Before anyone could react McDonald was thrown backward as if he had been smashed in the chest by a runaway train. His grip on the artifact was lost and the ancient wood clacked to the tabletop as McDonald was thrown hard into the arms of Dugan fifteen feet away.
This time they all saw the shadow as it rose from the deck of the Ark. It stood over them momentarily and then it dissipated to nothing. Dugan and Gray Dog picked up the startled but uninjured McDonald. Both men saw it at the same moment. There were two handprints etched in ice on the man’s fur-lined coat. The size of the hands was the most terrifying thing—they were four times the size of a regular man’s prints. Dugan looked at John Henry as McDonald started to cough from having the air knocked from his lungs. Claire immediately reached for the two fallen artifacts and jammed them deep inside the satchel. Then she sat hard into her chair.
John Henry watched as the Englishman shook off the helping hands of Dugan and Gray Dog and then he bolted from the interior of the Ark without a look back.
“I guess old Azrael dislikes spies,” Taylor said, and then realized just how flat his sudden bout of humor had fallen. Jessy had become angry when Thomas had voiced his suspicions with him.
“For the time being, that satchel stays where it was intended,” Thomas said as he stood.
“So you are now a believer?” Claire asked as she looked up at John Henry.
Thomas didn’t answer as he quickly left the Ark.
As for Ollafson, he sat smugly down and then stared at the satchel in front of him.
“Maybe we should just blow the whole thing straight to hell,” Taylor said as he placed a gloved hand on the outside of the satchel.
“The angel of death is weak. This is the time to take the Ark while it can only frighten. Any longer and there is no telling how Azrael’s power could grow.”
“Professor, even if we didn’t have some spook running around here killing men, we could never in a lifetime get this hunk of petrified stone off of this mountain. No engineer in the world could accomplish the feat,” Jackson said as he raised his hood and then followed John Henry out. Dugan and Gray Dog followed, leaving Ollafson, Claire, and Taylor behind.
“The most dangerous thing is for an intelligent man to ignore the supernatural,” Claire said as she reached out and pushed the satchel farther away from her. “John Henry is still a nonbeliever and that could cost him.”
Taylor stood and then helped Ollafson to his feet.
“He believes, Miss Anderson, he believes. He just doesn’t know what to do about it. The Point didn’t prepare their soldiers to fight this kind of war. We don’t belong here.”
Claire had to agree. They needed to leave Ararat as soon as possible before Azrael truly awoke and showed them why God was fearful of his own archangel.
24
An hour before the detonations were scheduled to bring down the ice covering the forward section of the prehistoric Ark, Claire had Gray Dog find McDonald. The Comanche took her to where the British intelligence officer was huddled on the far side of the encampment. She thanked Gray Dog for finding him and the young brave looked from her to a cowering McDonald and shook his head.
“His mind runs away; soon it will be gone.” With that said Gray Dog turned and walked away.
Claire hesitated before approaching the captain. He was sitting on a ration case looking into the ice at his feet. What caught her eye was the British-made Webley revolver he had clutched in his hand. The hood covered his facial features and the falling snow covered the fur. John Henry had tasked her to keep a close watch on McDonald. The spy hadn’t uttered a word since the incident and had vanished from the rest of the company. As she watched he cocked the hammer of the Webley back and then uncocked the pistol. Once, twice, three times.
“Steven, they are about to detonate the ice cap.”
The pistol in his gloved hand stopped moving and his head slowly came up.
“You need to leave now,” was all he said. McDonald’s eyes seemed to be blank as he looked past her as if she weren’t there.
“I think you need to talk about what happened.”
“What happened? What happened is that my insides are stone cold. When I was touched I saw all of the countless deaths that have happened on these very slopes.” His head lowered as did his voice. “I am so cold.”
Claire saw that McDonald was close to going insane. The event had affected him so much that he had mentally checked out of the present.
“London will need a full report on what has been uncovered. You need to witness what is about to happen.” She saw that he once more started playing with the gun.
“You file the report for me, Madame Claire.” He smiled creepily and looked straight at her. “It should be quite a read.”
Claire watched McDonald as he lowered his gaze and scary smile and then continued staring at the ice at his feet.
“Where are the artifacts?” he asked, catching her off guard.
“Colonel Thomas is keeping them inside the Ark for the time being, but has plans to get the cursed wood far away from us. He is going to send a marine courier to catch the first civilian transport out of here and get the artifacts back to Washington for safekeeping. Since the satchel has been inside and away from men, there have been no further incidents. Even the weather looks to be clearing somewhat and the mood of the men is far higher than just this morning. I think it’s because the artifacts are not near any men.”
“Do you think Azrael can be contained by the Ark?” He chuckled and that just about did it for Claire. “He only toys with us for now. Soon the killing will begin. But I will stop him, you’ll see.”
As Claire backed away she quickly came to the conclusion that Steven McDonald had slipped into a realm designed by madmen.
* * *
The chief petty officer reported to Captain Jackson that the light charges had been placed at the various pressure points of ice covering the find. It should be just enough to crack the roof of the ancient bubble and expose a large section of bow for photography. They just needed the confirmation by the Rebel colonel.
