“I’m excited, of course,” said Duncan, “and impressed. Excited that from this house could have come something of such significance. But I don’t understand you. You said that I…”
“There is only one man in the world,” the archbishop said, “who would have any chance of knowing if the manuscript were authentic. That man lives at Oxenford.”
“Oxenford? You mean in the south?”
“That’s right. He lives in that small community of scholars that in the last century or so…”
“Between here and Oxenford,” Duncan’s father said, “lies the Desolated Land.”
“It is our thought,” said the archbishop, “that a small band of brave and devoted men might be able to slip through. We had talked, your father and I, of sending the manuscript by sea, but these coasts are so beset by pirates that an honest vessel scarcely dares to leave its anchorage.”
“How small a band?”
“As small as possible,” Duncan’s father said. “We can’t send out a regiment of men-at-arms to go crashing through almost half of Britain. Such a force would call too much attention to itself. A small band that could move silently and unobtrusively would have a better chance. The bad part is, of course, that such a band would have to go straight across the Desolated Land. There is no way to go around it. From all accounts, it cuts a broad swath across the entire country. The expedition would be much easier if we had some idea of where the Harriers might be, but from the reports we get, they seem to be everywhere throughout the north. In recent weeks, however, from the more recent news that we have had, it seems that they may be moving in a northeasterly direction.”
His Grace nodded solemnly. “Straight at us,” he said.
“You mean that Standish House…”
Duncan’s father laughed, a clipped, short laugh that was not quite a laugh. “No need for us to fear them here, son. Not in this ancient castle. For almost a thousand years it has stood against everything that could be hurled against it. But if a party were to attempt to get through to Oxenford, it might be best that they get started soon, before this horde of Harriers is camping on our doorstep.”
“And you think that I…”
His father said, “We thought we’d mention it.”
“I know of no better man to do it,” said His Grace. “But it is your decision. It is a venture that must be weighed most carefully.”
“I think that if you should decide to go,” Duncan’s father said, “you might have a fair chance of success. If I had not thought so, we would not have brought it up.”
“He’s well trained in the arts of combat,” said His Grace, speaking to Duncan’s father. “I am told, although I do not know it personally, that this son of yours is the most accomplished swordsman in the north, that he has read widely in the histories of campaigns…”
“But I’ve never drawn a blade in anger,” protested Duncan. “My knowledge of the sword is little more than fencing. We have been at peace for years. For years there have been no wars…”
“You would not be sent out to engage in battle,” his father told him smoothly. “The less you do of that the better. Your job would be to get through the Desolated Land without being seen.”
“But there’d always be a chance that we’d run into the Harriers. I suppose that somehow I would manage, although it’s not the kind of role in which I’ve ever thought to place myself. My interest, as it has been yours and your father’s before you, lies in this estate, in the people and the land…”
“In that you’re not unique,” his father told him. “Many of the Standish men have lived in peace on these very acres, but when the call came, they rode off to battle and there was none who ever shamed us. So you can rest easy on that score. There’s a long warrior line behind you.”
“Blood will tell,” said His Grace pontifically. “Blood will always tell. The fine old families, like the Standishes, are the bulwark of Britain and Our Lord.”
“Well,” said Duncan, “since you’ve settled it, since you have picked me to take part in this sally to the south, perhaps you’ll tell me what you know of the Desolated Land.”
“Only that it’s a cyclic phenomenon,” said the archbishop. “A cycle that strikes at a different place every five centuries or thereabouts. We know that approximately five hundred years ago it came to pass in Iberia. Five hundred years before that in Macedonia. There are indications that before that the same thing happened in Syria. The area is invaded by a swarm of demons and various associated evil spirits. They carry all before them. The inhabitants are slaughtered, all habitations burned. The area is left in utter desolation. This situation exists for an indeterminate number of years–as few as ten, perhaps, usually more than that. After that time it seems the evil forces depart and people begin to filter back, although it may require a century or more to reclaim the land. Various names have been assigned the demons and their cohorts. In this last great invasion they have been termed the Harriers; at times they are spoken of as the Horde. There is a great deal more, of course, that might be told of this phenomenon, but that is the gist of it. Efforts have been made by a number of scholars to puzzle out the reasons and the motives that may be involved. So far there are only rather feeble theories, no real evidence. Of course, no one has actually ever tried to investigate the afflicted area. No on-the-spot investigations. For which I cannot blame…”
“And yet,” said Duncan’s father, “you are suggesting that my son…”
“I have no suggestion that he investigate. Only that he try to make his way through the afflicted area. Were it not that Bishop Wise at Oxenford is so elderly, I would say that we should wait. But the man is old and, at the last reports, grown very feeble. His sands are running out. If we wait, we may find him gone to his heavenly reward. And he is the only hope we have. I know of no one else who can judge the manuscript.”
“If the manuscript is lost while being carried to Oxenford, what then?” asked Duncan.
“That is a chance that must be taken. Although I know you would guard it with your life.”
“So would anyone,” said Duncan.
“It’s a precious thing,” said His Grace. “Perhaps the most precious thing in all of Christendom. Upon those few pages may rest the future hope of mankind.”
“You could send a copy.”
“No,” said the archbishop, “it must be the original. No matter how carefully it would be copied, and at the abbey we have copyists of great skill, the copyist might miss, without realizing it, certain small characteristics that would be essential in determining if it’s genuine or not. We have made copies, two of them, that will be kept at the abbey under lock and key. So if the original should be lost we still will have the text. But that the original should be lost is a catastrophe that bears no thinking on.”
“What if Bishop Wise can authenticate the text, but raises a question on the parchment or the ink? Surely he is not also an expert on parchments and on inks.”
“I doubt,” the archbishop said, “that he’ll raise such questions. With his scholarship, he should know beyond all question if it is genuine from an examination of the writing only. Should he, however, raise those questions, then we must seek another scholar. There must be those who know of parchments and of inks.”
“Your Grace,” said Duncan’s father, “you say there have been theories advanced about the Desolated Land, about the motive and the reason. Do you, perhaps, have a favorite theory?”
“It’s hard to choose among them,” the archbishop told him. “They all are ingenious and some of them are tricky, slippery of logic. The one, of all of them, that makes most sense to me is the suggestion that the Desolated Lands are used for the purpose of renewal–that the evil forces of the world at times may need a resting period in which to rededicate their purpose and enrich themselves, recharging their strength. Like a church retreat, perhaps. So they waste an area, turning it to a place of horror and desolation, which serves as a barrier to protect them against interference while they carry out whatever unholy procedures may be necessary to strengthen them for another five centuries of evil doing. The man who propounded this theory sought to show a weakening of the evil done for some years preceding the harrying of a desolated land, and in a few years after that a great increase in evil. But I doubt he made his point. There are not sufficient data for that kind of study.”