Gate Deadlock (25 page)

‘No, thank you. I’ll call some other time.’

Could it have been a coincidence? What were the
chances that some burglars had killed Yannis now that I had made
him risk his life without even warning him? I only hoped
Christopher had nothing to do with it.

Kate was talking to me. ‘Did you know this
guy?’

‘He was the civil engineer who worked for the
Project.’ I replied, my distress unconcealed on my face.

‘Poor guy! I heard about his murder. It was
quite a shock for the local community. Crimes like that are very
rare here. Are you okay? You look pale.’

‘Kate, I need my lap top.’

‘Okay. I’ll ask your mother to bring it.’ She
called my mother and an hour later I was searching the headlines of
the local newspapers on the Internet. This was another benefit of
the Private Clinic my mother had decided to transfer me in order to
achieve the best conditions for my recuperation.

It was not difficult to find the articles on
Yannis’ murder. I shivered when I read that they had tortured him
before killing him. The police had not been able to identify the
murderers’ motive as nothing valuable was missing from his house,
although everything was in a mess. The murderers were obviously
looking for something.

I did not need to read anymore. There was no
doubt that the League had decided to get rid of him. I felt
responsible for his death, thinking that if I had not involved him,
he would be alive now. Christopher was right. I should have taken
his warnings about the Squad more seriously. But I never expected
they would get to Yannis, I had no idea how much he had risked his
life following my instructions. I felt sick at the idea that it
could have been my name in those headlines, if Christopher had not
sacrificed his life to spare mine.

The murderers were probably looking for the
plans. They must have found out that The Gateway had been
transferred on the map. Had they tortured him in order to make him
reveal the original Point-X? Yannis was tough, but I wondered how
tough he would be in front of Tex. So that meant that only two
people knew the truth about The Gateway now. Susan had told me that
the main condition of the settlement was that the Squad shouldn’t
cause any harm to me, but would that stop them? Did that put
Christopher’s life in greater danger? How could I make use of this
knowledge to both our benefit?

I had to consider all possibilities. There were
two main points I should focus on for the following months: getting
on my feet again and taking Christopher away from the Squad’s
claws. But first, I had to find a way to contact the Crusaders. It
was probably one of Plato’s tests to make me search for them, to
struggle in order to prove my dedication to the cause. I did not
know exactly how I would achieve that, but a dim light had started
to illume the dark tunnel I had to walk along.

PART 2

10.

GOING BACK

I checked the time on
my watch once again. It would take another thirty minutes to arrive
at Athens airport and then, in a couple of hours, I would be in
Corinth for the night. I was trying not to think about having to
stay in the big house by the sea, where I had spent the best
moments of my life a year ago, determined to take one step each
time, acting according to the plan I had devised in every detail
all those months of my obligatory confinement until I was able to
walk again. The next morning, with the first light of day, I would
set out on my search for the Crusaders.

A year without Christopher. It hadn’t been easy.
I had to fight against my physical endurance, against my own body.
It was my heart versus my wounded body. I had endured all those
months of physiotherapy, countless pills, too much crying,
self-pity and unbearable sleepless nights in pain and despair. But
I hadn’t given up. I had to get over the persistency of my spine to
remain immobile, as soon as possible. Christopher was running out
of time. He needed me. As the months went by, I wasn’t satisfied
with the slow progress in my movements, despite the doctors’
reassurances that I had exhibited a remarkable recovery. To me, it
wasn’t enough. Not enough to enable me to travel back to Greece and
look for him. I had to try harder. Refusing to go to university on
a wheel chair, I had taken a leave of absence ignoring my mother’s
entreaties that studying would keep me distracted from my recent
ordeal. I did not have time for studying. I didn’t have time for
anything else but how to stand on my feet. Of course, this
obsession had a cost. I had changed, become hot-tempered, remote,
and edgy. Kate had stood by me all these months, aware of my
fixation with going back to Greece. All Kate could do about it was
to persuade me not to attempt the trip until the doctors gave me
permission to do so.

