“Funerary chambers,” DeGard informed without looking back.
Lindsey scowled at the answer, but said nothing else. After a few minutes of trudging through the primordial corridor, DeGard came to a stop. He stood under an archway, pointing his flashlight into a grand chamber.
The room’s walls were completely bathed in ancient texts and pictures. Images of men, animals, and gods decorated the smooth, stone surfaces. DeGard stared at the impressive sight for a moment before proceeding further. He strode confidently over to the far wall, passing by two stone boxes.
“What are those?” Lindsey asked as he passed the crates.
“The exterior sarcophagi. The mummies and their more valuable inner sarcophagi were taken long before we got here.”
“Mummies? Who was buried here?”
DeGard stopped before he reached the far wall and turned around. His flashlight shone on Lindsey’s face, irritating the older man. “A few moments ago, you seemed to have no interest in the history of this place, only what secrets it may hold. Now you want to know everything?”
Lindsey shook his head, but he did not appreciate being reprimanded. “Just find whatever it is we need,” he scowled.
“That’s what I thought,” DeGard said as he turned around and stepped over to the wall. “But just so you know, they aren’t sure who was buried here.” He got down onto one knee and started brushing away the sand on the floor. “Historians believe it was someone who predated the first pharaohs. But this place is so old it predates any records of ancient Egyptian society. There is a theory that a few of us in the field have come to believe may be correct. I believe that they come from a different race of people.”
“What do you mean, a different race?” Lindsey wondered.
DeGard ignored the question for a moment while he continued to scrape away dust and sand from a particular spot on the floor. After a few minutes of working, he found what he was looking for. Engraved in the ground was a symbol that looked very similar to the one on the stone disc Lindsey had in his pocket. A little more brushwork revealed that the images were identical.
Lindsey’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he was seeing. DeGard pointed to one of the symbols embedded in the center of the disc. It was a triangle with a circle in the center.
“I mean they were not Egyptian,” he finally answered after catching his breath. “They were pre-Hebrew settlers.”
“Pre-Hebrew,” he repeated in a whisper. “The legend is true.”
“If you are talking about the legend of the tree, perhaps you are getting ahead of yourself. But we will see what this means.”
DeGard brushed away more of the dirt and found a small hole in the center of the floor’s engraving. The indention was almost the exact size of the stone disc Lindsey had given him. Degard placed the object into the recession and took a step back, looking expectantly at the little space. Nothing happened.
Lindsey glanced over at the French archaeologist for a moment, wondering what he was doing. “Is that supposed to open some kind of secret passage or something?”
DeGard frowned. “I don’t understand. That’s obviously where the disc was meant to go.”
He got back down on his hands and knees and investigated the piece. He pressed on it with his index finger but, still, nothing happened. After another minute of trying in vain to figure out what the problem was, DeGard pried the disc out of the hole and put his face down close to it.
“Ah,” he said, finally. “That explains it.” He put the object back into the recess and slid it forward.
There was a click followed by a deep rumble. A portion of the wall began to slide sideways, revealing a seam at first then a narrow opening, just wide enough for a man to fit through. After less than thirty seconds, the massive doorway stopped and the rumbling ceased.
“Sir,” Kaba stepped into the room touching her ear. “We have a problem with the other encampment. They’re demanding we leave at once. Something about being the only ones with permits to do excavations on this site.”
Lindsey’s eyes were still wide with wonder at the opening that had just revealed itself. “Tie them up and have two of the men watch them.” She nodded and took off toward the entrance of the ruins.
DeGard had shuffled over to the opening in the wall and was shining his light into the dark area beyond. “It looks like the passage goes to the left up ahead.” There was an eagerness in his voice. Greed had begun to take over, and he was obviously anxious to reap his reward.
“Lead the way,” Lindsey ordered.
The Frenchman’s eyes narrowed slightly. “How do you know it is safe? I, for one, do not feel like dying down here as the result of some ancient booby trap? Perhaps we should get one of your helpers to go first, just in case.”
“Very well, get out of my way.” Lindsey nudged passed a surprised DeGard and wedged through the portal.
He held his light at shoulder height and investigated the walls and floor as he moved, carefully mindful of the words his hired professor had uttered. While he doubted that there would be anything like that in the tunnel, he didn’t want to die underground either, so he proceeded with caution. DeGard’s flashlight cast a little more illumination to the passageway that was otherwise pitch dark. The two turned left as the path led and they found themselves walking another twenty feet before the floor began to slope downward.
Lindsey shone his light down the sloping corridor, and couldn’t see the bottom. “How far down do you think it goes?” he asked, pointedly.
DeGard raised his eyebrows. “I have no idea. As you American’s say, there is only one way to find out.” Made braver by the older man’s courage, the Frenchman set out trudging down the long tunnel with renewed vigor.
The slanted corridor took them a hundred feet down before coming a stop and continuing on a little further to the right. When they shone their lights into the new direction their eyes caught a glimpse of some objects on the floor. What the pale glow of the flashlights revealed was a treasure of astonishing measure. Three, three foot wide and five foot long chests, full of gold coins, chalices, crowns, necklaces, bracelets, and jewels lined the walls. DeGard’s face lit up as he led the way into the rectangular room. The chamber was only twenty to thirty feet long and about twelve feet wide. The Frenchman stepped quickly across the threshold and dug his hands deep into the first chest.
