Destination Eden

by Jim Payton

  Chapter 24

  Janet found that she was no longer in need of sleep. Despite her skepticism, she felt uplifted; somehow more positive. The room, or cell as she thought of it, had not changed. It was still grotty and indeed smelt. Never the less, hope seemed to have displaced the despair that had started to dominate her thoughts.

  She looked across to where Jasmine slept on her mattress and wondered what she would make of Prentice's visit. She wondered whether she would even mention it in case it turned out to be confirmation that she was losing her mind. She believed Jasmine was holding up rather well. She did have her five prayer bits each day and seemed to have an inner strength that she, Janet, lacked. Janet wondered whether Allah, Mohammed, or their prophets, had visited her.

  Jasmine awoke when full dawn had nearly arrived. She washed her face and hands and said her prayers. Looking across at Janet she said, "Are you alright Janet?"

  "Same as always I'm afraid. After all, what could have changed?"

  "Not much overnight I guess," smiled Jasmine. "It's just that you seem brighter this morning. Dare I say a bit more like the Janet of old?"

  "Actually I do feel better today," admitted Janet. "I had a strange dream. I dreamt that a person I know visited me. Here, in this hole."

  Janet explained about Jude Prentice, what he had said, how she had first met him and her Minister's belief that he was an angel.

  "It's funny what the mind does under stress isn't it?" she finished.

  "Why don't you believe he is an angel or messenger from God?"

  "Well, well I don't know. Why would God bother with an old school teacher from New Zealand? I am sure he has a lot more on his mind than me and my troubles."

  "You shouldn't try and limit your God," replied Jasmine. "I have found you Westerners often do that. We give Allah absolute belief and power while you people put him in a closet and only pull him out when you need him. Even then, you doubt he'll do anything for you. Take a look at yourself this morning Janet. Something has happened to you. Something has given you back your hope. Just accept that God has done it. Don't try and analyse it, just accept it."

  "He said we will see Eti today."

  "Wow," said Jasmine. "That is a big call."

  "I guess if we don't, then I can put all this down to a figment of my imagination."

  They sat in silence contemplating what had happened as they awaited breakfast. Normally it consisted of bread, tea and fruit.

  The sound of voices approached and the door opened. Eti stumbled into the room, breakfast was dropped on the ground and the door shut again. Unable to keep his footing, Eti fell to the ground.

  "Eti," screamed Janet. She jumped to her feet and then knelt down beside him. He had numerous cuts to his body, swelling closed one of his eyes and numerous bruises covered his body and he was bare footed. He wore an orange boiler suit like those worn by criminals appearing in court charged with a crime.

  Jasmine brought a water soaked clothe over to Janet and together they set about cleaning him up. He was disorientated and did not seem to recognise Janet. He was no longer the happy full of life positive person he had been. He had clearly been severely beaten over a considerable period of time.

  Once they had cleaned up the blood and forced a bit of water into him, they rolled Eti onto one of their mattresses where he slept. He did not show any signs of coherency.

  Again, the door opened. It was normal, and expected, as usually the toilet bucket was exchanged for an empty one and the water bucket was replaced at the same time. This time though, the two men pulled Jasmine to her feet and hustled her out of the shed. The door was locked again leaving Janet and Eti alone.

  Janet sat beside Eti gently stroking his face and hair. From time to time she bathed his face with a damp clothe and dabbed at his weeping cuts. When he started to shiver, she placed a blanket over him, and removed it when he started to sweat and mumble incoherently. She was unaware of how much time was passing until Jasmine was brought back to the room by the two rough looking men. She appeared to be suffering considerable pain as she was bent over clutching her stomach, and there was swelling to the right side of her face.

  "Money," said one of the men gruffly.

  "Give them the ransom money," gasped Jasmine.

  Frightened, Janet turned her back on the men, lifted up her top and removed the money belt she had tied round her waist. She handed it to one of the men. He snatched it, and then the other gave Jasmine a push that left her sprawled on the floor. They locked the door behind them as they left.

