CHAPTER 32

  ROI ROUX

  On the farm in France, the four of us continued to go through the throne room and the four halls of treasure. The walls, once decorated with ornate tapestries and paintings that hung on gold-gilded marble walls, were now plain stone. History was true to the legends. It was clear that in the attack on the giants, the throne room was stripped of anything of remotest value. The coffins of the queen and princess lay open and void of any jewels, crowns, or treasures they had been wearing. Nothing remained.

  What was most unfortunate was the fact that we could not find a single fragment of bone. There were visible signs of cracks in the walls, and air had seeped in over the centuries. This probably accelerated the decay of the royal remains. We sifted through the dirt on the ground and found only pieces of stone and marble, but nothing resembling bone.

  The rest of the castle was barren of any historical details. This was most frustrating to Vincent. He had hoped to find something that would conclude that the great dragon, Rio Roux, existed. There was no such detail left. There was nothing even resembling a dragon on the walls anywhere on the castle mount. There was nothing for him to go on. It was devastating. I knew how he had felt. I had been in his situation before.

  Then one late morning, while he and I were gathering some samples of dirt and stones in the throne room, Vincent crawled into the casket of the queen. He got in and, to my amazement, lay down like he was dead with his hands together over his chest. He looked small in the giant casket. Vincent himself was no taller than about five feet, five inches. His height was always a sore subject for him, so I learned early on to avoid it. He seemed almost miniature in such a sizable casket.

  He lay there looking up at the great colored glass window above him. He wanted to see what Gayant wanted his queen and princess daughter to see while they rested for what he hoped would be an eternity. Vincent was gazing up at the amber and crimson colors and began to squint his eyes.

  “What time is it?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t worn my watch since we arrived here,” I answered.

  “What time would you say it is? Nearly noon?”

  “I guess so,” I answered.

  “I think I know so.”

  At that moment, the sun lined up directly with the window above him. Vincent squinted with one eye and looked directly at the sun. The sun was now perfectly shaped inside the round frame of the window.

  “Oh my god, Jack, look at this!” He said.

  I turned from where I was and looked up at the window. We had been in the throne rooms for a few weeks now, and we had all looked up at the window during which time the sun was at its brightest.

  I asked, “What do you see?”

  “You need to see this for yourself,” he said.

  “We’ve all seen the window. What is it?”

  He said, “No, you need to see it from here. Right now, at noon.”

  Admittedly, none of us had sat in the casket and looked up. I was sure at some point, while we worked, we probably looked up at noon. It was inevitable. Nonetheless, I came over and looked in at Vincent and then upward. I could still not see anything of interest.

  “What is it, Vincent? I don’t see anything unusual.”

  “You need to lie down in here, and I want to know if you see what I am seeing.” He did not get up. Instead, he slid over so that I could lie down next to him in the giant sarcophagus.

  “Vincent, you must be kidding. I am not getting in there next to you.”

  “Jack. Humor me. Please. But hurry, I don’t want you to miss it.” He was dead serious. He would not look away from the window when he talked. He stared at it constantly. I didn’t know what else to do, so I looked up, then grabbed the side and climbed over the edge and got in.

  I got on my knees and positioned myself to lie down on my back. There was plenty of room for the two of us. As I did, I looked straight up. The sun was intensely bright. I squinted with one eye to continue my gaze.

  As my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the noontime sun, I began to see an outline form within the glass. It was the stones that had been thrown into the hot glass as it was poured. The stones began to form an outlined shape. It was an animal of some kind. It was an animal with wings and a long, forked tail. It was becoming clear that this was, in fact, in the shape of a dragon. The stones in the window at various depths in the glass hadn’t been formed at random. It was by design that they had been placed to form a magnificent three-dimensional outline of a dragon.

  The black of the stones in between the amber and crimson colored glass made a perfect outline. The amber was the outer color, and the swirls of crimson red were the shape of the beast. It was a dragon that was meant to be seen only when lying in the coffin. It was for the queen's eyes only. And it was only shown when the sun was directly above the castle, exactly at noon.

