The Source - Michael Cordy [16]
'But there was no City of Gold? You found something else instead?'
'Yes, Your Excellency.'
'Tell me again what you found, so we may record it here . . .'
Torino's excitement mounted as he read again the description of Falcon's discovery of a magical garden, the creatures he had encountered there. When he reached the finale in which the remaining conquistadors had met savage deaths, leaving only the scholar priest alive to tell the tale, he could barely contain himself. The story was virtually identical to Lauren Ross's synopsis of the Voynich. The only significant difference was that Falcon's Inquisition testimony contained an additional reference to something he called radix, which in Latin meant 'root' or 'source'. Although vague about it, Falcon had regarded it as potentially more powerful even than the miraculous garden. Torino wondered if it featured in Lauren Kelly's verbatim translation of the Voynich, or the yet-to-be-translated section.
He flicked through to the end of the file.
. . . After Father Orlando had recounted the full nature of his discovery, it was asked him, 'Why do you persist in this heresy? A miraculous Eden such as this cannot exist in the New World among heathens and savages. You must be mistaken, lying or possessed.'
Father Orlando replied, 'I am telling the truth. I want only to claim it for the Holy Mother Church.'
'You are a respected priest, a favourite of the founder of your order, the Blessed Ignatius Loyola. You must realize that your heresy threatens the Church.'
'How can the truth threaten the Holy Mother Church?'
'If you persist I can only express my regret and sadness that Satan should have claimed so fine a priest. I vow, however, to do everything in my power to reclaim your soul.' His Excellency instructed the clerks to present the heretic with a written confession, and said, 'Recant, Father Orlando. Renounce your claims. Sign the confession.'
The heretic refused and was taken to the cells where his feet were burnt over hot coals. He did not recant. The heretic was given into the care of a nun who was instructed to soothe his wounds and encourage him to choose again the path of righteousness. The next morning the nun reported that the heretic's feet had miraculously healed.
His Excellency asked the heretic, 'How do you explain this sorcery?'
He answered, 'It proves my claims are true.'
His Excellency replied, 'This proves only that Satan has taken possession of your body and soul.' Father Orlando was returned to the cells where wooden boot vices were placed round his feet and tightened until the bones broke. He still did not recant.
The next morning, the nun reported that the heretic's feet had not healed and that Father Orlando's bones remained broken. There was no more sorcery. After examining the priest, His Excellency concluded that the Devil had been driven from him. The heretic was again handed the document and again His Excellency asked him, 'Now, Father Orlando, will you sign the confession and recant your heresy?'
He again refused and was imprisoned for many months. After this time a manuscript was found in Father Orlando's cell, written in the Devil's language, bearing images of a perverted Eden. The heretic was condemned to death. Even at the end, moments before his execution, he still refused to recant. His book of the Devil was ordered burnt . . .
Torino read the last lines again: . . . a manuscript was found in Father Orlando's cell, written in the Devil's language, bearing images of a perverted Eden. The current Church authorities had long since forgotten Falcon's forbidden volume, but less than a hundred years ago the Curia had recorded its suspicions that it might be the document the world now knew as the Voynich Cipher Manuscript. Yesterday, in New York, he had stolen away to the Beinecke Library to see the original and hear Lauren Kelly's talk. The pre-publicity, including the sub-title of her presentation, 'A Doomed Quest For Eldorado?' had been enough to pique his interest and, having listened to her, he was now convinced that Falcon's Devil's