by Otto Schafer
“Water – that’s not good,” Paul said.
“Ed, I can’t tell if the water is moving, can you? I am wondering if this is an underground river or something,” said their father.
“No, I don’t think so, but it’s glowing.”
“The water?” Breanne asked.
“Well, something in the water – algae maybe? Some kind of strange plankton? I mean, I’m not a marine biologist, but something in the water is glowing,” Edward said.
“Daddy, get out of there – this isn’t right. That shouldn’t be possible,” Breanne said. Something wasn’t adding up. Something was wrong. Couldn’t they feel it? Couldn’t they feel the energy?
“I can rappel in and see what we have.” Edward shimmied backwards, drawing his torso out of the hole.
With Paul straining, Charles also scooched and heaved his own bulky torso out of the opening. Then, rolling onto his side to push himself up, he said, “I don’t think blindly rappelling into that water’s a good plan, Ed. We don’t know what that glow is or whether it’s deep or there’s an undercurrent.”
“Just hook me to the winch and pull me out if I get in trouble,” Paul suggested, as if rappelling into glowing underground rivers was as normal as a trip to the market for milk.
“Maybe, but first grab me one of the two-by-fours from the pit – the eight-footers.”
Paul nodded, seemingly understanding where his father was going with this, and took off back to the slope, arriving only moments later with board in hand.
As Breanne watched, her father lowered the board down to the opening in the floor as if feeding a giant dipstick into an engine to check the oil. “Now, if this water is more than a few feet deep or so, I am going to lose this board.” Suddenly, the board disappeared below the top of the opening. Now lying on his stomach once again, he extended his entire arm into the hole, giving his board an extra few feet of length.
Just then, at full extension, the board struck against something solid beneath the water. Their father pulled the board back up a few inches, then dropped it again, harder this time, thunk! He did it three more times, enjoying the sound of renewed hope, thunk! thunk! thunk!
“Paul, go back to the pit and bring down the extension ladder and rope – I’m going in!” He took hold of Edward’s extended hand and pulled himself to his feet.
“You! Why you?” Breanne asked.
“I will make sure it is safe, explore around a bit, and then – if all is okay – you can all come down,” he said decisively.
“But you said yourself we don’t know what the glow in the water is. What if—”
“Baby girl, we can what if this to death, but the most likely explanation is algae. Now I am going in,” he said with finality.
A few minutes later the extension ladder was in the hole. Charles tied the rope around his waist, turned, and started down the rungs.
“Pops, wait.” Edward reached behind his back, producing a Sig Sauer handgun. He racked the slide. “Take this,” he said, extending the handgun.
Charles frowned. “Ed, why in the world do you think I need that?”
“We don’t know what’s down there,” Edward said flatly.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Nothing is down there. We are over two hundred feet below ground,” her father said.
“Pops, Ed’s right. Listen, there’s strange light coming from the water, which probably means some kind of life. If that’s the case, what else could be down there?” Paul asked.
“Daddy, you shouldn’t go down there. Let Ed or Paul go, if you insist, but you shouldn’t go!” Breanne pleaded.
“Listen to me, you three. Something is making the conditions perfect for a type of marine algae to grow, that’s all. But if it makes you all feel better, then I’ll take the gun.” He checked the safety and shoved the gun in his waistband.
She knew there was no changing his mind, knew he was beyond her reach now. His mind was set. He was so goddamned stubborn! But she had to try, she just had to. “I would feel better if you just didn’t—”
“Bre, we’re too close. We can’t stop now. This is what we’ve been working for, and we’re right there – we have to be. Now, I’m going. I will be right back.” He smiled assuredly and descended the ladder.
Breanne chewed nervously at her lower lip as, bit by bit, the rope uncoiled like a thread of her reality unraveling, coiled loop by coiled loop.
Minutes went by. How many, she couldn’t say. Her eyes were riveted to the chiseled hole with unflinching resolve as she willed her father to reappear. No one spoke until finally Paul shouted down the hole. “Pops! Everything okay?”
“You all have to get down here!” he shouted back.
Breanne felt physically sick and yet relieved he was okay all at the same time. She was uncharacteristically worried – even for her. Stupid dreams messing with my head, she thought as she filed in behind her brothers and descended the ladder. Her boots filled with frigid water. She took another step and her knees were submerged, then another, and she was down, soaked in the glowing water all the way to her mid-thighs.
The walls were sheer and bare. There were no stalagmites rising from the water, nor were there stalactites reaching down from the ceiling. There were no columns, no flowstones, no helictites, no soda straws. No cave formations whatsoever, which in itself was odd. They were in a large pool of glowing water. She moved her hand through the water and, as she did, the water glowed even brighter as if energized by an underwater moon. She suspected the beautiful light was some form of bioluminescent algae. The space was smaller than the one above them, maybe only ten feet in height, fifteen feet wide, and forty feet or so long. “I don’t understand how they knew this was here,” she said.
Edward and Paul began tying a long length of rope around their waists. The rope would tether them all together to ensure no one inadvertently stepped into an unseen void, potentially spelling disaster.
“I think it’s becoming obvious,” her father said. “Logic be dammed, I can’t help but think the people who created this place must have been guided here by God.”
