The Midas Legacy

5

‘Please don’t tell me you were up all night,’ Eddie said as he padded into the lounge.

Nina was at her desk, picking through her mother’s notes. ‘I wasn’t, don’t worry. You were asleep when I came to bed. I didn’t get much sleep, though — I kept thinking about what I’d read, so I got up first thing and carried on working.’

‘It’s work now, is it?’ He peered over her shoulder. ‘So what’ve you found?’

‘That there are other explorers in my family,’ she said, unable to contain her enthusiasm. ‘My great-great-something-grandfather, Tobias Barrington Garde, visited India and Nepal in the 1840s.’ She rifled through the pages to find a particular passage. ‘Some Buddhist monks showed him an artefact that described Talonor’s expedition!’

‘What, so your ancestor from a couple of centuries back found something from Atlantis?’ Scepticism was clear in his voice. ‘That’s a bit of a coincidence. Are you sure this lot isn’t fake?’

‘More than ever,’ she said, indicating a box of her parents’ work she had brought in for comparison. ‘It’s definitely her writing. I don’t believe in destiny, but it might explain why I’ve always been so obsessed with Atlantis, just like my mom and dad; it’s woven into our family history.’

‘If your mum knew about Talonor, why didn’t she tell your dad?’

‘I… don’t know,’ Nina had to admit. ‘I can’t think of any reason why she would have kept quiet about it. If my father had known about Talonor’s expedition, it might have led him to the Himalayas much sooner.’ She was quiet for a moment. ‘And they might both still be alive.’

Eddie put a comforting arm across her shoulders. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah. Thanks. But,’ she continued, pushing the unhappy thought aside, ‘whatever her reasons, the fact is that she did know about Talonor. And what he was doing. There was more to it than just exploration, or conquest — he was specifically looking for something. And Tobias found it. He called it the Midas Cave.’

‘Midas?’ said Eddie, surprised. ‘As in turning stuff into gold?’

‘It seems that way.’

‘Thought that was a Greek myth, nothing to do with Atlantis?’

‘It is. The story goes that King Midas was granted a wish by the god Dionysus for helping rescue his mentor Silenus, and he wished for everything he touched to turn to gold. Which backfired badly, as wishes usually do; whenever he tried to eat anything, it became twenty-four-carat inedibility, and as for when he hugged his daughter, well…’

Eddie looked towards Macy’s room. ‘Note to self: don’t make stupid wishes.’

Nina smiled. ‘But from what I’ve read so far, the Greek myth of King Midas might have originally come from Atlantis — they share a common pantheon of gods, so other legends could have been adapted by the ancient Greeks as well. In this case, though, Midas isn’t a king. He’s an Atlantean prince, and Talonor’s friend and companion on the expedition. The cave was named after him.’

‘Why? Is it full of gold?’

‘I don’t know. My mother didn’t say anything about its contents. But whatever it was, it was important enough that the monks kept its location a secret.’ She found a set of pages she had marked with a Post-it note. ‘According to this, when the monks took Tobias and his companions to see the cave, the journey lasted three days, and they travelled most of the way in windowless sedan chairs to stop them from seeing the route. Once they arrived, Tobias was so amazed by whatever he saw that every time they stopped on the way back, he secretly took navigational readings, based on the bearings and inclination of the surrounding mountains, to try to re-create the path they took.’

Eddie nodded. ‘Smart man.’

‘Not smart enough. He never did find the cave again. But that didn’t stop my mom from trying.’ Nina unfolded a creased and yellowing map. The dense concentrations of contour lines immediately revealed it as a mountainous region. ‘Western Nepal,’ she said. ‘See how she marked all the peaks?’

Her husband took a closer look. Starbursts of lines, most in pencil but some more decisively inked, were connected to numerous summits. ‘I see what she’s done,’ he said. ‘Trying to match the bearings Great-Great-Grandad Toby made to the real mountains.’

‘Yeah,’ Nina replied. She ran a fingertip along a zigzagging line of red ink. ‘She thought this was the most likely route.’

There were other, less decisively marked, paths on the map. ‘Doesn’t look like the only option, though,’ Eddie noted.

‘No. I guess if he was taking the readings in a rush, they wouldn’t be totally accurate. And the map itself dates from the 1940s, so probably isn’t that precise either — certainly not compared to what we have now.’

‘I take it your mum didn’t find the cave.’

