The Second Messiah (7 page)

Green added, “The entire literal translation of the first lines reads, ‘This story concerns the man known as Jesus the Messiah. Having traveled from Caesarea to Dora, where his name had become well-known, he failed miserably to cure the blind and the sick, despite his promises
to
do so. Soon after, he was arrested in Dora by the Romans, tried and found guilty, and sentenced to be executed.’”

Green wiped a patina of sweat from his forehead as he finished reading, put down the knife, and looked up at Jack. “Which is bizarre. Because so far as history records there’s no mention of Jesus ever having visited Caesarea or Dora, or being arrested and sentenced there to be executed. He’s recorded to have traveled to places in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon, but never to Caesarea or Dora, which are on the Mediterranean coast, in the northwest of Israel.”

“You’ve no doubt about your biblical history?”

Green grinned, stuck a hand in his pocket, and held up a Black-Berry. “As technology is my witness.”

“You checked.”

“I may be an expert on the period, but even I still double-check. I consulted a couple of excellent online Bible study sites to be absolutely certain.”

“What did you learn?”

“Jesus was known to have frequented a fairly small stomping ground in Judea. Caesarea and Dora were Mediterranean coastal towns, about sixty miles away. Dora at that time was in a Roman-controlled province of Syria. Its population wasn’t Jewish. In fact, it feuded with the Jews. Caesarea was in Samaria province. And as for failing miserably to cure the blind and the sick …” Green spread his hands and gave a dramatic shrug. “Like I said, it’s bizarre. None of it makes sense. It’s certainly going to confound the Bible scholars.”

Jack rubbed his eyes, stared at the scroll’s writing once more, and shook his head. Green was an Aramaic language expert, so Jack discounted any possibility of a mistake. “It sure is a puzzle, professor.”

Green tossed his reading glasses on the table in a gesture of defeat. “One that’s got me stumped for now, I’m afraid.”

Jack removed a worn leather notebook from his Chinos pocket. “Do you mind if I copy down the text in my notebook?”

“Feel free, you’re the one who found it. Here’s hoping that the rest of the scroll reveals more information and helps us put the words into
context
. But to tell the truth I did manage to get the scroll open just a fraction more before I gave up and decided to let things be. The text I saw had me confused.”

“What do you mean?”

“It read like gibberish. The Aramaic characters all looked legible, apart from a few holes in the parchment, but the few words that I saw didn’t make any sense. Like they were jumbled or written in an alien language.” Green tried to rub the sleep from his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s probably my own exhaustion. It’s been over twenty-four hours since I last slept. My eyeballs feel like they’ve been smacked around a pool table.”

Jack put down the magnifying glass. “You went as far as you could go with it tonight. We’ll get expert help to unravel the rest of the parchment. We don’t want to continue and cause damage.”

The professor let out a sigh. “That’s what I thought. All in all, it’s been an astonishing find. The name Jesus Christ is not mentioned once in any of the scrolls and fragments already found over the decades. Yet here it is, clearly legible. You’ve found a truly unique document, Jack. One that may cast significant new light on Jesus himself. You deserve a big pat on the back.” Green slapped Jack’s shoulder heartily.

“Thanks, professor.”

“Most importantly, this find will serve to confirm the very existence of Jesus. That kind of solid evidence is hard to come by outside the Bible. I think this calls for another celebration.”

Green crossed to a scuffed leather trunk by his cot. “The rest of the crew are going to be even more amazed when they hear this news. You’ll join me in a drink? Of course you will.”

Jack finished writing and smiled tiredly. “Mind if I pass, professor? I had quite a few beers already. Tomorrow’s another long day.”

“No way, we can’t let a moment like this pass.” Green grabbed a bottle of Wild Turkey and two glass tumblers from the trunk. “Don’t force me to twist your arm.”

“Maybe just one.” Jack stuffed his notebook in his breast pocket.

Green pulled off the corked top on the Wild Turkey bottle with his
teeth
, spat it out, and splashed a generous measure into their glasses. “Get that down you. You deserve it, Jack.”

He swallowed a mouthful of liquor. “Thanks.”

“What’s the bet that the parchment’s going to cause a sensation among the scholars? Who knows, it may contain information that challenges or even refutes established traditions, perhaps even something compromising? In fact, I’d like to propose a toast.”

“To what?”

Green smiled, clinked their glasses. “That whatever else this find of yours contains, it knocks their socks off.”

A MOMENT LATER
the tent flap opened and a striking young blond woman came in. She looked as if she had Arab blood in her veins with her amber eyes and long black lashes, but everything else about Yasmin Green was westernized. She wore khaki shorts that bared her slim, tanned legs, her shirt tied in a knot above her waist, exposing her smooth belly. She smiled, then said in an American accent, “Aren’t you two going to get some sleep? You must be exhausted, Uncle Donald. You too, Jack.”

Green, still bubbling with excitement, stared back at his niece as if she were mad. “Sleep? Who can rest after this find? Have another drink, Jack.” He splashed more Wild Turkey into their glasses.

“Go easy, professor.”

“Yasmin?”

“Not for me. I’ve just spent the last half-hour picking up empty Heineken cans after the crew. Crew like me, who are not lucky enough to be archaeologists, just mere interested amateurs, always seem to get stuck with the housework.”

