Tyniec, Poland
They managed to book a last-minute flight to Warsaw for the next afternoon and spent all night researching everything they could about the Benedictine Abbey, where the church of St Peter and Paul was located, and its history. The abbey was located in the village of Tyniec and was almost 1000 years old. It was founded by King Casamir in 1044 and had survived the Mongol invasion in 1259, and then again when the Swedish invaded Poland in the 17th century when the village itself was completely destroyed.
It has been built and rebuilt many times during its time and was eventually destroyed by fire in 1816 and was abandoned until just before World War II broke out in 1939 when eleven Belgian monks moved into the Abbey. Since then it was remodelled in 1947.
While there was no information on any Monks visiting the Benedictine Abbey, which was not surprising to either Nate or Sully since it was rare any institute held records from so long ago. They caught a break with Berne Abbey but didn't expect it lightning to strike twice. They were heartened by the fact the Abbey existed at the same time the mysterious Monk visited Berne Abbey, though Nate was a little weary that anything of value was gone because of the many times it had been invaded, destroyed and remodeled.
The flight to Warsaw took two hours and half an hour after that they were in their rental car and leaving Frederic Chopin Airport heading towards Krakow. By the time they arrived at their hotel in downtown Krakow three hours later it was dusk, too late to visit the Abbey. With nothing else to do and the first time either of them had been to Poland, they decided to explore. Krakow was an old but beautiful city, dotted with centuries old churches, castles, museums, art galleries and known for its ties to Polish culture, academia and artistic pursuits. Nate and Sully walked the streets, enjoying the nightlife despite the brisk air. They stopped at a food van for Zapiekanka, an open baguette topped with mushrooms, cheese and toasted until the cheese melted.
That, along with a Polish craft beer and they were ready to turn in for an early start the next morning. They were only a block away from their hotel when Sully said, "Nate, we got a tail."
Nate nodded, "Black shirt and pants?"
"That's the one."
"Tourist scam, maybe?"
Sully shrugged, "Could be, but he has been following us since Wawel Castle."
"No one else knows we are here."
"Unless the Bishop Museum found us."
They turned onto the street where their hotel was located.
"We used fake names and fake passports, I'm not sure the museum has the kind of clout to get the 'policja' involved this early," Nate said glancing back. "And I don't think he is police."
They continued on past their hotel and eventually stopped to look in the window of a clothes shop, it was shut but as they pointed out different types of clothing the tail, with no other choice, continued past them.
In the reflection of the window, Nate took note of the man as he walked past. He didn't look familiar and he certainly wasn't American. He was in his 40s, silvering hair, unshaven, and an Eastern European appearance. They continued looking in the window until the man disappeared out of sight and then headed back towards their hotel.
"He's definitely not from the museum and definitely not American," Nate said nodding to the doorman who opened the door for them.
"You got that right" Sully replied. "Which begs the question, who else knows we are here?"
Nate said nothing as they crossed the lobby and entered the elevator.
The next morning, they drove their rental the 30 minutes to Tyniec keeping one eye on the rear-view mirror but there was no sign of a tail. Nate had a restless sleep, thoughts kept turning to the man who was following them and wondering who else could possibly know they were here, and if someone were following them did they know what they were searching for? It wouldn't be the first time he had a rival hunting for the same treasure he was and usually they were not the types to share information, or the treasure but they were the types to carry guns and leave no doubt as to their intentions to use them.
Seeing no signs of being followed allowed Nate to breathe a bit easier, he hoped it was just simply paranoia but in this line of business it was never that easy and being a little paranoid was part and parcel of the job.
Sully pulled into the Abbey car park and killed the engine. It was another brisk day, the clouds overhead threatened rain, as they go out of the car. The Abbey was surrounded by a tall wall made of stone, and they followed a stone-laid path into the main courtyard.
Due to multiple invasions, teardowns and rebuilds the Abbey was a combination of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. It was rectangular made of a blend of stone brick and rendered white that has since long faded and cracked away. The roof was a contrasting red tile that made it pop in the overcast conditions. The Abbey was built on a cliff overlooking the Vistula River, the longest and largest river in Poland that runs from near the border with the Czech Republic in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north of Poland and provided a stunning vista of the river and the lush green fields beyond.
