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To Be or Not to Be
Authentic
LARGE d o uble
d oo rs wer e in elab o r ate
. B OTH
SIG NS
O N
TH E
. Go thic
scr i pt .
On e h a d b e en pa int e d
a lon g t i m e a go wi th
p a in s t a kin g
c a re. It sa id:
The Cr u sa d es R oom
Pl ease E nt e r
Most of the g old fl o u r i s h es
a nd li ga tur es h a d f l a k e d o ff , ' ~ n d
wou l d h a v e c a l l e d m a ju s ul
w h a t th e -o r i g inal
ca ll i g ra ph e r
-
c a pital lett e r s ; th e s u m m i t of h i s c r a ft -
h a d t a k n
n t h
s h a bbin ess o f ne g l ec t e d o ld ag e .
Th e oth e r sig n s impl y hun g o n th e d oor . I t h a d b ee n b o rn i n
. th e crisp whirr
of a l ase r p r int e r,
it s p e rf ec tl y
s hap e d
a nd
precisely etch e d lett e r s the pr o duct
of t ec hnol ogy
a nd som e -
on e's w him s i ca l
ch o i ce o f t y p e f a c e f or a s i g n th a t wa s on l y
t e mp o rar y.
It s aid :
791139252.001.png
T h e i ro ni c co nt ras t
w as not lost to Glen Crockford
as h e
G l e n Cr ockford
follow e d h e r o b e di e nt l y .
H e co uld n' t
h e l p
pL dl ed o n e of th e bi g d a ' o r s o p e n, but he said nothi? g
t o th e
but
a d mi r e
wh a t
they'd
d o n e .
Suc h a diff e r e n ce
fr o m
t h e
y o un g ass i s t a n t
c u ra t or
wh o followed him in. Her J o b, a ft e r
m u s e um s
w e once knew, h e th o u g ht
t o h i m se l f , a l t h o u g h
h e
a ll , w a s "a rtif a c t
s y s t e m s m a n age ment
and displ a y c o n t r o l. "
c o uldn't
he lp n o tin g th e e l e ctro ni c
g l o w in t h e a r c h w a y
t h a t
S h e h a d
a n und erg r a du a t e
d egre e in archaeolo gy
but th e
war n e d in r e d : " Youn g C hi ldr e n M ay B e F r i g h t e n e d. "
H i s cy ni c i s m a lm os t di s a pp e ar e d o n c e h e w e n t in s id e , f o r
h e r e th e b a ttl e r ag ed eve n m o r e l o udl y a n d mor e r ea li s t i c a ll y ,
H ea ti ng e l e m e nts in th e fl oo r a nd c e i lin g m ea n t o n e co ul d n o t
ju s t s e e a nd h e ar the fir e, but ac tu a ll y fe e l it. T h er e wa s e v e n
s m o k e - a rtificial smok e . T h e fir e d e p a rt me n t a nd th e d e -
p ar tm e nt of public health had th row n a c o mbin e d f it w h e n
th e r ea l s tuff had been pr o p ose d in th e o ri gi n a l pl a n s . B ut th e
sa nit i z e d alternative bel c h e d o ut it s a p p r o v e d p a rt s -p er-mi l-
l io n o f h y drocarbon at si x t ee n- se c o nd int erva l s , a rid it . o e > .
c ur re d t o Glen that even if it was n o m ore r ea l t h a n th e fi re, it
' s u re was di f f er ent from a g uid e d t o u r .
E x ce pt for th e walkw ay , th e fl oor s wh e r e th ey n o w s t oo d
we r e c ove r e d in rushe s . Th ey we r e in li v i n g q u a rt e r s , a n d a
sca tt e r o f robes , o v erturn e d j ar s a n d b ro k e n furn i t u r e S L I -
ges t e d th a t this part of the ca s tl e h a d a l r ea dy b ee n o v er r u n b y
th e inv a ders. Almost out of th e li g ht, a d e c a p i t a t e d
mu s . e um b oa r d
h a d c h os e n
h e r for her master's
in bu s in e ss
a d mini s t rat i on .
W h en t h e d oo r c l o s ed b e hind them and th e ir eyes h a d
a dju s t e d t o th e dim nes s , h e r f irs t comment , right on cu e, was,
" Wh e n w e r e op e n n ex t m o nth , t he inventory in h e r e will h ave
a 3 0 p e rc e nt g r ea t e r vi e w er ac cess than before."
G l e n s upp resse d a g r oa n but he couldn't ch e ck him se l f
c om pl e t e l y; t h e Cr u sa d es R o om had always been th e b oa rd' s
g r e a t e s t p r i d e . .
