Garden of Lies(32)
“It must have been a wondrous discovery,” she said.
“Unlike anything I had ever seen in my life. It was as if we had stepped into a dream world.”
Slater fell quiet again. She drank some of her coffee and waited.
“We had brought a small crew of men with us to assist in the excavation work,” he said. “The entrance to the tomb complex was a long corridor of stone that led deep into the mountain. At the end of the tunnel was a vast chamber. The walls and floor were painted in dazzling colors. Statues of fantastic beasts were everywhere—large birds and reptiles unlike anything Torrence and I had ever seen. Each was studded with incredible gemstones.”
“I saw the statue of the Jeweled Bird that Lord Torrence exhibited in the British Museum in the months following his return,” Ursula said. “It was extraordinary. There was a great sensation when it was reported stolen.”
“There were so many artifacts crammed into the temple chamber that we could only assume they had been collected over a long period of time—several centuries, perhaps.”
“Do you think they were of Egyptian or Greek origin?”
“Neither,” he said. “I’m quite certain of it, although there were similarities to both of those ancient civilizations. But I am convinced that we discovered the tombs of an unknown culture that was so old, so rich and so powerful that it may have left its influence on the great civilizations that rose after it was gone.”
A sense of wonder came over her. “Good heavens, sir, do you think you and Lord Torrence discovered the royal tombs of Atlantis?”
He shook his head. “Atlantis is a legend.”
She smiled at that. “I would point out that you are reputed to be something of a legend, yourself. Such tales are not woven out of thin air. There is usually a grain of truth in them.”
He shrugged. “It is unlikely we will ever discover the truth about Fever Island, at least not in our lifetime. The island volcano erupted years ago, burying the tomb complex beneath rivers of lava and mountains of ash. All I can tell you is that there were indications that the science and literature of the people was well developed, certainly the equal of ancient Greece or Rome or Egypt.”
“You must have been thrilled when you first walked into those tomb caves.”
Slater glanced at her over his shoulder, one brow slightly elevated. “I was thrilled—right up to the moment when the trap was triggered, sealing me inside the main tomb chamber.”
Ursula’s sense of wonder and excitement congealed. The cup trembled a little in her hand. Hastily she set it down.
“I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like,” she said. “You no doubt believed that you had been buried alive.”
“That was my first conclusion,” he admitted. “I knew immediately that there was no hope that Torrence and the others would be able to rescue me.”
“Why not?”
“I realized that they almost surely had to believe that I had been buried beneath countless tons of rock. But even if they had held out some faint hope, they had no practical way to dig through the boulders that clogged the tunnel that led to the main chamber.”
“How did you survive?”
“The trap that closed the exit tunnel was designed to protect the treasure and the sarcophagi in the burial vaults. The only part of the City of Tombs that was destroyed was the passageway that led to the outside world.”
“How did you escape?”
“There were three passageways off of the burial chamber in which I found myself. The walls were covered with spectacular paintings. Each passageway told a different story. One was an epic history of endless wars. The second corridor told a story of vengeance. By luck and intuition, I chose the third legend. It led me into a passage that proved to be a labyrinth, not a maze.”
“You mean it led to a central point?”
“Yes,” Slater said. “Another exit, to be precise.”
“Thank heavens. But when you emerged you discovered that you were alone on the island. You had no way of knowing when another ship would arrive. The loneliness must have been . . . unnerving.”
He smiled and turned around to face her. “The press got that bit wrong. I was not alone on the island.”
She was stunned. “There was no mention of that.”
“No. I certainly never told anyone. As for Torrence and the others on the expedition, they had no way of knowing that there was a small group of people living on the island.”
“The descendants of the people who built the tombs?”
“No,” Slater said. “The people I met come from various corners of the world to form a monastery of sorts—a place of refuge and reflection. They called their community the Order of the Three Paths. Some who found their way to Fever Island stayed for only a short span of time. The teachings and the discipline of the Order did not suit them. Others thrived on the instruction and took what they learned back out into the world. Some remained on the island and became teachers.”
“This is astonishing,” Ursula said. “There has been nothing in the press about a religious order on Fever Island.”
“It was not a religious order. It could best be described as a philosophical community. The physical and mental exercises would strike most people here as esoteric or exceedingly eccentric.”