Chapter Five: "Cursed" Gifts?
Ardeth heard Evie utter a surprised, delighted gasp when Catherine removed the cover of the crate and cleared some of the thick layer of straw that had been used as padding for the object within. "Oh Cathy, it's lovely!"
Alex wrinkled his nose, and muttered, "It's just a statue."
Indeed, that was exactly what was inside the crate. It was a stone statue slightly more than four feet in height, and made of dark, polished granite. It depicted a creature that was so stylized in its carving that Ardeth could not identify it.
"This is a statue of a xilin, or Chinese unicorn," Catherine explained as she carefully picked out a small speck of straw that had gotten into one of the crannies in the statue. "This is one of two that were found in front of a tomb that could have, at one point, been the burial ground of an Emperor, though Andrew and I are not sure yet as to which Emperor that is."
Rick knelt down on the carpet beside Catherine, and placed a hand on the stone. "What was it for?"
"We don't know," Catherine replied with a shrug. "I believe it was supposed to guard the entrance of the tomb, prevent grave robbers from coming in and stealing the treasure inside."
Ardeth flicked his gaze up to Catherine. "And did you take that treasure?"
Catherine looked up at him, and met his gaze fully, her eyes showing that she was not lying. "No. Grave robbers had already been in there ahead of us. The only things of value that Andrew and I found were these statues, and since they seem to have served their purpose, we decided to take them." She smiled slightly at him. "I have a lot more respect for the dead than that, Ardeth."
Ardeth bowed his head in shame, realizing that he might have accused her of being another grave robber. "Forgive me, I did not intend to accuse you."
She did not reply, merely gave him a nod, and then she closed the lid of the crate holding the statue, and stood up, turning her attention to the other, smaller crates.
Ardeth did not - could not - understand her. It baffled him that she was always so calm and cool, poised and collected. There was something about her exterior that seemed hard and flinty, as if she had wrapped herself in stone, yet on the inside he sensed that she was much softer than she appeared to be.
She was by no means beautiful, but she intrigued him more than any woman he had ever met.
Realizing where his thoughts were going, he focused instead on the seemingly endless wonders that Catherine and Andrew pulled out of the crates. First there was a graceful bronze statuette depicting a horse in mid-gallop - Ardeth found the interpretation well executed and very beautiful indeed. Another crate was filled with art pieces and jewelry shaped from jade, which, as Catherine had said, was a valuable gemstone in China. A third crate had scrolls filled with paintings and rolls of painted silk, also covered in paintings, depicting life in the Imperial Court.
Another crate yielded more foreign pieces - treasures that Catherine and Andrew had collected from their five-year journey through the jungles of Mexico. Most of the treasures consisted of clay pottery which, while nowhere near as delicate as the porcelain pieces from China, were nonetheless very intriguing, if only for the designs on the outside; jade and greenstone jewelry; weapons; gold; and silver.
And then Catherine suddenly paused, her hands stilling over a particular box. "How did this get here?"
Andrew looked over his shoulder from where he was replacing the lid on one of the crates, and Ardeth noticed him pale visibly. "I thought we had gotten rid of that!"
Alex stood beside Catherine, and he did not seem quite impressed by what was inside the box. "It's only a mask. Why are you so worried about a mask?"
Rick's eyes narrowed visibly. "What mask?" He walked up to where Catherine and his son were, and picked up the box that was sitting in Catherine's lap. He looked at the contents briefly, and Ardeth noticed Rick's shoulders tense in worry.
Ardeth felt tension beginning to build. "What is wrong, my friend?"
"Oh nothing, just what seems to be another cursed artifact," Rick threw back sarcastically as he handed the box to Ardeth so that he and Evie could have a look.
It was, as Alex had said, a mask. It looked as if it had been cut from one large piece of jade. The mask was human-like, though the eyes were slanted like those of a cat's, and the lips parted in a grimace that revealed feline teeth. There were two small holes drilled into the sides of the mask, presumably for the ties that would hold the mask in place. The eyes had two holes punched out of the stone, just large enough for the irises of a person to stand out against the green of the jade.
Curious, he touched the tip of the mask's nose with his finger, and felt an icy cold rush up his arm and through his spine. He swiftly drew back, not liking the feel of the stone.
Evie took the box from him, stared at the mask, and then looked up at Catherine. "Cathy?"
Evie's words barely registered in Catherine's mind; she was too busy staring at the box in her hand.
She was sure she had left that box behind. She was sure she had left specific instructions that she would not be taking the box with her.
But what was it doing here?
Maybe it had followed her? She shook the thought out of her head. No, that was impossible. Inanimate objects simply did not get up and follow people around.
Then again, she had been witness to stranger things before, so why was she denying the possibility?
"Cathy, are you alright?"
Catherine snapped to attention, and gazed at Evie, who was looking at her with an inquiring yet worried gaze. She smiled, and laughed uneasily as she took the box from Evie's hands. "Yes, I'm fine..."
"And what is wrong with that mask?" Evie pursued, seemingly intent on getting to the bottom of this mystery - something that was so typical of her. "Why did Rick say that it was cursed?"
"Because I know a cursed artifact when I see one, and that is one," Rick retorted. He looked up at Andrew and Catherine. "So you would be the ones who found the tomb of the Jade Priest [1]."
Catherine winced at Rick's words. She gave him a small, weak smile. "I am glad to see that you know your artifacts, Mr. O' Connell."
