The Word of God (9 page)

That comment both intrigued and worried Peter. It meant that something very serious was going on that the authorities wanted kept quiet. Once again he shivered with apprehension and looked up the mountain, wondering if the Devil Worshippers were lurking just up there in the bush.

Lights were turned on at the back of the ambulance. Peter stood at the rear of the group and ushered Joy and Megan to the front. The paramedics were very friendly and cheerful and chatted while they poured hot drinks and handed them around. Peter took a cup of coffee and moved to one side. Nearby the policeman was busy using his car radio. Inspector Goldstein and the knights were just visible as a dark huddle fifty paces away.

Dean and Charmaine joined him.

“What happened?” Dean asked.

“Tell you in a minute, when we are away from these blokes,” Peter replied. He waited till the others also had drinks then led them a few paces further away. They sat in a group on the grass beside the track. Capt Conkey joined them and Constable Clive stood talking to the other policeman a few metres off.

Peter briefly recounted the events up on the mountain, omitting any mention of the skeletons. When he finished he said: “What took you so long to contact the police? The sergeant we met mentioned something about more Devil Worshippers?”

“Too right!” Dean exclaimed. “Just after you left we carried all the gear up that track there behind you, along that power line and hid it all in the bush. We
were just walking back out when we heard voices up the hill. We hid till we were sure who it was. Two middle-aged people came down and got into one of the cars and drove off. We stayed hidden so as not to give them a fright.”

Peter nodded. “We met them, and another bloke, a thin, bearded bushwalker type.”

“Yeah. He came down later. But before that we stayed out of sight till the couple had driven off. We then stood up and started walking out to here when we heard a vehicle coming. We were both a bit worried by then so we hid in the grass again, just over there. It was a big grey car. Three men in black got out of it. Two wore pullovers and trousers but the third was dressed in those black robes like you see in pictures of the Grim Reaper.”

“A monk?” Peter queried.

Dean nodded. “That's what he looked like.”

“What did he look like?” Joy asked.

“Lean, mean, bald. In his forties I would guess,” Dean replied.

“Did you see his face?” Gwen asked.

Dean nodded. “Yeah. He had his hood down at that stage.”

“Cowl,” Peter corrected.

“What?”

“Cowl. That is the name of the hood that monks wear on their habits,” Peter explained.

“Who cares!” Stephen snapped. “What happened then?”

“Well, they stood and looked around, then called out. They were looking for that bloke who was here we think. When no-one appeared they did a lot of muttering and the Black Monk guy did a lot of talking on a mobile phone and ordering around. He is some sort of foreigner.”

“How do you know?” Megan asked.

“His accent,” Charmaine put in. “We could barely understand him.”

“What happened then?” Peter asked.

“That bearded guy came down and got in his four-wheel drive and left. Then the Black Monk and one of the men went off up the track and the other one sat down in his vehicle. That's what held us up. We weren't game to move in case he saw us,” Dean explained.

Charmaine supported him: “That's right. We were real scared, so we sat there for what seemed like hours, with ants crawling on us. Finally the man got out of the car again and walked along the track a bit so we crept off back along that power line track and through the bush down to a farm road. We followed that to a farmhouse back that way and phoned the police.”

“I'll bet you had trouble convincing them of your story,” Stephen added with a wry chuckle.

“We did,” Dean agreed. “Then some sergeant was put on and he believed us and things began to hum. He told us to wait at the farm so we did. Ten minutes later a cop car arrived and they drove us back to the bottom of the track here.”

“What did the bloke here do?” Stephen asked.

“He wasn't here. He'd gone,” Dean replied.

Peter frowned. “What about the monk in black and the other man?” he asked.

Dean shook his head. “Don't know. Their car was gone.”

“I was here instead,” Capt Conkey put in. “Wondering where you kids were. I was a bit worried as I didn't see how you could have gotten lost.”

“Bravo Mike- Black Monk!” Gwen suddenly cried.

