The Quest

Gann replied, “No, they don’t. All gentlemen, as far as I know.” He told them, “It’s my understanding that the monks are chosen from monasteries all over Ethiopia. They understand that if they go to the black monastery, they will never leave there.” He reminded them, “Like the Atang who guards the Ark of the Covenant in Axum.” He concluded, “It’s a job for life.”

Purcell said, “I have two observations about Ethiopia. One is that this place has been caught in a time warp, and the other is that with the emperor gone, they are free-falling into the twentieth century, and not ready for the landing.”

“Perhaps.”

He asked Gann, “What has drawn you to this place? I mean, aside from your princess.”

Gann smiled, then replied, “It gets into your blood.”

Purcell looked at Mercado, who said, “It is the most blessed and most cursed land I have ever been in.” He added, “It has biblical magnificence, complete with an apocalyptic sense of doom.” He concluded, “I hate the place. But I would come back.”

“Send me a postcard.” Purcell returned to the earlier subject and said, “I think time is running out for the monks of the black monastery. They, unfortunately, can’t multiply the loaves and fishes, and history in the form of General Getachu is breathing down their burnooses. I would not be surprised if they are already gone, but if they’re not, they will be soon.”

Everyone agreed with that, and Mercado said, “I would be content with just finding the black monastery.”

Vivian said, “I would not.”

They looked at the map in the fading light as they ate some bread and dates, and Gann asked, “Do you know how long the priest was marched from the black monastery to his fortress prison by the soldiers of Prince Theodore?”

Mercado replied, “As I mentioned, the priest did not comment on it, so I’m assuming it was a day or two’s march.”

“All right. We now know that the travel time from here to the fortress is at most four hours. Therefore, let’s say the monastery is no more than a day’s march west of here. In open country, or on a good trail, either of which would be known by the soldiers, that would be… let’s say a ten-hour march at a brisk pace of four K an hour, will give us forty K to the monastery.”

Vivian reminded them, “The monks brought Father Armano to the soldiers. The soldiers were not at the monastery.”

“Quite right. And we don’t know where the soldiers were in relation to the monastery. But let’s use fifty K total.” He drew a half circle on the map, with the center of the radius starting at the spa and ending at the road. “There we are.” He asked, “What is that formula to find the area of a circle?”

There was an embarrassed silence, then Mercado said, “If that were a rectangle and not a half circle, it would be five thousand square kilometers… so if we nip off the curved part of the semicircle, it would be about… let’s say, four thousand square kilometers… give or take.”

“All right.” Gann stared at the map. “That’s a good amount of territory to be walking.”

Purcell suggested, “It’s not really the square kilometers that are important. It’s the trails and the few clues we have, including maybe the quarries, that will determine where we look.”

“Quite right,” Gann agreed. “And we can’t be sure that the priest was marched for only one day. It could have been two.”

Purcell asked Gann, “How long were the villagers actually gone when they left Shoan to go to the meeting place?”

Gann stayed silent, then said, “I have heard it was two days. A day there, and a day to return.” He added, “No part of the walk would be made in the dark, so let’s say it was a ten-hour walk, an overnight rest, and ten hours back to Shoan.”

Purcell produced the adjoining map that showed Shoan, and they tried to extrapolate from these two known locations-the village and the spa-walking times and distances west of the road, to see what intersected or overlapped.

Purcell was concerned that they were once again making false assumptions, misinterpreting clues, and being too clever, but this time, based on his conclusion that Father Armano was heading for the black monastery when they found him at the spa, he felt a bit more confident that they were narrowing it down.

Gann asked an interesting question. “Did the priest comment in any way about the spa? Did he say anything such as, ‘What is this?’ ”

Everyone thought about that, and Mercado said, “Now that you mention it, he did not, which in retrospect seems a bit odd.”

Vivian said, “He did say something… that Henry may have been asleep for.” She thought a moment, then said, “He asked, ‘Dov’è la strada?’ Where is the road?”

No one responded, and Vivian continued, “I didn’t think anything of it. He seemed to be delirious.”

Purcell said, “Well, if nothing else, that confirms he was looking for the road he remembered. The question is, which way was he going to take it? North? South? Or was he just going to cross it and continue west to the monastery?”