The Great Thirst Boxed Set

by Mary C. Findley

Dan burst out laughing. “I think she’s closer,” he pointed at Sophie.

  “Well, then, she shall have the hat,” Naddy pronounced, dropping the fedora on Sophie’s fresh-from the salon hairdo. She spluttered, plucked it off, and proceeded to beat her husband, as high as she could reach, anyway, with the already much-abused felt hat.

  “I think you’re more like Laurel and Hardy than Indy.” Dan shook his head. “Still trying to figure out what my brother got himself into.”

  They arrived at the house at the same time as Keith, Talia came from the last half-day of school. Joshua Bradley had brought his mother in his car. Dan got out of Naddy and Sophie’s rental car and took in the Tesla and Talia. “Oh, now I see what this is all about. There they are – The car of your dreams driven by the girl of your dreams. Uh-huh. I see how it is.”

  “Shut up, Dan,” Keith growled as they hugged and then hurried to help their father get Grandma Bradley into the house. Dan got plenty of hugging and kissing from his grandmother and sister until his father pulled him aside for a private “shop talk” about his army experiences. Naddy and Sophie shooed everyone out of the kitchen, saying they had been preparing dinner before leaving for the airport, and needed to finish up.

  Keith was already nervous and excited about the trip, barely thinking about Christmas. He wondered how Talia could seem so calm when he could barely pay attention to the conversation she, his grandmother, and Joana were having. Then he remembered she had spent most of her life traveling.

  “Hey, where did this come from?” Keith fingered an ornate brass object on the mantle. Four angels spun around in the heat vortex created by small, burning white candles.

  “Sophie and Naddy,” Joana’s voice synthesizer informed him. “You’ve had your mind on this trip so much you haven’t been paying attention. Look around the house.”

  Keith started exploring, and to his astonishment, all over the house, small but beautiful Christmas items made of brass and decorated with velvet bows sat on bookshelves and end tables or hung in doorways. He discovered Naddy and Sophie out on the back porch. As Naddy plugged in a cord, the whole porch lit up, and “Silent Night” began to play.

  Talia, Joana, Grandma Bradley, Joshua, and Dan crowded behind him as everyone took in the sight of the two picnic tables covered by a Nativity scene in earthtones, satiny forest green, and jeweled red and blue pottery, lit by thousands of tiny concealed bulbs. It looked like everything from Bethlehem to Jerusalem was included in the elaborate layout. People, buildings, trees – everything glowed with a gold-dusted patina and tiny gemlike stones.

  “Wow, you even got camels!” Keith breathed. “The camels were always my favorite. This is amazing.”

  “Thank you for your generosity,” Joshua said.

  “Dinner is ready, if everyone would like to come and be seated,” Sophie invited.

  Keith had never imagined having goose for Christmas dinner, and hadn’t even realized Naddy and Sophie had been setting up a lavish, catered meal Keith had only read about in classic books. People had differing opinions on the pickled herring, plum pudding, and real mince pie, but the time of fellowship was sweet indeed.

  Opening presents was more like successive explosions with Naddy popping up and down to explain each of the exotic gifts they had brought. They finished off by reading the Christmas story, and Naddy, Sophie, and Talia departed together in the rental car. Talia had agreed to garage the Tesla at the Bradleys during the trip.

  Before Talia left, Keith and Dan got permission to borrow her car, after Dan pleaded for a chance to ride in it, to return Grandma Bradley to the senior apartments. Many hugs and kisses later, the brothers started back toward the house.

  “This car is so smooth,” Dan said. “Wish you’d let me drive it. Don’t your girlfriend let anybody else drive but you?”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” Keith gritted.

  “Why not? She is fine!”

  Keith remained silent. Dan changed the subject when he saw Keith’s expression. “That Doctor Ramin, he’s a real character. So, are you going to tell me what this is all about? You’re going to Greece and Turkey and I don’t know where-all with these people to do what exactly?”

  Keith rubbed the back of his neck. Dan had gone into the army full of optimism and had gotten his faith smashed to pieces in six months. He was now a full-blown skeptic who barely contained his opinions on how misguided the rest of the family was.