Breanne blinked in the soft moonlike light. She had no words to respond with. This was not like her father at all. He was a scientist first and foremost, and he always worked to find the logic.
No one spoke; the only sound was Paul’s teeth as they chattered uncontrollably.
They stood still, heads on swivels as their headlamps darted around the room. “So, what now?” Edward asked.
As if in response, the water before them brightened, creating a trail about two feet wide that snaked along, seemingly leading them to the far wall.
“Um, how do you explain that, Pops?” Paul pointed at the soft-blue trail.
Her father pulled off his fedora. “Dear God, this has to be God guiding us.” He made the sign of the cross on his chest and waded forward. “See there,” he said, pointing. “That shadowed area on the far wall. Quick, let’s check it out. I’m afraid we’ve a real chance of hyperthermia if we stay here long. We’re not dressed right for this.” His voice was urgent as it reverberated in the eerie chamber.
They fanned out and made their way slowly across the forty-foot span towards the shadow on the far wall, the water becoming nearly waist-deep.
Edward grunted through clenched teeth. “Sorry, boys,” he said, glancing towards his testicles as they came into contact with the frigid water.
Paul chuckled. “No shit, my balls just shriveled to the size of two peas.”
“Your balls were already the size of peas,” Edward said, smiling through a pained grimace.
Breanne shook her head and rolled her eyes as the cold water hit her waist, racking her body with shivers.
When they approached the shadowed wall, they realized the shadow wasn’t a shadow at all, but a crevice. “This is the way,” her father said, and without hesitation they entered single file, eager to get out of the frigid water.
Breanne’s breathing became shallow and rapid as she step
ped inside. The crevasse wasn’t like Mexico, but it was still dark and narrow, and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like any of this. They weren’t being cautious. They were rushing. Please… please don’t lose it, girl. Dad needs you to keep it together.
Paul took her hand. “It’s okay, Bre. I’m right here. Just take a deep breath.”
She pulled in a deep breath, then another. “Thanks, Paul.” She gave him a tight smile.
The narrow crevice sloped upward quickly and steeply, allowing them to get out of the water. As Breanne cast her headlamp beam back and forth, she focused on the formation of the crevasse to keep her mind off her fear. It seemed pretty much natural except that the floor had a few places where rough steps had been gouged out, but only in the steepest parts of the slope. Also, tooling marks could be seen on the walls in places where the crevice was perhaps too narrow and needed to be opened up to allow access. Then she noticed something else. Her head began to ache dully.
“Do you feel that?” Paul whispered to his brother from over his shoulder.
“What?”
“I don’t know. Bre, remember when you said you felt something earlier?” he asked.
“Yes, I feel it too – stronger now,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” their father asked, glancing back over his shoulder.
“Do you feel that, Pops, what Bre was talking about?” Paul asked.
“I only feel that we are very close,” Charles said excitedly.
“Hey? Is it getting warmer in here?” Edward asked.
“Maybe it just seems warmer because we are out of that freezing-ass water,” Paul replied.
“This is fascinating,” her father said. “Do you realize we have climbed higher than the original chamber?”
“What do you think that means, Pops?” Edward asked.
Before his father could answer, the slope leveled off and they stood looking at another rough-cut opening, this one completely closed off by a strange foliage in an interweaving, cross-thatched pattern.
The thick vines had large, leathery, cream-colored leaves unlike any leaf she had ever seen. Even stranger were the multi-colored tubular spirals, several inches long and as big around as a garden hose. She wasn’t sure if they were some kind of seedpod or flower bud. The vines covered every inch of the opening.
Her father’s brows furrowed as his eyes danced side to side, searching for a logical explanation. He muttered, “Perhaps some seed washed through the tunnel from the swamp… yes, and they ended up here. Some conditions were met and they grew.”
“Pops, there are no plants on the island like this. Jesus, I’ve never seen plants anywhere in the world like this.” Paul reached to touch a spiral pod but then stopped, unsure.
“Shit, we are going to have to push past this to enter.” Her father reached forward, and his arm sank deep into the foliage. The plant pods began to pulse with colors that radiated down the spirals. He yanked his hand back. “Holy shit!”
Breanne’s headache worsened. She swallowed. “Please, Dad, I don’t think we should.”
“It’s okay, Bre.” Her father reached for the vines again, but before he could touch them they began to move.
Bre watched in disbelief as the vines slowly untangled themselves until they were draped on either side of the opening, like a curtain drawing back before a play. She tried to logic it out. Perhaps they were having a group hallucination? The headache? Maybe the plants were releasing a chemical causing them to all see the same things?
Her father smiled, made the sign of the cross again, and waved them forward. “Come on!”
One by one, they passed cautiously through the opening.
Once inside she could see this chamber was even smaller than the last, roughly eight feet by eight feet, with scarcely room to stand upright. The strange foliage covered the walls and the ceiling. Something in the center of the room glinted, catching her eye.
Breanne gasped.
In that moment, she forgot the glowing water, the strange vines, and even her headache.
