The Caleb Collection

by Ted Dekker

  Rebecca shook in the darkness, suddenly furious. She grunted aloud. The sound echoed hollow, surprisingly comforting. She screamed impulsively. A long piercing shriek that bounced off the walls and flooded her with rage.

  She was going to die in this room. Avraham’s guess that the Arabs had placed dynamite along this north wall was probably right. It’s what she would do. There was no way a soldier could cover the whole length from the monastery without exposing himself.

  The explosion would be sudden, a blinding wall of white fire, projecting chunks of concrete into the room at eight hundred kilometers an hour, like missiles from a gunship. One of those blocks would take her head off. She blinked in the direction of the wall. At any moment. It was how her mother had died.

  Rebecca swallowed and reached back to lie down. Her hand hit the lamp and it toppled to the floor with a crash. Glass. She lay down on the cot, uncaring.

  A thought ripped through her mind, and suddenly she cared very much. Glass. What were the walls made of? Stone? No, only the outer walls and tunnels were built of stone. The rest were poured concrete. But it was a rough concrete. She bolted upright.

  And what about the grate?

  Her heart now pounding in her chest, Rebecca dropped to her knees and felt for the glass. A sharp edge sliced into her finger, but the pain hardly registered. She grabbed the pillow from the bed behind her, pulled off the pillowcase, and wrapped it around her hand. The glass would probably do nothing to the concrete walls, but the grate might be a different matter.

  She got her padded hand around the largest piece of glass and scrambled over to the corner, knocking the nightstand over on the way. With her left hand, she felt for the edge of the grate, and with her right she brought the sharp glass to its rough surface. She scraped.

  The surface yielded!

  She dug at the edge, scratching a hard claylike substance off the surface. The steel grate was roughly twenty by thirty centimeters—too small to crawl through, of course, but large enough to use as a tool. The thought of the wall exploding behind her suddenly brought a new terror. Accepting fate was one thing any good soldier learned to do in battle. But Rebecca was no longer accepting that fate.

  Star bursts spotted her vision, and she forced herself to slow down. All she needed now was to pass out. She worked the grate quickly, uncovering first one edge and then two others. She jammed her fingers through the slots and yanked.

  It came out with a soft popping sound. For a moment she knelt, paralyzed, stunned by her success.

  She jumped to her feet and rushed for the door. She slapped hard concrete for a few seconds before realizing she was on the wrong wall. She walked parallel along the wall and around two corners before her fingers found the wood door.

  Rebecca attacked the wood like an animal, swinging the heavy steel grate like a pick, grunting with each swing. The boards were less than an inch thick; she had seen that when she’d first entered.

  It took twenty good whacks and one bloodied hand for the first plank to split. When it did, the hall’s lamplight looked to her like the light of heaven, and she began to sob with her swings.

  Two minutes later she crashed through the splintered planks, the pillowcase red around the grate. She gasped at the cool air, and waves of heat crashed down her spine. She dropped the grate with a jarring clank, pivoted to her left, and sprinted up the hall.

  Rebecca slid to a stop at the outer hall and flattened herself against the wall, still breathing hard. The air was strangely silent. Gunfire sounded in the distance, but not from the monastery. Her people weren’t returning fire.

  Could they have left?

  Dear God, they had left!

  She sprinted for the study, spun through the door, and ran for the hole in the floor. The room below was dark and vacant. The rope still hung, limp in the shadows. She thought about dropping into the cavern and racing after them, but an image of Caleb filled her mind. Avraham would have left him. And the others. If she could get the monks out through the tunnel before the attack . . .

  Rebecca whirled and ran for the hall that led down to the root cellar. As far as she could tell the monastery was empty.

  “Caleb!” She called out before she reached the hole Zakkai had knocked through the floor. “Caleb!”

  Amber light glowed from the hole in the root cellar’s corner, like at the top of a jack-o’-lantern. She dropped to her knees and bent over it. “Caleb!”

