“I’ve seen tons just like this in history books,” Daphna said, equally baffled.
“So what’s the big deal? Why would they care if some guy paints what a million other guys have already painted?”
“There must be a difference,” Daphna assumed. “A small one maybe.”
“And what does it have to do with the book they want?”
“ I think Mr. Brown is a writer,“ Daphna said. “I think they were all writers, actually. If this lost Golden book, whatever it really is, is something other people would want, if it’s something other people might search for, it’d be pretty clever to send them chasing after the wrong thing, don’t you think? Maybe that’s what they write about. This painting might somehow hint that what they’re looking for is a book.”
“Is that it?”
“What?”
“It looks kind of like a book—” Dex was squinting at the painting, not entirely sure if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. He pointed to Jesus’ upraised hand, which seemed to be holding a softly glowing golden square.
Daphna jerked upright.
“That’s not supposed to be there,” she said. “That’s not in any of the paintings I’ve seen. How could I miss that?”
“It’s not a cup then?”
Daphna’s face flushed.
“Dexter!” she cried, looking at the golden trophy cup still in her brother’s hand. “Mr. Brown—he lied about this, too! They’re not looking for any Book of Creation. That cup—the cup Jesus supposedly had at The Last Supper! That cup is the Holy Grail! Remember the painting of this at the Vatican? The caption said something like—”
“This is the new testament in my blood,” Dex remembered. “The pastor was shouting that same thing.”
“Right!” Daphna nearly shrieked. “How could a cup be a testament written in anything? It’s not a cup! It’s a book! The Holy Grail is a book! That’s what everyone—everyone in Heaven and on Earth—is searching for….”
Continued in The Book of Letters coming in the Spring of 2015.
Book of Names Page 22