Serpent Read Free Page A

astonishment. “So there were human sacrifices to it?”
    “That’s as good an explanation as any,” Dr. Paz replied.
    As Dr. Becker’s overwhelmed mind was trying to digest the information, one of Dr. Paz’s students came rushing into the tent.
    “Dr. Paz,” the girl called breathlessly. “ Dr. Becker, you both need to come.”
    Dr. Paz was already on the move with Becker right behind her. “Why?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
    The student shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong,” she said. “But we were moving away some earth just like you instructed and we came across something.”
    “What?”
    The student looked between Dr. Paz and Dr. Becker, excitement in her face. “We thought it was a piece of wood or a log, but it wasn’t,” she said. “We came across a broadsword buried in the earth.”
    Dr. Becker stepped forward. “A broadsword?” he repeated. “Are you sure?”
    The girl nodded firmly. “The steel of the blade is black from the acidic soil that it’s been in, but the hilt is still there.” A grin spread across her face. “It’s gold, Dr. Becker. It’s a big, beautiful Medieval hilt and it looks like there are stones in it. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
    Becker was really curious now. “ Let’s go take a look.”
    The girl nodded and rushed off with Dr. Becker and Dr. Paz hot on her heels. The mystery in the marsh was deepening.
     
    ⌘

     

     
    A knight, he traveled, lone and weary,
    Upon a road so nigh.
    Upon this road, a wraith came leery,
    And moved the knight to by.
    “Behold,” said he, “I clearly see,
    Your heart is not content.”
    “Be wise,” it replied, “and know, forsooth,
    That all is not as it seems.
    Your road is long, and your path is wrong,
    For you have entered the realm of the Serpent.”
    ~ 17 th Century Welsh Chronicler
     

CHAPTER ONE
     
    Year of Our Lord 1283 A.D., the Month of April
    Reign of Edward I
    Castle Questing, Northumberland, England
     
     
    “She did not simply disappear, but I would wager to say she is holed up somewhere in the castle. Woe betide the man who finds her for she shall not make capture easy.”
    The grim prediction came from an elderly man, big and dark and battle-scarred, and a patch over his missing left eye. He was old, that was true, but the gleam in his one good eye was as youthful and strong as it had ever been. The Wolfe of the North, Sir William de Wolfe, gazed at the men surrounding him, his expression wrought with tension. There was battle in the air.
    “We checked all of the usual places, Father,” a big, brawny man with blond hair and hazel-gold eyes informed him. “She is nowhere to be found.”
    “She is somewhere,” William repeated steadily. “I would suggest you are fully armed as you search. If I know my youngest daughter, and I believe I do, she is armed and lying in wait for one of you hapless souls to come across her. She does not wish to be captured so heed my advice; she has a tendency to go for the neck so if I were you, I would take all steps to protect myself should you happen to find her. She will fight like a caged beast.”
    The brawny blond man grunted, perhaps in disapproval, and glanced at the men around him; four of them were his brothers, including his twin, and they all had the very same thought when it came to their youngest sister, the Lady Penelope Adalira de Wolfe. Mayhap you should not have raised her as a knight, Father. She can best every one of us if she puts her mind to it. They were all thinking the same thing but no one had the courage to speak it.
    No one dare d lecture The Wolfe; to do so was a sign of disrespect and all of them had the very greatest esteem for their father. But even infallible men sometimes had a weakness; in William’s case, it happened to be his youngest child. A surprise baby that was born when both of her parents were well past their prime, she had been doted on and spoiled ridiculously, and when she had shown interest in doing what her older