  “Yes?” He stepped into the light from his old room, smiling.

  The sight was absurd, this man dressed in his tunic, at peace with the world, while Arabs prepared to storm the monastery. He must have seen something in her face because he dropped the grin and blinked.

  “What is it?”

  “Thank God, you’re okay,” she said. “What are you doing down here?” He hesitated. “Talking to God.”

  “Of course, how silly of me. We have to get out! You can talk to God later.”

  He climbed up the ladder and followed when she ran. “Did God happen to tell you what happened to the Ark?” she asked.

  He answered as if she were serious. “No. But I think I understand now.”

  “That’s good, because I don’t. Avraham has taken the Ark. While you were talking to God, he managed to lock me in a room and take over the mission. The throne of God is in the hands of a madman. I could’ve used your help.” She said it all, surprised that she actually felt some anger at him for missing the entire episode and talking so placidly about it. In his own way he was impossible.

  “He locked you in a room? I thought he was one of your soldiers.”

  “He was! Never mind. Right now we’ve got to get the others out of here before this whole place goes up.” She rounded a corner and headed for the front of the monastery.

  “So the Ark is gone then?”

  “Yes.”

  They ran into the sanctuary and pulled up. Jason stood with an arm around his wife, Leiah. Eleven others waited where they had waited for many hours now, on the floor in the center of the room. Six monks and five servants. They were all here.

  Jason dropped his arm and strode towards them. “Caleb! What’s going on here?”

  “When did the others leave?” Rebecca asked.

  “I didn’t know they had left. We haven’t seen anyone for half an hour. What’s happening?”

  “Avraham has hijacked the Ark,” Rebecca said. “That’s what’s happening. And if I’m right, this place is about to blow. We have to get you to safety. Hurry, follow me!” She headed for the door.

  “They’re going to blow up the monastery?” Leiah asked. “We can’t let them—”

  “If you want to live, I suggest you follow me. We don’t have time!”

  They broke for the door as one.

  She led them, clopping down the hall like a pack of mules. From the hills outside, a voice called out in Arabic. They were getting suspicious. Shots rang out again.

  Rebecca herded them into the study and handed Jason a torch from the wall. “Take them through the tunnel. Find a place to hide until morning. Then take them to the leper colony.”

  “What about you?” Jason asked.

  She looked into his eyes. “The Arabs may find this room. If they do, they’ll assume the Ark is on its way to Jerusalem and follow Avraham. I can’t allow the Ark to fall into Arab hands—it would be the only thing worse than what’s already happened.”

  “That’s crazy! What can you do? You don’t even have a gun!”

  “Don’t worry about me. I’ve been fighting these Palestinians since I turned twelve. I know how they think better than they do.” She forced a grin. “You just stay alive.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  They turned to Caleb who had stepped forward.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Rebecca said.

  He lifted his right eyebrow.

  “You can’t come with me,” she objected. “Not only would you be in the way, but you would end up dead. This isn’t like the desert.�
� Even as she said it, she knew it was sounding stupid to him, but the thought of putting him in harm’s way again made her stomach turn.

  “I don’t think you understand, Rebecca,” he said with a slight smile. “I have to go.”

  “Why, because you lost the Ark? The Ark is inconsequential to you, remember?”

  “You’re right. And that’s why I have to go. Because the Ark is inconsequential. Powerless.”

  He was talking in riddles again.

  A full burst of weapons fire suddenly filled the air. Distant yells sounded in Arabic—they were attacking!

  “Go! Take them, Jason.” She spun to Caleb. “I’m going alone!”

  “Rebecca . . .” He spoke her name softly, as if tasting it on his tongue. A strange warmth spread over her head. She stopped, suddenly at a loss.

  Caleb turned to his mother. “Don’t worry, Mother. I know what I’m doing.”

  Leiah glanced at Rebecca and then walked up to her son. She lifted a hand and stroked his cheek. “Please be careful.”

