Beyond the Garden

by S. Y. Thompson

  “I meant no disrespect, Samael. I spoke without thinking. It is just that I have pursued this dream so many times that the prospect of doing so again feels like a nightmare.”

  Samael was silent for so long that Lil finally looked up at him. His hand had fallen away from Azrael, though he still seemed angry. His clenched jaw told her to tread lightly.

  “Please, give me the message. I will listen.”

  While Samael’s expression remained stoic, he did as requested. “The path to that which you seek can be found in Gobekli. Made from the Tree of Life, your prize will steal your breath away. Be sure of your path, your goal will bring death.”

  He stopped speaking and Lil didn’t bother to prompt him further. These “magical” artifacts always carried cryptic clues. “At the risk of angering you again, do you believe this relic really exists?”

  “I do. I would not have been sent to tell you of it otherwise.”

  Lil paced a short distance away, thinking furiously. Every item she’d sought in the past had been the result of her own desperate search for anything that would take her immortal life. At no time had God shown any compassion for her state. After all this time, Samael had been sent to tell her of a way out. There had to be a catch. Her suspicious nature insisted that this was a test. If this artifact truly existed, why was she only hearing of it now?

  “In Gobekli,” Lil mused. “Where do you believe it will lead me? Since I’m supposed to find the path there, Gobekli can’t be the end of the journey.”

  Samael didn’t react to her question.

  “Made from the Tree of Life, so it’s in the Garden of Eden? If it’s made of wood… a sword or possibly a staff. Maybe a knife if it’s intended to sever my life.”

  “Do you intend to seek out this device?”

  “Of course,” she said in surprise. “That is why you told me of it, isn’t it?”

  “Then you will need this to begin your quest.”

  Samael held an empty hand out toward her, palm up. At first, there was nothing there. Lil waited and a second later, something began to take shape. The object appeared small in Samael’s large hand. In the darkness cast by the gathering thunderstorm, Lil had trouble discerning the details. She reached out and felt the hardness of stone under her fingertips. Approximately three inches in length, Lil could feel a relief carving over the face of the amulet. She closed her fist around the sculpture and dropped her hand to her side.

  “What is it?”

  “Have a care, Lilith. These things always come with a price. Be sure it is one you are willing to pay,” Samael said rather than reply to her query.

  His wording caught Lil’s attention and she wondered if there was something Samael was trying to tell her. Before she could ask, he vanished from sight. Lil didn’t know if he was still around—sometimes he lingered—but she had other things to worry about. Lil strode toward the manor with the impromptu thunderstorm still raging around her. She sensed that Pravde had already taken shelter. Once she dried off, she had much to do and a journey to prepare for. Such an undertaking would require extensive research, resources and a crew.

  Lil’s heart pounded, though she cautioned herself against becoming too excited. Still, she would spend her entire fortune for the mere possibility.

  ****

  Twenty-four hours later, Lil leaned back in her office chair and stretched. Her back felt stiff from sitting for so long, but she had finished outlining her plans for the upcoming expedition. It would prove a long and harrowing journey and she needed to account for food, weapons, ammunition, camping gear and hiring a crew. She would set everything in motion from the manor with the exception of the team she required on the ground. Hiring locals once she arrived on scene would be the easiest way to tackle the manpower issue and there would always be people looking for work. Lil’s largest problem was in deciding where to start.

  Samael had told her to begin in Gobekli to search for a clue that would lead to a device created from the Tree of Life. Such a weapon could be anywhere on Earth, but the best place to start was at the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately, she couldn’t just jump to that conclusion because she might be wrong. Someone could have found the weapon long ago and moved it. Besides, that she knew of, the Garden had ceased to exist thousands of years ago. Lil had attempted to re-enter the sacred oasis shortly after her exile. An unseen barrier had prevented her entrance while simultaneously inducing an agonizing shock to her system that took days from which to recover. She had never tried again. Over the course of time, topography had changed all over the world and sea levels had risen. The Persian Gulf area had reached its current water levels around 4000 B.C.E. Lil had left the garden thousands of years before that.