"Ms . Spar k s . N o t inv e ntor y, pl eas e. These piec es . .. . "
S h e didn ' t h ea r him ; o r e l se s he was not paying a tt e ntion.
" Th a t ' s
a pr e . tt y e f fec tiv e return.
A s y ou know, w e s p ent
a l m os t
se v e n m ill io n
o f th e L a n s dorff
endowment
in h e r e ,
ove r ha l f of it o n n e w ac qui s ition s for this beaut y ! "
S h e r ea c h e d u n d e r a c o n so l e , flipped a few switch es a nd o n e
e nd of t h e ~oom i i t er a lly c a m e to life w i th sounds, b a c ksc r ee n
pr o j ections
b o dy J ay .i n
and li g hti n g
ch ange s. It was the mus e um
b o ar~ 's
th e g r o t es que
twist of violent d ea th . G l e n t r i e d to m a k e i t o u t
n e w p ride
a n d j oy : ' a di o r a m a
of the seige of Je r us a l e m
m
t h r o u g h
the smoke and gloom. It co uld h ave b ee n a w o m a n 's
1099 A .D .
Th ey b o th t ook a few s t e p s to w ard the end of the ro o m a nd
th e n p a u s e d t o g e th e r t o a b s o r b th e o v erpowering visu a l e ffe ct
of g r ea t, . thick wa ll s , se i ge towers and battlement , s th a t
r e a c h e d r i g ht up t o th e hi g h , vaulted ceiling. The a udI O w as
ov e r power in g
b o d y .
.
" Y o u 're
ob v iousl y
not
hidin g
a n y
o f th e
C ru sa d er s '
b e h av i o ;
a re y ou?" h e s a id to M s . Sp a rk s .
.
. "Tr y this one! " she re s pond e d
as s h e l e d him ro und a t ur n
' wh e r e
a he av il y armored
kni g ht h e ld hi s t wo -h a nd e d
s w o rd
t oo, for as th e r e cording
tape turn e d, sound s o f
ov e r a c lutch
of frighten e d
c hildr e n.
"Th ey
w e r e a b l o o d-
b a t t l e g re w l o ud er a n d m o r e int e nse.
To th e r i g ht a nd l e fr s id es
th i r sty
bunch,
the Crus a der s .
N o p o i n t
in hidi n g
th a t f a c t .
we re lowered drawbrid g , es ,
e a c h
E v ery wh er e they went w a s a s l a u g ht e rh o u s e . "
G l e n w a s a bout to ask w h e th er a ll th e bl o o dth irsty r ea li s m
w a s r ea ll y a mu s eum' s pr o p e r task w h e n M s . Spark s t o ok h i s
ha nd a nd l e d him thr o u g h a l ow arc h w a y .
" I t 's n o t a ll a ction a nd go r e . Thi s i s qu i e t e r . Se e, we h ave t o
build in r e li e f ev er y so o ft e n. Thi s i s th e S a l a di n
c o mpl e t e
wi th a h a l f - ra i se d
p o rtcullis
that allow e d vi e w e r s a
s t o o p e d e n t r y i n t o th e cast l e i t se lf.
" W e 'r e bu ildi n g
f o r pr e d o min a nt
traffic flow thr o u g h
th e
ri g ht h ere .'; M s . Sp a r k s was wa lkin g
tow a rd th e dr aw bri d g e
o n th e r i g ht . "Th a t 's
w h y th i s e ntr a nce
is , c lo se r."
r o om .
W e
791139252.002.png
s p e nt a p ot f ull in h e r e . A nd in th e n ex t o n e t oo. That ' s the
Richard th e Li o n-H e art r oo m. A bit kitchy I g u e s s , but those
a re two n a m e s p e ople know . "
It was inde e d quieter and Gl e n felt more at eas e . The light
was brighter
"Yo u ca n s e e," M s. Spar k s w as expl a inin g b e f o re h e g o t
ther e, " w e h a ve a lot mo re Ri c hard stuff than S a ladin. "
Gl e n winced at "stuff " but he could see wh a t she me a nt.
"It 's a lot e as ier to ge t , i s n't it?" he of fe r e d.
" Well, no thing's
too ; in fact th e two rooms -: - adj a c e nt
al c oves,
easy in th e museum
bu s in ess,
but ye s , it
really -
were almost traditionally
museum-lik e .
is. Tho se bills for example. "
She pointed
to a s tack of lon g-
He walked
s lowl y , deliberatel y
r e laxing the p a ce . But Ms.
handled
s pe a r s with hooked
blades. "Not
a ll authentic ,
but
o
Sparks
wa s not in a hurry. Appa r ently
she want e d
to spend
that' s
ok a y. And spu rs,
c ro ss bows,
swo r d s
-
that kind
of
time here.
