The Lost City

by Carrie E. Gruhn

  Turning to leave the pool, I lifted the overflowing basket and stood to look beyond, to see the gardens, the contented flocks upon our hills and weep for the hungry who huddled hopelessly with not even dry crusts to still their gnawing hunger. I had seen hunger and thirst. I knew its gaunt terror. But for me there had been garbage cans sometimes and always a bit, some crust, or at least the chance that around the next corner it would be found. A few days would ravage the great city of all food supplies, another day would clean up the scraps and the refuse if there were indeed any! The trap was closed, and guarded; when the last morsel was gone there would be no place more to search. I closed my eyes, but could not shut out the misery staring at me from thousands of hopeless eyes!

  One by one men and women left their tables. They came out to stand with their faces turned northward to the huddle of clouds that hung motionless along the distant horizon. For others food lay untouched as they caught the vision that had made food nauseating to me. Children wondered, but they ate with childish abandon then returned to their laughter and play—a little subdued by the soberness on older faces.

  If only we could know what was happening! Men tinkered with sputtering radios, weak at best and with the storm grinding out a constant interference nothing intelligible had been heard for hours. Darkness was settling since no sun had shone all day. Cold blasts still swept across the valley, even to the extent of withering tender plants. Reluctantly we gave up watching to go back inside. We were numbed by the cold and the constant jolting shocks of earth beneath our feet.

  “Mommy, I—I’m cold!” Toni was shivering. I bent to kiss him and my heart sank remembering how he was growing, and how long it had been since he had seen his father.

  “It is cold, Toni. Colder than I ever remembered it to be here.”

  “Why?”

  “I am not sure, Toni. I think there has been hail some place near. When it hails it makes are air very cold for a long ways.”

  “Hail is big pieces of ice like Grandpa Simon tells about when we came here, isn’t it, Mommy?”

  “Yes, that was a bad storm, but there have been other worse ones in other places. Even those storms did not make the air as cold as it is now.”

  Mother turned from the fire which could not possibly heat the high-ceiled rock room, but since the chill air had not come inside too much it seemed fairly cozy.

  “I think I heard someone calling you, Tanya.”

  “But that is impossible, Mother. The heavy door is closed. If the others were calling from other parts of the cave I would hear them.”

  “Listen! there it is again!”

  “Mother, I do hear it.” I started up but did not know how my fingers were gripping Toni’s arm until he cried out. “I’m sorry, Toni. I did not mean to hurt you—”

  “That’s all right, Mommie.” He smiled anxiously.

  An imperative knock came on the box partition between our apartment and another.

  “Yes?”

  “Tanya, quick—Paul is calling you on the radio—short wave—sounds as if he were calling from an airplane!”

  I threw a longing look at Lilah’s room with its stronger radio. While I tinkered there and tried to tune in to him he might be gone! Frantically the boxes were shoved and pulled aside. I knelt before that magic box from which every so often Paul’s dear voice called:

  “Tanya—Tanya—My Rebecca! Can you hear me?—Tanya, Tanya,—” I wanted to shout back, but there was no two-way connection on this small set. Then, behold, Simon called joyously to me to come. He had been working and located Paul on Lilah’s set. When next he switched, we should be able to talk to Paul.

  Breathlessly I waited, loving the sound of his voice, but wishing that he would give over so that I could tell him that we had heard.

  “Tanya, Tanya,—can you hear me? Tanya, Tanya, can you hear me? Turning over—take it, Tanya.”

  “Oh Paul, Paul!” I could not control my voice. I did not demur when Simon took over.

  “Hello, Paul? Simon. We can hear you perfectly. Take over.”

  “Good! Look, I’m flying, but it’s pretty dark. Don’t know if I can put this crate down safely. Can you light fires where it would be best for me to come in?”

  “Of course—how long will we have?”

  “Not too long, I’d say. The gas is getting low and from what I can see I’d say I was—whoops! Look out, I’m over the valley! Get the fires going!”