“I cannot believe it, Monsieur Lindsey.” He looked back at the older man who seemed to be ignoring the treasure chests. His eyes were focused on something at the end of the room.
Lindsey eased past his elated partner and moved toward the back of the chamber.
DeGard kept yammering as Lindsey stopped at the end wall. “You know, I thought I could perhaps help you find something. But I had no idea it would be this easy. Honestly, I almost feel guilty taking such a high percentage of this find. Well, almost.” He let a necklace slip through his hands as he realized his employer did not seem interested in the fortune they’d just discovered.
On the wall directly in front of Lindsey were inscriptions, carved into the stone. “What does this say?”
DeGard reluctantly left the treasure at his feet and shuffled over to where Lindsey stood with arms crossed. He produced a pair of brown spectacles from his jacket and placed them on the tip of his nose.
“This is the oldest form of Hebrew we know of. It dates back to before the time of the earliest Egyptian communities.”
“What does it say?” Lindsey persisted.
The Frenchman ran a finger along the engravings. His lips moved silently as he translated the symbols. Finally, he reached the bottom and removed his glasses. He kept his flashlight on the wall as he spoke.
“It is a story about three brothers,” he began. “Their family had been on an incredible journey and settled in a valley just outside of some mountains. One day, the boys’ father drank too much wine and became drunk. The father ripped off his clothes and was dancing around in his tent, naked. It seems one of the sons
discovered him and started laughing. The other two saw what was going on and clothed their father. When the old man awoke, he knew what had happened and cursed his youngest son’s child. In the curse, he said that his grandson would be a servant to all his brothers forever. Then it goes on to talk about the three treasure chests, a curse, and a reward.’
Lindsey’s eyes were wide. “I know this story.”
“You do?” DeGard was surprised.
“Of course. It is from the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the story of Noah and his three sons.”
DeGard nodded in agreement. “But what is that story doing here, in southern Egypt?”
Lindsey turned his head and shone the flashlight onto the three chests. “What did it say about these? You said it mentioned them and a reward.”
“Oui,” he agreed in French. “It reads that the curse will be on the other two brothers and that his son will be blessed with the wealth of the father.”
Lindsey was perplexed. All three chests looked the same. They each contained similar treasures, and were crafted in an identical fashion. DeGard slid past his employer and squatted down on one knee, shining his light on one chest and then the next.
“Do you see something?” Lindsey asked impatiently.
“Perhaps,” DeGard cocked his head to the side in the briefest of seconds. “There are some unusual markings on the front of each chest.”
“Can you decipher them?”
DeGard twisted his head around, “Of course, Monsieur, I already have.” A shady grin crept onto the right side of his face. “They are the names of the three brothers. It would appear that if we move the correct chest, we will find an even greater treasure than this.”
“You said the wealth of the father would be there for the cursed son. Ham was the one who defiled his father’s presence. Noah cursed him. Which one is Ham’s?”
“There isn’t one,” DeGard informed in a matter-0f-fact tone.
“What do you mean there isn’t one?” Lindsey spat. “There has to be. One for each of the three brothers, the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
“Yes, I am aware of that. But we are not looking for the name of Ham. We are looking for the name if his son, Canaan, which is the one on the end.” He made his point with a jab of the finger.
Lindsey looked over at the stone box filled with precious metal and jewels. “Of course,” he gasped. “Noah didn’t curse Ham. He cursed Canaan, his own grandson, to a life of servitude.” The older man knelt down before the chest and ran his finger across the strange inscription on the front. “Ham wouldn’t have it, though. He wouldn’t let his son be a servant to anyone.” Lindsey cut himself off, wary he would say too much. DeGard didn’t seem to pay any attention.
“How are we going to move that thing?” he asked in a snooty tone that suggested he wouldn’t be doing any lifting.
“Not to worry,” Lindsey ignored the man’s lazy attitude. “We have help.”
Several minutes later, a few of the men they’d brought entered the chamber carrying crowbars. Kaba was right behind them. “We need you to move this chest away from the wall,” Lindsey said.
Kaba gave the order in Arabic and the two dark-skinned men immediately obeyed. They wedged their tools between the wall and the heavy chest then pushed back. The box moved slightly, grinding on the stone of the floor as it did. The men continued to leverage their weight for a few minutes until a hole, nearly the same size as the box, had been revealed in the floor.
The men stepped back and Kaba moved forward. “Would you like me to go first?” she asked without hesitation.
Lindsey nodded and she quickly dropped down on her knees and stuck her head and a flashlight into the cavity. She swung her legs around and dropped into the darkness with the deftness of a gymnast. The men stood over the recession, looking down as her light flashed around under the floor. A moment later, her face appeared as they shone their lights into the hole.
“It’s safe for you to come down,” she reported in a smooth tone. “Tie off the ropes the men brought down in their packs and lower yourselves down.” Her face cracked with a rare smile, her dark chocolate eyes alive with wonder. “You are going to want to see this.”