  “It’s prepping for a trip with the class Talia and I team-teach,” Keith began cautiously.

  “What class? You teach science, I know, and they were saying she teaches English. They don’t even speak English in those places. I’ve been to some of them. It’s more like ancient history over there.”

  “The class is called ‘The Bible as Literature,’” Keith answered reluctantly.

  “What? They let you teach Bible in a public school? I thought that was illegal. Should be, if it isn’t. Anyway, what’s that got to do with this trip?. Ramin was talking about finding some artifact made of gold. And why you takin’ a bunch of kids over there anyway? Some of those places are dangerous, war zones, with riots over the economy and Muslim stuff.”

  “They checked into that, and we aren’t going anywhere that’s dangerous,” Keith insisted. “If anything changes, they’ll change the itinerary and go somewhere safe.”

  “Things change fast over there.” Dan shook his head. “Do you get to keep some of the gold? Is there a finder’s fee? What is it you’re trying to find, anyway?”

  “It’s a copy of the Bible made of gold.”

  “No way! Is some angel gonna give you heavenly glasses so you can read it? These people are pulling your leg, Keith. What do they want from you?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” Keith was not about to bring up dragon skin or nearly-indestructible metal, considering the reception Dan had given him so far. “They said there was some science stuff they weren’t sure about. They might need my help with … I don’t know, with something to do with science.”

  “You sound lame. You don’t even know what you’re going for, but I sure know. That Miss Talia, I’d go a long way to impress her. Oh, yeah, I would. She likes you. You gonna share a sleeping bag out there under the stars in Greece?”

  “No!” Keith exploded. “You want to make fun of me and what I believe, go ahead. But you leave Talia out of it. She’s … She’s special.”

  “You’re crazy if you don’t take a chance to get down with her, little brother. Just sayin’.”

  “Well, stop sayin’, unless you want a few less teeth.”

  “You gonna fight for her honor? Seriously? You don’t think she’ll jump at the chance to do the deed with you?”

  Keith pulled the car over to the side of the road. “You don’t know anything about her, and if you don’t shut up, you’re walking the rest of the way home.”

  “Make me shut up. If you don’t want her, I’ll take my shot.”

  Keith’s jab at the side of his brother’s face caught them both by surprise. But in a moment they were trading punches and locked in combat across the console. Curses exploded from Dan and Keith had to bite his tongue to keep from letting the same words pour out at his brother.

  Suddenly headlights blinded them, bearing down on the Tesla. “What the – ?” Dan squawked. They both ducked but the black Sprinter swerved at the last moment and sped on by. Keith wrenched the door open and lunged out of the car, starting to run down the road after the big van.

  “What are you doing? Who was that?” Dan screamed.

  Keith gave up when the van roared out of sight around a curve. Dan jogged up beside him as Keith stood gasping in the middle of the deserted road in the dark. He was glad that the Tesla would be locked in the Bradley garage while they were gone.

  “That van has been showing up ever since Talia came into town,” Keith said raggedly. “I thought maybe this time I could find out who it is and what they want.”

  “Somebody’s trying to run down your
girl?”

  “They could have done that by now if they wanted to. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “You think they’re spies, with a camera or a listening device of some kind?”

  “Maybe,” Keith shrugged. “I thought of that.” He was still angry with Dan, but the run and the latest encounter with the Men in Black had taken off some of the edge.

  “You know how crazy that sounds, right?” Dan snorted.

  “So why did you think of it too?”

  Dan pursed his lips. “Hey, man, I crossed the line about Talia. I know it.” Dan rubbed his temple where Keith had hit him. “She’s the best thing I ever saw in this stupid town. Nice sneak attack you got there.”

  “I been practicing,” Keith admitted. They started back to the Tesla and saw Clark Johnson’s squad car parked behind it. “Oh, no. Not Clark.”

  “Hey, Clark!” Dan called out. “Merry Christmas! Some crazy people in a black van tried to run us off the road. We were trying to get a license or something.”

