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As he pushed Kelly and the nun through the entrance to the forbidden caves, he saw his half-brother emerge from the dark recesses of the antechamber. The Superior General held a folder in his right hand and was smiling.

'Look,' Torino said, as he walked closer. 'No limp. This place is truly miraculous. I want you both to tell me all about it.' He waved the folder towards the glowing tunnel. 'I especially want to know what's up there.'

'Why should we tell you anything?' Kelly asked.

Bazin frowned at him, unwrapped the crystal and handed it to Torino. 'Ross, the Superior General holds the fate of your wife in his hands. If I were you I'd tell him whatever he wants to know.'

Torino studied the shard. 'Have you the notebook?'

Bazin passed it to him. 'It's damaged, but most of it's still legible. The part you asked about is at the end.'

'Thank you, Marco. Please wait outside. I'll call if I need you.'

62

Torino had never felt so empowered and sure of his destiny. When he had woken this morning, cured of his limp, it was as if God's own blood flowed in his veins. And now, when he opened Father Orlando's notebook and scanned the last section, he knew he was close to exceeding even his most lofty ambitions.

'When did the Catholic Church start employing thieving, deceitful murderers?' said Kelly.

Torino glanced up from the notebook and watched his half-brother leave the cave. 'Marco has proved himself a loyal servant of the Church.' He smiled. 'Please, Dr Kelly, let us put any unpleasantness behind us. It was never my intention to harm your wife and unborn child, and if this crystal is as powerful as Sister Chantal believes, the damage can be reversed. There's no reason for any more animosity between us.'

'No reason for any animosity?' Kelly held up his bound wrists. 'You're holding us captive.'

'That's a precaution. To make sure we all understand each other before I let you return home.' Torino turned to Sister Chantal. 'Sister, you need feel no anger either. Father Orlando Falcon's original intention was to tell the pope of his discovery. He believed only the Holy Mother Church could be trusted with his garden.' He frowned. 'Regretfully, Rome didn't appreciate his discovery then, but now the Holy Father himself wants to embrace it within the bosom of the Church.'

'He's sanctioned all you've done?' she said incredulously.

Torino ignored her question. 'Sister, Father Orlando wanted the garden to be in safe hands, and now it will be. You should be satisfied.'

'What the hell are you going to do with it?' demanded Kelly. 'Turn it into a miraculous theme park? A Lourdes that genuinely cures people? Grant admission to people if they convert to Catholicism?'

'He won't do that,' said Sister Chantal. She spat the words. 'He can't let the world know about this place. It doesn't fit with Rome's doctrine.'

Torino's eyes narrowed. 'What do you know or care about Rome's doctrine, Sister? You betrayed the Holy Mother Church.'

'I betrayed no one,' she replied, with venom. 'If I've learnt anything over my long life it's that the Church should serve faith, not be its rigid master. I don't need this miraculous garden to fit with doctrine to know it's a place of God. Everything here contradicts the biblical Garden of Eden and the scriptures. Not only is it thousands of miles away from the Holy Land but it's also nowhere near the geographical origins of any major religion. The creatures and plants here prove that miraculous life can be created and evolve in parallel with humanity, independent of mankind and God's Church.

'And yet there are miracles in this godless place. How can that be? Are there perhaps alternative ways to interpret God's word, which go against the pope's infallible doctrine? Father Orlando thought so. And I do, too. I don't fear the strange creatures here, or the questions they raise about creation and evolution. Nothing here challenges my faith, only my understanding of it. This place might even be the Garden of Eden