Nate and Sully headed to the entrance to the church of St. Peter and Paul was located. The area was empty save a few German tourists and their guide who was giving them a history of the Abbey as they stood on the steps admiring the baroque two tower facade that lead into the church.
Sully nudged Nate and pointed to the brick pillars sitting on either side of the door where a statue sat on either pillar, "Saint. Peter and Saint. Paul" he whispered excitedly.
They entered through the wooden doors where they were greeted by a smiling monk wearing a plain robe.
"Dzień dobry" the monk said.
"Ehh...Cześć" Nate said hesitantly. His Polish was limited to a quick guidebook he picked up at the airport and left in the car.
"Ahh Amerykański, yes?" The monk said in heavily accented English
"Yes, you speak it?"
The monk nodded, "I do, a little. My name is Filip, I am a member of the Benedictine Abbey and a, how do you say, guide of sorts. Is this your first time to Abbey?"
Nate nodded that it was.
"Excellent. I will give you a quick history of Monastery. This Abbey was founded in 11th century and is among oldest in all of Europe."
He handed Nate a brochure that he picked up from a display stand next to him, "This has overview of history of Abbey and Tyniec."
"Now, this is church of St Peter and Paul, we are currently in narthex and through this door-" he indicated the door behind him, "-is Nave and Altar. You may take seat in pews and pray or reflect or take a look at the architecture. We do allow photos but please respect anyone else in church. Now it is quiet, but we do get busy after lunch.
He pointed to another door to his left, "This door lead to the corridor where you will find refectory, cloisters, dormitories, blaneary and museum is. Not all rooms are accessible as we like to keep privacy for fellow brothers but if you follow signs it will take you to museum which was formerly library. There you can learn more of history of Abbey and view various artefacts found over centuries from Abbey and surrounding area."
"You may also take door through church south transept which will take you outside and also to museum."
Nate thanked the man and they headed into the nave. The nave had pure white walls with high, vaulted ceilings and multiple high arches leading to the transepts at the crossing. The south transept lead outside and the north was a large alcove with a pedestal containing a bowl of holy water and two statues of Saints Nate didn't recognise. Above the two transept arches were two marble statues standing on pedestals depicting St. Peter on the left, and St. Paul on the right. Two rows of pews ran the length of the nave towards the chancel and altar. Beyond the altar, against the back wall was the altarpiece with four golden statues depicting four religious' figures. Nate immediately recognised St. Peter holding his key and St. Paul holding the bible and sword. On the outside of St. Peter was a woman holding a large quill and a pair of pliers.
"Saint Apollonia" said Sully. "Patron Saint of Dentists."
"You're kidding?"
Sully shook his head, "She was caught up in the uprising in Alexandria and was tortured by having all her teeth forcibly pulled out. Now she is regarded as the patron Saint of Dentists."
Nate made a face, "That's some dark humour."
"You're telling me."
"And this one?" Nate asked, pointing to the statue of a man on the outside of St. Paul. He had a long beard and wore a mitre headdress. One hand was holding a feathered quill and the other a crozier - a long staff with a rounded tip that looped into itself.
Sully shrugged, "No idea."
Behind the statues was a giant painting of St. Peter and Paul standing and looking up towards the heavens, above it was a sign that read:
Przyjaciele Boga
"What does that mean?" Sully asked pronouncing it as best he could.
"Not sure" Nate admitted.
Sully grunted and moved off, exploring the aisles while Nate took a seat in the front pew and pulled out his own notebook. With pencil in hand he did a sketch of the four statues and the painting behind it. Drawing what he saw was a habit he had picked up as a child and it allowed him some moments of freedom to engage in a hobby that wasn't likely to get him killed at a young age. Once he was satisfied, he stood up and walked over to Sully who was examining the statue of Jesus surrounded by golden angels or cherubs - he wasn't sure which - that sat high above the Altar in view of anyone in the nave.
"Finished, Picasso?" he said with a grumble.
Nate ignored him, Sully liked to rib him about his drawing, and asked, "Find anything?"
"Not a god-damn thing" he replied.
Nate raised his eyebrows at his friend who said, "Oh don't give me that. I'm already on the express train straight to hell."
