Truthseekers Read online

  Published by Rock Your Life

  PO Box 333-56, Takapuna, Auckland 0740, New Zealand

  www.rockyourlife.net

  Copyright © 2015, 2016 Mike Handcock

  The author asserts his moral rights in the work.

  This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic, digital or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, any digital or computerised format, or any information storage and retrieval system, including by any means via the Internet, without permission in writing from the publisher. Infringers of copyright render themselves liable to prosecution.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-0-9941083-5-7

  Ebook ISBN 978-0-9941083-6-4

  Publishing services by Oratia Media Ltd, www.oratia.co.nz

  First published 2015 by Rock Your Life

  This edition 2016

  Printed in South Africa

  Every beginning is some other beginning’s end …

  — Dan Wilson, Semisonic

  Contents

  Prelude – 1134 AD, Rome

  Chapter 1: Present Day

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5: 1 December 1307

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9: 1362 AD

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33: Lake Superior (1927)

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Author’s Note

  Dedication

  Epilogue

  Prelude – 1134 AD, Rome

  It was Hughes De Payan’s second trip to Rome in as many years. He thought he should be used to the smells by now, yet the sanitation of the big city always drew his senses. The Grand Master of the Knights Templar would have rather been at home in the beautiful and sweet smelling region of Champagne in Northern France. Yet his dedication to the fast-growing order, his relationship and vows to God and the Church and his personal affection for Pope Innocent II was worth it all, and the Romans did know how to make a good wine.

  Standing a whisker over six feet, De Payan looked much taller. His mere presence made people take breath, men moving away in respect and woman flirting in admiration and many with ulterior motives. Part of his vows, chastity had been tried many times and never was he tempted although he found it odd now even that he was sixty four, a very old man at the time, that he was more desirable now than he had been even fifteen years ago before his journey to the Holy City.

  De Payan’s stare was strong, sandy hair now starting to grey at the temple, and a lined face showed inner strength and knowing. Even nobles paid him the utmost respect and showered him with praise. What no one saw was what De Payan saw. When his master’s robes were removed by the squire, his faithful servant of the past thirty years, who toiled long and hard for the nine years he and his fellow knights dug beneath the Temple of Jerusalem for countless hours each day, finally digging deep enough into the remains of Solomon’s Temple and to the crypt beneath where they found everything. Everything and more, than anyone could have imagined, yet nothing like what anyone thought.

  When De Payan disrobed each evening he saw a scarred body, over forty scars visible, some ugly and constantly bruised from years of battles. Athletic yes, muscular as well as any twenty five year-old knight, yet every physical scar carried its partner, a mental burden, and for that De Payan the great warrior, explorer, entrepreneur and leader often sobbed at night. He could deal with the physical scars, even the pain that associated with them. What he couldn’t deal with was the death, the maiming, and the loss even though the cause was great. The cause for God.

  Yet when he felt strong and complete as he did at that moment, he would smile and feel small inside. In the end all he wanted is what we all want – love.

  “He is ready for you, Sir.”

  A cardinal dressed in white and carrying a cross between his flattened palms had entered the waiting room.

  De Payan gathered his gloves, straightened his tunic and strode through the door, following the cardinal down a hall and into a large room. The room was a meeting hall and it was as grand a place as it could have been. An artist was rendering one whole wall of the room. The stone floor was piled with rugs from the Middle East. De Payan seemed to recognise a few. He certainly did recognise the solid gold candelabras, a spoil of a battle in the region we now know as Turkey. The stained-glass leadlight windows were fascinating, yet De Payan couldn’t help but feel the Pope’s designers really couldn’t interpret the drawings and shapes De Chancey, his good friend had given them.

  “Ah my good friend Sir Hughes de Payan, it’s always a pleasure.” Pope Innocent II got up from a desk where he had been intently writing.

  “Your Excellency,” De Payan smiled and bowed as was the way of addressing God’s representative.

  The Pope turned his smile from De Payan to the cardinal and two guards standing by the door.

  “You are no longer needed, Cardinal Mansoni. You may leave now, take the sentries and close the door behind you. I am not to be disturbed under any circumstance,” the Pope demanded

  “Your Excellency, it may be best if I stay. I will take down any notes that may be required.” Cardinal Mansoni seemed a slimy being. There was almost a sigh from the Pope who knew the Church attracted these types, misfits in other walks of life. He often wondered how Mansoni had risen so high and seemed to have his beak in everything. Yet he smiled and simply said:

  “No, you won’t be needed. Now run along.”

  Mansoni acknowledged with what De Payan almost felt was a grind of his teeth. Mansoni turned, snapped at the guards and left, closing the doors just a little harder than he should have.

