“We’re close,” Shahla said. “I hope the sound of our engine didn’t scare them.”
“Apparently it didn’t, or they would have stopped singing.” Tony looked at his watch again. “Twelve minutes to midnight. I’m going to drive another fifty yards and then stop again. We’ve got to find out exactly where they are.”
They drove a short distance and stopped. The singing was still ahead of them. Tony repeated the maneuver.
Shahla, whose seat in the truck was on the south side of the ridge trail, said, “The singing is right below us.”
They both got out of the truck, leaving the doors open so as not to make excessive noise. They walked to the edge of the hill and looked down. The singing grew louder and they could see lights-candles. The people were lighting candles, apparently in anticipation of imminent Ascension.
Tony’s first thought was that open flames were prohibited in Southern California, where the fire danger in September was extreme, especially in this brushy area. But if you were about to ascend into heaven, you didn’t care about earthly worries like brushfires. The sound of religious music in this setting was eerie. And when Tony thought about what the singers expected to do, he felt something crawling up his neck.
The people were sixty or seventy feet below them, on a level area. A plateau that stuck out of the hillside. Hodgkins must have spent some time looking for that particular spot. It was inaccessible by motor vehicle. The only way to get to it was to walk down a steep path from where Tony and Shahla were standing. Tony could barely make out the path in the dark.
He had been right about one thing. The faithful had found a way into the park, probably through the fence that bordered the north side, not far from them. If they had cut a hole in the fence, nobody would have noticed because of the inaccessibility of the area, caused by the brush and the steepness of the hill. Then they could clear a path from there to the ridge, through the ice plant and the brush. And avoid the police.
There might be a hundred people, but it was impossible to pick out individuals. Impossible to tell whether Nathan and Tina were in the crowd.
“I’m going down there,” Shahla said. “It’s too steep for you, with your knee.” She looked at her watch. “Ten minutes to zero hour. Come back to the truck. I’ve got an idea.”
Tony wanted to argue, but what she said was correct. He couldn’t go down the steep hill with any speed. Especially in the dark. And in ten minutes, when they expected to ascend into heaven, what would happen? Would Nathan kill Tina and then himself if the miracle didn’t occur immediately? There was no way to tell. He had killed Joy. He was capable of anything.
Shahla was pulling the white tarpaulin out of the back of the truck. “Help me,” she said.
“What’s this for?”
“I’ll tell you when we get it to the edge.”
CHAPTER 39
Tony hoped that Shahla was clear of the path that went from him to the plateau. He had watched her start down it, with trepidation, but she had almost immediately melted into the dark.
He couldn’t wait any longer. He turned on the flashlight and propped it up on a small rock, right at the edge of the cliff, so that the light shone upward at a steep angle. Then he picked up part of the tarp and wrapped it around his body. Fortunately, he didn’t have to pick up the whole thing, just enough to give the appearance that he was wearing a white robe. In the dark, nobody would see him that clearly, anyway.
When he had the tarp positioned around him, he looked at his watch. At one minute to twelve he stepped in the path of the beam of light and raised his arms. He was impersonating Jesus. Jesus, who was bidding the faithful welcome to heaven. At first, nobody below seemed to see him. And then somebody shouted.
The singing stopped. Now they saw him. They must be looking up at him. Good. This was the distraction Shahla needed so that she could free Tina. If she could find her. She had taken the box cutter to cut any tape holding Tina. But even though he had urged her to take the crowbar, she had refused.
As Tony watched, the lights started moving-toward him. The people were climbing the path because he was going to lead them to heaven. He hadn’t figured on this. And they were chanting. What were they saying? As the sound became louder, he understood. They were chanting the name “Jesus” over and over. The path was narrow, and they had to climb slowly, in single file, but still he started to panic. What would happen when they reached him and found out that he wasn’t Jesus?
He had to hold his position as long as he could, to give Shahla a chance. Sweat poured down his face, in spite of the night chill. The faithful would be plenty mad when they found out the truth. Fortunately, it was taking them some time to ascend the steep hill. Now he could begin to see their faces, by the light of the candles. Could they make his out? Did he look enough like Jesus?
He couldn’t stay here any longer. He dropped the tarp, picked up the flashlight and ran a few feet away from the edge, out of sight. Then he stopped. What should he do? He pondered his options. He couldn’t drive away in the truck because he couldn’t leave Shahla and Tina here, with Nathan on the loose. It would be impossible to turn it around in the dark, anyway, without driving off the cliff. But he also couldn’t face the angry multitude. If they did him bodily harm, he wouldn’t be able to help anybody. He closed and locked the doors of the truck and then went a few feet down the other side of the ridge and hid behind some brush.
Tony positioned himself so that he would be able to see the people as they reached the top of the ridge, especially if they still had their candles, but they wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark. He waited, not daring to move. The chanting grew louder.
He thought he heard a scream from below, but the sound was muffled by the chanting, and he couldn’t tell for sure. And it sounded far away. Maybe he had imagined it. Could he ignore it? He heard it again. No. He had to check. He came out of his hiding place, went to the edge of the cliff and carefully looked down, not showing himself. The leaders were almost to the top. He could follow the movement of the line of people, slowly climbing the hill. But he couldn’t see anything else.
Tony retreated to his hiding place and secreted himself again. Just in time. The leader rose out of the earth. A head came first, followed by a body. A second person materialized. Three, four, eight-now there were a dozen. And the number grew steadily as more and more people appeared.
They ignored the tarpaulin that he had left in a heap. They also ignored the truck. Those who were fit assisted the ones who were lame. It was a peaceful group-peaceful, but expectant. They kept chanting the name of their Lord. They thought this was it-that the Ascension was really taking place. And Tony had helped to fool them into believing it.
A few of the faithful had managed to hang onto their candles, even while climbing the steep hill. He might be able to recognize Nathan with the help of their light. But as more and more people appeared, the ones already there blocked his view of those just arriving. This was frustrating. It occurred to Tony that he might be able to mingle with them and find Nathan that way. He was no longer Jesus and they hadn’t been able to see him very well when he was. And they were all wearing regular clothes, as he was. No angelic robes.
Tony carefully eased himself out of his hiding place and joined the group. Would they spot him as an outsider? He didn’t have a candle and he avoided the light of the candles held by others. But they were looking upward, to heaven, not at him.
He carefully mingled with the parishioners, looking for Nathan, looking for Tina, even looking for Shahla. By the time the last of the flock arrived at the top of the ridge, he was sure that none of these people was among them.
He feared for the safety of the girls, especially Shahla. Should he have let her go down by herself? What choice did he have? Did his ruse work with Nathan? If so, where was Nathan? No acceptable answer came to Tony. He had to go down to the plateau.
The trail was clear of people. Moving slowly, he started down it and immediately disappeared from the view of those on top. Good. But he had to be careful because it was harder going downhill than uphill, especially in the dark. He looked down at the plateau, but didn’t see any light or movement there.
It was safe to use the flashlight to guide him, so he turned it on. He made his way carefully downward,