  “That black van is back again?” Clark snapped his ticket book shut and ran to his car. “This time I am going to get those scofflaws! Hey, Dan. Didn’t realize you were home already. Merry Christmas, and the same to all you Bradleys, Keith.”

  Clark did a screeching U-turn and took off. Both brothers laughed until tears ran as they got back into the Tesla.

  “What are we going to tell Dad about fighting?” Dan asked. He checked himself in the rear-view mirror. “Oh, wow. That ain’t gonna be pretty in the morning.”

  “Not that you ever were. We fight over everything,” Keith shrugged. “Always have. So, for the first time, it’s over a girl.”

  Dan snorted. They finished the drive back to the house, but Dan grabbed Keith’s arm as he shut the car off.

  “You ever have trouble with a black van, or anybody else, you call me, hear? I don’t care where you are or what it is, I will get help to you. Understand?”

  “Yeah. Thanks, big brother.”

  “Yeah, well, somebody’s got to look out for you, because you can’t hope to surprise everybody with that little rabbit punch. Be careful wherever you’re going and whatever you’re doing.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven – The Orichalcum Scrolls

  Somehow Keith had imagined beginning their survey trip on the island of Cyprus would be more … well … more … fun. Of course they had seen beautiful scenery and ancient buildings as the plane landed and they got into the Land Rover driven by an assistant Talia had hastily introduced as Cindee. But hasty didn’t begin to describe the pace Naddy and Sophie were setting. They hadn’t stopped moving since the airport. Keith kept pulling out his phone and trying to pronounce “Palaiochristian Basilica of Chrysopolitissa in Kato Pafos,” the building they currently explored. He hadn’t even got close to the way Naddy had said it yet.

  Talia’s feet dragged, and she looked like she was walking in her sleep. Keith put a hand under her elbow and gently steered her away from the column she was about to collide with. Naddy had told them the Apostle Paul was supposed to have been tied to that same column for a beating.

  “Naddy! Sophie! C’mon, the kids are tired. Can we take a little break?”

  The older couple laughed as Keith sat Talia down on a bench. Talia looked dazed, as if she couldn’t quite figure out how she had come to be sitting down.

  “I’m sorry, my treasure,” Naddy sighed. “I keep thinking of how little time we have, and how much ground we must cover. I have worked in this field for thirty years, but before, my vision was so narrow, my goals so self-centered, even when I called myself a believer in Christ and thought I was working for God. I have so much lost time to make up for.”

  “Well, let’s ease off a little. It’s only our first day,” Keith grinned.

  “We are supposed to meet someone here,” Sophie told him. “We are not certain where, or when …”

  “The time is shorter than you think,” said a tall man in a dark, tailored suit, wearing a wide-brimmed Panama hat. “I see you have recovered nicely from your wound, Doctor Ramin, and from your heart condition.”

  “My heart condition – ?” Naddy echoed.

  “Oh!” Talia came out of her exhausted daze and stood up, approaching the man. “It’s you! How are your wife and baby?”

  The man smiled. “Safe for now.”

  “This is the man from Naxos?” Naddy quickly came closer. “What do you mean, the time is shorter than we think?”

  “Very soon we will need the Testaments,” the man replied. “Based on what we have recently heard, soon the world may have no other Word.”

  “That’s impossible,” Keith blurted out. “We were talking the other day about how there are thousands, maybe millions of copies of the Bible – Old Testament, New Testament, different translations, languages, and parts in other books, and digital and paper, and even made into art and carved on rocks – it’s not like it was in Josiah’s day.”

  “What you say is true,” the man admitted. “Since you bring up Josiah, I am certain you can tell me why there was perhaps only one copy in his day?”

  “Other kings were evil, and spent time trying to destroy it.” Keith shifted uncomfortably.

  “And those other kings? How did they accomplish this? By burning, by slashing, by pounding to dust? By passing laws to forbid its existence?”

  “I guess,” Keith agreed.

  “Today, however, the evil kings have more tools at their disposal,” the man said. “Is it not so? Digital, physical, and, of course, our own hearts and minds.”

