The Sacred Pool
A MILLENNIUM
IN PROVENCE
A lost little girl weeps in the high wilderness, and her cries are heard ... Is her rescuer a crazy, lonely woodsman, or a timeworn Celtic god, and she his only believer? Does an ancient female deity live beside the ool, among the ancient trees of the cool beeS grove, or is she little Pierrette's "imaginary friend", a poor substitute for a murdered mother?
Will the Black Time come, when dark, evil machines tower over the sunny little harbor of Citharista and all the goodness of the world is locked in an ebon box, or will young Pierrette indeed become the great sorceress of her dreams, with fire at her fingertips to stem the evil tide?
Journey with her across the ancient landscape, wander among the bleaching limestone bones of dragons that lie still atop the hills, and see for yourself whether the old gods yet endure....
The Sacred Pool stands at the midpoint of a vast historic tapestry try, looking both forward and back: From the sea-girt Paleolithic caves of Sormiou and enchanted forests of ancient Gaul, to the steamy swamps of Midicor IV, a million years hence; from old Polybius in his leather tent at the siege of Numantia, to Achibol the Charlatan in a cybernetic fortress buried beneath the Columbia Icefields of Alberta, L. Warren Douglas is there-and he takes his readers with him.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
L. Warren Douglas-anthropologist, naturalist . poet and historian-puts it ail together, me poet ng myth, historic characters and events, and ancient and future landscapes with a touch of fantasy. Douglas's works are a treasure trove of ancient wisdom, lost legends, cutting-edge biotech, and unforgettable characters. From Sioux Falls to the South of France, Douglas has walked the streets and trails, smelled the flowers, named and savored the winds off mountain, sea, and plain-and his readers experience it.
Douglas's mysteries are genuine, whether hidden in the myths of a thousand worlds, recorded by the world-spanning biocybes of Midicor IV, or obscured by the mists of the Celtic otherworld where dead gods speak, and ultimately it is the reader who must wander dusty trails, explore forbidding cityscapes, and discover answers as real as sweat, as poignant as lost love, buried deep in the forgotten past or hidden on a far, far world whose light will not impinge on wisdomus for a million years. For Douglas, to travel hopefully is indeed a better thing than to arrive, and his reader's journeys are their own reward.
Cover art by Larry Elmore
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Hardcover
Paperback
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and
events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real
people or incidents is purely coincidental.
First printing, January 2002
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Printed in the United States of America
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ISBN: 0-671-31956-6
Copyright 2001 by L. Warren Douglas
All rights reserved, including the right to
reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
http://www.baen.com
Production by Windhaven Press Auburn, NH
Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com
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Dedication
For Sue E. Folkringa, my wife, my friend and companion on all the trails and byways of Provence, and wherever else the endless quest may lead us.
Acknowledgments
Dave Feintuch, Leo Frankowski, Cornell W. Lugthart, Jr., Sara M. Ormerod, W. F. "Bud" Potts, and Ron Sarti, for reading the manuscript, criticizing it, and making suggestions. Judy Green, for typing great chunks of it.
Leo Frankowski, for all the discussions of history and time.
Alain et Nathalie, Hotel Cardinal, 24 Rue Cardinale, Aix-en-Provence, France, pour une chambre jolie et confortable, et un gai "bonjour" chaque matin.
Martine Lattouqoux, archaeologist at Entremont, where I saw my first Portal of Skulls, for the unpaid after-hours discussion.
The Granet Museum, Rue Cardinale, Aix-en-Provence.
The French people for the preservation of so many antiquities among which we may, on certain magical occasions, part the Veil of Years.
Sue, as always, for everything. Celeste Anne and Emma Sue, of course, just for being warm and furry.
Baen Books by L. Warren Douglas
The Sacred Pool
Simply Human
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