Indy unlocked the door of his hotel room, opened it a few inches, and laid his books on the floor. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure Nikos hadn't followed him. Then, instead of going inside, he slammed the door shut, and moved down the hallway to the back stairs. Outside, he walked around the side to the hotel stable and mounted one of the camp's horses.
He had to get to the ruins as quickly as possible. Delphi was a trap. Doumas must be part of the conspiracy against Dorian and her father, and he had to tell her. They had to get away from here, and there was no time to waste.
He couldn't take the road through the village; he would have to pass by the taverna and Doumas or one of the others might see him. He directed the horse around the back of the stable to a narrow trail that led through the woods. He'd only taken the winding path once, and that had been during the day with Nikos.
He knew he would have to rely on the horse's own savvy to find its way back home.
As Indy cantered along, the darkness closed around him like a blindfold. He could see no more than a couple of feet ahead of the horse. The trail rose steeply, then fell, and rose again. He rocked back in the saddle, gripping the reins, and slowed the horse to a trot.
"Easy, boy. Just follow the road."
Suddenly, the trail plunged downward, and the horse skidded sideways and whinnied. "Whoa, whoa,"
Indy yelled, pulling in the reins.
This was a mistake, a big mistake, he told himself. But he wasn't turning back now. He'd make it.
Somehow. As if in response to his thoughts, the horse abruptly stopped. "What's wrong, boy?"
Then Indy saw that the path divided, and the horse was waiting for directions. "Hey, I don't know. Just head for camp. You know, your stable."
The horse blew out its nose, shook its head, and pawed the ground. But it didn't move either way. Just then Indy heard a noise behind him. He turned his head and listened. There it was again. The sound of a horse moving toward them on the trail.
Christ. They were following him. Move.
He jerked the head of the horse to the left, touched its sides, and shook the rein. The horse broke into a trot, and climbed the incline. They must have seen him leaving the hotel and realized what he was doing.
This was definitely no place for a confrontation, and it was probably just what they wanted. No witnesses.
Real pretty. Boy, am I a sucker, he thought as he heard his pursuers closing in on him.
Maybe he should get off the horse, and send it down the trail. They'd chase the horse, and he could get away. Good idea, he told himself, but just as he was about to dis mount, the reins slipped from his hands. He fumbled for them in the darkness, but couldn't find them.
"Hell with it," he said aloud, and started to dismount the moving horse. But at that moment, the path rose, and a thick branch caught him squarely across the forehead, knocking him out of the saddle. He tumbled through the darkness and crashed with a thud to the ground.
He gasped for breath; heard hoofbeats. He rolled onto
his stomach, then stumbled to his feet. He wobbled one step, another, then dropped to his knees. He tried to rise again, but fell backwards. Far overhead, constellations spun in tight, mad circles. He closed his eyes, shutting it all out, and lost consciousness.
A voice. "Indy, are you all right?"
He blinked his eyes open and saw Nikos. "Where'd they go? They were after me, and—"
"It was me. I was trying to catch up to you. I almost rode right over you."
"I feel like you did."
"Can you walk?"
He sat up and rubbed his head. "Who knows. Don't think I broke anything."
Nikos helped him to his feet. "Why were you going back to the ruins at night?"
"I've got to talk to Dr. Belecamus. Where's the horse?"
"Over here," Nikos said, motioning down the trail. "But you turned the wrong way. You won't get to the ruins on this path."
"Show me the way." Indy brushed himself off and walked over to the horse.
"Indy, I think you should watch out for Dr. Belecamus."
"Watch out for her? Why?"
"Because of who she is. You don't know everything about her."
"You're right, I don't." He recalled what Dorian had said about the villagers' attitude toward her. "Let's talk about it sometime. Right now though I've got to get to the ruins."
He untied the horse from a tree, and slung his leg over the saddle.
"Listen to me." Nikos hurried after him. "It is danger ous for you to be close to her."
Indy turned and stared down at him. "What are you talking about?"
Nikos moved nearer and gripped the reins of Indy's
horse. "The Oracle is coming back, and they say Dr. Belecamus is Pythia."
"Who says that?"
"Those men in the taverna. Panos, his son, Grigoris, also Doumas, I think. They are all in the Order."
Indy shook his head. "What order?"
"The Order of Pythia. They are the keepers of the old knowledge."
"And why do they think Belecamus is Pythia?"
"The old man in the taverna, the Crazy One, is the oldest member of the Order, and many years ago he predicted that Pythia would return. He said it would happen after the earth shook and before the king arrived."
"Swell. But that doesn't answer my question. Why is Belecamus the new Pythia?"
"The Crazy One said that Pythia would be a Dorian."
"A Dorian? How many are there?"
Then he remembered something he'd recently read. The Dorians were an invading tribe whose name was synonymous with the Greek Dark Ages around 1000 B.C. They had displaced the mother goddess with male deities, and their influence may have been the reason that Apollo had come into power at Delphi. There had been lots of Dorians, and Belecamus had nothing to do with them. Yet, she definitely was a "Dorian."
"For years, no one said much about the prophecy," Nikos explained. "But then after the earthquake, Doumas contacted Dorian Belecamus, and when she said she would return, Panos was sure the prophecy was about to come true."
"Do you believe it?"
Nikos looked up at Indy, surprised. "No one ever asks me about such things. But I thought it was just crazy talk until I heard the king was coming. You see, it fits."
"How do you know so much about what's going on?" he asked suspiciously.
Nikos smiled, and leaned closer. "That is what I do. I watch, and I listen. There is much to hear and see.
Otherwise, it would be very boring here for me."
"That's nice, Nikos. But whether Dorian is Pythia or not, I've got to talk to her. Those men are a threat."
"No. You don't understand. They are not interested in harming her. They want to protect her."
"Protect her? From what?"
"From outsiders. Like you."
12
IN THE MIST
In the first gray light of dawn, a surly little goat climbed the mound of ancient rubble. It hung its head, shaking it from side to side as though it had no control over its neck muscles. As it reached the top, it leaned forward, straining on its fetter. From where Indy and Nikos stood on the Sacred Way a couple of hundred feet from the mound, it was difficult to tell whether the goat wanted to leap across the crevice, or into it. It was 5:40 a.m., and the vapors were due to rise in three minutes. No doubt the aggres sive creature would get a good whiff.
Indy glanced toward Dorian and Doumas, who were chatting amicably, as if they were the best of friends. He thought about the trouble he had gone to last night just to reach her, and all for nothing. He had rushed to the hut and told her about the men in the taverna and what he'd found out about the Order of Pythia. Dorian had listened quietly until he was finished, then said she was relieved that the mystery of the two men was solved. Now they could go about their business.