Indy spotted Dorian standing with the colonel. He was sure that they'd both been looking his way. He wanted more than anything to ask her about Shannon and the other man, but he hesitated, remembering that Nikos had said it was soldiers who had taken the pair away. What reason would Dorian give this time, and where the hell had they taken them?
He couldn't hold himself back any longer. He wanted answers. He headed across the room, but suddenly he found himself face to face with the king, who extended his hand. Indy quickly introduced himself as they shook hands.
"Oh, yes. You must be the one I heard about who fell into the hole."
Indy nodded, uncomfortable at the royal attention. "It won't happen again."
The king laughed, and clasped him on the shoulder. "Let's hope not. Tomorrow morning I'm going to visit the ruins. Will you be there?"
Indy had other things on his mind right now, but what could he say? "Yes. Of course."
"Good. Then maybe you can tell me all about what happened. See you then."
Indy stepped back as the king turned and began talking with someone else. He didn't see Dorian or the colonel now. He wandered about the room, and out onto the veranda. She was nowhere in sight.
"You look lost, Indy," Doumas said from behind him.
"Have you seen Dr. Belecamus?"
"She's gone. She left with Colonel Mandraki a few minutes ago."
17
Around the Fire
Indy quietly slipped out of the mansion, and walked to the rear where the drivers waited near their carriages. He asked after Doumas's carriage, and was directed to the driver. "Mr. Doumas said you should take me back to the hotel."
The driver looked dubiously at him. "Are you sure? He told me to wait for him."
"He's staying the night." Indy leaned forward. "Too much ouzo."
"Already?"
"Already," Indy said gravely.
The man nodded, and climbed into his seat as Indy slid into the carriage. None of what he'd said was true, but he didn't feel guilty about stranding Doumas.
When he arrived at the hotel, Nikos was lying on his cot intently reading a book. "Have you seen Dorian?"
"No. She hasn't returned," the boy said, rising to his feet. He ran a hand over his short-cropped hair.
"You are back early."
"Maybe not early enough. Who is this Colonel Mandraki?"
"That's what I was going to tell you about when she came into the room. He is Alex, her boyfriend."
No wonder she'd turned cool towards him since they'd arrived in Delphi.
"He is a very dangerous man, and I think Dr. Belecamus is the same when he is around. That is why I brought you the moly. For your protection."
"Thanks. Now tell me more about the Americans who came to see me."
"One was tall and thin with red hair and a little beard on his chin." Nikos rubbed his chin, indicating the sparse beard. "The other one was shorter and had a big beard. And look. I have something for you." He reached under the counter, and held out a coiled whip. "Your tall friend wanted me to give this to you before you saw him. He said you would know about it. Then he was going to walk into your room. But the soldiers came."
Indy took the whip and ran his hands over it. That confirmed it. Shannon was here, but he still didn't know the identity of the other man.
"Indy, I have another question about America."
He wasn't in the mood for small talk. "It's not a very good time, but go ahead."
"Is it true that Americans put applesauce on their bread?"
Indy stared at him. "What are you talking about?"
He held up the book he'd been reading. "In here the girl eats bread like that." It was a ragged-looking copy of Seventeen,
"Where did you get that book?"
"One of the Americans gave it to me. The shorter one with the beard,"
Indy remembered that day in Le Dome in Paris when Ted Conrad had talked about meeting Booth Tarkington and showed him his used copy. He took the book, and opened the cover. It was signed by Tarkington and in scribed, "To Ted—best of luck in your writing."
But what in the world was Conrad, his old history professor, doing here, and why with Shannon? They didn't
know each other. And why did Mandraki want to keep them away from him?
"Look, I found this in the book," Nikos said. "Do you know him?"
He handed Indy a picture of a handsome, smiling man who looked about Indy's age. He was standing beside what looked like a Greek statue and behind him were the stone steps of an amphitheatre.
"Never seen him in my life," Indy said. He tapped the edge of the photograph against the counter and frowned. "You said my friends were taken by soldiers. Were they asked nicely to go with them, like an escort?"
He shook his head. "Nothing nice about it. They were taken like criminals, and Colonel Mandraki was the one who was in charge."
"Where would they take them?"
"I don't know, but they left in the direction of the ruins."
"That's a start. I'm going to look for them. Can I keep this?" He held up the photograph.
"If you let me go with you."
Indy hesitated. "I don't want you to get in trouble, Nikos."
"I can help you find them. I know good hideouts near the ruins. We can look there."
Indy slipped the photograph inside his jacket pocket, and hooked the whip on his belt. "Okay, but just remem ber that we're not playing hide-and-seek with these sol diers. This is serious business."
"I know. Do you have the moly?"
Indy forced a smile. "Yeah."
A few minutes later, they mounted horses. Indy touched a hand to his sore ribs, then nudged the sides of his horse and they rode off at a gallop. As they neared the ruins, Indy gestured toward the workshop and they turned off the road. The place appeared quiet and deserted, but he wanted to check anyhow. They dismounted near the sta bles, and walked cautiously towards the workshop.
He tried the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Slowly, he pushed it open. A kerosene lamp was burning on the long table.
He moved along the rows of shelves stacked with stone tablets, looking down each aisle. There was no sign of Dorian or anyone else. He was heading back toward the door when he noticed something white and filamentous protruding from one of the lockers. He dropped to one knee, and felt the material. He was almost sure he knew what it was. He opened the door. He was right. It was Dorian's dress, the one she'd worn this evening to the reception. She'd been here, and changed. The fact that she hadn't gone back to the hotel meant she and Mandraki were in a hurry.
He was about to close the door when he noticed a sheet of paper taped to the back wall of the locker. On it were three columns of numbers. The first two sets of numbers read across the page as: 1
4:23 P.M.
(3:05)
1
7:28 P.M.
(3:11)
It didn't take long to figure out what it was. The number on the left represented days, and day one, he was certain, was the day they arrived and had started monitoring the vapors. In the center column were the times of the risings and the numbers on the right represented the length of time between risings.
He ran his finger down the page and realized that it was not only a record of previous risings, but a schedule of future ones for the next several days. One set of numbers was underlined. It read: 9
11:41 A.M.
(6:53)
Indy counted the days since they had arrived. Today was the eighth. Tomorrow morning the king would visit the ruins and the vapors would rise at 11:41. That could be useful. He quickly memorized the times of the risings for the next couple of days.
"There's nobody here," Nikos said.