She tapped her watch at her uncle. “I know you told me this is the most incredible discovery you’ve ever been involved with, but it’s also well after five
A.M.
The rest of the crew bedded down hours ago. If you want to be in the full of your health when the Israeli Antiquities Department visits tomorrow, you ought to get to bed.”

Jack finished his drink in one swallow. “Yasmin’s right, professor. I think I’ll hit the hay.”

The professor grinned. “That’s it, chicken out just when a guy’s beginning to enjoy himself.”

Yasmin winked at Jack. “Try and convince my uncle to get to bed, will you? I’m going to finish tidying up and hit the sack. Congratulations again, Jack.” She gave him a final smile as she went out, her blond hair and amber eyes an arresting combination.

Jack watched her figure retreat into the dusk. Green noticed his stare and closed the tent flap. “She’s a good-looking young woman, isn’t she, Jack?”

“She sure is.”

“My brother’s Lebanese wife was always something of a beauty, which explains Yasmin’s looks. The union of the Middle Eastern and the Western can produce quite an exotic mix. And of course, Yasmin’s had the benefit of a Western education, which can make her all the more alluring.” Green gave a tight smile, then knocked back his liquor, put down his glass, and filled it again from the bottle. A sudden, irritated edge crept into his voice. “I’ve always had a soft spot for the opposite sex, as you probably know. Three marriages and a weakness for a pretty woman wearing a short skirt say it all. However, can I give you a friendly word of advice?”

“What’s that, professor?”

“I promised my brother I’d watch over his daughter like a hawk while she was working on the dig.” Green took a gulp of Wild Turkey and made a face, as if the alcohol suddenly tasted nasty. “But maybe I should just tell you the truth and be done with it …” His words trailed away, as if he’d instantly regretted them. “Never mind, forget it.”

“What truth?” Jack asked. “Forget what?”

Green appeared embarrassed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that most of the guys working on this site are a bunch of skirt-chasers. Me included. Not that I’d be inclined to count you among them, Jack. I’ve known you too long a time to suggest that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I have my moments.”

Green smiled weakly. “Haven’t we all where women are concerned? But I don’t want Yasmin being taken advantage of in any way. You understand?”

“Yasmin’s what … twenty-five, professor? I’d have thought she
was
old enough to make up her own mind about whatever it is she wants.”

“Well, sure, but—”

Jack put down his glass, too tired to take it any further. “Why don’t you cork that bottle until another day and get some rest, professor? Me, I think I’ll take a walk to clear my head before I turn in.”

Green sounded a little drunk as he slapped a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Okay, but I wanted to say well done, Jack. I know your parents would have been proud. It’s just a pity they’re not here to witness this moment. It’s hard to believe it’s twenty years since they’ve gone. I still miss them.”

“We both do.”

Green’s hand fell away. “Good night, Jack.”

“Good night, sir.” Jack pulled back the tent flap but Green’s voice stopped him.

“By the way, I guess you’ve been too busy to hear the news?”

Jack looked back. “What news?”

Green drained his glass. “The American priest who worked at Qumran at the time your folks died.”

Jack nodded. “John Becket. What about him?”

“He’s got himself elected pope.”

IN THE BEGINNING,
there was only darkness and then God created light.

As the sun’s blush peeked above the horizon, Jack climbed up a rocky slope, his solitary figure silhouetted against the dawn’s orange glow. He was thinking of those ancient words, how they seemed so appropriate to the moment.

But since he was feeling a buzz after drinking Wild Turkey, those other words of a stand-up comic he’d once heard in New York also came to mind: In the beginning there was nothing, and then God created light. There was still nothing but you could see it a lot better.

That always made him crack a smile. When he reached the top of the slope, he paused to stare at the view of the Judean desert toward Jordan and get his breath. His chest pounded, not from exertion but the exhilaration that sped through his veins.

The rising sun was lost behind the mountains of Edom. Jack shivered. The desert air was still cold after the night and he looked out at rust-colored rock and parched stony mountains, Bedouin camps in the distance, dotted with camel and goatherds. Past a palm-fringed wadi, he saw that a ring of massive rocks that formed a boundary with the surrounding desert were stained by the sunrise.

I love this land. Love its mystery, its coppery light, its incredible history
.

He sat cross-legged on a huge boulder, breathing slowly. At dawn, the Dead Sea valley, at more than thirteen hundred feet below sea level, was tranquil. A desolate landscape, but strangely it was where Jack felt closest to God. Not that he was deeply religious. More spiritual.

As his father used to put it, sometimes religion is for those who are afraid to go to hell, but spirituality is for those who have been there.

Except here in the Holy Land, it seemed easier to understand belief. History was like a scent in the air. You breathed it every time you sucked in a lungful. Here was the land of Abraham and Jacob, and where Christ was born, the sky he slept under, the soil he was crucified upon. To the north lay Jericho. And twenty miles behind him, to the west, Jerusalem’s gilded temple.

Jack heard a clatter of stones and turned, seeing Yasmin Green’s figure moving up the slope from down in the camp, her long blond hair tinted by the amber rays. He was pretty sure every man on the dig had been having the same fantasies about Yasmin Green since she had joined the excavation two months ago. She saw him, waved, and called out, “Hi, Jack!”

He waved back, his heart beating a little faster, and waited for her to join him.

She reached the top and sat next to him on the boulder, curling her bronzed legs. She carried two cans of Heineken and handed Jack one. “The last two. I thought you might like to join me in one final nightcap?”