  The valley echoed the shouts of Simon and the other men calling for help. I wanted to go but Simon waved me back. I stood hearing the unsteady hum of the motor about us calling for fires to be laid and lit. It would be tricky business landing. If there had been time Simon would have directed him to the comparative levelness of the newly formed terrain. Already the motor sputtered and coughed, so he must choose a level spot, within the valley if possible. There was one such spot—it had been worn smooth, possibly by countless camels stopping to rest with their loads of linens, spices and costly gems as the centuries came and went. Hundreds of feet now ran back and forth, piling branches and twigs, hoarded for their own home fires, in two long lines.

  “Hurry, hurry!” My heart pleaded, but biting my lips I tried not to cry aloud. At last I saw the first feeble flame. It caught! Two flaming lines made visible a roadway for the incoming plane. Just above our heads it coughed and was still, whether cut off by Paul or by an emptied tank. Then it hit hard, bounced twice, three times, and practically flew to pieces before our eyes!

  “Paul! Paul!” I fairly flew across the rocks, stumbling, scraping my knees as I fell only to pick myself up and run on. It was not through “a field” to my beloved this time, but that did not matter as long as Paul was there!

  Two figures pushed themselves out of the wreck. Startled I paused, then laughed nervously as Ahmed’s voice was heard.

  “We made it, Doctor, but I would have liked to have found out a little more about running it before it cracked up!”

  Paul’s arms were around me, holding me as if he would never let me go again. I felt his tears raining on my face as his lips stopped my incoherent words.

  A long time later, we sat around in the big room and listened to his and Ahmed’s tales. I could not have shut out the friends and the curious eyen if I had tried. They had a right to know what Paul had been doing since he left and, perhaps, he would be able to tell us something of what was happening in the Promised Land that very day. Besides, I was content just to sit in the circle of his arm, to rest my head against his shoulder where I could look up whenever I wished and see his face close to mine.

  “I am glad that I never guessed what was going on here.” Paul’s arm tightened about me. “I doubt if I could have resisted coming, if I had known Lilah was here. She was one of the first to take the mark. I often wished that she had not helped stock and plan this city, but I did not see what she could do from the outside—it seems she was able to do a great deal!”

  “Except for God’s intervention she would have taken the city without difficulty. That was not your fault, Paul. If she had not known so much and ii: she had not had us so completely under her thumb we might have lost some to her scheme. As it was, she was so thorough only those belonging to Damon were lost!” Paul listened incredulously to the account of the plot which had left the posts vacant so that not a single one of us had been caught out in the gorge! Lilah had recalled them without replacement.

  “Something like that happened in Jerusalem just today, and even in other catastrophes before. I suppose you heard about the plague of locusts and the fever they brought—I never saw a single follower of Christ stricken. I saw many who were sickened by a single bite! Things like that happened all the time, but today in Jerusalem it was even more so!”

  “We heard something of what was happening early in the day, but the storm took over, or else Damon stopped the broadcasts. We have not been able to find out anything further. The last we heard was that an earthquake was razing the city.”

  “There was a
n earthquake,” Paul continued. “Damon laid his plans well—getting many into the city just to view the bodies of the two prophets. I did not go—I had read enough about their ministry to know that they would yet live. I stayed out seeking souls, but Ahmed had gone inside the first day. He can come and go without attracting too much attention and he’s good at eavesdropping.” Paul grinned affectionately at the young man. It was good to see Ahmed’s mischievous grin. “He stumbles on lots of things—and this time he stumbled onto one of the carefully hidden radios. What Damon found useful we could use, too. Ahmed carefully changed it over to coincide with one of our hook-ups and left it. You were right in thinking that Damon cut out the broadcasts. He didn’t stop that one microphone, however.”

  “Then you’ve other news from inside the city?”

