Cam wasn’t sure this was purely an altruistic gesture. With Duncan and the Freemasons, there was always a reason for something, and then the real reason for something. He probed. “So if Carrington has a fake skull, where is the real skull?”
“Safe.”
Amanda replied before Cam could. “I think you owe us more than that. Has it been tested?”
He shook his head. “No, it has not. The Knights Templar worshiped the skull as Baphomet. As such it was sacred, and therefore remains sacred to our brotherhood today. Subjecting it to testing would desecrate it.”
“With all due respect, that’s bullshit,” Cam replied. “The testing is non-invasive. If you wanted to test it, you could.”
The Freemason placed his liver-spotted hands on the table, one finger brushing against the stack of index cards listing their wedding guests. He exhaled. “I concede the point.” He stood. “I am old, and I am tired. These past few months have sucked the very marrow from my bones. I will not lie to you: I have indeed had the skull tested. And the other artifacts found beneath the pillar as well. I alone am privy to the results.”
“And?” Cam pushed.
“And nothing. As you know, we Freemasons like to say we are not a secret society, but a society with secrets. And this is one of our biggest secrets of all.” He offered Cam a wry smile. “The fact that you have, through the force of your intellect, pulled away the veil covering this secret does not make it any less of one. A secret it is, and I trust a secret it shall remain.”
Cam knew that was about as close to a confirmation that the skull was Moses as they were going to get. So be it.
Without preamble, Duncan offered a hand to Cam to shake. When Cam reciprocated, the elderly Scot, with surprising strength, pulled Cam closer. He focused his blue eyes on Cam’s. “I have one last favor to ask, though I realize you owe me nothing. This silliness of Carrington’s has the potential to do serious damage in the Middle East. I ask that you do what you can to cast doubts on the merits of her claim. As I have just told you, the DNA she has used is not that of Moses. Her claim relies on your research, so you are in a unique position to refute her.”
The Freemason disengaged, turned, and began to walk toward the door, talking over his shoulder. “We disagree on many things, Mr. Thorne. But on this I think we are in accord: It is up to your generation—the two of you and others like-minded—to deal once and for all with the volatility in the Middle East. Your research will, I think, help in that regard. This Isaac Question revelation may force people to stop looking at these ancient texts, if you’ll excuse the word play, as the gospel. The Old Testament, the Koran, the New Testament—they are the words of men, written by men. There is nothing the least bit divine about them.”
Duncan stopped and turned again to face them, the light from the front door window bathing his pale face in an ethereal glow. “Your quest for knowledge, your thirst for the truth, your ideals—these are all admirable traits. But sometimes action is needed. There is such a thing as good and evil, as right and wrong. Do not let your ideals cloud that reality. What ISIS is doing is wrong. It is wrong. It is evil. Again, sometimes action is needed in support of one’s ideals.”
Cam watched the man, uncertain how to respond.
Duncan sighed, the fatigue of his eighty-plus years apparent in his sloped shoulders and watery eyes. Finally he straightened himself for one final missive. “Fighting to stop ISIS is the right thing, the moral thing, the good thing.” His voice rang with conviction. “Sometimes in this complex, befuddling world, things really are that simple.”
Cam shook his head as he watched the elderly Freemason walk slowly back to his car.
“What?” Amanda asked, standing next to him at the front window.
“It just hit me, as I watched him walk away.”
“What did?”
“He’s bluffing. It was a great speech, all that stuff about ideals and doing the right thing. And I agree with him. But underneath it all, he was bluffing.”
“About what?”
“About the skull.” He shook his head again. “He didn’t go into the Chapel the night before. The skull’s legit. Which means Carrington really did clone Moses.”
“How can you be so bloody certain?”
“Logic.” He took her hand and led her back to the kitchen table. “Okay, do you agree that Duncan and the Freemasons don’t want Carrington to clone Moses?”
“Yes, totally.”
“Why?”
