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SIXTY-THREE
MARK LED THE WAY BACK DOWN THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE, past the ladder, tohere Malone and Cassiopeia had first explored No light seeped down fro the treasure chamber he’d retrieved the bolt cutters, as he assuate would likewise be chained
They can ye shall conquer him," de Roquefort said as he read, then his beaate "That it?"
Mark nodded and ainst the wall "He came to see for himself" He explained about the marshal from Sauniere’s time and the medallion Malone found, which confirht," de Roquefort said
"And what you’re doing is better?"
"I coht bar, Mark noticed a slight depression in the earth ahead Without saying a word, he stepped around the liar, toward the wall, avoiding the trap that de Roquefort seeate, with the bolt cutters, Mark severed another brass chain He recalled Malone’s caution and stepped to one side as he worked the grille open
Beyond the entrance were the saolden glow of his la but rock
He turned the first corner, then the second De Roquefort stood behind hiallery, this one larger than the first treasure chamber
The roo shapes and sizes Atop them were books, all neatly stacked Hundreds of volu came to Mark’s stomach as he realized that the h the chamber was cool and dry, time would have taken a toll on both the leaves and the ink Much better if they’d been sealed inside another container But the brothers who had secreted these certainly never iined that it would be seven hundred years before they’d be retrieved
He stepped to one of the stacks and exailded silver atop wood boards had turned black He studied the engravings of Christ and what appeared to be Peter and Paul, which he kneere forilt Italian craftsently lifted the cover and brought the light close His suspicion was confirmed He could not make out many of the words
"Can you read it?" de Roquefort asked
He shook his head "It needs to be in a laboratory It will take professional restoration We shouldn’t disturb them"
"Looks like somebody already did that"
And he stared into the spill of de Roquefort’s light and saw a pile of books scattered on the floor Bits and pieces of pages lay about like charred paper froain," he said "It’ll take years to garner anything useful fro to find Beyond some historical value, they’re probably useless"
"This is ours"
So what, he thought, for all the good it would do
But his mind raced with possibilities Sauniere had come to this place No question The treasure chamber had provided his wealth--it would have been an easy old and silver Actual coins would have raised questions Bank officials or assay clerks ht want to know their source But the raw metal would have been the perfect currency in the early part of the twentieth century when old- or silver-based
Yet the abbe had gone a step farther
He’d used the wealth to fashion a church loaded with hints that pointed to so he was so sure about that he flaunted the knowledge By this sign ye shall conquer hiround, but in the Rennes church as well He visualized the inscription painted above the entrance I have had contedom of this world, and all temporal adornments, because of the love of my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I sahom I loved, in whom I believed, and whom I worshiped Obscure words from a ancient responsory? Maybe Yet Sauniere intentionally chose theht bar around the room and studied the plinths
Then he saw it
Where to hide a pebble?
