As the road crested, it exposed a view of Monty, the Montalto beholder. It was the closest he’d ever been to the giant statue. Owen could make out much more detail here than down in the city. Its rounded belly and slouch made it look somewhat less imposing than it did from down below. Larks could be seen circling it in the distance.
“What about the beholder monuments? Did Okafor really build them?”
Madison looked over at him, her eyebrow raised. “I’ve wondered about that as well, Owen.”
With her face contemplative, she turned to focus up at the beholder. She spoke quietly into the window. “I’m sure the answer is blowing in the wind somewhere, but on that account, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Adherent teachings.”
After a few more twists and turns in the road the carriage pulled up in front of the resplendent manor.
“No greeter,” Madison said. “Well, I suppose that’s what you get when you arrive uninvited.”
Owen stepped out and helped Madison down. They caught up with Benjamin and the driver, who were lingering on the steps leading up to the manor.
Benjamin had his hand on his holster. Madison said, “Now, now, let’s not start off on the wrong foot.”
When they reached the front entrance, Benjamin rapped his knuckles on the glass doors, while Madison collected herself. Owen hung back, cloaking his face with his hood, just in case he needed to conceal his identity.
Through the glass they could see the main foyer. The walls were adorned with animal skins and maps of various sorts. A hunched over man came out of an adjoining room and opened the door no more than an inch. When he lifted his head up Owen could see he had red marks covering his face. They weren’t spots like he had, but possibly some other disease of the skin.
“Mr. Euclid isn’t accepting visitors today,” the man said. He closed the door and walked away.
Madison yelled after him, “Wait! Excuse me, I have urgent and important business with Mr. Euclid. I would like to speak with him immediately.”
By the time she was finished the man had already exited the foyer to the adjoining room.
“What do we do now?” Benjamin asked.
“Well, we certainly don’t give up,” Madison replied.
They lingered in front of the doors for some time. Every couple of minutes, Madison would call out some new request for the whole estate to hear.
“It would greatly please me if we could have an audience. I have been gone for many years, and I look forward to reuniting with my New Founder brethren.
“Whomever is in charge, I think there is a misunderstanding as to our intent and importance. If you could kindly come to the door we will explain.
“I’m not sure how we will explain our situation to the lords of Seeville. If you could spare but a few minutes of your time, it would help resolve any confusion.”
Finally there was some movement inside. This time a woman came out into the foyer.
She opened the door an inch more than the hunched man. Her hair was stuffed up in a series of waves, a hairstyle Owen hadn’t seen before. Her lips were a deep red, and her presence was accompanied by a waft of strong Old World perfume.
“Excuse me, but this is not acceptable,” the woman said to them with some annoyance. “We have clearly told you of our disinterest. Euclid is resting and does not want to be disturbed. He asks that you send a formal request to meet in writing.”
“You must be Barbara. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.” Madison did a mini curtsy. Barbara didn’t look bemused or enchanted. She grimaced like she was trying to solve some impossible math problem.
Madison continued, “I knew Euclid when he was but a young man, and I have been longing to meet him again ever since. Can you please tell him Madison Banks is here all the way from Yorktown? As you know, Thomas Jefferson would be loath to turn away old friends. I suspect Mr. Euclid would feel the same way if he knew who was standing here on his stoop.”
Barbara stared at Madison for a moment, started to speak, stopped, and then stared for a moment more. Finally, she said, “I will speak with him and gauge his interest.”
“Thank you kindly, Barbara.”
Barbara closed the glass doors, locked them and then went toward the adjoining room. Madison gave a reassuring smile to them all while they waited. Owen had to admit, Madison was persuasive.
A moment later, Barbara came back to the door.
“Mr. Euclid says he’s not feeling well and requests that you write a formal request for appointment, sent by post.”
Madison looked surprised, suspicious even. “By post? We are here, now, why couldn’t we organize a meeting now?”
“That’s what he said. He also said if you don’t leave the estate immediately, he will lodge a formal complaint with the Seeville enforcers. If necessary, we will also unleash the hounds.”
Madison’s countenance transformed from friendly to angry. “So be it, then. We will do this the hard way. Euclid will regret the day he decided to pick a fight with his only remaining ally.” Then she turned around and started hobbling down the steps with the help of her cane. “Let’s go, gentlemen. This place seems to have lost its hospitality.”
Benjamin ran to help her. The carriage driver and Owen followed quickly after.
On their way back to the carriage, Madison whispered, “could it be that Euclid is also under Bartz’s thumb?”
It wasn’t a question any of them could answer.
Shortly after they boarded the carriage and pulled out, Madison opened a window to the front of the carriage and said, “James, stop up here. There’s a problem with one of the wheels.”
“Ma’am? I don’t see a problem.”
Benjamin whispered in the driver’s ear. “Yes, ma’am,” James said.
Madison nudged Owen with her cane.
Owen withdrew the scope from his jacket and stepped down from the carriage. He scrambled up a small hill, but it wasn’t high enough. He carefully skulked farther up, closer to Monticello. The only good vantage point was on an extended part of a ledge high above where the carriage had stopped. He lay down in front of a planter and hoped it would block any line of sight from Monticello.
Madison’s scope was quite powerful, giving him good range. He was tempted to find his house but knew they needed to be quick.
First he found the stadium, an easy landmark. It was run-down, but the seats and stairs down to the main exhibition area had been refurbished and remained mostly intact. Down in the field area a huge structure was being built. Scaffolding had been erected and was almost entirely covered by large blue tarps. There was scrap metal nearby, as well as large vats of mixing cement. Why build a giant cement building in the middle of a stadium? It could be another Faraday cage bunker, he supposed, but they were already building two new ones at the Barnyard, and it would be more efficient to keep them closer together.
At a loss, he directed his attention to the activity at the observatory. He immediately noticed increased security, with several checkpoints heading up the hill, and armed sentries standing about. The construction was taking place at the top of the hill, and it had already overtaken the original observatory. Here they had also erected scaffolding and tarps, but these couldn’t disguise the distinctive shape of the structure underneath. It was a large dish with a point sticking out of the center. It closely resembled a radio telescope he’d once seen in an Old World book.
Owen found it hard to believe Bartz would sanction any form of stargazing, or doing scientific experiments. They wouldn’t need such a big dish for that, anyway. It was more likely they were hoping to send a signal rather than receive one. But to what? And how could they get around the retcher problem?