The young man gawked up at her in terror.
“Spread the word. On pain of death, nobody better come bother me for the next half hour. Got it?”
The junior functionary gulped, nodded and scurried away.
Maddie closed and locked the office door behind her.
“Don’t you think you were being a little hard on the boy?” Faye asked mildly.
The chatelaine gave a snort of derision. “They don’t understand subtlety. If I didn’t scare them out of their wits, they’d be climbing all over my desk or curling up in the corners for naptime. I’m not running a pre-school here!”
“Oh, Maddie.” The old woman sighed reproachfully. “It’s training, not boot camp.”
“What doesn’t kill them will make them stronger,” the Amazon huffed. “I figure if they can survive me, they can survive anything in the field.”
Maddie pulled up another chair to face her visitor and sat down. “Maybe I’m a little crankier than usual,” she admitted.
“Is it the smoking?”
“Don’t remind me. I vowed I’d keep at it for a month, but there’s too much going on. It’s making me crazy!” She gestured toward the outer office. “Everybody is making me crazy, especially the tyros! I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.”
“Think of your health,” Faye reminded her.
“That’s just it!” Maddie countered in disgust. “I had a check-up last week. My lungs are completely clear. The doc ran every test known to woman to prove I should have some dire disease from smoking, but I don’t. Nada! Diddly! Not a damn thing wrong with me. Healthy as a horse.”
“Well,” Faye equivocated. “See if you can make it for a few more weeks.”
“You mean without killing anybody?” Maddie grinned.
“Yes, that would be nice, dear.” Faye returned the smile. “Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Oh, right.” The change of topic seemed to end the chatelaine’s tirade. “Thanks again for coming in. It wasn’t something I could talk about at your house with Hannah living there. How is she, by the way?”
Faye beamed. “She’s doing splendidly. Her studies are coming along nicely, and Zachary invited her out on a date a while ago.”
Maddie stared at her in disbelief. “You let that spikey-haired little vegan anarchist take her out?”
The memory guardian maintained her composure. “His hair is much smoother now. He’s trying to impress Hannah. As for the anarchy, I imagine that’s a fundamental part of his nature. From what Hannah told me, they had a good time.”
“Doing what? Attending a lecture on how to build a bomb?”
“Very amusing, dear. He took her to the cinema. Nothing racy, of course. I steered them toward a PG movie. Hannah said she enjoyed the experience of watching a motion picture on the big screen.”
“I suppose she’s got to get used to our world sometime,” Maddie relented.
“Indeed. If she’s starting school next year, we have to prepare her gradually now.”
A knock was heard on the office door.
Maddie turned in her seat and shouted, “Go away!”
A muffled apology could be heard through the portal and then the sound of scurrying footsteps.
“Now what is our meeting supposed to be about?” Faye prodded the conversation forward.
“Oh, right,” Maddie said. She frowned. “This wasn’t something I wanted to discuss over the phone. Do you remember what I said last fall about planting one of our own as a spy inside the Nephilim compound?”
“I do recall the conversation,” Faye replied in a troubled tone. “I also recall you saying that it was merely a notion you were considering. Might I ask why you’re bringing it up just now?”
Maddie leaned back in her chair and sighed. “I think I forced matters to a head this week.”
“How so?”
The chatelaine gave Faye a recap of her encounter with Rhonda.
“I see.” Faye looked down at the floor, lost in thought.
“I found out yesterday that Hunt got his marching orders. He and Daniel are heading to Africa. He’ll have a surprise waiting for him when he gets back.”
“You mean because Rhonda will be gone by then?”
“That’s part of it, but that isn’t the real issue.”
Faye cocked a quizzical eyebrow. ‘No?”
Maddie sat forward and clasped her hands. “Hunt may be a low life, but he isn’t stupid. When he comes back to find the antique shop gone, he’ll know somebody has been messing with his surveillance feed. He’ll realize that while he was watching the store, somebody was watching him.”
