it . . . therefore he couldn’t have gone that way. Which means I’m back at square one.’
‘What’s a monstery?’ Macy asked as she took her seat.
‘Where monsters live,’ said Eddie.
‘Ignore Daddy; it’s where monks live,’ Nina corrected.
He chuckled, then started gathering Macy’s breakfast. ‘So this Midas Cave is definitely a real thing?’
‘Yes. Talonor named it to honour his friend Midas – the prince. Midas made some sort of sacrifice to find it, but the Codex doesn’t say what. It wasn’t his life, though; he travelled on with Talonor afterwards.’ She glanced back at the map. ‘It was the farthest point of that expedition, actually. They returned to Atlantis after finding the cave.’
‘So they were specifically after whatever was inside it?’
‘Looks that way. Talonor left a contingent to guard it and prepare for the arrival of something called “the Crucible”, but he doesn’t say what that is. The people he was writing the Codex for would already have known, so he didn’t need to explain it. It was mentioned in Mom’s notes too, but she didn’t explain it either.’
Eddie sat with Macy and gave her a bowl of cereal. ‘That’s the end of that, then.’
Nina eyed him. ‘You sound almost relieved.’
‘It’ll mean you’ll come to bed at a non-ridiculous time. Or actually come to bed.’
‘I don’t see how I could have been wrong, though. Everything fits, until it all falls apart at the end.’
‘Maybe your mum was wrong,’ he suggested.
‘I doubt that,’ she snapped.
‘Blimey, no need to get defensive. Everybody makes mistakes. Even me.’
‘Yeah, I can think of one or seventeen.’
Macy was following the conversation with an ever-furrowing brow. ‘Why do monkeys live on a mountain? I thought they lived in trees.’
Nina laughed. ‘Not monkeys, honey – monks. They’re men who believe in a god so much that they live in a special house called a monastery, where they can spend all their time thinking about it.’
‘That’s silly. Why would you build a house on a mountain? It might fall off.’
‘Maybe they didn’t want visitors,’ suggested Eddie. He started on his own breakfast, pausing when he realised his wife had fallen unnaturally silent. ‘Ay up. What?’
‘I was just thinking,’ Nina said.
‘Yeah, that’s never a good sign.’
‘Oh Daddy’s so funny, isn’t he?’ she snarked to Macy, who giggled. ‘But why would they build a monastery on a mountain?’
Eddie shrugged. ‘Monks do weird stuff. We went to a monastery way up a mountain in India.’
‘Yeah, but when Tobias came back to look for the cave, the monastery he’d originally set out from had been destroyed. What if the monks hadn’t been killed – but had moved ?’ She hurried back into the lounge, finding the letter her mother had received from Nepal.
‘Why would they move?’ Eddie called after her. ‘Council tax went up?’
‘Shush!’ She quickly reread the letter. ‘Every answer the monks gave Mom is a non -answer – like saying that parts of the monastery pre-date the 1840s. That could mean anything. They could have transferred statues or altars from the original site.’
‘So you’re telling me a bunch of Buddhist monks lied to your mum?’
‘They’re not technically lying, just being economical with the truth.’ She came back into the kitchen with the letter and map. ‘What if the monks who showed Tobias the cave and the monks who wrote to my mom are the same ones?’
‘They’d be pretty old.’
‘I don’t mean literally the same ones. But they’ve been protecting the cave’s secret all this time. To the point that when they realised Tobias might be able to find it again, they upped sticks and rebuilt their monastery on the only path up the mountain to make sure nobody could get past!’
‘Bit of a long shot,’ said Eddie dubiously.
‘You said my mom might have been wrong. She was – but only in the sense that she’d been
‘What’s a monstery?’ Macy asked as she took her seat.
‘Where monsters live,’ said Eddie.
‘Ignore Daddy; it’s where monks live,’ Nina corrected.
He chuckled, then started gathering Macy’s breakfast. ‘So this Midas Cave is definitely a real thing?’
‘Yes. Talonor named it to honour his friend Midas – the prince. Midas made some sort of sacrifice to find it, but the Codex doesn’t say what. It wasn’t his life, though; he travelled on with Talonor afterwards.’ She glanced back at the map. ‘It was the farthest point of that expedition, actually. They returned to Atlantis after finding the cave.’
‘So they were specifically after whatever was inside it?’
‘Looks that way. Talonor left a contingent to guard it and prepare for the arrival of something called “the Crucible”, but he doesn’t say what that is. The people he was writing the Codex for would already have known, so he didn’t need to explain it. It was mentioned in Mom’s notes too, but she didn’t explain it either.’
Eddie sat with Macy and gave her a bowl of cereal. ‘That’s the end of that, then.’
Nina eyed him. ‘You sound almost relieved.’
‘It’ll mean you’ll come to bed at a non-ridiculous time. Or actually come to bed.’
‘I don’t see how I could have been wrong, though. Everything fits, until it all falls apart at the end.’
‘Maybe your mum was wrong,’ he suggested.
‘I doubt that,’ she snapped.
‘Blimey, no need to get defensive. Everybody makes mistakes. Even me.’
‘Yeah, I can think of one or seventeen.’
Macy was following the conversation with an ever-furrowing brow. ‘Why do monkeys live on a mountain? I thought they lived in trees.’
Nina laughed. ‘Not monkeys, honey – monks. They’re men who believe in a god so much that they live in a special house called a monastery, where they can spend all their time thinking about it.’
‘That’s silly. Why would you build a house on a mountain? It might fall off.’
‘Maybe they didn’t want visitors,’ suggested Eddie. He started on his own breakfast, pausing when he realised his wife had fallen unnaturally silent. ‘Ay up. What?’
‘I was just thinking,’ Nina said.
‘Yeah, that’s never a good sign.’
‘Oh Daddy’s so funny, isn’t he?’ she snarked to Macy, who giggled. ‘But why would they build a monastery on a mountain?’
Eddie shrugged. ‘Monks do weird stuff. We went to a monastery way up a mountain in India.’
‘Yeah, but when Tobias came back to look for the cave, the monastery he’d originally set out from had been destroyed. What if the monks hadn’t been killed – but had moved ?’ She hurried back into the lounge, finding the letter her mother had received from Nepal.
‘Why would they move?’ Eddie called after her. ‘Council tax went up?’
‘Shush!’ She quickly reread the letter. ‘Every answer the monks gave Mom is a non -answer – like saying that parts of the monastery pre-date the 1840s. That could mean anything. They could have transferred statues or altars from the original site.’
‘So you’re telling me a bunch of Buddhist monks lied to your mum?’
‘They’re not technically lying, just being economical with the truth.’ She came back into the kitchen with the letter and map. ‘What if the monks who showed Tobias the cave and the monks who wrote to my mom are the same ones?’
‘They’d be pretty old.’
‘I don’t mean literally the same ones. But they’ve been protecting the cave’s secret all this time. To the point that when they realised Tobias might be able to find it again, they upped sticks and rebuilt their monastery on the only path up the mountain to make sure nobody could get past!’
‘Bit of a long shot,’ said Eddie dubiously.
‘You said my mom might have been wrong. She was – but only in the sense that she’d been
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