Read Online The Secret Of The Cathars (2011) by Michael Hillier - Free Book Online Page B

night.
    - 8 -
    More than a month passed before Philip was able to arrange his fortnight’s holiday in the Languedoc. It had been necessary before leaving to pay a visit to his newly acquired house in Templecombe and arrange for it to be looked after until he had decided what to do with it. While he was there he had collected the copy his grandmother had made of the journal of Phillipe de Saint Claire and taken it back with him to his small bachelor flat in Paddington.
    During several nights of fascinated bedtime reading he had followed the exploits of his ancient forbear - the escape down the sheer cliffs from the castle at Montsegur carrying the treasure of the Cathars on his back; the journey through the wild countryside to le Bezu: the hiding of the sealed bamboo tubes containing the treasure in the depths of the castle; the flight from the French forces over the Pyrenees into Spain; the voyage to London and the journey to Templecombe. By the time he had finished Philip had to admit that his enthusiasm for his imposed task had been raised considerably.
    He crossed the channel on a mid-morning ferry. Driving south, he gave Paris a wide berth and stayed in a motel near Tours on the Saturday night. He was able to get away from there early next morning and, without hurrying, was in Carcassonne by tea-time.
    His Michelin road atlas suggested le Bezu was somewhere south of there but it didn’t show sufficient detail. So his first task was to find a bookshop where he could pick up a larger-scale map. After a search of the town centre he found a place where he was able to purchase a Carte de Randonee (footpath map) of the Quillan area. He took it back to his hotel and studied it carefully. He found that the map indicated a Chateau des Templiers on the Serre Calmette ridge near the village of le Bezu. He presumed that was the place he was looking for. He noted it was about fifty kilometres south of Carcassonne and at least two kilometres from the nearest road. It looked as though some cross-country walking would be required.
    So the next morning he got himself some decent walking boots and spent the rest of the day exploring the town. Climbing to the old city he was able to absorb a lot of the local atmosphere connected with the Cathars. He didn’t feel any particular need to hurry to le Bezu. He decided there was no reason why he shouldn’t enjoy the benefits of his holiday in the South of France as well as undertaking the task given to him by his grandmother.
    He set off south the following day. It was a lovely spring morning. The car purred happily along the road as it wound through the deep valleys between the tree-clad mountain ranges. It certainly appeared that the Cathars had chosen a beautiful, if remote, location to establish their unusual society.
    When he reached Couiza he stopped for a coffee and to consult the map. He worked out his route via Laval and St Julia de Bec, then he set off again. The roads were narrow and tortuous and the last twenty kilometres took him over half an hour. Arriving at le Bezu village, he parked in front of the church and set out to walk the final two kilometres along a farm track.
    He strode out, enjoying the warm sunshine as he went. There seemed to be nobody about. The track climbed slowly, keeping to one side of a wide valley. There were meadows in the bottom and woods cladding the slopes on both sides. As he got further up the valley he became aware that the mountains were closing in upon the scenery, especially to his left, where a rough, irregular rocky peak poked up out of the trees. Pausing to look carefully at the ridge, Philip was almost sure he could make out a few vertical masonry walls, hardly differing in colour or character from the bedrock which formed their base. Checking on the map, he was almost sure this was le Bezu castle.
    Feeling increasingly excited, he pushed on. As he rounded a bend he came upon two four-wheel drive Land Cruisers parked at a point where the track