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Lori Paras has been a regular on the Arcadia Forum for years. Thus, it is with great pleasure that Arcadia features the first three chapters of her debut book, ‘Emma’.
Researcher, writer, business woman and activist, Lori Paras
I am fortunate to have read ‘Emma’ and anticipate that the bidding for this manuscript will be highly competitive, as the book is captivating and full of fascinating insights into the mystery of Rennes-le-Château. What makes ‘Emma’ special, however, is its personal mystery; one involving self-awareness, reincarnation and redemption. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction and we are called upon to suspend our beliefs and open our minds, and hearts, to ideas we may find unsettling. This, for me, is the essence of ‘Emma’; that and the relationship between two of its characters, Terrance and Hannah, for reasons that will become apparent as you read!
Arcadia wishes Lori the best of luck and hopes you enjoy an initial glimpse into ‘Emma’.
Terrance Demmings threw his briefcase on the couch and took off his tie. It had been a long week. Nothing had gone as planned and the flight back to London less than ideal. Delays and the chatty woman sitting beside him left little time to finish up the report needed by his boss Monday morning. The U.S. kick off of the company had been successful, and he needed to supply the details to his associates back at head office. Putting on the kettle, he would at least try to find a few minutes this evening to check his email and look at the forum on his website. It was nearly eight but a quick peek couldn’t hurt. Terrance was an avid researcher on all things esoteric, and recently had taken up gathering information pertinent and sometimes not so pertinent behind the mystery of Rennes-le-Château and its most infamous priest François Bérenger Saunière. What started as a lark had become a passion and it helped him unwind from the incessant demands of his high profile job. There were hundreds of emails waiting but the one with the subject heading “Saunière” got his immediate attention. Taking the first sip of the tea he had grown to love since moving to London eleven years ago from Minneapolis, he gazed at the words in her email.
From: Hannah
To: Terrance Demmings
Sent: 20 October 2007
Subject: Saunière
Hello Terrance,
Why are you not looking for the reincarnations of some of the people you are interested in? Bérenger Saunière and Emma Calvé (just two examples) are probably alive and well somewhere on this planet but of course with different names etc. If they have continued on a journey of spiritual enlightenment they may be able to help you in your quest.
Hannah
Interesting, he thought. Terrance believed there was never anything to lose in answering the many emails he received concerning the mystery. He could always walk away if he felt it wasn’t going to be of any consequence or just got too weird.
From: Terrance
To: Hannah Merryman
Sent: 20 October 2007
Subject: Re: Saunière
Hannah,
Hi, I hope you are well. Thank you so much for your contact. You bring up a very interesting topic and approach. I believe you are correct, but how does one go about finding them and or contacting their essence? Many thanks for your input.
Terrance
There, that should do, he thought. Direct, to the point, no messing around. So what have you got to say to that? He hit the send key and surprised himself at feeling a slight anticipation. Odd, he thought, why would I care if she answered or not? “I must be way too tired, “ he spoke aloud. Terrance put down the tea and retrieved his briefcase. That was all the excitement he would be having this evening.
A little groggy but pleased he had finished the report the night before, Terrance turned on the computer. He could spend Sunday anyway he chose and he was going to invite a good friend over for lunch to talk about her new book that would be released in April. Secrets of Girona was a new twist on the Saunière mystery that Terrance found fascinating, and he just needed a few more questions answered to get his understanding solid. Picking up the receiver of the phone he looked at the computer screen and saw her email. It had come in the middle of the night.
From: Hannah
To: Terrance Demmings
Sent: 21 October 2007
Subject: Re: Saunière
Terrance,
Thank you for your reply. I guess the answer to your question is sometimes they find you. I was Emma Calvé.
Hannah
She had no intention of coming to François’ funeral, but they had insisted. Emma had been able to live her life in quiet disregard of the past for many years, always careful never to move too far away from the circle of mentors who had helped shape her early spiritual views and career. They were all here today though, to pay their final respect to this man whom many in this tiny village in the south of France still considered their priest. The society, which they all belonged to, had continued to survive without her presence and would continue to survive without his.
The order was assembling on the stone walkway now, having placed François on a chair near the wall. He looked surreal wearing the traditional garb of the high priest. The burgundy tassels on the hem of the cloak swayed in the wind while they waited for the final words of the Master. She had been told that they would be allowed to take one of the tassels to use as a talisman for future ceremony and to commemorate François sacredness of purpose. Emma would take one as remembrance of the afternoon they shared that had tore at her soul for years. He was her first love, the hard love, the forbidden love.
Emma was alone within this order now. Her unwillingness to participate in the rituals and ceremonies of the society had ostracized her from this powerful group. She believed it was her fame and silence that had kept her safe from reprisals, but everyone on that walkway understood differently. It was at the insistence of their high priest François Bérenger Saunière that her status within the society would be honoured, and nothing else.
Her sadness was debilitating. She hadn’t eaten very much in the past three days. Emma was surprised at the strength of emotions this man could still call from within her. She had believed that she was over him all these years, but the pain in her heart said otherwise, as did her now ex-husband Galileo Gaspari.