Nina shook her head. ‘She thought that this,’ she gestured at a particular region, ‘was the right area, but couldn’t pin it down any further.’

He checked the map’s scale. ‘Lot of ground to cover.’

‘I know. Mom did think she’d narrowed it down at one point, but there’s an old monastery near the end of her route. Tobias didn’t mention any signs of civilisation, so it couldn’t be the right place.’

‘But you said he couldn’t see where he was.’

‘For most of the way, yes, but the final stages were too dangerous for the monks to carry the sedan chairs. He went up to the cave itself on foot.’ She found another bookmarked page. ‘Mom even wrote to the monastery to ask if they had any record of Western visitors in 1846, but they said no.’

‘She was serious about finding this place, then,’ said Eddie, impressed. ‘How old was she when she did all this?’

Nina’s face hardened slightly. ‘She started working on it before going to university. But…’ She tapped on a letter, typewritten text standing out amongst the freehand script. ‘This is the reply from the monastery. It’s dated March 1975. After she met Dad. She was still trying to find the Midas Cave even though she knew he was obsessed with finding Atlantis.’

A theatrical yawn from the hallway told them their daughter was out of bed. ‘Hey, little love,’ said Eddie as Macy entered.

‘Hi, Daddy,’ she replied. ‘Hi, Mommy. What are you doing?’

‘Work, honey,’ Nina replied.

‘But you finished writing your book,’ said Macy, confused.

‘This is different.’

‘Is it because of that lady who was here last night?’

Nina smiled. ‘Yes, it is. She brought me something that used to belong to my mommy.’

‘Ooh! Can I see?’ Macy tried to clamber on to her lap.

‘It’s just some letters, hon. Nothing much to look at.’

Eddie scooped up the little girl. ‘Come on, let’s let Mummy—’

‘Mommy,’ mother and daughter corrected simultaneously.

‘—put all this stuff away while we make breakfast.’

‘Thanks, I need a really strong coffee,’ said Nina. She was about to gather the papers on the desk, but paused at the sight of Olivia’s card.

‘You’re going to phone her, aren’t you?’ Eddie asked.

‘What?’ she said, feeling almost guilty.

‘Your maybe-grandma. You want to find out more about your mum — and all of this.’

‘I… hadn’t decided.’ The statement didn’t sound convincing even to herself, and she could tell her husband didn’t believe it either. After ten years together, he knew all too well when she was set on a particular course of action.

‘We’ll go out somewhere and leave you to it,’ he said with exaggerated resignation.

‘Thanks,’ Nina replied, genuinely appreciative. ‘You know how much I love you, right?’

‘You can always show it by giving me a— Agh, I can’t do my old rude jokes any more.’ Eddie grimaced, looking at the child in his arms. ‘Me and my promises.’

‘You’re a good dad, Eddie Chase,’ said Nina, amused. Leaving her husband to take care of breakfast, she picked up the card and regarded it thoughtfully, then dug out her phone.

‘I’m glad you called,’ said Olivia an hour and a half later. ‘There was always a worry that you would treat me like Laura did.’

‘We’ll see how things go,’ Nina replied, wanting to maintain the upper hand. She showed the older woman into the lounge.

‘Where are Macy and your husband?’ Olivia asked as she sat.

‘They went to the zoo. Eddie thought it’d be best if we had some time to ourselves.’

‘I see.’ She regarded the folders, which were laid out on the table between the two women. ‘I assume you’ve read some of Laura’s work.’

‘Most of it. I’m a fast reader.’

‘So was she. It runs in the family.’

‘As do a lot of things, apparently. Like exploration. I’d never heard about Tobias Garde before.’

Olivia sighed. ‘Yes. I suspected that in cutting herself off from me, Laura would also have kept our family’s history from you.’

Nina glanced at the desk, where her laptop was open. ‘I did a little genealogical research. He was my great-great-great… great-grandfather?’

Olivia nodded. ‘That’s right.’

‘And a rich man. I also did some historical research.’

Another nod. ‘The Gardes have never been short of money. Which, incidentally, your mother refused to take. She had a trust fund, but after our argument, she never claimed it. It’s technically yours now. It’s quite substantial.’

‘I don’t need money.’

‘I know. You’ve made your own way in life, very successfully. I don’t know if it will mean anything to you, but I’m proud of that.’

Nina was uncomfortable with the praise, but covered it. ‘So. After forty-some years, my grandmother reappears.’