Faye nodded but said nothing.
Maddie continued. “Up til now we’ve been able to tail him and monitor his phone calls because his guard wasn’t up. We won’t have that luxury for much longer. Once he gets back from Africa, he’ll know enough to cover his tracks.”
“And if he covers his tracks we’ll have no idea what’s going on inside the compound or how he’s planning to find Hannah,” Faye concluded.
“You see the problem,” the chatelaine said gravely. “We’ll be flying blind. Not only that. We still have no clue what Metcalf’s grand scheme is. What’s he going to do with the Sage Stone once he gets it? We need to know that to get any kind of jump on the enemy.” She stared at her superior. “There’s only one way for us to find all that out.”
Faye rubbed her head tiredly. “At least promise me this will be a voluntary assignment.”
In an uncharacteristically soft voice, Maddie replied, “Of course. I wouldn’t want it on my conscience that I ordered somebody to undertake a suicide mission. You and I both know that whoever goes into that compound might not come out alive.”
Faye rose slowly to her feet. “I’ve never been of the opinion that the good of the many should outweigh the good of the few.”
The chatelaine rose too and placed a reassuring hand on the old woman’s shoulder. “I won’t do anything unless I get a volunteer. You’ve got my word.”
Chapter 38—Pinnacle of Success
The Arkana team sped across the new bridge that spanned the Nile River and connected Marawi to the sleepy market town of Karima. The town itself was nothing to write home about. Small, dingy shops. Dusty, deserted streets. Cassie caught sight of rusting boats drawn up on shore along the river banks. These, as John explained, had once been steamers run by the British to ferry passengers and goods up and down the river. They had been abandoned decades before.
Cassie breathed an inward sigh of relief when John didn’t stop the vehicle in town but kept on heading in the direction of the mountain which loomed ever larger in front of their SUV. He drew up alongside a long low building and announced, “We are here.”
They were now almost at the foot of Jebel Barkal itself at an establishment called “The Guest House.” The trio got out and scrutinized their accommodations. Cassie tilted her head to gaze at the structure which looked oddly familiar—almost like a Mexican hacienda. The hotel was only one story tall with a flat roof and stuccoed walls. A covered verandah spanned an entire side of the building. Chairs and tables were spaced at intervals all along its length.
The Arkana team removed their luggage and entered the cool reception area. Stone floors and ceilings were a welcome relief from the heat outside. Painted archways led from one section of the hotel to another. Cassie breathed a silent “thank you” to Maddie for arranging their stay at the best place in town. Judging from what she’d seen while they were driving through Karima, it was the only hotel in town that wasn’t cringe-worthy.
Griffin consulted his watch. “It’s only two in the afternoon. We have several hours before sunset. Perhaps we should make a cursory inspection of the mountain.”
“You mean climb it,” Cassie said doubtfully.
“Yes, quite.”
“Hmmm.” She walked out to the verandah and contemplated the monstrous
landmark. “That thing must be two hundred feet high.”
“Three hundred and twenty-two feet actually,” the scrivener replied brightly. “I looked it up.”
Cassie shrugged. “OK, might as well get started. Will we need rock-climbing gear?”
John chuckled faintly. “No, there are many trails on the north side of the mountain. It is an easy climb. In fact, the local boys go to the top, so they can slide down the western face which is all made of sand.”
“If a ten-year-old can manage it, what am I complaining about?” Cassie said resignedly.
After a brief delay to check in, stow their luggage in their rooms and change, the team reconvened in the lobby. They were all outfitted in hiking clothes, hats, and rubber-soled shoes. John had swapped his dress pants and shirt for Dockers, a Henley and cross-trainers. Their backpacks were stocked with a generous supply of bottled water.
Thus prepared, the little band walked out of the hotel compound and straight into the desert. It was only a short trek uphill before they encountered statues and the ruins of buildings sticking up out of the sand.
