Templars Quest Trilogy: The Lost Ark (Books 1-3 The Templars Quest Chronicles)

by Thomas H. Ward

  I don’t know if we killed them all or not, but I was sure they wouldn’t be chasing after us. I mounted up and we moved out, continuing on Route 60.

  As I was driving, Adam asked, “What was that all about?”

  “Those guys were nuts and wanted us to pay them for going through their town. They weren’t good people.” That was all I told him about the situation.

  “Maggie, are you ok?” I asked. She nodded her head and didn’t say a word. I wondered if killing Maria was bothering her.

  Thirty miles later, Baldwin pulled the convoy to the side of the road. We could see Interstate 25 about a mile ahead. Everyone dismounted and Baldwin called a driver’s meeting.

  Baldwin asked, “How’s everyone on fuel?” Consensus was we could use some fuel to top off our tanks, if we could find it.

  I said, “George let’s see if we can find some fuel along I-25. Look at the map, we could head south. Route 60 and I-25 blend together going south for about 30 miles and then SR-60 breaks off heading west to Arizona. I suggest we stay on sixty until we get into Arizona.”

  Gazing at the map, Baldwin replied, “Yeah, good idea that way we stay away from the terrorists up north. You’re right, maybe we can find some fuel along the Interstate.”

  My greatest fear was running out of fuel. We had enough to travel for another day and night but it’s best to keep our tanks topped off. You never know when you’ll find the next fuel stop. My hope was that Arizona would not be full of terrorists like New Mexico.

  “Alright, let’s get out of New Mexico while it’s still daylight,” Baldwin said.

  Arriving at I-25 we headed south to where SR-60 turned west. We found a few stations along the way and some abandoned cars that allowed us to scavenge gas and diesel fuel. It wasn’t enough, but we’d have to make do. Daylight was running out and we still had an estimated 120 miles to reach Arizona.

  Traveling all day, we didn’t see any other cars, but we did spot some people on foot. When they saw us, however, they beat a path into the bush and hid. I can’t say that I blame them; I’d hide from a convoy with four armored Hummers. This is very dangerous country, especially with ISIS fighters running around.

  We wound through the Gallinas Mountain Range and the Datils Mountains. The road was mostly up one hill and down the other side. This was a beautiful area which contained scrubland consisting of pinyons, ponderosa pines, and grasslands. Shrubs included yucca, cholla, and Apache plume. While driving, we saw off in the distance several elk and mule deer, along with quails and other birds. The entire area was teeming with wild life.

  Normally we would have stopped and went hunting. But considering we were in ISIS country we kept on the move.

  It was 7 pm when we finally reached the Arizona border. Swinging north, we passed through the tiny town of Springerville, which appeared abandoned, but we weren’t sure. We decided to head for Lyman Lake State Park to spend the night. It was out in the middle of nowhere and we guessed it would be a safe place to rest up. Looking at the map the lake was a considerable size. We could go swimming and take a bath in the pristine lake, which was fed by the Little Colorado River.

  The lake was about a 30 mile drive from the Arizona border. Baldwin took the lead to scout the park before our arrival. Everyone one was exhausted after driving almost 36 hours straight with little to no sleep. We hadn’t had much to eat, other than energy bars.

  Our radio came on. “The park is clear. No one is here. It looks great so hurry up,” Baldwin told us.

  A bath in the lake, some MREs, a couple shots of JD, and some sleep would make me feel a lot better.

  Pulling into Lyman State Park, we saw the large lake with its abundance of fresh water. Adam asked, “Grandpa, can I go swimming?”

  “Yes, of course. There aren’t any gators here, just snakes. We’ll all go swimming. Maybe I’ll go fishing.”

  “What kind of snakes?” Maggie asked.

  “Rattlesnakes … maybe some Water Moccasins.”

  Maggie glanced at me with a pouting face. “Gee whiz, I hate snakes.” Adam and I laughed at her comment, razzing her a little.

  Lyman Lake is at 6,000 feet elevation, and is located in Apache County, Arizona. This lake was created as an irrigation reservoir by damming the Little Colorado River. The river is fed by snowmelt from the slopes of Mount Baldy and the Escudilla Mountains. The park had a dozen old cabins and trailers, indicating that at one time some people had lived here.