  With Janet's help, Jasmine made it to the other mattress where Janet bathed the swelling on the right side of her face with water. She appeared to have been punched in the stomach and on the right side of her face. Janet despaired of how she could administer to Jasmine and Eti without medical supplies to help. Limited to water and love, she bathed and held her two patients as daylight faded and darkness arrived. The night was long, dark and hungry for Janet. No food had been delivered since breakfast had arrived with Eti. Her two patients slipped in and out of consciousness, or so it appeared. They shivered and sweated. Sometimes their breathing was rhythmic and even but at others, it was ragged and uneven. Occasionally they would moan aloud and sometimes talk, although Janet was unable to understand what they were saying.

  Gradually Eti and Jasmine moved away from shivering, moaning and restlessness to a deeper, calmer sleep. Although Janet tried to stay awake, as daylight started to arrive, exhaustion claimed her body and mind, and she fell asleep.

  Janet jerked awake to find daylight had invaded the cell room. Her patients were still sleeping.

  The door was partly open.

  Janet scrambled to her feet and crept slowly to the door. It was only ajar and she could not actually see outside. Gingerly she pushed against it. It swung open. Scared that there might be someone outside she quickly looked out and was even quicker in pulling her head back inside again. Nothing happened. Nobody appeared. No shouted warning sounded. The birds did not call an alarm. The world ignored her.

  Gathering her courage together, Janet stepped outside. It was beautiful. Still, quiet and beautiful! She was unable to take it all in at once. Apart from the birds, nothing moved. The damaged main building was where she remembered it, as were the two or three other outbuildings. There were no vehicles in sight, but a part of her mind reasoned that they would be hidden. She cautiously walked round the outside of the building that was her cell.

  Still nobody appeared.

  A water tank stood at one end of the cell room.

  Janet went back into the cell room and picked up the toilet bucket. She carried it outside and placed it at a distance. She then took the water bucket to the water tank and filled it with cool fresh water. She used that to freshen up her patients who still showed no sign of awakening. Their breathing, though, remained calm and settled. Janet took that as a good sign.

  Once finished the urgent patient matters, she washed herself at the water tank and then quietly went to check out the other buildings. They were more numerous than she had realised. The main Church building, principally consisted of ruins. Two walls had collapsed bringing down the roof with them. Weeds had penetrated the floor and creeper grew over much of the structure. She did not attempt to go into the ruins. They looked just like the photographs you saw of abandoned old castles from the middle Ages: buildings that had once been majestic but were now sad.

  There were several outbuildings similar to the cell room. Some were smaller, but others were larger and contained several rooms. One had clearly been used as a garage but only vehicle tracks were left in the dust, along with a few patches of what she took to be oil from the engines.

  There was no sign of the kidnappers.

  Another building, almost as large as the church, had obviously been the home of the Monks, or who ever had established and run the community. There were individual bedrooms, a community room, bathroom, washroom, kitchen, etc. While most of it showed no sign of recent use
, parts did. Unwashed plates, cooking pots and pans, and some items of clothing indicated occupancy by a small group. Some food remained in an aired storage room.

  A medical kit sat on a shelf in what appeared to be the dining room.

  Janet took it back to the cell room. She treated Jasmine's bruises with arnica cream and was bandaging Eti's cuts and putting antiseptic on his grazes when Jasmine groaned and opened her eyes.

  "Oh my God," said Janet. "Thank God you are awake.

  She helped Jasmine into a sitting position and gave her a sip of water. She kept hugging, petting and kissing her. Eventually Janet calmed down enough to give Jasmine the chance to detail her injuries; severe bruising to her solar plexus, possible concussion from a punch to her head that had caused the swelling on the right side of her face, and some possibly loosened teeth.

  Jasmine noted the open door but the significance did not seem to penetrate her grogginess.

  During the next few hours, Eti regained consciousness and Janet introduced Jasmine and brought both of them up to date on what she had discovered. They shifted from the cell room and took up residence in the home building. Proper beds were a luxury and there was sufficient food to sustain them. Eti fashioned some clothing out of old pieces of cloth and dressed himself in the Pacific Island fashion.

  The days passed as Eti and Jasmine regained their strength and explained what had happened.

  Eti had been kidnapped, in a similar way to Janet and Jasmine, and brought to the Monastery site. He had been beaten and tortured to reveal everything that he and Janet had done, and intended to do. He was advised that unless he and Janet gave up their quest he could expect more beatings and that Janet would also suffer. The men administering the beatings seemed to be just hired muscle. Their questions and demands had been repetitive and the significance or otherwise of Eti's replies seemed to pass them by. They had modern weapons and acted in a semi-disciplined manner. Eti placed them as mercenaries. They had not followed Muslim practices. His computer, specimens and notebooks were smashed and destroyed by his captors.

