Read Online The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin - Free Book Online
Authors: Teresa Flavin
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in the air.
“Il Corvo’s labyrinth was created as a model of the cosmos. The outermost path is the longest to walk because it stands for Saturn, the farthest planet from the earth. Each inner path symbolizes the other six planets in order, and each is shorter than the previous one. The innermost path is the moon, its orbit shortest and closest to the labyrinth’s center, which is Earth.” He paused, looking at the children.
“By walking the labyrinth, il Corvo believed he could experience each planet’s journey round the earth and become open to its influence. And then he would be ready to start his work. The magical textbooks he studied told him which days and times were best for connecting with, for example, the authority of the planet Jupiter. He learned how to prepare special enchanted chalks, paints, and canvases. The secret books taught him how to make his workshop a place that would attract the planetary powers to Earth and infuse his paintings with life. The chalk marks and paint strokes that made Arcadia are like the bones or blood in our bodies — we can’t see them, but they are there. Because this world is a huge, living magical talisman.”
Hugo folded his arms across his chest, waiting to see how his guests would take this information.
Sunni frowned. “I still don’t understand. The earth
isn’t
at the center of the universe, is it? So how come the magic works?”
Hugo sighed. “To be frank with you, nobody has ever really understood it, apart from il Corvo and perhaps a few alchemists who spent their lives searching for the answers to ancient mysteries.”
Sunni looked across the courtyard, picturing Corvo at his easel watching his painted people wriggling to life on the canvas.
“So, if he used labyrinths to get himself ready to do the magic,” she said carefully, “and we came in on a labyrinth, do you think the way out is on a labyrinth, too?”
“Possibly,” said Hugo. “One must walk to the center to come in, so perhaps one must walk back to get out. But I have not seen a labyrinth in my time here.”
Sunni shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Dean finally put the rest of the fig into his mouth and asked Hugo between chews, “How do you know all this?”
“I am passionate about il Corvo’s work. I made it my business to learn all I could about the man and his mysterious disappearance,” replied Hugo. “It so happened that I was forced to disappear myself for a time and left London for Italy. That is how I came to be in Venice. I visited the small museum that held some of il Corvo’s sketches and paintings and studied the diaries of his friends in the old library there. I wanted to know whether the rumors were true — that he had learned how to concentrate the power of the universe in order to bring drawings to life and hide dazzling cities inside flat paintings. My search eventually brought me to Blackhope Tower, and then here, to Arcadia.”
“How did you work out the password?” Dean rubbed his sticky mouth.
“Trial and error. And you?” asked Hugo.
Dean answered smugly, “I can’t really remember, but I got it on my first try.”
“You were goofing around, Dean, and got in by pure rotten luck,” Sunni said. Remembering the labyrinth jolted her back to their problem, and she said to Hugo, “Everything you’ve told us is amazing and I’m glad we are getting to see it for ourselves, but we don’t belong here. There must be a way out of Arcadia if Sir Innes was able to come and go. Please, Mr. Fox-Farratt, do you know where the exit is?”
“I’m afraid I have never looked for it. I have never been particularly interested in leaving Arcadia.” Hugo looked a bit sheepish.
“Why not?” asked Sunni and Dean together.
He sighed. “My inheritance has dwindled, and I have almost nothing left. There are certain debt collectors who wished to find me. Disappearing seemed the perfect solution. And I could hardly ask for a better refuge than this.” Hugo
“Il Corvo’s labyrinth was created as a model of the cosmos. The outermost path is the longest to walk because it stands for Saturn, the farthest planet from the earth. Each inner path symbolizes the other six planets in order, and each is shorter than the previous one. The innermost path is the moon, its orbit shortest and closest to the labyrinth’s center, which is Earth.” He paused, looking at the children.
“By walking the labyrinth, il Corvo believed he could experience each planet’s journey round the earth and become open to its influence. And then he would be ready to start his work. The magical textbooks he studied told him which days and times were best for connecting with, for example, the authority of the planet Jupiter. He learned how to prepare special enchanted chalks, paints, and canvases. The secret books taught him how to make his workshop a place that would attract the planetary powers to Earth and infuse his paintings with life. The chalk marks and paint strokes that made Arcadia are like the bones or blood in our bodies — we can’t see them, but they are there. Because this world is a huge, living magical talisman.”
Hugo folded his arms across his chest, waiting to see how his guests would take this information.
Sunni frowned. “I still don’t understand. The earth
isn’t
at the center of the universe, is it? So how come the magic works?”
Hugo sighed. “To be frank with you, nobody has ever really understood it, apart from il Corvo and perhaps a few alchemists who spent their lives searching for the answers to ancient mysteries.”
Sunni looked across the courtyard, picturing Corvo at his easel watching his painted people wriggling to life on the canvas.
“So, if he used labyrinths to get himself ready to do the magic,” she said carefully, “and we came in on a labyrinth, do you think the way out is on a labyrinth, too?”
“Possibly,” said Hugo. “One must walk to the center to come in, so perhaps one must walk back to get out. But I have not seen a labyrinth in my time here.”
Sunni shrugged. “It was worth a try.”
Dean finally put the rest of the fig into his mouth and asked Hugo between chews, “How do you know all this?”
“I am passionate about il Corvo’s work. I made it my business to learn all I could about the man and his mysterious disappearance,” replied Hugo. “It so happened that I was forced to disappear myself for a time and left London for Italy. That is how I came to be in Venice. I visited the small museum that held some of il Corvo’s sketches and paintings and studied the diaries of his friends in the old library there. I wanted to know whether the rumors were true — that he had learned how to concentrate the power of the universe in order to bring drawings to life and hide dazzling cities inside flat paintings. My search eventually brought me to Blackhope Tower, and then here, to Arcadia.”
“How did you work out the password?” Dean rubbed his sticky mouth.
“Trial and error. And you?” asked Hugo.
Dean answered smugly, “I can’t really remember, but I got it on my first try.”
“You were goofing around, Dean, and got in by pure rotten luck,” Sunni said. Remembering the labyrinth jolted her back to their problem, and she said to Hugo, “Everything you’ve told us is amazing and I’m glad we are getting to see it for ourselves, but we don’t belong here. There must be a way out of Arcadia if Sir Innes was able to come and go. Please, Mr. Fox-Farratt, do you know where the exit is?”
“I’m afraid I have never looked for it. I have never been particularly interested in leaving Arcadia.” Hugo looked a bit sheepish.
“Why not?” asked Sunni and Dean together.
He sighed. “My inheritance has dwindled, and I have almost nothing left. There are certain debt collectors who wished to find me. Disappearing seemed the perfect solution. And I could hardly ask for a better refuge than this.” Hugo
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