The next morning saw a clear, sunny day with bright blue skies and a chilling wind.
"I am not dressed for this weather" Sully grizzled as they got out of their car a couple of blocks away from the Red Hedgehog House.
They headed up Szentháromság ter., past the Holy Trinity statue and the gothic-style Matthias Church with its famous bell tower onto Hess András tér where the two-storey buildings loomed over the narrow cobblestone streets. Across from the Red Hedgehog House was a square, pocket park, edged with white stone, the park contained a stone statue of Pope Innocent XI, three oak trees and park benches.
Nate, carrying a backpack, and Sully took a seat on one of the benches, they casually sat sideways, watching at the Red Hedgehog House. It was a two-storey, white brick building with a red ceramic tile roof. The front of the building had three wooden double-doors with concrete stairs leading up to them. The door on the left was open showing a little alcove for a shop selling souvenirs and postcards, the other two were shut.
The second storey had five casement windows. Between the middle window and the middle door was a stone relief with a distinctive Red Hedgehog surrounded by trees and a gold backdrop, underneath the other four windows were ornamental carved reliefs.
Beyond the building were three more buildings with the same red ceramic tiled roof that had been combined to form a 'V' shape running parallel to the two roads that split at the Red Hedgehog House.
"This doesn't look like a building that's been around for 800 years" Sully grumbled.
Nate sighed, "It was built in the 13th century and was called the House of the Relic of Saint Paul, the Hermit since it housed his body."
"Wait a minute, there was a body of a Saint in there?"
"Still might be. I don't know what happened to it" Nate said. "Anyway, the house passed the generations as the living quarters of various people and then in 1686 the last Turkish governor was killed there."
"Saints and Murders, what a place to live." Sully remarked drily.
"Yeah, regular party house" Nate quipped. "In the 18th century the owners of the place made it a tavern and a theatre house for plays, dramas and comedies. Then in the 1950s it was renovated which is why it doesn't look like a building that's been around for 800 years."
"Got ya." Sully said. "If the place was renovated then whatever Cook found would be gone?"
Nate shook his head, "I doubt it. Anything found from an English Captain or Polish brother from the 13th century would be big news, maybe not to the world but certainly to Hungary and the British and would surely be a matter of record. No I think whatever Martinus and Cook did in there, it hasn't been found."
"What's the plan then?"
"We go in, scope it out. See where a 13th century lying, thieving former member of the clergy would hide out."
A breeze blew over them, rustling the leafless trees above them.
"Can we go in now? I'm freezing my ass off here."
Nate laughed, "Let's go."
They got up and headed into the Red Hedgehog House.
They approached the door and Nate grabbed the handle and twisted but it didn't budge.
"Locked."
"Unsurprising as it is an unused, heritage listed building" Sully said sardonically.
"Well you never know," Nate said defiantly.
"Zárt! Zárt!" came a shrill voice from the souvenir shop. They both looked over to see an elderly lady with grey hair, wrinkled skin and a stooped back. She hobbled over to them repeating the same words and shooing them away.
"Can you pick it?" Sully mumbled to Nate.
Nodding, he said, "If I had some privacy."
"Leave it to me" he said and turned on his biggest, cheesiest grin. He walked up to the lady and spoke loudly, letting her know he was, yet another, obnoxious American tourist. He put his hand on her back and led her back to her shop, talking loudly, pointing to curios and asking questions even though he couldn't understand a word she said in response.
Using the distraction, Nate pulled out his picks from his jacket pocket and began working the lock. It was a standard pin tumbler lock and he had it unlocked in less than two minutes.
With the door open, he indicated to Sully he was ready, and his friend came back with a bag.
"You bought something?" Nate said incredulously.
"Yeah, pálinka. It's a fruit brandy."
Nate blinked, "You were in there for not even two minutes. How did you have time to buy something?"
"She was a real sweet talker."
"You don't even speak Hungarian!"
Sully shrugged, "What can I say, she suckered me in with that smile."
"Unbelievable" Nate muttered. "Can we go in now, please?'
"After you" Sully said with a grin.
Nate pulled the door open and slipped inside, Sully followed, closing the door behind him.
The inside of the Red Hedgehog House was gloomy, boards were nailed to the window frames and only a small amount of light was able to filter through. Nate and Sully waited a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dark.
"Pretty dusty in here" Sully remarked, running his finger along the windowsill.
"Yeah", Nate agreed. "Looks like no one has been here for years."
"Good for us."
"Definitely" Nate said, unslinging his backpack. He pulled out two torches and handed one to Sully. "Alright, let's look around this floor first. See if you can find anything that might give us a clue."
Sully turned on his torch and went to the right side, while Nate went down the middle towards the back. His torchlight ran across the hardwood flooring, each step making a thud and echo, kicking up dust around the sparse room. There were small, circular tables with white sheets draped over them and naked light bulbs evenly spaced along the roof. He came to a large stage that he assumed was used for the plays and comedies that were performed here back in the day, but it was bare now except for a thick layer of dust. Turning left he followed the stage until he came to a staircase against the wall running downstairs and besides that was a wooden bar with wooden shelving behind for displaying drinks.
He walked around to the other end and entered the bar. On the shelf were some empty bottles, he read the names:
Seven-thirty Express Blended Whiskey from Boston.
Henri Vallet Spirits.
