by Summer Lee
THE COMPLETE 8-BOOK GUARDIANS ADVENTURES SAGA
1. THE STAFF OF MOSES
2. THE SWORD OF PETER
3. THE FLEECE OF GIDEON
4. THE CROWN OF CHRIST
5. THE ARK OF NOAH
6. THE COINS OF JUDAS
7. THE SLING OF DAVID
8. THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
Plus Three Bonus Novels:
ANGEL HEART
COMES THE PALE HORSE
THE SHROUD OF TURIN
by
SUMMER LEE
Other Books by Summer Lee
Standalone Novels
The Maid from Moab
The Witch of Endor
Standing Strong
Comes the Pale Horse
Warrior Woman
The Babylonian Queen
Beach Angel
The Guardians Adventure Series
The Staff of Moses
The Sword of Peter
The Fleece of Gideon
The Crown of Christ
The Ark of Noah
The Coins of Judas
The Sling of David
The Commandments of God
The Glorious Companions Quartet
Angel Heart
Kindred Spirits
Royal Family
Awaken the Passion
The Reluctant Hero Series
The Shroud of Turin
The Jewels of Jezebel
The Stargazing Series
Under the Blood Moon
Sign in the Stars
The Complete 8-Book Guardians Adventure Saga
Published by Summer Lee
Copyright © 2016 by Summer Lee
All rights reserved.
Ebook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Staff of Moses
The Sword of Peter
The Fleece of Gideon
The Crown of Christ
The Ark of Noah
The Coins of Judas
The Sling of David
The Commandments of God
Bonus Books:
Angel Heart
Comes the Pale Horse
The Shroud of Turin
Reading Samples
About the Author
THE STAFF OF MOSES
by
SUMMER LEE
A Guardians Adventure #1
The Staff of Moses
Published by Summer Lee
Copyright © 2014 by Summer Lee
All rights reserved.
Ebook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Dedication
In memory of my husband, John.
I love you always.
The Staff of Moses
Prologue
Masada, Israel,
Winter 1963
AVIELA SAT in her dusty army unit jeep near the foot of Masada. She was the only woman on the excavation site on that Saturday morning. As a Jew, she was not supposed to be working on the Sabbath. However, it was urgent that she find the famous archaeologist, Eldad Ben-Tzion. She had been told that his life was in danger. Because of her ties to the sacred, she had been hired by the government to find him and escort him safely to Jerusalem. That was their plan. Aviela had her own plans for Eldad Ben-Tzion.
She sat quietly in the vehicle, pretending to look at a map. She finally spotted Ben-Tzion at the foot of Masada with two other men. One carried himself with authority, as if he were the head of the project. She wasn’t worried about him. The other man was a researcher who looked familiar in a way that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
As the trio walked together, Aviela recognized the young researcher as a Canaanite from her past. He was a deceiver, an evil family member of the Canaanites whom Israel had displaced some four thousand years ago.
Because the Canaanite potentially presented a threat to both men, she stayed in her vehicle and watched carefully as she revised her approach strategy.
Aviela knew she needed to rescue Eldad Ben-Tzion before the Canaanite cursed him.
Or killed him.
Or both.
Chapter the First
PROFESSOR ELDAD BEN-TZION believed that Masada, a butte fortress near the city of Jerusalem, hid an ancient mystery. He was determined to discover it and keep the glorious secret to himself.
The isolated diamond-shaped rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea was teeming with human activity for the first time in two thousand years.
Tents were pitched all over the plateau. Archaeological dig teams worked the soil that was marked off in grids. They left no stone unturned in hopes of discovering biblical history artifacts.
Any finds would likely date between the lifetime of Moses and the period when Herod had used Masada for his vacation home. Anticipation was in the air. Everyone wanted to be the one who discovered a significant historical treasure.
The lead archaeologist, Dr. Yigael Yadin, was in the main tent, engrossed in a conversation in Hebrew with Dr. Eldad Ben-Tzion. Yadin was in the middle of a sentence when one of his researchers, a young Jewish studies professor on loan from Oxford, entered the tent and blurted in English, “Dr. Yadin, we have found it!”
Yadin scowled. He replied in English, “Do you not knock before entering a tent?”
“I was so excited that I forgot. Please, forgive my intrusion, but we have found it! It!”
“It?”
“Yes!”
Yadin lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “What exactly have you found?” He winked.
The researcher breathed a sigh of relief. “We have found a shul!”
“A shul!” Yadin stood. “I want to see it. Now!”
Ben-Tzion’s voice broke in with a hint of dismay. “Are you sure you are not mistaken that it is a holy place of worship?”
Yadin looked at his partner in surprise. “There is only one way to find out.” He turned to the young man. “Take us to the spot so we may be able to announce that Masada now has a Hebrew temple!”
