storage. Nothing had been repaired. The Soviets hated us as much as the Germans did, and they killed us, too. Only slower, over a longer period of time.”
They stood at a street corner, down from the town hall, everything busy with morning activity. Most were tour groups, here for the day.
“They come from all over,” Berlinger said. “I’ve often wondered, what do they take away from the experience?”
“That to be Jewish is dangerous.”
“It can be. But I would be nothing else. Your daughter said you are no longer one of us. Is that true?”
“I renounced twenty years ago and was baptized Christian. My way of pleasing a new wife.”
Berlinger lightly pounded his chest. “But in here, what are you?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
And he meant it.
“Then why are you in Prague?”
“I came because I thought my daughter was in trouble. I’ve since discovered that is not the case. She’s a liar. Naive, as hell, but still a liar. She doesn’t need my help.”
“I think she does. Zachariah Simon is dangerous.”
“How did you know the connection?”
“They are together, right now. I watched as you left the hall. I watched her, too. I’ve never cared for Simon.”
He could see that this 102-year-old man had lost none of his edge. “What did you do for my grandfather?”
Berlinger smiled. “Now, that’s a story I will never forget.”
“It’s in Jamaica,” Marc told him. “That’s where Columbus hid the treasure. In a mine the natives showed him. He blocked its entrance, left the island and the New World, and never returned. He was dead two years later.”
“Have you seen our treasures?” Berlinger asked.
“I’ve touched them. Held them. Hauled them from one location to another. I changed the place. It had to be done. De Torres left coded instructions on how to find the mine. They are impossible to now decipher. Every landmark that existed in his time is gone. So I’ve changed those instructions.”
“How did you move them? Are not the menorah, the divine table, and the trumpets heavy?”
“They are, but I had some help. My wife and a few others, more good men I can trust. We floated them out of the cave where they rested, down a river to another cave. There I found my own golem to help protect our treasures. A remarkable creature. I know you think that golems are not real. But I tell you, they are.”
He sensed something. A foreboding. “What is it, old friend?”
“This may be the last time you and I speak face-to-face.”
He hated to hear that.
“The Cold War is heating up. Travel into Eastern Europe will become next to impossible. My duty is done. I’ve protected the treasure the best I can, placed it where it should be safe.”
“I made the box, as you asked.”
Marc had specified the size, about thirty centimeters square, modeled after the treasury containers nearly every synagogue possessed. Usually they were made of iron and held important documents, or money, or sacred utensils. This one was of silver. No decoration adorned its exterior, the emphasis on the safety the container provided to its contents rather than appearance. An internal lock sealed the lid. He found the key in his pocket and handed it over. His friend examined it.
“Lovely. The Stars of David on the end are well crafted.”
“There’s engraving.”
He watched as Marc brought the brass close to his eyes and studied the stem.
“Po nikbar,” Marc said, interpreting the two Hebrew letters. “Here lies. That it does. And you did a good job on the hooked X.”
His friend had specifically requested the symbol.
“These markings will ensure this is the correct key,” Marc told him. “If anyone ever appears here with this, you decide if they are worthy, then show them the box. If it never happens during your lifetime, choose someone to carry on the duty.”
They stood at the base of the east wall of the Old-New Synagogue, the iron rungs above them leading up to the loft.
“I changed everything,” Marc said. “But I tried to stay with the tradition. Place the box up there, in the loft, where it will be safe, among the old papers.” Cross paused. “Where your golem can look after them.”
He smiled, then nodded, acknowledging his duty.
“Before leaving Prague that last time,” Berlinger said, “Marc placed something in the box and locked it. I stored
