The Quest: A Novel

reporting.” He added, “You know better than that.” Or maybe, Purcell thought, Henry had been working at
L’Osservatore Romano
too long.
    “I’m not the first one to do this scholarship and come up with the same conclusions.”
    “There’s a guy now writing books based on his scholarship saying that extraterrestrials visited the earth and built the pyramids.”
    Mercado did not reply for a few seconds, then said, “We are all searching for answers to who we are, what our place is in this world and this universe. We hope there is more than we know and see. We hope there is a God.”
    “Me too, Henry, but… okay. The Holy Grail is in Glastonbury.”
    Mercado referred to his notes and continued, “This brings us to the time when the Roman legions withdrew from Britain. The Roman world is disintegrating and Britain has been invaded by various Germanic tribes. The legendary—or historical—Arthur is king of the Britons and we begin the well-known legend of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.”
    Purcell had seen the movie, but he let Henry continue.
    Mercado read from his notebook, “The magician Merlin told King Arthur of the presence of the Holy Grail in Britain and bid him form the Round Table of virtuous knights to seek out the Holy Grail. The table was formed, with an empty place to represent Judas, in the tradition of the Last Supper and the table of Joseph of Arimathea. After many adventures and dangers during their quest for the Grail, one of Arthur’s knights, Sir Perceval, who was unknowingly a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea, discovered the Grail Castle and there found the Holy Grail, and also the lance of the Roman soldier, Longinus, that had pierced the side of Christ on the Cross. The lance hung suspended in thin air and dripped blood into the Grail cup.”
    Purcell looked at Mercado, who had stopped reading. It must have occurred to Mercado that this was a story known by all, but believed by virtually no one in the modern world. Except maybe Henry Mercado, Father Armano, maybe Vivian, and a few select others. But Purcell understood that even if the legends were untrue, that didn’t mean that the Grail did not exist. The paving stone with Christ’s footprint existed in the physical world, as did the Shroud of Turin and a thousand other religious relics. The Grail, however, was always associated with the power to heal. So if they found the black monastery and the Grail, then they would know if it was real. Especially if there was a lance hanging above it in thin air, dripping blood. He’d believe
that
if he saw it.
    Mercado continued, “Sir Perceval was told by the old Grail Keeper of their kinship, and when the Grail Keeper died, Sir Perceval and Sir Gauvain, perceiving that the times had grown evil, knew that the Grail must again be hidden from sinful men. The Lord came to them and told them of a ship anchored nearby the castle, and bid them take the Grail and the Lance back to the Holy Land. The two knights set off in a fog and were never seen or heard from again.”
    Mercado closed his notebook.
    After a few seconds, Purcell inquired, “Is that it?”
    Mercado replied, “No. The Grail, and sometimes the Lance, appear again in other references throughout the Dark Ages, Middle Ages, and into modern times.”
    Right, Purcell thought. Like a few months ago.
    Mercado asked, “Did you find any of that interesting or useful?”
    “Interesting, but not useful.”
    “Do you believe any of it?”
    “You lost me after Mark.”
    “Why even believe in the New Testament?”
    “You’re asking questions I can’t answer, Henry.”
    “That’s why we’re here. To find answers.”
    “The answers are not here. Half of the archives in the great Vatican Library are myths and legends. The answer is in Ethiopia.”
    “The answer is in our hearts.”
    “Let’s start with Ethiopia.” Purcell reminded him, “And we have less than a fifty-fifty chance of being allowed back there.”
    “We are going to Ethiopia.”
    “You have our visas?”
    “No. But I will.” He looked at Purcell. “You don’t understand, Frank. We—you, me, Vivian, and also Colonel Gann—have been chosen to go back to Ethiopia to find the Holy Grail.”
    Purcell didn’t bother to ask who had chosen them.
    Mercado agreed it was time for a coffee break, and they walked out into the sunshine.
    Purcell easily understood how early humans believed in the sun as God; it acted in mysterious ways, it rose and set in