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Chapter 10

Toward noon, we entered the bookshop west of Haghia Sofia.

She looked up as we came in. The shelves were far more orderly now than they had been when we had first visited. In the back room, we could see her worktable, with our map from the cisterns neatly laid out alongside a number of thick books of reference.

"Salute, Ezio and Arthur," she said. "That was alot quicker than I expected. Any luck?"

I held up the wooden map tube and read from the label: "Madamigella Sofia Sartor, libraria, Costantinopoli.' Unless there is another another Sofia around here, I do believe it is you, correct?"

Smiling, I handed over the tube, and she took it eagerly, then perused it, frowning at a small blotch of dried blood near the middle of the tube.

"Aw, shi-OW!" I yelped, as my cuss was cut off my Ezio's foot crushing mine.

Sofia giggled, surprising both of us. "Well, no use moaning about it. So far so good."

She continued as she took the map from the tube and spread it across the table.

It was a copy of a map of the world. "Isn't it beautiful?" she said.

"Indeed." Ezio said, but I wasn't listening, my hands tracing the map where America was shown.

Memories of my childhood flooded through me, old memories that I had pushed away when confronted with my parent's treachery.

I could hear the other two remarking over the land, but I was still fixated on the world and the life that I had left behind.

We were in the sixteenth century now, and the Spanish conquests were probably already beginning, millions of lives extinguished for gold and power, just like the last century, and the centuries before that.

My hand stopped at the place where West Virginia would be created by people who were adverse to the Southern plantations and slavery, a state founded in the middle of the Civil War, a place of freedom and justice.

"Mankind will make mistakes, but they will get some things right. Within a short time, a new world will be created, a city on a hill that the Old World will look to. America, the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

I did not realize I had spoken until I looked up to see Ezio and Sofia staring at me in surprise.

"Forgive my ramblings. They are nothing but words." I said with a smile, but Sofia pointed to my hand, that was still resting on the spot where West Virginia would be.

"Have you been there?" She asked, as I removed my hand as if burned.

Ezio's face was stony, his eyes watching my every move. I had spoken of home only to him, Claudia, and Maria. I could almost hear his teeth grinding together.

"For a short time. I traveled along some mountains there, a gorgeous valley of woods and streams." I said, then closed my mouth. That would be enough for now, more of that later...much later.

"Well, you honored your promise," Sofia said, smiling at us, her eyes telling me that the previous conversation would not be forgotten, and would be continued when the time was right. "And here is mine fulfilled."

She led the way to the inner room and picked a piece of paper up from the table. "If I am correct, this should show you the location of the first book."

I took the paper from her and read what was on it.

"I must admit," Sofia went on. "My head is swimming at the prosepect of actually seeing these books. They contain knowledge the world has lost and should have again."

She sat at the table and cupped her chin in her hands, daydreaming. "Perhaps I could have a few copies printed to distribute myself. A small run of fifty or so, that should be enough..."

I smiled, and Ezio laughed gently.

"What is there to laugh about?" Sofia asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Ezio covered his mouth. "Forgive me. It is a joy to see someone with a passion so personal and so noble. It is...inspiring."

I had to fight back laughter of my own, as Sofia reddened. "Goodness! Where is this coming from?"

Damned good question! However, I decided to bail my brother out of trouble...again!

"I intend to get to the bottom of this thing immediatley." I said, holding up the piece of paper. Ezio and I gave her a bow, and excused ourselves.

What a pair of strange men, Sofia thought, still blushing from the complement she had recieved from the handsome Ezio.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Once we were out of earshot of the crimson-haired librarian, Ezio lit into me.

"So I made a mistake, big fucking deal." I said, shrugging.

"Yes, it is a cazzo big deal! What possessed you to turn into some kind of damned prophet? Who are you, Minerva?" Ezio finished, and I rolled my eyes.

"So I made a mistake. It was bound to happen sooner or later. It won't happen again, Fratello, I promise."

With a curt nod, Ezio departed, heading for our HQ, and I couldn't resist getting the last word in.

"While you are at HQ, I'd come up with better pick-up lines to get Sofia hooked. But you know what say: you can't teach an old dog new tricks!"

I chuckled at his parting obscene hand gesture, and followed Sofia's calculations, which turned out to be correct.

Why was I not surprised?

I shuddered as I thought what Claudia, Maria, and Sofia would get up to.

The former two were as beautiful as they were impetuous and harsh of temper, while Sofia had the brains that would rival the best of philosophers and mathmeticians at home in West Virginia.

Hidden behind a wooden panel in an old, deserted building in the Constantine District of the city, I found the book that I was looking for.

Who the hell put these books around this city in these kinds of places, anyway?

It was an ancient but well-preserved copy of On Nature, the poem written over two thousand years ago by the Greek philosopher Empedocles, outlining the sum of the old guy's thoughts.

I lifted the book from its hiding place and blew the dust from the small volume. Then I opened it to a blank page at the beginning of the volume.

As I watched, the page began to glow, and within the glow, a map of Constantinople shimmered to life.

I could see a pinpoint on the map. It showed the Maiden Tower, the lighthouse on the far side of the Bospherus, and as I looked closer at it, a precise spot within the cellars built into its foundations.

If all went well, this would be the location of the second key to Altair's library at Masyaf.

I made my way through the teeming city to the Maiden Tower. Slipping past the Ottoman guards and crossing over in a 'borrowed' boat, I found a doorway from which steps led downward into the cellars.

I held the book in my hand, and realized that it was guiding me through a maze of corridors lined with innumerable doorways.

"Always follow the light, even if it's from an ancient book."

It didn't take me long to find the following glowy disk, and as the numbers '1191' flashed in front of my eyes, I muttered: "Wherever you are, you man-whore, you owe me one...again!"

And that's a wrap! How was it? I was going to have it longer, but I figured that this would be a good place to start. Anywhoosle, I'll update my stories when I can, although I will be quite busy for a while, owing to the fact that this is my last term in my Senior year. Ta ta!