Going eternally to the east, you found no runners in the first few days. You left long before the start of the race, so, as usual, only outsiders and hicks crossed your path. You constantly resented your current situation with Gyro, Johnny, and Diego. It was understandable how terrible the confusion was to come about it, but still, you were grateful and undeniably satisfied with your earnings during this race. Listening to a Cuban orchestra during the trip on your new gramophone was one of the little things that made this whole journey worthwhile. Moving from village to village reading palms, making smallpox plasters, and selling alcoholic beverages to old fishermen also helped to keep your sanity.
The cat, for which you haven't thought of a name yet, has been with you the whole time. His new favorite place now was the passenger seat in the wagon, right next to you.
Eight days of travel and you haven't found any runners yet. You wondered about the progress of Sandman, Gyro, Johnny, Diego, and all the other runners you'd met. At one point, the memory of the last time you saw Mountain Tim took over your head, and you were also curious to know how was his recovery going. Then, you planned to see Lucy when you arrive in Kansas City.
Now, it was dark and you sat on the ground next to Cadichon, who had a habit of lying down at night. There was a small pile of papers and books on one side, covered by tortuous calligraphy. It was difficult to read all those words in Latin with the weak illumination of the lamp, however, continued to study whatever was written obstinately. Almost every night, you studied Reverend Innes' saved records and, on the blank pages of his old diary, you made records of all the events of the day. Visits to villages, Cadichon's health, your progress in the race, news from the counties to the east... You recorded everything, one word at a time, and the other papers always present for any epiphany that appears in your mind.
For a while, you even sent these records by post to the Reverend, but you never got any answers. You had hopes that your cards had simply been misplaced, lost somewhere along the way. But it's been a long time, and you've stopped having hopes.
You rummage through the stack of papers and took a map that many years ago was presented to you. The map of Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Shroud. That was just an extremely rare copy, given that the real map was taken from the Reverend's hands many decades ago. Nevertheless, it was a unique and strange specimen. Clearly, it was described as the territory of the United States with nine points scored throughout the place.
You took the official map of the Steel Ball Run race and placed it side by side. The race route, which you have always complained of being long and unnecessary, was exactly nine points off The Map of Joseph of Arimathea. From San Diego to New York. You knew what those nine points indicated, but you refused to believe it. You've kept this map for almost ten years and you've only just discovered its true meaning. Thanks to Gyro and Johnny, you've undone a mystery the Reverend has devoted his entire life to discovering. Those nine points were the locations of the parts of the holy corpse.
''Joseph of Arimathea... it was the saint who disappeared with the corpse of Jesus, right?'' You told Cadichon, that looked asleep. ''That... makes a lot of sense. Doctor Ferdinand said the corpse was 1900 years old, but Gyro refused to believe it... It's not possible, but is it? This race is promoted by the government and follows the same route as the map of the saint who disappeared with the corpse of Jesus... And these terrorists are also from the government... oh, what the fuck...? Look where we got into...''
You had something everyone was looking for. The location of the nine parts of the corpse. However, as far as you knew, the eyes and left arm have already been collected. There was no guarantee that the other parts of the corpse were in the marked points on the map.
''Movere crus... is written on the second point of the map, right above Arizona... That's the left arm that's with Johnny. It also has duo pespedis, and duo oculos... Goddamnit, Cadichon! If they find out I have the location of every part of this damn corpse, they're going to behead us! It's not something I can just sell or show to anyone... This corpse shouldn't even be being collected! These idiots are going to end up dying for a dry body, and at what cost?''
You dropped the papers on the ground and got up, walking around. In addition to the government's terrorists, there were still those people behind the prize by Gyro's head. Terrorists on all sides; the impending chaos about your relationship with Diego; Lucy Steel and her husband watching you; the many obstacles of the race... All these things are thrown at you at once, and no time for rest.
During that night, you tried to occupy your mind with something that didn't drive you crazy – and of course some chamomile.