  As he normally does, Baldwin had the vehicles line up in a double row formation with the Hummers guarding the ends of the rows. Once we turned off our truck motors it was dead quiet. Everyone went about their business either making some chow, going for a swim, topping off the fuel tanks, checking their trucks oil and water, washing clothes, or starting a campfire.

  I checked Maggie’s arm and used surgical super glue to seal the wound shut, making it waterproof. Satisfied that she wouldn’t get an infection, Maggie, Adam, and I went swimming. Since we didn’t have swim suits our underwear had to suffice. As usual, Maggie looked sexy as hell, wearing just a bra and panties that looked like a two piece bikini. I just couldn’t keep my eyes off her toned muscular figure. She has normal size round firm breasts, a washboard stomach, muscular arms, great looking legs, and a small shapely butt. Like I said, I may be old, but I’m not dead.

  We washed our clothes and took them back to the camp to hang up, knowing that the dry mountain air would suck the water out of them over night. Our dogs, Adolf and Freda, loved jumping in the water, and running around the park, after being in the truck all day. Adam spent most of his time playing fetch with them.

  The sun was setting over the mountains to the west, causing the sky to glow shades of red. Adam collected wood and made a fire. Maggie heated up some MREs and I sat down, lit a smoke, and cracked open a new bottle of JD.

  White Feather, Billy, and Black Horse came over to our campfire. White Feather said, “We are close to the Stone Trees.”

  “Yes, I think about two hours away. We should be there by 10 am tomorrow.”

  Adam interjected, “Grandpa, I just saw someone up there near that cabin,” as he pointed at the hill about a half mile away with a lone structure on it, on the other side of the lake.

  I grabbed my binoculars to take a peek. After carefully scanning the hill for movement, I didn’t see anything. “It was probably just a coyote,” I said.

  “It was pretty big. It didn’t look like a coyote.”

  “Well, if it comes around here the dogs will let us know.” I took another look just to be sure nothing was there. Maybe the setting sun created some shadows that spooked Adam.

  The coyote is native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf. They can run up to 45 mph and when fully grown can be two feet high and weight 45 pounds. We’ve had a lot of experience with coyotes on Tocabaga. They can be dangerous to pet dogs or cats and other small animals. Given the chance, the will also attack small children. They are smart crafty animals who generally avoid contact with humans.

  We were all sitting around the fire as the darkness closed in. White Feather asked me, “What are you looking for at the Stone Trees?”

  “We’re looking for a clue of some kind that proves the Templars were there. Maybe the clue will give us some direction to find the lost treasure.”

  “You mean the golden treasure of the ancients.”

  “I don’t know if it’s the same treasure or not.”

  Adam butted into the conversation. “Hey, maybe there are two treasures.”

  “Now, that’s an interesting thought,” I commented. “White Feather, can you tell us about the treasure of the ancients?”

  “I only know it is in the Grand Canyon. Some of it was brought there and some of it was made in the canyon. Rumor has it the treasure is located in one of the following: Isis Temple, Temple of Ra, Tower of Set, Osiris Temple, Horus Temple, or the Cheops Pyramid. All pyramid-shaped mountains in the canyon have an Egyptian name.”


  “Why is that?” Adam asked.

  “No one really knows for sure. I can only tell you that the Hopi have used these names before the white man came here to explore.”

  I replied, “If that’s true it means the Egyptians had to be at the Grand Canyon.”

  “If that’s true then my theory about two treasures might be correct,” Adam commented.

  I lit up a smoke and took a big sip of JD while thinking about what Adam had just said. I thought about the last two clues that were written on the Sword of Jerusalem: ‘Follow the cross west for another eight days to the rock castle. Go north for 15 days on the marked trail to a fissure in the earth. Here at the head of the trail, leading into the fissure, look for the cross and the Solstice Sun will light the way.’