They walked towards the door next to the transept and Nate chuckled, "Yeah, who would have thought a womanising, card cheating, thief isn't a choir boy."
"I'll have you know I was part of my church choir when I was a kid."
They exited the church and found themselves in a cloister and a small, grassy courtyard beyond. The courtyard was simple but well maintained with wooden benches evenly spaced out in a square shape. There were numerous doors leading to different areas, some roped off.
Nate snorted, "You?"
"I'll have you know I was a good, god-fearing child."
"Yeah, I'm sure you were a regular choir-boy" Nate said laughing at his own joke.
Sully gave him a little shove as they followed the cloister around the perimeter of the courtyard and found themselves in a white walled corridor with high arches and doors lining each side. Each door was labelled, they passed the kitchen, dormitories, storehouse and finally rounded the corner to find the library-turned-museum.
The museum was small with the low arched ceilings and walls made from a mixture of stone and brick. Small televisions hung from the roof displaying various historical information on the abbey and display cases were set against the walls which held some old books and tomes opened to specific pages. They were greeted by a smiling middle-aged lady who said something in Polish that neither of them could understand so they smiled, nodded and browsed around.
Nate browsed the books, but they were all written in Polish and Belgian and didn't understand them but assumed they were various religious passages from different religious texts. He moved on and examined the display cases located in the centre of the museum where it held more books as well as a variety of wooden statues of religious icons, some faded and cracked to the point of being unrecognisable and some missing limbs or heads. There were plaques beneath each statue in various languages stating who each statue was, he saw St Peter and St Paul, St Dismas, St Francis and many others. He noticed there was one there that looked similar to the last statue in the church with the beard and crozier.
"Any idea?" he asked Sully.
Sully shrugged, "I didn't pay that much attention in school."
Next to it was a replica of the sign above the painting, the one that read 'Przyjaciele Boga'
"Excuse me" he said to the lady at the counter. She walked over to him and said, "tak?"
Nate pointed to the replica, "What does this mean?"
The elderly lady looked at the sign and said in broken English, "It means - how do you say - Friends of God yes?"
Nate nodded his thanks and walked away, ducking under a low arch and found himself in a room with carved stone reliefs suspended on poles, these were old foundation stones of the Abbey before being destroyed in the various invasions over the centuries. A closer inspection told Nate they looked to be made of limestone. He exited back the way he came in and found Sully who was in the gift shop looking at small badges and other knick-knacks.
"This is a bust" Nate told him.
"There's gotta be something" Sully said. "Maybe in one of the closed off areas."
They exited the museum and were back in the open courtyard at the front of the church. A bus approached from the lower car park and parked in front of the church. The doors opened and a gang of Chinese tourists disembarked in an excited chatter, cameras strapped around their neck. An elderly man, presumably the tour guide, held up a sign and tried to quieten them down. Once he achieved that, they walked up the steps and through the doors to the church.
"It's starting to get busy around here" Nate said. "We can't go looking around any of the closed off areas until later."
They took a seat on the far end of the courtyard gazing at the entrance to the church. They sat in silence for a while until Sully suddenly turned to him, "Nate"
"Yeah Sully?"
"Everyone believes the Crown Jewels are still lost, right?"
"That's right" Nate agreed.
"Well, let's say the Jewels are here, or made their way here. There would be some sort of record about it. Sure, not every place keeps records like Berne Abbey did but everyone is going to keep some sort of records if the damn Crown Jewels were here. Maybe not when they were here in the 13th century but surely at some point it would come to light that they were here."
"What are you getting at, Sully?"
"The Jewels have to still be here!"
Nate sighed, "That's a stretch at best."
"But it makes sense!" he was getting animated now. "We have evidence they were taken by a monk from this Abbey but no evidence they have ever been seen since. So, following the logic, they are still here somewhere. Come on!"
Sully sprung to his feet and started jogging across the courtyard and up the steps, disappearing into the church.
Sighing, Nate didn't bother to point out that something could have happened between Berne Abbey and here, instead he walked after him as the first drops of rain fell.
He caught up to Sully who was speaking with Filip.
"Are there any catacombs or sub-levels here?" Sully asked him.
