Templar's Code

CHAPTER 30

Edie estimated that they’d gone approximately a quarter mile when they reached the edge of the swift-moving river.

Worried they’d come to the proverbial dead end, she stared at the stone bridge comprising gigantic rectangular granite slabs that extended from one side of the riverbank to the other.

Frowning, Caedmon’s gaze was glued to the gushing white-capped water that flowed across the middle of the bridge.

“The Indians forgot to mention that a fifteen-foot waterfall flows right down the middle of Yawgoog’s stone bridge. Which makes crossing the river next to impossible,” Edie glumly remarked. “Some bridge.”

“Interesting that Dr. Lovett made no mention of the waterfall in his field book. Evidently, he didn’t consider it pertinent.”

“Dr. Lovett didn’t mention a lot of things in his little notebook. Too paranoid that someone would steal his notes and beat him to the treasure. Okay, scoutmaster, now what? As near as I can tell, this is a bridge to nowhere.”

“Quarried and built by man . . . but to what end? As you said, it’s impossible to cross to the other side.”

“Are you sure this is even man-made?”

“There’s no doubt in my mind. See these rough-hewn marks?” He pointed to the edge of the nearest block. “These slabs were obviously cut from the local granite, of which there is an abundance.”

“Using the same tools employed by fourteenth-century stonemasons.”

Caedmon nodded. “The Indian tales mention that Yawgoog wore a leather apron as he constructed his fabled bridge. European stonemasons similarly garbed themselves in leather aprons.”

“Okay, we’ve got the how of it figured out. Any ideas as to why it was built?”

“My gut instinct is that this is related to the carved Beauséant, but . . .” He shrugged, clearly at a loss.

“Let’s backtrack,” she said, hoping to kick-start a brainstorming session. “What do we know about the Beauséant? We know it means ‘glorious’ and that the actual banner was red, white, and black. We also know that the Templars—”

“Red, white, and black . . . of course.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth as he contemplated Yawgoog’s bridge. A few moments later, he said, “Since the Beauséant was carved onto the boulder, the colors were implied.”

Even though she had no idea why that was relevant, Edie encouragingly nodded her head. “I’m with you. Keep rolling.” She made a rolling motion with her hand.

“Mind you, I’m thinking aloud, but it could well be that the oak trees that bracket either side of the bridge are a clue. You may not have noticed but the grove of trees on one side of the river bank is white oak and the grove on the opposite bank is red.”

She glanced at the massive old-growth oak trees. “How do you know? They look identical to me.”

He made no reply. Instead, he picked up a dried oak leaf near his boot tip. Then, bending at the waist, his eyes glued to the ground, he walked several feet before picking up yet another brown, sun-dried leaf. “The proof is in the foliage,” he said, showing her the two similar but uniquely different oak leaves. “The lobes on the white oak are round.”

“And the lobes on the red oak are pointed. It was probably blown across the river last autumn. But how do you know that these two oak groves were intentionally planted?”

“Had God’s hand been involved in the design, one would expect mixed groves on either side of the bank. But, instead, there’s one species on each bank. Red and white. Clearly, the oaks relate to the Beauséant.”

“All right, then riddle me this: Where does the black come into play? Lest you forgot, the Beauséant is made up of three colors, not two.”

“Indeed.” For several long seconds he stared at the two oak leaves he still held in his hand. “Medieval battle standards can be thought of as a type of shorthand. Then, as now, each armorial color had a specific meaning. In heraldry, black symbolizes the virtue of wisdom.”

“Which is another name for knowledge. And the Latin phrase ‘I am a witness to knowledge’ is engraved on the Templar signet.” She pointedly glanced at his ring finger.

“Moreover, the color black is represented by the numeral eight.” He turned to her, smiling. “And as anyone familiar with the Knights Templar knows, there are eight points on a Templar cross.”

“So the color black has a strong connection to the Knights Templar.”

“And the color black is symbolic of the grave, underground caves, and the primordial void.” He flung the two oak leaves to the ground. “Riddle solved.”

Without any explanation as to what he was doing, Caedmon stepped out onto Yawgoog’s bridge, purposely striding to where stone met water. Turning his back, he slid his knapsack off his shoulders and deposited it on the granite slab. He then removed the GPS receiver from his pocket, placing it on top of the knapsack.

“Caedmon! What are you doing?”

“Preparing to leap into the primordial void.”

With those parting words, he jumped off the granite bridge into the river. Disappearing from sight.