“What’s this?” Cassie asked.
“These are the ruins of the temples of Napata,” Griffin answered.
“You mean the city that the Egyptians built underneath the cobra,” the pythia remarked.
They all paused briefly to gaze up at the giant outcrop of rock on the southwest corner of the mountain.
Griffin continued. “The city of Napata was constructed in the fifteenth century BCE to mark the southern boundary of the Egyptian kingdom. It was primarily a religious center honoring the god Amun. We’re walking across what would once have been his temple.”
Cassie noticed statues of rams partially submerged in sand. “Did this Amun have a thing about sheep?” she asked jokingly.
“The ram was the animal most often associated with the god. It was his symbol,” Griffin replied.
“Look. There’s a little door in the mountain.” Cassie pointed past the buried ruins of the temple to a small aperture at the base of the mountain.
“That is the entrance to the temple of Mut, the god’s wife,” John explained.
“So, it was carved right into the mountain itself.” Cassie registered surprise.
“Yes,” John agreed. “It is possible to go inside if we get the key from the local officials.”
Cassie looked questioningly at her colleagues. “Do you think the Minoans might have hidden the relic in there? After all, it’s the shrine of a goddess and they like that sort of thing.”
“Maybe,” Erik said skeptically.
Griffin shook his head. “I don’t believe the temple was built in their time. It was constructed by a Nubian king sometime in the seventh century BCE.” He glanced at John for confirmation. “Am I right?”
Their guide nodded. “Yes, that is so. The Nubian king was named Taharqa. He reigned during the time when the Nubian king was also the pharaoh of Egypt. Napata was the Kushite capital. Much later as the lands dried out and the desert areas increased, the city of Meroe across the river became the capital.”
Cassie glanced at two forlorn pillars bearing the image of the goddess. They were all that remained of the entrance to her temple. “Guess we’ve got no choice but to climb,” she said.
Wordlessly, they followed John as he headed for one of the trails on the north side of the mountain. The hike proved surprisingly easy. The trail rose upward at a gradual incline. After several short breaks for water, they arrived on the top of Jebel Barkal.
It was unlike any mountaintop which Cassie had seen before. There was no peak. The crest was completely flat. With its jagged surface of black rock, it looked more like a moonscape than a mountain peak. They walked along the perimeter of the mountain top, viewing the surroundings from various angles.
The scenery was spectacular. It was still a few hours before sunset but the late afternoon sun transformed the desert sand to gold. The Nile glistened. The shoreline was covered in vegetation. Off to one side lay the sprawl of Karima. In the opposite direction, a green blanket of date palm orchards and millet fields grew right up to the river bank. Beyond the verdant belt was the omnipresent desert. Sticking up out of the sand were a handful of steep Nubian pyramids. At the base of the mountain directly below lay the skeleton of the temple of Amun, most of it buried beneath the desert. Eventually, they all clustered around the spot where the cobra stone reared its head above the dead city of Napata. It stood tantalizingly out of reach.
“That would have been quite a jump if the Minoans were crazy enough to try to reach the cobra,” Erik ventured.
They all gazed over the edge of the precipice. Cassie gulped involuntarily.
“It’s approximately thirty feet to span the gorge. The distance down to where the base of the pinnacle meets the mountain is about a hundred feet,” Griffin said.
“Nobody would be crazy enough to try to reach that spot,” Cassie observed.
“Yes, someone was crazy enough,” John said softly.
They all turned to regard him with surprise.
“This pharaoh Taharqa of whom we were just speaking—he was crazy enough.”
“You mean he jumped that chasm?” Erik asked in disbelief.
“Worse,” John replied. “He ordered workmen to do it.”
They stared at him.
John walked to the edge of the precipice. “Do you see these holes cut into the rock?”
The trio gathered around to contemplate three deep holes carved into the mountain top.
“These were made to hold the posts of an ancient crane. It lifted building materials up the mountainside.”
