“What are you doing?” Marcus asked.
“I want to show you something.” He opened a locked cabinet, pulled out a large rolled paper, removed a rubber band and unfolded the paper on his desk. It was a map.
“This is the map of excavations done when the British explorers, Charles Wilson and Charles Warren were here. At that time, of course, this building was not a coffee shop. It was a supply center for their tools. Only a few people alive know it was the last opening they dug into a series of tunnels that unearthed beneath Jerusalem.” Bahir slowly traced the light across the map, a drawing that was more than a century old. It illustrated a series of tunnels under Jerusalem. Alicia looked at Marcus and then at Bahir.
“Why are you showing us that?” she asked.
“Because it was prophesied that which was sealed up, below, would be opened by the force above.” He looked at Marcus. “The hand of God may have opened the door. If so, will you enter?”
“Enter where?”
Bahir knelt down and rolled away a rich Persian rug across the floor. He unlocked a wooden trapdoor and lifted it. Then he pointed the light into the dark. There was an old ladder propped near the entrance. Marcus could see it led to a tunnel. “Bahir, what am I searching for?”
“If the earthquake has removed the barrier, a place even Wilson and Warren never found, you might find that which was left behind by Daniel. It’s been sealed for centuries, but perhaps the time for the unveiling is now among us.”
Marcus looked at the old map. “Which way would I go?”
Bahir pointed with the tip of his bent index finger, tracing the series of excavations that went in seven directions, one forming a loop, one stopping in a dead-end. “There is an area beneath the Jaffee Gate, here is the Temple Mount, and over there is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This last tunnel…it is believed to lead to the Holy Place and an inner room called the Holy of Holies. It splits in sections.” He used a pencil to mark the continuation of the tunnel. “This is the way you should go.”
“What is the Holy of Holies?” Alicia asked.
“It is said to be God’s sanctuary, for atonement and renewal of spirit — the Most Holy Place.”
“Why do you think Marcus should go there?” she asked.
Bahir shifted his eyes from the map to Alicia. “The Holy Place is a sacred altar room before God’s earthly sanctuary, and it may hold clues to…,” Bahir stopped talking for a second, then continued, “he may realize more than he finds.”
Marcus looked at Alicia, tiny particles of dust moving through the beam of light. “Will you go with me?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
EIGHTY-SIX
They waited a few minutes for the dust to settle, and then Bahir handed Marcus the flashlight and extra batteries in a Ziploc bag. He gave Alicia the map.
Marcus turned and stepped onto the top rung of the old ladder. He slowly climbed down, knocking spider webs off the rungs as he went, sending particles of dust drifting through the beam of light. “I’m at the bottom, Alicia. I’ll shine the light on the ladder so you can see.”
“Okay.” She stepped onto the first rung. As she lowered her foot, she looked up into the compassionate eyes of Bahir. He said nothing, only offering a reassuring nod while he softly closed the trapdoor. Alicia listened to him walk away and then turned to her attention to Marcus. “I wish we had a second flashlight.”
When she reached the bottom on the ladder, Marcus slowly moved the light across the small grotto. There were entrances to three tunnels, one to the left, one to the right, and one in the center. The opening to each was a little more than six feet high by about four feet wide. Alicia unfolded the map and said, “Looks like we go to the right. There’s no scale, so I’m guessing we have about a three hundred meter trek, maybe more. The tunnel splits in at least four sections. We just need to follow the line Bahir drew.”
“Let’s go.” Marcus entered the mouth of the tunnel on the right; the smell of dust, mold, water, and damp earth met them just a few feet inside the dark passageway. “Stay close behind me. This place is filled with spiders and some damn big webs.” He shone the light far down the tunnel and began walking.
The air was cool, heavy — the farther they entered, the scent became ancient, mixed with tannins, as if the air had been held hostage in the guts of the tunnel for centuries. An icy drop of water fell from the ceiling, striking Alicia on the back of her neck and running down her spine. “Glad I’m not claustrophobic,” she said, nostrils flaring, wiping the dust from her eyes. “This is like weaving our way through the catacombs of a place time forgot.”
“In about another fifty feet, the tunnel makes a Y and veers to the left and right. Let’s have a look at the map.” Marcus held the light on the map for half a minute, getting his bearings. He continued walking. “Check it out.” He pointed the light to an old torch handle stuck in a crude wooden holder fastened to the curved wall of the tunnel.
“When they excavated, flashlights weren’t invented.”
“I don’t think the light bulb had been around long, if at all.” She followed Marcus another fifty feet.
The earth moved. Alicia was tossed against the side of the tunnel. “Paul!”
“Aftershocks! Cover your head.”
Alicia felt sand trickle out from between the old stones over her head. Then nothing moved, the aftershocks stopping after a few seconds. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m scared out of my freakin’ mind. Here we are crawling around in old tunnels under Jerusalem after an earthquake.”
“We can turn back.”
She looked at Marcus’ face. “Tell me you’re not scared.” She straightened, knocking the sand from her shirt. “Let’s go.”
They walked farther, coming to the turn. Marcus stopped, his foot stepping on something. He aimed the light down at his boot. A human skull, eye sockets hollow and dark as the tunnel, stared up at them from the muck and wet sand. A brown spider crawled from one vacant eyehole.
Alicia inhaled deeply and bit her lower lip. They continued walking, finding another cold and smothered torch mounted on the side of the tunnel wall. Marcus said, “This place is full of those old torches. Can you imagine using one of these to see around down here?”
“No, I can’t.”
Marcus nodded and continued following the tunnel, snaking its way under the heart of the Old City. After another thirty yards, the tunnel narrowed in height and width. Marcus had to lower his head to keep moving. They stepped over fallen rocks and loose sand. Then they came to an area in the tunnel that seemed to stop. Rocks were piled up to his chest. He aimed the flashlight into the center of the pile. “It looks like there’s earth behind it. Hold the light.”
Alicia gripped the flashlight while Marcus inspected the obstacle. He picked up a few large stones and threw them aside. “Maybe this is the end of the road,” she said. “Or maybe we took the wrong tunnel.”
“Bahir said it would be this one.”
“It feels like we’ve come a half mile.”
The ground moved — violently. The aftershock tossed Alicia and Marcus to the floor of the tunnel. The flashlight slammed against a rock and went out. Rocks showered down around them, the tunnel filling with dust and the instant odor of sulfur.
“Paul! Are you hurt?”
“No. Are you okay?”
“Just a few more bruises, but I’m all right. I’ve never been in dark this dark. I have no sense of direction.” Feeling along the base of the wall, she found part of the flashlight. “The flashlight’s broken! Oh shit…we can’t see an inch in front of our faces.” She coughed. “How will we find out way out?”