"That is good question. As far as I know, no. If there are any, they have been sealed off for many years, but Abbey has been torn down and rebuilt and extended and remodeled many times it's hard to know what remains and what was removed."
Sully wasn't easily perturbed by this news, "Are there any of the old floor plans of the Abbey?"
"There are some in museum, but they are recent so I am not sure they would have what you are looking for, as I said there are no known catacombs here."
He pierced Sully with his gaze, "May I ask what your interest in these catacombs are?"
"I am fascinated by the architecture of old cities and buildings, such as this Abbey and the secrets they might hold. Afterall, where best to keep a secret than buried?"
Filip smiled but Nate could tell he didn't have the first idea what Sully was talking about which was fine with him since he didn't want anyone to know what they were really looking for.
"Perhaps I could get our historian? Maybe he can help, yes?" said Filip.
"That would be great," said Sully.
Filip indicated to the church, "Please wait in church and I will get him for you."
Nate and Sully nodded and entered the church. It was empty but for a few people, the tourists having moved on to other areas of the abbey. They took a seat in one of the pews and waited.
Nate's mind turned to the problem at hand, the dead end as it were. His hand was in the pocket of his jacket where he kept the key, his fingers running over the eight sides of the bit. He tried to think logically about their situation, trying to put himself in the shoes of the monk who visited Berne Abbey. If it were him and he saw the Jewels he would take them and be off, being a monk he wouldn't have had many safe spots to hole up and thieves would have no qualms putting a knife in his back and taking the jewels. Given that the monk didn't know the Jewels were at Berne Abbey, he wouldn't have had any plan, so it was likely that the monk flees the abbey with the Jewels and heads to the only safe place he knows, this church.
Once here, what does he do? The monk surely hides the jewels from everyone else otherwise he would have been excommunicated or worse? What happens to a monk if he was caught stealing something? Nothing good no doubt.
They don't have private rooms here, just dorms so where does he hide it? A secret, safe place but where would that be? And would it still exist today?
His fingers brushed over the one of the embossed saints on the key just as he looked up at the statue of St. Peter over the left transept.
Wait a minute! The Saints! He pulled the key out of his pocket and examined the side with St. Peter on it and realised that the image of St. Peter on the key was the same as the statue of him above the transept. He was holding the key and the book in the same position, except his head was looking to the left on the key, towards the cylinder, rather than stoically forward as the statue did.
Flipping over the key, the image of St. Paul was the same as the statue, all but the head, which was looking up, as if looking at the roof.
"Hey Sully, I might have something," Nate called over to him where he was studying the gold inlaid pulpit near the left transept that looked like the front of a boat with a golden St. Peter and St. Paul standing on rocks on either side of it.
"What is it?"
He tossed him the key, "Don't you think the pictures of Peter and Paul on the key look strikingly similar to the statues above the transepts?"
Sully caught the key and studied the embossed images and then turned to look at both statues.
"They're the same."
"Except for the position of the heads, they're exactly the same."
An idea came to Nate, looking around and seeing no one else he said to Sully, "Hey, keep an eye out for the historian or Filip. And keep the key out of sight."
"What are you doing?"
"Just make sure no one comes in."
Nate headed back towards the entrance where a loft sat over the doors, moving to one side of the arch, he jumped and grabbed on to the impost - the extruding ledge that was similar to a cornice - of one of the arches. Hanging there he looked up saw a golden circular pilaster capital with striations running up and down it. From his position, Nate tensed his muscles and planting his feet against the pillar, he lunged up and grabbed onto the pilaster around the sides. His feet scrambled until he found purchase on the same impost he just jumped from. The stone balustrade was now at shoulder height and Nate grabbed onto it and hauled himself up and over it and was now on the loft. There was a door to one side that Nate assumed were stairs leading to the main floor. To satisfy his curiosity he tried to turn the ringed handle and found it locked. He smiled inwardly knowing if it was unlocked, he would have found it amusing.
The church was now empty, the only sound was the soft pattering of the rain on the tiled roof, and Sully walked down the aisle and positioned himself at the door, ready to play interference if anyone tried to enter.