  “Vincent…that is a dragon,” I said.

  “I knew it! Thank God, you see it too. I thought I was imagining it,” he answered.

  “No, it is there alright.”

  “A dragon to watch over them and to protect them,” Vincent said. “A gift from the king to his beloved wife and daughter - a dragon guardian, named Roi Roux.”

  Grandpa continued, “We stayed there the entire time the dragon was visible in the window. As the sun continued to march across the sky, the image began to fade away. Vincent was stunned. He was like a kid who had just spied on Santa Claus in the night. His dragon was there in his castle on his farm. While it was more of an artistic expression than a historical fact, he did not care. It was enough for him.

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  He theorized that when there was a full moon, the same image would faintly dance across the caskets as a protector in the night. It was unfortunate that the dragon would not be able to protect them from the ravages of the greedy men who would rob them of their dignity in death.

  It was not the living proof of a dragon that Vincent was out to find, but like me, he had received enough to inspire him to press on in his quest. The image of that dragon in the round red and amber window is forever set in my mind. Though I only saw it once, I can recall it like a clear picture even to this day.

  We worked the rest of that year at the site. Our excavation would include digging in areas around the moat and layers below where the outer castle wall would have stood. We found mostly broken pottery and arrowheads, but unfortunately, no bones. We figured that the fires had most likely destroyed any anatomical evidence. However, the site was of historical significance to be sure.

  As November loomed, the nights and days grew considerably colder. Rain and sleet began to control our hours at the site. Soon, the snow of winter coming in from the Siberian north would be upon us, and our summer at the farm would come to an end. We were all extremely tired. The work had been grueling. Yet, the time we spent there was rich with discovery, friendship, and growth. Mimi had fallen in love with her life on the farm that year. She had come to appreciate how fulfilling this type of lifestyle could be.

  “There is something to be said for the primal independence on a farm. Your reliance on yourself is strengthening. It is as if you have complete control over your own life.”

  Mimi and I had planned to return to the States before Thanksgiving that year. We wanted a couple of months to prepare ourselves before we started the spring session at the university. I had longed to see some of the Nordic countries of Europe, like Sweden and Norway, where my family’s history could be traced. It was also no coincidence that following the exodus of the giants from their kingdom, many legends also sprang up in this northernmost part of Europe.

  Vincent had heard of an expedition that followed the route of Eric the Viking through Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland in North America and Canada. Vincent convinced me to travel north by train and take the expedition home to the States. We could then take a train from Boston to Iowa and home. Of course, he would pay for the whole thing. He only wished he could join us, but he would need to get back to Rouen and his teaching sooner than he had time for.

  He knew the planned route would be beneficial for my research. The great giants of Europe scattered into the northern regions and found passage to the new land of the Americas aboard the great Viking ships that spanned the Atlantic. Legendary tales lay claims that Vikings were giants in their own stature and were perhaps ancestors to Celtic giants. This was my theory for how giants arrived in North America. Perhaps in their fleeing from Europe, they had paid for passage on Viking ships bound for Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland. Eventually, North America’s legendary claims that the Vikings made their way through the Great Lakes and into the rivers of America, into Minnesota, and perhaps other states that bordered the Great Lakes.”

  Darby interrupted Grandpa, “Grandpa, are you saying that there are giants who lived here in the United States?”

  Grandpa Jack replied, “Nearly every indigenous people of the world have their stories of giants. From Africa and Asia to both North and South America. This was true even of the indigenous people of the great American continent.

  I asked, “Are you saying they were part of the early settlers in the colonies?”

  “No, not at all. By the late 1600s, when the first settlers from Europe actually arrived in the land we now know as the US, the giants had already been here. They had been living in the lands of North America for at least two to three hundred years before the start of the colonies here. The giants would venture as far as South America and would populate every continent on the globe. The “King’s Ransom” would send all the remaining giants into hiding across the globe.

