The Quest: A Novel

which they would take to Gondar for sale.” He explained, “Crosses, saints, chalices… occasionally a Star of David, and now and then a carving of Saint George Cathedral in Addis.”
    Purcell informed him, “Vivian almost bought one of those in Rome.”
    Gann smiled and said to her, “You should have bought the one with the map etched on the bottom.”
    “I wish I’d known.”
    Mercado said, “So what you’re saying is that you think the monkscarved these objects and gave them to the villagers in exchange for provisions.”
    “It would seem so.” He asked rhetorically, “What else do monks have to do all day?”
    Pray and drink, Purcell thought. He said to everyone, “Well, it seems that this quest has taken on some of the aspects of Arthur’s knights running around without a map or a clue looking for the Grail Castle.”
    Gann replied, “They actually found it, you know.”
    Purcell pointed out, “There are no jungles in England.”
    Vivian glanced at Purcell and said, “If we are meant to find it, we will find it. If we are not, we will not.”
    “Right.” Purcell asked, “If the monks’ sandals and candles have been cut off from Shoan, how long do you think these monks are going to last in the black monastery?”
    “Good question,” Gann replied. “I believe the monks are fairly self-sufficient in regards to food, though the villagers of Shoan would always bring something that the monks didn’t have. Wine, of course, but also grain for bread.” He surmised, “I don’t think there would be a lot of grain grown in the monastery or surrounding rain forest. So they will soon be needing their daily bread.”
    Purcell suggested, “I’d think a single loaf would do, and one fish.”
    Gann smiled.
    Mercado asked Gann, “Where do you think these monks come from? I assume they don’t reproduce there.”
    Gann replied, “No, they don’t. All gentlemen, as far as I know.” He told them, “It’s my understanding that the monks are chosen from monasteries all over Ethiopia. They understand that if they go to the black monastery, they will never leave there.” He reminded them, “Like the Atang who guards the Ark of the Covenant in Axum.” He concluded, “It’s a job for life.”
    Purcell said, “I have two observations about Ethiopia. One is that this place has been caught in a time warp, and the other is that with the emperor gone, they are free-falling into the twentieth century, and not ready for the landing.”
    “Perhaps.”
    He asked Gann, “What has drawn you to this place? I mean, aside from your princess.”
    Gann smiled, then replied, “It gets into your blood.”
    Purcell looked at Mercado, who said, “It is the most blessed and most cursed land I have ever been in.” He added, “It has biblical magnificence, complete with an apocalyptic sense of doom.” He concluded, “I hate the place. But I would come back.”
    “Send me a postcard.” Purcell returned to the earlier subject and said, “I think time is running out for the monks of the black monastery. They, unfortunately, can’t multiply the loaves and fishes, and history in the form of General Getachu is breathing down their burnooses. I would not be surprised if they are already gone, but if they’re not, they will be soon.”
    Everyone agreed with that, and Mercado said, “I would be content with just finding the black monastery.”
    Vivian said, “I would not.”
    They looked at the map in the fading light as they ate some bread and dates, and Gann asked, “Do you know how long the priest was marched from the black monastery to his fortress prison by the soldiers of Prince Theodore?”
    Mercado replied, “As I mentioned, the priest did not comment on it, so I’m assuming it was a day or two’s march.”
    “All right. We now know that the travel time from here to the fortress is at most four hours. Therefore, let’s say the monastery is no more than a day’s march west of here. In open country, or on a good trail, either of which would be known by the soldiers, that would be… let’s say a ten-hour march at a brisk pace of four K an hour, will give us forty K to the monastery.”
    Vivian reminded them, “The monks brought Father Armano to the soldiers. The soldiers were not at the monastery.”
    “Quite right. And we don’t know where the soldiers were in relation to the monastery. But let’s use fifty K total.” He drew a half circle on the map, with the center of the radius starting at