As Yadin rushed from the tent, Ben-Tzion lagged behind, his belly roiling in anger. This had been Ben-Tzion’s one chance to become famous, but he had just lost it to another researcher, due to his own concern that they were working the dig on the Sabbath. His conversation about that with Yadin, instead of doing field work, had likely cost him the find. It was irony at its most brutal.
Yadin called out behind him, “Let’s go! What is the delay?”
“No delay,” said Ben-Tzion. He thought, I just wanted to be the one to find something first. He could not show his disappointment, so he said to the researcher, “Take us to the shul!”
The young man guided them to a dig site where archaeologists chatted excitedly. Guards surrounded the hole that was staked off for Yadin and Ben-Tzion—the barriers were meant to keep out any foreign diggers.
Yadin donned his latex gloves and removed a magnifying glass from his pocket. He carefully descended the ladder into the four-foot hole where some pottery sherds were now exposed. A stone seat and a few small pillars had been unearthed as well.
He carefully picked up one of the pottery sherds and smiled at the men nearby who had been carefully brushing away soil from the find. Moving the mud around, he picked up a near-perfect clay vase. Amazed that the two were a perfect fit, his mouth flew open. Yadin painstakingly examined the clayware and a tear rolled down his cheek. “Ben-Tzi
on, you must come and see this. It is incredible!”
Excited, Ben-Tzion put on his latex gloves as well and descended into the hole. Yadin handed the piece of pottery and the vase to him, so he could examine it closely. Turning it in his hands, Ben-Tzion was careful not to drop it. “Look! It is inscribed—”
“Yes!” interrupted Yadin. “It reads, ‘Me’aser Cohen.’ This is a tithing pot from the time of Moses!”
“Wow! That is wonderful,” Ben-Tzion mumbled. He had just been about to identify it aloud, but Yadin took the words right out of his mouth. He tried to show happiness for his colleague, but Ben-Tzion felt disappointed not to be the one who had discovered such a great treasure.
While Yadin searched for more artifacts, Ben-Tzion admired the still-visible colors on the piece in his hands. He realized what a find of this magnitude would mean to Yadin. He tried to be happy for him, but could not, as he handed the two pieces to a nearby researcher to be carefully packed and moved to Yadin’s tent.
Tormented by his own inner turmoil, Ben-Tzion climbed the ladder and caught a whiff of perfume.
He turned his head just as a young Jewish woman walked up to him and looked him in the eye. She was both firm and curvy, with long black hair and dark lavender eyes. Staring intently at him, she motioned with a toss of her head and then turned away. Obviously, she wanted him to follow her. In the middle of an archaeological discovery, he wasn’t about to follow some woman he didn’t know who hadn’t even spoken a word to him. And what was a woman doing out here anyway?
The researcher wrapped the two pieces in a mantle and started back toward the main tent.
Ben-Tzion looked after the woman, watching her disappear into the bright sunshine.
His colleague made another excited sound.
His attention flashed back to Yadin, who had climbed out of the hole. Yadin rushed by, holding something covered in the blanket. His eyes were beaming, yet furtive, and he said nothing as he hurried past Ben-Tzion.
Curiosity got the better of Ben-Tzion, so he followed Yadin instead of the beautiful woman.
At that moment, someone grabbed his arm. The strength in his grip was incredible. Ben-Tzion turned to see a tall man dressed in a long robe with a hood, his face half-hidden but with eyes that strangely glowed, like a jackal’s in the night. Ben-Tzion did not recognize him and sensed he was not someone from the dig. He stared deeply into the eyes, seeing something diabolical there.
“Your treasure is not here,” the hooded man said.
Hair stood up on the back of Ben-Tzion’s neck. “What?”
The man continued to speak in an almost whispered huskiness. “This collection is not for you. Something far better awaits you.” He continued to speak, but Ben-Tzion lost the gist of what he was saying.
The man spoke in Hebrew, but there were words in a dialect that even Ben-Tzion, a biblical language expert, did not understand. When he pulled his arm loose from the man’s claw-like grasp, he saw red finger marks branded into his flesh. “Who are you?” he asked in English.
No answer came. Just a penetrating stare.
“Who are you?” Ben-Tzion repeated.
“Let me tell you this much,” the stranger said, replying now in English, and wagging his eyebrows up and down. “I know what you want, and I know where to find it.”
“Even though you speak the tongue of our ancestors, I could not understand exactly what you meant by—” Ben-Tzion was interrupted by the sounds of cheers coming from the main tent. He looked toward the gathering crowd and felt utter despair.
The Oxford researcher ran toward him, stopping between him and the hooded man. Excited, he touched Ben-Tzion on the shoulder. “Come now! Yadin has found the thing that will pay for the entire dig, sir! He has found a divided pottery jar containing…” The researcher stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the other man who was present.
Ben-Tzion watched the researcher give a knowing look to the hooded man and then turn his attention back to Ben-Tzion. He sensed that they knew each other and his dismay grew as he realized they had a secret between them. This did not bode well for the dig. No, this did not bode well at all.
