Elisabeth Kostova - The Historian

“‘He thinks it’s fifteenth century,’ Helen said. ‘God, how are we going to ask him where it’s from?’ I pointed to the icon, gestured around at the crypt, pointed up to the church above us. But when he understood he gave the universal gesture of ignorance; his shoulders and eyebrows rose and fell together. He didn’t know. He seemed to try to tell us that the icon had been here at Sveti Petko for hundreds of years-beyond that, he didn’t know.

“At last he turned, smiling, and we prepared to follow him and his lantern back up the steep steps. And we would have left that place forever, and in complete hopelessness, if Helen had not suddenly caught the narrow heel of her pump between two of the stones underfoot. She gasped with annoyance-I knew she did not have another pair of shoes with her-and I bent quickly to free her. The priest was nearly out of sight, but the candles blazing next to the reliquary afforded me enough light to see what was engraved on the vertical of the bottom step, right next to Helen’s foot. It was a small dragon, crude but unmistakable, and unmistakably the same design as the one in my book. I dropped to my knees on the stones and traced it with one hand. It was so familiar to me that I could have carved it there myself. Helen crouched next to me, her shoe forgotten. ‘My God,’ she said. ‘What is this place?’

“‘Sveti Georgi,’ I said slowly. ‘This must be Sveti Georgi.’

“She peered at me in the dim light, her hair falling into her eyes. ‘But the church is eighteenth century,’ she objected. Then her face cleared. ‘You think that -’

“‘Lots of churches have much older foundations, right? And we know this one was rebuilt after the Turks burned the original. Couldn’t it have been a monastery church, for a monastery everyone forgot long ago?’ I was whispering in my excitement. ‘It could have been rebuilt decades or centuries later, and renamed for the martyr they did remember.’

“‘Helen turned in horror and stared at the brass reliquary behind us. ’Do you also think -‘

“‘I don’t know,’ I said slowly. ‘It seems unlikely to me they could have confused one set of relics with another, but how recently do you think that box has been opened?’

“‘It does not look big enough,’ she said. She seemed unable to say more.

“‘It doesn’t,’ I agreed, ‘but we have got to try it. At least, I’ve got to. I want you to stay out of this, Helen.’

“She gave me a quizzical look, as if puzzled by the idea that I would even try to send her away. ‘It is very serious to break into a church and desecrate the grave of a saint.’

“‘I know,’ I said. ‘But what if this isn’t the grave of a saint?’

“There were two names neither of us could have managed to utter in that dark, cold place with its flickering lights and smell of beeswax and earth. One of those names was Rossi.

“‘Right now? Ranov will be looking for us,’ Helen said.

“When we emerged from the church, the shadows of the trees around it were lengthening, and Ranov was looking for us, his face impatient. Brother Ivan stood by, although I noticed they hardly spoke to each other. ‘Did you have a good nap?’ Helen asked politely.

“‘It is time for us to go back to Bachkovo.’ Ranov’s voice was curt again; I wondered if he was disappointed that we had apparently found nothing here. ‘We will leave for Sofia in the morning. I have business to take care of there. I hope you are satisfied with your research.’

“‘Almost,’ I said. ‘I would like to visit Baba Yanka one more time and thank her for her help.’

“‘Very well.’ Ranov looked annoyed, but he led the way back down into the village, Brother Ivan walking silently behind us. The street was quiet in the golden evening light, and everywhere there was a smell of cooking. I saw an old man come out to the central water pump and fill a bucket. At the far end of Baba Yanka’s little street, a herd of goats and sheep was being led in; we could hear their plaintive voices and see them crowding one another between the houses before a boy whisked them around the corner.

“Baba Yanka was delighted to see us. We congratulated her, through Ranov, on her wonderful singing and on the fire dance. Brother Ivan blessed her with a silent gesture. ‘How is it that you don’t get burned?’ Helen asked her.

“‘Oh, that is the power of God,’ she said softly. ‘I do not remember later how it happened. Sometimes my feet feel hot afterward, but I never burn them. It is the most beautiful day of the year for me, even though I do not remember much of it. For months I am as peaceful as a lake.’

“She took an unlabeled bottle from her cupboard and poured us glasses of a clear brown liquor. The bottle had long weeds floating in it, which Ranov explained were herbs, for flavor. Brother Ivan declined, but Ranov accepted a glass. After a few sips he began to question Brother Ivan about something in a voice as friendly as nettles. They were soon deep in a debate we could not follow, although I frequently caught the wordpoliticheski.

“When we had sat listening for a while, I interrupted for a moment to get Ranov’s help in asking Baba Yanka if I could use her bathroom. He laughed unpleasantly. He was certainly back in his old humor, I thought. ‘I am afraid it is not so nice here,’ he said. Baba Yanka laughed, too, and pointed to the back door. Helen said she would follow me and wait her turn. The outhouse in Baba Yanka’s backyard was even more dilapidated than her cottage, but wide enough to hide our quiet flight among the trees and beehives and through the back gate. There was no one in sight, but we strolled when we reached the road, went quietly into the bushes, and scrambled up the hill. Mercifully, there was no one around the church, either, which already lay in deep shadow. The fire pit glowed faintly red under the trees.

“We didn’t bother to try the front door, where we could be seen from the road; instead we hurried around the back. There was a low window there, covered on the inside with purple curtains. ‘That will lead into the sanctuary,’ Helen said. But the wooden frame was only latched, not bolted shut, and with a little splintering we got it open and crawled in between the curtains, closing everything carefully behind us. Inside, I saw that Helen was right; we were behind the iconostasis. ‘Women are not allowed here,’ she said in a low voice, but she was looking around her with a scholar’s curiosity as she spoke.

“The room behind the iconostasis was dominated by a tall altar covered in fine cloths and candles. Two ancient books stood on a brass stand nearby, and hooks along the walls held the gorgeous vestments we had seen the priest wearing earlier. Everything was terribly still, terribly quiet. I found the holy gate through which the priest appeared to his congregation, and we pushed our way guiltily into the dark church. There was a little illumination from the narrow windows, but all the candles had been extinguished, probably from fear of fire, and it took me a while to locate a box of matches on a shelf. I selected a candle for each of us from one of the candelabra and lit them. Then we made our way with great caution down the stairs. ‘I hate this,’ I heard Helen murmur behind me, but I knew she didn’t mean she would stop, under any circumstances. ‘How soon do you think Ranov will miss us?’

“The crypt was the darkest place I’d ever been, all its candles firmly extinguished, and I was grateful for the two spots of light we carried. I lit the extinguished candles from the one I held. They blazed up, catching a sparkle of gold embroidery on the reliquary. My hands had begun to shake pretty badly, but I managed to take Turgut’s little dagger in its sheath out of my jacket pocket, where I had been keeping it since we’d left Sofia. I set it on the floor near the reliquary, and Helen and I gently lifted the two icons from their places-I found myself averting my eyes from the dragon and Saint George-and propped them against one wall. We removed the heavy cloth and Helen folded it out of the way. All this time I was listening with every fiber of my body for any sound, here or in the church above, so that the silence itself began to thrum and whine in my ears. Once Helen caught my sleeve, and we listened together, but nothing stirred.