Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet.

The Renault burst effortlessly through what turned out to be an anorexic privet, and immediately encountered something more substantial in the form of an astonished and transfixed Cheviot. McGregor heard a gassy – groan half-baa and half-burp – as the sheep was bounced into the air, the Renault bludgeoning onwards beneath.

Confirmation is mithraism. So is baptism, only it was blood instead of water. As to the sacrificial meal... Mason put his fingers in his ears.

Following the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century, and the weakening of Mongol rule, the closing of overland routes between Europe and Asia once again created a bottleneck that flowed through the Middle East, trade flows that were largely controlled by Venice and Egypt.