She sighed. “For the same reason they didn’t want the Isaac Question stuff to come out. It’s totally destabilizing. What if this new Moses decides the Jews should abandon Israel? Or if he decides Israel should bomb Iran? You’re talking Moses here—people will do what he says. The Isaac Question revelation was bad enough. But adding a cloned Moses to the equation could lead to, well, Armageddon.”
“I agree. So here’s another question: Why did Duncan fly out here?”
“That’s obvious. He needs you. Carrington’s whole story is based on your research, so you’re in a unique position to put the kibosh on everything.”
Cam nodded. “Agreed.”
“Okay,” she said. “So where’s this logic of yours come in?”
Smiling, Cam slapped the table lightly with his palm. “Here. If you were Duncan, and you really did plant a fake skull in the Chapel for Carrington to find, how old would it be?”
“How old?” she repeated… “Aha!” She grinned, leaning forward. “I’d choose any age except thirty-five hundred. Probably something easily explainable, from the 1400s when the Chapel was built.”
“Exactly. But he chose thirty-five hundred. He had no choice. Once Carrington’s testing came back at thirty-five hundred, and Duncan really had not gone in the night before, he had no choice but to use the actual age for his fictional fake skull. He had to base his lie on a foundation of truth. He had to use a thirty-five hundred year old skull. But he was smart about it, he set it up well—he made sure that I saw his bemused smile that night in the Chapel when Carrington stole the skull, as if he was fine with it. He was already planning his next move.”
She shook her head. “Remind me never to play poker with you guys. But now what? If Carrington really is cloning Moses, what do we do?”
“Well … I suppose we ought to send a gift.”
“A gift.” She laughed. “What exactly does one give to a baby prophet? A staff?” Amanda stared out over the lake for a few seconds. “Actually, I do have an idea: Let’s give him the gift of anonymity.”
Cam angled his head. “What do you mean?”
Her green eyes sparkled with intensity. “No kid should have to grow up with that kind of pressure.” Before Astarte came to live with them, her uncle had declared her to be some kind of savior, the expectations of which had nearly crushed her. “Let’s contact Carrington and offer her a deal. We’ll vouch for her story—the skull, the research, all of it—if she agrees to keep everything quiet until the boy turns eighteen. But if she doesn’t agree, you’ll come out and publicly state that you have knowledge that the skull is a fake.”
Cam leaned over and kissed his soon-to-be wife. “That’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.” If Duncan Sinclair insisted he planted the skull, and Cam—upon whose research Carrington was relying—backed him up, Carrington’s claims would be widely panned. But if he vouched for her and refuted Duncan’s assertion, it would add crucial credibility to her claim. And then he thought of something. “But why would she trust us? What if eighteen years pass and we renege on the deal?”
“I suppose that’s a risk she has no choice but to take. After all, we have never lied to her. And why would we renege? You’ve made it clear that you want this history to come out. We just want the lad to have a normal childhood first.”
Cam nodded, swayed by Amanda’s arguments. Carrington might just go for it. “And maybe by the time the boy turns eighteen people won’t be so caught up in all these so-called holy texts. Maybe by then people will lau
gh at the idea that he’s some sort of prophet.”
Even as he spoke the words, he doubted them. More likely was that young Moses would never escape the shadow of his name.
“You know,” Amanda said, “this adventure all began on Beltane and now it’s ending on Lunasa, one full cross-quarter day later.”
He nodded. The past few months had been difficult, harrowing, tumultuous. But now, here, it felt like he was finally gaining control again, finally taking his life back. Their life back.
“You know what else?” Amanda said, smiling. “In addition to harvesting and bartering, there was another traditional Lunasa activity.”
“What’s that?”
“Handfasting.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s a pagan wedding ceremony.” She called to Astarte to join them as she walked to the pantry, retrieved a broom, and pulled Cam to his feet. His chest tightened, sensing Amanda’s fervor. “We take hands, like this.” She smiled and handed the broom to Astarte. “And we pledge to love each other for either a year and a day, or for life—”
“Wait, there’s a rental option? You can just rent for a year?”
