The Quest for Valhalla

Chapter 12

Val walked through the busy Chambers Street, late, as always. Even by her standards, she was late and that was saying something. By the time she walked into The Tower, the restaurant was filled with people and she had to take her time to locate Sam and Nina by a far window, looking out over the city streets below. She cringed a little when she saw their empty plates, denoting that they had elected to order in her absence and had subsequently already dined, waiting for her to arrive.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, you two,” she panted when she reached the table.

“No worries. The alcohol here is excellent. Just wish I could afford a glass so I could judge for myself,” Sam jested as he stood up to pull Val’s chair out for her.

“Don’t listen to him, Val,” Nina said, raising her eyebrow at Sam, “as always, I am buying.”

Val snickered.

“Yeah, it pays to be the millionaire’s pet,” Sam winked, and this time Nina smiled, sincerely amused.

“What are you having?” Nina asked, passing Val a menu.

“Oh, I’m not hungry, thanks Nina. I’ll have a brandy, though,” Val smiled, and shook her head at Sam’s cheerful support in the form of a yelp that had her laughing in an instant.

“Behave yourself, Cleave,” Nina said as she hailed a waiter and pointed to her pick on the menu, “Three, please.”

She looked at Val, staring out the window. Nina wished she knew what her new acquaintance was thinking. Her eyes ran along the biker lady’s neck line and fingers, noticing no exotic or rare jewelry today. It was odd. She knew Val always wore something antique.

“Excuse me, I have to go to the Boys Room, ladies,” Sam smiled charmingly and left for the men’s restroom.

“He is really handsome,” Val remarked as she watched Sam walk away. “Not my type, but darling for a girl like you.”

Nina gave her a good hard look. “Not wearing that beautiful piece today?”

“Oh you,” Val smiled, tapping the back of Nina’s hand bashfully. “Remind me to get you something similar from Christmas.”

‘I bet you could get me the chest piece Nefertiti wore to her first shindig, right?’ Nina thought as she cocked her head to the side, unable to reply readily. Again, Val seemed distracted momentarily by the street below, as if she was looking for something.

“What is wrong?” Nina asked.

“When are we going to see the exhibition?” Val asked without looking at the beautiful historian. Nina’s eyes flared at the question. Once more, Val was making it so obvious that she was eager to study the inside of a museum where another Viking collection was kept. There was no doubt in Nina’s mind that Val was not just there to see the exhibit. She had every intention to keep her eye on the biker, to not leave her side for a second.

“Soon,” Nina replied, as the drinks were placed.

“Good. I cannot stay too long. My husband is a menace. He needs adult supervision at all times,” Val laughed nervously. Something was up and Nina had a keen nose for it.

“Has he healed up?” Nina asked, playing the feigning game again.

“Oh, yes… yes,” Val nodded and took a swig of her drink, “he is doing fine, thanks for asking.”

Nina tried not to smile at the predictable behavior of the enigmatic woman. All she knew was that she was about to unveil something monumental, something that was going to make the news all over the world and she was going to be responsible, along with Sam, for exposing the culprits.

“Mrs. Joutsen?” a female voice cut the suspense.

“Yes?” Val said, surprised.

“There is a call for you in the manager’s office. It is apparently quite urgent,” the assistant manageress said.

“I see,” Val replied, reluctant to get up, frowning at Nina with a shrug. “Only my husband knows I am here,” she told Nina as she stood up, looking very uncomfortable. “He would call me on my cell, wouldn’t he?” she asked no-one in particular. Val ran her open hands down her thighs, wiping the perspiration on her jeans and then she eyed the lady who summoned her walking toward the office.

Nina frowned at Val’s hesitation. She was right, Nina thought, it was too suspicious. The woman’s husband would not have called her on the landline of the establishment. And if he did, why? Val took her purse and excused herself. As Sam came back, he passed her with a quizzical expression and looked at Nina to explain, but she only shrugged.

“Marital bliss,” Sam motioned with his head toward the manager’s office entrance after Nina told him about the phone call. Nina giggled briefly but he could see that she was worried, a look of anticipation on her face. Nina’s nails chimed against the glass she was hugging with her palms. Deep in thought, she tapped her fingertips rhythmically.

