Chapter 26

By the time they had regained the Northern Terrace and made their way down the western slope to the village, it was nearly dawn. The village was deserted.

“This is really only a village when there are archaeologists or shepherds about,” Derek said. He opened the door to a small shanty. Keith and Maddie dropped their packs inside the door and were pushed onto a narrow bed where they sat. They were inside, but there was no heat in the cabin, so they kept their parkas and gloves on. Derek seemed completely relaxed. “We have the whole village to ourselves.” Derek said. “Najat, make us some coffee, would you? We have a lot of talking to do.” The driver bristled and Keith could tell he wasn’t fond of being treated like a servant, but he moved to heat water at the bottled gas stove anyway.

“Now, tell me where you were on your way to when you got caught in the snow, children,” he said condescendingly. “You should have called on me for help in the first place.”

“None of your business,” Maddie said sharply.

“It’s okay, Maddie,” Keith soothed. “We’re in the middle of nowhere with no support. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“Keith!” Maddie exclaimed. He laid a hand on her leg and gave a gentle squeeze. She calmed and listened to the story he wove.

“We were trying to reach the village of Güngörmüş, east of the mountain,” Keith said. “When the snow blew in, we lost the trail.”

“Why Güngörmüş?” Derek asked.

“Because it is halfway between the mountain and the water,” Keith responded. “We figured we could make it to the water tomorrow, even if we had to shelter in the tent in the village for the night. The instructions for finding the path to enlightenment were to go directly to the water’s edge.”

“Educated people can be so stupid,” Derek said. “You’re lucky you didn’t drop off the edge of a cliff. You should have come for your driver and he could have driven you to the water in a couple of hours.”

“We got too excited,” Maddie said, joining Keith’s story. “We could see where we needed to go and thought we could make it.” Keith squeezed her leg again, thanking her for helping.

“What is at the water’s edge?” Derek continued his interrogation.

“The genie,” said Keith. “According to the instructions, that is where the path to enlightenment lies, guarded by the fire of the desert—the djinn. I assume there is some kind of carving along the shore that we’ll be able to spot when we get there.”

“The path to enlightenment,” Derek began. “This isn’t a metaphorical path, is it? There is some kind of temple, the gates of which are statues of demons, the path to which is lined with gods, or some such, and the entrance is on the banks of the Euphrates?” Derek said. “None of that was in the old manuscript Yousef was carrying around.”

“What did Yousef have?” Maddie asked.

“A page of an old letter, apparently 15th century, that your Grandfather had,” Derek said matter-of-factly. “Yousef acquired it years ago. I had a damned time getting it into old man Sorenson’s collection of old books that was donated to your library. I planted an interesting old catalog of books in his collection when I got him to sign the collection over to the University. The old guy was on my father’s board of directors, so he was inclined to take my advice on the donation. I’ve been following the computer record of what books you were authenticating ever since. When you logged the book out, the computer flagged it to me and I watched you through the security cameras all day. I really thought you were going to steal it.” Derek laughed at the implication against Keith’s integrity. Well, Keith admitted to himself, I was tempted.

“So that’s where it came from,” Maddie said, glancing at Keith. “How did you know what book to put it in and how did you get it?”

“That was another gift from your father,” Derek said. “During his years in Iran, Yousef found a cache that his father had hidden. It was when Yousef showed me what he’d found, including a charred page from a manuscript that had been burnt, that I decided it was all worth looking for.”

“If you know what we’re looking for, you are ahead of us,” Keith said. “All we really have are directions to where whatever it is was hidden.”

“It’s a manuscript that will change people’s perception of the world,” Derek said. “Neither your father or grandfather could make more out of it than that it was a clue to buried treasure.”

“He only had one page,” Keith said, guardedly. Errol had certainly known more, but had not seen fit to share that knowledge with either his son or grandson. “And he didn’t have the key. It was in a different book entirely.” Keith was getting tired. While his wounds had knitted together enough to not be in danger of splitting apart, the stitches in his hand still itched. He no longer wore a patch on his eye, but it was tired, itchy, and watering. They needed food. Maddie asked to go outside to relieve herself and Najat followed her to an outhouse. Keith considered trying to take Derek down while they were gone, but he knew he was no match for the larger man, especially when Derek shifted so that Keith could see he wore a gun at his side. Keith decided on a different tack.

“What’s really in this for you, Derek?” Keith asked. “You can’t imagine Maddie is going to come back to you after all you’ve done. You certainly don’t need more wealth. Why are you interested?”

“When Maddie sees what I’ve made possible for her...” Derek broke off, refusing to rise any further to Keith’s bait. “You love old books, don’t you, Dr. Drucker?” Keith nodded. “You love to feel them beneath your gloved hands. You love to study their bindings. I’ll bet you even love the smell of them.” Keith nodded again. He couldn’t deny any of that. He didn’t know a book preservationist or historian who didn’t love all the things Derek was describing.

“I really don’t care about such things,” Derek said. “You can have any book we find if it makes you happy. In fact, I want you to examine and authenticate it. I only care about the contents of the books. The Dead Sea Scrolls have been kept bottled up by the Vatican and other churches for fifty years. Why? Because they expose the sham of religion and question the authority of the church. A few simple words from some previously unknown manuscript can completely change the way we think. But change it how? Who will people trust to tell them their beliefs are clever manipulations of their church in collusion with the government. Fundamental doctrines of the Church will be challenged—and not just for Christianity. The document we are looking for and that you will authenticate, will cast new light, or new doubt, on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and even national boundaries. We can’t let any more ancient knowledge fall into the hands of religious leaders. Or any government for that matter.”

“So it’s all in the name of altruism,” Keith continued to needle him. “We’re going to be so much better off with you telling us what to think.”

“I’m beginning to not like you,” Derek snarled. “You are a typical narrow-minded academic.”

Just then Maddie was pushed roughly through the door and collapsed on the bed next to Keith. Najat entered behind her, nursing his hand.

“The bitch bit me,” he said.

“Madeline,” Derek shook his head sadly.

“He tried to molest me,” Maddie said. “Tell him to keep his hands to himself and he won’t be bitten.” Derek spun to face the driver.

“Is this true?” he snapped.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Najat said.

“Ah. A misunderstanding. You see, Madeline? These things happen when we are dealing with different cultures,” Derek said smoothly. Keith could see how tightly he was coiled and knew they were moments from a violent explosion. “It’s the way wars start—with misunderstandings.” Derek turned to face Najat again. “With misunderstandings about one’s place in the world. Do you understand me?” Neither moved toward his gun; the tension between the two was palpable. Keith held his breath and placed his arm protectively around Maddie’s shoulder. After a moment, the driver turned and left.

“That was close,” Derek said, turning toward the two. He frowned.

“He grabbed my breast,” Maddie defended herself.

“No doubt,” Derek said. “Najat is a conservative. You go about with your hair exposed, so he assumes you are a whore. You keep protesting that you are divorced, so that confirms it, and ups the offenses to adultery. If there were ten like Najat nearby, they would stone you.”