The Great Thirst Boxed Set

by Mary C. Findley

  “Oh, it’s you again!” Ms. Ramin clapped as wildly as any student. “This man saved me from getting squashed by a bus, covered for me when I sat my class in the wrong place – He even helped me find my contact lens! I am so glad that we are teaching this class together!”

  Laughter erupted all around as Keith sank back down, ten degrees hotter and unable to even think about restoring order. Ms. Ramin finished whatever else she said and walked back down to sit behind him.

  Keith’s head spun. This was the most surreal day of his life. The reporter sank back into boredom when his father stood up to finish the assembly. Why was that reporter going crazy for just those couple of minutes?

  After the assembly, Keith corralled the ninth graders and passed them off to Mrs. LaSalle for algebra 1, in exchange for the tenth graders headed to biology.

  “Here you go, Mr. Bradley! You want a cream one, right?” Bethany Jones waved a T-shirt in his face as he tried to slink out the door. “I mean, you know, you’re already black, so – ” She turned scarlet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean – ”

  “It’s fine, Bethany.” Keith grabbed the shirt. “Come on, people. Let’s get to class and get on with Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order...”

  “Family, Genus, Species!” responded the tenth graders, but they all grabbed T-shirts just the same.

  “Hey, tenth grade,” Principal Bradley called out, “Ms. Sawyer’s going to get you up to your class, and I need to borrow Mr. Bradley for just a minute.” His dad waved at the kids and hooked Keith’s arm, pulling him back to the wings of the stage as Ms. Sawyer led his class away.

  “Sorry about blindsiding you with that,” his father muttered. “I just found out about all this myself yesterday at the end of inservice. You got in so late last night I didn’t want to keep you up trying to explain.”

  “Dad, I have a full schedule already. When does this Bible as Literature class meet, anyway?”

  “It will meet ninth period, during the clubs time.”

  “But I’ve got science club.”

  “Which only meets twice a week. That means Bible as Literature can be on Monday and Friday, and science club stays on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Problem solved.”

  “But why me? And why Bible as Literature? You know what I think about that kind of class.”

  “Yes, Keith, I know you think it’s just a way of making public school kids disrespect the Bible and question its truth even more than they already do. First of all, you heard Ms. Ramin say she's here to teach our students how to tell the difference between truth and error. I believe she means that. But just to make sure, I want you in there making sure that they get a dose of the Bible as a book of Science and History. That’s your calling, as you’ve told me many times.”

  “But Dad, Ms. Ramin – ”

  “I know she seems a little scatterbrained, son, but I sat in on two of her classes this morning, and aside from that little contact lens episode, she knows her stuff. We talked about this Bible as Literature plan of hers in some detail yesterday, and she is solid on understanding that it’s the Word of God, not just another mythology. You’ll be going on the trip as well.”

  “I’ll be what?” Keith exploded. “Dad, I’m going to ProTechCon, the Professional Technical Convention, during Spring Break this year. I told you that. I have been budgeting for two years for this.”

  “Son, surely you see that this class is a chance to teach our students that the Bible is authoritative and important in their lives.”

  “Dad, maybe that’s true, and the class could be great, but you understand how important ProTechCon is. It’s the latest technology, research, discoveries nobody else will know about for years, maybe. I’ll make real contacts in the scientific community. It’s course credit for my master's program. I can’t put it off again.”

  “Keith.” His father put his hands on his son’s shoulders.

  Keith was startled to realize how much he had to reach up to do that. Was his dad stooping? Was it his imagination that they had always “seen eye to eye”, literally and figuratively?

  “God has been speaking to me about our lives here. It’s still a small town, and in the past we’ve been able to help parents control what their children are taught and protect kids from those Outcomes-Based and Common Core heresies. The tentacles of the government are reaching further and digging in deeper. You know how many textbooks we reject every year.