Suddenly, a few men seated by the window jumped up and pointed down to the street outside. A commotion followed from the surrounding tables as well as one by one, people in the booths came running to the window to see what was happening, including Sam and Nina.

From the building next to The Tower, three individuals dressed in black jeans, black T-shirts and baseball hats raced out into the street toward three waiting motorcycles across from the building entrance.

“My god, Sam!” Nina cried, “They are robbing the museum!”

Val was nowhere to be seen. She was absent from the manager’s office.

“Stay here, Nina,” Sam shouted as he made for the door, “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Sam!” she yelled back at him, at first protesting, but then she realized the immediate danger and decided to rather ask the manageress about the phone call Val received. Sam raced out of the restaurant.

The bikes bolted down Chambers Street, swinging as they barely missed pedestrians. The robbers thundered their way to the junction at South Bridge. When Sam got to the museum, the security staff stopped him outside, preventing him from getting in while they waited for the police to arrive. He watched the three Ducatis round the corner and disappear, leaving only the sound of their speeding engines within earshot until that too, vanished in the distance.

“What did they steal?” Sam asked.

“As far as we can tell they did not get away with much,” one of the security guards panted. He placed his hands on his hips and caught his breath. “We stopped them from getting to the new exhibit, of course, but they got the chess pieces. Bastards.”

“The chess pieces?” Sam asked casually, hoping the guard would get lost in conversation and yield practical information.

“Aye. The Lewis chess pieces. Bastards got all eleven of ‘em. Gone. Kaput.” The guard shook his head as he stared down the street where they made their escape, as if he wished they would come back.

The police arrived at the scene and the entire building was evacuated, just in case there were more robbers in other areas of the National Museum of Scotland.

“Lewis chess pieces. Lewis. Lewis,” Sam repeated over and over as he made his way back to The Tower to meet Nina and ask her what significance they held before he forgot the name.

“Lewis. Lewis,” he came up the stairs to the restaurant, reciting the name in fear of forgetting it.

Nina was standing by the window, looking out over the street. She was elated to see that Sam had not been hurt and they sat down once more.

“What did I tell you?” she asked calmly, gloating through a sense of defeat for not thwarting the robbery after all. “Val disappears and BOOM!” For a long while, she pierced Sam’s eyes with her look of self-assurance. He said nothing. She was right, he had to concede.

“Lewis,” he said simply.

“What?”

“Lewis. Ring a bell? Lewis chess pieces?” he asked, feeling a little stupid for not knowing what they were. As if he did not feel inadequate enough by having to admit that Nina was probably correct in her assumptions of Val, he now had to feel like an illiterate fool in the Great and All-Knowing Historian’s playground.

Nina’s face sank in astonishment, knowing what they were and their significance. Now she knew why Val would go after them. Impatient and extremely curious, Sam urged, “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

“The Lewis chess pieces were discovered in the bay of Uig, so they also take the name, Uig chessmen. I think they were found on the Isle of Lewis in the early 1800’s. A full chess set carved in walrus ivory from, shit, the 12th century?” she asked herself, looking up at the ceiling to organize her thoughts.

“Alright, so why would Val have such a hard-on for them?” Sam asked.

“I’m not sure. They are presumably Viking related. It is debated that they originate from Trondheim, because the Outer Hebrides were ruled by Norway, like a lot of other Scottish isles. But…” she pursed her lips in thought, recalling what she knew about the artifacts, “…there was opposition from some lads from Iceland who claimed that the chess pieces came from Iceland.” Nina shrugged, “That’s as much as I know about them. That’s all they stole?”

“Apparently they would have gotten into other exhibitions, had it not been for the swift response of the security team of the National Museum of Scotland,” he announced majestically.

“What the hell would Val want with the chess pieces?” Nina pondered out loud, but Sam promptly hushed her, looking past her at someone.

“What?” she asked.

“Just shut up and wait. Keep your thoughts inside your pretty little head,” Sam smiled and winked, speaking in a remarkably low tone. Before Nina could question him, Val sat down next to her. Nina could almost not conceal her surprise.

