Erik asked in disbelief.
“I can’t work on an empty stomach,” she replied serenely.
“Won’t you give us a hint?” Griffin wheedled.
“You mean like the hint you refused to give me when we were in Spain?” she retorted.
“I had no idea you were so vindictive,” the scrivener replied. “I’m really quite appalled.”
“Oh, relax guys,” Cassie chuckled. “I’m just rattling your cages.”
The waitress arrived with the coffee pot.
The pythia added, “But seriously, I do need to eat. I’m famished.”
The men both grumbled in exasperation and gave the waitress their breakfast orders. Nobody seemed in the mood to try anything exotic, so it was scrambled eggs all around.
When the waitress departed for the kitchen, Erik lowered his voice. “Now will you tell us what’s going on?”
“Absolutely.” Cassie took a few sips of coffee and began. “I had a dream last night, and it was a doozy.
