Believe Read Free

expression of surprise. “Why who would have thought, our very own Ms. St. James would have found that particular subject interesting in the least little bit.”
    “Knock it off.” Tessa laughed. “It’s the book I find interesting not the subject.” She laid it gently on the desk. “I’ll look at it later. Let’s go get something to eat.”
    “It’s nice to know you believe in something.” Angie stepped to the door.
    “Oh, yeah? What?”
    Angie tossed her a smug smile. “Food.”
    “You’ve caught me. I’m a believer. Now let’s go.” Tessa pushed her out the door in a good-natured manner. She’d examine the book more closely later today. It was weird though, this particular volume arriving when it did. Probably no more than a bizarre coincidence. Still, like a song she couldn’t get out of her head, the book’s title throbbed in the back of her mind:
     
    My Life and Times
    The Story of Merlin
    Wizard Extraordinaire and Counselor to Kings
     
    Tessa arched her back and stretched her hands over her head in a vain effort to relieve some of the stiffness in her joints. It seemed like she’d been sitting here forever. Alone. Exactly why she loved the stacks in the old wing of the university library. People rarely came into this area and, since Tessa had a tendency to talk to herself out loud when she concentrated, this was the perfect place for her. There were no windows back here, nothing to really mark the passage of time and it was easy to focus on whatever work was before her She glanced at her watch and straightened in surprise. It was nearly eight o’clock. She’d been here all day.
    “And what have we managed to get accomplished? Not much.” Tessa stared ruefully at the array of books scattered across the broad expanse of the scarred, ancient oak table. She’d pulled almost every reference the university had to offer on dating antique books. The Story of Merlin defied them all and through the course of the day, the mystery had become an obsession.
    She was fairly confident about the age of the cover though. It dated to the late 1800s at the earliest. There was nothing particularly special about it except that it was in remarkably good condition. A little wear around the corners seemed to be the extent of any damage. No, it wasn’t the cover that fascinated her.
    She flipped open the book and turned the pages one by one. The paper was like nothing she’d ever seen. It bore a striking resemblance to a very fine parchment. Tessa had examined books that dated back five hundred years before but that parchment was brittle and fragile and stiff with age. The pages in this book were supple and flexible as if they were new. But of course that was ridiculous. Even in the 1800s no one used parchment. Beyond that, after more than a hundred years, parchment too would lose its pliant properties.
    The pages themselves weren’t half as intriguing as the words printed on them. At least she thought it was print. It could well have been actual handwriting. She shook her head in frustration. That made no sense at all. She ran her finger lightly over one page. If this was written, no matter how old, there would be a difference in the feel of the page, with subtle ridges and indentations in the surface, as compared to a sheet of mechanical printing. As far as she could tell, it was flat.
    But it was the illustrations that took her breath away. In a style that seemed more realistic than the nineteenth century, the colors, vibrant and alive, defied any test of time. Each depiction was more glorious than the last. Here was a painting of a knight pitted against a dragon, so evocative she could almost feel the heat of the dragon’s breath on her face and shiver with the fear of the valiant knight. There was a court scene, a great hall draped in the banners of the king’s men with the laughter of a hundred lords and ladies echoing through the chamber. She turned another page and caught her breath. How had she missed