Chapter 53: Midnight Tours and Active Dinosaurs

Marie and Elise, having a stressful evening of being kidnapped, slept in the next day. Dawn came and woke them around 2pm, stating that she had a meeting with someone at the Museum at 5pm, and they should come with and then they would do the night tour, if they were both still up for it. Marie and Elise, after tea and coffee respectfully, stated that as long as Marie wasn't overly stimulated, they should be up for a tour. They would also monitor Marie's health for a concussion. Dawn also reported that she was able, after about thirty minutes on the phone and throwing names out, to get a reserved spot to park her car. Which meant that they would be able to drive into London. Dawn was still fretting about them, mostly Marie, but drove into the city at around 3:30 pm to try and head off traffic.

"Good afternoon, we have an appointment with Mr. Ardeth O'Connell," Dawn greeted.

Elise and Marie looked at each other with wide eyes. "Sure! I'll get a hold of him for yeh!" the man said before picking up the phone and dialing a four digit number.

Marie leaned closer to Dawn then and said quietly, "Did you say Ardeth O'Connell?"

Dawn grinned and nodded. "I was wondering if you'd recognize the name. According to my research, he's the grandson of Rick and Evie O'Connell."

"That's so cool!" Elise's voice was quiet, but had gone up several octaves.

"He's on 'is way out," the old man said with a smile.

They only had to wait for a couple of minutes before an older gentleman in his mid-sixties emerged from a narrow hallway to the right. He flashed a bright smile at them and held out a hand to shake. "Ms. Summers, I presume?," he gripped her hand firmly with a tanned, rough, boney hand. "And who are your friends?"

"This is Elise Jirele and Marie Johnston. They're from America," Dawn introduced them.

"Ah, from across the pond," Ardeth smiled. "Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He nodded his head at them genially.

Dawn turned to address the two women behind her. "I'm going to meet with Mr. O'Connell about some Egyptian antiquities for a bit. Let's meet in the gift shop in an hour?"

Marie and Elise nodded. "Sounds good, remember what I taught you though," Marie said referring to being able to sense another Erudite.

"Of course. It'll be easier with just the two of us in the office," Dawn whispered. "See you later," she said louder as she waved goodbye.

Marie and Elise chose to walk the streets around the museum for the next hour. They would be going on a full museum tour with Dawn later, so they enjoyed the nice day outside while they could. They found an ice cream vendor in Russell Square, so they bought some and then they wandered the park and surrounding streets.

Eventually they made it back to the museum. They had to wait a little for Dawn, but she found them just before the tour was to start. Mr. O'Connell would be leading the tour, and the two women were eager to see the museum come alive. "So is he an Erudite?" Elise asked Dawn when the met her.

"Oh for sure!" Dawn nodded.

"What did you say to him?" Marie asked.

"I asked him if things like the museum coming to life happened often to him. He was a bit wary at first, but then I told him some of the things I've experienced and some of your adventures, including the one yesterday, and he almost seemed relieved. Apparently he thought he was alone in these experiences."

"How sad," Elise frowned.

"Yeah, I mean I thought we were late coming to the party, but he's what, 65? That's a long time to have these experiences and think you are alone in them."

"Well," Dawn interrupted. "He did say he met one other person who was probably an Erudite, but it was such a long time ago, that he's sure they've passed away by now."

"Did he mention who they were?"

"He didn't know her well. It was a while ago, back in the early 1970s. She seemed about twenty years older than him. He said her name was Susan."

Elise frowned as she did some mental math. "That would mean she was born in the late 1920s and she would have lived through the London Blitz."

Marie's eyes widened slowly. "Wait… A Susan who was about eleven or twelve years old during the London Blitz? Any chance her last name was Pevensie?"

Dawn shook her head. "Doesn't sound familiar, but she could have married by the time Ardeth met her. You think it could have really been Susan Pevensie?"

Marie shrugged. "If he's really an Erudite the odds are pretty good actually."

The other two nodded as Mr. O'Connell called the attention of the group going on the night tour. "If you'll all gather around!" he called out. "We'll be starting our tour now."

Marie, Elise, and Dawn joined the back of the group and followed as Mr. O'Connell led them forward. The tour was really amazing. Dinosaur skeletons, talking tribal masks, statues of deities, Egyptian mummies…. All of them had come to life for the tour. At one point, Mr. O'Connell slipped into perfectly fluent Egyptian to speak with a statue of Ramesses II. Apparently Ramesses was quite an avid chess player and wanted to know when Mr. O'Connell would be available to play. Towards the end of the tour Marie spotted a statue of what looked like an Amazonian woman. She looked very familiar though. She waited until most of the tour goers had left until she approached Mr. O'Connell. "Do you speak Greek?" she asked.

"I do!" he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to ask that statue over there what her name is." She pointed at the Amazon who was smiling and waving at a couple of younger children.

Mr. O'Connell led the way over to the tall muscular woman. "Με συγχωρείτε, ποιο είναι το όνομά σας," he asked.

"Το όνομά μου είναι η Ξένα της Αμφίπολης," she replied.

"She says she is Xena of Amphipolis," Ardeth translated for Marie.

"Oh. My. Goddess." Marie stared with wide eyes at the statue. "Can you tell her I am such a big fan and she is amazing and I'm so glad I got to meet her!"

"Αυτή η γυναίκα λέει ότι είναι οπαδός σας και της δουλειάς σας. Λέει επίσης ότι είστε εκπληκτικοί και είναι στην ευχάριστη θέση να σας γνωρίσει," Ardeth said to the woman.

"Πείτε της ότι σας ευχαριστώ και ότι είμαι ευτυχής που την συναντήσατε επίσης!" Xena replied.

"She says thank you and that she is glad to have met you as well," Ardeth smiled.

Marie was grinning from ear to ear as she turned back to tell Elise and Dawn all about who she just met. Before they left though, they chatted with Ardeth a bit more and told him about their collection of knowledge about creatures and beings they had met. They promised to send him a digital copy of all the info and that they would be in touch via email soon. Ardeth wanted to talk more though, so all four Erudites went out for a late night drink. They chatted about the various things they'd seen and the possibility of more Erudites before calling it a night. The ride back to Dawn's Oxford home was quiet and both Marie and Elise were glad they weren't the ones driving. Sleep came quickly that night.