The Five-Day Dig (40 page)
Authors: Jennifer Malin
He gave her a serious look. “I’m up for any sort of collaboration with you.”
That encompassed a lot of possibilities, and he hadn’t spoken lightly. She smiled. “Good. Let’s start by lighting these candles.”
Finding a pack of matches on the altar – ironic, given Isidora’s story – they lit
the votiv
es and set them in front of the statue.
She stepped back with him to look at the figure one last time. The candles burning in the foreground reminded her again of the flaming statuette in her bathroom, but this time, she didn’t feel unnerved. The entity in front of her didn’t seem alien; she felt familiar.
That was when she realized she’d been seeing signs of the goddess all over: the tyet from her father, the painting of Cleopatra dressed as
Isis
, the cat roaming the temple, maybe even the Madonna and Child icons, including the patch of mold on the purgatorium.
Then the
Sedes Sapientiae
connection finally clicked in her brain. She looked at Chaz. “Doesn’t the name
Isis
mean ‘seat’ or ‘throne’?”
“Hm, yes. She was known as the seat of Osirus.”
“She has been speaking to me for weeks.” A sense of peace and satisfaction filled her. She would have liked to believe the spiritual signs had something to do with her father, since the tyet and the painting were connected to him, but hocus-pocus wasn’t her thing – was it?
“Not literally but figuratively,” she added. “But I’ve been seeing her everywhere.”
“If she were literally speaking to you, I’d suspect you had been drinking purple beer again.”
She smiled at him. “Me, too.”
“Are you ready to go?”
She looked back up at the statue. It didn’t catch fire, move or give any hint of having a message for her. Turning back to him, she said, “Yes.”
They started to walk away, but she paused again. “Wait a minute. Do you think they also have the scrolls from the priest’s lodging here?”
“No.”
His quick answer surprised her. “Why not?”
He pointed to the stained-glass window. “I gather that someone burned them.”
Looking at the woman in flames, she saw his point. “Oh, crap.”
“The Dark Ages happened for a reason. Maybe someday we’ll find an ancient library intact, but it won’t be here.”
As they started toward the door again, she sighed. “No scrolls. So Dunk died in vain.”
He put his arm around her. “Enza seems to believe he died because of the curse. Perhaps Dunk wouldn’t have considered that to be ‘in vain.’ ”
“He definitely went out with pizzazz, as the Italians say.”
They reached the door to the transept, and he opened it for her. With a last glance back at the statue, she exited.
Outside the church, most of the attendees had left, but Domenico stood by his car talking to a small group of well-wishers that included Will Farber. As Winnie and Chaz approached, the chairman walked over to them.
“Need a lift back to the house, Will?” she asked, feeling a new sense of charity toward him.
“Dom already offered me a ride. We’re just waiting for the rest of the group to break up.”
“We’ll see you at dinner then.” She turned away from him, then thought better of it. “Actually, I have some news that probably shouldn’t wait.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “About your brother?”
“No.”
She took a deep breath.
“It seems you’ve been more observant that I gave you credit for – more observant than I’ve been.” Looking at Chaz, she took his hand and turned back to her boss. “Chaz and I are together now. He’s been so important to me during this trip. I’ve finally acknowledged that the relationship is more than just professional.”
Chaz squeezed her hand.
Farber smiled faintly. “It took you long enough.”
She lifted her chin. “If my job is endangered, so be it.”
He shook his head, wrinkling his nose. “Our policy is that you declare the relationship; then we make sure it doesn’t interfere in our work or decisions.”
Her jaw dropped. “Then why have you been giving me so much flack about fraternizing with him?”
“Because you had to declare the relationship. If this is why you scheduled a sabbatical, it’s not necessary. Maybe you’d like to teach part-time while you work on your next book?”
Did she really have that choice? She stared at him for a moment. “I think I would.”
“Fine. We’ll work out the details when we get home.” He nodded to Chaz, then headed back toward Domenico.
As the two men fell into conversation, she turned to Chaz. “Well, how about that?”
“That was mega.” Putting his arm around her, he walked with her down the street toward where they had parked the
Punto
. “Have you decided if you’re staying in
Italy
to look after Sam? Because if you do, I want to stay, too – assuming you want me with you.”
“Oh, I want you with me.” She pulled him close to her. “But you had a point back at the hospital. Let Christina handle Sam for now. How about you and I take the Eurostar train to Rome and spend a few days wandering among the ruins in Ostia? Maybe we can generate some ideas for the new book as well as for your dissertation. We can explore the Temple of Bellona.”
