Leonardo and the Brotherhood of the Holy Sword: Da Vinci's Cases: Da Vinci's Cases, #6

By Alfred Bekker

Leonardo and the Brotherhood of the Holy Sword

Da Vinci's Cases

by Alfred Bekker

The scope of this book is 119 pages paperback.

The walking preacher Bartolo comes to the village with a sensational find: the sword of the apostle Peter! Everyone wants to touch the sword, because it should have healing powers. But Leonardo is suspicious. Bartolo demands a lot of money from his followers and threatens with the flames of hell if you do not believe in the sword. For Leonardo it's a sure thing: Bartolo is a swindler.

Alfred Bekker, born in 1964, writes fantasy, historical novels, criminal novels and books for young readers. His historical adventures for young readers are full of suspense, stuff which even kids who hate reading cannot resist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BEKKERpublishing
• Release date: Jul 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393157274

Alfred Bekker

Alfred Bekker wurde am 27.9.1964 in Borghorst (heute Steinfurt) geboren und wuchs in den münsterländischen Gemeinden Ladbergen und Lengerich auf. 1984 machte er Abitur, leistete danach Zivildienst auf der Pflegestation eines Altenheims und studierte an der Universität Osnabrück für das Lehramt an Grund- und Hauptschulen. Insgesamt 13 Jahre war er danach im Schuldienst tätig, bevor er sich ausschließlich der Schriftstellerei widmete. Schon als Student veröffentlichte Bekker zahlreiche Romane und Kurzgeschichten. Er war Mitautor zugkräftiger Romanserien wie Kommissar X, Jerry Cotton, Rhen Dhark, Bad Earth und Sternenfaust und schrieb eine Reihe von Kriminalromanen. Angeregt durch seine Tätigkeit als Lehrer wandte er sich schließlich auch dem Kinder- und Jugendbuch zu, wo er Buchserien wie 'Tatort Mittelalter', 'Da Vincis Fälle', 'Elbenkinder' und 'Die wilden Orks' entwickelte. Seine Fantasy-Romane um 'Das Reich der Elben', die 'DrachenErde-Saga' und die 'Gorian'-Trilogie machten ihn einem großen Publikum bekannt. Darüber hinaus schreibt er weiterhin Krimis und gemeinsam mit seiner Frau unter dem Pseudonym Conny Walden historische Romane. Einige Gruselromane für Teenager verfasste er unter dem Namen John Devlin. Für Krimis verwendete er auch das Pseudonym Neal Chadwick. Seine Romane erschienen u.a. bei Blanvalet, BVK, Goldmann, Lyx, Schneiderbuch, Arena, dtv, Ueberreuter und Bastei Lübbe und wurden in zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt.

Book preview

Leonardo and the Brotherhood of the Holy Sword

Da Vinci's Cases

by Alfred Bekker

The scope of this book is 119 pages paperback.

The walking preacher Bartolo comes to the village with a sensational find: the sword of the apostle Peter! Everyone wants to touch the sword, because it should have healing powers. But Leonardo is suspicious. Bartolo demands a lot of money from his followers and threatens with the flames of hell if you do not believe in the sword. For Leonardo it’s a sure thing: Bartolo is a swindler.

Alfred Bekker, born in 1964, writes fantasy, historical novels, criminal novels and books for young readers. His historical adventures for young readers are full of suspense, stuff which even kids who hate reading cannot resist.

The German-language print edition was published in the Arena Taschenbuchverlag in 2008/2009.

Translations are available in Turkish, Indonesian, Danish and Bulgarian.

Copyright

© 2008, 2009 by Alfred Bekker

© 2018 the digital edition AlfredBekker / CassiopeiaPress, Lengerich / Westfalen

A CassiopeiaPress e-book

www.AlfredBekker.de

[e-mail]

Chapter 1: Dangerous Florence

Attention! Do not step in there, Leonardo! Carlo said. At the last moment Leonardo was able to avoid the horse pile in the middle of the road.

That's what happens when you just look around the area instead of paying attention! said Carlo.

At the same moment the two boys had to jump aside. Carlo grabbed his friend by the shoulder and jerked him back a step. A horse-drawn car raced past them. The horses whinnied loudly and within a hair’s breadth the wheels Leonardo had driven over his foot.

Gosh, that was close! Carlo said. Yeah, that's what happens when you're dreaming instead of paying attention! Florence is a big city! You have to be careful!

Yes, yes ...

But actually, you know that! You've been here more often than I have been since your father works as a notary for Cosimo de 'Medici!

I was just thinking about something, Leonardo said. Look at these narrow streets! Regularly, there are traffic jams at the bridges over the Arno, and the drivers scream until one of them gives in and the other one gets the right of way! And just think of the chaos in the market until every dealer has reached his stand!

