Stones of Fire

For the next several minutes the only sounds were the creak and groan of oars repeatedly slicing through the chill water and the occasional honking of the resident swans. The rain having stopped, wispy tendrils of white vapour hovered over the surface of the water, wrapping the pond in a cloying embrace.

No sooner did the prow of the boat ground against the small isle than MacFarlane disembarked, the older man hurriedly sloshing through the calf-high water that lapped the grassy shoreline. Clearly impatient, he motioned for C?dmon to secure the boat to a clump of nearby bushes. A few moments later, Edie and the behemoth docked beside them. Together the four of them made their way to the cross.

Well aware that he only had eighteen minutes left on the clock, C?dmon fingered the worn stone. If a clue had been carved into the cross, the rain gods and wind zephyrs had long since made certain of its erasure.

Undeterred, he walked around to the back of the cross. Treading on something hard, he sank to his knees, shoving aside the long grass.

‘What are you doing?’ MacFarlane hissed, hunkering down beside him.

‘There’s something embedded in the ground. I think it’s a… yes, a plaque of some sort. Do you have a handkerchief or something? I need to wipe the surface.’

MacFarlane gestured to the behemoth, wordlessly ordering him to remove the black knitted hat he wore on his head.

Cap in hand, C?dmon began to rub vigorously at what looked like a bronze plaque some ten inches square, years of dirt having accumulated on its incised surface. As he worked, a shadow fell over him. Glancing up, he saw Edie hovering over his right shoulder, an anxious look on her face. She knew that her life hung in the balance, that whether she lived or died could very well hinge upon this bronze plaque. Fear a powerful motivator, C?dmon rubbed that much harder.

It took several minutes of determined polishing to reveal a single line of Latin script.

Staring at the plaque, C?dmon’s heart thudded against his breastbone, utterly staggered by that solitary line of Latin. Like a man who’d just seen a ghost flit past.

‘Hic amicitur archa cederis,’ he murmured as though it were a magical incantation.

‘What does it mean?’ MacFarlane demanded, shouldering him out of the way to examine the plaque.

C?dmon took several deep breaths, collecting himself. ‘It reads, “Here is hidden the Ark of the Covenant.”’

68

‘The corpus delecti is about to be uncovered. But not by me,’ C?dmon murmured, standing so close to Edie that she could feel his body heat.

She sidled even closer, a cold breeze setting her teeth chattering.

They were standing a few feet from where Braxton and Sanchez swung and shovelled in unison, the excavation already well underway, the stone cross upended in the frenzy that had ensued after C?dmon translated the bronze plaque. Believing the inscribed plaque to be no different to a giant X inscribed on a treasure map, MacFarlane hadn’t bothered with a ground scan, clearly convinced the Ark of the Covenant was buried beneath the stone cross.

‘Incredible to think that it’s been nearly seven hundred years since someone last set eyes on the Ark,’ she remarked, if for no other reason than to keep her terror at bay. According to her watch, there were six minutes left. ‘I now know how Galen of Godmersham felt when he found the Ark on the Plain of Esdraelon.’

‘If you recall, he had to fight to the death for possession of the relic.’ Like her, C?dmon stared intently at the deepening hole. ‘However, if it means coming away with our lives, I’ll gladly forfeit all claim to the prize.’

‘Somehow, I don’t think you’ll have much say in it. Which still leaves the matter of battling MacFarlane and the terrible trio.’ Having had to endure several minutes of threats while Braxton rowed her over to the isle, the man a blunt instrument in search of a victim, she was acutely aware of the fact that they were outgunned and outnumbered. ‘I’m not much of a military tactician, but I’m guessing that being out here, literally, in the middle of nowhere, is not to our advantage. Even if we could sneak over and untie a boat, there’s no way we can row to shore fast enough.’ At least not fast enough to elude the bullets.

‘Like you, I fear Philippa’s fish pond will become a watery grave should we attempt to escape.’

‘So, where does that leave us?’

‘In very dire straits,’ C?dmon quietly replied, not one for sugar-coating the truth.

Out of the corner of her eye Edie noticed that MacFarlane had carefully removed several items from the canvas equipment bag that Sanchez had brought over to the isle. Unzipping what appeared to be a waterproof garment bag, he took out a long white robe and some sort of striped apron. Unconcerned that he had two avid onlookers, he unbuttoned and removed his waterproof. Raising his arms, he pulled the robe over the top of his cargo pants and military-style sweater. Over that, he donned the apron, belting it at the waist.

Attired in the strange-looking garb, he next opened a padded container from which he removed a gemstudded item that Edie instantly recognized.

She nudged C?dmon in the ribs. ‘Look, it’s the Stones of Fire.’

With an air of rehearsed solemnity, Stanford Mac-Farlane donned the gold breastplate.

‘What in the world is he doing?’ she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, suddenly wondering if, in addition to being dangerous, their adversary might well be deranged.

‘Unless I’m greatly mistaken, he’s preparing to view the Ark of the Covenant. Which is why he’s attired in the garb traditionally worn by a Hebrew high priest.’

Edie squinted, the breastplate not quite as she remembered it. ‘It looks as though MacFarlane had the twelve stones reset. Maybe it won’t work and he’ll get blasted to the fire pits of hell. Just like the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.’

‘According to the Bible, it was the twelve stones, not the gold breastplate, that gave the high priest the necessary protection to interact with the Ark.’

MacFarlane, wearing what could only be called a patronizing sneer, approached them.

‘Steadfast faith and the Stones of Fire will ensure my safety,’ he announced, evidently having overheard C?dmon’s last remark. ‘For just as the Ark was constructed according to God’s specific instructions to Moses, so too was the breastplate. As you undoubtedly know, the twelve stones were God’s gift to Moses, the first guardian of the Ark.’

‘Implying that you have appointed yourself the new guardian of the Ark,’ C?dmon replied.

‘I am the ordained guardian of the Ark.’

‘How interesting.’ Folding his arms over his chest, C?dmon smiled mirthlessly, Edie sensing that he was about to use the only weapon left to him, his superior intellect. ‘Were you aware of the fact that the Stones of Fire once belonged to Lucifer?’

MacFarlane’s eyes narrowed, his angry expression near-comical.

‘Ah! I can see that you are familiar with the tale,’ C?dmon blithely continued. ‘Then you undoubtedly know that contained within the pages of the Apocrypha — those being the twelve books omitted from the Protestant Bible — the story is recounted of how God presented to his favourite, the beautiful and arrogant Lucifer, the Stones of Fire. Proudly Lucifer wore the breastplate as a symbol of his elevated status amongst the heavenly host.’ Tilting his head to one side, C?dmon examined the gem-studded relic. ‘Curious to think the same breastplate that you now wear once adorned the Prince of Darkness.’

In unison, MacFarlane’s three subordinates glanced at the Stones of Fire. Edie could see that C?dmon’s remarks were unnerving more than one man among them.

If they could flip one of them, they might have a shot at escaping with their lives.

While Braxton was loyal to a fault, she thought Harliss or Sanchez might be persuaded to swap teams. Assuming she and C?dmon could push the right buttons.

Hoping the relic’s infamous lineage would create some dissension in the ranks, Edie asked the obvious. ‘What happened to the Stones of Fire when Lucifer was cast out of heaven?’ As she spoke, she noticed that all three of