A short time later they were cruising along a wide street, passing
sprawling sandstone colleges, then a row of shops topped by brightly
painted houses leaning towards the road, then another grandiose structure.
Being July, the city was filled with tourists and groups kept stepping out
in front of the sports car, only to be beeped impatiently aside. They had
made slow progress, but eventually the Porsche pulled onto the pavement and
stopped outside a pair of high wooden gates.
"Be a sweetie and go and get the porters to open the gates," Lara said as she pulled on the handbrake.
"Er...where do I go?" Alex asked, looking around.
Lara laughed and pointed at an archway under the imposing bell tower they had just passed. He raised his eyebrows at her briefly before getting out - it looked rather phallic to him. Through the arch he could see a large quadrangle with precision-trimmed grass and a fountain in the centre, but instead of going through he turned to speak to the elderly man in tails and a bowler hat by the entrance. His appearance reminded Alex of what he had thought Lara's butler would look like, before he met Hillary that is.
He managed to secure the opening of the gates and once the car was parked up they walked together into Christ Church College. Lara led the way through gardens and cloisters until they reached a heavy looking wooden door, which opened onto a stone staircase. Three flights up and they were by another door, with a hastily scrawled label reading 'Dr John Bailey'. Lara knocked loudly.
"Come," the voice from within commanded.
They entered a large room lined with bookshelves, any free wall space being filled with dark and dingy looking pictures of ancient masters. The mahogany desk as well as the floor was strew with papers and what looked like exam scripts. An elderly man got up from a grand but tatty looking high backed arm chair to kiss Lara on the cheek. "How lovely to see you Lara," he said, then shook hands with Alex as she introduced them.
"Dr Bailey was an undergraduate here with my father before the war," she explained, "and he has been kind enough to offer me...unofficial tutorials in a few subjects over the years."
"And she has probably covered most of the Archaeology and Anthropology syllabus by now," the older man said with a paternal smile at Lara. He had a slightly dishevelled appearance and grey hair that certainly hadn't seen a comb that day, or possibly even that week. "If only all my students were as keen."
Lara took a seat on an overstuffed sofa and gestured to Alex to join her. "But I haven't seen you in months," the tutor continued as he took a seat himself, "tell me all your news."
"Oh there's not much to tell," Lara lied.
"Modest as always. I read about your involvement with the Illuminati, now don't tell me there wasn't more to that than meets the eye," said Dr Bailey.
Lara laughed and proceeded to give an edited explanation of the triangle of light to a fascinated audience. Eventually she was able to get onto the subject of the artefact which was the real reason for her visit. Alex handed over the medallion for the old professor to look at.
Dr Bailey fumbled through some piles of papers, then after finally unearthing a magnifying glass he examined the object. "Pewter..incredibly ancient, around two thousand years old I'd say, maybe a bit less. What is it?"
"That's what we hoped you could tell us," said Lara, "someone is rather keen to get their hands on it."
"I'm afraid I don't know what it is, but the engraving is indicative of the English style at the time."
"But what do the engravings mean?" Alex said, not thinking that the type of metal it was or the style was of particular importance.
"A cross on one side, and a circle of thorns on the other. Sounds like Christian mythology to me," the old man said, "but this must have been made only one of two hundred years ad., before the religion really took hold. Hmmm," he looked again, "but the cross is not really like the one you associate with the crucifixion, it's not straight for a start. Where did you find it?"
Lara seemed to be lost in thought. "I found it," said Alex, "in France, the Pyrenees. I was commissioned to do this dig to look for some sort of treasure buried by some Abbot I think, sounded stupid to me but I was getting paid whether I found it or not."
"Did you find it?"
"No, I didn't. But I found this quite by accident and shoved it in my pocket - it looked old. I didn't think much of it until people started searching my flat and following me."
"Have you ever thought that maybe this is the buried treasure?" Lara spoke up, finally coming out of her reverie.
They both looked at her. "What are you thinking Lara?" said Alex, noticing the glint in her eye.
"I'm thinking I know what this is."
"Be a sweetie and go and get the porters to open the gates," Lara said as she pulled on the handbrake.
"Er...where do I go?" Alex asked, looking around.
Lara laughed and pointed at an archway under the imposing bell tower they had just passed. He raised his eyebrows at her briefly before getting out - it looked rather phallic to him. Through the arch he could see a large quadrangle with precision-trimmed grass and a fountain in the centre, but instead of going through he turned to speak to the elderly man in tails and a bowler hat by the entrance. His appearance reminded Alex of what he had thought Lara's butler would look like, before he met Hillary that is.
He managed to secure the opening of the gates and once the car was parked up they walked together into Christ Church College. Lara led the way through gardens and cloisters until they reached a heavy looking wooden door, which opened onto a stone staircase. Three flights up and they were by another door, with a hastily scrawled label reading 'Dr John Bailey'. Lara knocked loudly.
"Come," the voice from within commanded.
They entered a large room lined with bookshelves, any free wall space being filled with dark and dingy looking pictures of ancient masters. The mahogany desk as well as the floor was strew with papers and what looked like exam scripts. An elderly man got up from a grand but tatty looking high backed arm chair to kiss Lara on the cheek. "How lovely to see you Lara," he said, then shook hands with Alex as she introduced them.
"Dr Bailey was an undergraduate here with my father before the war," she explained, "and he has been kind enough to offer me...unofficial tutorials in a few subjects over the years."
"And she has probably covered most of the Archaeology and Anthropology syllabus by now," the older man said with a paternal smile at Lara. He had a slightly dishevelled appearance and grey hair that certainly hadn't seen a comb that day, or possibly even that week. "If only all my students were as keen."
Lara took a seat on an overstuffed sofa and gestured to Alex to join her. "But I haven't seen you in months," the tutor continued as he took a seat himself, "tell me all your news."
"Oh there's not much to tell," Lara lied.
"Modest as always. I read about your involvement with the Illuminati, now don't tell me there wasn't more to that than meets the eye," said Dr Bailey.
Lara laughed and proceeded to give an edited explanation of the triangle of light to a fascinated audience. Eventually she was able to get onto the subject of the artefact which was the real reason for her visit. Alex handed over the medallion for the old professor to look at.
Dr Bailey fumbled through some piles of papers, then after finally unearthing a magnifying glass he examined the object. "Pewter..incredibly ancient, around two thousand years old I'd say, maybe a bit less. What is it?"
"That's what we hoped you could tell us," said Lara, "someone is rather keen to get their hands on it."
"I'm afraid I don't know what it is, but the engraving is indicative of the English style at the time."
"But what do the engravings mean?" Alex said, not thinking that the type of metal it was or the style was of particular importance.
"A cross on one side, and a circle of thorns on the other. Sounds like Christian mythology to me," the old man said, "but this must have been made only one of two hundred years ad., before the religion really took hold. Hmmm," he looked again, "but the cross is not really like the one you associate with the crucifixion, it's not straight for a start. Where did you find it?"
Lara seemed to be lost in thought. "I found it," said Alex, "in France, the Pyrenees. I was commissioned to do this dig to look for some sort of treasure buried by some Abbot I think, sounded stupid to me but I was getting paid whether I found it or not."
"Did you find it?"
"No, I didn't. But I found this quite by accident and shoved it in my pocket - it looked old. I didn't think much of it until people started searching my flat and following me."
"Have you ever thought that maybe this is the buried treasure?" Lara spoke up, finally coming out of her reverie.
They both looked at her. "What are you thinking Lara?" said Alex, noticing the glint in her eye.
"I'm thinking I know what this is."