After they had managed to get themselves dressed again Alex picked up the
punting pole. "Right, my turn now," he told Lara.
"Do you know what to do with that as well?" she asked as he grasped it and made his way to the end of the boat. Electricity passed between them as their eyes met in response to her flirty joke.
"How hard can it be?" he asked. Lara just raised her eyebrows at him and smiled to herself in smug satisfaction.
Alex pushed the pole down into the water as Lara had done, but for him the boat veered off to one side instead of going straight. He frowned and tried again, with a similar result.
"The pole acts as a rudder," Lara explained, trying not to laugh.
Alex glared at her and this time threw the pole in more straight and adjusted the direction by swinging it under water.
"That's it," Lara said, "but mind the tree."
He ducked instinctively, but when he tried to pull the pole out of the river bed from this position it wouldn't come.
"Twist it!" Lara shouted, "twist the pole and it will come out."
Unfortunately her advice came too late and Alex lost his balance, falling backwards into the river. The splash soaked Lara as she made her way up the punt, bent double with laughter. He emerged from the water, spluttering and gasping for breath and Lara held out a hand to help him back into the boat.
"It's fucking freezing in there, it's not funny!"
"Yes it is," she said, laughing harder at his annoyance.
"We'll see about that," Alex said, taking the proffered hand and using it to pull Lara into the river with him.
"You utter bastard!" she exclaimed, splashing him with the cold water.
He was laughing at her now and he pulled her close to him so she couldn't splash him so easily. "But you love me," he said as he attempted to hold her hands down by her side.
The laughter stopped and they looked into each other's eyes. "Yes, despite my better judgement I do love you Alex West."
He grinned at her, then placed a soft kiss on her lips.
*
Dr Bailey looked up from the papers on his desk as they entered his office, wet clothes clinging to their bodies.
"We went punting," Lara said by way of explanation.
The professor just raised his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head. He couldn't understand why young people insisted on getting in those stupid boats when it always ended in disasters like this. "Well go and stand over there," he gestured at the area where the carpet ended, leaving exposed floor boards by the window. "That carpet is far too valuable to be dripped on."
"Have you got anywhere with the translation?" Lara asked as she complied with his instructions.
"I've translated it," he explained, "but the middle section makes no sense at all. It must be a code, like on the scrolls found by Sauniere."
"Can you figure it out in the same way?"
"Unfortunately not. The original codes involved the use of slightly raised letters, which are then arranged into order. However, these letters are obviously not discernable from this transcription, plus this scroll is in Arabic whereas the others were in Latin. There's no guarantee they were written by the same person or use the same code anyway."
Lara sighed in frustration. "What does the rest say, the parts that do make sense?"
"Pretty much what we thought. It says that the location of the holy grail will be 'revealed to he who wears the symbol of Christ' which I take to mean the medallion as it has that crown of thorns on it. This part is interesting: 'He who drinks from the grail will be given a spring of eternal life. The blood of the Lord shall flow inside him and he shall have power over life'."
"Power over life?" Alex said.
"Power of life, surely?" Lara asked. "With the grail someone would have the power to give life to anyone I suppose."
"No, definitely power 'over' life. The final part says that the symbol or key as it is also called can be located by following the 'map' which I suppose means the map that is constructed using the geometry in the two paintings. All this we know. The coded part of the message must reveal how the medallion can be used to actually locate the grail."
Lara sighed in frustration. "We have a stalemate then. We have the key and whoever is trying to get it from us has the instructions that tell us how to use it."
"The only thing to do is join forces with them," said Alex.
"No," Lara said forcefully. "I don't like their methods, plus they might be the Illuminati. They'd try to kill us." Dr Bailey looked up in shock at this. "We have to play them at their own game."
"Steal the scroll back you mean?" said Alex, "but they must know we'd try and do that. Besides, we don't know who it is that has it, or where it might be."
Lara was silent for a moment, deep in thought. The others knew better than to interrupt her. "All they know is that you have it Alex. They don't know that you know what it is. Here's what we're going to do," she said eventually.
