A Rare Find

“The collected dry-cleaning bills from the last five years of Henry Ford’s life?”

“Okay, that was just weird. But that was the exception.” He motioned Amara over to the table. “So what have we got here?”

“These are all food related, as you might have guessed, given the circumstances. We’ve just finished looking at the work by a celebrity American chef and a provisions list from the Revolutionary War period, and now we’re on to something a little older and quite unique.”

Nick stepped aside and let the two younger people shoulder their way front and center.

Amara stared intently at one of the folios on display. “Hey, cool. Look at this.” She motioned to Press.

“The Grantham Galen. You brought it over from the exhibit?” Press asked.

“Just for this meeting. It goes right back,” Penelope answered.

“So what’s a Grantham Ga-something?” Georgie asked.

“It seems to be an old Greek manual that talks about using all these cooking herbs like cinnamon and ginger and laurel.” Amara pointed toward the text. “I’m not quite sure what this one is.” She looked to Penelope. “Am I right about it being an herbal treatise?”

“Our little Amara reads ancient Greek, and you never told me?” Georgie looked to Nick.

Nick opened his eyes wide and held up his hands. “Hey, whatever she’s learned she didn’t get it from me. And as far as languages are concerned, my accomplishments beyond mangling the mother tongue extend only to restaurant French, which is heavy on the swear words.”

“And possibly very useful in certain contexts,” Penelope observed. Then she immediately turned her attention to Amara. “Yes, it does talk about herbs, which nowadays are used in cooking, but in ancient times were the mainstays of medicine. And the word you were unsure of is cardamom,” she noted.

Amara lowered her head and studied the folio some more. “Is it? Wait a minute. If this is one of Galen’s writings, like Press said, wouldn’t it be his Theriac electuary?” She was addressing Penelope.

“A Ther-i-what?” Georgie asked, coming forward to take a better look.

“It sounds like a kind of enema,” Nick suggested, feeling more and more peripheral to the discussion.

Penelope appeared to take no notice of his comment. “A Theriac electuary, also known as a Venice treacle, is a mixture of sixty-four drugs—including what today we think of as herbs and spices, such things as cinnamon, cloves, mustard seed—”

“And cardamom,” Amara interjected.

Penelope nodded before continuing. “Including cardamom, which was formed by pulverizing the mixture with the addition of honey as a binder. It was supposed to be an antidote to poison. The recipe here is one attributed to Galen.”

“Galen who?” Nick asked. He could be as academic-y as the next person, he told himself.

Georgie leaned to Nick. “That would have been my next question, too.”

Amara raised her hand. “He’s Aelius Galenus. Also known as Claudius Galenus and Galen of Pergamon. He was of Greek ancestry, but lived in Rome, and was an important philosopher, and physician, and, really, one of the most famous medical scientists in the classical period. Unfortunately, with the fall of the Roman Empire, his works were lost to the West until the Renaissance, when he was rediscovered and his works were translated from the Arabic versions into Latin. In fact, since the original texts were mostly lost to the West, sometimes these translations were actually translated back into Greek. But this one…” Her voice trailed off.

“Is an original from the second century A.D.,” Penelope confirmed.

Amara cupped her hands over her open mouth.

Even Nick was too stunned to speak. Sure it was mind-boggling that they were looking at something written that long ago. But what was more startling was the bald demonstration of his daughter’s intellect and education. Not to mention Penelope’s complete command of arcane information and the assumption that everyone wanted to know about it.

Which, come to think of it, he did. Nick shook his head. He wasn’t a total ignoramus, and he respected people with genuine intellectual curiosity. It’s just that he had never equated himself with the latter.

And that’s when he found himself becoming mesmerized by that throbbing blue vein on the side of her forehead.

* * *

“HIS©CONTRIBUTIONS to anatomy and pharmacology are obvious—”

“To some of us.” Press interrupted Penelope with a smile.

Penelope frowned. “Press, are you making fun of me?”

“Never…well…okay, but no more than normal.”

Penelope smiled in an understated way. She was satisfied with his answer. Indeed, she was rather pleased that the two of them had this convivial relationship. It was…almost normal. “Yes…well…but in addition, in light of this manuscript, one can see that he made enormous contributions to pharmacology.”

“Don’t forget his philosophical work,” Amara noted.

“Of course, you’re right. His studies of logic are very important.” Penelope crossed her arms. “That’s very impressive for someone of your age.”

“Or any age,” Georgie added.

Penelope acknowledged his comment before addressing Amara again. “So you’re interested in the ancient languages and thought?”

Nick found himself leaning forward, curious about the answer.

Amara shrugged, appearing awkward as the center of attention. “I just took a bunch of courses in ancient Greek and Latin in school. But it’s not like it was a big deal. I mean, I’m one of those people who seem to have a thing for languages. Like some people can throw a curve ball, or be good with map directions, I’m good with languages.”

“Amara, honey, that’s fantastic,” Georgie congratulated her. “There’s no need for modesty. And you speak other languages, too?”

“Yeah, Spanish and French and Italian. But once you know one Romance language, it’s pretty easy to pick up another.”

“You must learn German,” Penelope instructed. “I’m sure you’d find its logical construction fascinating, and then you’ll be able to enjoy all those great writers like Goethe and Thomas Mann.”

“Oh, Death in Venice,” Amara practically cooed. “I loved that. I even cried. But of course, I only read it in translation. Hey, maybe I could take a German course this summer, although…”

“Wow, I’m impressed. I thought I was doing well when I passed the language requirement for Grantham, and that was only French,” Press said.

Penelope shifted her gaze to Nick. “You must be very proud of your daughter. Very few young people these days have an appreciation for the past, let alone such expertise.”

“Proud? Stunned is more like it,” he admitted. “Makes me embarrassed that I didn’t know anything about this before now.”

Penelope raised a critical eyebrow as she digested this information. Then she turned to Press. “As long as Amara appears to be interested in manuscripts, perhaps you’d like to show her around the library before you take over at the information desk.”

“Sure, if you want,” Press agreed.

Amara nodded eagerly and she inched closer to him as he headed for the door.

“Where’s a camera and a cameraman when we could use one?” Georgie said to Nick. “They look very cute together, don’t you think?”

“Way too cute,” Nick muttered.