  While she easily recalled the general location of her cruel banishment, it would be difficult to locate the exact spot. More importantly, scientists had searched for God’s Garden as well and still couldn’t reach a consensus as to its true position. Fortunately, Lil had something that modern scientists did not: personal experience. She could narrow down the region, but if she were the slightest iota off in her calculations, she would not reach her destination. The Garden was hidden and if she did somehow discover clues to its location, the cherubim with flaming swords that were set in place once mortals were expelled would protect it. Assuming they were still there. That event had occurred eons ago.

  Lil had no choice but to begin her quest in Gobekli as Samael had told her. Lil reached for the medallion Samael had given her. She ran her thumb over the carved lines of stone. The image engraved upon the relic resembled a squatted man although the details were vague at best. The rounded outline could have been anything if not for the perfectly carved circles depicting his eyes and the detailed fingers. It looked like something she’d expect to find on a totem pole. She didn’t yet know what purpose it served, but she would find out.

  Satisfied with her course of action, Lil reached for the telephone to begin making arrangements. She had just punched the first number when the manor’s door chime sounded, echoing throughout the structure. Lil frowned and contemplated ignoring the summons. When it sounded again, she dropped the handset onto the base and stalked toward the front of the house, irritated at the disturbance. No one ever came to visit without first calling and she wasn’t expecting anyone.

  Through the glass panes adjacent to the front door, Lil caught a flash of color. Pink, white, and blue made the flesh tones of a male hand gripping a large, purple vase stand out all the more. Lil had been the recipient of flowers more than once in her many lifetimes, but the occasions were rare. Stunned, she thought perhaps someone was delivering flowers to Kaya. Kaya didn’t live at the manor most of the time, but Lil was aware that she used the address here as a home base of sorts. Convinced that she had the answer to the small mystery, Lil assumed a congenial if not outright friendly manner and opened the door.

  Lil presented the blooms a cursory glance before she gave the deliveryman her full attention. He resembled every other young white man with brown hair that she’d ever seen. The sole feature that distinguished him as other was the wide smile.

  “Good morning. I have a delivery for Lillian Primus.”

  Her smile fell away. In her experience, no one gave something without expecting a favor in return. She couldn’t imagine anyone who would go to such lengths. Lil deliberately removed herself from society, interacting on only the most superficial levels. She recoiled from the flowers as though avoiding a serpent.

  “Ma’am?”

  Lil started slightly and noticed the man’s bewildered expression. She summoned a smile and reached for the bouquet despite her trepidation. “I’m Lillian Primus. I’m sorry, you just surprised me.”

  “A good surprise I hope. You have a nice day now.”

  She hardly noticed that he’d turned away as she closed the door. Lil stood staring dumbly at the flowers, taking in the pink roses, daisy poms, alstroemeria, and monte casino in shades of pink and purple. Lil reached for the card, no longer wond
ering at the motives of the sender. A smile unwittingly graced her lips as she read the note.

  Ms. Primus, these flowers are merely a small token of my gratitude for your generosity. I hope they brighten and ease your day, just as your kindhearted actions eased mine. All the best, Dana C. Reed.

  Lil lowered her head and inhaled the perfumed scent. The fresh clean aroma had already begun to fill the entryway. Feeling a little sentimental, and foolish for being so, Lil placed the vase on a small mahogany table near the front door. The alstroemeria in particular caught her attention because of their bright purple color. She wondered if Dana realized that the lily-like flowers represented devotion and friendship. Lil shook her head and turned back to her study. She still had much to set in motion, but knew the flowers would remain at the forefront of her mind throughout the day. Considering the identity of the sender, Lil no longer worried about a hidden agenda. Dana Reed struck her as someone truly grateful for the assistance Lil had provided and had merely gone about attempting to convey that sentiment. It was refreshing to find someone who was exactly as she presented herself.