  “Not everybody’s heart and mind,” Keith argued. “Mine sure aren’t ready to let people take away our Bibles.”

  “Do not be so sure. Have you not seen people with as much or more faith than yourself surrender all their Bibles and study materials to your government? Did they not urge each other to do so?”

  “We didn’t surrender anything!” Talia exclaimed. “We got everything back in perfect condition.”

  “I pray you find it so,” the man murmured. “Come. We are not making the progress we had hoped with the scrolls.”

  He led them through a deeply-shadowed passage and opened a door. The floor started to angle downward and the stone beneath their feet became gritty with sand. The angle got steeper and the man switched on a flashlight as they turned a corner. They continued on, his tiny beam picking out a slightly-more-than-pencil-width path. Keith almost jumped into Naddy’s arms when he saw a long, slender bone lying beside the path. Naddy steadied him with a heavy, bear-paw pat on the shoulder.

  “Catacombs,” he said in a hushed tone. “I have been in this church a dozen times. I never knew this passageway existed.”

  “Hiding in plain sight,” their guide murmured. “This way.”

  They saw a faint light at the next turning and followed it until it led them into a narrow room. Recessed lighting fell strongly on a worktable but barely showed past the doorway to the tiny room. Two men, one standing, one sitting, bent over a glowing golden object between them.

  “The orichalcum scrolls,” Naddy breathed, moving reverently toward the workbench. The two men moved aside to let the newcomers approach.

  “Oh, no!” Talia whispered.

  “What’s wrong?” Keith whispered back. Naddy and Sophie took opposite sides of the scroll, slipping on thin white cloth gloves.

  “They’ve only unrolled a couple of inches,” Talia said. “Is there any text on the part you can see, Amu?”

  “Some symbols,” he muttered. “Not characters of any language that I can discern. They have no meaning. Some sort of design or decoration.”

  “What is that made of?” Keith asked, moving a little closer. “You said it was metal, but it looks almost like … like you can see through parts of it.”

  “Look here, at the container in which the scrolls were found,” one of the men said, opening a drawer in the workbench and drawing out a dark-colored, baglike object. He handed Keith and Talia gloves and they felt the wei
rd, spongy material.

  “That’s not leather,” Keith asked. “Is it?”

  “It does behave like some sort of skin, but we can’t tell what sort. Here is the strange part, though. This substance, whatever it is, can be beaten so thin, that you can see through it. These many rolled sheets are made from this skin, beaten fine as paper, and then the orichalcum composing these designs was pressed into it. For what purpose, we cannot say. We are wondering if we are not being overly cautious in trying to unroll it. The bag was underwater who knows how long, yet it is as supple as newly-made chamois now that it has dried. Some of this scroll seems to have fine orichalcum dust rolled and mixed into it, as thoroughly blended as salt in dough.”

  Keith borrowed their guide’s flashlight and shined it on the unrolled edge of the scroll. “Look at that sparkle,” he said. “Why would they do this? Can we try unrolling it a little bit more? It’s got this edging made of the metal, but it’s not a hard frame. It’s flexible. Just another couple of inches. Whoa!”

  The flashlight slipped from his hand and dropped onto the worktable, rolling to the back of the niche. Everyone gasped as the suddenly backlit shapes on the scroll flickered and began to glow independently of the overhead light, and in differing colors. Something flashed in the corner of his eye and Keith looked down to see symbols projected onto his T-shirt.

  He wiggled his fingers through the projections. “This is a hologram!”

  “Yes,” one of the men said, his trembling hands gently coaxing another two or three inches of scroll free. “The frame gives, but it does not allow for flattening the scroll. Perhaps it is intended to remain a cylinder. Look at these tongue-and-groove edges, on this sheet and the one nested in it. They are meant to fit together. That must be it!”

  They carefully set up the rolled layers, twelve in all, along the workbench, edges almost seamlessly fitted together once they discerned the exact “puzzle pieces” that were meant to go with each other. Twelve completed cylinders stood on the table. Keith shined the flashlight down inside one and dancing figures flowed out onto the stone surface of the workbench.