  Rebecca could hardly believe that they were carrying on as if her instructions meant nothing. The Arabs were attacking and here they were, in the study, saying good-byes.

  “Go with God.” Leiah embraced him and then turned to Rebecca. “You will be careful with my son. And learn to listen to him; he knows more than you might think.” She shot Rebecca a wink and a smile. Then she entered the hole and the others followed in single file.

  Rebecca stared after them at a loss for words. An explosion shook the monastery. Caleb just looked at her.

  “Stay close,” she said and ran for the kitchen. They didn’t have much time.

  She and Caleb.

  Avraham caught the team halfway to the leper colony.

  “Who goes there?” Samuel’s voice called out.

  “It’s me, you idiot. Get that gun off me!”

  Avraham pulled up, panting. That they had gotten this far so quickly while lugging the heavy Ark was surprising. The rumbling started behind them—the Arabs were blowing up the monastery.

  “Where’s Rebecca?” Samuel demanded.

  Avraham looked back in the direction of the monastery. “They’re going to level it,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  “Where is Rebecca?” This time Samuel’s tone was belligerent.

  “Dead, I presume. The Arabs stormed the monastery before I could get to her. I barely escaped myself. If we don’t move, none of us will escape. Now let’s go!”

  “No! We can’t assume that she’s dead!” Samuel said, stepping up. His eyes were wide and his face red. “I’m going back for her.” He started back.

  “And risk capture? I can’t let you do that. They would force you to talk.”

  Samuel spun back. “We can’t leave her, Avraham! You may be in charge, but she is our commander. We have to go back!” He turned and walked.

  Avraham palmed his pistol.

  “Samuel!”

  The soldier turned.

  Boom! The gun bucked.

  For a full second, the soldier stared wide-eyed, a round hole punched through his forehead. He fell to the ground like a sack of beans.

  Avraham turned from him and faced the others. “We have the Ark of the Covenant, gentlemen. Our objective is to return it to Jerusalem. I am in command of that mission. If you stand in my way, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  He lowered his gun arm. Jude, the senior among them now, just stared at him blankly. No one spoke. “Good. Strip him. Let’s go!”

  Jude stripped Samuel of his weapons, and the troop left, single file except for the Ark, which required four of them to carry. If they’d been in a fog about Avraham’s authority, he had cleared the air for them.

  35

  The north side of the monastery was crumbling under heavy explosives—fortunately the kitchen was on the west side, but even then it was being shaken to bits when Rebecca and Caleb sprinted through.

  Rebecca’s mind raced through their options. She knew what she had to do, and it was looking as if there was only one way to do it. Avraham had stripped her weapons and radio. She had nothing but her hands and her mind, and she wasn’t sure how well those were working. They were telling her that she had to get past the falling cupboards and flying mortar, and that was a start, but she knew that beyond the outer door she would meet flying bullets, hardly a proposition to favor.

  She snatched a kitchen knife from the counter and seized the wooden door handle. “Keep your head down and make a beeline for the stable. No hesitation!”

  “That’s on the north side!” he said. “There are explosions—”

  “That’s right. The smoke will give us some cover. Just follow me!”

  She pulled the door open and slid out into the night. She glanced back and saw that Caleb was on her heels, crouched low. Muzzle flashes spotted the hills—the Arabs were in a full firing mode, waiting for the air to clear. Another explosion thundered to their right, and she instinctively dropped to her belly. Caleb tripped over her feet and sprawled facedown on her back. They both grunted and Caleb rolled to the right.

  Rebecca sprang to her feet and tugged on his arm. “Come on! Now! Run!”

  She vaulted the corral fence and ran for the shack they called a stable. The air was clouded with dust and smoke—this was good. The monastery’s north wall stood directly to their right—this was not good.

  She slammed into the side of the stable and ducked inside just in time to avoid Caleb who crashed in from behind. They pulled up on the straw floor, panting. All three camels stood quivering in the far corner. Behind them, another explosion rocked the monastery, and the beasts honked in terror.

