Labyrinth

THE RETURN TO THE MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER 63

Sabarthes Mountains

FRIDAY 8 JULY 2OO5

Audric Baillard sat at a table of dark, highly-polished wood in his house in the shadow of the mountain.

The ceiling in the main room was low and there were large square tiles on the floor the colour of red mountain earth. He had made few changes.

This far from civilisation, there was no electricity, no running water, no cars or telephones. The only sound was the ticking of the clock marking time.

There was an oil lamp on the table, extinguished now. Next to it was a glass tumbler, filled almost to the brim with Guignolet, filling the room with the subtle scent of alcohol and cherries. On the far side of the table there was a brass tray holding two glasses and a bottle of red wine, unopened, as well as a small wooden platter of savoury biscuits covered with a white linen cloth.

Baillard had opened the shutters so he could see the sunrise. In spring, the trees on the outskirts of the village were dotted with tight silver and white buds and yellow and pink flowers peeped out shyly from the hedgerows and banks. By this late in the year, there was little colour left, only the grey and green of the mountain in whose eternal presence he had lived for so long.

A curtain separated his sleeping quarters from the main room. The whole of the back wall was covered with narrow shelves, almost empty now. An old pestle and mortar, a couple of bowls and scoops, a few jars. Also books, both those written by him, and the great voices of Cathar history – Delteil, Duvernoy, Nelli, Marti, Brenon, Rouquette. Works of Arab philosophy sat side by side with translations of ancient Judaic texts, monographs by authors ancient and modern. The rows of paperbacks, incongruous in such a setting, filled the space once occupied by medicines and potions and herbs.

He was prepared to wait.

Baillard raised the glass to his lips and drank deeply.

And if she did not come? If he never learned the truth of those final hours?

He sighed. If she did not come, then he would be forced to take the last steps of his long journey alone. As he had always feared.