"Most of thi s inv e ntory is from collectors," she s aid. "We
h a d to pay. In s om e cases r ea lly p ay ! That jew e l ry w a s really
e xpensiv e .
stuff. "
Gl e n wondered
if a n y o f it was period -a uth e ntic
but
h e
didn ' t as k .
"W e h a v e t o make sca l e d - d o wn replic as o f s o m e of it, li k e
' this m a n g o nel here. " S h e p a tt e d a V\ ( orkin g m o d e l o f a
catapult . " S o m e times a uth e ntic doesn't m a tt e r a ll th a t mu c h j f
you c a n s h o~ how th e t ec hn o logy w o rk e d . It 's th e p ro cess
then th a t' s a uthentic. B es id es w e h a ve s o m e r ea l s tuff. S e e th e
dice, ? W e h a v e tw e lv e p a ir s th a t r a n ge f ro m mid -e l e v e nth
E l e v e nth
century .
M a de
in Acr e .
So was the
hookah
p i p e . Th e crossbow s
a nd scimitars
a re pr e tt y stan-
d a rd
stuff. Th ey ' r e all real but only one of th e c r oss bows
is
period-authentic.
And check thi s ! Here! Th e Turki s h
chess
se t! "
Glen w as s till s t a ring at th e cr oss bows trying to g u e s s which
o ne was " p e riod- a uthent i c. " " We bought thi s ch ess set in
V e nice. It w as p a rt of the loot t a ken from the Turk s in the
Fourth Cru sa d e by the old Do ge . Gorge<~us, i s n ' t it? Worth
the fortune w e paid."
It was strikin g ly beautiful Gl e n agreed: And hu ge . The
figures were i v or y a nd black j a d e . On both sid es th e king and
queen tow e red o v e r the other fi g ures . The bishop s were per-
f e ctly match e d but had cont ras tin g expression s on their faces.
E a ch pawn w as a different tr a d esma n. .
Glen w as a b o ut to pick up a r oo k to test it s h e ft wh e n Ms.
Sparks call e d oi l t.
"Over h e r e i s o ur problem piece."
Glen look e d a round. He ' d lost h e r.
"No here. Over here! I'm in th e Richard ro o m! "
Reluctantly, Gl e n l e ft the ch e s s s e t to join h e r.
"Watch out for those j ~v elin s , Mr. Crockford! "
Glen w a s tall a nd the Richard
t o
earl y fourt e e nth
centur y . A nd those c a ndl es ti ck s ?
T h e y h a v e
Sir Hu g h Htzroy's seal! "
She p a u se d for a mom e nt ,
r e flectiv e l y . "Wh a t we n ee d i s a
grabb er
for thi s room
-
lik e the ches s s et in there."
Sh e
paused
a gain.
"And w e h a ve it, but we can't prove it. Th a t's
, what
I m ea n b y our 'pr o bl e m
pi e ce'. Th er e. Th e b a thtub.
It ' s
" here on s p ec till next w ee k. " .
M s. S ~ ar k s l e d Glen ov e r to a metal tub ju s t lar ge e nough t o
hold a s i ng le a dult unc o mf o rt a bly.
"Rich a rd th e Lion-H ea rt 's b a thtub! M ay b e . It c o mes fr o m
Trif e l s castl e in Austri a , wh e r e Richard w as h e ld forransom, "
' she said. "And we know it' s old enough. It's entir e ly possibl e
Richard u se d it . But callin g it Richard' s b a thtub - I don ' t
know. It would sure add z ip, but I'm really not s ure we should
pay for something
we ca n 't be c e rtain of. You see, bathin g
i s
hardly
a technology.
And rea ll y , it's just a tub. N o thing
s p ec -
tacular. But if it were Ri c h a rd ' s bathtub .... "
Glen took a deep bre a th, h e ld it, then e x h a l e d h ea vil y . H e
wasn't quit e sure Ms. Sp a rk s h a d stopp e d.
and Saladin ro o ms were set
off from 'ea ch other
by an a rch made of two l o n g , pointed
spears .
H e h a d to duck to g e t f rom one a l c ov e t o th e other.
791139252.003.png
"Why does this bother you," he asked, "when you already
have paid
for someth~ng
whose
ancestry
is not what
you
think?"
.
791139252.004.png
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