Taylor inspected the charges and declared them good. The navy had done a fine job of making sure they didn’t blow off half the mountaintop—pretty good even for Yankees. He conferred with Corporal Jenks, who was an expert at explosives, having blown many a Union train vault to seize gold meant for Union payroll.
“Are the charges adequate in your humble opinion, Corporal?” Jessy asked as he made his way back to the safe zone well above the blast area.
Jenks had not spoken kindly ever since the death of the mess steward. Taylor figured the man was confused as to how he was supposed to feel. Grandee had saved the lives of every southern man inside that cave. What was bothering the corporal, in Taylor’s opinion, was the question every man has to ask himself—would I have done the same for him? Jessy figured the corporal felt his answer to that particular question was somewhat lacking in the area of honor and it was affecting him.
“Yes, sir, them navy boys did a fine job. Should be no problems that I can figure.” Jenks nodded his hooded head and then started to leave with Taylor to the safety area.
“Jenks, I believe you would have done the same thing as Grandee.”
The tired corporal stopped and looked at his colonel.
“How do you figure, sir?” he asked with hope etched in his eyes.
“Because you’re one of my boys, and my boys do the right thing. That’s why we ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp and old Jeb rode off to glory.”
“I don’t see it, sir.” The mournful words showed Taylor how deflated the corporal was.
“Every man asks himself if he would give his life for his fellows. When the thought strikes me I find myself saying I would, but inside I think I may fold up at the wrong time.”
“That’s the way of it, sir.”
“I was told you tried to go back for Grandee. Is this true?”
Jenks lowered his head and said nothing.
“I think I would have to base my opinion on that act, not the failings of a good soldier suffering from survivor’s guilt.”
“I truly wanted to save him, sir. I guess my failure is that I didn’t treat Grandee as a man would treat another. My failure is there, sir. And I think in the end that is why we have already lost this war, Colonel.”
Taylor watched as Jenks walked away and then followed as he realized the backwoods corporal was right. The South had no right to win the war and Grandee’s death proved it.
* * *
“Did you find him?” John Henry asked Claire upon her return.
“Yes. I believe he is a danger to himself. Perhaps you’d better come clean about his identity and arrest him.”
“That means exposing you as a triple agent. Your career would effectively be over.” John Henry looked down at her and saw that she was possibly not sad at the prospect. Her smile was out of place for the subject matter.
“That was decided when I heard the professor’s student was murdered”—she gestured at the spot where the Ark lay beneath—“over this.”
“Decided?” Thomas asked as she finally looked away from him.
“Yes, my letter of resignation was delivered in triplicate to the war department, Allan Pinkerton, and the president before we sailed. It’s effective upon my return.”
John Henry responded in a way that would confuse him forever. “Good.”
Claire’s brows rose underneath her hood, which she quickly pulled down. She looked at Thomas with a questioning face.
Thomas cleared his throat and then nodded his head and walked away so suddenly she was left staring at the spot where he had been standing.
“Uh, why is that good?” she asked his retreating backside and slightly under her breath, but she knew he hadn’t heard her question.
“Fire in the hole!” came the warning from the navy.
Claire shook herself out of her short trance as she thought about John Henry’s strange response. She moved to a spot where Sergeant Major Dugan and Gray Dog were hunkered down behind several upturned sleds.
“Do you find that the colonel can be a little odd at certain moments?” she asked as she leaned in close to Gray Dog.
Sergeant Major Dugan gave her a queer look and then stuck his gloved fingers into his ears, as did Gray Dog.
“Missy, I find the colonel odd at all times, now you better—”
The explosion shook the ice they stood upon. The quartered sticks of dynamite detonated and sent a long crack line extending a hundred feet downhill and then shooting back up the mountain, almost a perfect oval in shape. Then the world gave way.
Claire heard a tremendous crash as if every chandelier in Washington fell and broke at once. She cringed when she and the others were inundated with ice and snow as the earth settled back down. Dugan smiled and looked at Claire and Gray Dog.
“Well, let’s see if we just blew thirteen thousand years of history to hell, shall we?”
He assisted Claire to her feet and then frowned at Gray Dog, who held his hand up for Dugan to help him up also. The sergeant major shook his head and walked away.
* * *
By the time Claire and the others arrived they saw all one hundred-plus members of the expedition standing at the edge of the crater that the dynamite created over the remains of the Ark. Not a word was said as the snow and ice settled around them.
Claire stumbled as she saw the precise way the ice had cracked. It opened up the area directly over the petrified vessel. There was also an opening extending three hundred feet, making the effort of lowering men down into the cave system moot. Now they could walk a little ways downhill and then take a slick ramp right up to the old cave. She finally made it to the edge, where Gray Dog held out an arm and arrested her forward momentum before she went into the void in front of her.
“Thank you. Clumsy of me.”
Gray Dog only nodded and then turned to see just what they had uncovered.
The circle of men waited until they could see through the falling ice crystals still floating in the air, giving the scene a surreal look.
