The Prophecy - 9. Chapter 9

"We’re getting closer to our goal," Leonard said contentedly as they joined L’Autoroute du Nord. "No bad dreams last night, Jason?" he asked with a sideways glance.

"No," Jason replied. "No dream, no voice, absolutely nothing. I slept like a baby."

Leonard gave a laugh. "My bed was very comfortable. The house is beautiful and the lady is amiable. I wonder what she sees in Lambert."

"Love moves in mysterious ways," Jason said lightly.

"Isn’t it ‘The Lord moves in mysterious ways’?" Leonard asked.

"God is love," Jason replied in a meaningful voice and then snickered.

Leonard shook his head and left it at this. A few minutes passed before he spoke again.

"Can I use your cell phone, Jason? I’d like to inform Gary on our findings and plan," he said.

"Sure," Jason replied and pointed at the cell phone holder. "You need to type the international access code and then Gary’s number."

Leonard took the cell phone. Gary answered his call. Leonard told him briefly of their day in Paris and in more detail of what Antoine Lambert had said.

"Sure," Leonard said in a confused voice. He turned his head to Jason. "What’s your number, Jason? Gary wants to call back."

Jason told him his number and Leonard spoke to Gary again. Then he ended the call and placed the phone back in the holder.

"Is anything wrong?" Jason asked when Leonard remained silent.

"I don’t know. Gary sounded strange, flustered, downright agitated. I couldn’t make anything of his talk. He’ll call back later," Leonard replied.

They drove on for a while. A black Bugatti Veyron overtook on the left.

"A Bugatti," Jason exclaimed.

"Nice car," Leonard replied absently.

Jason glanced at him. "How about a brief stop, Leonard?" he asked.

"Yes," Leonard said with a nod.

Jason drove up the drive of a motorway restaurant.

"Isn’t it difficult to drive on the right?" Leonard asked him.

"Not so much," Jason said. "I’m having no difficulties, although I’m glad we didn’t drive back last night. I was really tired."

Leonard just gave a nod. Jason stopped the car and turned to Leonard.

"What' wrong?" he asked with a concerned look.

"I can't say exactly. Gary was agitated, confused and worried," Leonard replied. "He said he needed to check on something. I must have said something that made him nervous."

"Would you like to call him again?" Jason asked.

"Let’s have a coffee and eat something first," Leonard suggested. "Then I'll call him again."

They climbed out of the car and entered the restaurant. They went to the counter and ordered coffee and snacks. Jason pulled his purse from a pocket.

"I have Euros left over from a trip to Spain," he said as he placed a few coins on the counter.

Leonard didn’t reply. He just took a cup of coffee and a plate with a muffin. Jason paid and then they sat down at a table. They ate quietly and they both winced when Jason’s cell phone started to ring. Jason pulled it out of a pocket and answered the call.

"Gary," he said. He handed the phone to Leonard.

Leonard listened for a while. "All right, Gary. I’ll talk to Jason," he finally said in a stifled voice.

He ended the call and handed Jason the cell phone. Jason gave him a questioning look.

"Bad news," Leonard said. "Lambert told us that the four monks fled to St. Bernhard’s Abbey in Hemiksem, south of Antwerp. Gary was confused. He has an excellent memory, but he wanted to double-check and he consulted his books. St. Bernhard’s Abbey was founded in 1243, long after the four monks fled St. Denis. Antoine Lambert is a renowned church historian. He must have known of this fact."

"Why did he send us to Antwerp then?" Jason asked. "We would have found out about the truth in just a few hours. I can't see why he wants to come across as a liar."

Leonard shrugged. They sat silently for a while.

"What are we going to do now?" Jason asked finally.

"Drive back to London?" Leonard asked back.

"I don't grasp it," Jason said in an angry voice. "Did he want to get rid of us? But why did he invite us to stay for the night? Why did he invite us to an exquisite dinner? He could have written a simple reply to my email: I’m afraid I cannot help you. I don’t see the point, Leonard."

Leonard leaned back in his chair and looked at Jason. "There’s more to it. I have a feeling we've touched on something dark, but so far we have only scratched on the surface. It was enough, however, to cause a disturbance. I fear we sleepwalked into something that we have not the faintest idea of."

"Sleepwalked..." Jason said. He startled, then turned his head and glanced around in the room. His look was haunted.

"What’s wrong, Jason?" Leonard asked, straightening in his chair.

"Did you hear it?" Jason asked, turning back to Leonard.

"What?" Leonard asked in confusion.

"The call. There is yet time! I heard his voice, distinct and clear," Jason said, glancing around once more.

"No," Leonard replied. His look was serious. "Jason, we need to take steps. We must finally find out what's going on. We must find out what we've gotten involved in."

"I thought this was exactly what we were trying," Jason said with a helpless gesture of his hand.

Leonard looked at Jason thoughtfully."Lambert sent us to the wrong place and he knew he did," he said. "We have touched on something, Jason. Lambert tried to stop our research."

"But where do we need to go then?" Jason asked.

"Think of the footnote in his book," Leonard said. "What does it say?"

"The abbot of St. Denis sent a letter to the king, complaining about four men who were in league with the devil and were responsible for the death of a young man," Jason replied.

"St. Denis," Leonard said.

They exchanged a look. Jason nodded.

"Yes, of course," he said. "Clear as day. Why didn't we see it earlier?"

They returned to their car and drove on. Jason turned off the motorway and followed the instructions of his navigation system. They drove back south to Saint-Denis.