  “From inside and outside as well. Damon must have ordered his men to assemble at one point at a given signal. We overheard one or two who passed the hidden microphone. They were hurrying to the given spot, and when no more passed, in other words when the marked men must have been all assembled, the earthquake shook the city and one tenth collapsed and thousands perished. As far as we could learn the only part affected was the part where Damon’s men had gathered!”

  Our walls echoed again with fervent praise, but Paul had not finished, “On the heels of the earthquake the storm which had been threatening all day, which had been tossing lightning at random all around, suddenly centered and broke above the encompassing army! The earth shook under the terrific bombardment of hail and lightning that struck again and again. Houses, tents, bomb shelters and munitions dumps collapsed under the weight of the huge icy blocks. Mingled with the hail was the smoke from many fires set by the fiery bolts or the exploding munitions. Believe it or not, the deluge of frozen water did not diminsh their burning!”

  “The desert has seen swift and terrible storms, but never anything like this.” Ahmed’s eyes were wide with wonder.

  “We felt it even here.” Paul turned to the speaker who continued, “It has been so cold some of our gardens have been killed. We knew there must be hail in those storm clouds, but nothing like what you tell.”

  “I cannot properly describe the havoc having seen it. The constant falling hail acted like a steel curtain which hid much from view. Even the pounding noise of the contact with the earth could not drown out screams and curses and confusion.”

  “It seems impossible, after seeing and hearing what we saw and heard today that the sun shall ever rise again!” Ahmed shuddered and for once lost his carefree look.

  “Morning will come!”

  “And quickly!”

  “But tell us, Paul, how did you come here?”

  “Ahmed’s curiosity again.” Paul chuckled. “He couldn’t stay away from airfields. He poked around the planes so much, and ran away like a scared rabbit whenever one went up or came down, until he was the joke of the airmen.”

  “I was afraid someone might come who would recognise me even under all the dirt!”

  “But the airmen thought he was afraid of the planes, so they grabbed him one day and put him aboard a plane out there and how he howled! I heard him in the inn where we were being sheltered at the time!”

  “They almost gave up when I let out that bellow!” Ahmed said reminiscently with the usual grin.

  “It’s a good thing you calmed down—they took him up all right, and Ahmed took in everything. He knew what every button and gadget was for when he landed. He even had the controls in his hand for awhile, until he tried to copy some of the pilot’s stunts. That was too much for even that flier!”

  I sat up amazed. “Ahmed, you didn’t—didn’t think you could fly just because you—you” I stopped, unable to think further.

  “Not quite that bad, Tanya. Ahmed really got under their feet after that so they gave in and gave him a few lessons. They too seemed to find his grin hypnotized, as you did.” Paul laughed and those from our village laughed ruefully, remembering all the things Ahmed had gotten away with while yet a lad.

  “It was Paul’s idea that we try to make the plane when the storm passed beyond the airfield. Most of the other planes and hangars had gone up in flames, but this one seemed to be in pretty good shape.”

  “The time is shortening—I think there is nothing left for us to do but wait.” Paul’s face became sad and I knew he was thinking of those who had refused to listen.

  Words we had seemed to hear in the overpassing thunder storm echoed in our ears—“Vengeance is mine!”

  “What of the Prince, and his Beast, and the image?”

  “The Prince had to call for a retreat. What was left of the army went back toward Megiddo. The image stands, defiant upon the hill which, by the way, is close by the Mount of Olives! Day and night it looks down at superstitious worshipers with baleful seeing eyes, emitting commands or hurling defiance. The Prince has imbued it with a supernatural quality that makes it almost think for itself! The people grovel at its feet and bring gifts and offerings to it. I would not be surprised if they offer human sacrifices to it. Would you, Ahmed?”

  “I think they do.”

  “Time after time lightning struck but it seemed to turn off each bolt. When last we saw it, it stood as undamaged, apparently, as ever.”

  “Paul, you said the Prince was in retreat?”