He suddenly wanted to get away from both of them. It seemed prudent to do so.
The researcher cleared his throat and said formally, “Come quickly, Dr. Ben-Tzion. Dr. Yadin waits for you to share in the good fortune.”
***
Ben-Tzion wanted to share nothing. He had his own reasons why he wanted to have one dig totally to himself. Just one! Was it too much to ask that he would have an expedition of his own?
However, he had needed the resources that Yadin had supplied for him to get even this far. He hated the fact that Yadin had more accomplishments than he could ever dream of having. He didn’t want to tell anyone how he felt because it would reveal his bitterness and his jealousy. Yadin still held all the glory and now, he had new artifacts to crow over. Again.
The researcher went back into the main tent without him, as he was rooted in indecision. Meanwhile, Ben-Tzion again turned his attention to the mysterious hooded man in the ancient-looking robe.
The man said, “I will wait for you by the Roman attack ramp. If you wish to hear what I have to say…then come. I will wait only fifteen minutes. If you do not come, I will disappear.”
“Why should I come?”
“I know of a treasure that no one has ever thought existed. It makes what Yadin has just found look small in comparison.”
“Why me? Why not approach Yadin? He is far more accomplished than I am,” Ben-Tzion said, allowing a measure of his bitterness spill out to this stranger. “He will be known forever as the man who excavated Masada. If I stay, I will receive some of that glory, but not much.”
“If it is glory you seek, then stay on the path you walk. If you have a more altruistic reason for being here, then you know where I will be. Hurry.” The mysterious hooded man turned away.
Altruistic. That word certainly did not describe him. Feeling defeated, Ben-Tzion slowly walked toward the main tent where Yadin had just finished giving a speech. The priceless tithing pot rested on the floor next to his feet.
Yadin opened a bottle of wine. He said, “It is from the Carmel Winery. Dr. Ben-Tzion, come join the celebration.”
“Thank you,” he managed.
“My friend and partner! You will be very thankful that you have come with me to this dig!” Yadin motioned to a perfect clay jar on the table. “It gets even better than the tithing pot. Just take a look at that.”
Ben-Tzion grimaced in shock when he saw what was inside. The container held two ancient scrolls separated by a partition. “Scrolls? You found scrolls? Have you examined them?”
“We would not be celebrating if I had not! Anything else we find now pales in comparison to these. Some fragments of Deuteronomy and some of Ezekiel are here! Ha-ha! Do you know what this means?”
Ben-Tzion felt sick to his stomach. “Yadin, do you mean to tell me that you found ancient scrolls that are legible?”
Laughing, Yadin said, “In response to the question, the answer is, ‘yes.’ Some of them are in pristine condition for their age. Others, we may have to work a little harder to read them.”
Ben-Tzion was in shock as he dropped to his knees as if he had been kicked in the belly.
Yadin walked up to him and placed one hand on his shoulder. “It is good to humbly offer thanks, but now it is time to rejoice, Ben-Tzion. Your name will be beside mine throughout time! This shared find is more than just recognition! It is our history! Surely, you can be excited for Israel!” He paused, looking at Ben-Tzion in surprise. “What is the matter with you, my friend?”
With tears in his eyes, Ben-Tzion stood. He took in a deep breath and looked Yadin in the eyes. “You have brought honor and priceless pieces from the ancient history of Israel to our restored nation. You are a good man with many accomplishments. Destiny has smiled upon you. You have no desire to take sole credit. You talk about recognition for my benefit, and you kn
ow me better than I know myself. Our paths have crossed, but our goals are different. I want to make my own way from now on, and not have my name on any of this!”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s yours, Yigael. You’ve earned it. I have not.”
Yadin’s mouth dropped open. “Eldad! This is yours, too!”
“No.” While walking away, he turned and said, “Share it with this young researcher.”
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know.” Ben-Tzion turned to the young man. “What is your name, son?”
“Anak.”
“Anak!” Shocked that his young researcher had a Canaanite name, Yadin dropped the bottle of wine he was holding, which shattered on the rocky surface of the dirt.
“I cannot help the name my parents gave me, Dr. Yadin,” said the large man quietly.
“No, of course not,” Yadin said charitably. He was, after all, a professional.
Wine from the broken bottle ran straight down toward Ben-Tzion, and over his feet. He looked down at it. “This is fitting. That which represents the Messiah’s blood now surrounds me. Take my name off of everything and speak of me to no one…ever. I am cursed. Cursed!”
It was by now very quiet in the tent. Diggers watched as Ben-Tzion gathered his things and shoved them all into his backpack. He packed nothing from the dig…only his private possessions. He paused and looked the researcher in the eyes. He saw evil in them and was not surprised. Silently, Ben-Tzion exited the tent, leaving behind a bewildered Yadin and his researcher whose eyes were knowing and chilling.
Cursed was certainly not a word that anyone dared to speak on a dig. And yet, Ben-Tzion had said it. Quite loud, no less.
