"Atlas," Lara stated, pulling a large volume off a low shelf in the library
of Croft Manor, and heaving it up onto a large table.
Alex flopped into a leather chair in front of the book. "But we have no idea where to start," he said in bewilderment.
"Well, the coded message describes the four points on the cross on the medallion, North, South, East and West," Lara began to explain as she pulled the dust sheet off a bookcase in the corner.
"I realise that," Alex snapped at her sarcastically.
"Let me finish," Lara retorted as she scanned the shelf, "and the location of the grail is the place where the lines cross..."
"Again, that much is obvious."
"The clues must relate to the grail in some way, or they're religious references." Lara found the book she was looking for and carefully removed the ancient volume and carried it over to the table. "Hence the bible," she said, sitting down opposite Alex.
"So?" he asked her impatiently.
"So, perhaps the references to 'life' and 'death' refer to the places where Jesus was born and died."
"Ok, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Supposedly." Alex flipped through to the relevant page of the Atlas, "here," he pointed to the city on the map of Israel.
"And he died in..." Lara stopped short, "we'll find out." She leant back in her chair and began flipping through the crisp yellow pages of the ageing bible.
Alex leant back in his chair just as Lara was doing and placed his hands behind his head. After a few minutes he spoke up. "You'll be there forever."
Lara looked up at him with a scornful expression then turned back to her study of the ancient volume.
"Do you have an encyclopaedia?"
Lara looked up again from the pages and sighed. "Yes, ok, it's probably in that shelf over there," she indicated the one which she had pulled the atlas from.
They both flicked through pages quietly for a minute, but Lara couldn't concentrate on the words and looked up across the desk. Alex was carefully reading a long passage in the encyclopaedia and didn't notice her watching him. Lara desperately wanted to talk to him about what was going on between them, but she had never been the sort of girl who needed, or wanted, to have in depth discussions about 'us' or 'where we're going'. But then perhaps that was because she'd never not been in control in a relationship before. She didn't even know what words to use to bring the subject up and tried out various questions in her mind but none of them sounded right. Lara shook her head. Damn it, she wasn't going to be that sort of girl.
"Golgotha," Alex said, looking up and meeting her eye. "Just outside Jerusalem." He pointed to the city on the map. "But that can't be the South point of the cross because it's to the North of Bethlehem, see."
"Oh." Lara said, leaning across the desk to look. "Maybe we're on completely the wrong track anyway," she said with disappointment as she flopped back into her chair.
Alex just shrugged and rocked back in his chair, causing Lara to scowl at the damage he was probably doing to the antique piece of furniture, not to mention the three hundred year old carpet.
They turned back to the books for a while longer but then Alex spoke up. "I can't stand all this studying Lara, lets get outside and go for a run or something."
Lara smiled. "You managed to do enough studying to pass a degree in archaeology, God knows how."
"Nah that was just natural genius, I didn't do any studying," Alex said with a grin.
Lara rolled her eyes. "Fine lets go for a run, it always helps me think anyway."
*
When they had both got changed into running gear they set off on a favourite path of Lara's that led through the woods. It could be either a four or ten mile round trip, depending on which track she took at a fork about a short way in. Lara set off at a fastish pace which normally got her around the shorter route in about half an hour and Alex ran along comfortably beside her. After they'd been going for a while he ran on ahead and Lara let him, because soon he came to the place where the path divided and he stopped, catching his breath as she caught up.
"Which way?" he asked between breaths.
Lara thought for a second. She'd never gone round the long route this fast before; it normally took about an hour and a half at a slower jog. But that wasn't to say it couldn't be done and she really wanted the cocky bastard to give up before she did.
"It's that way," she said brightly, pointing to the right and set off at the same fast pace.
After a while on this trail the pace was starting to tell and Lara's breathing was becoming laboured. She brushed sweat off her forehead with a sleeve and steeled herself to keep going. Alex was breathing heavier than her, he was sure to give in first.
Twenty minutes later Lara really wasn't sure she could keep going any longer, and she estimated that there was another couple of miles before they got back to the manor. Lara's vision was becoming blurred but she kept going, knowing from past experience of running for her life that she could keep it up for a while longer past this stage. But two more miles? Well, she'd keep going until she either got home or actually collapsed because there was no way Alex was going to beat her if she had anything to do with it. Looking across she noticed with satisfaction that he looked about ready to collapse himself.
Lara smiled as best she could while panting for breath and closed her eyes. She counted down from three and then picked up the pace until she was practically sprinting along the straight stretch of track, eyes still shut as if this would block out the pain.
"Ok," Alex called after her breathlessly, "you," another breath, "win."
Grinning in triumph Lara stopped and turned slowly, shoulders heaving and sweat dripping from her forehead as she leant forward to try and recover her own breath. Alex was lying on his back on the stony path and his shirt was soaked through with his sweat. Lara laughed and walked back along the track until she was standing over his body, one foot planted squarely on either side of his chest.
