by Jim Plautz
Marco sent a small Cessna to pick up the Falasha priest and they were waiting for us at the dock when Ken and I arrived. “Thank you so much for coming,” I said, greeting the man dressed in the traditional Ethiopian robe. “This is my friend, Father Sean McGinnis. He has been working with your people in the Somalia desert for the past five years.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Father McGinnis.”
“Likewise,” Father said, with his customary broad smile. “I’m told that you helped educate these three about your religious customs.”
“Is that why you brought me here?” the priest asked
“Hop in, Father. We can all learn together. Here is a goblet and some coins that were found in the cave that we are headed for.”
“Oh my,” the Falasha priest exclaimed as he studied the artifacts. “This goblet is identical to the goblets we use to celebrate Timkat,” he said in awe, “but this one is made of real gold. Where did you find it?”
“In a temple on that island,” I answered, pointing to the small island that we were nearing. “The drop in water level last week uncovered the entrance to a cave, and inside the cave we found the goblet and coins.”
“Among a few other artifacts,” Ken added with understatement.
“Oh my God,” the priest whispered. He kept silent and stared at the goblet for the remainder of the trip.
Marco related the story Sanji had told us yesterday, but I wasn’t sure the priest was listening.
Fifteen minutes later we found the cave opening that Sanji had described. I can’t describe the excitement that I felt as the five of us tied the boat to the dock and we approached the cave. I could see that Father Sean was just as excited. I led the way into the cave, but gave way to the Falasha priest when we saw the door to the temple.
“Magnificent,” the priest said as he saw the wall carvings and the ornate altar.
Father McGinnis dropped to his knees and made the sign of the cross. The rest of us did likewise. “I can feel His presence,” Father McGinnis said solemnly. “He is here.”
“Who is here?” Marco asked, feeling uncomfortable at the way both holy men were acting.
The Falasha priest was staring at the veil protecting the inner chamber. “I must go in alone,” he stated.
“Are you sure you will be safe?” I asked, reminding him of Abdul’s death.
“I have trained for this day my entire life,” the priest proclaimed, as he pulled back the protective veil and entered the Holy of Holies. The priest was inside for almost an hour and all we detected was ritual chanting and the scent of frankincense wafting from the room. We waited anxiously to hear what he had found.
“There is nothing for you here,” the priest announced, as he came out of the inner chamber and closed the veil. “You must never enter the Holy of Holies lest you be punished by the Lord.”
“You found the Ark of the Covenant, didn’t you?” I said aloud.
“I found nothing that concerns you. Come, we must leave this place.”
I looked at the others for support, but I already knew that I couldn’t leave here without knowing for sure what was behind curtain number one. “We can’t do that, Father. We need to see for ourselves.”
“No, I will not allow it.”
Father McGinnis offered a compromise. “I’ll go in. I am a man of God and the Lord will protect me.”
“No,” the priest said again, attempting to forcibly stop Father McGinnis from entering. Ken and Marco stepped forward to restrain the priest as Father Sean pulled back the veil and entered the inner chamber.
“Oh, my,” he exclaimed immediately as he saw the golden chest. “It is more beautiful than I imagined,” he said in a voice that was filled with tears of joy. “It is the Ark of the Covenant, just as described in the Bible. I’m sure of it.”
“Father, do you think we will be safe if you pulled back the veil and let us see?”
“No,” the Falasha priest proclaimed angrily. “The purity of the Ark must not be adulterated by allowing laymen to gaze upon it.”
“Father Sean?”
“Just to be safe, it might be wise if one or two of you stepped outside.”
“I’ll volunteer,” Marco said immediately.
“Ken, would you mind? I would need you to clean up after me if we are wrong.”
Ken nodded his agreement, although I know he would have preferred to stay. “Someone will have to tell Rosann what happened,” Ken added.
“Okay, Father Sean. They’re gone.”
The veil was pulled back and I had a clear view of the most beautiful object that I have ever seen. It was more than a beautiful chest, it was alive. “It’s wonderful; I can feel its power from here.”
“I know; I almost expect God to appear on the mercy seat and talk to me,” Father Sean replied. “I don’t want to leave here.”
“Well, you had better come out so we can determine what we should do next. The Falasha priest might cause a scene.”
“Hold the curtain while I pull Abdul out of here.”
We were stepping into the boat when the Falasha priest made a request that satisfied our immediate problem. “Please allow me to stay and guard the temple. The Ark must never be left alone again.”
I looked at Father McGinnis who nodded. “That is an excellent idea, Father. We appreciate that. We will bring back some food and drinking water. Is there anything else you require?”
”More frankincense.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ken asked as we neared our pier.
“I think so,” I replied, “and other than tying him up, it was the best solution to our problem. We can’t let word of this leak out or we will have a stampede on our hands.”
“Believe me, he won’t do anything to harm the Ark,” Father Sean promised.
“Even if he could,” Ken added with a little levity.
“No phone calls,” I ordered. “Sometimes I get the feeling that someone is listening to every phone call I make, so let’s not take any chances. Let’s go back to our offices and talk this over and try to determine what to do. I wish Matthew were here.”
“I have been afraid to ask, but did you talk with Matthew yesterday?” Father Sean asked gently.
“Yes, but I didn’t want to mention the Ark until we knew for sure. I didn’t want to take his mind off the game. Boy, do I regret that now.”
