Read Online The Word of God by Christopher Cummings - Free Book Online Page A

puffing hard. He sat himself on a rock and wiped his brow, then shone his torch over the group. “Hello. Who do we have here? I’m Captain Conkey, OC of the cadet unit and this is Sgt Crowe.”
    Peter stood and made the introductions: “These are the men who were going to be sacrificed by the Devil Worshippers sir. This is Mr Jones from Gordonvale; and these two gentlemen are both knights of the Catholic Church.”
    Sir Miles and Sir Richard came forward and shook hands with Capt Conkey and introduced themselves. Capt Conkey was too polite to query what a knight of the Catholic Church might be but the police sergeant had no hesitation.
    â€œKnights? Do you mean like in the middle ages? Sorry, I don’t understand,” the sergeant said.
    Sir Miles answered: “Yes, we are members of a Holy Order of Knights. We are Knights of the Holy Grail. Our Order is dedicated to carrying out special quests for the Pope.”
    â€œSpecial quests! What the devil brings you to North Queensland then?” Sgt Crowe asked.
    â€œScarcely the Devil, although we have met his works here,” Sir Miles replied. Peter was intrigued because Sir Miles deftly avoided answering the sergeant.
    Quest? What could it be? Peter wondered.
    Sgt Crowe appeared not to notice. He wiped sweat from his face and gulped at water from a bag slung over his shoulder. “Yes, what is all this about Devil Worshippers? We got the most extraordinary tale from the two at the bottom.”
    Peter spoke first: “Are Charmaine and Dean alright sir? We were worried that something might have happened to them. We expected you hours ago.”
    â€œThey were delayed by some characters they had to hide from,” Capt Conkey replied. “They saw three men in black arrive at the bottom of the hill just after you had left. They said that one was all dressed in black robes like a monk. Two of them, including the monk, went up the hill leaving the third on guard so Charmaine and Dean had to stay hidden till he left.”
    As Capt Conkey said this Peter felt the most extraordinary cold feeling grip his heart and chest. More Devil Worshippers! That means they could still be somewhere nearby.
    Stephen joined them. “If they started up the mountain just after us they might still be in the area,” he suggested.
    Capt Conkey nodded. “The thought had occurred to me,” he replied.
    Graham looked excited. “They might have met up with some of the jokers we bumped into at the top,” he said.
    â€œThat’s a possibility,” Peter agreed.
    Graham went on. “I was hoping you would come in a helicopter sir,” he said cheerfully.
    Sgt Crowe grunted. “That would have been nice,” he replied. “I’m getting too old to be tramping up bloody mountains in the dark. We would have come by chopper but the only one available is away rescuing a deckhand off a prawn trawler who caught his arm in a winch. It should arrive in a couple of hours. Now, what’s all this about Devil Worshippers?”
    Peter gestured up the mountain. “There were Devil Worshippers sir,” he replied. “Five of them. They had these men here tied up and were torturing them and were going to kill them.”
    Sgt Crowe frowned. “You can’t be sure of that,” he replied.
    â€œOh yes we can!” Stephen interjected. “We found other bodies.”
    Joy sucked in her breath with a sharp gasp. Peter wished Stephen hadn’t mentioned them. The memory was enough to make him feel nauseous.
    Gwen spoke for the first time. “Is that why you didn’t want us to come down to help get that injured man up the cliff?”
    Peter nodded. “Yes, sorry.”
    Sgt Crowe was sceptical. “This all sounds a bit far fetched to me. You’d better tell me about it.”
    Peter gestured downhill. “Can we get these men down the mountain first sir?” he asked. “They are hurt and badly in