Lazarus [antikvár]

He tried to cry out, to protest that they were making a travesty of a most important encyclical, but the only sound he could utter was Mu . . . Mu . . . until, for very shame, he feli silent, closed his eyes and waited for the verdict. Out of the darkness a voice commanded him: 'Open your eyes and readf When he obeyed he found himself a boy again, in a dusty classroom, staring at a blackboard upon which was written the word which had eluded him for so long, liSTávaia. A great sense of relief flooded through him. He cried out: Tou see, that's what I was trying to say - Metanoia, repentance, a change of heart, a new direction.' But no one answered. The room was empty. He was alone. Then the door opened and he froze in terror at the vision that confronted him: an old, eagle-beaked man, with furrows of anger about his mouth and eyes black as volcanic glass. As the man moved towards him, silent and threatening, he screamed, but the sound would not come. It was as if a noose were knotted around his neck, cutting off air and life . . . Morris West is the author of somé twenty-odd bestselling novels. Among the best known are The Devü's Advocate and his Papai trilogy, The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Clowns of God and Lazarus. He has worked and travelled all over the world and now lives in Australia where he was born.