Warning: The story below contains only a very few references to spanking
and sex; thus if it is of interest to anyone, it will be to those
familiar with a certain current best-seller.



On the Trail of the Grail

by Bird



                            72

	The Eglise de Saint Clément was dark and empty.
	"Are you sure this is the right?" said Sophie.
	They had looked for an hour, fruitlessly.
	"Fruitless," said Sophie.  "The clue said nothing about a church."
	"But remember what it did say - 
		To find the place you need to enter
		Search within my darling's center.
	"My darling is Clementine.  This is the only Clément church in
Paris. It must be here."
	"But clementine is also a fruit.  Comme ça."  Sophie reached into
her handbag and brought out a tangerine-like object.
	Langdon split the fruit open.  What he saw made him gasp.

                            73

	Silas, huge and ghost-like, swung the leather knotted cords
repeatedly over his shoulder.  Droplets of blood appeared on the white
buttocks.  This self-flagellation is a pain in the ass, he thought, but
if it will save the world, I must do it.

                            74

	"Read it to me again," said Langdon
	Sophie spread out the four narrow pages that had been lodged in the
center of the clementine.  Each page contained a single line.
	You'll never get
	Beyond first base
	If you still have
	A scratchy face

	"I know where it's telling us to go," said Langdon, "but that's
impossible."
	"Where? Why?"
	"Your grandfather could not possibly hide the grail where this is
directing us."

                          75

	Silas was still flagellating himself.  Thank God, these chapters are
so short, he thought.

                          76

	"It's obvious," said Langdon.  "In the sixteenth century, the cult
of divine Christian femininity spread eastward.  After it was ruthlessly
suppressed in China, the cult escaped south and reorganized their secret
society just outside Rangoon."
	"Burma.  Of course," said Sophie, rereading the clue.
	"Linguistically, 'savior' comes from the same root as 'shaver.'  And
women always appear clean-shaven."
	"You don't know my Aunt Teresa," muttered Sophie.
	"But how could your grandfather get to Burma without anyone
knowing?"
	"Easily," said Sophie.  Not the country."  What she said next made
Langdon realize that their search was near its end.

                         77

	Despite his spectre-like appearance, Silas hailed a cab.
	"Don't see too many blood-stained, giant, albino monks any more,"
said the driver.  "Where to?"

                         78

	Langdon and Sophie walked down Rue des Fessées, a cul-de-sac with a
restaurant at the end.  "Restaurant Burma," said the neon sign, "Mets
Chinois."
	"I thought Matsui was Japanese," Langdon said.
	An old Asian man greeted them.  "We have what you want," he said.
	The secret back room had several well-padded couches.  Sophie looked
at Langdon.  A silent understanding flowed between them.  Yes, this was
what they had been looking for.  Langdon pressed her down over the back
of a couch, raised her skirt and lowered her panties.  He used his hand
first, then a leather paddle from the array hanging on the wall.
	Sophie screamed and writhed.  At last, Langdon stopped.  Then he
knelt behind her and worshiped the grail, drinking deeply from it.  At
last, the time had come for the union of cup and sceptre.

                        79

	"Did someone say spectre?" asked Silas
	"No, 'sceptre,'" barked Langdon
	"Oh, sorry.  I'm dyslexic, too."