The Quest: A Novel

added, “It’s possible, of course, that we don’t find the meeting place, but do find the monastery.” Gann looked at Purcell, Mercado, and Vivian and asked, “Is that clear?”
    Purcell thought it had already been clear why they were in Ethiopia. But to be a good soldier, he said, “Clear.”
    Mercado nodded.
    Vivian said, “A rock, a tree, and a stream. And maybe a cluster of palms.”
    Gann looked at her. “Yes, all right.” He glanced at his watch, then said, “We will let Mr. Purcell take point and I will bring up the rear.” He smiled. “Follow those cats.”
    Purcell began walking up the trail. Somewhere between here and where they wanted to go lay a vast expanse of unknown. And the end of the trail was also unknown. From the unknown, through the unknown, to the unknown.
Put your hand into the hand of God.
It will be all right.

Chapter 51
    W hat started as a hopeful beginning was becoming a long day in the jungle.
    The trail remained wide, but it was soon obvious that it was not the only trail; many smaller trails intersected the main one, though none had any signs of recent footprints or hoofprints, or signs of cut vegetation.
    Gann stated the obvious. “There seems to be a network of trails in this area.”
    Purcell had checked his compass as they moved, and they were headed generally west, but also veering south.
    Mercado inquired, “What are we actually doing?”
    Gann explained, “We are trail walking, following the paths of least resistance to cover as much ground as possible.”
    Purcell recalled an army ranger once saying to him on patrol, “We don’t know where we are or where we’re going, but we’re making really good time.”
    Gann and Purcell looked at the map to try to determine where they were, but the Italian Army maps showed no trails under the dense overhanging canopy. And with no landmarks visible on the ground, it was nearly impossible to determine their position on the map. All they had to go by was the compass and their traveling time.
    Gann put his finger on the map and said, “I believe we are here.”
    Purcell asked, “Where is here?”
    “Where we are standing. Give or take a kilometer.”
    “I’m not even sure we’re on the right map.”
    “I believe we are.” He said, “All we can do is continue to run the trails.”
    “Right. But I can see now that we could pass within fifty meters ofthe monastery and walk right by it.” Purcell added, “We can assume the monastery is not directly on a trail.”
    “That is a good assumption.”
    Mercado said, “I think we should have stuck to the original plan and checked out what we saw in the photographs east of the road.”
    Vivian said, “No, I am convinced that Frank was right—Father Armano was headed this way to return to the black monastery.”
    Mercado did not reply.
    Purcell reminded Gann, “You said you thought you could find one of these stone quarries.”
    “Yes, I did say that. Unfortunately, now that I’m here, I see the difficulties.” He added, “No soldier or explorer has ever had a good experience in the jungle.”
    “And we’re not going to be the first.”
    “We need to just push on, trust our instincts, look for a clue or two, and pray that fortune is with us.”
    Vivian reminded them, “Also, we are meant to find the monastery.”
    Gann said, “The good thing is that we are not restricted by time, as we would be with a military objective.” He added, “We have all the time we need.”
    Purcell reminded him, “The monks may be packing their suitcases right now.”
    “Yes, but the monastery is not going anywhere.”
    “Right. But we are restricted by our supplies and stamina.”
    “That is always a problem,” Gann conceded.
    Vivian said, “Let’s move on.”
    Mercado cautioned, “We need to be sure we can find and reach Shoan before our provisions run out. I say three more days of this, then we need to start back.”
    Gann agreed. “But by a different route so we can explore new territory.”
    They moved on and came to a fork in the trail. They explored down both paths, and for no particular reason decided on the left fork.
    They continued on, and saw that the trail was getting narrower.
    Vivian had taken a few photos, but there was not much to photograph on the tight trails, and she seemed to lose interest in recording their quest to find the Holy Grail. If you’ve seen one jungle trail, Purcell knew, you’ve seen them all.
    After an hour, Purcell spotted a tall cedar