The lid to the Ark of the Covenant. What the ancient Hebrews had called the mercy seat.
Affixed to the lid were two winged stern-faced figures. The cherubim, Gabriel and Michael. ‘
Without a doubt, it was the most spectacularly beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
‘God does truly work in mysterious ways,’ he murmured, thinking that the cherubim were traditionally associated with the primal element of fire.
Utterly bedazzled, he stretched out a hand. Just as quickly, he withdrew his arm, suddenly recalling the fate of the hapless men of Bethshemesh. Worried that a residual spark of the Ark’s awesome power might still inhabit the golden lid, he rolled onto his back and gazed up, silently asking,
Instead of a heavenly dispensation, he saw the sins of his life flash in quick succession across his mind’s eye like so many cue cards.
‘Sod it.’ He rolled back onto his belly and shone his torch into the crevice. Teeth clenched, he shoved his hand into the rocky fissure and committed the unthinkable — he placed his hand upon the lid of the Ark of the Covenant.
When nothing untoward occurred, he slowly inched his fingers along the rim, detecting some sort of ornamentation. He adjusted the angle of the torch, enabling him to inspect a small incised figure that had the body of a man and the head of a falcon.
‘I don’t believe it.’
‘What are you doing?’
He sat upright. ‘Have a look.’ He extended a hand to help Edie onto the boulder. Then he directed the torch beam at the golden lid.
‘It’s the lid!’ she exclaimed, nearly toppling back off the boulder.
‘Yes, that’s what I thought,’ he replied, knowing he was about to burst a very large bubble. ‘Do you see that row of markings on the rim?’
She inched closer to the crevice. ‘Uh huh.’
‘Those are Egyptian hieroglyphics.’ Reaching into the crevice, he pointed to a line of incised characters. ‘This is a rough translation, mind you, but I believe the etched inscription reads, “Ra-Harakhti, supreme lord of the heavens”.’
Edie immediately snatched the torch out of his hand and directed the beam into the fissure, evidently needing to see for herself. ‘But I don’t understand… Why are there Egyptian hieroglyphics on the Ark of the Covenant?’
‘Because it’s not the Ark of the Covenant. It’s an Egyptian bark.’
‘An Egyptian bark,’ she parroted, clearly stupefied. ‘But… are you
‘Isis and her sister Nephthys, I suspect. As you may recall, the ancient Egyptians were the originators of a sacred chest known as a bark. Furthermore, I believe an Egyptian bark was the model used by Moses in creating the fabled Ark.’ He took the torch from her shaking hand. ‘It would seem that Galen of Godmersham uncovered an Egyptian bark, not the Hebrew Ark of the Covenant.’
Tears cascaded down Edie’s cheeks. Soon followed by a burst of raucous laughter.
‘Bloody hell!’ she bellowed.
At hearing the spot-on impersonation, C?dmon grinned.
‘Come here, love.’
95
As she stepped onto their hotel room balcony, Edie pulled the two halves of her bathrobe closer together and tightened the belt, there being a damp but invigorating chill in the air. Overhead, a few stars were still visible, shimmering specks of light flung haphazardly across the pre-dawn sky. Glancing up, she sighed, always amazed by the breathless expectancy that heralded the arrival of each new day.
‘Enchanting, isn’t it?’ C?dmon said as he joined her on the balcony. Having just emerged from the shower, he was attired in an identical fluffy white robe. He handed her a cup and saucer.
Catching a heady whiff of bergamot, Edie smiled. ‘Earl Grey. Lovely. Yes, it is enchanting,’ she agreed as she seated herself at the small table in the corner of the balcony.
So enchanting, she wasn’t altogether certain she wanted to leave. At least not yet. After the violence of the night just passed, she needed some down time. Some stress-free, kick off your shoes, sleep till noon, I’m not answering the telephone down time. She didn’t know, however, whether C?dmon would be joining her. Other than a brief discussion of what time the hotel breakfast buffet opened, no mention of the future had been made.
C?dmon seated himself next to her. Suddenly nervous, Edie stared at the horizon, the sky now tinted a soft pink. Like the inside of a seashell. On the wharf a few industrious fishermen were already out and about, tossing huge nets onto whimsically painted boats.
‘When I was little, I used to think that the stars went into hiding once the sun came up. Of course, being older and wiser… Well, actually, I’m not exactly certain what happens to the stars come daybreak, so just forget I even brought it up,’ she said, waving away the silly thought, realizing she was rambling.
‘When I was a young lad, I used to wonder what created the rainbow,’ C?dmon remarked, his English accent sounding more clipped than usual. Making Edie wonder if he wasn’t a little bit nervous himself.
‘The mysteries of the universe. Seems we were both intrigued at an early age.’
‘By the by, I sent an email to my old group leader at MI5,’ C?dmon said, changing the subject. ‘Told him that I had caught wind of a plot to destroy the Dome of the Rock on the upcoming Muslim holy day. Trent is a good man. He’ll see to it that Mossad and the Israeli public security minister are contacted.’
‘You don’t think that —’
‘No, no,’ he quickly assured her. ‘I’m just dotting my Is, as they say. The possibility that MacFarlane had a contingency plan is remote. He seemed very much the micromanager.’
Edie fiddled with the delicate handle on her teacup, hesitant to broach the next topic. ‘You haven’t said anything, but I know you’re disappointed — that it wasn’t the Ark of the Covenant.’
For several long moments C?dmon stared at the early-morning activity on the bay, Edie unable to gauge his thoughts. Or his mood, the small pucker on his brow making her wonder if he was thinking his way out of a quandary.
Finally, taking a deep I’ve-come-to-a-decision kind of breath, he redirected his gaze in her direction. ‘You assume I no longer wish to find the Ark.’
‘But I thought that…’ At a loss for words, she stared at him.
‘It’s still out there. I’m certain of it. Still waiting to be discovered. Still waiting to bear holy witness to an eternal truth that is beyond mortal man’s comprehension.’
‘“Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought as doth eternity.”’
Smiling, C?dmon took a sip of tea. ‘How did you know that Keats is my favourite poet?’
She shrugged. ‘I didn’t. It just seemed —’ again she shrugged ‘— right. So, gosh, this is… Wow. Guess you can tell I’m kind of speechless, huh?’ Crestfallen, she had the sudden urge to glug down one of those tiny bottles of Scotch from the room’s minibar.
‘The Knights Templar believed that Ethiopia was the secret resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the holy relic having been spirited out of Jerusalem by Menelik.’
‘Menelik?’
‘Yes, Solomon’s illegitimate son by the Queen of Sheba. There are several passages in Wolfram’s
‘As I understand it, the Ethiopian highlands are quite lovely.’ She wondered if she should wish him luck with his life now or wait until the taxi pulled up to take him to the airport. ‘And of course it would make an interesting topic. You know, for your next book.’