The men rigged the ropes and a few minutes later, helped lower their employer into the opening. Kaba grabbed him and eased the older man onto the floor. He shone his flashlight around in the room. In the pale glow of the electric bulb, she could see his face filled with awe. The entire room was paneled in pure gold: the walls, the ceiling, all but the floor, which was stone carved from the earth. He stepped over to the nearest wall and ran his finger along the engravings. Images of people and animals covered nearly every inch. He turned and looked down the expanse. The chamber ran about forty feet in length and was around twenty feet wide.
“What do you see?” the Frenchman asked from above, trying to see into the chamber.
“Lower him down, men,” Lindsey ordered. “Let him see for himself. Words cannot describe it.”
A few moments later, DeGard was touching down on the floor of the golden chamber. His expression was one of disbelief. He stepped quickly over to a gold panel and pressed his hands against it. “I will never be poor again,” he stated in whispered jubilation. If he could have hugged the wall he would have.
Lindsey ignored him. He was focused on something at the other end of the room, in the center of the floor. A stone pillar stood just over three feet high. On the top of it, rested a round stone, four inches in diameter and about one inch thick. He glided over to it and paused a moment then reached down to pick it up.
“Perhaps you would like me to?” Kaba offered. She’d sauntered over to the plinth and was standing a few feet away from him.
“It is alright, my dear.” He gently lifted the stone off of its altar and held it up in the light. On it, was engraved a picture of several mountains, and in the center, between two of the angles, was a man holding his hands up in the air.
“This is impossible,” DeGard was mumbling behind them. “This cannot be real.” Lindsey and Kaba turned around to see the Frenchman shuffling sideways along the wall. “This entire thing,” he waved a hand around, “is talking about the flood story from the Bible. And there,” he pointed at the end wall near the pillar, “is that the ark of Noah?”
The other two turned and looked at the image. Their flashlights gleamed off of the shiny yellow surface. In the center of the end wall, engraved in gold, was a picture of a long, strange looking vessel, resting between to mountain peaks.
Lindsey stared at it for a moment. Kaba looked to him expectantly, curious as to what he would say. The older man stepped away from the stone pillar for a moment and studied the disc in his hand. He turned it over, revealing ancient Hebrew script on the back.
“What does this say?” He spun around and held the object out to DeGard, who accepted it with interest.
“Again, very ancient writing. Difficult to make out. But I believe it says, ‘where the mountain rises through the eye in the valley of eight the path home will be shone and there awaits life eternal.’” DeGard frowned at the last part. “Fountain of youth, Monsieur Lindsey?” He carelessly tossed the disc back to his employer who caught it carefully with both hands.
Lindsey chose not to acknowledge the barb. “The valley of eight? Where is that?”
“Monsieur, please hear what I am about to say to you,” the Frenchman’s birdlike face pleaded and he held his arms out, begging to be heard. “There have been many people who have tried to find these ancient things. They have lived and died searching for sacred relics that would give them immortality. What makes you any different? These things you search for do not exist.”
“Those who went before didn’t have this,” Lindsey held up the disc. “You lack faith, Monsieur DeGard. But you will see. And when you do, you will believe. Now, answer my question, if you would be so kind.” He produced a small pistol from inside his burgundy windbreaker and aimed it at the Frenchman’s chest. “Do you
or don’t you know where this valley of eight is?” Kaba took the cue from her boss and produced a weapon of her own, training it on the same target.
DeGard took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. “Oui, Monsieur. I have heard of it. Please, put your weapons away. They are unnecessary. The compensation you offered is more than enough to lead you on this wild goose chase. So long as I get paid, I could not care less what we are looking for.” His voice took on an air of warning. “The area is in eastern Turkey, around Ararat Mountain and the Valley of the Eight has been searched heavily over the decades, for the exact thing you are talking about seeking. No one has found anything except some giant stones and what one researcher claimed was the petrified roof of the ark.”
Lindsey gazed at him through the peripheral illumination of the flashlights. “Good,” he replied after a moment of consideration. “Then we should find little resistance when we arrive.”
Chapter 11
Luxor, Egypt
The train whistle blew, signaling that it was arriving at its destination. Sean was already wide awake, unable to get much sleep after the encounter with Will. He informed Adriana as soon as she had woken up, about thirty minutes outside of Luxor. She was shocked at the revelation, but not as surprised as he had thought.
“There was something not right about him,” She stated after a long yawn. “I never fully trusted him.”
“Well, thanks for the heads up,” Sean said incredulously.
She smiled. “I thought he was dead. We all thought he was.”
“Yes, but before that?” He held his hands out expecting an explanation.
“Look, you’re okay. And he’s probably dead. You said you shot him in the chest and he fell out of the train. I doubt he survived. And if he did, he will be out of commission for a while. That is if he made it to a hospital somewhere. Again, I seriously doubt that happened,” her voice remained calm as she laid out the scenario.
“You’re right. But I just can’t believe I never made the connection. If he was a snake he would have bit me.”
Sean Wyatt Compilation Box Set Page 64