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The scandal had sullied John Patrick Keller’s spotless record as a priest, and the church wanted him to meditate on his mistakes As penance, he was sent to a Trappist monastery in the mountains, where he stayed until he was transferred five years ago to Chicago

"You no say much, eh?" Tolo the Trappists, ere bound by vows of silence, had definitely had an effect on John Silence wasn’t golden--it was a horrible, e day spent in it--but it had burned the chatter out of him He looked down into the soup container, surprised to see it was empty "Good soup"

"Si, the best" Toloh a bay door into what appeared to be an eestured for John to leave the container on the floor of the car "This the place We go do"

Down is how they went, in a freight elevator that groaned and shuddered with every foot it dropped John saw through the open iron grating that they passed six different floors, and felt the air change and press on his eardruer the lower they went

"Where are we?" he asked Tolomeo

"Down" The elevator ca "This way now"

John followed him down a dimly lit corridorin places at the stress points He guessed they must have once been white, but centuries of candle sroundwater had turned them parchment yellow, streaked brohere the water even now ran in narrow rivulets fro seams

Despite overhead ventilation shafts, the wretched odor caer whenever they passed one of the open archways leading into sole wooden door Around the frame the Greek letters chi and rho had been painted over and over, the X- and P-shaped letters entwined in a fa Jesus Christ’s name He smiled once more at John before he rapped his knuckles on it three tiestured for John to walk inside

The room was some sort of chapel, a simple altar beneath a wooden cross, filled with fresh flowers and candles that banished the unpleasant smell from outside Six short pews, three on either side of a narrow center aisle, were filled withsimple brown robes and cowls Their heads were bent, their eyes closed, their lipsin prayer No one looked up at John

He turned to ask Tolo priest had not co, John paused at the edge of the nearest pew to genuflect The lanced at hi to his prayers

The look wasn’t friendly

Another ed from a door set off in a corner behind the altar He wore the same simple cowled robe as the other monks, but his was black with a red cord tied around the middle Over his left breast was a square of white cloth quartered by a red cross with ends that were split in two With a glance, John saw that the other monks had the sarouped together

The simple, splayed-ended red cross of hts Templars

The assembly rose to their feet, silent, respectful, but John still wasn’t sure what to do These men operated outside the Catholic church; he couldn’t apply what he had learned in the priesthood here The black-robedJohn to corave;re, Father Keller" The voice was a smooth tenor, but accented with Gered back the cowl, revealing a round, genial face and a scarlet skullcap over a tonsured scalp "I aain Cardinal Viktor Stoss, one of theconsidered as a candidate for the papacy Yet one did not kneel before man, only God, and this little chapel was still a house of God "Thank you, Your Grace"

Stoss seehtower tellsa soldier of God We are in grievous need of soldiers, Father, who are pure in mind and soul"

John stiffened "Then you ish to recruit froo"

Aust said and more" He looked past John at the assembled monks, and his expression turned serious "Here is one ould join our ranks One who is deemed passable and to be proved worthy Be there any objections, make them known"

No one n of the cross in the air before him "We accept our brother in Christ, John Patrick, as a novitiate of the Brethren"

How odd, John thought Like a e ceremony

One of the brown-robed monks stepped out of the pew and came to stand beside John He pointed to a side door "Wait in there, Brother"