Moving to the right side of the loft, Nate climbed onto the balustrade where it abutted against the aisle pillars. Just above him was another pilaster capital, this one a rectangular set that followed a convex square set with the middle part jutting out. This pilaster depicted the face of a cherub with the sun behind it. Nate clambered across the pilaster and reaching up, he grabbed onto a transom ledge and pulled himself up, the toes of his feet on the small, curved ledge jutting out from the arch.
There was a gap before another transom and Nate reached out and grabbed a hold of it as he did with the previous one. He pulled himself across, his feet shuffling across the arch ledge.
Once he was safely on the second transom, he shuffled around until he was on the other side of the edge. Opposite and just a bit down was another pilaster. Nate pushed himself off, leaping across the three-metre gap, and caught the pilaster but lost grip with his right hand.
"Whoa-oa" he yelped, his left hand tightly gripping the head of the cherub.
"Nate, you ok?" Sully called out.
Nate didn't answer, he was in an awkward position now, hanging by one hand with his body facing the wrong way, wrenching his shoulder. He rotated around and gripped the edge of the capitol with his free hand. He then pulled himself up until his hands were gripping the top edge of the pilaster. There was no purchase for his footing, so he slowly moved across the capitol in a shuffling, side-by-side motion with his hands until he reached the end and was able to get his footing on the lip of the arch.
He was about four or five meters above the floor now, not enough that a fall would kill him, but it would break his legs, ankles, feet, back and probably put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. But he was experienced in this sort of thing and had been in much tougher, and much higher, situations and he still lived to tell about it.
That would be a cruel outcome as he thought back to all his other situations and the near misses that would have ended in certain death. He wondered if that would have been preferred compared to life in a wheelchair.
"Nate" Sully called. He appeared from underneath the loft.
"Yeah I'm ok" he called back.
Sully was about to say something when his head whipped back towards the door, and Nate heard the distinct sound of the church door opening. Sully rushed back and Nate heard the muffled sounds of someone speaking.
"Yes, not a problem at all" he heard Sully say.
The door closed and Sully returned, "The historian has been held up."
"Lucky for us" Nate muttered and continued on his path. He was halfway to the statue of St. Paul, and the route he took was the same, across another pilaster, up to the two transoms above the second arch and down to the third pilaster.
As he reached the third pilaster, he grabbed the head of the cherub. Suddenly there was a loud CRACK that echoed through the empty church and the head fell with a thud to the ground.
"What was that?" Sully called out.
"Uh...a baby's head," Nate said securing himself to the remains of the cherub.
"What!?"
Nate moved on. He was holding on to the transom above the transept arch where the statue of St. Paul was.
"Just move it before someone comes in and finds it" he grunted as he grabbed a hold of the statue. He tested it to see how well it was fixed and found it didn't move at all. Satisfied it wouldn't fall off its base, Nate grabbed a hold of the hand holding the sword and pulled himself up. As he did that, Sully hurried down the pews and picked up the fallen head, just as the door to the transept opened.
Nate tensed as he held on, one foot on the base of the statue and the other tentatively on the lip of the transom and his arms were around the body of St. Paul in an embrace as awkward as if he were hugging a mother-in-law.
"Hey, how's it going?" he heard Sully say. Nate looked down and saw he was holding the head behind his back and talking to someone unknown who had entered from the cloister.
"Good, and you?" said a voice in English, most likely American or Canadian.
"Yeah I'm good, good" Sully replied. "You're American?"
"We are" the voice replied. "From Montana. You?"
"Oh here and there" Sully replied. "Most recently Hawaii though."
Nate looked down and saw a middle-aged couple soaking wet from the rain walk into the crossing, wet footprints trailed behind them as their shoes squelched on the tiled floor.
"Hawaii eh? Bit of a change in the weather for you then?" the man said.
Sully chuckled, "You're not kidding, I had to go deep into the wardrobe to get something warm enough and even then, I had to whack it with a stick a few times to get the dust off!"
The couple chuckled and Nate suppressed a groan as his arms and legs began to shake from being held prone for so long. He readjusted his positioning as best he could, bringing much needed relief.
Below, Sully held his hand out towards the narthex door and the couple started walking in that direction.
"What brings you to Poland?" he asked them.
"Just visiting family," said the lady. "They live in Krakow and suggested here to be a good place to visit."