  This left the Pope and De Payan left looking at each other from just over three metres apart. Both men drew breath yet De Payan was the first to speak.

  “Seriously Gregorio, where do you find some of these guys? I could put him on a trebuchet and launch his slimy ass at the Ottomans if you like.”

  A huge smile came to the Pope’s face and he squawked like a duck and started flapping his arms like wings, mimicking Mansoni’s storm out whilst pouting like a five year-old. Both men roared with laughter and came together in brotherly embrace.

  “It’s good to see you, Hughes. You always cheer me up. Sometimes I feel like nothing more than a maid to these cardinals. It’s like I am constantly cleaning up after them,” smiled the Pope.

  Gregorio Papereshi had been Pope for nearly four years. A native Roman, he had become friends with De Payan during his years living in France. They had exactly the same sense of humour and that seemed to bond them.

  “I would
n’t take that one for granted, Gregorio. He’s a friend and confidant of that other imbecile.”

  On election for the papacy Innocent II was in fact in an unusual situation. There were in fact two popes elected. The second candidate, who called himself Anacletus, lasted a little while and then favour went to the now highly popular Innocent II, yet Anacletus still had his followers and still had desires for the papacy.

  “Oh yes I know Hughes. I live with that everyday. It is one reason I have people taste my food and why I sleep with different guards protecting me every night. Yet they seem to be under control presently. What I have asked you here for is a task of far more importance than a few annoying school boys. Take a seat and I will get us a wine. One of the benefits of being Pope, I guess. I get great wines.”

  De Payan often felt strange having the Pope and head of the Church serve him wine, but the Pope liked it. He was immensely fond of De Payan and everything he and the Knights Templar, formed just twenty-five years before, had done for the Church, the papacy and the people. After returning with two sterling silver goblets they clinked the cups and De Payan drank a hearty mouthful. All of a sudden he seemed to realise something might be wrong and immediately spat back into the cup.

  “Has this wine been tested?” De Payan spurted, wine running down his chin.

  The Pope broke into a huge laugh and slapped De Payan on the knee.

  “It has now, old friend.”

  They both laughed and clinked glasses again. This time De Payan downed the wine, the Pope also downing his.

  Gregorio was born to be pope. A statuesque being, he was tall at over six feet, even slightly taller than De Payan. A receding hairline marked with greying, longish hair drawn back and clipped beneath his papal headdress. He had always been an orator, able to hold an audience within the palm of his hand and have them nodding their heads in agreement before even knowing why. His fast rise through the Church hadn’t been without enemies committed to his downfall, yet that downfall never came. If anything he was growing in power every day, yet he never used that power for anything except the betterment of mankind and in this matter he turned his deep brown eyes toward his old and trusted friend. Putting down his goblet, he took Hughes’ hands between his.

  “You are the only one I can trust.” His sincerity wiped the previous laughter off his face.

  “What is it old friend?” said De Payan. “What is it that troubles you?”

  Gregorio drew breath, looking around as if to make sure there were only them in listening distance. Of course there was always God. He knew everything.

  The Pope started on this most amazing story.

  “Hughes, please sit down. The story I have to tell you starts back at the beginning of the Church and involves Constantine the Great, and some not so great decisions he made over 800 years ago.”

  The Pope told De Payan that a document had been created at the first council of Nicaea, the council led by Constantine that literally launched the papacy, created Constantine as the first Pope and gave him and the Church as much power as any king in any land. The document in Constantine’s own hand held the greatest secret of the Church.

  Another 700 years after De Payan’s meeting with Innocent II and only after the locating by accident of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948 it came to light that Constantine had changed the Bible. He literally rewrote the gospels leaving out over 40 books of what was the original bible. De Payan and the Pope never knew this, but what Constantine did have all those years ago was a document that could blow the Church right open. This document, written by Constantine, was the answer to the greatest mystery of all time.

  Gregorio continued his amazing story. Looking directly at De Payan he stopped for a moment and said:

  “Hughes, it’s about the child of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.”

  “The child…” De Payan replied, shifting his position and gaze.

  “This document held the name not only of the child but also of every subsequent man and woman who was a direct descendent of that union, including the current incumbent, Alphonse the Count of Toulouse.”

  The Pope went on to tell De Payan that whilst the current incumbents did not know their sacred bloodline, each of them was encouraged by the Church, which always showed a healthy interest in the family, to have only one child thus keeping the lineage pure. It seemed so far that all had been well although there had been several attempts on the lives of this lineage over the years by those in the Church who would rather the truth be destroyed. It seemed Anacletus II was such an individual and the Pope had asked his old friend to protect the lineage from the growing plot by Anacletus II.

  The Pope explained to De Payan that there were significant ruling families who connected closely with the dark powers within the Church. These key families would always hold the balance of power through a series of agreements and as time went on they had become more engaged in finishing the bloodline of the most divine, as a type of insurance of their power.

