“You would have been safer with me!”
“I had no idea her husband’s men were lurking around. Nor that he was so possessive. My God, her reputation…”
“Those were not Leclerc’s men, you fool. Those were Danes.”
“Danes?” Why did they care whom I was rogering?
“Or they were the church, or worse. It’s too late for you now, Gage, you’ve been seen with me. They know how crucial you are to our cause. Your life is in terrible danger.”
“ Who knows? What cause?” I swear I draw lunatics like bees to honey.
“Were they going to burn you on the island?”
“Yes. If it hadn’t been for this newfangled solid chocolate…”
“They’re trying to warn me off. And make a statement. Don’tthink they didn’t mean for us to mark the similarities to the medieval stake of the Inquisition. Your incineration was to be a signal to the rest of us. Which only convinces me the map is real. I tell you Gage, your nation needs me as much as I need it.”
“ What map?”
“How many are there? Are they well-armed?”
“Frankly, I didn’t get a good look. I was rather busy…”
“Who can we trust? The odds appear long. Do you have any allies at all?”
“Bloodhammer…”
“Call me Magnus.”
“Magnus, can you take your arm from my shoulder, please? We’re barely acquainted.”
Reluctantly, the big man did so, and I got some breathing room. “Thank you. Now, I don’t know any Danes, the church has been thrown out of France by the revolution, and I know nothing of any map. We’re here to celebrate a Franco-American peace treaty, if you’ll recall, and I try to be a friend to everyone, when I can. Including Pauline Bonaparte. Perhaps my assailants made some mistake. They gagged me, so I couldn’t explain who I really was.”
“Your new enemies don’t make mistakes.”
“But I don’t have any new enemies!” I glanced about. “Do I?”
“I’m afraid my enemies are now yours, because of your fame and expertise. You are an electrician, are you not? An investigator of the past? A protégé of the great Franklin?”
“More of an assistant, at best.” It was beginning to occur to me that while boasting of my exploits might win me alliance with fine ladies, it also seemed to draw the attention of the worst kind of men. Someday I’m going to be more careful. “I’m a wastrel, actually. Hardly worth caring about.”
“Gage, I’m on a quest, and there’s only one man in the world withthe curious combination of talents I need to help me succeed. That man is you , and everything you’ve said tonight only confirms it. No, don’t protest! Has not Bonaparte himself put his trust in you? Destiny is at work. What I am after is important, not only to Norway but to your own young nation. You are a patriot, sir, are you not?”
“Well, I like to think so. God rest George Washington. Not that I ever met the man.”
He leaned close, his whisper masked by the noise of the milling, inebriated crowd. “What if I were to tell you that Columbus was not the first to reach your shores?”
“The Indians were there, I suppose…”
“My own ancestors reached North America centuries before those Italian and Spanish interlopers, Ethan Gage. Norse voyagers were the real discoverers of your continent.”
“Really? But if they did, they didn’t stick, did they? It doesn’t count.”
“It does!” he roared, and people looked at us. He dragged me back even farther, to the shadow under an oak, and seized my shoulders in the dark underneath. “The Norse came, and drew a map, and left behind an artifact so powerful, so earthshaking, that whoever finds it will control the future! I’m talking about the fate of your own United States, Ethan Gage!”
I was suspicious. “What do you care about the United States?”
“Because the rightful return of this artifact to my own nation will be a rallying point for its independence at the same time it saves your own from foreign domination. We have a
“I had no idea her husband’s men were lurking around. Nor that he was so possessive. My God, her reputation…”
“Those were not Leclerc’s men, you fool. Those were Danes.”
“Danes?” Why did they care whom I was rogering?
“Or they were the church, or worse. It’s too late for you now, Gage, you’ve been seen with me. They know how crucial you are to our cause. Your life is in terrible danger.”
“ Who knows? What cause?” I swear I draw lunatics like bees to honey.
“Were they going to burn you on the island?”
“Yes. If it hadn’t been for this newfangled solid chocolate…”
“They’re trying to warn me off. And make a statement. Don’tthink they didn’t mean for us to mark the similarities to the medieval stake of the Inquisition. Your incineration was to be a signal to the rest of us. Which only convinces me the map is real. I tell you Gage, your nation needs me as much as I need it.”
“ What map?”
“How many are there? Are they well-armed?”
“Frankly, I didn’t get a good look. I was rather busy…”
“Who can we trust? The odds appear long. Do you have any allies at all?”
“Bloodhammer…”
“Call me Magnus.”
“Magnus, can you take your arm from my shoulder, please? We’re barely acquainted.”
Reluctantly, the big man did so, and I got some breathing room. “Thank you. Now, I don’t know any Danes, the church has been thrown out of France by the revolution, and I know nothing of any map. We’re here to celebrate a Franco-American peace treaty, if you’ll recall, and I try to be a friend to everyone, when I can. Including Pauline Bonaparte. Perhaps my assailants made some mistake. They gagged me, so I couldn’t explain who I really was.”
“Your new enemies don’t make mistakes.”
“But I don’t have any new enemies!” I glanced about. “Do I?”
“I’m afraid my enemies are now yours, because of your fame and expertise. You are an electrician, are you not? An investigator of the past? A protégé of the great Franklin?”
“More of an assistant, at best.” It was beginning to occur to me that while boasting of my exploits might win me alliance with fine ladies, it also seemed to draw the attention of the worst kind of men. Someday I’m going to be more careful. “I’m a wastrel, actually. Hardly worth caring about.”
“Gage, I’m on a quest, and there’s only one man in the world withthe curious combination of talents I need to help me succeed. That man is you , and everything you’ve said tonight only confirms it. No, don’t protest! Has not Bonaparte himself put his trust in you? Destiny is at work. What I am after is important, not only to Norway but to your own young nation. You are a patriot, sir, are you not?”
“Well, I like to think so. God rest George Washington. Not that I ever met the man.”
He leaned close, his whisper masked by the noise of the milling, inebriated crowd. “What if I were to tell you that Columbus was not the first to reach your shores?”
“The Indians were there, I suppose…”
“My own ancestors reached North America centuries before those Italian and Spanish interlopers, Ethan Gage. Norse voyagers were the real discoverers of your continent.”
“Really? But if they did, they didn’t stick, did they? It doesn’t count.”
“It does!” he roared, and people looked at us. He dragged me back even farther, to the shadow under an oak, and seized my shoulders in the dark underneath. “The Norse came, and drew a map, and left behind an artifact so powerful, so earthshaking, that whoever finds it will control the future! I’m talking about the fate of your own United States, Ethan Gage!”
I was suspicious. “What do you care about the United States?”
“Because the rightful return of this artifact to my own nation will be a rallying point for its independence at the same time it saves your own from foreign domination. We have a
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