  As she entered the study, Lil headed directly to the phone. She dialed an international number and waited as the call connected. A deep, gravelly voice answered in Turkish on the fourth ring.

  “Merhaba?”

  “Muhammed, this is Lillian Primus. I require your assistance.”

  Chapter Four

  Lil hopped down from the driver’s side of a battered and dusty jeep. Her boots caused a small dust cloud to rise up in protest. She barely noticed as she visually scanned the desert location. The Gobekli Tepe in Southern Turkey didn’t inspire much confidence at first sight. She wiped her sweaty hands on the seat of her faded tan dungarees and walked around the vehicle as the cargo truck rolled to a stop beside her.

  “This really is a magnificent site,” Professor Abraham Clayworth said, rubbing his hands together in delight.

  Before them stood dozens of stone pillars arranged into twenty separate rings. The cleanly carved limestone soared high over their heads and was joined together by low walls in between. Lil estimated the height of the taller stones in the neighborhood of twenty feet. Most boasted relief carvings of animals to include snakes, gazelles, foxes and even scorpions.

  “Did you know these ruins are estimated to be over eleven thousand years old?”

  Lil smiled slightly, amused by the English archaeologist’s enthusiasm and appearance. When she stopped in Istanbul to recruit a scientist who’d actually been to Gobekli, she hadn’t expected a man straight out of an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. Clayworth’s white hair was covered with a pith helmet and he wore a monocle over one eye. He sported a bushy white mustache that took up most of his lower face.

  In response to her silence, Clayworth pulled a dank handkerchief from his back pocket and mopped his brow.

  “Yes, Professor. I’m aware of Gobekli’s historical relevance. You’re here to see if there is a hidden passage that leads to a chamber under the ruins.”

  Clayworth shrugged in what Lil assumed was an apologetic manner. “As I’ve told you before, ground penetrating radar shows many more megalithic stones buried around the site, but nothing indicates an open cavern or pit.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Lil found a thigh-high boulder a few feet away to rest upon. She had barely settled down when Clayworth rushed toward her. “My dear Ms. Primus, you must be more careful. You could be sitting on history itself.”

  He waved his sweaty handkerchief in an agitated manner, but stopped abruptly when Lil pinned him in place with her penetrating gaze.

  “I’m sure you have a point, Professor, but this looks like a simple stone to me. Why don’t you go check with Muhammed and help set up the equipment? I think you can start with the ground penetrating radar over near the eastern ridge.” She pointed toward where the flat, barren plateau connected with the nearby mountain range by way of a promontory. Numerous excavations showed throughout the area.

  Clayworth appeared hesitant. “You are aware that only about five percent of the site has been explored?”

  Lil was starting to run out of patience. She knew more than this old man could conceive. She was also sharp enough to realize that he’d begun to prevaricate. While in Istanbul, Lil had interviewed several senior archaeologists. Clayworth was only one among a choice of elite scientists. During the interviews, he had seemed eager to search for a possible hidden chamber that others had missed. It was far too late to change his mind. Lil prided herself on her composure and the simple narrowing of her eyes would have been a warning to anyone who knew her well.

  “I am,” she responded in a low, dangerous tone. “Which means that despite previous scans of the area, there could be a chamber that has yet to be identified. You assured me that if such a find existed, you would be the one to make the discovery and I am paying you a substantial amount to deliver on that promise.”

  “Uh, yes. All right.”

  Professor Clayworth started to say something else, but seemed to change his mind. He gave Lil one final, appraising glance before turning away. Lil watched as he approached her foreman for the survey, Muhammed Yilmaz, directing her crew of thirty to set up camp. The Turkish man currently spoke to one of the workers. He completed his instructions and turned his attention to the professor.