They kept on strolling, keeping more at the edge of the well-paved road so they would not collide again with a horse-drawn cart.

I honestly do not know what you want, Leonardo! That's how it is in a city! At home in Vinci, where a horse-drawn carriage drives over the village square twice a day, you can of course lay down on the streets and take a nap, if you want! But here, there is much more going on!

Vinci is only a village ...

Right!

But here in Florence, trade routes meet, traders come from all over the world, there are shops made with cod from Norway, spices from India and carpets from Persia ...

Carlo grinned. And counterfeit carpets from England, costing half as much.

I agree!

And all the people want reach the same marketplaces – it's logical that there are crowds!

Leonardo nodded. Yes, and I just thought about how to organize that much better! Do you understand? A city where everyone can quickly get to the marketplaces or to the banks and money exchange offices, without being in mortal danger!

Carlo sighed audibly. The solution is very simple, Leonardo.

Oh yes?

Keep your eyes open and watch! Then nothing happens! You do not need any of your inventions!

Oh, I think so! Leonardo contradicted. Too bad that I have no paper on me, then I would record it quickly!

Carlo frowned. Leonardo could not possibly be serious about that! Now? Here? In the middle of the heaviest Florentine market traffic? Leonardo, you are just crazy! But that was again just like his strange and inventive friend. Carlo sighed and added: Good that you have no paper or pencil on you!

Merchant Maldini – Carlo’s father – regularly drove his horse-drawn carriage to Florence to sell his goods on the local market. But also because he bought new goods there, which he used to sell in the surrounding villages.

From time to time Carlo and Leonardo accompanied him when he went to Florence.

Leonardo meanwhile took every opportunity that offered him to visit this fascinating city. There was just so much more to see here than in the little village of Vinci, where he came from and where he lived in his grandfather's house.

Since his father Ser Piero had often worked as a notary for Cosimo de 'Medici, the City Lord of Florence, Leonardo had also accompanied him more often, so he had recently been quite often in Florence.

How to construct such a city in a better way, he had often seen in his mind’s eye for quite some time.

Do you see the dome of the cathedral over there? Leonardo asked, stretching out his arm.

Of course I can see it! Carlo replied uncomprehendingly. Actually, how could he have overlooked it? After all, the cathedral was by far the largest building in the city and far surpassed all other houses. But honestly, I do not know what this dome currently has to do with us and your strange city improvement plans, Carlo admitted after a brief pause, as Leonardo seemed a bit absent-minded. As if he had just been caught by a thought. Carlo already knew that. Most of the time, Leonardo had some idea after which one half was dangerous and one got dirty with the other half.

The Dome of the cathedral is the largest of its kind in the whole known world! Imagine, you built this cathedral because you wanted to create the largest cathedral in the world. But when you reached the roof, you realized that you cannot build such a big dome because it collapses again.

Who told you that?

Cosimo de 'Medici. You know that my father works more or less regularly for the city lord and that I've been allowed to be in his library before ...

Carlo frowned. But why are you talking such a nonsense? Everyone sees the dome!

Yes! Today there is a dome! But first you had to give up the construction. For one hundred years the cathedral stood without a roof, because nobody knew how to build it. Can you imagine that? Generations have passed this church every day wondering if it is not possible that the Duomo of Florence will be roofed! And then it was finally time and an architect has found a way how to build such a large dome! And I feel the same way, you understand?

Nope, Carlo said. Honestly, I do not understand a word of what you say.

Well, it's easy! I've been to Florence so often. I feel the same way as all the people who had to pass this church without a roof for a hundred years and pondered on how it could be completed.

Oh, I think most of these people would just have hoped that it would not rain during the service, Carlo said.

But Leonardo did not want to hear that. He made a dismissive gesture. I wanted to point out that I've gone through this imperfect, badly organized city just as often, where the horses' piles are on the street and you can barely take a step without stepping into the dirt. A city where’s always tailback and the thieves can take advantage of the crowd, because in all the chaos it is much easier for them to escape unrecognized! Again and again I have looked at all this and today I came up with an idea how to improve all this!

Oh, Leonardo ...

You know, it's not that complicated. You just have to build a network of tunnels under the city. Through these tunnels, horse-drawn carriages would transport the loads, whereas on the roads it would be forbidden to drive with horse-drawn carriages.

And what would that mean? asked Carlo. Then there would be the horse car traffic jams in the tunnels.

"Oh no! The underground horse-drawn carts would strictly go according to a timetable. In addition, you could always hang several cars to a team. So suppose your father wanted to transport his goods to the market, then he would park his car at one of the city gates. Of course, there would have to be a place to park horse-drawn carriages, which will also be guarded. But if Florence is not