throw your hat through the gap between the hasp and the tongue.' He
slipped his hand into the bag and brought out a Leatherman tool.
'Clever little job, this is. With it you do anything from digging the
stones out of a horse's hoof, to opening the lock on a chastity belt.'
He knelt in front of the massive iron lock and unfolded one of the
multiple blades of the tool. She watched anxiously as he worked, and
then gave a little start as with satisfying clunk the tongue of the lock
slid back.
a Mis-spent youth?' she asked. 'Burglary amongst your many talents?'
'You don't really want to know.' He stood up and put his shoulder to one
leaf of the door. It gave with a groan of unlubricated hinges, and he
pushed it open only just wide enough for them to squeeze through, then
immediately shut it behind them.
They stood side by side on the threshold of the maqdas and gazed about
them in silent awe.
The Holy of Holies was a small chamber, much smaller than either of them
had expected. Nicholas could have crossed it in a dozen strides. The
vaulted roof was so low that by standing on tiptoe he could have touched
it with his outstretched fingertips.
or upwards the walls were lined with From the flo shelves upon which
stood the gifts and offerings of the faithful, icons of the Trinity and
the Virgin rendered in Byzantine style, framed in ornate silver. There
were ranks of statuettes of saints and emperors, medallions and wreaths
made of polished metal, pots and bowls and jewelled boxes, candelabra
with many branches, on each of which the votive candles burned providing
an uncertain wavering light. It was an extraordinary collection of junk
and treasures, of objects of virtue and garish bric-A-brac, offered as
articles of faith by the emperors and chieftains of Ethiopia over the
centuries.
In the centre of the floor stood the altar of cedarwood, the panels
carved with visionary, scenes of revelation and creation, of the
temptation and the fall from Eden, and of the Last judgement. The altar
cloth was crocheted raw silk, and the cross and the chalice were in
massive worked silver. The abbot's crown gleamed in the candlelight,
with the blue ceramic seal of Taita in the centre of its brow.
Royan crossed the floor and knelt in front of the altar.
She bowed her head in prayer. Nicholas waited respectfully at the
threshold until she rose to her feet again, and then he went to join
her.
'The tabot stoneV He pointed beyond the altar, and they went forward
side by side. At the back of the maqdas stood an object covered with a
heavy damask cloth encrusted with embroidered thread of silver and gold.
From the outline beneath the covering they could see that it was of
elegant and pleasing proportions, as tall as a man, but slender with a
pedestal topping.
They both circled it, studying the cloaked shape avidly, but reluctant
to touch it or to uncover it, fearful that their expectations might
prove unwarranted, and that their ..hopes would be dashed like the
turbulent river waters plunging into the cauldron of the Nile. Nicholas
broke the tension that gripped them by turning away from the tabot stone