"Now wait just a moment here," Jonathan interrupted then, and Catherine was glad that he had broken the tension. "What is all this talk about a Jade Priest?"
Catherine sighed, and bowed her head. She really did not want to talk about it at the moment, not when Rick seemed to be so angry with her. And if he did indeed know about the Jade Priest, then he would most certainly know about the story attached to it.
A warm hand placed itself on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Andrew gazing at her in a sympathetic, comforting manner. "I'll tell them the story."
Catherine smiled up gratefully at him, and nodded as she sat down. She listened as Andrew told them the story of how they had found the tomb of the Jade Priest, without even knowing what it had been.
She closed her eyes, remembering how the day had been. They had been slicing through the jungle for three days, ever since they had found the holy well on the day she had written her last letter to Evie. He spoke of how they had followed the trail, chopping and slicing their way through the growth, until they found the small temple. He related to them how they had dodged the booby traps to reach the burial chamber deep within. He told them, too, how they had taken out the artifacts carefully, one by one.
He told them how one of the diggers, intent on stealing the mask, put it on, and was never seen again.
"So what does this mask do?" Catherine looked up as Alex picked up the mask in both his hands, before flipping it over to gaze intently at the inside surface.
Catherine decided that she would be the one to explain. "The legend goes that only those of the pure of heart, or born of the gods, can ever put that mask on. It allows you see between the realms, to see the spirits of the dead as if they were alive."
"So it allows you to see ghosts?"
"More than that: it lets you see people's souls." She stood up, and gently took the mask from the boy's hands, placing it back into the box and shutting the lid. "But the vision comes at a great price, for in repayment, the mask itself demands that you give it a piece of your soul. The longer you use it, the more of your soul is taken away."
Ardeth spoke up then. "And what happens if those who are not of the pure of heart, or born of the gods, put on the mask?"
It was Rick who answered. "They disappear. Legend has it that they're taken to a place between life and death and are stuck there forever."
Catherine nodded. "It is much worse than dying, because with death, at least you are aware of your fate. For the poor souls who have tried to peer between the realms for foul purposes, they may not even know that they are already gone from this world. Death is kinder, indeed, in comparison to that."
"But the curse only extends as far as that," Andrew added. "As long as nobody puts on the mask, then nobody will be harmed. It is as simple as that."
Rick frowned. "Still, I don't want that thing anywhere in my house. I've heard enough stories about that mask, and about the Jade Priest." He glanced at the crates. "What else from his tomb do you have in there?"
Evie glared at her husband. "You do not have to be so rude, Richard O'Connell," she told him. "Cathy is only trying to be nice."
"It's all right," Catherine said, waving a hand and smiling. "I understand his apprehension with regards to the mask, and to anything that comes from the Jade Priest's tomb. If you knew the stories as well as I, Andrew, and Rick do, you would feel the same way about the mask."
"Well then why don't you tell me about them?"
Catherine shook her head, taking the box with the mask, and closing it. "Someday, maybe, but not now." She placed the box back inside the crate from which it had emerged. "For now, I will keep it with me, until I can have it shipped back home."
Jonathan wrinkled his nose. "And have it collect dust on some shelf? If you don't want it, why don't you just sell it? It will be more helpful to you that way."
"And have someone else with less that scrupulous reasons get a hold of it?" Catherine gave Jonathan a small, wry smile. "I do not think that would be a wise thing, Jon."
"But if what you tell me is true, then the mask will only harm those who want to use it for evil purposes! If that were the case, then the mask can take care of itself perfectly well! What's the harm in selling it?"
"Because we are not sure of the true nature of this mask," Catherine explained. "With things like this, it is never always a sure thing, that it will take the soul only of those who are evil. The world is never really as simple as that."
No, it's never as simple as that, she thought, biting her lip. She thought of England, of Erica, of her father...
She shook her head. Now was not the time for such memories.
"Well as long as she keeps that thing with her and away from Alex, I guess they can stay here."
Catherine looked up, and noted that Rick had a grudging but almost resigned look on his face, while Evie had a smile that seemed to say she had just won a very important argument.
Evie smiled at her. "Cathy, would it be all right with you if I kept that mask somewhere safe? That way you won't have to worry about certain people getting their hands on it when they should not." Here, she glanced pointedly at her brother and her son.
Alex blinked a moment, and then shot his mother an indignant look. "Mum! I learned my lesson with the Scorpion King's bracelet! I'm not picking up another artifact like that again!"
At more or less the same time that Alex spoke up, Jonathan did the same: "Now Evie, you couldn't possibly be thinking that I, your darling brother and one of Cathy's dearest friends, would dare to steal such an important artifact!"
Catherine could not help but laugh. She was quite certain about Alex' sincerity, and she felt that Evie knew that too, but as for Jonathan...well, she could never be quite certain about how sincere he was at times. Even Evie would agree to that.
"Very well then," she said with finality, handing the box to Evie. "You can put it wherever you see it."
Evie nodded. "Don't worry a thing about it, Cathy. I'll make sure it's safe."
[1]= I wish to state here that there is no such thing as the Legend of the Jade Priest. That was just something I made up myself, and will get explained further at some other time, perhaps. However, the mask was based on a real thing: a priest was indeed found in one of the Mayan temple-pyramids in Mexico with a jade mask. While that mask had completely human features, I added catlike features as based on an Olmec greenstone mask that had the features of a jaguar combined with the more human features. And finally, the story of a jade mask that allows the wearer to see into the spaces between life and death is based on a similar concept found in Anne Rice's book Merrick.