corridor. It was Hassan. Mina hesitated for a second, then stepped out into the corridor. She beckoned to the young man to follow her into her office.
‘Have you seen Professor Almeini?’
‘Ah yes. I’m sorry. You asked me to come first to see you but I bumped into him, so I decided to talk to him there and then.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘What is the matter?’
‘Nothing. Did you happen to tell him about the tablet you gave me?’ She asked, avoiding his gaze.
Hassan was surprised by her tone. She was usually so direct but now she seemed changed, as if she was hiding something.
‘No. We spoke of the courses I’d have to take and the readings I had to catch up with.’
She looked him straight in the eyes and said, ‘I need to ask you two things. First, would you mind not telling anyone about the tablet you gave me until… until it’s published?’
Hassan could tell she wasn’t being entirely straightforward, but he couldn’t work out what she was being so cagey about.
‘OK Madam. And the second thing?’
‘Where did you say the labourer found it?’
‘I don’t know,’ he answered.
‘That’s really frustrating. You know how important context is in archaeology!’
‘I can find out where the labourer lives if that’s any help,’ said Hassan.
She breathed a little easier. ‘Yes that would be useful.’
Hassan felt compelled to question her. ‘Madam Mina?’
‘Yes Hassan?’
‘…What’s going on?’ he asked.
This clever young man had returned from enemy territory to the difficult path of an honest, hard-working student. She owed him a straightforward answer. Somewhere inside her she also felt the need to share this find with someone, and who better than Hassan? She needed to come clean.
‘You brought me something special the other day.’
’What, the tablet, Madam?’
‘Can I entrust you with something? You must swear that not a word of this conversation will leave the room.’
He looked straight at her. ‘Yes, you can. You know you can. I swear not to tell a living soul.’ He felt a wave of pride that Mina was about to confide in him.
‘You remember how heavy the tablet was?’ she asked the young man.
‘Yes.’
‘There was something inside it.’
‘Inside… you… you broke it?’
She blushed. ‘Well. I think you should have a look at what I found.’
She pulled out the shiny black tablet from her handbag and placed it on the desk. Hassan’s eyes widened in awe. ‘What is it?’
‘Hassan, this is probably the strangest account of The Flood that I know of.’
‘You mean, stranger than the fact it was encased in clay?’
‘Do you know Hassan, I’m glad you’re back.’
He beamed with pride.
‘Yes. Why would this have been hidden to start with? There must be something in the text… some secret information.’
‘Now you’ve been reading too many mystery novels.’
‘Why not? What else is strange about it?’
She described odd features of the tablet, pointing out to her wide-eyed student the various complex mathematical equations in place of the usual elementary Ark measurements, and the unexpectedly Jewish-sounding moralistic explanation of the Flood.
‘This could be one of the most important finds in Mosul in decades,’ Hassan stammered, clearly astonished.
‘I know,’ she answered, lost in her own thoughts.
‘And to think I just handed it to you like that,’ he said, looking utterly defeated.
‘Yup,’ she giggled. ‘You could have made a fortune. Instead,’ she added, ‘you’ll be famous.’
‘At least my mother will be happy,’ he answered with a smile.
Mina laughed. She was so happy to find that Hassan hadn’t changed, he was still as sharp and funny as he had been in her classes. But she suddenly became serious.
‘We need to keep this information to ourselves.’
‘I understand.’
‘You need to find the labourer’s whereabouts. I don’t think for a second that this tablet was stolen from a museum. He must have found it somewhere in an illegal dig.’
Hassan picked up his things. ‘I’m on it Madam. I’ll get the information by tomorrow.’
‘Thanks,’ she answered, relieved.
They left her office together and Mina walked on to Professor Almeini’s office.
‘Hello Mina’ Professor Almeini said, smiling broadly.
‘Hello Professor.’
‘I don’t know what you said to young Hassan, but he’s back. I’m so glad. It really would have been a shame to lose one of our finest students to the criminals who plunder our national heritage.’
Mina took a deep breath. That’s all there was to it. He had no idea about the tablet.
‘I got a call from Jack,’ she said, rapidly changing the subject.
‘Ah?’ said Almeini, pricking up his ears.
‘He’s invited us both to the village tomorrow afternoon. They are about to hit the underground water pocket.’
‘Tomorrow? It’s Saturday so I’ll be at home with my family. I can’t come unfortunately. What a shame.’
‘Maybe we could go another day?’ she asked.
‘No no. You go. Tomorrow will be a great day for the department too. After all it is thanks to you that he found the source.’
‘All I did was…’ she began.
He brushed her comments aside.
‘You should go there. How often do you get to meet handsome idealistic men in Mosul these days?’
Mina blushed from head to toe.
‘Professor! Really. That’s totally inappropriate!’
‘
He giggled and swept her out of his office.
Mina was mortified. Even her father had never tried a stunt like that one. Had he planned it all along, introducing Jack to her? She certainly hoped not.
Chapter 6
December 4th, 2004. Morning
Mina whistled as she checked her mailbox. Tucking the large loaf of bread she had just bought under her arm, she reached in awkwardly to pick up a small letter. Back in her flat, she went into her old-fashioned kitchen