And it happened. In the end of August, a year
after the accident that had cost me my baby and months of
frustration and despair, the doctor finally gave me the green
light, not without warning me of the possible dangers if I overdid
it, though. I had taken his orders seriously. Hurting myself again,
would not help Christopher.

I had managed to avoid Kate’s demands to travel
to Greece together. Kate should stay away form this. She had
accepted my flat refusal to explain to her the situation with
Christopher, probably thinking that the reason for our separation
had been another woman. I let her go along with this, as it was a
much safer and less harrowing explanation. I had bought a ticket to
Greece without telling Kate about it and here I was, just one more
day and I would be following the tracks of the man who had marked
my life so irrevocably and in so many ways.

The blond little girl next to me showed me her
book and smiled. I smiled back, approvingly. The picture of the
beach she was coloring had kept her busy for a while.

Her image made me think that I had never found
out if the baby I’d lost in the crash had been a boy or a girl.
Meaning to comfort me, my mother had pointed out how hard it would
have been for me to raise a child on my own at such a young age,
being still a child myself in her eyes. But I could not fall in
with her view of that tragic outcome although I realized she wasn’t
totally wrong. I wasn’t ready to become a mother. Besides, this
trip would have been much more difficult, if not impossible to
carry through, had there been a baby waiting for me back in London.
Then, why did I feel so empty? Why did I wake up all those nights
with the sound of a baby weeping in my dreams? Why did my eyes mist
over every time I saw one? I had never really mourned for my lost
child. I had tried to bury the grief deep inside me instead. My son
or daughter would be five months old now. What difference would it
make? Sooner or later my baby would die. How could Christopher’s
child, a time-traveler’s child, survive in this world? It would
have been much harder if I had seen that child, if I had become
attached to him or her. Would my child have Christopher’s eyes?

That’s enough!
I
told myself.
You have to stop thinking like
this. Concentrate on finding Christopher
.

Harry was waiting for me at the airport,
probably notified by Kate. My dear Kate! I should know that she
would not be fooled that easily. On the way to Corinth, I could not
resist asking Harry about the Crusaders. I was hoping that he, as a
recent recruit to the group of Confidants, would give me a lead to
the Crusaders.

‘I’m sorry Emma. I’ve had no contact with them
since that summer, since Christopher left. But you can count on me
if you need any help. You’ve come back to find him, haven’t
you?’

‘Yes.’ I nodded. It had been wishful thinking to
assume it would be so easy to track the Crusaders. I would have, as
it seemed, to deviate from my original plan to the second, less
desirable choice.

Harry offered to put me up in his house for the
night, but I refused. Standing in front of the wooden door, I felt
like Christopher’s house was inviting me in. It felt so familiar,
made me nostalgic, it made me feel closer to him. The night was
cool. Inside, the soft breeze blowing through the open window
brought back all those memories.

That night I dreamed he was lying next to me and
I was sleeping in his arms. I could hear his breath; his soft voice
whispering my name woke me up. It was still dawn and I was all
alone in the room. A sweet grief overwhelmed me and I burst into
tears, lying all by myself on the huge bed. And I cried.
Eventually, I was able to cry for my lost love, my lost baby, my
lost life.

When there were no more tears left to shed, I
tried to pull myself together, remembering it was time to set out
on my journey to him.

Checking the map on the passenger seat a couple
of hours later, I estimated it would take at least another three
hours to get to Monemvasia. Despite being quite busy, the street
was narrow, with dangerous curves that obligated me to drive very
carefully and too slowly.

Only when I saw the arresting spectacle of the
long-standing fort, I finally relaxed. I parked my car at the beach
and walked towards the medieval gate. It was late afternoon and I
felt tired and hungry, but I chose to ignore the small restaurants
and cafés, anxious about the purpose of my journey. Besides, I
could not stand looking around. It tormented me to see how
everything looked the same as last time I was there with
Christopher and yet, how everything had changed.