  Jasmine's experience had been similar though obviously of a briefer nature. She had been told to give Janet the regards of Joe Palmer and the scientific community and tell her that if she did not pack up and go home she would have to suffer the same fate as Randy Henderson.

  Eti and Janet explained to Jasmine that he had been the person in the helicopter who had been shooting at them before it that had crashed.

  Jasmine, like Eti, believed they were mercenaries of some type and were simply reciting by rote something told them by their employers.

  From observations made around the monastery site, they put the number of mercenaries at twelve with four vehicles. There was no obvious communication equipment with off-site connection, and no radios or telephones were discovered.

  Apart from believing that they were somewhere north and west of Tatvan, they had no idea of their location.

  Jointly, they decided on a plan of action. They were certain that people would be looking for them. After all, a person of Jasmine's standing would be missed, and with Jason and the Police involved, some type of search would have been commenced. In the meantime, they decided to stay where they were until they had recovered sufficiently to undertake the journey back to civilization.

  Almost idyllic days followed. If it had not been for the visible injuries to Jasmine and Eti it would have been hard to believe what had happened. Sufficient supplies existed to feed them. They supplemented them with the wild remnants of the gardens that had fed the original inhabitants. Among those gardens, they found a plant that looked exactly like the one found in the crashed helicopter. They developed a routine that made them comfortable. Eti explained how he had sustained himself mentally by reciting memorised bible verses, and singing hymns. He had prayed constantly, for Janet, and for his captors. He and Jasmine entered into long discussions regarding their beliefs and faith practices. It actually got to the stage where Janet often felt isolated and alone.

  She did not begrudge Eti and Jasmine their time together, and indeed thought it conducive to their wellbeing. Well, maybe there was a little bit of jealousy there as well.

  While Eti and Jasmine bonded, Janet took to exploring the ruins, the outbuildings and the countryside. Initially she was attracted to the cemetery. It was surprisingly large, and crosses featured prominently on the headstones. Eti and Jasmine explained to her that the community based at the Monastery had obviously been Armenian.

  Janet also found evidence that reasonably recently, people, other than the kidnappers, had lived in the environs of the Monastery and its buildings. Books, artifacts, the odd bit of clothing and bedding clearly provided proof of recent occupation. The books included bibles, some of which were English translations of other languages, and had come from the various shelves of books situated about the Monastery. There were obvious gaps between some of the volumes where some were missing. That was particularly obvious where there were obviously amateurishly bound groups of papers. Jasmine had confirmed they related to the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the founders of this particular Monastery. Jasmine explained that it was not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Instead, it was part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion tracing its origins back to the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Jasmine did try to go into some detail about the differences but Janet was not particularly interested and left her explaining it to Eti. As she left, Jasmine was explaining how it was believed that Thaddeus had at one stage been in possession of the cloth that later became known as the Shroud of Turin. It was quite possible, according to Jasmine, that Thaddeus might well have even visited the area. Perhaps, she suggested, it showed Eti's Christian God was blessing their expedition.

  After leaving them to their Orthodox discussions, Janet wandered out to the cemetery. While looking at headstone inscriptions and trying to understand the picturesque friezes, inscriptions and drawings that abounded in and around the Monastery and cemetery, Janet had begun to notice a repetitive theme. It involved representations of a man and woman with God. Various animals were also present. Another feature was the depiction of four rivers.

  After checking several headstones and finding similar depictions, she excitedly returned to Eti and Jasmine.

  "What do you make of these," asked Janet as she took them around the Monastery and showed them the drawings. Some of them were no more than scratches. She showed them fifteen scenes.

  "I think you have found a gold mine," said Eti in awe. "You do know what they show don't you?"

  "I think they show God with Adam and Eve," said Janet.

  "I think you are right," agreed Jasmine. "Obviously God is the one with the Halo."

  "I think so," agreed Janet. "But look deeper. What else do you see?"

  "What are you getting at?" asked Eti.

