Chaos Theory by Graham Masterton Read Free Book Online

that was why. She was just as alluring, though, with those large brown eyes and that heart-shaped face that had always reminded him of a fairy from a children’s picture book.
    ‘What’s it made of?’ he asked her.
    ‘It’s black because it’s so tarnished, but I’m pretty confident it’s solid silver.’
    ‘And when you say “very old” . . . ?’
    ‘I couldn’t be sure,’ said Jenna, taking off her glasses. ‘But a couple of years ago some Israeli archaeologists found a collection of Babylonian jewellery in a cave near the Dead Sea. Like – historically – it was a really important find, because it proved beyond any question that the Jewish aristocracy had been taken into exile in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar and then sent home again forty-eight years later by Cyrus the Persian. You know – ‘by the rivers of Babylon, where we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion . . .’
    ‘I know. Boney M, wasn’t it?’
    Jenna smiled. ‘The archaeologists found a silver mirror, and a make-up kit, and a pendant that was very much like this one. You see this crescent-shaped moon? That’s absolutely typical of Babylonian designs, and these small circles are supposed to be pomegranates. The Babylonians made some amazing jewellery. They knew how to weld, how to mix alloys, they even knew how to enamel. If this is genuine, it could be more than two and a half thousand years old.’
    ‘Jesus! That’s a serious antique.’
    Jenna handed the medallion back to him. ‘Like I say, I can’t be absolutely certain. You’ll have to have it properly tested. But it could be worth a heck of a lot of money. I can give you the names of a couple of jewellers in LA who specialize in antiquities.’
    ‘What about the letters on the back, P R C H A L?’
    ‘I don’t know – but they were engraved much more recently, in modern times. Do you know what they stand for?’
    Noah shook his head. ‘I looked up P R C H A L on the Internet and all I found was an eminent professor of applied physics from the University of Someplace Unpronounceable in Eastern Europe.’
    Jenna stood up and swept back her hair with both hands. ‘Is that all you wanted me to look at?’
    ‘Of course not. I wanted you to admire my suntan.’
    ‘Would you like a glass of wine? I have some of that Stag’s Leap Chardonnay you always used to drink.’
    ‘Sure, yes, if you’re offering.’
     
    They sat on a beech-wood bench in the backyard under one of the orange trees. It was almost noon now, and the mountains rippled in the rising heat.
    ‘You – uh – seeing anyone?’ asked Noah. Jenna was wearing mirrored sunglasses now and all he could see in her eyes were two curved images of himself.
    ‘Casually, yes. He’s a lawyer.’
    ‘A lawyer? I can’t imagine you dating a lawyer.’
    ‘Why not? He’s a very smart lawyer. He’s also a very handsome lawyer and a very wealthy lawyer. How about you?’
    ‘I met this three-hundred-pound belly dancer in Morocco – but, no – there’s nobody special. Not at the moment. After you and me, I guess I’m kind of wary about commitment.’
    Jenna smiled. ‘You’ll find somebody some day – somebody who doesn’t mind your unpredictable moods and your pesky little habits and the illogical nonsense you talk when you’re drunk.’
    ‘Hey – I don’t drink these days. Not so much, anyhow. And when did I ever talk illogical nonsense? And moody? I never thought I was moody . And what’s so pesky about wanting somebody to squeeze the toothpaste tube at the end instead of the middle?’
    ‘There you go again, and you’ve only had half a glass of Chardonnay!’
    Noah stayed for nearly an hour. He still enjoyed Jenna’s company, and he was still captivated by the way she looked, but he knew there was no point in trying to rekindle their affair. He would never change, and neither would she. In spite of her fairy-book face, she had always been stubborn and wilful and she always spoke her mind. Their