  I asked, “White Feather, do you know what the rock castle is?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “One of the clues on the sword says proceed west from the stone trees for eight days to the rock castle. I figure that eight days by foot puts you somewhere near Sedona.” I pulled out a map to show White Feather.

  Looking at the map, running his finger over the paper, he said, “It is not directly west of the stone trees. But there is a place we call City of Stone. You call it Montezuma’s Castle.”

  I bent over, peering at the map with his finger pointing at the castle location. Yes, that had to be the rock castle. Taking the map, I plotted a route north and calculated that traveling north, on foot, for 15 days to the fissure puts you at the Grand Canyon. That’s it, the fissure has to be the Grand Canyon.

  I have been to the canyon eight times in the past. It is one of the most awesome sights in the world. Made by nature, ground out by the Colorado River, so they say. But now, I wonder if man was involved in creating some of the formations.

  I didn’t say another word about this conclusion to the group. I said, “Well gentlemen, it’s been a long day and I need some rest. You’re welcome to bed down near our fire if you like.”

  White Feather replied, “No thanks. We’ll head back to our truck.” Black Horse and Billy agreed and we bid them goodnight.

  After our friends left, I advised my thinking to Maggie and Adam. “I think Adam is correct and there are two treasures. Maybe both are buried at the same spot or close to each other.”

  “I think that’s right, Grandpa,” Adam said.

  “Adam, let’s look at the sword again.” The three of us walked over to the truck and Adam unsheathed the sword. He laid it on the tailgate while I shined my flashlight on it, looking for any clue we may have missed.

  “What are you looking for?” Adam asked.

  “We’re looking for something subtle, or small that we just overlooked it.”

  Adam gazed at the side of the shiny blade, which listed the treasure artifacts. Then he turned the sword over to the side that contained the clues and map etched in it. “I don’t see anything,” Adam said.

  Maggie pointed at the sword. “I don’t know anything about this stuff, but is that a map?” It was the first time for Maggie to see the holy sword close up.

  She got her hand to close to the blade. “Maggie, be careful! Don’t touch the blade,” Adam warned her.

  “I know, I’m not a dummy.”

  “Yes. It’s a map of the fissure, which I now believe is the Grand Canyon,” I said.

  “It doesn’t make any sense to me,” Maggie commented. “What’s that tiny mark?”

  “What tiny mark?” Adam and I looked very closely at the blade.

  “That tiny mark,” she said, while pointing at it.

  “It looks like a scratch of some kind. I’ll get a magnifying glass,” I replied.

  Bringing the glass back, we took turns looking at the small almost invisible mark. I looked at the whole map again using the magnifying glass. The map made sense now that we knew the fissure was the Grand Canyon. It became crystal clear that the river was winding through the canyon next to the mountain-like formations.

  Observing the tiny mark under 10 x magnification, I saw a Hooked X sitting on top a very tiny rock, or at least I assumed it was a rock. The rock was pointed and shaped like a very small pyramid. How they managed to etch this so small was beyond me.

  The location of the Hooked X was clearly lined up with one of the mountains, which was directly across the river. The mountain was shaped like a pyramid.

  Adam and Maggie both looked at the sword using the eyeglass. I asked them, “What do you see?”

  Maggie replied, “It’s an X.”

  “Yeah, I agree,” Adam said.

  “It’s not just an X, but a Hooked X which is a sign of the Templars. Look at the shape of the rock under it. It looks like a pyramid,” I said.

  Adam looked again. “Yeah, you’re right. The small rock is shaped just like a pyramid.”

  “Now, look at the alignment of the X to the mountain in the middle of the map. There’s another Hooked X in the center of the mountain.”

  Looking again, Adam said, “Yes, it does line up directly with the mountain and the other Hooked X. Why didn’t we see that before?”

  “It’s so small it looked like a scratch in the metal,” Maggie replied.

  I said, “This means that the mountain is where the treasure is. Once we get to the canyon we’ll need to find a Hooked X on a small pyramid-shaped stone. We need to find this before the Summer Solstice date.”

