Curse of the Druids Read Online Free PDF

we might still have a day to try and find what we came for.”
    Marie said nothing in response, and when I glanced back at Ishi, he was tight-lipped. Smart man.
    In the meantime, we took a series of roads north toward Bristol. The Audi drifted back until the car was no longer in sight by the time we pulled into a rest area roughly an hour north of Salisbury. I directed Marie to park the car in the rear while we waited. Waited for another hour, actually. When there was still no sign of the Audi, she prepared to pull back onto the highway.
    “Should we carry on to Bristol?” she asked, much more like her usual self: cool, calm, and covertly scheming to get her way.
    “I don’t think that’s what you want to do, babe,” I advised. “It seems wisest to head back to Salisbury—albeit carefully—and find out for certain if we are truly screwed before giving your Ambrosius Amulet dream a permanent rest. Besides, Ishi’s brand new Macbook and game library are in his room at Cricket Field.”
    “I have everything insured,” he said, sounding wary. “Maybe we shouldn’t go back.”
    “Can you live with wondering what it would be like to find a relic unlike any we have ever seen, and quite likely to never see again, my hombre?” I asked, sounding like Marie. She looked over at me suspiciously until Ishi responded with a smirk, shaking his head in response. I gave her a nod to proceed back to the inn.
    “I’m sorry, guys,” she said. “I hope you’ll both stay with me. I’ve got to do this—I have to find Papa’s amulet.”
    “I know. Let’s hope you’re right and things work out,” I said, to which Ishi added a stern nod. “But we’ve got at most one day to find it. Better pray it’s enough time, and that we avoid a second round with those guys. Otherwise….”
    I didn’t need to finish the thought. The unspoken conclusion was obvious enough.
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    We didn’t have a repeat encounter with the Audi or its Egyptian passengers. Not that day, and as far as any of us could tell, there was no sign of them during the evening.
    Even so, we remained on heightened alert. The tension assaulting our less than blissful treasure hunt hovered over us like a toxic cloud. Hovered over our every move, I should say, whether it was during our careful trek back to the B&B, or strolling around the grounds appearing casual, while seeking the flimsiest evidence of our assailants’ presence.
    “Do you think they’ll find us again?” Marie asked me, when we shared our last private moment before Ishi finished moving his things into our room for the night. It seemed wisest for us all to stay together until we knew for certain the highway encounter from earlier was nothing more than a chance meeting.
    “Yes,” I said, while gently massaging her shoulders. “I think it’s inevitable we will meet them again. After all, we now know they followed us to England, when we foolishly assumed they were still in France.”
    “Then, they could kill us soon,” she said, sadly.
    Her eyes were vacant, defeated, as if she already had one foot in the grave. She gets like that now and then, and until her temper kicks in it could be hours before she sheds the shroud of the Grim Reaper.
    “They could’ve killed us today, remember?” I said, keeping my tone lighthearted in hopes of getting her to rejoin the living expediently. “They want the gold, darlin’. They can’t get the gold unless you, Ishi, and me are one hundred percent ready to cooperate.”
    “And I’m not telling them shit!”
    My Tawankan buddy had just entered the room, carrying his Xbox and PS4. Ready to rock, and dive into netherworlds far removed from this one. I envied him at that moment, wishing I shared his gaming passion.
    But I did share something with Ishi: His passion to tell the world to bugger off, instead of moaning about like ecclesiastical evangelists, one step away from burying ourselves in sackcloth and ashes.
    A wave