Then a deafening blast crashed through the room. Immediately, a fusillade of broken rock tumbled down the corkscrew stairway, followed by a dust cloud that pooled into the room.
With the BOOOOOM of the explosives echoing around him, Eckart took a fresh grip on his pistol and the small flashlight he held. Dust coated his tongue and caked his nostrils. His breath seized at the back of his throat.
When he played his flashlight over the wall, he saw the charges had destroyed the secret door and fractured the walls on either side. Further down the exposed passage, a jumble of rock half closed the hidden entrance. Eckart peered over his gun sight but saw nothing moving. He waved to his point man and indicated the doorway. At once, the man crouched and followed the steps down. Eckart trailed behind him with his pistol gripped in both hands. The other men fell in behind him.
Only a few steps later, the debris rose enough to close the stairway. Broken rock had tumbled down and been caught to form a day against forward progress.
Eckart cursed the bad luck, then holstered his weapon and put on his gloves.
‘Form a line. We’ve got to clear debris.’
The point man slung his weapon over his shoulder and reached for the first rock. He swung round and handed it to Eckart, who handed it to the next man in line. By the time he turned back, the point man had another rock ready. He listened for noise on the other side of the barrier and wondered if his quarry had got away again, or if the blast had killed them.
When the force of the blast filled the room, Lourds grabbed Olympia and pulled her down with him into a protective embrace. She clung to him as rocks ricocheted from walls. Several of them slammed against Lourds’ back and shoulders and stung sharply.
Choking on the dust, he looked up. Grit stung his eyes and brought tears. For a moment he sat frozen and wondered what he was supposed to do. He thought about how the Elders had perished in that room all those years ago. Primitive fear screamed through his brain at the thought of being buried alive. He had to force himself to be calm. Even with his arms wrapped round Olympia, he hadn’t dropped the scroll.
‘Is everyone all right?’ Joachim asked. Blood leaked from a shallow wound by his left eye.
The other monks answered affirmatively. Behind them, Cleena shoved herself to her feet. She still held the pistol in one hand.
A few loose rocks bounded down the staircase and bounced into the room. Scrabbling noises followed.
‘They’re still up there,’ Lourds said. More rocks tumbled into the room.
‘They’ll dig down to us as soon as they can.’ Joachim turned to Lourds and held out a hand. ‘The scroll, please, Professor.’
Reluctantly, Lourds passed him the scroll. The monk dropped the scroll into the leather tube and blocked it once more with the wax seal.
‘Quickly. We haven’t much time.’ Joachim crossed the floor to the gravesite in the corner opposite to the one that had held the scroll. ‘Professor, your pry bar, if you don’t mind.’
Lourds picked it up from the floor and joined Joachim. The monk hunkered down over the grave and took the bar in one hand.
‘What are you doing?’ Olympia asked. She stood behind her brother.
More rocks shifted in the stairway. Men’s harsh voices could be heard in the room. Occasional shafts of light from flashlight beams splintered through the debris. Lourds knew it wouldn’t take much longer for the men to break through. Then they wouldn’t have a chance.
‘Lessons were learned after the deaths of the Elders.’ Joachim shoved the bar into a gap between the stones. He leaned on it and mortar cracked. One of the polished stones lifted from the floor. ‘An escape route was added from this room when there had not been one before. No longer has the Brotherhood depended solely on secrecy.’
Thank God for that, Lourds thought.
He and two of the monks helped clear stones as Joachim freed them. They clacked and skidded across the floor. Some of them ricocheted against the loose stones clattering down the stairway. Cleena and Olympia held flashlights on the enlarging hole taking shape in the floor. In seconds they had cleared enough stones to reveal a plain wooden coffin beneath the floor. The stench of mould and mildew invaded the room and warred against the encroaching dust cloud.
‘Brother, forgive me for disturbing your rest,’ Joachim said quietly. Then he reached for a rope handle attached to the coffin. Lourds grasped another while the other two monks grabbed handles as well.
‘Together,’ Joachim said. ‘Set and lift.’
The weight surprised Lourds. He knew the body within hadn’t been preserved and probably only desiccated skin and bones remained. But his position was awkward and he wasn’t able to properly set himself. His back and shoulder muscles burned with effort. The coffin came free of the hole awkwardly and slammed against the sides on its way up. It was only a foot deep under the stone floor. Nothing marked the coffin, no name and no indication of what happened to the man within.
Once it reached the level of the floor, Joachim pulled it towards him and set it down. At his direction, they shoved the coffin against the wall. He asked Olympia for her flashlight, then shone it down into the hole.
The tunnel opening looked incredibly small. There wasn’t room to stand and Lourds wondered if there was even room to crawl.
‘That doesn’t look big enough,’ he said.
A fresh cascade of rock tumbled down the stairway and drew their attention to the threat of the men coming from above.
‘We don’t have a choice,’ Olympia said.
Joachim helped his sister down into the hole. He returned the flashlight to her. She hesitated, then lay on her stomach and slithered into the hole.
‘The tunnel wasn’t made for comfort,’ Joachim said. ‘There’s room enough but it will be tight.’
‘You do realize that the average size for a person has increased,’ Lourds said.
‘We don’t exactly have time to enlarge the tunnel,’ Cleena said.
‘Someone could get stuck.’
‘That’s why you’re going to go last.’
‘Me?’ Lourds looked round.
‘You’re the biggest person here,’ Cleena said. ‘If anyone’s going to get stuck, it’s going to be you.’
Lourds quickly realized what she said was true. He was the tallest and the broadest across. He looked to the others for support or at least sympathy. None was forthcoming.
‘Absolutely delightful,’ he muttered.
Cleena followed Olympia into the tunnel. At Joachim’s instruction, the other monks quickly dropped into place and began the journey.
‘How long is the tunnel?’ Lourds asked.
‘About five hundred yards,’ Joachim answered.
‘I don’t suppose anyone has used it in the last eight centuries?’
Joachim dropped into the grave. ‘No. We haven’t had cause to flee from this room before.’
And knowing the way is clear is too much to ask, Lourds thought sourly. ‘You realize, of course, that earthquakes could have collapsed the tunnel anywhere along the way.’
‘I certainly hope that isn’t the case.’ Joachim looked towards the staircase as more rock tumbled into the room. ‘Professor, my sister has always maintained you’re an intelligent man. If you think your chances here are greater, you may stay.’ He dropped to his stomach and crawled into the tunnel.
‘They could seal the tunnel after us,’ Lourds pointed out. ‘If it’s blocked ahead, we’ll be entombed.’