He heard Sully approach from behind, "Anything?"
"Only some empty liquor bottles"
Sully shone his light on the bottles, "Damn, these are some high-quality drinks. It must have been a classy joint."
"Yeah maybe. Anything on your side?"
Sully shook his head, "Just some tables, a fireplace and stairs leading upstairs. You?"
"Stage, this bar and stairs going down."
"Alright, I'll check upstairs," Sully said and disappeared to the other side of the room.
Nate headed down the stairs and came to a door. He turned the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked.
He pushed the door open and found himself in a dusty, dank and dark cellar. He moved in further and his nostrils were invaded by the smell of stale booze and mould. He shone his light around, along his right were three giant wooden barrels, tapped. Nate turned the tap and a dribble of liquid poured out onto the stone floor smelling of stale ale. He moved down, swinging his flashlight left and right, scanning the cellar. Along the left wall were storage shelves, mostly empty except for more empty bottles and left-over trash. There were some boxes and crates on the bottom shelves and rats crossed his path, squeaking in terror and disappearing into cracks into the stone wall or hiding behind boxes.
He came to the end of the room where there was a huge stone fireplace with a raised stone hearth. It looked to be part of the original building with square walls and a wide lintel, it extended deep to the back where it was walled with more stone. Aside from a thick layer of dust, the hearth was clean, and Nate wondered when this was last used.
Deciding there was nothing obvious down here to lead them in the right direction, he turned to go and see how Sully was doing when the torch slipped from his fingers.
"Crap" he muttered, bending down and picking it up. Just as he was about to stand up, he stopped. Something in the light of his torch caught his gaze, it was about halfway along the right wall of the fireplace and almost right at the top. It would be impossible to see at standing height.
Nate got on his hands and knees and crawled into the fireplace, having the irrational thought that a fire will spontaneously flare up, cooking him to a crisp.
"Calm down, Nate" he chided himself.
He shone his torch over the wall and saw something scratched into the stone. It was roughly done, maybe with a knife or blade of some sort, but it looked like the letter 'A' with a crescent shape joining along the bottom and an additional horizontal stroke on the top. One the left side of it was a 'J' and on the right was a 'C'.
"Wait a minute" Nate said. "I've seen this symbol before." He backed out of the fireplace and pulled out the letter from Charles Clerke and there it was, the sextant with the initials of James Cook.
He hurried back to the stairs and yelled out, "Sully!"
There was a thudding of hurrying feet from the ceiling, dust raining down, shaken loose from the floorboards, and then from the top of the stairs.
"Nate?"
"Down here" he called out.
In moments, Sully arrived, "What's up?"
Nate indicated for him to follow and when they reached the fireplace, he said, "Take a look at this."
Crouching down, he shined his flashlight on the symbol etched into the stone.
"Is that what I think it is?"
Nate nodded, "Yep. That's Captain Cooks symbol."
Sully moved in for a closer look, "The one drawn on Clerke's letter, the sextant. So, Cook went this way."
"Looks like it" Nate confirmed.
Sully ran a hand over the symbol, "So where did he go from he-"
He pressed his fingers against the stone the symbol was carved on and it depressed inwards. There was a deep, grumbling noise and the fireplace vibrated, dust and debris raining down on them. Then there was a click and the back wall of the fireplace popped open.
Nate laughed, "A good old-fashioned secret door."
"Let's go see what the big secret was," Sully said. He pushed open the back wall and crawled through, Nate following behind.
On the other side they found themselves in a similarly designed room, thick stone walls and floor but it was empty, no shelving or casks. The room was freezing cold, and dusty and Nate wondered how long it has been since someone set foot in here. The room seemed to have survived the renovations and it was possible they were the first ones to step in here since Captain Cook.
At the far end of the room they walked down a set of creaky wooden steps leading down to a thick wooden door with banded iron running across it and an iron ring for a handle. Nate grabbed and turned the ring, the latch unlocked, and he pushed the door open with a creak, revealing a long, dark tunnel.
The tunnel resembled a mining shaft, with natural earth walls and roof, braced by timbers evenly spread. The floor had been unevenly laid with flat stones placed haphazardly along the route.
Cobwebs decorated the cross beams and again Nate was left wondering how long it has been since someone was down here.
"Watch out for any falls or, God forbid, traps" he said to Sully, and they proceeded into the tunnel.
The echo of their feet slapping the stone flooring echo around them giving Nate the sense that there were more people in the tunnel than just the two of them, but he shook off that feeling.
Don't freak yourself out!
After walking for a long time, Sully broke the silence, "Where do you think we are?"
"I think we're heading south, back under that park we were sitting at."
After another ten minutes of walking the path sloped downwards sending them deeper into the Earth.
"Geez, how far does this go?" Sully complained.
Nate shrugged, "It is a secret tunnel. I don't think they planned on making it easy."
They continued walking, the tunnel levelling out until they came to another door, similar to the one they had used to enter.
"Well this should be something." Sully said.
Nate made a face, "It's obviously something, Sully."
"Yeah but it's something. You know what I mean."
"I haven't the slightest idea what you mean" Nate smirked, "But yeah, it's something."
He grabbed the rusted iron handle and turned it. It resisted a little but then turned and he pushed it open.
"Whoa" he said.
"I told ya it was something" Sully remarked with an I-told-you-so tone.