"Do you know what to do with that as well?" she asked as he grasped it and made his way to the end of the boat. Electricity passed between them as their eyes met in response to her flirty joke.
"How hard can it be?" he asked. Lara just raised her eyebrows at him and smiled to herself in smug satisfaction.
Alex pushed the pole down into the water as Lara had done, but for him the boat veered off to one side instead of going straight. He frowned and tried again, with a similar result.
"The pole acts as a rudder," Lara explained, trying not to laugh.
Alex glared at her and this time threw the pole in more straight and adjusted the direction by swinging it under water.
"That's it," Lara said, "but mind the tree."
He ducked instinctively, but when he tried to pull the pole out of the river bed from this position it wouldn't come.
"Twist it!" Lara shouted, "twist the pole and it will come out."
Unfortunately her advice came too late and Alex lost his balance, falling backwards into the river. The splash soaked Lara as she made her way up the punt, bent double with laughter. He emerged from the water, spluttering and gasping for breath and Lara held out a hand to help him back into the boat.
"It's fucking freezing in there, it's not funny!"
"Yes it is," she said, laughing harder at his annoyance.
"We'll see about that," Alex said, taking the proffered hand and using it to pull Lara into the river with him.
"You utter bastard!" she exclaimed, splashing him with the cold water.
He was laughing at her now and he pulled her close to him so she couldn't splash him so easily. "But you love me," he said as he attempted to hold her hands down by her side.
The laughter stopped and they looked into each other's eyes. "Yes, despite my better judgement I do love you Alex West."
He grinned at her, then placed a soft kiss on her lips.
*
Dr Bailey looked up from the papers on his desk as they entered his office, wet clothes clinging to their bodies.
"We went punting," Lara said by way of explanation.
The professor just raised his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head. He couldn't understand why young people insisted on getting in those stupid boats when it always ended in disasters like this. "Well go and stand over there," he gestured at the area where the carpet ended, leaving exposed floor boards by the window. "That carpet is far too valuable to be dripped on."
"Have you got anywhere with the translation?" Lara asked as she complied with his instructions.
"I've translated it," he explained, "but the middle section makes no sense at all. It must be a code, like on the scrolls found by Sauniere."
"Can you figure it out in the same way?"
"Unfortunately not. The original codes involved the use of slightly raised letters, which are then arranged into order. However, these letters are obviously not discernable from this transcription, plus this scroll is in Arabic whereas the others were in Latin. There's no guarantee they were written by the same person or use the same code anyway."
Lara sighed in frustration. "What does the rest say, the parts that do make sense?"
"Pretty much what we thought. It says that the location of the holy grail will be 'revealed to he who wears the symbol of Christ' which I take to mean the medallion as it has that crown of thorns on it. This part is interesting: 'He who drinks from the grail will be given a spring of eternal life. The blood of the Lord shall flow inside him and he shall have power over life'."
"Power over life?" Alex said.
"Power of life, surely?" Lara asked. "With the grail someone would have the power to give life to anyone I suppose."
"No, definitely power 'over' life. The final part says that the symbol or key as it is also called can be located by following the 'map' which I suppose means the map that is constructed using the geometry in the two paintings. All this we know. The coded part of the message must reveal how the medallion can be used to actually locate the grail."
Lara sighed in frustration. "We have a stalemate then. We have the key and whoever is trying to get it from us has the instructions that tell us how to use it."
"The only thing to do is join forces with them," said Alex.
"No," Lara said forcefully. "I don't like their methods, plus they might be the Illuminati. They'd try to kill us." Dr Bailey looked up in shock at this. "We have to play them at their own game."
"Steal the scroll back you mean?" said Alex, "but they must know we'd try and do that. Besides, we don't know who it is that has it, or where it might be."
Lara was silent for a moment, deep in thought. The others knew better than to interrupt her. "All they know is that you have it Alex. They don't know that you know what it is. Here's what we're going to do," she said eventually.