The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar by Preston W. Child

Author:Preston W. Child [Child, Preston W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-26T22:00:00+00:00

13

God is not pleased

Doc marched out of the Vatican at a faster pace than when he entered. He was steaming as he stepped out the front gate onto Via del Pellegrino and desperately looked for a taxi. As he spotted one and waved it down, he suddenly remembered he’d promised to meet Noah for an introduction to HEMA at 3:00 p.m.

It was almost 2:30 when Doc climbed into a taxi and headed for his hotel to quickly change into sweat clothes. When Doc slipped back into the taxi, he took a quick look at Noah’s business card and realized he’d no idea how to pronounce the street name. So he simply gave it to the driver, and off they went. Doc stepped onto the curb in front of Noah’s training center at 2:57, ready for HEMA…or so he thought.

“Hello, Mr. Hightower!” Noah called out as Doc entered the clean, modern facility.

“Hi, Noah!” Doc replied. “This is quite a place you have here.”

“It’s practically brand new,” Noah said proudly. “And we could already use more room.”

“I can see that,” Doc agreed. “HEMA is certainly no secret in Rome.”

“Well, are you ready to get to work?” Noah asked Doc.

“You bet!” Doc said enthusiastically. “But start slow, okay? I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of all these young folks.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Hightower,” Noah assured him. “We’ll take it easy today just to ease you into things until you get the hang of it.”

“Sounds good,” Doc stated simply.

Doc loved the serious stretching Noah led him through for the first 15 minutes. He’d have been happy to do another 15 minutes, but Noah moved on and introduced Doc to a Swiss longsword with a straight, double-edged, 42-inch blade. It weighed just over three pounds, had a long, two-hand grip with a cruciform hilt, and was perfectly balanced, making it very comfortable to hold and move around with. Noah introduced Doc to the most fundamental moves and reassured Doc that as a new student, he was in control with the pace of the session.

The moves and rhythm quickly awoke Doc’s dormant SEAL reflexes and aggressiveness. Doc’s innate ability to control and propel his movements and make the sword’s balance work for him as he countered Noah’s first careful sword thrusts and sweeps.

“Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” Noah asked incredulously

Doc laughed, pressed on, and picked up his speed a bit. When he did, Noah reciprocated and the sound of their swords clashing steadily grew louder. Fifteen minutes later, Doc showed no signs of either slowing down or tiring. By then, Noah knew there was something important he didn’t know about Doc. So Noah stepped back, raised an arm to signal a pause in the exchange.

“Okay, you’ve had your fun with me,” Noah announced with attitude. “Follow me and I’ll embarrass you in private.”

He led Doc through a door marked “Exit” and down two flights of stairs to the basement.

“Did I do something to piss you off?” Doc asked with a sheepish grin.

“Best I can tell, it was a lie of omission,” Noah admitted cryptically.

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