  “But we still hear those catch-phrases of secularism creeping in all around us. You know about ‘Non-overlapping Magisterium’ and what a crock of cranberries it is – the idea that there are separate truths, religious and scientific. Kids have come to trust what they’re taught in school more than what they’re taught in church. We need to take any opportunity God gives us to teach the Bible as truth, not just nice stories. We need to make these kids love it, believe it, live for it, and even be willing to die for it.

  “People all around the world are already dying for it. It’s coming here, Keith. We can talk about the trip, but this class is not negotiable. Make it work with Ms. Ramin. You both have planning periods during eighth tomorrow. I told her you’ll meet her in the teachers' lounge.”

  Keith started to leave, but turned back. “What was that reporter doing here?”

  “Oh, her? She said she was on her first assignment. You should have heard her complaining about a typical sexist job assignment. I can’t believe anybody’d care about covering a small town’s first day of school.” He looked around. “She sure lit out fast, didn’t she? She didn’t ask a single question. Said she wanted to observe and have her camera man get some footage to keep her bosses happy. I didn’t even see her go. ”

  “What station was she from?”

  “I guess I missed that. The office can tell you if you’re interested. We don’t watch the news anyway. Why does it matter?”

  “She just got kinda weird when the Bible as Literature thing came up. Crazy, like she was just here to find out what that was all about.”

  “Huh. Can’t imagine why any reporter would care about what happens in a little school like ours. Hope this class doesn’t cause trouble. But why should it? It was the government’s idea to offer it.”

  Chapter Three – A Doomsday Duffelbag

  Apparently most of the students and half the teachers had decided to wear the “Have Faith” T-shirts on Wednesday. Keith threaded the hallways toward the teachers’ lounge and the eighth period meeting with Ms. Ramin.

  “Mr. Bradley, where’s your shirt?”

  “Can’t wear a tie with a T-shirt, Robert.” Keith swung into the teachers’ lounge.

  “Hey, Mr. Bradley!”

  “Hey, Ms. Ramin.” Keith shook hands with her, noticing that she wore one of the black T-shirts. “So, I’m not sure how you want to handle this team-teaching thing. I’ve never – ”

  “First I need to apologize for acting like such an idiot yesterday,” she interrupted. “And I’d like it if you would call me Talia, please, while the little terrors are absent.”

  “And you can call me Keith. Hey, it’s no big deal. First day, a lot of stuff on your mind, a crisis of contact…”

  She laughed. “Just tell me you don’t think I’m hopeless,” she pleaded, and gestured toward a table spread with books, yellow legal pads, a laptop, and a tablet. “These are my plans for the Bible as Literature. I have it divided into sections, and I’m so glad you’re going to be there to handle the science issues, because I knew what I had prepared was lacking in that area.

  “I just roughed out these lesson plans, and I bookmarked a bunch of stuff I want to draw from. We’ll cover the other ancient works of literature as they come up chronologically with the historical events in the Bible. We’ll always make sure the kids understand that the Bible came first. That’s one of the things that bother me, when they say the Epic of Gilgamesh is older, or parts of the Bible were based on pagan writings. I can’t believe some scholars are saying the Bible was written as an answer to the myths, thinking
that sounds better. It still means the Scriptures are not as old, and in most cases it’s much older! Always, always, the Bible has to be presented as the authority, the reality, the truth. Do you see where I’m going with it?”

  The bell for ninth hour rang and Keith started up from beside Talia at the table. “Whoa. That went quick. I am impressed. This is going to be an incredible course. I had no idea you could teach all this stuff about manuscripts, translations, and the historical backgrounds in a Bible as Literature course.”

  “Honestly … This is my first time.” Talia bit her lip, hitched up one shoulder, and toyed with the tablet.

  “You mean your first time teaching this class?”

  “No, my first year as a teacher.”

  Keith stared at her. He flicked his gaze from the laptop to the legal pads, and back to her anxious face. “You've got this worked out like a pro, Talia. I never would have guessed you haven’t taught before. It’s going to go great.”

  “You think so? I tried hard to honor the Word. I'm so sorry about my driving, and the contact thing. I'm not usually this crazy, I promise.

