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FORTY - FOUR

MALONE DROVE AS FAST AS HE DARED DOWN THE TWISTING INCLINE to ground level There he turned west for the hway and half a mile later veered south toward the Pyrenees

"Where are we going?" Stephanie asked hi alone, but I think it’s ti to distract him "Tell me about her," he said to Mark

"I don’t know much I heard that her father was a wealthy Spanish contractor, her rees in history, art, religion And she’s rich She inherited lots of the money and has made even more She and Dad clashed many times"

"Over what?" Malone wanted to know

"Proving that Christ did not die on the cross is a ious fanaticism was viewed much differently People weren’t all that concerned with the Taliban or al Qaeda Then, Israel was the hot spot and Cassiopeia resented the way Musliance of Christianity and the presumptiveness of Judaism Her quest was one of truth, Dad would say She wanted to strip away the myth and see just how round--co"

"Isn’t that exactly what your father wanted to do?"

"Sa I used to say to him"

Malone smiled "How far to her chateau?"

"Less than an hour We turn west a few miles ahead"

Malone studied his rearviewthem Good He slowed the car as they entered a town identified as St Loup Being Sunday, everything was closed except for a gasoline station and convenience store just to the south He turned in and came to a stop

"Wait here," he said as he cli"

Malone turned off the highway and drove the car down a graveled path, deeper into the thick forest A sign indicated that GIVORS--A MEDIEVAL ADVENTURE IN THE MODERN WORLD--lay half a mile ahead The drive from Rennes had taken a little less than fiftythe ruined Cathar fortress of Montsegur, then turning south toward theslopes sheltered river valleys and tall trees

The two-car-wide avenue ell maintained and roofed by leafy beech trees that cast a drea shadows The entrance opened into a clearing rass Cars littered the field Slender columns of pine and fir lined the perimeter He stopped and they all clilish announced their location

GIVORS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

WELCOME TO THE PAST HERE, AT GIVORS, A SITE FIRST OCCUPIED BY LOUIS IX, A CASTLE IS BEING CONSTRUCTED USING MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES ONLY AVAILABLE TO 13TH-CENTURY CRAFTSMEN A MASONED TOWER WAS THE VERY SYMBOL OF A LORD’S POWER AND THE CASTLE AT GIVORS WAS DESIGNED AS A MILITARY FORTRESS WITH THICK WALLS AND MANY CORNER TOWERS THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONS PROVIDED AN ABUNDANCE OF WATER, STONE, EARTH, SAND, AND WOOD, WHICH WERE ALL NEEDED FOR ITS CONSTRUCTION QUARRIERS, STONE HEWERS, MASONS, CARPENTERS, BLACKSMITHS, AND POTTERERS ARE NOW LABORING, LIVING AND DRESSING EXACTLY AS THEY WOULD HAVE SEVEN CENTURIES AGO THE PROJECT IS PRIVATELY FUNDED AND THE CURRENT ESTIMATE IS 30 YEARS WILL BE NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE CASTLE ENJOY YOUR TIME IN THE 13TH CENTURY

"Cassiopeia Vitt funds all this herself?" Malone asked

"Medieval history is one of her passions," Mark said "They knew her well at the university in Toulouse"

Malone had decided that the direct approach would be best Surely Vitt anticipated that he’d eventually locate her

"Where does she live?"

Mark pointed east, where the branches of oaks and elms, closed like a cloister, shaded another lane "The chateau is that way"

"These cars for visitors?" he asked

Mark nodded "They give tours of the construction site to raise revenue I took it once, years ago, right after the work began It’s i"

He started off toward the lane leading to the chateau "Let’s go say hello to our hostess"

They walked in silence In the distance, on the steep side of a rising slope, he spied the dreary ruin of a stone tower, its layers yelloith moss The dry air arm and still Purple heather, broom, and wildflowers carpeted the low earth on both sides of the lane Malone iined the clash of aro would have echoed through the valley ascrows flew past

A hundred or so yards down the lane he saw the chateau It filled a sheltered hollow that provided a clear ed in symmetrical patterns over four stories, flanked by two ivy-crowned towers and topped with slanting slate roofs Greenery spread out across the facade like rust on rass and leaves, surrounded three sides Slender trees rose in the rear and hedges of clipped yew guarded its base

"Some house," Malone said

"Sixteenth century," Mark noted "I was told that she bought the chateau and the surrounding archaeological site She calls the place Royal Chaiments"

Two cars were parked out front A late-model Bentley Continental GT--about 160,000, Malone recalled--and a Porsche Roadster, cheap by comparison There was also a motorcycle Malone approached the cycle and examined the left rear tire and muffler The shiny chrome was scarred

And he knew precisely how that had happened