“Hey! Where have you been? We want to get some dessert,” she lied confidently.

“I had to go to the Ladies restroom after I completed the phone call. It was Gunnar,” she smiled awkwardly, but she looked a lot calmer than before. Nina and Sam exchanged looks.

“What is all the hullabaloo about out here?” Val asked innocently. Sam noticed Nina’s dampened scoff and shook his head surreptitiously at her.

“The Museum got robbed right in front of us, would you believe,” Nina answered coldly, abandoning any hint to subtlety. Her dark eyes nailed Val’s for a moment, but the biker woman just turned to look out the window to the gathering crowd and police presence down in the street.

“Now we won’t be able to see the exhibit?” she asked in a tone of mild disappointment. “I was really looking forward to seeing that.”

“There will be a next time, I’m sure,” Sam said plainly and looked at the fiery stare of Nina, her patience waning rapidly. He could see that she was set on just saying it, sooner or later. Still, she held her tongue for now, as Val sat down. She kept looking toward the manager’s office, much like an unfaithful wife’s paranoia when meeting her lover in a public place. Nina turned to see what she was looking at.

“What is the matter, Val?” she asked sharply.

“Nothing,” Val replied with an unconvincing smile. “Oh my god, I have to stop drinking these,” she said as she lifted the bottled water, her second bottle, “I have to pee again.” Her tone was playful as she rolled her eyes and stood up, but Nina was not letting her out of her sight again.

“I’ll come with you. The tea and alcohol is getting the better of me too,” she said quickly and rose from her chair. Nina gave Sam a look just to let him know that she was on to the biker lady and instead of dismissing it this time, he nodded.

In the dark green restroom, adorned with wall sized mirrors and faux jade tiling, Val checked each stall to make sure she was alone with Nina, but she pretended to look for a clean toilet. Nina took the opportunity to fix her make-up, watching Val in the mirror. To her surprise, Val came straight to her and put her purse on the counter.

“I have something for you,” she smiled.

I swear to God if she takes a chess piece out of that bag, I will throw her skinny ass on the floor and put her in a headlock! Nina thought to herself, but she smiled with an expression of whimsical mystery and said, “Val… what are you up to?”

“I told you I would get you something antique, remember?” Val smiled, looking towards the door.

No fucking way. She is going to pull a goddamn chess piece out, I swear! Nina thought, and replied eagerly, “Yes, you did!”

Holding her breath, quite literally, Nina ogled the woman’s hand as it sank into her back and fumbled about inside. She could not peel her eyes from the open mouth of the handbag as Val’s hand emerged. Nina’s heart slammed hard as she prepared to take Val down physically — something she had never done before and quite honestly did not know how to execute.

Val pulled the most beautiful piece from her bag. It looked like pewter, or marcasite, an ornate flask of tarnished beauty. It bore a mesh of intricately woven silver over it, fixed to the actual container and at the top it had a small lid that fitted in the mouth of the flask. Nina’s jaw dropped. She was unfamiliar with the piece, but there was no doubt to its antiquity and value. In the woven patterns she recognized some Nordic motifs, but other than that she had no idea where it came from or to what culture it was akin.

“Val,” was all Nina could say as she took the flask in her hand. It was no bigger than her palm and part of her fingers. “Where did you get this?”

“Family,” Val replied and she looked at it with great nostalgia. “I want you to have it. But Nina,” she placed her hand firmly on the historian’s arm and looked her in the eye with seriousness, “you must never ever give it away. Keep it safe. Guard it with your life, because…” she hesitated with tears in her eyes, “…because… it is very precious to me. You are the only person I can imagine would not only appreciate it, but also keep it with the respect such old things demand.”

Nina was floored. She had no idea what to say, less even what to think now.

“Of course, you know I will,” she smiled wide-eyed and when Val hugged her, she could feel her body’s almost imperceptible shudder. Nina was being bribed, she thought, and as much as she appreciated the magnificent gift she would not allow Val to get away with looting most valuable relics. But now was not the time for confrontation and she accepted the gift graciously.