John Henry saw it first. The curved bow of the Ark was visible clearly for the first time and it was a shocking sight. Thomas took a deep breath as he realized for the first time what he was really looking at. Myth, legend, and children’s tales of wonder were all there before them.
The men were silent as they viewed the thing they had come to see. All thoughts of the war, of the hardship in getting here, even the deaths that had occurred at the hands of an angered God, vanished as they beheld the greatest sight any man in the history of the world could ever have imagined.
Most men, either from the North of the South, marine, sailor, or soldier, could see for the first time what Lincoln’s train of thought had been at approving such a risky mission. The Ark was capable of immense power. Perhaps even the power to heal, if the world could see that this was the very beginning for all men regardless of race or birthplace.
“Wow!” was all the articulate Jackson could say.
At that moment the snow stopped and the sun actually showed itself for the first time in days. It spotlighted like the foot lamps of a theater one of God’s greatest gifts to man—the Ark.
Only the bow had been exposed to the modern world. Just two hundred feet of the petrified fossil could be seen as the rest vanished into the now blue-colored glacier. The sunlight made the ancient wood sparkle as if God was highlighting his gift of life to man.
One of the more amazing sights was the fact that everyone could see the beginnings of the raised section of housing on the deck of the Ark. It was even shingled in a rough sort of way. All assumed it was the living quarters for the family of man—Noah and his offspring. The deck from their vantage point looked to be far more sloped than previously thought. Even the wooden pegs used to adhere one plank to the next could be made out in the petrified wood. It was clearly an engineer’s dream of ancient wood carving and building. Jackson knew that John Ericsson would have had a stroke upon seeing God’s design for a vessel. For once Ericsson was outdone.
“It a shame we’re not taking it out of here. If we only had the time.”
“How do you figure?” John Henry turned and asked Jessy, who was looking at the destroyed cave.
“At the opening of the excavation there is only a small wall of ice remaining to impede us from removing the bow section from the glacier and just sliding it right out of the grave it’s trapped in. The way it looks”—Jessy squinted his eyes against the sudden brightness—“we would have almost a straight run to the base of the mountain. Maybe two or three days to transit back down with our prize.”
“Don’t let Professor Ollafson hear you say that. It will get him wound up tighter than a five-dollar Ingersoll watch.”
Both Jessy and John Henry turned to see a smirking Captain Jackson, who was proud of his simple, witty remark.
“Well, I think the world will have to be healed by the knowledge that it was Americans”—he looked at Taylor directly—“all Americans that found this. And it will be heavily documented.” He turned away from Jessy after making his point and then faced an astonished Daniel Perlmutter.
“Think you can capture the scope of the discovery now, kid?”
“Oh, yes! Before the darkness would have affected the quality, but now! Boy, oh boy. The sun will be directly overhead in two hours. It will expose the Ark and give the images true depth, and you know you can always use good lighting, why this is—”
Perlmutter failed to notice that he was standing there alone as the others had quickly walked away once he had started harping on his favorite subject—his work.
* * *
An hour later the men had begun clearing off the one-hundred-and-fifty-foot exposed section of the Ark. The mood was far better now that they had something meaningful to do. Even Corporal Jenks was far more festive than he’d been before the detonations. Perlmutter had decided to photograph the Ark and the men that had f
ound her first. He would position the shot from the edge of the void down onto the deck with the Ark’s new crew standing onboard. He could see the many awards he would receive for the documentation of the greatest archeological find in history.
Many of the men still working above on the ice shelf saw Gray Dog running toward them. He found John Henry and pointed down the mountain.
“Signal from Parnell,” he said.
This got the attention of Claire, Jessy, and Jackson. Dugan was late reporting the same thing and gave Gray Dog a dirty look for beating him to the punch.
John Henry quickly raised his field glasses. Three rockets were just starting to fall after they had reached their highest arc. Parnell was signaling imminent danger from the plain below. As he watched another three shot up into the clear blue sky.
“Answer Lieutenant Parnell, Sergeant Major,” Thomas said as he scanned the expansive lands beneath Ararat.
Dugan ran to get the naval ordnance crew to signal with rocket fire that Parnell’s message had been received. All knew that if the night sky was as clear as the daylight hours they would be able to signal Parnell with the large Morse lamps they had hauled to the summit with them. Then they would learn the particulars of the danger signal.
“What do you think it is?” Jessy asked as he removed the field glasses from John Henry’s grip and scanned the world below for himself.
“My guess would be that we will have company soon. Either up here or down there in ambush.” He smiled at Taylor.
“And your thinking is never wrong?” Jessy asked as he slowly lowered the glasses but still stared at the lands beneath Ararat.
John Henry knew the point Jessy was making and he decided that it was time for truth.
“Only once.” He faced Jessy. “Only one time, and that killed me inside.”
Taylor slowly looked at his brother-in-law. He only nodded.
John Henry saw the understanding and then started to walk away. He stopped though when he saw Claire in the distance talking with Jackson. She glanced his way and there was just a hint of a smile. Thomas nodded his head and then a smile slowly broke out. For once it didn’t feel manufactured in any way. Jessy saw this but raised the binoculars back to his eyes.
The Mountain Page 46