“Careful.”
“I choose life,” Cam said quickly, grinning.
“Smart boy.” She paused and turned serious, squeezing his hands. “And I also. I choose to spend my life with you.” She instructed Astarte to hold the broom parallel to the floor, a foot in the air. “Then, together, we step over the broom.” She lifted one leg and waited for Cam to do the same.
“And that’s it?” He leaned closer to her. “We step over and we’re married?”
She nodded. “Yes. In the old traditions of Lunasa.” Her eyes held his. “With Astarte as our witness. And me wearing a sweaty t-shirt.”
He nodded and pulled her closer. “Sounds perfect to me,” he whispered.
Together they took a deep breath. Together they smiled. And together stepped over the broom.
The End
If you enjoyed The Isaac Question, you may want to read the other books featuring Cameron and Amanda in David S. Brody’s “Templars in America” series:
Cabal of the Westford Knight
Templars at the Newport Tower (2009)
Set in Boston and Newport, RI, inspired by artifacts evidencing that Scottish explorers and Templar Knights traveled to New England in 1398.
Thief on the Cross
Templar Secrets in America (2011)
Set in the Catskill Mountains of New York, sparked by an ancient Templar codex calling into question fundamental teachings of the Catholic Church.
Powdered Gold
Templars and the American Ark of the Covenant (2013) Set in Arizona, exploring the secrets and mysteries of both the Ark of the Covenant and a manna-like powdered substance.
The Oath of Nimrod
Giants, MK-Ultra and the Smithsonian Coverup (2014)
Set in Massachusetts and Washington, DC, triggered by the mystery of hundreds of giant human skeletons found buried across North America.
Author’s Note
Inevitably, I receive this question from readers: “Are the artifacts and historical sites in your stories real, or did you make them up?” The answer is: If they are in the story, they are real. I sometimes do, however, take creative license: For example, the so-called Groton chamber in this story is actually located in Upton, Massachusetts—I relocated it to Groton to facilitate the story.
Likewise, the historical and literary references are accurate. When, for example, I quote from the Old Testament or the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath, or refer to the writings of Sigmund Freud or a medieval rabbi, those quotes and references are accurate. How I use these artifacts and references to weave a story is, of course, where the fiction takes root.
For inquisitive readers, perhaps curious about some of the specific historical assertions made and evidence presented in this story, more information is available here (in order of appearance in the story):
There are many versions of the legend of Brendan theNavigator, but most of them have the Irish monk and his crewsailing westward across the Atlantic, accompanied by two orthree “pagans,” to a new land during a seven-year voyage inthe early 6th Century. As stated in this story, in 1976 Britishexplorer Timothy Severin recreated this voyage using ahistorically-accurate replica of Brendan’s vessel.
The so-called Groton chamber described and pictured in thisstory is, as I stated earlier, in reality the Upton (Massachusetts)Chamber. The Upton Chamber, which is indeed aligned tomark the summer solstice sunset, is open to the public: http://www.upton.ma.us/pages/uptonma_bcomm/historical/UptonHeritagePark2012.pdf. Although many chambers do exhibit magnetic disturbances at their entryway as I write in the story, the Upton Chamber does not.
The Norumbega Tower is open to the public and can be foundon Norumbega Road, Weston, MA.
The Westford Knight carving, including the newly-discoveredHooked X, is located along Depot Street in Westford, MA.Park at the Abbot School, 25 Depot Street, and walk up the hillfifty yards to carving on your left.
A virtual tour of the Gungywamp site, along with informationon how to visit the actual site, can be found here: http://www.dpnc.org/gungywamp
The Druid Hill stone circle site is open to the public and can befound in Leblanc Park, at the corner of West Meadow andGumpas Roads, Lowell, MA.