I found the guesthouse much more easily than I
had expected. When I saw the wooden door, I suddenly became
intimidated. What would I say to Sebastian? Was there any chance he
might already have known what had happened to Christopher? That it
was me who had been the culprit for all his misfortunes of last
year?

It was Martha who opened the door. She seemed
pleasurably surprised to see me but the hint of worry flickered in
her eyes for a second.

‘Emma! What a surprise! Come in sweetie. Is
Christopher with you?’

‘I’m afraid he isn’t.’ I said, without trying to
hide my grief caused by Martha’s predictable question.

‘Oh! Is he all right?’

I felt the strong urge to embrace the motherly
figure in front of me and burst into tears, but I managed to remain
composed. Yet, I knew that everything about me gave away the
despair that I had been trying to suppress all those months. My
uncared appearance and sloppy hair, in combination with my
bewildered face, totally revealed the graveness of the
situation.

‘He…I need help to find him. I need Sebastian’s
help. That’s why I’m here.’ I whispered, aware of the mist that
shaded my eyes. The heartbreaking morning in Christopher’s house,
the long tiring journey, the fear that Sebastian might decide not
to help me, had worn me out.

Martha opened her arms and hugged me.

‘Don’t cry, honey. It will be all right. Of
course Sebastian will help you. He’s not here now but he’s coming
tonight. You know how much he loves Christopher.’ She put her arm
around my waist pushing me softly inside the room.

‘You look so tired. You need to eat something
and take some rest. ’

I would like to believe that some food and a nap
would solve my problems and I wished Martha had known the whole
truth. If only I could share my fears with someone! The ignorant
woman could never imagine what I’d been fighting against. I tried
to keep myself calm and wiped my eyes. After that emotional
outburst I was feeling slightly relieved.

I accepted Martha’s offer for a meal with
gratitude. We sat in the backyard under the shade of the mulberry
tree where Christopher and I had dinner that night before the drink
went to my head and…
NO! Not now!
I thought. I couldn’t, I shouldn’t break now. At least not
before I found out what Sebastian’s decision would be.

Martha put me in a nice, small room that
overlooked the sea. I tortured myself once more, thinking that I
was exactly one floor below the room where I had shared all those
passionate moments of sheer happiness with Christopher.

I was half asleep when I heard the knock on my
door. I must have been in this condition for more than three hours
because I could see through the open window the golden light that
brightened the horizon as a huge sun slowly sank below it.

Martha’s smiling face showed up at the open
door.

‘Sebastian is back. You can talk to him when
you’re ready.’ Her voice sounded reassuring, but I acknowledged the
double meaning in what she had said.

‘Just give me five minutes.’ I said, popping out
of bed.

‘No need to hurry. He’s not going anywhere.’
Martha said and closed the door behind her.

I washed my face and took a few deep breaths
before leaving my room. I found Martha in the garden, watering the
big pots with fragrant gardenias.

‘He’s in the backyard.’ she shouted.

I nodded to her. I thought I was prepared to
encounter Sebastian and his reaction when I would break the news to
him, unless of course he had already been notified about
Christopher’s decision to rejoin the Squad. One way or the other, I
could foresee his fury, which would be totally justifiable in this
case. I would have to put up with his anger and stick to my goal:
persuade him to help me contact the Crusaders.

Sebastian was enjoying his
raki
in the cool evening. I felt less
brave now that I gazed the back of the old, wise man in front of
me. Hadn’t he heard me coming? He didn’t move an inch and when he
suddenly spoke to me, I instinctively flinched back.

‘So, he finally went on with it.’

Was that a question or a statement? I couldn’t
tell. I tried to find my voice.

‘Have you heard about it?’ I asked.

‘You’re here, safe and sound, so what else can
that mean?’