  "Look," said Janet pointing at the images. "What do you think these lines represent?"

  "I don't know," said Jasmine. "Roads? They could just be scratches."

  "I don't think so," said Janet.

  "You think they are rivers don't you," stated Eti.

  Janet nodded.

  "I do," she agreed. "Look how there is only the one line in some of them and in others there are four lines. The one-line pictures have only God in some of them, but in others, they have God and a man. In those with four lines, there are some with God and a man, and in some there is God with a man and a woman."

  "So," said Jasmine, "You see God first with one river, and then Adam with God with one river, and then God and Adam with four rivers, and finally God with Adam and Eve and four rivers."

  "In the Garden of Eden," finished Janet.

  "Are you sure you're not reading too much into it all?" asked Jasmine.

  Janet smiled.

  "Hey, of course I could be, but it's there. It's what I see."

  "This is of major importance you know," pointed out Eti. "Nobody has pointed out, or noticed, the significance of these before. At l
east I don't think they have."

  "Have you ever seen these, or photographs or writings about these, at any stage?" Jasmine asked Eti. "I certainly haven't."

  "No," admitted Eti. "They are new to me.

  "This is going to hit the world as a major find. Janet, you are going to be famous. This'll sit Palmer on his backside. Let's see how he deals with this. Goodness, this virtually proves Creation."

  "Hey," cautioned Jasmine. "I believe you are right as to what it depicts, but it doesn't prove anything does it? It just sets out in pictorial form the Genesis story."

  There was silence as they considered Jasmine's comment.

  "You are right of course," agreed Eti. "I got a bit carried away. It is still a great find but I have to accept that there are other matters to be considered, and actually scientific scrutiny will probably deflate us.

  "Sorry Janet."

  "Hey, don't be sorry," consoled Janet. She waited a few beats before adding, "But wait, there is more."

  Eti and Jasmine stared at her.

  "More?" they echoed.

  "Check the background. What do you see?"

  "These marks?" asked Eti pointing to what looked like more scratches.

  "Yeah," agreed Janet. "Those marks!"

  Both Eti and Jasmine examined the lines that did look like scratches behind the figures. They went from scene to scene and back again.

  Eti looked at Janet.

  "What do you see Janet?" he asked. "I can see angled lines, a circle that could be a moon or the sun, and possibly a mountain, maybe a volcano; background landscape stuff."

  Janet nodded.

  "Yep, that's what I see," she agreed.

  "And that gets you excited because . . ." queried Jasmine.

  "Because I think they give the actual location of the rivers. In all the scenes that have the one river, it is shown as coming from between two hills that keep the same shape and position in regard to the orb - your sun or moon. Off to one side is a volcano, that one. (Janet pointed with her index finger.) Then in the scenes with four rivers, those hills and the volcano are positioned differently. I think that is because they are positioned in relation to the four different rivers, and the views are from those rivers looking back towards that particular skyline.

  "I think that these scenes are actually a treasure map and the treasure is the Garden of Eden."

  Eti and Jasmine re-examined the scenes.

  "I think you are drawing a bit of a long bow Janet," said Jasmine.

  "And you Eti?" asked Janet.

  "It's possible," said Eti. "Many scientific and archaeological finds have been based on less."

  "I'll take that as a yes," accepted Janet.

  "Not an unqualified yes," agreed Eti, "but a bit of a nod. We will need to do a lot more work on it."

  "Back up a bit," said Jasmine. "I hate to rain on your party, but really! This is a big world we live in. There are a lot of hills and mountains, volcanoes and rivers. These scenes, if that is what they are, could be anywhere in the world and could be depicting any place in the world. Also, is it East, West, South or North facing? There has to be a lifetime of computer modeling involved with this. That is especially so when considering the possibility that the hills may no longer be the same now as they were then. Whenever then was. Earthquakes, earthworks, wars and eruptions, not to mention erosion, have probably changed their shape by now."

  "Well I didn't say it was going to be easy," pouted Janet. "I just pointed out something that I think is pretty important. You agree don't you Eti?"

  "Actually I do agree with you Janet, but I also agree with Jasmine that establishing a location will not be easy."

  "It would be impossible," said Jasmine. "Where would you even start?"