  “The Church was to be the front of this, yet the Church itself was never to be the benefactor, not the Church of the people that was for sure.” The Pope was stern in his delivery.

  This master plan was the first of its kind in ruling the whole of the known world through an intricate undercurrent of lies and deceptions. The pope stated that even the creation of the papacy was simply part of that master plan. De Payan listened with intrigue and sternness. In some ways he contemplated all the loss of life he had seen for this corrupt system and he twitched realising that he was now finding out an agenda and a purpose to everything he had done, and it was not at all what he had thought. After some fifteen minutes of solemn listening he finally chose to ask two questions.

  “Gregorio, how come you only mention this now to me and why not simply destroy the document? I will hide the chosen one. You have the power to transform the papacy and ensure the role stands for everything good and decent that God would want.”

  The Pope smiled limply at De Payan.

  “It is never that simple, my old friend. You see with all of the changes in the Church, moving from here to France, even to Germany for a time, even our sacred relics have been misplaced. The most important of which were buried deep in an old cave well beneath this residence. You see Constantine, as great as he was, miscalculated something. It takes time to build the relationships of trust that he needed across the known world.”

  “Are you saying the document has been misplaced?”

  The Pope put his finger to his chin.

  “No I am not, but I know it has been copied by Anacletus. Our only protection is through two very thin veils and one I have never used but now need to.”

  De Payan knew this meant him.

  “You see Hughes, I have the original document and it is that which keeps this information safe. There can be copies but I have sealed this document with the papal seal and it is only this seal that the office of the Pope has. It can be verified if needed and that means that no one I know will act without it. The problem is I can no longer trust the cardinals that keep this office pure.”

  De Payan took his friend by the forearm in a tight grasp

  “Gregorio, you always see the best in people. If there is a copy, surely it will be in circulation, seal or no seal.”

  “Yes, that is true,” the Pope said sighing. “Yet without the seal, they will never draw the powerful ones. They will not show themselves for a forgery, and that means they will simply wait until I am dead. Then they will have the Pope, the original and the deed will be swift. I can deal with my death, but what I need from you is almost more than a friend can ask.”

  De Payan dropped to one knee.

  “My knights and I are here to serve God and you are that representative. Tell me what you need.”

  The Pope hauled De Payan from the floor and stared him straight in the eyes.

  “The time for ceremony is over dear friend. I need you to take this document and hide it. Do not destroy it. If you do, we can never prove its existen
ce and our right to govern it. But hide it from me, from the Church forever.” The Pope drew breath…

  “I need you to take Alphonse of Toulouse to the Holy Land and hide him there. No one must ever find him again. Keep him safe. I need you also to have him agree to his skin being marked with a sacred chevron symbol and that he will always pass that on through his child and his child’s child. I need you to impress upon him the importance of this. Tell him it is because he is a friend of the Church and Templars that we need to keep him safe. Tell him what you need to get the job done.”

  With a calmness that had become a strength of De Payan’s leadership over his lifetime he replied:

  “We will do what is asked. This information will never surface with anyone who will use it, and we will take care of anyone who tries. We will convince Alphonse to come with us. He is known to me and has been a good friend of the knights of the Temple Mount.”

  They embraced, De Payan resolute in taking on another mission for God. Little did he know that within weeks of doing this he would be dead.

  1

  Present Day

  David Clark shook his head. A lock of his wavy hair fell over his forehead. He managed to stretch in the chair in which he was sitting and in doing so caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He patted his stomach, still trim he thought. His eyes had a determination that resonated from an intense stare under a strong brow. With a proud jaw, David was also fit and masculine but with a deeply tender side David was highly sensitive as well and a hopeless romantic at heart. Distracted by the heat that surrounded him like the cloak of a mother’s warmth he had let his mind wander. It had been eight years since he’d had that life-changing moment. A distant relative he had never met had died and left him an inheritance, an event that both kick-started his deep search for wisdom and allowed him the funds to step into a business that eventually provided him the income he needed to begin to fulfil his life purpose.

  “Eight years…” he thought to himself.

  Since that time his life had been a series of joys and distractions. He had become engrossed early in the business and all its trials and tribulations, yet lately other questions occupied his mind. He often found the best place to be was inside his mind, alone with his thoughts. David’s life had been full of people coming and going over the years. He had lost his parents early, so was often alone. Even his broad shoulders yearned for some love. Occasionally he pondered what it would be like to find someone, a true partner, a woman he could trust implicitly in the way he saw in romantic movies. He had been so focused on the tasks of running a business and his altruistic mission of making the world a better place for all since that day that he almost didn’t see anyone else at all – except Rocko that was.