Chapter Sixteen – The Ransomed Greek
Talia breathed in spearmint tea and almost put her nose into the beautifully ornamented little bronze cup the man in blue had offered her. She knew the sweet herbal tea concoction would give her a boost for a few more hours. Jiggly also sat at the small, linen-covered table, but his head and hands lay inert on the cloth.
The man stood by a narrow counter in the narrow kitchen, sipping his own drink. Talia felt immensely better.
“Do you know where Guglielmo’s girlfriend is?” Talia forced herself to ask the question. She cared nothing about Jiggly, but the girl’s life was important. Uncle Naddy and Aunt Sophie were safe, and the locked bag could wait. It couldn’t wait long, but Talia hoped she was in the right place to learn more about it.
“Yes, she is here, and she is safe,” the man responded.
Jiggly’s head jerked up. “Maria is here?”
“She is here. She does not want to see you, and I cannot fault her wisdom. Regret what you have lost, because you have lost her, to a new life and a new hope. In fact, your part in the conversation has ended, and you may go.”
“Go?” Jiggly stared at Talia. “Should I wait in the Rover?”
“No, you should go wherever you can,” the man said. “Honorable people have no use for dishonorable servants.”
“Maybe I should leave that up to Naddy and Sophie,” Jiggly grumbled.
“Go,” Talia said.
He got up, glared at Talia and the robed man, and slowly left the tiny room.
“I am going to invite my wife to continue this conversation with us,” the man said. “I have lived my life under customs that dictate a man does not speak to an unattached woman when her relatives are not present. I understand why you had to come here without them, but I must gather such shreds of propriety as we can muster. She has been listening in the next room, while watching over the girl, and will join us now.”
A small woman entered the room and sat where Jiggly had been. There were only two chairs. “My husband is an honorable man,” she said. “Please believe that. He is not to blame for what happened to your uncle. Why does he keep trying to expose what we have risked our lives to keep hidden?”
Talia tried to stay calm. “We have been told, over and over, that everyone who used to guard the Testaments was dead. I met a doctor back in the States at the airport who had a ring just like yours. But she practically threatened me. If you are Guardians of the Testaments, why are you acting like we’re the enemy? Don’t you understand we want to help?”
“A secret is not a secret if a madman poking in the dirt makes it his mission to expose it to all the world,” the woman replied.
“How dare you call my uncle a madman? Our family has been faithful to the Word too! Uncle Naddy almost died trying to preserve the testaments.”
“He was not trying to preserve them. He was just trying to find them,” the woman said sternly. “They already are protected, by being hidden, and by people like my husband, and others, humble-hearted and eager only to serve the cause. Your uncle has his life, a blessing most unexpected considering his rash methods and corrupt thinking. Once again, we can only pray that the Testaments remain safe until the Time of Great Thirst.”
Talia started to retort again, but that last phrase gripped her. It was like the Scripture Uncle Naddy had quoted to her so many times – the Amos passage that was the first thing out of his lips in the hospital.
“Is it coming soon? The Time of Great Thirst?”
“We cannot be certain, but we know there is talk of an enemy determined to find and destroy the testaments.” The man spoke when his wife hesitated and looked to him for confirmation. His eyes seemed to soften. “Soon, we will want help. Every faithful soul will be needed if we are to keep protecting the testaments.”
“Can you tell me what is in the leather bag with the seal?”
“I can do better. I can show you.”
He pushed aside the curtain at the back of the kitchen, the one through which his wife had emerged, and Talia followed them into an even tinier room where she saw a bruised and huddled figure lying asleep on a mat in one corner. Talia had met Jiggly’s girlfriend Maria once, but had trouble recognizing her in this state. In another corner lay a sleeping infant. Talia knew Maria and Jiggly didn’t have a child so she realized the baby must belong to the cafe owner and his wife.
In the center of the room, in a large basin, sat the leather bag, the lock open. The man squatted and put his hand into the bag, drawing out something that looked like a scroll, but which was made of the same glowing golden material as the lock.
