‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly. ‘Tell me what you see the whole way, though.’
‘Rock, rock, rock, rock…’
‘You’re a funny man, Eddie.’
‘Yeah, that’s why you love me. Don’t worry. If we find anything, I’ll tell you.’ He lowered the radio. ‘Jared, you ready?’
‘Always,’ the Israeli replied.
‘Good. Let’s go.’
The two men started down the passage, boots crunching over the gritty sand. They rounded the first turn, losing sight of the entrance but seeing something new ahead. ‘That’s tight,’ said Jared. The walls narrowed still further to a point where they were less than two feet apart. He had to turn slightly sideways to pass through. ‘Hey, will you even be able to fit?’
‘You calling me fat?’ Eddie replied. ‘Just ’cause you’re built like a fucking beanpole…’ But the obstruction presented no difficulty, the crevice widening out again after a short distance. ‘Okay, there’s a narrow section, but you’ll be able to get through,’ he said into the walkie-talkie. ‘Good job you’re only four months pregnant and not eight.’
Nina was already becoming impatient. ‘Have you reached the sinkhole yet?’
‘No, I’ll tell you when we do. It’s nice in here, though.’ Beneath the snaking line of blue sky directly overhead, the rock walls were banded in different shades of brown, glinting seams of copper running through them. ‘Like being in a tiramisu mine.’
‘Great, now I’ve got a craving for some. Thanks, hon!’
Eddie smiled, then followed Jared up the passage. It occasionally narrowed, but was still navigable. Presenting more of a problem were fallen rocks, some almost blocking the way. The Israeli looked up after climbing over one, seeing a ragged gap high above from where the stone had fallen. ‘I don’t think these cliffs are safe.’
‘Well, we don’t have to climb ’em,’ Eddie replied as he traversed the blockage. ‘But if you hear a big cracking noise from above, don’t look up to see what it is — just leg it!’
Jared chuckled, then looked ahead. ‘Hey, it’s opening out.’
‘Nina, we’re almost at the end,’ Eddie reported. ‘I’ll tell you what we see.’ The pair continued on, the passage gradually widening — until they emerged in the open.
‘What is it?’ Nina demanded. ‘Have you found the sinkhole?’
‘Yeah — and more besides.’
He and Jared stepped out into a roughly egg-shaped depression in the mountain, the far wall of the bowl rising up to flatter ground about fifty feet above. The sinkhole Nina had seen on the satellite imagery was indeed here, an almost perfectly circular opening near the hollow’s centre. Eddie peered down into it. Blue-green water rippled gently around ten feet below him. Small pieces of debris floated on its surface. He couldn’t see the bottom.
Just above the pool, a cave was cut into the shaft’s wall, forming a ledge. He didn’t need a doctorate in archaeology to know instantly that it was not a natural feature. Beneath the shelter of the overhang were several small archways, tunnels leading into the mountain. Inscribed around each were blocks of text.
The Englishman didn’t recognise the language, but his companion did. ‘It’s Hebrew,’ said Jared, eyes widening.
They hurried around the sinkhole and climbed down for a closer look. ‘Can you read it?’ Eddie asked.
The Israeli examined one of the carved sections. ‘Some of it,’ he replied. ‘It’s ancient Hebrew, not modern. There are a lot of differences.’
‘But you know what this is?’
Jared perused some of the other writings. ‘I think it’s a temple. This word here,’ he pointed it out, ‘is definitely Yahweh — God.’
Nina was almost at bursting point with her radioed demands for an update. Eddie told her what they had seen, then added: ‘I’m assuming you want to come up here and look for yourself?’
‘No, no, I’ll just stand around in the baking sun while you two poke around,’ came the sarcastic reply. ‘Of course I want to come up there!’
Jared pretended to wince. ‘So that’s what being married is like? I think I’ll have to disappoint my mom for a few more years.’
‘Nah,’ said Eddie with a grin, ‘I’m sure you’ll go on disappointing her for the rest of your life.’
The younger man now winced for real at having left himself wide open for the joke. ‘Hamor,’ he muttered, before looking back at the tunnels. ‘Should we check what’s inside before we bring her up?’
‘Only if you want her to kill you,’ Eddie replied breezily. ‘Come on, let’s go back and rig up a belay.’
Less than thirty minutes later, Nina had been brought up to the passage. ‘That was only about half as terrifying as I’d expected,’ she said as Eddie helped unclip her harness from the rope. ‘Are you sure the baby will be okay?’
‘Little Arbuthnot’ll be fine,’ he assured her.
‘More like Arbuth-not.’ She turned to Jared. ‘I’m glad you waited for me rather than rushing in. Exploring those tunnels on your own probably isn’t a good idea.’
‘You think it might be dangerous?’ he asked. ‘Booby-trapped, like the Spring of Immortality?’
‘It’s possible. If the last angel is here, it could be protected.’
‘The other angels weren’t,’ Eddie pointed out.
‘No, but this site’s different — Revelation suggested it was a place of great religious importance, some kind of redoubt for the Israelites. The angel might not be the only thing here.’
‘Let’s see, then.’ Eddie led the way through the twisting cleft, helping Nina over the fallen rocks.
‘Oh, wow,’ she gasped as they emerged in the bowl beyond. ‘Definitely a place prepared in the wilderness. I want to go down to that cave.’
‘What’s the magic word?’ Eddie asked with a smirk.
She glowered at him. ‘Now.’
He laughed. ‘Near enough. We’ll set up a rope to make it easier for you.’
Nina overcame her impatience long enough to wait for the two men to put down the climbing equipment, then tie a line around a boulder and hang it over the edge. Eddie went first, supporting her from below as Jared helped her descend. She found her footing on the ledge, taking in the ancient inscriptions before her, then looked back at the pool. ‘What are those things in the water?’
Eddie scooped up the nearest floating piece of detritus as Jared swung down. ‘Fungus, it looks like. Some sort of mushrooms.’
‘Probably best not to drink the water, then, or we might end up having our own hallucinogenic visions. Let’s take a look inside.’
‘Which tunnel?’ asked the Israeli. There were four entrances before them.
‘You tell us,’ said Eddie. ‘You can read the language.’
‘I can only read parts of it,’ he protested. ‘I’m a Mossad agent, not a rabbi.’
‘This one,’ said Nina, indicating the left-most.
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I can’t read ancient Hebrew, but I can read symbols. I’ve seen this one before.’ She went to the archway, pointing at something carved above it: a menorah, accompanied by the characters that she and Cross had identified as representing the twenty-four Elders. ‘It was in the temple in Iraq and the catacombs in Rome. I’m also guessing it was on the piece of the Altar of Zeus where you found the angel in Berlin.’
Eddie nodded. ‘So it’s the way to the last angel?’
‘Most likely.’ She went to the neighbouring opening, taking a flashlight from her backpack and shining it inside. A short tunnel opened out into a chamber, but it appeared empty. ‘This was an important religious site, but it was also a shelter where the Israelites could hold out against their enemies. They supposedly wandered in the wilderness for forty years, but the desert’s not that big. The Old Testament books concerning the Exodus are very vague about the timescale. They probably established settlements at various points along the way — or fortifications, in this case. There was a water supply here, so they took advantage of it.’