  Caleb ran to them, speaking softly in his mother tongue, Ge’ez.

  Rebecca scanned the shack and found what she was looking for. Along one wall stood a feeding bin—a rectangular box roughly two meters by one meter. She pulled it over, spilling the hay it held.

  “You have any blankets here?”

  “The camels haven’t been stripped down yet.”

  Of course! They had been too preoccupied to take the bedrolls and saddles from the beasts since she and Caleb had ridden in earlier today. God gave his favors still.

  “Help me put this on one of them,” she said.

  “The feeding trough?”

  “Strapped to the back of a camel and covered with a blanket it becomes the Ark. Grab the end!”

  She lifted one end and they hoisted it to the back of the nearest camel. It took them less than a minute to secure and cover it.

  “You want them to think we have the Ark?”

  “That’s the idea. Draw them off.” She saw his apprehensive stare. “It wasn’t my idea that you come, just remember that. We have only one objective now. We run and we make sure the Arabs see us run.”

  “I would think that actually escaping would also be a reasonable objective,” he said.

  She cast him a sidelong glance. “Obviously. They catch us and they find out we don’t have the Ark—that’s a problem.” She cinched the strap holding the blanket and grabbed the camel’s reins and led it to the door.

  “We wait for the next explosion . . .”

  As if to answer her, a detonation split the air, sending a cloud of debris skyward.

  “Now!” She yanked her camel into the open and forced it to the back gate. It protested loudly. She had wanted the Arabs to know—well now they knew.

  She fumbled with the gate. Too slow! They would be sitting ducks!

  Caleb suddenly pushed her aside, flipped a latch, and threw the gate open. He made a kissing sound and quickly guided the camels through. “Follow me!” he said, leaping to the camel’s back. He pulled the second camel by its lead rope and kicked his animal into a startled run.

  Rebecca clambered onto her camel and nearly fell off when it took after its cousins. Bullets whined about her and she ducked, kicking the camel into an awkward gallop. How they managed to reach the first draw without collecting a few slugs, she didn’t kn
ow, but they made it and then galloped up the rocky incline.

  Caleb kept looking back. Maybe it was good that he’d come.

  They crested the first hill, and Rebecca knew that the Arabs would have to be blind not to see the large box silhouetted on the back of the second camel. But she had to make sure. At the last minute, she pulled back on her reins. The camel stamped to an impatient standstill.

  She screamed at the top of her lungs. “Run, Caleb! Run with the Ark and with God!”

  She kicked the animal under her, and it bolted over the hill into the next draw. Caleb had stopped and she raced up to him.

  “Keep going! That was for the Arabs’ benefit, not yours. Get us out of here! I guarantee they’re coming. They have horses.”

  He nodded and took off down the hill. Far off, voices began to shout in Arabic. That’s it, follow us, Rebecca willed. Come on, Ismael. Caleb made a sharp turn to the east at the bottom of the draw and she followed.

  Come on and kill me.

  Captain Asid ran up to Ismael, frantic and breathing hard.

  “They’re gone! All of them! They’ve taken the Ark!”

  “Slow down! How can you be certain?”

  “I sent a man in as soon as the team on the north reported the camels. The monastery’s empty. And my men are sure that one of the camels was loaded with the Ark. They saw it—there’s no mistake.”

  “And how could over a dozen men and women walk past your men?” The idea that the monastery could have emptied without their knowing was impossible. There was the report of the camels, of course, but that had been only three.

  “They had to have taken an escape route somewhere,” the captain said. “But the Ark is headed north on the back of a camel. We saw it.”

  Ismael stared down at the monastery. Half of its north wall was gone and the bell tower had fallen over. They hadn’t heard a single gunshot from the windows in ten minutes. The Jews had escaped. The main party had eluded them completely, but if Asid was right, the Ark had not. It was the only explanation. And Rebecca and Caleb were the two leading the Ark north. The thought made him sick. He could not make the same mistake twice.