For a book discussing the possibility that Moses and thePharaoh Akhenaton were the same person, see Ahmed Osman,Moses and Akhenaten[sic]: The Secret History of Egypt at theTime of the Exodus (2002)
The obelisk called Cleopatra’s Needle is located in CentralPark, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New YorkCity.
For a discussion of Druid/Celtic sites in New England, seeBarry Fell, America B.C. (1976).
For a discussion of the Stone of Destiny and the missing throneof Akhenaton, see Keith Laidler, The Head of God (1998).
Lastly, the possibility that Isaac may be the son of an Egyptian pharaoh rather than Abraham is largely a result of my own research and contemplations. One website I found helpful was this, though I do not necessarily agree with all its conclusions: http://theancientsacredmysteries.com/who_was_father_isaac.htm
So, did the writers of the Old Testament take some liberties with both the timeline and the story of Sarah’s time in the pharaoh’s harem? And if so, does this help explain Joseph’s seemingly remarkable ascension to power in Egyptian. In turn, does Joseph’s prominent role in the Egyptian ruling elite explain the monotheistic religious beliefs of Pharaoh Akhenaton? And does all of this give us a different understanding not only of the Book of Exodus but of the history of Scotland and Ireland as well? Most fundamentally, do these revelations change the way the world views the conflict in the Middle East?
These are the questions that fascinate me, that keep me up at night. Hopefully this novel has caused you to focus on them as well, and also provided you with some entertainment and intellectual stimulation. Thanks for reading.
Photo/Drawing Credits
Images used in this book are the property of the author, in the public domain, and/or provided courtesy of the following individuals (images listed in order of appearance in the story):
Drawing of Groton chamber:
Courtesy of Kimberly Scott
Image of Masonic House of the Temple decoration:
Credit: http://scottishrite.org/headquarters/virtual-tour
Image of Newport Tower Winter Solstice: Courtesy of Richard Lynch Images of Gungywamp chamber and Chi-Rho symbol:
Courtesy of Vance Tiede
Images of Gungywamp stone circle:
Courtesy of Brad Olsen
Drawing of Druid Hill stone circle:
Courtesy of Kimberly Scott
Map of land ruled by Pharaoh Tuthmosis III
Credit: http://www.crystalinks.com/Thutmose_III.html
Image of Kent County stone chamber winter solstice illumination:
Credit: Thomas Maxson
Ima
ge of America’s Stonehenge stone chamber:
Courtesy of James and Mary Gage
Image of Edinburgh Castle:
Courtesy of Kimberly Scott
Acknowledgements
Diving down an unexplored rabbit hole and (to mix my animal metaphors) ferreting around there for a few months doing research for a new novel is my idea of a great time. Honestly. Thankfully for me, I have managed to surround myself with fellow researchers who share this passion. Heartfelt thanks for assisting me in my research go out to (in alphabetical order): Michael Carr, Matthew Cilento, Mark Eddy, David Goudsward, Richard Lynch, Jeff Nisbet, Jim Pecora, Matthew “Doc” Perry, Vance Tiede, Scott Wolter, Michael Yannetti, and Zena Halpern. I am grateful to you all. (Please note that inclusion in the above list does not in any way constitute an endorsement of this work or the themes contained herein.)
I also again want to thank my team of readers, those who trudged their way through early versions of this story and offered helpful, insightful comments (listed alphabetically): Allie Brody, Jeff Brody, Spencer Brody, Michael Carr, Jeanne Scott, Richard Scott, and Eric Stearns.
For other authors out there looking to navigate their way through the publishing process, I can’t speak highly enough about Amy Collins and her team at New Shelves Distribution—real pros who know the business and are a pleasure to work with.
Lastly, to my wife, Kim: Thanks once more for your unending patience and support. You slog through the early drafts, you help me wrestle with the plot, you offer gentle but firm support, and you even do the cover art. But most of all you offer invaluably wise and astute counsel. I am lucky to you have as a life partner.
The Isaac Question: Templars and the Secret of the Old Testament (Templars in America Series Book 5) Page 36
