Penthesilea's Wish: [Vol. 3]

Chapter Twenty-six

Seeing both powerful women emoting so much over the 'significance' of what she had told them, set Daniela' nerves on edge. At the same time her curiosity was piqued once again about her very visit to this obvious epicenter of the Penthesilea Sisterhood, Ephesus West.

"Why? . . . What does it mean . . . what I told you?" she asked timidly.

"It means you are very important to us, Daniela . . . more than you even know." Professor Vasiliou made the comment with some difficulty speaking, while looking still with amazement a Emel.

"Sacred, you might even say," was Emel's celebratory response as she wiped her moist eyes and hugged Daniela again.

"You see . . . finding that note in the book," Emel continued while regaining her composure, "and totally on your own . . . was the final proof we needed about you. It will all be explained . . . just who you are to us."

Daniela was speechless. She could not comprehend why the two seemed so moved by what she had simply revealed. What she had discovered simply through her own curiosity. Both women concluded their congratulatory smiles to each other and uncharacteristic slapped their palms together.

Daniela stared back at them, still in a state of confusion.

"We know that by now . . . you must have a thousand questions, Daniela," Emel offered. And trust us . . . they shall all be answered."

Daniela was seriously perplexed by the unusual dialogue. There was so much she found unanswered. Who was Nihal Sawyer? Why did she disappear? And there was also the enigmatic Sisterhood itself—and her own present role, fostered through a desire to become more deeply involved. But what was that role going to be now exactly?

Even the sudden and mysterious nature of the two phenomenal women with whom she had shared the past hours seemed surreal to her. And yet she realized that this unbelievable hidden estate, along with the professor's isolated home in Greece, were truly the hubs of some very real and worldwide network, now growing rapidly. There was so much Daniela struggled with and wanted to ask.

She gathered her strength to speak while the two women recovered from the highly personal revelation she had just provided them. When at last came the moment following their exuberance, Daniela asked her first serious question.

"Nefeli, what became of Nihal Sawyer? Because that was the name I was given as the girl from Yale. You see . . . it wasn't Emel's initials at the bottom of that note in the French book . . . it was hers. The letters NS are what I found on that note."

"Exactly," was Emel's response. "You see, Daniela. I am the one who wrote them. Back at the Gennadius so long ago . . . and recorded those coordinates."

Daniela Nodded.

"It was following our first summer of research. And our former dig in Turkey. We then returned to Athens the following year for the next summer of research, leading us back to Turkey."

The professor herself was now pointing to the tiny outcropping of stones on the screen beside the river.

"You see, Daniela, we had isolated this spot the year before. It was based on what Emel had found while researching in the Milli Kutuphane, the National Library of Turkey. Among twenty-seven thousand manuscripts, she located an obscure find. It was a detailed copy in Arabic of fragments of the Aethiopis."

Both women could see the vacuous look on Daniela's face.

"This was the lost Greek work which detailed the Amazon's involvement at the Trojan War."

"Oh I see. And . . . so it was definitely you who wrote those coordinates and initials, Emel?"

"Yes. I was absolutely sure the tomb had to be there in that river vicinity of large stones after deciphering the text."

"It was nothing short of miraculous!" Nefeli interjected. "Simply some great archaeological work based on small Arabic phrases in translation from Greek."

"The texts were devoted to the Amazon queen's death . . . at the hands of the Greek hero, Achilles . . . and then her hasty burial," Emel explained. "It was quite specific, really. Poetic of course . . . with reference to the shape of the stones at her burial site. And a certain cryptic clue . . . suggesting the anatomy of a woman."

This phrase caught Daniela's interest.

"I recorded those coordinates of the location which matched the physical descriptions of the area. Then hid them in the little French book that summer over at Gennadius. It was to secretly insure the location's preservation. I did this in case anything were to happen to me or to our group"

"Amazing!"

"Yes," Nefeli, interjected proudly. "They turned out to be the exact location of the grave chamber we were to find and excavate that next summer."

"So . . . your name . . . really is . . . or was . . ."

"Yes, Daniela. I was in those days Nihal Sawyer. The grad student you speak of from Yale. Because of the work I needed to devote my life to . . . I left Turkey secretly, came here to America . . . and changed my name."

Daniela just stared back at her in disbelief.

"We never knew how long it would take to find the tomb, but we were absolutely sure we eventually would," the professor added. "And now it's just highly significant that you came to Greece, found me, and even found our little hidden note."

"We see it more as some act of . . . providence," Emel added.

"Perhaps not easily understood by anyone," the professor concurred. "Would you like to see Nihal Sawyer before she disappeared?"

"Sure," Daniela responded, wishing to put one of her burning questions to rest.

Emel took the mouse back and scrolled through several scores of pictures—much too quickly for Daniela to comprehend them. She stopped at a particular photo of a young graduate student smiling effervescently in the bright sunlight. The young woman stood before a broad, dry plain stretching out behind her to the sea. She seemed to be near a river bank and wore khaki shorts and a white top. They were soiled from the excavations. She jubilantly held a large, flat stone with Greek inscriptions on it—lovingly up against her chest. The young woman in the picture had very familiar dark eyes. They were alluring and energetic. It was unmistakably a young Emel Bahar, the woman, who, now older and more distinguished, sat next to Daniela at the computer.

"You see, Daniela, I truly am the young woman in this picture. It was shown all over the world thirteen years ago when I went missing. So I went underground by choice and to carry on the legacy of the sisterhood.

Daniela was speechless. But beginning to finally comprehend the magnitude and complexity of what was there so elegantly surrounding her."

* * *