“We didn’t know who it was.” Maya slid the revolver back in its holster.
“I thought you might come here. Mother Blessing told me you had an attachement sentimental to Gabriel Corrigan. When you switched off your satellite phone, I realized you had probably left the island.”
“Did you tell her?”
“No. She’s going to be angry enough when she shows up on Skellig Columba and finds a Traveler guarded by an American girl and some nuns.”
“I had to see him.”
“Was it worth it?” Linden straddled the only chair in the room. “He’s as lost as his father. There’s nothing there but a shell.”
“I’m going to save Gabriel,” Maya said. “I just need to find a way.”
“That’s impossible. He’s gone. Vanished.”
Maya thought before speaking again. “I need to talk to someone who knows as much as possible about the realms. Do you know anyone here in England?”
“It’s not our concern, Maya. The rule is, we guard Travelers only in this world.”
“I don’t care about the rules. ‘Cultivate Randomness.’ Isn’t that what Sparrow wrote? Maybe it’s time to do something different, because this strategy isn’t working.”
Hollis spoke for the first time. “She’s got a point, Linden. Right now, Michael Corrigan is the only Traveler in this world, and he’s working for the Tabula.”
“Help me, Linden. Please. All I need is a name.”
The French Harlequin stood up and began to leave the room. When he reached the doorway, he stopped and shifted his weight from one foot to the other like a man trying to pick the right pathway on a dark night.
“There are several experts on the realms who live in Europe, but there’s only person we can trust. His name is Simon Lumbroso. He was your father’s friend. As far as I know, he’s still in Rome.”
“My father never had any friends. You know that as well as I do.”
“That’s the word Thorn used,” Linden said. “You should go to Rome and find out for yourself.”
32
Hollis was making a cup of coffee in the hidden apartment when Linden walked in from the drum shop carrying a satellite phone. “I just heard from Mother Blessing. She’s on Skellig Columba.”
“I bet she wasn’t happy when she found out that Maya was gone.”
“The conversation was very brief. I told her you had arrived in London and she requested that you come to the island.”
“Does she want me to guard Matthew Corrigan’s body?”
Linden nodded. “That’s a logical conclusion.”
“What about Vicki?”
“She didn’t mention Mademoiselle Fraser.”
Hollis poured a cup of coffee for the French Harlequin and placed it on the kitchen table. “You’ve got to tell me how to travel to Ireland, and I’ll need a boat to take me to the convent.”
“Madam said that she wanted you on the island as soon as possible. So…I’ve made other arrangements.”
HOLLIS QUICKLY DISCOVERED that “other arrangements” meant chartering a private helicopter to fly to the island. Two hours later, Winston Abosa drove him out to White Waltham-a small airfield with a grass runway near Maidenhead in Berkshire. Carrying a manila envelope filled with cash, Hollis was met in the parking lot by a pilot in his sixties. There was something about the man’s appearance-the short haircut and straight-backed posture-that suggested a military background.
“Are you the client going to Ireland?” the pilot asked.
“That’s right. I’m-”
“I don’t want to know who you are. But I do want to see the money.”
HOLLIS HAD THE feeling that the pilot would have flown Jack the Ripper to a girls’ school if there had been enough euros in the envelope. Ten minutes later, the helicopter was in the air and heading west. The pilot was quiet except for a few terse comments to air traffic controllers. His only expression of personality was revealed in the aggressive way he roared over of a line of hills, swooping down a green valley where each field was defined by a stone wall. “You can call me Richard,” he said at one point, but he never asked Hollis for his name.
Pushed by an eastern wind, they crossed the Irish Sea and refueled at a small airport near Dublin. As they flew across the countryside, Hollis looked down and saw haystacks, little clusters of homes, and narrow roads that rarely seemed to go in a straight line. When they reached the west coast of Ireland, Richard removed his sunglasses and began glancing at a GPS device in the instrument panel. He stayed low enough to pass a flock of pelicans flying in a V formation. Directly below the birds, waves surged upward and collapsed into white foam.
Finally, the two jagged spires of Skellig Columba came into view. Richard circled the island until he saw a white strip of cloth fluttering from a pole. He hovered over this improvised flag for a minute, and then landed on a patch of flat, rocky ground. When the propeller stopped moving, Hollis could hear wind whistling through a crack in the air vent.
“There’s a group of nuns on this island,” Hollis said. “I’m sure they’d be glad to give you a cup of tea.”
“My instructions were to stay in the helicopter,” Richard said. “And I’ve been paid a certain premium to follow those instructions.”
“Suit yourself. You might want to hang around for a while. There’s an Irishwoman who probably wants to go back to London.”
Hollis got out of the helicopter and looked down the rocky slope at the convent. Where’s Vicki? he thought. Didn’t they tell her I was coming?
Instead of Vicki, he saw Alice running toward the helicopter, followed by a nun and-several yards back-a woman with dark red hair. Alice reached him first and stepped up on a rock so that they would be on the same level. Her hair was tangled and her boots were covered with mud.
“Where’s Maya?” Alice asked.
It was the first time Hollis had ever heard her voice. “Maya is in London. She’s okay. Nothing to worry about.”
Alice jumped off the rock and continued up the slope, followed by a plump nun with a flushed face. The nun nodded at him, and he saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. But then she was gone and he was facing Mother Blessing.
The Irish Harlequin wore black wool pants and a leather jacket. She looked smaller than Hollis had imagined, and had a proud, imperious look on her face. “Welcome to Skellig Columba, Mr. Wilson.”
“Thanks for the helicopter ride.”
“Did Sister Joan speak to you?”
“No. Was she supposed to?” Hollis looked down the slope. “Where’s Vicki? That’s who I really came to see.”
“Yes. Come along.”
Hollis followed the Harlequin down a pathway to the four beehive-shaped huts on the second terrace. He felt as if a car had crashed and he was going to be shown the wreckage.
“Have you ever been punched very hard, Mr. Wilson?”
“Of course. I fought professionally in Brazil.”
“And how do you survive that?”
“If you can’t avoid someone’s fist, you try to move with it. If you just stand there like a stone, you’re going to get knocked out.”
“Good advice to follow,” Mother Blessing said, and she stopped in front of a hut. “Two days ago, the Tabula came to the island with their helicopters. The nuns fled to a cave with the girl, but apparently Miss Fraser stayed here to protect the Traveler.”
“So where is she? What happened?”
“This will not be easy, Mr. Wilson. But you may see-if you wish.”
Mother Blessing opened the door to the hut, but allowed him to go in first. Hollis entered a cold room where cardboard boxes and plastic storage containers had been pushed against the wall. Something was splattered all over the wooden floor. It took him a few seconds to realize it was dried blood.