Sherlock Holmes & The Knights Templar

Chapter 19

John lay next to Moriarty, his heart pounded and he knew that sleep was going to evade him yet again. When a knock sounded at the door John bounded up with relief to answer it and was surprised to find the priest that had assisted him in the courtyard standing there. “You must come quickly John Watson, for your patient only has a few hours left.” The priest said as his sad tired eyes met John’s.

John nodded, grabbed a fresh tunic, his sword and followed the priest to the main floor where his patient lay in agony on a floor pallet. As John rushed to his side, the man reached out and grabbed John’s wrist. His grip was stronger than John would have thought he could manage and his eyes were burning with zeal as he pulled John down next to him. “There is nothing medically you can do for me John Watson and the priest has prepared my soul for the afterlife; however you must keep a meeting that alas I will not be able to attend. John, the future freedom of the world depends on you for I am giving you my position in the brotherhood. The password is Solomon’s Wisdom; promise me you will go the priest will give you the details.”  The man’s body was beginning to spasm and John knew that his patient would soon go through the death throes.

“What the hell,” John thought, as he answered affirmatively. “Yes, I will keep your appointment.”

The man griped John’s hand in a strange manner and whispered, “This is the handshake of the brotherhood. Will you remember it, John Watson?”

John nodded as tears filled his eyes, even though he had seen death many times John would never get used to the body’s fight to keep from shutting down. The man’s body thrashed back and forth, his legs shook and a small trickle of blood dripped from his mouth, down his chin and made drips of red on the stone floor. John stared at its progression in fascination, trying to focus on anything but the gurgling in the man’s throat. One minute it sounded like a bubbling water pipe and then with a hiss of air the man breathed his last and John closed his eyes as an unearthly silence filled the room, followed by a putrid death stench as the man’s bowels evacuated. John wanted to weep for the soldier, “but then maybe he is better off,” John thought wearily, as he ran a hand across his face and unsteadily wobbled to his feet.

 The priest silently stood in the corner and gave John a moment of two to compose himself and then pulled at his sleeve, “Brother John Watson, we must leave for the meeting is tonight and it is crucial you be there. All of hum…”

John sighed, “Yeah, I know all humanity depends on it.”

The priest looked at John like a curious puppy and said, “John Watson, your manner of speech is strange.”

For a moment John became fearful that the man would think he was a practitioner of the dark arts and thought that he had to be careful not to use modern slang. Then another thought occurred to John, “Maybe, I invented a swear word that traveled down through history.” John mused to himself and almost began to laugh hysterically from exhaustion, but then one grim look from the priest silenced him.

As they made their way outside, John marveled at how many stars lit up the sky; it almost made him dizzy to look at them. He stood still for a few moments looking up until the little priest pulled at his sleeve, “Hurry, John Watson, we still have a little ways to go.”

John glared down at the little priest and thought, “Slower pace of life, my ass, this priest is about to run me ragged.”

By the time they reached their destination, John was out of breath and was mildly irritated that the priest was breathing normally. “We, are going underneath the city, it is going to be a very tight squeeze, so prepare yourself.”

“Prepare myself how? What am I supposed to do?  I don’t see any Alice in Wonderland magic mushrooms.” John thought sarcastically.

Once they were inside the tunnel, the priest lit a torch and John wrinkled his nose in disgust from the tallow that made it burn. As they worked their way downwards through the tunnels, John thought that a person could wander around in this maze forever, never finding a way out. “I would have to have this image at the narrowest point of the passageway,” John thought as he squeezed sideways through a part so tight that John had to take a deep breath to fit through the tiny opening. The tunneling seemed to go on for hours and then the air seemed clearer, less full of mildew and dry rot. The priest stopped so suddenly that John almost ran into him. “John Watson, you must complete the journey alone from this point onwards. Just keep to the left and you will come to a large room, there will be two others to meet you. They are expecting your arrival, so don’t tarry.”

John opened his mouth to say, “Oh, so no window shopping?” But the priest was already gone.

John did as expected and soon found himself in a circular room, torches illuminated the room and John took a deep breath when he saw two other men standing in the center of the area.

Both of the men that looked at John were obviously warriors, for they too were armed with swords. The dark, tall man with brooding eyes that burned with zeal approached John first. “My name is Aaban and this,” he said as he gestured to the other man, “is Isaac. Welcome John Watson, for tonight is a historic even that will last eternally. Tonight is the night that a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew, will pledge to uphold the brotherhood. We are the servants of the master builder-God. Tell us do you know the password? Do you know the handshake?”

John stepped into the light and his heart pounded in his chest as he thought, “My God could this be the beginning of the ancient brotherhood-the Masonic Circle?”