aside the curtain that the monk had been guarding. Behind it was an altar upon which was a casket covered by embroidered cloth. In the dim light she could see images of people dancing in front of the Ark as angels swooped overhead praising God. There were also paintings on the walls, black men carrying the Ark from Jerusalem to Ethiopia as kings bowed down before it.
She pulled the cloth aside to reveal a dark wooden chest, simply made with no carvings or markings on it. There were metal rings for carrying poles, but they were the only thing she could see that linked this with the fabled Ark. Natasha drew her fingers along the top of the chest. It had been polished smooth, but there was no hint of anything supernatural, and she felt faintly disappointed. From the notebook she knew that this was known as the ‘tabot’, and there were all kinds of tabots throughout Ethiopia. They were all replicas of the box that supposedly held the tablets on which the Law was written, but she had expected this one to look different, if indeed it was the original tabot.
Natasha shook her head. Why had she believed it could be here? Some of the nonsense her father had read about must have rubbed off on her. In Gamal’s notes, he had mentioned wanting to look inside the Ark in order to check for the sacred objects that were within it - the rod of Aaron, the pot of manna. The likelihood of these being here was slight but Natasha intended to look inside anyway.
She lifted the lid and it creaked slightly, clearly opened regularly as part of the rituals when the Ark was exhibited. Inside was a gold cloth wrapped into a bundle, covered with embroidered swirls and geometric shapes. Puzzled, Natasha reached in and picked it up. A jolt of energy ran through her, a noise like a rushing waterfall resounded in the room, and she felt a sense of vertigo. She gasped, dropped the bundle and the noise immediately stopped.
Shaking her head to clear it, she pulled her knife back out and used it to prise the folds of material away from what lay within. It was a shriveled piece of wood, as big as a man’s hand, with a patterning of gold leaf speckled on its surface. Natasha was confused. Could this be a piece of the original Ark? What was the noise and the strange energy it released? This wasn’t anything she had been led to expect from the notebooks or from her own study. Could the Ark really have been broken into pieces? This relic wasn’t the symbol that would unite a nation, but if there was some latent power still remaining in the pieces, she needed to find the rest of them and get them to Jerusalem in time for the deadline.
She used the knife tip to push the cloth around the shrunken wood again and then pulled off the altar cloth to use as another barrier. She wound the material around the gold and lifted the package from the altar casket. Turning back into the shrine, she stepped over the body of the monk and left the Treasury.
A howl went up from the monks when they saw what she was carrying out of the Sanctuary. Isac and his men had their weapons trained on them but they still surged forward. The old man she had greeted earlier fell to his knees.
“God will strike you down for touching the holy relic,” he shouted. “You cannot take it from this place for He has given it to us for safekeeping.”
Natasha stalked over to him, all pretense of piety gone. She shook the bundle in his face and spat her words at him.
“This is your precious Ark? This scrap of wood, this pathetic sliver of timber?”
He fell backwards as she stood over him. The other monks reached out to grab the bundle from her but were pushed back by Isac and his men as shots were fired into the air. Natasha bent close to the monk.
“Where’s the rest of it? Tell me or I will burn this, right here in the courtyard and you won’t see your sacred relic again.” The monk’s eyes were fixed on the bundle. He was shrinking away from Natasha’s vehemence
She pulled the cloth aside to reveal a dark wooden chest, simply made with no carvings or markings on it. There were metal rings for carrying poles, but they were the only thing she could see that linked this with the fabled Ark. Natasha drew her fingers along the top of the chest. It had been polished smooth, but there was no hint of anything supernatural, and she felt faintly disappointed. From the notebook she knew that this was known as the ‘tabot’, and there were all kinds of tabots throughout Ethiopia. They were all replicas of the box that supposedly held the tablets on which the Law was written, but she had expected this one to look different, if indeed it was the original tabot.
Natasha shook her head. Why had she believed it could be here? Some of the nonsense her father had read about must have rubbed off on her. In Gamal’s notes, he had mentioned wanting to look inside the Ark in order to check for the sacred objects that were within it - the rod of Aaron, the pot of manna. The likelihood of these being here was slight but Natasha intended to look inside anyway.
She lifted the lid and it creaked slightly, clearly opened regularly as part of the rituals when the Ark was exhibited. Inside was a gold cloth wrapped into a bundle, covered with embroidered swirls and geometric shapes. Puzzled, Natasha reached in and picked it up. A jolt of energy ran through her, a noise like a rushing waterfall resounded in the room, and she felt a sense of vertigo. She gasped, dropped the bundle and the noise immediately stopped.
Shaking her head to clear it, she pulled her knife back out and used it to prise the folds of material away from what lay within. It was a shriveled piece of wood, as big as a man’s hand, with a patterning of gold leaf speckled on its surface. Natasha was confused. Could this be a piece of the original Ark? What was the noise and the strange energy it released? This wasn’t anything she had been led to expect from the notebooks or from her own study. Could the Ark really have been broken into pieces? This relic wasn’t the symbol that would unite a nation, but if there was some latent power still remaining in the pieces, she needed to find the rest of them and get them to Jerusalem in time for the deadline.
She used the knife tip to push the cloth around the shrunken wood again and then pulled off the altar cloth to use as another barrier. She wound the material around the gold and lifted the package from the altar casket. Turning back into the shrine, she stepped over the body of the monk and left the Treasury.
A howl went up from the monks when they saw what she was carrying out of the Sanctuary. Isac and his men had their weapons trained on them but they still surged forward. The old man she had greeted earlier fell to his knees.
“God will strike you down for touching the holy relic,” he shouted. “You cannot take it from this place for He has given it to us for safekeeping.”
Natasha stalked over to him, all pretense of piety gone. She shook the bundle in his face and spat her words at him.
“This is your precious Ark? This scrap of wood, this pathetic sliver of timber?”
He fell backwards as she stood over him. The other monks reached out to grab the bundle from her but were pushed back by Isac and his men as shots were fired into the air. Natasha bent close to the monk.
“Where’s the rest of it? Tell me or I will burn this, right here in the courtyard and you won’t see your sacred relic again.” The monk’s eyes were fixed on the bundle. He was shrinking away from Natasha’s vehemence
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