“Why?” Cassie asked blankly.
“For scaffolding, so workers could climb out to the pinnacle. There are post holes dug into both the mountainside and the pinnacle itself starting at the base and leading all the way to the top.”
“What on earth were they trying to build there?” Griffin asked in bafflement.
“You can’t see it from this side,” John continued. “But from the ground, you can see an inscription carved into the top of the pinnacle praising Taharqa and naming him the son of Amun.”
“That’s seems like a pretty typical thing for a pharaoh to do,” Erik remarked.
“Ah, but this inscription was special. At one time, it would have been covered with a layer of beaten gold so that when the sun reflected off the pinnacle, it would shine like a lighthouse beacon.”
“Now that’s ingenious,” Cassie admitted.
“When the rays of the sun hit that spot directly, the light could be seen all the way across the river,” John explained.
“That sure seems like something the Minoans would gravitate to,” Erik offered.
“No,” Cassie shook her head sadly. “All this time we’ve been up here, I’ve been trying to get a vibe, but I’m sure this wasn’t the spot they chose.”
“And quite rightly,” Griffin piped up.
“Why not? It’s perfect,” Cassie challenged.
Griffin sat down on a large flat boulder. The others clustered around him.
“You have to consider what this place was like in one thousand BCE when the Minoans would have visited here,” the scrivener said. “It was a busy metropolis, and this pinnacle was a national symbol. Even if the Minoans, by some miracle, were able to leap across the gorge, it would have taken time to chisel a lily symbol much less hollow out a niche to hide a relic. Do you think that sort of thing would have gone unnoticed?”
Erik laughed as a thought struck him. “When you say it like that, it would be the same as if some fool took a chisel and hammer to the Washington Monument. Nobody would let that slide.”
“I see your point,” Cassie admitted. “The Minoans would have looked for a spot that’s more hidden. Someplace they could work in private without fear of being seen.” She turned excitedly to John. “Caves!” she exclaimed.
“Yes?” he offered uncertainl
y.
“There have to be caves in this mountain. Every mountain we’ve searched on this relic quest had caves. There must be some on Jebel Barkal.”
“Oh, I see.” Their guide nodded. “There are many caves in the mountain. The local people even have legends about them.”
“Tell us,” Cassie urged, clearly feeling they were now on the right track.
John looked up at the sky briefly, trying to recall the stories. “Well, there is the magical cobra cave. A legend says that there is a secret cave somewhere on the mountain that is the home of a golden cobra. It is hidden behind a locked door. The cave is filled with treasure and the cobra guards it day and night.”
“Has anybody ever found this cave?” Cassie asked skeptically.
John chuckled. “No, it is only a story. Though the people say that once upon a time some Englishmen found the cave. They brought incense with them and burned it to make the snake drowsy. After he fell asleep, they ran away with the treasure. But then the cobra woke up and tracked them down at the edge of the desert where he killed them. Then he brought the treasure back, and nobody has heard anything since.”
“English, huh.” Erik looked pointedly at Griffin.
“I weep for my countrymen,” the scrivener replied dryly. Changing the subject, he asked their guide, “Any other caves of note?”
“There are said to be caves which go on for great distances and turn into tunnels. One such tunnel is said to run underneath the Nile all the way to the pyramids of Nuri across the river. When the rulers of Kush died, their funeral processions began deep in this mountain and traveled through that tunnel to their final resting spot at Nuri. Another even greater tunnel is said to run from Jebel Barkal all the way to old Dongola town. That’s a distance of a hundred miles.”
“That’s some tunnel,” Erik said.
“Well, I think that’s our best bet,” Cassie ventured. “Every myth has some basis in fact, right? Even if those tunnels don’t exist, the stories tell me that some of these caves are pretty long. Probably long enough that somebody could work undisturbed for hours without a light being seen or a noise being heard outside. What do you guys think?” She looked around at her companions.
The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set Page 99