Peter nodded. “You might be right,” he agreed.

“What's that all about?” Capt Conkey asked.

Gwen answered. “We have been eavesdropping on the Devil Worshipers using this radio we captured and Peter has been decoding their messages,” she explained. “They talked about someone called Bravo Mike meeting them at an RV named Trident. He must be the Black Monk.”

Peter showed his notebook to Capt Conkey.

Capt Conkey nodded approval. “That's very good Peter. You'd better show that to the police.”

“I will sir.”

Megan spoke next. “So what do we do now sir?” she asked.

“Wait till the police tell us we can go,” Capt Conkey replied. “And keep your mouths shut about this.”

Charmaine looked around. “I'm scared. I want to leave here,” she said.

Capt Conkey shook his head. “We have to stay I'm sorry,” he replied. “You are safe now, with the police here.”

Peter made his way back to the ambulance vehicle and got another cup of hot coffee. As he sipped and chatted to the men there his mind turned over what he had just heard. Several times he shivered and glanced up at the black mass of the mountain. Were the Black Monk and the Devil Worshippers up there? Or had they left before Capt Conkey and the police arrived? To clarify this he wandered back and checked timings with Dean. From that he became certain that the Black Monk must have still been up the mountain when Capt Conkey and the police arrived at the bottom.

So he is probably still up there!
he mused. It was a worrying thought.

At that moment Inspector Goldstein walked over with the two detectives and the knights. The knights and Mr Jones were placed in the Inspector's car by the two detectives, who also got in, started it up and drove off. Inspector Goldstein then called the three uniformed constables over and spoke to them for a few minutes, then walked over to where the cadets sat on the grass.

In the light from the ambulance Peter could see the man quite clearly. He looked hard and confident, very much an authority figure.

“One of you give me an outline of what went on. Start at the beginning please,” he said.

Capt Conkey started by explaining why the cadets were on a hike. He then said: “Peter, you take over.”

Peter did so, feeling a bit nervous and intimidated by the inspector. It took twenty minutes to outline the tale.

After a few questions Inspector Goldstein nodded, smoothed his moustache and said: “We will get you all back to Gordonvale at once. We will need to question you in detail. That could take some time I am sorry but it is very important. More officers are due here and there is nothing to be gained by keeping you here. You can travel in the Captain's car or in that police car. Get in now.”

“We need to get our gear first sir,” Peter put in.

“Alright, grab it and let's get going.”

“Can we get something to eat as well please,” Joy asked.

Inspector Goldstein grunted, then nodded. “At the shop on the way. Now hurry up.”

The cadets made their way along the side track, led by Dean and Charmaine, to where their packs lay in the grass. Peter grabbed Graham's pack as well as his own and carried them back. The gear was loaded into the cars and Peter moved to sit in Capt Conkey's station wagon. Joy seated herself in the back and he went to sit beside her but was forestalled by Stephen. To his surprise Peter found he felt miffed by this. By then Gwen had moved to sit on Joy's other side so he had no alternative but to sit in the front. Dean, Charmaine and Megan climbed into the back of the police car.

As Capt Conkey started the car Stephen murmured: “That's better. I am glad to get away from that place. I had a real spooky feeling there, thinking of that Black Monk character lurking in the dark.”

“Steve!” Joy gasped, plainly alarmed.

Peter was annoyed at Stephen's tactless comment but could only agree. He was very glad to be in the car and driving away from the Pyramid. As the car turned onto the highway he looked back up at the black bulk of the mountain
and shivered. He did not want to admit he was scared but knew he was.
The Devil Worshipper warned us that we would pay for interrupting the sacrifice to Satan; and that Black Monk is somewhere out there in the darkness
, he thought.

As the car raced along the highway and across the concrete bridge over the Mulgrave River Peter sat back and tried to relax. He felt very tired but also intensely keyed up. His mind went over and over the events of the afternoon. It all seemed quite incredible, like a nightmare come true. Devil Worshippers!