“May I take some pictures?” Talia asked.
“Just as you see it here,” he agreed. Talia snapped with her phone all the angles she could without touching the scroll.
“I have shown you the scroll, but I must take it to experts who can try to unroll it and decipher its message,” the man explained. “You know of the Copper Scroll found at Qumran, of course?”
“Yes. It was in very bad shape, and it took a long time just to open it so that it could be studied,” Talia acknowledged reluctantly. “But my Uncle Naddy could help you with this. I know he could.”
“Tell him to purify his heart,” the man said, putting away the scroll and locking the bag. “God demands purity, not just passion, from His servants. No doubt we could use him, and even need his expertise, but our struggle is not for those who play with defilement, thinking the end justifies the means.”
“But I don’t understand your involvement in this,” Talia protested. “Guglielmo said the men who took Maria and the artifacts came to you. Are you responsible for my uncle being stabbed?”
“I overheard two men wondering how to get rid of a woman they said they had been paid to kidnap. They talked of receiving money to steal some artifacts, but I gathered they had never seen their employer face to face. I was able to convince the thieves that I represented their employers. Since it was clear from what they said that they had already been given some money, they were very happy to surrender their hostage, with many complaints about how much trouble she was.
“With some additional persuasion I also got them to agree to bring me the artifacts. Your uncle was attacked simply because he tried to resist being robbed. Unfortunate, but not intentional on my part. They only brought me the artifacts and the woman an hour or two ago. I have not seen them since.”
The baby in the corner began to wail. The woman cradled him and said, “You need to go now. You may of course tell your aunt and uncle about these scrolls and show them your pictures. But we urge you to try to persuade them to stop interfering.”
“They’re not trying to interfere. They want to help – we want to help – if you would only trust us.” Talia clenched her fists.
The couple’s faces both softened. “Perhaps we can make contact later,” the woman said. “For now, we have to flee, before the person who paid to have the artifacts stolen discovers his employees were duped. We must close our shop forever and get far away from here. There is still hope that you can truly aid our cause, but now is not the time.”
Talia wanted to shout at them. “I promise you, we just want to help preserve the Word. You misunderstand if you think my uncle is greedy. He spoke about the Great Thirst. He knows how important this is – to preserve and to spread the Word.”
They did not even answer her, but continued packing to depart. Talia felt a hush fall over her when she saw them open empty cupboards for a last check. A cafe should have had foodstuffs, olive oil, costly spices – at least a few delicacies that would be more valuable to ordinary island people than money. She realized the cafe owner had bribed the men with everything that could be of value to thieves. She felt a sudden sense of the privation of these people, their burden and their sacrifice. They had been willing to share these few feet of space with Maria. But they could not continue to care for her if they meant to flee with that astounding treasure.
“Please
don’t be insulted, but I want to offer you help. Can I make some provision for your journey?”
The woman glanced up at her husband but he did not respond.
Talia took out some money and set it on the counter. “Also, please let me take Maria with me. She knows me. We can help her, and she won’t impede your journey.”
The woman hugged her. “A blessing on you. We could not imagine what we would do about her. And if that pig tries to come for her, you will know how to treat him.”
“Oh, yes. I think I can handle Jiggly.”
She said the nickname as she always had and the woman laughed. “I know this word in English. The gelatin is jiggly, yes? He is well-named.”
“Maria.” Talia touched the disheveled girl and she started up. “Come with me, baby. Aunt Sophie and Cindee and I are going to take care of you. Jiggly’s long gone.”
“Talia.” Maria cradled her bandaged hand and rose with difficulty. Her clothes were torn, and she had no shoes, but she beamed around her split lip. “I truly have the Christ now. I don’t have to pray to his mother anymore. These people showed me the truth. They have God’s Words written in gold. Did you know?”
Talia shot a look at the couple. The woman had retreated to a corner and begun to breastfeed her child, turning completely away from them, as if they had any privacy. The man stood over her, his body her only shield, not even watching for their departure.
“Yes, I know.” Talia led Maria out of the cafe.