  "Why not here," asked Janet. "This is where the scenes are. I mean the drawings are right here. They are not in New Zealand or America or Iraq. They are here, near Lake Van, in Turkey. As far as we know, nothing like these scenes appear anywhere else in the world. They may, but nobody has mentioned them yet. So, why would they be here? I would say that they are here because they relate to here. I suggest that the people, either of this community, or close by this community, made those scenes to ensure their knowledge of Eden's location was never lost.

  "I'll bet that these scenes relate to somewhere around here. Maybe there is something else pointing to the location. Come on, let's be positive about this."

  Janet walked outside. She looked around.

  "We are too low. We need to be up higher so we can see the horizon. Probably all of these trees and things weren't here originally. Well, of course they weren't. I'll bet if we can find a high enough vantage point we'll be able to make some sense of our scenes."

  "Okay," said Jasmine. "Let's just hold up a minute shall we? I think you are both getting a bit ahead of yourselves. As I said, this is a possibly great and important find. You, of all people Eti, should realise the importance of not jumping to conclusions. This needs doing systematically and scientifically. We need to document and list everything we do. We must document and preserve all we find. Unless we do that, we risk losing any credibility when this all comes under public and peer scrutiny."

  Eti nodded.

  "Okay Jazz," he said, "you are right. We are getting a bit carried away. Thank goodness someone is a bit focused.

  "Janet, why don't you make drawings of these scenes? Note exactly where they are on a plan and how you interpret them. A camera would be great, but at the moment we will just have to make do with what we have got.

  "While you are doing that, Jazz and I will sketch an outline of the area around here setting it out in a map form with some measurements so it can be located and quantified, if need be, at a later date.

  "Okay, let's get to it shall we?"

  Jasmine and Eti went off together, with pencils and paper located from the living area, leaving Janet to her own devices. Feeling somewhat let down, alone, and a lot jealous, Janet set about her work. As time went by, her preoccupation with the Jasmine-Eti relationship receded into the background, and she became more and more animated and certain in the reality of her discovery. She carefully sketched each frieze and did so to actual size. In two cases, she was able to do a pencil rubbing of the scene, which she believed to be of excellent quality.

  The day disappeared all too quickly. In front of the fire that night, Eti and Jasmine continued to be involved in animated discussions while Janet was left to one side. She found herself longing for the intimacy that she and Eti had shared prior to the appearance of Jasmine. Janet knew she was being silly and petty about the matter, but found a feeling of dislike forming towards Jasmine. Her mind drifted back to her initial dealings with Jasmine, and the concerns she experienced as to whether or not she should be trusted. Could Jasmine be working with the kidnappers she wondered? An argument developed in Janet's mind in which Jasmine sided with her Muslim believers against the infidels Janet and Eti. Janet could feel her dislike for Jasmine building and this nearly boiled over when she saw her rubbing Eti's arm in a comforting and intimate gesture. With a toss of her head, Janet sought out her bed and settled down for sleep. It never came.

  The next morning Janet was moody and bad tempered from the lack of sleep. She was sharp and snapped at both Eti and Jasmine who exchanged questioning looks with each other. Once breakfast was finished, Janet went back to her friezes. Calmness settled over her. She was convinced that the scenes depicted were a map, and that they pointed the way to the Garden of Eden. She found herself daydreaming of walking through a cutting or trail between two hills and it opening into a valley where everything was perfect. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. The grass was greener than she had ever seen before. The flowers were more colourful. Birds flew about her and their songs were more beautiful than she had ever heard. She had an urge to take her clothes off, as it seemed to her that they hindered the whole Eden experience. A fawn wandered across her path and allowed Janet to pet it before it ambled away on its journey
. This, Janet felt, was truly heaven on earth.

  She jerked back to the current world when her arm slipped from where it had been leaning against a wall. She realised that she had probably fallen asleep, dozing off because of the sleepless night.

  At midday, she ate while listening to Eti and Jasmine discussing the merits and demerits of each other's religious beliefs. Feeling embarrassed about her jealousy, Janet cut short her meal and went back to the Monastery ruins. Her examination of what she regarded as the Eden maps, lead her to believe that the scene they depicted had to be from an identifiable point. Seeing they existed at the Monastery, it appeared evident, to her, that the hills must be visible from it: the obvious that she had explained to Eti and Jasmine. If not, there would have to be some other identifiable landmark from which to view the scene.