"Well they're not wrong. It's a beautiful place." Sully said, pouring on the charm. "Did you know it was founded in the 11th century."
Sully continued talking about the church and what he knew of the history until they reached the door and he said his goodbyes and to enjoy the trip and shut the door. He came back out from under the loft and gave him the hurry up motion with his hand.
Nate sighed, somehow Sully had managed to sweet talk that couple out of the church without having seen any of it. He pulled himself fully onto the statue base and was now face-to-face with St. Paul.
"Alright, let's see if this is worth all the trouble" he murmured and gripped St. Pauls head and gave it a twist.
It didn't move.
Crap!
Saying a silent prayer, Nate gave it another twist putting as much strength as he could into it and suddenly the head snapped to the left. Just as the head turned there was an audible grinding sound heard behind the walls, like that of gears moving.
Sully laughed in triumph, "You see, Nate. I told you."
"Did anything happen?" Nate asked.
He watched Sully look around from his spot below in the transept, "I heard something moving around, but can't see anything. I'll take a look. You keep going to St. Peter."
The rain was coming down harder as Nate looked from his position around the church trying to work out the best route to the other statue.
Being so high up and with no easy way down, he could head back the way he came towards the loft and take an identical route on the other side to get to St. Peter. He dismissed that option. It would take too long and they had no idea how long before someone came in and spotted them. Sully might be a smooth talker, but it wouldn't work every time. The alternative was to continue in the same direction going around the ambulatory. There were no pilasters around it, rather evenly set out imposts and tall, arched insets with small arched windows at the top. His eyes scanned around it, mapping out a route and decided it would be quicker but more difficult. Nate felt he had no choice, he had to take the route around the ambulatory. The Historian would arrive soon, and it must be close to closing time for the tourists.
The rain seemed to have increased, turning into a downpour as Nate leapt from the statue of St. Paul to an impost a foot away. He shimmied across and leapt across to another impost and then he reached the first inset. Here the wall was uneven with pieces of mortar and shattered stumps of wood stuck out. They were painted white to try to hide from any but the most eager of eyes and Nate realised that this must have been an old part of the church that was torn down, or destroyed in one of the many invasions this church has witnessed. They probably never removed the wood because it was load bearing or it was simply too hard to remove back then. Either way, it was convenient for Nate who reached up and grabbed a piece of mortar and pulled himself up, reaching for another. It was just like a rock-climbing wall albeit an untested and potentially dangerous rock-climbing wall. He climbed up three more pieces of mortar before reaching the stump of wood and hung from it then he reached across and grabbed hold of the impost on top of the window.
Now he was almost at the top of the roof of the chancel and any fall here would certainly kill him. He pushed that thought from his mind and concentrated on his next move. Shimming across the impost he leapt sideways and tried to grab hold of piece of mortar but as his hands closed on it and it took on his weight, it crumbled, and he fell.
His hands scrambled around the wall reaching for anything and found purchase on another piece of jutting mortar. Thankfully this one held as he heard the sound of the broken piece smashing on the wooden choir below.
"You alright, kid?" Sully called.
"Yeah...yeah" Nate breathed. He steadied himself, planting his feet against the wall and both hands on the mortar piece and he moved, hand-over-hand from mortar piece to mortar piece to another impost. Then slowly around the outer edge of the chancel, over the altarpiece at the back of the altar and back around over the choir chairs. He finally reached the last impost before the statue of St. Peter. The gap spanned two feet and there were no hand holds to use to get to the statue.
"Alright, here goes" Nate said, and he tensed and leapt. His fingers brushed the legs of St. Peter and slid down, but he managed to grab on to the statue's base. Nate hung from the statue, momentum causing his legs to swing side-to-side, but he had a solid grip on the base. With his right hand he grabbed a hold of the leg of St. Peter and then grabbed the other side of the leg with his left and slowly he began pulling himself up, shuffling his hands up the legs of the statue until he was hugging the waist and his knees were on the statue base.
"Excuse me, Peter" Nate said as he stood up, arm around the shoulder of the statue to keep his balance.
A crack of thunder echoed around the church and the rain seemed to come down even harder pounding the roof so hard Nate thought it was going to collapse. Nate looked for Sully and found him watching from the crossing, apparently having abandoned his post at the entrance. He yelled something up, but Nate indicated he couldn't hear with the sound of the rain reverberating around him.