  “These T-shirts … they were included in that package I showed you – the one where they give you tools to turn your curriculum digital. The message is a little vague, you know … ‘Faith’ in what? Can you believe they encourage you to develop faith-based curriculum, and add it to their repository?”

  “Yeah, I saw that.” Keith touched her mouse and scrolled for a minute. “The T-shirts can be used with almost any religious course, I guess, so it makes sense that they’re kinda general. But your goals and objectives aren’t vague at all. There’s Scripture memory, archaeological studies, chronological history, scientific correlations – And you don’t think you’ll have any trouble with the powers that be over a curriculum this explicitly fact-based?”

  “They don’t tell you what to teach,” Talia replied. “They only ask that you ‘enrich the corpus with your teachings’. That sounds kind of pompous, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah. So you’re required to do a weekly upload? What happens if you don’t?”

  “It’s listed as an Advanced Placement course, so kids might lose the three credits offered.” Talia bit her lip harder.

  “Parents would be upset if we mess that up.”

  “That’s not going to happen, though. I’m very organized and punctual. I’m never late, and I never miss deadlines.”

  “You just try to park in the bus lot and lose your contact in your own eye.”

  “Just for that, I won’t invite you to the shop class when I show them my car.”

  “Are you serious? I have always wanted to see how a Tesla works. I’m sorry you almost got run over by a bus and a van in one day and sat in the wrong section. I am!”

  “It was only a bus, you doofus!”

  “Maybe that big black van at the other end of the school wasn’t your fault,” Keith joked.

  Talia stopped laughing and froze. “What big black van?”

  “There was a Sprinter that almost took you out when you pulled into the car lot. Hey, I was kidding. He was speeding. That one wasn’t your fault.”

  Talia chewed her lip. “You saw a black van going by the school? Speeding?”

  “Oh, yeah. The Men in Black were clearly after you. Only aliens call people doofus.”

  “I could call you a lot worse things than doofus, you meanie.”

  They both laughed, and Keith helped her gather up her things. She put them in a big canvas duffel. “Wow, what’s in this thing?” He asked as he hefted the bag off the table.

  “I can survive for two weeks on what’s in that bag,” Talia insisted. “I’ve got climbing gear, rope, MREs, a solar oven, first aid supplies, bottled water, lots of dry socks and … some other things.” She dropped her eyes and settled the bag across her shoulders.

  “I hope you've got some lip gloss, root touch-up, and nail polish, too.”

  Her eyes turned sad and sober. “I overdid it on the first day of school makeover, didn’t I? I was trying to make up for all the years I didn’t even have a new dress for school. We grew up poor.”

  “If you own a Tesla, I’d say you got past being poor in fine style. What made you come to a dinky little town like this to teach school?”

  “The car is only a loaner.” Talia’s eyes still seemed stuck to the floor. “My Uncle Naddy is holding onto it because someone owes him money. Look, I have to go. Thanks for working on this class with me, Keith. I’m glad it’s not someone who doesn’t believe the Bible is true. We are going to teach these kids eternal stuff, and maybe make a difference in the future of the world.”

  “Wait, one thing I forgot to ask about. Tell me about this trip.”

  “Oh, the trip!” The bag crashed back down on the table. “That’s how we’re going to find the golden testaments!”

  “The what?”

  “Don’t look at me like I’m Joseph Smith! I’m serious. There is a copy of all the Scriptures that was made using a special metal called orichalcum. People burn and destroy scrolls and books, so they tried to make something indestructible. Think about how we find clay tablets from thousands of years ago that can still be read. Imagine tablets made of metal that doesn't break like clay or corrode like most metals.

  “They made these tablets, bit by bit, while fleeing persecution. It was something nobody in power wanted finished. Finally it was done, and they hid the tablets somewhere. I’ve been researching since I was ten years old, trying to figure out where the golden testaments are.”