In the center of the room she beheld a small chest. This chest did not sit on an altar and was not protected by a Templar Knight. This chest just sat, unceremoniously canted to one side, on the dirt floor of the small chamber. As the light from their headlamps struck the chest, it mirrored brightly, casting golden rods of light all around the small chamber like the sun’s reflection shimmering off still water on a bright day. Magnificent golden molding adorned the edges of the chest, and two cherubs sat atop the lid, facing each other with wings extended in front of them. Long gold rods fit through golden rings, securing the lid, and extended beyond the chest to double as handles. The strange foliage was wrapped around one end of a rod and stretched tight, as if trying to pull the rod loose.
For a long moment they didn’t speak.
Finally her father whispered, tears filling his eyes, “We have found the Ark of the Covenant!” He staggered forward, then dropped to his knees in front of the chest. “I never believed it was real,” he said in a choked voice.
She and her brothers exchanged looks of wonder.
“You did it, Pops! You found it!”
“No, son… we found it.”
Let’s open it up!” Paul said.
Breanne forced her eyes to break free of the Ark’s spell. She spun in a slow circle and considered the location and design of the place the Templars had chosen for the Ark. They had taken something so incredibly important to the world and placed it here, like this, obviously never meant to be recovered. If the swamp had not been drained, the other two chambers would have been full of water, and dive equipment would not have even existed back then. She couldn’t imagine getting to this place if the first two chambers were underwater. This Ark was never meant to be recovered – ever. But why?
“This is genius – they placed the Ark up here where it would remain dry, sealed, and preserved for all time,” her father whispered.
In the dimness of the headlamp-lit chamber, Breanne lifted the dangling camera looped around her neck like an oversized necklace and clicked the shutter-release button. The camera flashed and the vines pulled tight to the wall and shuddered violently. For a long second after, the spirals glowed with a faint light that slowly faded.
“What was that?” she said. She raised the camera again and snapped another photo of the Ark, and again the foliage shook and the spirals glowed briefly.
“Did you see that?” Edward asked.
“Yeah, sis, let’s not take any more photos,” Paul said nervously. “These plants are somehow reacting to the light, and I can’t tell if that’s good or bad.”
“Wild, and creepy as hell,” Edward said.
Breanne nodded uneasily and lowered her camera, returning her focus to the Ark. Suspicion tugged at her mind. She wanted to push it away, but it held on, nagging her. She wanted to ignore it because more than anything she wanted this moment to be true. It wasn’t true. She knew it now. Logic intruded, and the pure adrenaline clouding her mind cleared like smoke on a windy day.
She looked at her father and she waited. After a moment, she watched logic slap him unapologetically in the face. He met her gaze as deep furrows fractured like fault lines across his forehead.
Slowly he began to speak. “According to the Book of Exodus, which gives a detailed description of the Ark, including measurements, I’m afraid something is amiss here.”
“What? What do you mean?” Paul asked.
“First of all,” he continued, “it’s only about half the size it should be. Exodus calls for the Ark to be approximately two and a half cubits in length, one and a half in breadth, and one and a half in height, which translates to fifty-two by thirty-one by thirty-one inches. This is definitely much smaller. Second of all, look at the engravings etched into the center of the lid and all around the box. They appear Egyptian in style, but I don’t recognize them. Okay, third, and most strange, the two golden cherubs on the lid – well, those aren’t cherubs at all. Th
ey’re dragons.”
Thank God, Breanne thought. He was finally seeing logic and questioning—
“But history seldom gets these sorts of things right.”
He’s not seeing it. “Dad?” she urged. “Can we get out of here? My head is really starting to hurt. Something is wrong – very wrong.”
“I’m not feeling so good either,” Edward said.
“My head is aching too,” Paul said. “Let’s open this thing, see what’s inside, and get the hell out of here.”
27
The Culvert
Present day
Petersburg, Illinois
Since Lenny and Pete had no plans to meet after school, Garrett couldn’t find either boy before leaving for work. Reluctantly, Garrett climbed onto his bike and started to pedal hard for New Salem. Then, when he got to Sixth Street he turned left when he should have turned right. He didn’t know when he made the decision exactly – perhaps when he couldn’t find his friends, or perhaps when he pulled on the handlebars. It didn’t really matter when; the decision was made. He wasn’t going to work – something he’d never in a million years thought he’d ever do. He was going to find Lenny and check on Pete. He didn’t know what kind of trouble he would get from Phillip, and he just plain didn’t care. He would deal with the razor strap later, but right now he knew where he needed to be.
A few short minutes later, he squeezed the brake handle and locked up his wheel, sliding the bike sideways in the gravel before slapping one foot to the pavement. “’Sup, fellas!” he shouted towards Lenny and David.
“Awesome! I thought you had to work?” Lenny asked, hands pointing up.
“Yeah, well, whatever. I didn’t want to miss this. Besides, I wanted to check on Pete. Did you hear what happened?
“Really, whatever? You’re skipping work? Are you sick or something? I have never seen you miss work. Your stepdad’s going to kill you, bro!” Lenny said, shocked.
“I’ll deal with it.” Garrett said.
“’Sup, Garrett,” David said. “I saw Pete last period. He is fucked up, bro – got a black eye and shit.”
