Rob Macgregor - Indiana Jones and the Unicorns Legacy

INDIANA JONES AND THE UNICORN'S LEGACY

A Bantam Falcon Book / September 1992

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint from the fol owing.

Wind in the Rock by Ann Zwinger

Copyright c) 1978 by Ann H Zwinger

Reprinted by permission of the author

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF.AMERICA

OPM 0987654321

For T.J. and Alison

Special thanks to Dick Beaupre and

John Riglesberger for the translations.

It was Greek to me!

Now I wil believe

That there are unicorns.

Wil iam Shakespeare, The Tempest I I, i

Save me from the lions mouth; for thou hast heard me from the horns of unicorns.

Psalms 22:21

Yorkshire, England1786

Jonathan Ainsworth hardly recognized his father. After five months in his damp, shadowy cel , Michael Ainsworth looked like a different man. Hed lost twenty-five pounds, and his hair was gray and motley. His shoulders were slumped.

Father?

Michael Ainsworth slowly raised his head as the jailer unlocked the cel . For a moment, Jonathan feared his father wouldnt know him, that hed lost his mind. He hadnt seen him since the day after the trial had ended. Then Jonathan saw a faint smile and a glimmer of light in his fathers bloodshot eyes, and he knew that, despite the conditions, Ainsworth stil maintained his sanity.

The cel door slammed shut, and the noise echoed eerily along the hal way. The smile on his fathers face changed to a look of concern.

Jon, you shouldnt have come here. Its not a place for a boy.

Its al right. Dont worry about me. His father stil thought of him as a child, but he was a grown man of twenty-one and the head of the house. I wanted to visit sooner, but.

How are the young ones taking it?

Jonathan sat down on the bench next to his father. Mary had a hard time. She stil cries for you. I think Charles has accepted it. Of course, hes a little older.

And your mother?

Shes doing her best. Jonathan wanted to tel his father that there was a particular reason why he and not his mother had come today, but he couldnt do it, not yet.

Michael Ainsworth coughed, a deep, wracking cough that took possession of his body and throttled it. Is there trouble?

Jonathan shrugged. They cant do anything more to us than theyve already done, Father.

Ainsworth grasped his sons wrist with surprising strength. His eyes flared. What have they done? Tel me everything.

Jonathan explained they were losing the house. They couldnt make the payments any longer. They couldnt get credit. People didnt trust them. It was worse than that: People were openly hostile. But Jonathan didnt want to burden his father. He only wanted him to understand that they had to move to London where no one would know them, and that Mother wouldnt be able to visit him as often.

Talk to Mathers. He said he was so concerned about you children.

Maybe hel help you find work.

Like Michael Ainsworth, Frederick Mathers was a barrister. Theyd been partners until a couple years before Ainsworths arrest. In the trial, Mathers had testified to his partners good character, but it had been a weak plea for leniency and the judge might as wel have been stone deaf. He cant do anything more for us. We have to leave, Father.

Its no good for us here.

The elder Ainsworth nodded. Youre right. But now listen closely to me, Son.

Jon leaned toward his father, whose raspy voice was barely audible. He hoped this wasnt going to be a confession. Although Jon knew that his father was guilty as accused, he didnt want to hear him admit it.

My trunk in the closet.

The authorities went through it, Father. They went through everydng we own.

Ainsworth shook his head. He explained that it had a false bottom, and told Jonathan to tear it out. He would find some money. Not much.

But it would help.

Why didnt you tel me this before? We could have used the money for your defense.

Ainsworth shook his head, and said it wouldnt have done any good. Youl also find what looks like a staff made of twisted ivory and gilded silver. Its an alicorn. Its very beautiful, but you must destroy it. Do you understand?

Jonathan shook his head. Whats an alicorn?

A unicorns horn. Its what has caused al of my problems. Al of them. And yours as wel . Do you hear me?

How could a staff, an alicorn, do that?

Youl find a letter I wrote that explains everything. Read it, then break the wretched thing into as many pieces as you can and scatter them. That wil break the spel .

Yes, Father. Il do as you say.

Ainsworth held up a finger. It shook as he spoke. I know this probably sounds like nonsense, but please believe me. The staff is evil. Its powers are unfathomable.

Il do what you say, Father.

Jonathan left the cel convinced that his father had gone stark, raving mad. Hed blamed al his troubles on some old walking stick. It was horrible to see him this way. But the money would help. They needed every cent they could get. Maybe he could sel the staff, if it was real y made of ivory and silver, if it even existed. But it might not be any more real than unicorns.

DIVING INTO THE ICE AGE

Montignac, France7924

Indy stepped into the frigid water that flowed into the dark cavern and mental y prepared himself for what lay ahead. He glanced along the riverbank to make sure no one was around, then waded into the cavern.

The water was colder than hed expected, and he winced as icy fingers lapped at his groin. Are you sure about this, Jones? he asked himself in a whisper. Its worth a shot, he answered. Worth a shot. He grimaced as his bare foot stepped on a sharp stone. I hope.

A hundred feet into the cavern, he paused in waist-deep water. In front of him, the roof sloped down to meet the river. There were easier caves to explore in the foothil s of the Pyrenees. At least a dozen had been found that contained evidence of

Paleolithic inhabitants, who had painted the wal s with surprisingly detailed drawings. In fact, he and the others had already visited a couple of them near Le Tuc dAudoubert. However, the group had hoped to stumble on a new cave during their ten-day excursion to southwestern France. Today, their final day of prowling the hil s near the Trois Freres region, was their last chance before they headed back to Paris.

Indy figured it was this cavern or nothing. Even though it was less than a mile from camp, no one had bothered with it after theyd seen how the cave ceiling dipped into the water. Yet, the more hed thought about it, the more hed become convinced that there were caverns inside. The late Ice Age, after al , had been cold and dry so that the water level must have been lower. That meant there was a good chance the cave had been inhabited like others in the region.