  Muhammed was a gentle, soft-spoken man who commanded the respect of those with whom he worked. Lil had paid for his release from a Turkish prison decades ago and he’d been her loyal servant ever since. Liberating a prisoner wasn’t high on her list of priorities, but she didn’t consider stealing food for a family’s survival a serious crime. He had aged poorly since then, the lines deep around his eyes and mouth. He noticed her appraisal and gave Lil a small but courteous bow before he went back to work overseeing the camp’s installation.

  ****

  For the next week Lil endured the boredom, heat and unpleasant conditions of camp life in the southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Each day, Professor Clayworth and the workers searched the Gobekli Tepe beginning on the eastern side. Lil satisfied herself by checking the extensive piles of unearthed mammoth pillars and sundry broken stones. She had obtained a special permit from the Turkish government to explore the site. For a few months, tours and other excavations at the site were suspended. Lil hoped it wouldn’t take nearly so long, but at least her crew had free rein to scrutinize the area without anyone looking over their shoulders. Lil traversed the entire perimeter of the ruins while Professor Clayworth directed the workers under Muhammed’s guidance.

  It seemed to Lil that the professor did little more than survey areas already extensively explored. He had yet to move more than a hundred yards from the position at which he’d started when they first arrived. As she kicked around the site known as Complex E, she cautioned herself to patience. Clayworth undoubtedly had a system and he had to start somewhere.

  “I beg your pardon, Mistress.”

  Muhammed had come up from behind and Lil hadn’t heard his approach. That he retained the capacity for such stealth at his advanced years was one of the many reasons Lil hired him. “Please, join me. What’s our status?”

  “We have plentiful supplies,” Muhammed told her in Turkish. “My concerns are not about the state of our food stores or even security. So far, spotters have seen no one near our location.”

  Lil responded in his own language. “Then what are your concerns, my friend?”

  Muhammed’s eyes tracked to the professor. “This man you have hired wastes your good American money. He does not believe that we will find anything of use and therefore he does not look so hard.”

  “You think he’s just going through the motions so that he’ll make more money before we give up here.” It wasn’t a question.

  Muhammed merely shrugged and drifted away. He’d said his piece and would leave it to Lil to draw her own conclusions. She hadn’t really spent a lot of time with Clayworth, leaving him to his work. Muhammed dealt more closel
y with the men and heard things she wouldn’t. She trusted him, but realized that he was still as flawed as any other person. She had to consider that he was mistaken about Clayworth’s actions. On the other hand, Muhammed was also being paid a great deal of money for this job and his honor would require him to inform her if someone wasn’t pulling their weight.

  Lil decided to give Clayworth a few more days. She didn’t want to lose time by trekking all the way back to Istanbul for his replacement, but she would if necessary. Shaking her head derisively, Lil kicked at some of the broken rocks under her feet. On the opposite point from where the professor worked, the site consisted of an incised platform with two sockets that could have held pillars at one point. It was surrounded by a flat bench, also considered by some as a temple of rock. The floor was hewn directly from the bedrock. Just northwest of Complex E were two cistern-like pits. One of the pits had a table-high stone pin and a staircase with five steps that led upward to nowhere. A small bovine relief was carved onto the western escarpment. Unlike the rest of the region that contained numerous carvings, the bovine was the only relief in this area.

  As she considered what Muhammed had said, Lil kicked a pebble into the perfectly square socket. Since their arrival, she had wondered at the missing pillars. There were tons of stones lying around, many broken or shattered beyond use. The ones that fit into these sockets could be anywhere or smashed into powder so long ago that it ceased to matter.

  The sun had begun to head for the horizon, signaling the end to yet another fruitless day. Lil turned away from the complex and headed back to camp. Workers lit the torches as she approached in the hopes that the smoke would keep the worst of the bugs away. As they did each night, some of the men began to sing. The music had a low, chanting quality to it that Lil found hypnotic. She settled onto a camp chair beside the fire and stretched her feet out in the sand. She was glad she’d left the owl at home for Kaya to care for. The terrain here was barren and she would have been miserable. She smiled thinking that Pravde would also have terrified the workers.