  “In a way, yes, not even he could fight the hail that crumpled his army of men as if they were toothpicks. The main army, however, never was at Jerusalem, it has been coming into the valley of Megiddo from all points of the compass. Damon has been busy. His threats are not idle talk. Scientists have been working steadily on any number of infernal machines. You and I know that his dream of defeating God is impossible, but he is a worthy son of his father, Satan, and is working feverishly toward just that goal!”

  We were silent before such sobering truth. Someone repeated softly, thoughtfully one of the verses comparatively new to us:

  “‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’”1

  1. Ephesians 6:12.

  31

  THE DAWNING

  AN OMINOUS, MOTIONLESS OPPRESSION awakened us. Scarcely an hour had passed since the last person had left and we had retired. The depressing, unnatural stillness made sleep impossible, so we slipped out hoping to watch the dawn.

  Beneath the vines, with their heavy weight of purple fruit, we walked cautiously, feeling each step in the light cast by a lantern. Not a breeze stirred in the utter blackness. There was no sky, no mountain rim, no valley. We could not tell if the storm clouds still hung low. There were no stars or moon or slightest ray to relieve the inkiness. Even the lantern light was swallowed up in the velvety gloom. The very immobility of things was portentous and threatening.

  “I feel as if I were walking in a thick black fuzziness—I almost can’t breathe!”

  “It’s the kind of darkness that can be felt,” Paul answered and even his voice seemed muffled. My feet felt the smoother stones that paved our pool edge. Not even the pool’s liquid mirror was discernible! The sound of the soft drip of water, which always kept it clear, was muffled, too.

  Paul swung the lantern and I felt, rather than saw, the steps leading upward. I inched slowly up, with Paul following close behind. As we sat at last on the mountain, still encompassed in darkness, Paul spoke of our son. There was a wistful yearning in his voice.

  “Do you think Toni will remember me?”

  Mother had foreseen the excitement and had enticed Toni into his warm bed where its delicious fragrance, and her soft songs, soon wooed him to sleep. He had looked very sweet and precious with his long lashes curling against round rosy cheeks and one tiny bit of his tongue in the corner of two slightly parted red lips. I knew the gladness that was swelling Paul’s heart when he looked down at his son, who had played safely in our secret valley while countless others, as sweet and precious to so
me other mother and father, cowered hungry and cold in a world at war with itself and with God. Toni had stirred and murmured, but he had not awakened for we had turned down the light and sought sleep ourselves.

  “I think he will remember you a little. After all he was over three when we came here and he often speaks of you.”

  “And now he is seven—God’s own number, my Tanya.”

  “Surely, this night cannot last much longer.” I shivered in the unrelenting darkness.

  “I think it is breaking now.” Paul sought to turn me around.

  “Not that way, Paul! The sun doesn’t come up in the north!”

  “Is that north—I am turned around here.”

  “I am confused tonight, too, but we came out on the rim facing north and you have not turned since.”

  I moved in his arms so as to face the east, but only unbroken blackness pressed against my eyes. Paul’s arms stiffened and I felt a tremor pass through him. Turning a little I looked up to where his face should be. Was it imagination, or could I actually see a faint blur as if a tiny shaft of light had found his face?

  “Tanya! Look?” A great wonder was in his voice and I turned swiftly.

  Something appeared to be cutting downward through the black gloom. It was not from the east that the light was coming. Just for another moment the darkness held, then it fled before two bright gleaming slashes that tore open the sky. The light that descended was blinding, yet we shielded our eyes from the brightness and continued to watch as the golden cross-like aperture grew and took form. The cross of light that had cut through the blackness like a great sword followed on down, down until it seemed to hover above the world shrouded in stillness. Far above the glorious cross, now beginning to look fiery, angel wings caught and reflected that light. To our ears came the sound of voices singing, and the sound of the voices was as of many waters and as of rolling thunder. The song was one of praise and rejoicing, calling forth our praise and rejoicing also:

  “Alleluiah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Behold! He cometh, bringing His bride with Him! Alleluiah: the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!”