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waved at
the paintings. “Are you a, um, very religious person, sir?”
he asked hesitantly.
    The man chuckled. “Not at all, Christopher,”
he answered, to Chris' surprise. “But my ancestors were, well,
not religious, but interested in the subject.” He stopped in
front of one painting that showed a scene of battle between what
Chris supposed were knights and demons. The demons seemed to be
winning.
    The judge stared at the picture but seemed to be
thinking about something else. Finally he began to speak.
    “The original Hawkes, my ancestor, came to
Canada when Ottawa was still called Bytown. He was a scholar and
wanted a place of solitude to pursue his studies.” The judge
glanced down at Chris. “The story is that he had a falling out
with some people at court and found it more...convenient to move some
distance away.” The judge sounded amused and then went back to
staring at the painting.
    “His older brother allowed my ancestor to
take his inheritance when he left; they were very close. And, for
whatever reason, he decided to move here. I imagine the local
populace thought him quite mad when he started building this place.”
    “But why would they think that?” asked
Chris curiously.
    “You may not know this, Christopher, but two
hundred years ago, this was nothing but wilderness. Imagine the
people that lived here back then. They were lumbermen mainly, some
were traders and trappers. And then a nobleman arrived and announced
that he needed workers to build a mansion in the forest, hours from
the nearest settlement.” The judge let out a bark of laughter.
“I think that the only reason they didn't lock him up was
because of the money he was offering. But he managed to hire willing
workers and they spent several years building the place. I believe it
took a month or more just to cut a road through the forest to get to
the site.” The man began walking again slowly down the hallway.
Chris followed closely.
    “Every one of the Hawkes born here since has
added to the structure, including myself. And here we are, the Nest
as it is today.”
    The hallway opened up into a huge round room
surrounded by a balcony. Two half-circle staircases led upward from
the left and right. Chris saw several people walk quickly through the
room, heading in various directions.
    The judge stopped and looked around. Chris stared
at the ornate walls covered with more paintings and wood carvings and
then remembered his original question.
    “So if you and your ancestors aren't
religious then why...?” and he gestured at the paintings.
    Judge Hawkes chuckled again. “The original
Hawkes was fascinated by religious history, Christopher. Although he
wasn't religious per se, he was interested in how religions
originated, how they changed over time, that sort of thing. Once this
house was built, he spent many years traveling the world, speaking to
religious leaders, exploring old ruins and the like.”
    The judge led Chris toward the left side staircase
as he continued to speak.
    “My ancestor became quite a talented
archaeologist over time,” the judge said as they began to climb
the stairs. “When we have a spare moment, I'll show you some of
the finds he brought back with him, if you're interested.”
    “I'd like that,” Chris answered. “I've
always liked old buildings and stories of explorers finding lost
ruins and stuff.”
    “Good. I'll be happy to share some of my
ancestor's work with you, Christopher, when we have a chance.”
    They reached the top of the staircase and Chris
noticed several corridors heading off from the central chamber. There
was also a man standing off to the side, dressed in the same dark
suit that Chris had already seen on the others downstairs. Must be
their standard uniform or something, he thought.
    The judge called the man over. “Martin, this
is Christopher Wright. A guest. Christopher, this is Martin. He's the
head of my in-house security team. And my second in command.”
Chris nodded at