"Alright, here goes nothing" he said gripping the head of St. Peter, one hand behind the head and one under the chin. He strained as he pushed up from the chin but finally the head snapped up.
Unable to hear anything, Nate looked down and saw Sully dancing excitedly calling out something and pointing into the transept.
Best get down there and see what happened, he thought.
From the statue, he leapt over to a pilast and shimmied across, beneath was a cherub pilaster that he dropped down onto and then he dropped to the floor, his feet thudding against the tiles.
It's always easier getting down than climbing up, he thought, dusting himself off. Suddenly Sully was at his side, his face animated like a kid on Christmas, "Have a look" he said.
Nate followed him through the altar and choir to the altarpiece.
"Look!" Sully pointed. Where the 'Friends of God' plaque used to be, was now a star-shaped keyhole.
"Well I'll be damned" Nate said, his hand immediately going to the key in his pocket, "Shall we?"
"By all means." Sully moved aside while Nate hoisted himself up on to the stone altar table. He was face-to-face with the painting of St. Peter and Paul, but the keyhole was still too high for him to reach.
"Sully, give me a lift, will you?"
Sully climbed onto the altar table and crouched down next to Nate then he cupped his hands and Nate placed his foot in it and Sully lifted him up to the keyhole.
"Christ kid, either I'm getting older or you need to lay off the candy."
"Bite me" Nate said. He supported himself with one hand against the painting and eyed the keyhole. It definitely had the same shape as the key in his hand.
"Here goes nothing" he said to Sully as he inserted the key.
It fit!
He twisted the key clockwise and felt it catch on something, then he pushed it in and rotated it counterclockwise. There was a brief moment of resistance and then the wall started vibrating and there was an audible rumbling and grinding and what sounded like gears rotating coming from behind the altarpiece.
Sully laughed, "There we go."
The sound reverberated around the altar and choir as Nate dropped down to the stone table. The grinding stopped and the painting of St. Peter and Paul swung inwards.
They looked at each other and then Nate pushed the painting further open revealing a dark space.
"Sully, give me your lighter."
He handed Nate his zippo lighter and flipping back the lid, Nate flicked it once, twice before it caught. He poked his head in the space behind the painting.
"Well?" Sully said impatiently. "Any Jewels?"
Nate pulled his head back out and flicked off the lighter, "No jewels. But there are stairs leading down."
"Well, let's get going."
Nate held up his hand, "Sully, we're not prepared. We don't have the right equipment to explore...whatever this is."
Sully's eyes blazed, "Nate, goddamnit! Get going or get out of my way!"
Nate frowned, "Alright, alright. Calm down geez."
While Sully had his moments, this was out of character. He could be impatient, especially when it came to treasure, but he never went in guns-blazing without being at least a little prepared.
They had no idea where these stairs led. It could be an old cellar, or it could be catacombs or, hell, it could lead to hell for all Nate knew and going in without a torch, or rope was suicide.
Sully sighed, "Kid, we don't have a lot of time here. As soon as they discover this door, they're going to kick us out and shut this place down and we'll never get to the jewels."
Nate considered, Sully was right, even with his outburst and the idea that the treasure was somewhere down there was alluring but he wasn't fully comfortable with going down without any equipment.
"What about the Historian?"
"He came by while you were climbing, and I told him what we were looking for. He said he would look but it would take a while, so I gave him some fake details and he went away. I tried to tell you this before"
Nate grinned, "Always the quick thinker." Finally, he relented, "Alright Sully. See if you can seal the entrance, I'll look at the side door."
While Sully went to secure the entrance, Nate turned the deadbolt on the side door and then dragged one of the pews over. It was slow going, the wood creating a screeching sound that would surely draw everyone in the abbey over, but finally he got it set against the door.
It wouldn't hold anyone back for long, but it should give them enough time. Sully returned having secured the doors horizontal bolt as well as the vertical ones.
They returned to the altarpiece, the gaping black maw as unwelcoming as a father meeting his daughter's new boyfriend.
"Ready kid?" Sully asked, flicking his lighter on.
"Let's go," he replied and followed Sully into the secret room.