‘You accept that I am your grandmother?’

‘I’m prepared to accept the possibility. In which case, the question is: why now?’

‘I told you last night,’ said Olivia, with a gentle smile. ‘I’m almost ninety, and I wanted to give my granddaughter her mother’s work before it was too late.’

‘And the page on top of the pile just happened to mention Talonor, right? Kind of funny how that happened.’

She had expected the elderly woman to respond with surprise or embarrassment at being caught, but instead her smile merely became more knowing. ‘You noticed, then. I admit, I would have been a little disappointed if you hadn’t.’

‘So you set it up that way on purpose?’

‘Of course! I would say I had an ulterior motive, but that sounds overdramatic. I just wanted to be sure I would catch your interest.’

‘Consider it caught. Why?’

‘Your family history is also my family history. And Laura’s. Before she met your father and joined his crusade to find the lost civilisation of Atlantis, she was searching for a more specific part of it.’

‘The Midas Cave.’

‘The Midas Cave, yes. Tobias Garde saw it once, all those years ago, and spent the rest of his life trying to find it again. Whatever it contained, it was something wondrous, which nobody else has seen since.’

‘Except the monks who hold the secret.’

‘Perhaps not even them. You know that Tobias went back to Nepal?’ Nina nodded. ‘The monastery where the monks lived, the starting point of the journey to the Midas Cave, had been destroyed. It could have been by war, or a natural disaster — no one knew. There was nobody left who could tell him anything. He spent years exploring the mountains, but never found the cave.’

‘And since then,’ said Nina, taking out the annotated map, ‘the family’s been trying to follow in his footsteps?’

‘On and off, yes. Laura was particularly intrigued. Enough to have put all this work into finding it.’

‘But then she met my father and put her efforts into finding Atlantis instead.’ She gave the words an accusatory edge, wanting to see how Olivia would respond.

But if she had hoped to draw out her grandmother’s ulterior motive, she was disappointed. ‘And they got so close,’ Olivia said instead, with a mixture of approval and sadness. ‘As you said, they almost found it.’

‘Yeah,’ Nina replied, her lips tightening. ‘And then they were murdered.’

The older woman nodded, staring down at her daughter’s research. ‘Those responsible,’ she said at last, ‘you didn’t say what happened to them. I understand why; your book is about the archaeological discoveries you’ve made, not what you went through to find them. But… was justice done?’

‘They got what they deserved,’ was Nina’s quiet reply.

‘Good.’ A long pause, neither speaking, then Olivia looked up. ‘It took you to see Laura’s work through, Nina. She would have been so proud of you. The reason I wanted to give you her research is that I hoped you might see her other work through.’

‘The Midas Cave?’

‘Yes. It’s not an understatement to say that this,’ she indicated the folders, ‘represents years of work on her part. She scoured every scrap of information we had about Tobias and his expedition, searched out other historical sources, even wrote to a Nepalese monastery—’

‘I know. I saw their reply.’

‘Before she met Henry, this was her obsession. She wanted to retrace Tobias’s steps, rediscover whatever wonders he’d found in the cave. Now it seems like… unfinished business.’

‘That I might be able to finish for her.’

Olivia smiled. ‘You are the world’s most famous archaeologist. If anyone can bring our family’s history full circle, it’s you. It deserves to be you.’

‘And if I do, what’s in it for you?’

That finally drew a startled response. ‘That’s rather cynical.’

‘Born out of experience,’ Nina replied. ‘Painful experience, sometimes.’

‘So I gather. But all I want is to know that Laura’s work wasn’t for nothing.’

‘So if I find the Midas Cave, you don’t want to know where it is?’

‘Well of course I want to know where it is,’ Olivia said, a little condescendingly. ‘It’s a family mystery we’ve been trying to solve for generations! But if you’re concerned that my goals are solely financial, I can assure you that, like you, I don’t need money. I have enough to see me through. Actually, considering my age, more than enough!’ A chuckle, then she became more contemplative. ‘You completed your parents’ work when you found Atlantis. It would mean a great deal if you could complete your mother’s work too.’

‘It would,’ Nina said quietly.

‘I’ll let you decide what to do, then.’

Olivia stood and they said their goodbyes, then the elderly woman left.

Now it was Nina’s turn to stare at her mother’s notes. She composed her thoughts, taking a moment to reach a decision, then picked up her phone and made a call.