“That, among other things.” He grinned at her. “
Ti voglio bene
.”
“
Anche io ti voglio bene.
” Without even checking who might be watching, she kissed him there in the street.
F
INE
Preview
A
S
Y
OU
W
ISH
A time-travel romance novel by Jennifer Malin
O
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"B
EAUTIFUL
," L
EAH
C
ANTRELL
murmured, slowing to admire the canopy of leaves arching over the path.
She had enjoyed her tour of Solebury House, but the splendor of the grounds left her spellbound.
Maybe ancestors of hers had roamed these very woods.
Maybe she felt nothing more than perfect May weather stirring her senses.
In any case, every detail of the overgrown park, from the crumbling statues to the scent of sprouting greenery, charmed her...so much that she actually felt the tingle of tears behind her eyelids.
She heard footsteps crunching in the gravel behind her and turned to see her friend Jeanine approaching.
The tall blonde glanced at her watch and let out a sigh.
"Still half an hour until the bus leaves.
It's been such a long day that I'm ready to go now.
What do you say?
Maybe the rest of the group will have the same idea, and we'll be able to start back for London early."
"But this garden is so gorgeous."
After four days on vacation, Leah had begun to wish she had a more enthusiastic companion.
Not Kevin
, she told herself when a pair of soft brown eyes sparked in her mind.
She dismissed the thought.
"I'd still like to find that spring the guide mentioned."
"What spring?"
Jeanine squinted back in the direction they'd come from, apparently trying to see the bus in the far-off parking lot.
"The one where the Druids worshiped."
She smiled, picturing the mysterious ancient people, cloaked in long robes, walking on the same ground where she stood all these centuries later.
"The guide said that our custom of throwing coins into fountains comes from primitive sacrifices to water deities.
Isn't that interesting?"
Her friend kicked a large pebble off the center of the trail.
"I guess, but why do we have to look for the spring?
Do you plan on wishing that Kevin calls the hotel tonight, begging you to catch the next flight home to Philly?"
"Of course not!"
Her smile faded, and she stared off into a grove of oak trees.
"I just found the story about the Solebury spring intriguing.
The spring was dry for almost two centuries.
Then after the heavy rains England had last month, the water suddenly started gushing again."
Jeanine stopped next to her, watching her until Leah met her gaze.
"Don't think I haven't noticed that you started wearing that cheap ring of his again."
Leah glanced down at her left hand, adorned with a tiny diamond chip set in fourteen-karat gold.
She couldn't argue with her friend's charge of cheapness, but Kevin had never called his gift anything but a friendship ring.
Of course, the trinket had always meant more to her.
"After three years of wearing a ring, my finger just didn't feel right without one.
I kept thinking I'd lost something."
"Believe me, you haven't."
Jeanine crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'd hoped this trip would help you forget that idiot.
Can't you at least open yourself up to the possibility of finding someone worthy of you?"
She didn't answer.
They'd had this conversation before and she saw no use in repeating herself.
Her friend just didn't understand the importance of a first love.
She'd never dated anyone long enough to grow really attached.
Jeanine tilted her head to one side, softening her tone.
"I'm sorry, Leah, but you have too much going for you to settle for second best.
With that cinnamon-colored hair and big green eyes, you can have your pick of men.
Why not take full advantage of our vacation and find yourself a nice English 'bloke'?"
She shrugged.
"Despite what you think, I
am
open to meeting someone new.
I just doubt that much is going to happen on a fourteen-day tour."
"Taking off that ring might help."
Jeanine's lifted eyebrows challenged Leah to contradict her.
"If you want to wear a ring, buy yourself another one, the kind you deserve.
Throw that piece of junk in your wishing well--or spring.
Whatever.
Personally, I'm too tired to walk any more.
I'll be waiting back at the bus."
She flickered a final half-smile and trampled up the path.
Leah let out a sigh and leaned back on a stretch of wooden fence.
Now that her friend had gone, she had to admit Jeanine had a point.
Unfortunately, Kevin had been a part of her life for so long that she couldn't imagine being without him.
He may have broken up with her two weeks ago, but he'd done so before and always ended up coming back.
And always left again, too
, she could almost hear Jeanine object.
Shoulders heavy, she slumped against a fence post and gazed off into the trees.
A sunlit patch of stone and mortar--almost completely camouflaged by leaves--caught her attention.
Curious, she stood on tiptoe, then squatted down, making out the corner of a small structure of some sort.
Careful not to tear the cream-colored rayon sundress she'd bought for her trip, she ducked between the fence rails and wove her way through clusters of brambles toward a leaf-shrouded clearing.
