'I don't know. The faces are funny. They wear different clothes. There
are horses.' He looked puzzled. 'They are different.'
Royan tried for a while to get a clearer description from him, but he
became more and more confused and contradictorywhen she pushed him, so
she changed tack.
'Tell me about the tabot,' she suggested, but Nicholas forestalled her.
'No, you tell me about the tabot,' he demanded of her.
'Is it similar to the Jewish Tabernacle?'
'Yes, at least in the Egypti She turned to him, an Church it is. It is
usually kept in a jewelled box and wrapped in an embroidered cloth of
gold. The only difference is that the Jewish Tabernacle is carved with
the ten commandments, but in our Church it is carved with the words of
dedication of the particular church that houses it.
It is the living heart of the Church.'
'What is the tabot stone?' Nicholas frowned with concentration.
'I don't know,' she admitted. 'Our Church does not have a tabot stone.'
'Ask him!
'Tell me about the tabot stone, Tamre.'
'It is so high, and so square.' He indicated a height of a little above
his own shoulder, and the width of his spread hands.
'And the tabot stands on top of this stone?' Royan guessed.
Tamre nodded.
'Why did they send you to touch the stone and not the tabot itself?'
Nicholas demanded, but Royan shook her head to silence him.
'Let me do the talking. You are too harsh with him. She turned back to
the boy. 'Why the stone, rather than the Ark of the tabot that stands on
top of it?'
Tamre shrugged helplessly. 'I don't know. They just did.'
'What does the stone look like? Are there paintings on it also?'
'I don't know.' He looked distraught at not being able to satisfy her.
He wanted desperately to please her. don't know. The stone is wrapped
with cloth.'
Nicholas and Royan exchanged startled glances, and then Royan turned
back to the boy.
'Covered?' Royan leaned closer to him. 'The stone is covered?, 'They say
that it is only uncovered by the abbot on the birthday of St..
Frumentius.'
Again Nicholas and Royan stared at each other, and then he smiled
thoughtfully. 'I would rather like to have a look at the tomb of the
saint, and the tabot stone - in its uncovered state.'
'You' have to wait for the saint's birthday,' she said, she broke and
have yourself ordained. Only the priests off and stared at him again.
'You aren't thinking of - no, you wouldn't, would you?'
'Who, me?' he grinned. 'Perish the thought.'
'If they caught you in the maqdas, they would tear you to little
pieces.'
'The answer, then, would be not to let them catch me.'
'If you go, I am going with you. How are we going to manage it?'
'Throttle back, dear girl. The thought only occurred to me ten seconds
ago. Even on my good days, I need at least ten minutes to come up wit a