  “Wait a minute. You have ten days, max, for spring break, including travel time to and from. And you don’t know where they are? Are they all together? What if they’re scattered everywhere? And we’re going with a bunch of high school students. We can’t just take them who knows where hunting for some gold whatevers you think exist.”

  “They’re real! I’m getting closer every day. By Christmas I’m sure I’ll know where they are. That’s when we have to nail down the final details of the trip. At that point we’ll be able to plan to get as close to them as possible, and we will find them. It's important to help students learn that the God's truth does endure, no matter what men try to do to destroy it.”

  “Okay, okay, so … if these tablets exist, what language are they in?”

  “I’m … I’m not sure. It's hard to find out when the tablets were actually made.”

  “You’re not sure. So it could be French, Spanish, German, Italian – ”

  “It’s okay. I know all those.”

  “You know all those?”

  “And Greek, and Hebrew, and Croat, and Russian, and a few Arabic dialects …”

  “You know all those languages? Fluently?”

  “Yes. This has been my lifelong dream. I’m going to find them, and I’m going to be able to read them, whatever language they’re in.”

  “You said you're not sure when they were made? What if it’s English a thousand years ago?”

  She rattled off something that sounded a little like some mashup of German and Latin.

  “What’s that mean?” Keith demanded.

  “It’s English, the way they spoke it a thousand years ago,” Talia shrugged. “It means, I’m ready for this.” She cast her eyes down at the floor, and then let them dart up again. “Your father said you probably wouldn’t go with us – that you had a convention you needed to go to for your degree. I’m glad you changed your mind.”

  “Wait … I didn’t say for sure that I’d go. I’m just looking for information.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes dropped. “It’s okay. I’ve had twenty people talk to me about chaperoning, so I’m sure it’ll be okay if you can’t come. I just thought … since we’re teaching together, you’d be the best one to answer the kids’ questions, to help plan … I thought you’d understand better than anybody else.

  “I went to Italy when I was in high school, and the chaperones didn’t care anything about the art, the architecture, the history – there was
a mom who went out with some the teenage girls and let them get drunk. Girls came home banging on people’s doors, throwing up … Ugh! That woman spent half her time at the hotel bar and the other half shopping. Even the teachers didn’t know anything about what we were going to see or do.

  “I wanted it to be different for this trip. I want us to teach the kids to honor the word and understand the sacrifices of people who protected and preserved it.”

  “I think it would be great to go on the trip. But this ProTechCon – it’s only held every five years. I missed it last time because – because of my mom’s funeral.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, she had a heart attack. Just … bam.”

  “My parents both died in a bus crash when I was a kid. That’s how I found out about the golden testaments, when I went to live with my Uncle Naddy and Aunt Sophie –the Doctors Ramin. They’re kind of like the Indiana Joneses of Bible Archaeology. We’ve been all over the world, tracing down this treasure. Uncle Naddy is at a dig site trying to narrow down the search right now too. We’re going back together over Christmas break. Hey, maybe you could come with us for the preliminary trip. That wouldn’t interfere with your conference.”

  “I don’t have the money for something like that.”

  “We do. You’d be our guest. You have a passport, right?”

  “Yeah, I have a passport, but … ”

  “Just think about it. I do have to go.”

  “Wait, sorry, I forgot all about that reporter who was in the assembly. What was she doing here?”

  “What reporter?”

  “She was walking around the auditorium with a cameraman, looking all bored, until my dad announced your class. Then she went kinda nuts, and made her cameraman zoom in on you and me.”

  “I didn’t know there was a reporter here. With a cameraman? Why would she care about any of this?”

  “She seemed like she cared a whole lot about this class.”

  “I don’t know anything about it. Sorry.”

  Keith helped her shoulder her bag again and watched her go, admiring once more the swish of those colorful skirts and … other things. He had a feeling she wouldn’t accept help with that big, bulky bag. Survive for two weeks out of a duffel bag? Where did that come from? I guess that’s what they do when they travel around on this crazy quest to find those golden testaments. This girl is a lot more complicated than I figured. And who gets a Tesla to hold onto as collateral?