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her Arthur she noticed that the door was not fully closed.
    “Arthur,”she called out,“are you alright?”
    Silence.
    “Are you in there?”
    Iona pushed the door open and cautiously stepped inside.
     
     
    Chapter Nineteen
    St. Cyril
     
    Father Pious grimaced and spat on to the floor as he left the crypt.  His fellow priests looked at him expectantly. “God is surely with us Fathers,”his smile was completely devoid of warmth,“it seems we have just hit the jackpot.”
    “What is it now?”asked Father Thomas, carefully adjusting the bandages around his face.
    “I have just been informed of the time and location of the biggest gathering of the undead we have ever heard of: hundreds of the devils under one roof.  I would say this was an historic occasion.” For a moment his smile seemed almost genuine,“I would say this was historic if our work were not so secret that no historians would ever write about it.”
    “How are we going to deal with hundreds of them?” Father Thomas asked with a sigh. “There are only four of us and we are too tired and too injured for such a battle.”
    Pious tutted. “Where is your faith young Father?  Does not Holy Scripture tell us how the boy David defeated the mighty giant Goliath with only a few pebbles and a sling?  Besides, I have a contact who can get us access to the chamber where the Parliament is held, and I’m calling for reinforcements.”
    “How can we call for reinforcements if our work is top secret?” Ever since Father Thomas had joined the company he had asked questions.  However, since his injury his eagerness and awe had given way to bitterness and scepticism.
    “We will call on the Third Order of St Cyril.  They normally work in Africa or Latin America, but I know they have a monastery on the south coast of England.  If the Abbot is agreeable they can send a delegation within two hours.”
    “Who are the Order of St Cyril?”
    “ Third Order,”corrected Father Pious. “St. Cyril was a scholar and leader of the Church.  The first two Orders of St Cyril are monks and nuns who are teachers.  But there is another secret Order.  Where Cyril lived in fourth century Alexandria there was a pagan scholar, a woman, a rationalist called Hypatia.  Cyril had his followers kill her by slicing her with shells and sharpened flints.  Ever since there has been a militant Order of St Cyril, ready to take up arms against the enemies of the faith.  They are brutal, merciless and very effective.  They are our friends”
     
     
    Chapter Twenty
    Bleak House
     
    “Arthur, are you home?”Iona called into the small hallway.
    Her chunky boots left footprints in the thick dust on the bare floorboards as she cautiously entered the flat.
                  She wrinkled her nose against the smell, so strong it hit her like walking nose-first into a brick wall.  It was like rotten flesh and every putrid thing she had ever smelt.  It was the kind of stench she could imagine never being able to get out of her nose.  It was a smell she could taste, like poison on her tongue; she tightened her lips to keep it out of her mouth.
    She looked around.  On a table by the door there was an old-fashioned telephone and a newspaper with yesterday’s date, but even that was covered in what appeared to be several weeks’dust.
    It looked like an uncared-for recreation of a flat in a museum, rather than a real home.  Something other than the smell was not right about this place. 
    Cobwebs hung in every corner, sagging, heavily laden with dust.
    “Arthur?”she called out again, though with less conviction than before.
    Entering the kitchen she discovered the strangest sight yet.  The sink did not look like it had been used for years: it was filled with old leather-bound books, and all the worktops had been used as bookshelves.
    There were newspaper articles pinned to all the cupboard doors.  When Iona looked closer she saw that several had pictures of