“I’m not sure that would have been a good idea anyway,” Father Sean said in support. “There is nothing he could have done.”
“When are you leaving?” Ken asked.
“Let me call Rosann to make sure. In the meantime, can you get the Falasha priest the supplies he needs while Marco notifies the authorities about the two bodies we found in the woods?”
“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour or two.”
“While you are talking to Mary, ask her why she has called me six times already. Between her and some guy named Jerry Hayes, my mail box is full.”
Five minutes later Rosann was on the phone and her first question was if I knew where Father McGinnis was. “He’s right here; do you want to talk with him?”
“Put me on speaker so I only need to go through this once.”
“Hi, Father Sean, I’m so happy we finally caught up to you.”
“What can I do for you, Mary?”
“Father, you were at Matthew’s graduation ceremony when everyone promised they would be there for Matthew if he ever needed them, weren’t you?”
“I was. I made the vow like everyone else.”
“Well, he needs you here in St Louis by 8:00 PM Wednesday evening.” Rosann proceeded to tell the story. “Can we count on you?”
“Need you ask?”
“Okay, pack your bags, you and Jim are taking a private plane to Cairo tomorrow where you catch a 11 P.M. flight to New York and a connecting flight to St Louis.”
“My prayers will get there first, Mary. I’ll call Mr. Hayes and let him know I’m coming.”
Ken and Marco came back a
n hour later and finished the conversation we started earlier; what to do about the Ark.
“Ken, what was the Falasha priest’s attitude when you took him the supplies? Does he still believe the Ark is his?”
“No question about that, Jim; but he has calmed down. I think he was afraid that we were going to try to take the Ark.”
“You know, Jim, the priest has a point,” Father Sean interjected. “The Ethiopians won’t allow you to take the Ark out of the country. They would claim the Ark belongs to them and they would have a pretty good claim in a world court.”
“Possession is nine points of the law,” Ken mused.
“Well, we are in agreement. I don’t want to take it anywhere; I just don’t want others to take it. The only place it belongs is the Temple Mount, and that’s not a possibility as long as Ahmadinejad is there. Ugh, think what that megalomaniac would do with the Ark in his possession.”
“Father, who else would want the Ark?” Marco asked. “Other than the Jews and the Catholic Church, what would anybody else do with it?”
“Oh golly, any number of Muslim groups would want it. Remember, Muslims believe that the Mahdi, or 12th Imam, will discover the Ark along with hidden scrolls. The Mahdi will then lead Muslims to a thousand years of peace and prosperity, not to mention the spread of Islam across the world. The Ark would be a tremendous symbol of power and authority.”
“Not to mention its value to countless numbers of extremist and terrorist groups,” Ken added.
“But could they harness the power?” I asked aloud. “The Bible tells several stories about deaths caused by the Ark, including two nephews of Moses.”
“You’re right, Jim. The Bible tells the story of the Philistines defeating the Israelites at the battle of Ebenezer and taking the Ark to Ashdod and placing it next to statue of their deity, a Dagon. The next morning the statue lay face down in front of the Ark of Yahweh with its arms and head severed. Seven months later the Philistines returned the Ark to Israel, their entire population either dead, or covered with tumors.”
“Like the tumors on Sanji’s body,” Marco added.
“According to what I have read,” I continued, “there are only two people that could harness the power of the Ark of the Covenant. One is the Mahdi or guided one, who Father Sean mentioned earlier.”
“Is Ahmadinejad the Mahdi?” Marco asked, looking at Father Sean.
“I don’t think so. He has been quoted many times as saying that the Mahdi will appear soon. I don’t think he could claim to be the Mahdi.”
“Who is the other person?” Ken prodded, already knowing the answer.
“Jesus Christ will reappear in mid-tribulation and lead the armies of God against the Antichrist. Many of the signs foretelling the ‘second coming’ are already in place, aren’t they Father?”
“Yes, Jim. Scripture says that before the second coming happens, the Antichrist will set up headquarters on the Temple Mount and the city of Babylon will be rebuilt.”
Nobody spoke for several minutes while we contemplated the magnitude of the decision at hand. I finally broke the silence and made my decision.
“We need to keep our discovery among the four of us, well five counting the priest. Marco, you and Ken will be the only ones that will visit the priest and take him food and supplies, and by no means allow him to leave the island. We need a few days.”
“And what will you be doing?” Ken asked.
“Praying for a miracle,” I replied. “Father Sean and I will be in St. Louis by tomorrow evening and hopefully we will have an opportunity to talk with Matthew. He is the only one that can make this decision.”
The Masons, after a thousand years of searching starting with the Knights Templar and continuing with James Bruce and many others, had finally located the Ark of the Covenant. There was a brief meeting in Scotland where many Knights had fled to in the sixteenth century.
“They found it, didn’t they?”
“Yes, it’s in a cave on a small island near Tana Kirkos.”
“Have you seen it?”
“No, it’s being guarded by a Falasha priest, but I saw the bodies of the two men that made the discovery. One had tumors and the other scorch marks and a hundred broken bones.”
“Get our men into position.”
The Russians had also been closely following the events as they unfolded. This was their opportunity to cash in on their investment in Matthew Wilson, once known as Randy Wolkson. “How soon can we be ready?” the Russian Mafia leader asked.
“We can have forty soldiers there by Wednesday night with enough firepower to defeat the entire Ethiopian army.”
“Excellent, we will attack at midnight.”
Chapter 23 - HELP