  “Ok guys, here’s your homework for tonight. Get on the ACWWW and find a map or pictures of the canyon, and determine which mountain that Hooked X is on. Next, find out all you can about the Egyptian treasure and its location. Finally, find out how many trails lead down into the canyon toward that mountain. We’re going to need to check out each trailhead to find the stone with the Hooked X.”

  Adam and Maggie started doing the research right away. They weren’t tired since they took cat naps during the day, as I was driving. I, on the other hand, was exhausted. After one more shot of JD I fell asleep, while sitting in the back seat of the truck.

  THE STONE TREES

  MAY 24, 2026

  It was 5am and I was having a cup of coffee when my trusted friend, Baldwin, moseyed over to my truck. I poured him a cup of hot java. “How you doing, George?”

  He nodded ok and took a sip of mud. “Jack, there’s no need to hurry today since we’re just a couple of hours away from the Petrified Forest. I figured we’ll camp there overnight and make it a short travel day.”

  “That sounds good to me. What route are we taking?”

  “We’ll just follow Route 180 north, because it takes us right there. There’s only one small city we have to go through, named St. Johns.”

  “George, we cracked the clues. The treasure is definitely in the Grand Canyon.”

  Suddenly, we heard the roar of jets echo over the lake. Baldwin and I looked up, to the south, but by the time we glanced into the sky they were blasting away with a roar that shook the ground.

  Captain Baldwin yelled out to his men. “Everyone put the US Flag out so they can see we’re friendly.” Every truck carries a flag just for this reason. Our men scrambled to put them out before the jets returned.

  “George, they wouldn’t bomb us, would they?” I asked.

  “They’re watching us to see if we’re friendly. So we gotta let them know we are. Generally they’ll do two or three flybys to check us out. If they think we’re the enemy, then we’re dead. These are most likely Air Force Reserve planes on a scouting patrol.

  Baldwin was right; in a few minutes, they returned. Watching them drop out of the sky, we all waved at them and the flags were spread out on top of the trucks. Passing low overhead, at about 300 mph, they did a wing wave indicating they recognized our group wasn’t a threat. They hit the afterburners and zoomed away with a tremendously loud blast that vibrated our skin and ear drums.

  Baldwin commented, “Those were F-22 Raptors. They’re capable of flying at 2,000 mph and they carry air to ground missiles. I’m glad they’re on our sid
e.”

  “Yeah, me too. So what time you wanna leave here?” I asked.

  “There’s no need to hurry. We’ll leave when everyone is ready.”

  The jets woke up Adam and Maggie. “What the hell was that?” Maggie asked.

  “It was two Air Force jets checking us out to see if we’re friendly. But it makes me think there must be some bogies around here that they were looking for,” I said.

  “Maybe so, but they could just be on patrol,” Baldwin commented. “Jack, you were saying before the jets came, that you cracked the clues and the treasure is in the Grand Canyon.”

  “Yeah, we did. After the Petrified Forest we’re heading directly to the canyon.”

  “Grandpa, you won’t believe what we found on the web last night,” Adam said.

  Pete, second in command, came jogging over to us and interrupted the conversation. “I don’t wanna break up your meeting, Captain, but we got company,” he said, while pointing to the lone cabin on the hill across the lake. It was the same one where Adam thought he saw someone yesterday.

  Peering in his binoculars, Captain Baldwin said, “Ok, it looks like you were right, Jack. We got about twenty armed men moving this way on foot. Everyone break camp and mount up. Pete, provide a rear guard and start shooting those bogies to buy us some time.”

  Pete and Jeff moved their Hummer to the edge of the lake and started firing the big fifty caliber machine gun, keeping the men at bay, about a half mile away. The lake was between us and them, so they would have to circle around it to reach us. We were well out of their range and Pete made sure they didn’t get any closer. You could see the big fifty rounds hitting the dirt around the men as they all scrambled for cover.

  Everyone was mounted up, ready to roll in 10 minutes. Baldwin gave the signal and we moved out at full speed. As we rolled away, Maggie asked me, “Who are those guys?”

  “I don’t know for sure but they could be ISIS fighters. Maybe they’re the same men the jets were looking for. I wonder why they don’t have vehicles.” I was hoping we wouldn’t run into them again anytime soon.