  Anyway, I was telling you about the journey home that Mimi and I had when we returned to the States. Back on Vincent’s farm, the time had come for all of us to head home. Uri was the first to leave. His train was set for Paris, and from there he had a long trek back to Greece. We all went to the train station to see him off. The ride over was a joyous one. I sat in the bed of the truck with Uri. Vincent drove, and Mimi sat up in front in the cab with Mum on her lap.

  The air was cold that afternoon, but the sky was a clear blue, and the sun shone warm on our faces. We were joking with each other about some of the funnier moments of the year that we had just spent together. Then, when all seemed to be said between us, the trip was quiet for the remaining time. Uri watched the French countryside go by. I could tell he was trying to soak it all in before we got to the station.

  “Uri,” I said. “Thank you.” I put my hand on his knee. He turned and looked at me and smiled. His beard was thick and black with only hints of gray. Since he had come to France, he had not shaved it. His olive skin was less dark than it had been when he arrived. The winter skies in France had not been as intense on his complexion as the skies in Greece.

  Uri reached over and put his hand on mine.

  “Dr. Jack, I would not have missed this for anything. Thank you,” he said. “Let me tell you something. I had been living my entire life by a set of rules. Rules that limit what I know I can do. You, Jack, live by a different set of rules. You do not let things stop you along your path in life. Never have I met a man with such a focus, such a belief, such a faith in the unknown. You make me want to believe as Cadmus believed. By living your life in such faith, you make everyone around you a believer. I would not have missed this opportunity for the world, my friend.”

  He said it with such warmth, wearing his wide smile. I looked at this man that I had met less than a year ago, a man who had come in and out and then back again into my life during what was a crucial time for me. And now, he was going back out of my life again. At the time, I did not know when I would see him again. Never before had I met a man with such warmth and such openness in showing his true feelings. It was truly touching to me.

  “Besides,” he said. “Jack, I made a hell of a lot more money with you this year. You know you overpaid me?” he said with a laugh. I responded with a laugh myself.

  “Actually, it was Vincent,” I said.

  “He was much too generous,” he said. “I made much more than I could have in Greece. My family will have a very happy Christmas this year.” He laughed and patted me on the back with his robust strength. His laugh was deep and strong. Uri had made great sacrifices to be with us for such a long period of time. He left behind his wife and his two children to join us both in Rome and then here in France. It had been a combined ten months that he would have been away from his family. Yet, he looked only to the future and the happiness that Christmas would bring to his children with the earnings he made here in France.

  We arrived at the train station in town. Mimi had packed lunch for Uri for the train ride to Paris. She also gave him some of the jelly he liked that she had made that summer to share with his family back home. She then sent him home with a warm hug. He smiled and laughed, almost embarrassed.

  “You keep in touch with us, alright?” she said. “I can’t thank you enough for all you have done, Urian.” Uri then turned away.

  Next Vincent handed Uri an envelope. Uri tried to deny it. “You have already paid me, Dr. Vincent.”

  “No matter, this is a gift of gratitude. Besides, had you not been here, I would have had to do most of the work myself. You know, Jackie here was good for nothing more than telling us what to do.” Vincent then slugged Uri on the shoulder. Uri laughed. As he did, Vincent slid the envelope into Uri’s pocket.

  Uri aware of it, reached out with both hands and grabbed both of Vincent’s hands. Uri looked him in the eyes and said, “Thank you. Thank you. Now, you take care of yourself, Dr. Vincent. Do not be alone.”

  Vincent looked shocked by this. He had not known that he was that transparent. Uri then grabbed him and gave him a huge hug. The large Greek man engulfed the smaller French man with his bear-like embrace. Vincent’s feet came clear off the ground with Uri’s hug. We all laughed.

  Then Uri and I said our goodbyes again and hugged. I thanked him again, and he was off on his train. We all waited until his train pulled out of the station. We watched as the first member in our tightly run team was leaving us with a void. He was such a vital part of our project. We all hated to see him go.