Emma was uncomfortable to think that the others who had gathered for this final farewell could feel her distress. She knew she was a better actress than this but her body and mind were not responding to her attempts at light heartedness. These people did not frighten her anymore. As she aged, and her fame grew around the world, she knew it was not in the groups’ best interest to cause her harm. Emma had made many powerful allies around the world including Queen Victoria and the Czar and Czarina of Russia. All because of a voice, she thought, notes sung in one hall for one moment had made her life what it was today. She was rich beyond her wildest dreams and wielded influence in circles others fought to belong to. She had decided to stay on at her house in Quillan for a few days to get her bearings before returning to Paris. She would revisit the places that had made her smile all those years ago and try to put to rest or at least come to terms with Saunière and her feelings for him.
Emma found her way to her favourite stone seat on the walkway, a small corner to the right leading to the library. She had spent many days and evenings sitting and peering over the edge of the walls of this stone thoroughfare. Today, the magnificent valley below was blanketed in the whitest of snow. The light playful breeze lifted and swirled its brightness over the valley floor. As usual, she would not partake in the ceremony for François today. Although she had not lost faith in the sacredness of such matters, she had lost her respect for many of the people involved in the society.
The weather was bitter, but Emma was not cold, her floor length fur coat and numbing grief saw to that. She sat and watched the ritual of farewell performed on her favourite soul, and as she did, Emma drifted and swirled herself, back to a time when the sacred union of male and female was practiced, back to a time when François was her voice of reason.
Bérenger and Emma had eventually become good friends. The feelings they shared, although contained, had not gone away. He had become her protector, her advisor, the keeper of her secret, her best friend. He loved her and he believed she loved him too, and that was enough for him. Bérenger had come to accept that these roles were of more importance than that of lovers. He would sacrifice that relationship for the intimacy of this one. No one else would ever have this place in her life. It was his and his alone. Bérenger had pleaded with her, although it broke his heart, that their careers were too important to jeopardize, especially the opportunity that lay in front her. Emma had a gift that needed to be shared with the world and he could not interfere with that. They had come to an agreement that hot August afternoon, but only after they made love one last time. It would surely ruin them both if they did not come to terms with their feelings. She had tried in earnest to persuade him to leave with her, and although that is all he wanted to do, he had to stay. He would stay near Quillan to watch over their reason for living.
It wasn’t always easy being Emma Calvé thought Bérenger as he sipped his glass of wine and waited for her to join him in the Tour Magdala. Emma and Bérenger were going to spend the afternoon together picnicking a few miles from the church. They would be alone and although this held its challenges, Bérenger was looking forward to having her all to himself. Today was going to be a good day for him.
The life of a star had its wonderful highs, and as they both knew its dangerous lows. Emma had arrived unexpectedly at his presbytery door three days earlier announcing she would be spending the next week. “François darling”, she smiled, “I need to be here with you.” She had kissed him on both cheeks, and headed straight for the villa. Bérenger knew the drill. It would be necessary to schedule a couple of receptions to help curb the inevitable gossip that would follow her departure. Always careful in his choice of guests, Bérenger invited all local dignitaries as well as the Bishop in the hope that her stay would be seen as a special event for them as opposed to a visit for him.
Emma had arrived bearing gifts, a new dress and hat for Marie, tickets to the opera in Paris for the Mayor and his wife, a souvenir from her travels abroad for Alfred, and of course, another rare book for Bérenger. Her generosity and exuberant nature won the hearts and loyalty of most residents of Rennes-le-Château and the surrounding villages. She cared for these people and was perpetually planning the next improvement for the village or donating money to a local cause or family in need. Bérenger and Emma could never stop meandering back to their peasant roots, always aware of the needs of the poor. She would provide the cash and Bérenger the labour for this home away from home.
The demons that had haunted them over the past eleven years would sometimes scurry away into the corners of this hilltop sanctuary, only to reappear in the streets of Quillan a short time later. The secret they carried had proved to be heavier for Emma than for Bérenger. The cause that had brought them together was still strong upon him and he worked daily towards its completion. Emma’s sporadic visits were becoming less often and he feared she was becoming too involved in the esoteric circles in Paris. Rumours were circulating that the occultist Jules Bois was enamoured with her. This handsome and intelligent man was the first of her potential lovers that he truly feared. Bérenger knew that he was a constant reminder of the pain that she carried. Jules would be her medication.
Emma loved power, and both of these men held their power well. Jules Bois was several years younger than Emma, a writer of some worth he supposed, and had become a bit of a celebrity through the duels he had engaged in with Stanislav de Guaita and Gérard Encausse better known as Papus. He knew Emma would have found this dangerous tradition a highly romantic and erotic exercise. The most obvious challenge was Jules Bois was available and he was not. The picnic and a visit to Quillan was his last hope to dissuade Emma from entering not only Jules Bois' bed, but a far more dangerous world than Emma could possibly understand. Emma would certainly be used for her wealth and fame in spite of her belief that she carried more weight in the world. His last hope was this visit. He would coax her to go to Quillan this afternoon to help remind her of the strongest reason to stay away from Jules Bois . . . her daughter.
Emma Calvé
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