“So, you’ve got a snake, a lion and a river that runs south. If you put them all together, what does it mean?” Maddie urged, growing impatient.
“Unfortunately, the meaning of the riddle in its entirety continues to elude us,” Griffin demurred. “The whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. Briefly, we know that we are to search for a river that originates at approximately thirty-one degrees north latitude. We are instructed to follow this river southwards. The reference to the snake’s coils trembling under the glare of the lawgiver seems to caution us to make this journey only during the summer months when Leo rules the sky and Serpens is most visible. Quite a sensible suggestion, I might add, given the climate of the Himalayas. The snake’s trembling coils may also refer to the constellation’s reflection in the river. Beyond that, we must speculate. The Minoans have consistently hidden their artifacts in sacred mountains, so we will need to find one in close proximity to our mysterious river.”
“Why would the river be mysterious?” Erik challenged. “The Minoans practically gave you its GPS coordinates.”
Griffin smiled thinly at the paladin’s offhand remark. “In that respect, we are suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Sanjiangyuan Reserve in southeastern Tibet contains the headwaters of no less than three major Asian rivers. As ill luck would have it, they all begin in such close proximity to one another that the latitude offered in our clue could apply to any of them. We have the Yellow River flowing eastward across central China, the Yangtze which parallels its course further south, and the Mekong which flows through Cambodia and Vietnam all the way to the South China Sea.”
“When Griffin showed me a map of eastern Tibet, I couldn’t get a sense of which river it was,” Cassie admitted. “For what it’s worth, I did get a strong feeling that we’d found the right general vicinity. The Minoans were in the mountains of eastern Tibet, and they followed one of those river valleys to the spot where they hid the fifth relic.”
“You aren’t just going to cruise down those three rivers and trust to luck, are you?” Maddie asked skeptically. “You’ve got to have a systematic approach.”
“We do have a tentative strategy,” the scrivener assured her. “We’ll begin with the northernmost of the three bodies of water – the Yellow River.”
“We’re going to target matristic archaeological sites that follow the course of the river,” Cassie added. “Odds are the Minoans would have looked for a goddess-friendly place to stash their artifact.”
“Because my knowledge of Asian culture and archaeology is sketchy at best,” Griffin said, “we’ll need to rely heavily on the expertise of local trove keepers to assist us.”
“That sounds like a reasonable way to begin.” Faye smiled approvingly. “I’d suggest you contact the Hongshan trove keeper first. He’s been monitoring finds near the North Korean border. I realize that it’s a bit far afield from the Yellow River, but he has an encyclopedic knowledge of Neolithic China and may be able to guide you to the right place.”
“Ah, yes. The Hongshan keeper. I met with him a few times shortly after I was appointed chief scrivener. I’ll contact him first thing tomorrow,” Griffin said.
“I guess that means I’d better start packing.” Cassie began clearing cups and plates.
“Gracious me! Look at the time.” Faye consulted her wrist watch. “If I don’t leave immediately, the young people will get home before I do. Hannah wasn’t to know about my absence.”
“Sounds like you’re the one who’s got a curfew, not them,” Maddie said.
“Doesn’t it though.” Faye rose to depart.
Taking that as their cue, the others stood up, collected their coats and headed for the door.
Cassie received another round of birthday congratulations before bidding them all goodnight.
Erik lagged behind the rest. He stood hesitating in the living room. When Cassie shut the door and turned to him with a questioning gaze, he asked, “Can we talk?”
Chapter 5—Feathered Fiend
Abraham leaned back in his office chair and eyed the pendulum clock on the wall. It was late, and he’d already had a very taxing day. Early that same morning, he’d finally broken the news to Daniel that his wife Annabeth was dead. Of course, she’d died months earlier on his orders, but his son didn’t know that. The scion must never know. Abraham explained to Daniel that Annabeth had succumbed while convalescing from mental collapse at a private hospital. Daniel hadn’t taken the news well. He blamed himself for abandoning his wife when she needed him most. It did no good for Abraham to remonstrate that the relic hunt must always take priority over domestic concerns. The diviner consoled himself with the sure knowledge that time would make Daniel forget his distress. One day, his son would be reunited with his wife in the Celestial Kingdoms and Daniel would realize that his father had acted for the best. For his part, Abraham was glad to be done with Annabeth and the potentially awkward discussion of her demise. He could put all that behind him now.
The diviner stifled a yawn. He felt unbearably weary, but his workday wasn’t over yet. He was scheduled to hold a meeting in ten minutes. For half a second he considered postponing it until the morning but then sternly reminded himself that duty mattered more than rest. Not that rest was likely to arrive after duty had been discharged. He could scarcely remember the last time he’d been able to sleep more than an hour or two a night. Abraham never woke refreshed. He dragged exhaustion around with him throughout the day like a ball and chain.
He blinked rapidly to fight the drowsiness that had lately begun to creep up on him at odd moments. A short nap never brought relief, only a distressing sense of disorientation