Where, indeed
MALONE WALKED BACK TO THE GENERATOR, WHERE STEPHANIE and Henrik stood Cassiopeia was still "working" on the tripod He bent down and ine
"This thing going to make a lot of noise?" he asked in a low voice
"We can only hope But unfortunately they make these units fairly quiet nowadays"
He did not touch the tool bag, not wanting to draw any attention to it So far none of the guards had bothered to check inside Apparently the defensive training at the abbey left a lot to be desired But how effective could it be? Sure, you could learn hand-to-hand combat, how to shoot, how to handle a blade But the choice of recruits had to be limited, and only so many silk purses could be crafted from a sow’s ear
"All ready," Cassiopeia said loud enough for all to hear
"I need to get to Mark," Stephanie whispered
"I understand," Malone said "But we have to take this a step at a time"
"Do you think for oneto allow him to climb back out of there? He shot Geoffrey with no hesitation"
He saw her agitation "We’re all aware of the situation," he muttered "Just stay cool"
He, too, wanted de Roquefort For Geoffrey
"I need a second with the tool bag," Cassiopeia breathed as she crouched down and stuffed the screwdriver she’d been using back inside Four of the guards stood across the church, beyond one of the fires Two more loitered to their left, near the other fire None seee was secure
Cassiopeia stayed crouched by the tool bag, her hand still inside, and gave hioing to crank the generator"
The o ahead
He turned back and whispered to Stephanie, "After I crank it, we’re going over to the two ether I’ll take one, you the other"
"With pleasure"
She was anxious and he knew it "Easy, tiger It’s not as simple as you think"
"Watch me"
MARK APPROACHED ONE OF THE STONE PLINTHS SITTING AMONG the re While the tops to the others were supported by a variety of pillars, soular, ular-shaped support, similar to the altar above And what drew his attention was the stone arrangeh
He bent down and shone his light at the underside No mortar joint appeared above the top row of block Just like the altar
"These books have to come off," he said
"You said not to disturb the that’s irabbed a handful of the olden ently laid theround De Roquefort did the same Three loads each and the top was empty
"It should slide," he said
Together they grasped an end and the top moved, much more easily than the altar above since the plinth was half its size They pushed it free and the chunk of liround and split into pieces Nestled within the plinth Mark saw another container, shteen or so inches tall Made of gray-beige rock--liood condition
He grabbed the light bar and thrust it into the support Just as he suspected, writing appeared on one side
"It’s an ossuary," de Roquefort said "Is it identified?"
He studied the script and was pleased that it was Aramaic To be authentic, it would have to be The custoround crypts until all that re the the first century He knew that some thousand ossuaries had survived But only about a quarter of them bore inscriptions that identified their contents--most likely explained by the fact that the vast majority of people froh the centuries--one in particular a few years ago had claimed to hold the bones of James, Jesus’s half brother Another test of authenticity would be the type of material used--chalk li with the style of carvings,
He’d learned Arae , and the many errors of ancient scribes How the letters were carved was a problem, too Most times they were shallow, scratched with a nail Other tiraffiti Soraved with a stylus, the letters clear Which hy these words were not difficult to translate He’d actually seen theht to left as required, then reversed them in his mind
YESHUA BAR YEHOSEF
"Jesus, son of Joseph," he said, translating
"His bones?"
"That remains to be seen" He spied the top "Lift it off"
De Roquefort reached in and grasped the flat lid He worked it from side to side until the stone released Then he lifted off the cover and rested it vertically against the ossuary
Mark sucked a breath
Inside the repository lay bones
Some had turned to dust Many were still intact A feers, toes, parts of a spine
And a skull
Was this what Sauinere found?
Beneath the skull lay a sood condition Which was understandable, given it had been sealed within the ossuary, itself sealed within another container The cover was exquisite, gilded in gold leaf and studded with cut stones arranged in the shape of a cross Christ lay upon the cross, fashioned also of gold Surrounding the cross were more stones in shades of crimson, jade, and lemon
He lifted out the book and bleay the dust and debris from its cover, then balanced it on the corner of the support De Roquefort came close with his lamp He opened the cover and read the incipit, penned in Latin and written in a running Gothic script without punctuation, the ink a mixture of blue and crimson
HERE BEGINNETH AN ACCOUNT LOCATED BY THE FOUNDING BROTHERS DURING THEIR EXPLORATION OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT CONDUCTED THROUGH THE WINTER OF 1121 THE ORIGINAL BEING IN SUCH A STATE OF DECAY HAS BEEN COPIED EXACTLY AS IT APPEARED IN A LANGUAGE THAT ONLY ONE OF OUR NUMBER COULD UNDERSTAND BY ORDER OF THE MASTER WILLIAM DE CHARTRES DATED 4 JUNE 1217 THE TEXT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO THE WORDS OF THE BROTHERS AND PRESERVED FOR ALL TO KNOW
De Roquefort was reading over his shoulder and said, "That book was placed within the ossuary for a reason"