Alex opened his eyes at the sound of her footsteps to see first Lara's legs, looking very long from this angle, then her arms folded across her chest, then up to her face sporting a victorious smile. She cocked her head to one side as she watched him, then unfolded her arms and held one out to Alex to help him up.
*
"You can take the first shower," Alex said generously as they returned to the manor.
"That's very kind," Lara said with a smirk, "but unnecessary. There are seventeen bathrooms. Hillary will show you to one."
The butler nodded and led Alex away through the house and Lara made her way to her own long and extremely hot shower.
When Lara came down the staircase, dressed but drying her hair with a towel as she went she found that Alex was back at the books. As she entered the library she dropped the wet towel carelessly on the floor and walked over to look over his shoulder. Suddenly Lara leant forward, gripped the page of the atlas with the map of Israel and ripped it from the spine. Alex gasped as she did this and stood up in shock, "isn't that a valuable book?" he spluttered.
Lara shrugged and turned on her heel, making for her study with the page in her hand. She swept the desk clear with her arm and placed the map in front of her as she sat down. Rummaging in a drawer she came out with a protractor, ruler and pencil and beckoned to Pimms, who was standing in the doorway waiting for instructions. "Get the medallion," she told him.
As Pimms bowed out of the room Lara began drawing a line down the map using the ruler. Alex, looking at it upside down from the other side of the desk, saw that she was marking out a North-South line from Nazareth to Jerusalem. "Of course, Jesus lived in Nazareth."
Lara nodded and reached out a hand for the medallion that Pimms was now holding out to her. Lara measured the line of the cross on the artefact and then the one she had just drawn, then found a calculator on which to do a quick sum. She then drew a small cross at a carefully measured point on the line. "This is where the lines cross and hence where we need to look, we don't even need to solve the rest of the clue."
Alex frowned. "Perhaps we should, to be sure," he suggested.
Lara nodded in agreement and used the protractor to measure the angle of the intersection, and the ruler to measure the length of the second line. She then transposed this onto the map at the correct ratio. The West end of the line landed on the city of Caesara, the Eastern end on Gadara by the sea of Galilee.
"Caesara is the modern name for what was Palestine," Alex said, "the Roman headquarters - the city of the enemy."
"What about Gadara?" Lara asked.
"The Gadarean swine," a timid voice spoke up from the back of the room. Both Lara and Alex looked up in surprise at Pimms. "Catholic upbringing," he explained with a nervous smile, seeing they wanted more he continued, "I think this is the one where Jesus met a man who was possessed. He asked the spirit its name and it said something like 'my name is legion, for there are many of us' and then, er, Jesus exorcised the evil spirits into a herd of pigs, or swine."
Lara smiled. "The exorcism of the legion."
Alex flopped into a leather chair in front of the book. "But we have no idea where to start," he said in bewilderment.
"Well, the coded message describes the four points on the cross on the medallion, North, South, East and West," Lara began to explain as she pulled the dust sheet off a bookcase in the corner.
"I realise that," Alex snapped at her sarcastically.
"Let me finish," Lara retorted as she scanned the shelf, "and the location of the grail is the place where the lines cross..."
"Again, that much is obvious."
"The clues must relate to the grail in some way, or they're religious references." Lara found the book she was looking for and carefully removed the ancient volume and carried it over to the table. "Hence the bible," she said, sitting down opposite Alex.
"So?" he asked her impatiently.
"So, perhaps the references to 'life' and 'death' refer to the places where Jesus was born and died."
"Ok, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Supposedly." Alex flipped through to the relevant page of the Atlas, "here," he pointed to the city on the map of Israel.
"And he died in..." Lara stopped short, "we'll find out." She leant back in her chair and began flipping through the crisp yellow pages of the ageing bible.
Alex leant back in his chair just as Lara was doing and placed his hands behind his head. After a few minutes he spoke up. "You'll be there forever."
Lara looked up at him with a scornful expression then turned back to her study of the ancient volume.
"Do you have an encyclopaedia?"
Lara looked up again from the pages and sighed. "Yes, ok, it's probably in that shelf over there," she indicated the one which she had pulled the atlas from.
They both flicked through pages quietly for a minute, but Lara couldn't concentrate on the words and looked up across the desk. Alex was carefully reading a long passage in the encyclopaedia and didn't notice her watching him. Lara desperately wanted to talk to him about what was going on between them, but she had never been the sort of girl who needed, or wanted, to have in depth discussions about 'us' or 'where we're going'. But then perhaps that was because she'd never not been in control in a relationship before. She didn't even know what words to use to bring the subject up and tried out various questions in her mind but none of them sounded right. Lara shook her head. Damn it, she wasn't going to be that sort of girl.
"Golgotha," Alex said, looking up and meeting her eye. "Just outside Jerusalem." He pointed to the city on the map. "But that can't be the South point of the cross because it's to the North of Bethlehem, see."
"Oh." Lara said, leaning across the desk to look. "Maybe we're on completely the wrong track anyway," she said with disappointment as she flopped back into her chair.
Alex just shrugged and rocked back in his chair, causing Lara to scowl at the damage he was probably doing to the antique piece of furniture, not to mention the three hundred year old carpet.