  From the Monastery itself, Janet wandered over to the cemetery area. She felt a fascination for it: drawn to it. Many of the headstones had fallen over so weeds and grass obliterated the majority of the gravesites. Idly, Janet brushed aside weeds that had overgrown a headstone. There was the traditional Armenian style cross on the headstone and the writing or symbols relating to it chipped into the stone. Janet picked off the rest of the moss and growth covering the face of it. For some reason something about that particular headstone caught Janet's attention. Generally it looked no different from any of the other headstones, yet, something in her subconscious mind was telling her different. She moved on to an adjacent grave and cleared the rubbish obscuring the headstone. It was the same, as far as she could tell, as the first one. She cleared another two headstones because she sensed there was something existed that she was missing. She went over and over the three headstones but was unable to identify whatever it was that nagged at her. In the end, she copied the inscriptions down on paper. By that time, the daylight was failing so she returned to where Eti and Jasmine were preparing the evening meals.

  Janet still found herself feeling somewhat aloof from the other two, but not in a negative way. Her mind was just preoccupied with the headstones.

  After the meal, Janet took one of the headstone inscriptions, and set the engraved marks and lines into columns and rows as they appeared in the original. She then did the same with the other two inscriptions. While there were minor differences, she found that they all consisted of a set number of rows and columns. She had no idea what the inscriptions actually said or meant. Some were long enough to be words. The set number of columns and rows were generally similar for each headstone.

  Janet was frustrated.

  She knew there was something different but she could just not get her mind to bring that nagging little detail to the fore. As she idly doodled with her pencil, she found herself drawing crosses.

  That was it.

  Crosses!

  There was something about the crosses. She examined each of the crosses she had copied from the headstones but there did not appear to be any difference, although she knew that what she had copied was possibly irrelevant because she had just drawn a cross. She had made no effort to copy exactly what existed. A cross was a cross, right? Well no, that was not right. As Eti would have pointed out, some crosses were more important than others.

  Janet wanted, and needed, to go back to the headstones but knew she would achieve nothing in the dark. She resigned herself to having to await daylight. As she settled for sleep, her mind focused on crosses, but she fell into a deep sleep and did not stir until woken by Eti. It was daylight. She wolfed down some fruit, nuts and a drink before racing back to the headstones.

  Eagerly she compared the crosses on all three headstones that she had cleared. Yes, they were deeply etched and were the most defined objects on the headstones: far clearer than the writing, or what Janet took to be writing.

  There was no perceptible difference. Maybe a height or width difference, but even they were insignificant. She was bitterly disappointed. As she sat down, with her back against a headstone, she let her mind wander. As she took in the fruit trees and vines, she envisaged the Armenians of old who had built the place. She envied them their simple life back in the years when those who had actually spoken and eaten with Jesus still lived. Probably, she convinced herself, Jude Thaddeus had stayed at this very site. It was possible that he had Jesus' burial clothe with him. Oh, how bitter sweet that must have been. Could Jesus have known where the Garden of Eden was? Well of course he would. He, and his father, God, were one and the same. So, had he left clues? Had he passed that knowledge on to his disciples as they sat around a meal? The possibilities were endless. Mind you, would he have wanted his followers to go to the place where his creations had lost their way and disobeyed him?

  Janet shook herself.

  "You are getting into speculation that has no answer," she told herself. "Now get on with something constructive because you sure ain't achieving anything sitting here."

  As she climbed to her feet, Janet slipped and fell. She did not hurt herself, but found that she was lying at the rear of one of the headstones she had cleared.

  There it was!

  Another cross, but on the back of the headstone. It was more in the form of an arrow than cross when you looked closer at it. And, it had a lean on it: about a forty-five degree lean. It was nowhere as large as the cross on the front, but it appeared as old.

  Janet quickly checked the back of the other two headstones she had cleared but apart from the weathered wear and tear no cross or arrow existed similar to the one she had found. Excitedly she set to work clearing the backs of the other headstones that still existed in the cemetery. Within three hours, she had discovered three more arrow crosses on the backs of headstones. What was even more exciting, to Janet, was that they lined up. The direction of all three arrows was a straight line pointing in what Janet presumed was a North Westerly direction.