He was brought back to earth by the cars stopping at the Service Station at the edge of town. As they climbed stiffly out Inspector Goldstein called them into a group.

“Hurry up please. And remember what I said about not saying anything. Not one word. Not even a hint. This is too important to spoil by loose talk. Now off you go.”

Peter followed the others across the concrete apron to the brightly lit shop. It gave everything an air of unreality. This was normality, not the revolting horror they had witnessed up on the mountain! Shaking his head as though to clear it he pushed the glass door open and went in.

The lady behind the counter smiled at them. “You lot look a bit tired,” she said. “Where have you all been?”

“Up the Pyramid,” Stephen replied.

“My, that's a long climb. Did you just get down?”

“Yes.”

Peter stood and studied the price lists, listening with half an ear, worrying that one of them would say something. No-one did and ten minutes later they were all outside again with hamburgers, milk shakes and hot chips. Inspector Goldstein strode impatiently up and down and urged them to hurry.

Feeling just a little irritated by this Peter walked over to Capt Conkey's car. As he got there a sound attracted his attention and he looked up.

“Helicopter,” Stephen called, pointing to the lights passing high overhead.

Gwen looked up. “Yes. I wish it had been four of five hours earlier,” she added. “I feel absolutely exhausted.”

They stood for a moment and watched the helicopter. As it got closer to the black bulk of the Pyramid it turned on a powerful searchlight which lit up half the mountainside. The beam swept up and down the main ridge and then settled on the very crest of the mountain. Peter strained his eyes to see if he could detect torches but saw nothing.

Stephen chuckled. “Graham should get his chopper ride then,” he commented.

“I hope it isn't the same aircrew that helped us when we were marooned up
the Mulgrave by floods a few years ago,” Peter replied. “They might tell him to stop making trouble and to walk down.”

Stephen went to make a smart comment but was cut short by Inspector Goldstein.

“Stop wasting time and get in the car you two!”

“Yes sir,” they both replied.

“Grumpy bastard!” Stephen muttered as they climbed in.

The cars started up and drove off along the main road into Gordonvale. As they did Peter looked back over his shoulder to watch the helicopter as it moved into a hover over the top of the Pyramid. He could picture the scene and was glad it was Graham and not himself that was up there.

He thrives on this sort of stuff
.

Knowing that Graham's ambition was to join the army when he finished school with the aim of being a commando or a member of the Special Air Service Regiment he nodded.

This sort of experience will tell him whether that is what he really wants to do
.

A couple of minutes later they were at the Gordonvale Police Station. Peter had a fleeting glimpse of the deserted main street and of the lights of the sugar mill across the park before the cars were driven into the back yard and parked. They were led in through a back door and seated in a bare room with only chairs and a table in it. The constable seated himself at the table. Inspector Goldstein told them to wait and went through into another room. They heard him talking on the phone for a while.

When he returned he spoke to Capt Conkey. “OK Captain. You'd better contact these kids parents and see if they wish to be present during the interviews, although I would prefer they were not, if you are willing to sit in with them. The fewer people who know about this business at the moment the better.”

Capt Conkey scratched his head. “What is the legal position? I mean they haven't done anything wrong have they?”

“There has been a fight in which a man has been badly injured. That needs to be considered,” Inspector Goldstein replied.

Peter felt a cold chill grip his heart. Joy let out a gasp. It had not occurred to him that they might be in trouble for what they had done. It was a very sobering thought.

Inspector Goldstein shocked them even more with his next statement. “In fact I am prepared to hold you all in protective custody rather than compromise security on this. So, if you will sit in Captain, that would be best.”

Capt Conkey was plainly unhappy with this. He shook his head and stood
up. “I think we'd better discuss this further. I would like the legal position clarified.”

“OK, in the next room,” Inspector Goldstein said. He left the room, followed by Capt Conkey. Peter noted that the uniformed policeman remained with them, although not obviously on guard.

“This is silly!” Gwen snapped. “I want my parents.”