They turned back to the books for a while longer but then Alex spoke up. "I can't stand all this studying Lara, lets get outside and go for a run or something."
Lara smiled. "You managed to do enough studying to pass a degree in archaeology, God knows how."
"Nah that was just natural genius, I didn't do any studying," Alex said with a grin.
Lara rolled her eyes. "Fine lets go for a run, it always helps me think anyway."
*
When they had both got changed into running gear they set off on a favourite path of Lara's that led through the woods. It could be either a four or ten mile round trip, depending on which track she took at a fork about a short way in. Lara set off at a fastish pace which normally got her around the shorter route in about half an hour and Alex ran along comfortably beside her. After they'd been going for a while he ran on ahead and Lara let him, because soon he came to the place where the path divided and he stopped, catching his breath as she caught up.
"Which way?" he asked between breaths.
Lara thought for a second. She'd never gone round the long route this fast before; it normally took about an hour and a half at a slower jog. But that wasn't to say it couldn't be done and she really wanted the cocky bastard to give up before she did.
"It's that way," she said brightly, pointing to the right and set off at the same fast pace.
After a while on this trail the pace was starting to tell and Lara's breathing was becoming laboured. She brushed sweat off her forehead with a sleeve and steeled herself to keep going. Alex was breathing heavier than her, he was sure to give in first.
Twenty minutes later Lara really wasn't sure she could keep going any longer, and she estimated that there was another couple of miles before they got back to the manor. Lara's vision was becoming blurred but she kept going, knowing from past experience of running for her life that she could keep it up for a while longer past this stage. But two more miles? Well, she'd keep going until she either got home or actually collapsed because there was no way Alex was going to beat her if she had anything to do with it. Looking across she noticed with satisfaction that he looked about ready to collapse himself.
Lara smiled as best she could while panting for breath and closed her eyes. She counted down from three and then picked up the pace until she was practically sprinting along the straight stretch of track, eyes still shut as if this would block out the pain.
"Ok," Alex called after her breathlessly, "you," another breath, "win."
Grinning in triumph Lara stopped and turned slowly, shoulders heaving and sweat dripping from her forehead as she leant forward to try and recover her own breath. Alex was lying on his back on the stony path and his shirt was soaked through with his sweat. Lara laughed and walked back along the track until she was standing over his body, one foot planted squarely on either side of his chest.
Alex opened his eyes at the sound of her footsteps to see first Lara's legs, looking very long from this angle, then her arms folded across her chest, then up to her face sporting a victorious smile. She cocked her head to one side as she watched him, then unfolded her arms and held one out to Alex to help him up.
*
"You can take the first shower," Alex said generously as they returned to the manor.
"That's very kind," Lara said with a smirk, "but unnecessary. There are seventeen bathrooms. Hillary will show you to one."
The butler nodded and led Alex away through the house and Lara made her way to her own long and extremely hot shower.
When Lara came down the staircase, dressed but drying her hair with a towel as she went she found that Alex was back at the books. As she entered the library she dropped the wet towel carelessly on the floor and walked over to look over his shoulder. Suddenly Lara leant forward, gripped the page of the atlas with the map of Israel and ripped it from the spine. Alex gasped as she did this and stood up in shock, "isn't that a valuable book?" he spluttered.
Lara shrugged and turned on her heel, making for her study with the page in her hand. She swept the desk clear with her arm and placed the map in front of her as she sat down. Rummaging in a drawer she came out with a protractor, ruler and pencil and beckoned to Pimms, who was standing in the doorway waiting for instructions. "Get the medallion," she told him.
As Pimms bowed out of the room Lara began drawing a line down the map using the ruler. Alex, looking at it upside down from the other side of the desk, saw that she was marking out a North-South line from Nazareth to Jerusalem. "Of course, Jesus lived in Nazareth."
Lara nodded and reached out a hand for the medallion that Pimms was now holding out to her. Lara measured the line of the cross on the artefact and then the one she had just drawn, then found a calculator on which to do a quick sum. She then drew a small cross at a carefully measured point on the line. "This is where the lines cross and hence where we need to look, we don't even need to solve the rest of the clue."
Alex frowned. "Perhaps we should, to be sure," he suggested.
Lara nodded in agreement and used the protractor to measure the angle of the intersection, and the ruler to measure the length of the second line. She then transposed this onto the map at the correct ratio. The West end of the line landed on the city of Caesara, the Eastern end on Gadara by the sea of Galilee.
"Caesara is the modern name for what was Palestine," Alex said, "the Roman headquarters - the city of the enemy."
"What about Gadara?" Lara asked.
"The Gadarean swine," a timid voice spoke up from the back of the room. Both Lara and Alex looked up in surprise at Pimms. "Catholic upbringing," he explained with a nervous smile, seeing they wanted more he continued, "I think this is the one where Jesus met a man who was possessed. He asked the spirit its name and it said something like 'my name is legion, for there are many of us' and then, er, Jesus exorcised the evil spirits into a herd of pigs, or swine."
Lara smiled. "The exorcism of the legion."