A Treasure Deep (45 page)

“Will the scientific community ever come
around?” Jack asked.

Curtis shrugged. “Some will. The evidence is
strong, but we must remember we’re asking them to believe the
impossible. Having Romans in the New World upsets everything.
However, there is enough evidence to suggest that other ancient
people made it to our shores. The Vikings on the east and oriental
influence in the west indicate that others had crossed the oceans;
whether they came intentionally or not is another matter. Things
like the Los Lunas inscription in New Mexico may or may not be
hoaxes.”

“Los Lunas?” Anne said.

“The Ten Commandments written in ancient
Hebrew,” Curtis explained. “Found a few decades ago in New
Mexico.”

“Ancient Hebrew in North America,” Gleason
said. “Is it real?”

“That’s debatable on several counts. We
simply don’t know. It used to be easy for me to dismiss such
things. For example, a sculpted terra cotta Roman head was found in
Mexico. Some date it to about 200 a.d. In 1963 a construction
worker found a small hoard of Roman coins near the Ohio River. A
similar thing happened in Kentucky. Did the coins come from Romans,
or were they part of someone’s collection that was lost decades
before? Who knows? But we have much more here.”

“But how did they get here?” Montulli asked.
“We’re a long way from the Roman Empire.”

“That leads us to the second manuscript,”
Perry said. “After we sorted things out with the Seattle police—a
grueling task, I might add, but with Sergeant Montulli’s help as
well as the distinguished mayor’s, we recovered those items that
didn’t interest Rutherford Straight. We were able to take custody
of Pilate’s seal and the two earthenware jars. The face napkin
remains missing. The police continue to look for it. Dr. Curtis
opened the jars.”

“Under controlled conditions, I might add,”
Curtis said. “One jar held the residue of spices. It appears that
when these people took the artifacts from Christ’s tomb after His
resurrection, they took everything, including the spices used to
treat Jesus’ body. The other jar contained a manuscript.”

“The manuscript was in the jar?” Claire
asked.

“That’s right,” Curtis replied. “Just like
the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found in 1947. The jar provided a
great deal of protection. Still, the document is delicate and takes
expert care just to open it. Move too fast or in the wrong
environment, and it will crumble to dust. I’ve brought in the best
manuscript experts I can find. We’ve succeeded in opening it. Age
has damaged it greatly, but I was able to get snippets of
information. It was written in Aramaic, the language of
first-century Jews. We think Mary wrote it. It’s a brief account of
some of her experiences.”

Curtis took a deep breath and stated: “The
short version is this. As you know, Roman guards were posted at the
grave of Christ. The Gospel of Matthew tells the story in chapter
28. It says that some of the guards returned to the city to report
what they had seen and what they had seen had frightened them to
the point of unconsciousness. ‘They became as dead men’ is the way
the scripture puts it. I’ve always wondered why the Bible says that
some of the guards returned to the city and reported to the Jewish
elders. Why just some? Why not all? What happened to those who
didn’t go back to report?”

“I always assumed that, of the twelve or so
guards who would have been present, only a couple would be needed
to make a report,” Perry said.

“That’s a reasonable interpretation,” Curtis
said. “But the manuscript tells a different story. After the ‘some’
went back to report, Mary—who came to the tomb twice—saw the risen
Christ. It appears that the remaining guards witnessed that
encounter. You can imagine the shock to the Roman mind. After Mary
encountered Jesus, she ran to tell the disciples what had happened.
We find that information in the Gospel of John.

“The manuscript is unclear at this point,
mostly because of damage,” Curtis continued, “but a few of the
guards took it upon themselves to clear out the tomb. You have to
remember that you’re not dealing with religious Jews or disciples
of Jesus. Instead we have men brought up in a polytheistic world.
Their religious training taught them that there were many gods. I
imagine they believed that Jesus was one such god. Therefore,
anything associated with Him would be valuable, even holy.”

“So they took the linens and other things,
but how did they get here and how did Mary hook up with them?”

“That’s one of the many parts that is
unclear,” Curtis said. “It appears they had some reason to fear
reprisal from their superiors, maybe for failing to guard the tomb
or maybe because they removed the artifacts.

“In any case, they fled Palestine on a Roman
cargo ship. Romans had a variety of ships that plied the waters of
the Great Sea, what we call the Mediterranean Sea. The manuscript
has sections of text that have faded over the years, so we’re left
to guess about many things. The manuscript experts think that with
time they can restore portions of the lost text. Maybe we’ll have
more information then. We can hope.

“Anyway, I sent photos of the scroll to
experts in ancient Semitic languages. They’ve found references to
the boat and to the crewmen, who numbered twenty. How the guards
booked passage is unknown, but since we found them buried in their
armor they may have used their military influence to get on board.
Maybe one of them was related to the captain. We just don’t know.
The linguist found references to what we now call China. There’s
ample evidence to say that the Roman Empire had some trade
connection with China.”

“That would explain how they got to the
Pacific,” Perry said, “but sailing around Africa had to be
tough.”

“Agreed,” Curtis said. “It’s not a trip that
any one of us would want to make. From there they continued east.
There’s a passage that mentions a storm. It wouldn’t be the first
time that a cargo ship was blown out to sea. Currents and wind
drove the boat east. As I said, there’s evidence that Chinese
explorers made the west coast of America; these men, soldiers and
the boat’s crew, apparently did the same, unintentionally.”

“And Mary Magdalene was with them,” Anne
said.

“Probably,” Curtis said. “That has yet to be
demonstrated. All we have is a woman’s skeleton in what remains of
simple clothing and the etched letters inside her coffin.”

“That seems pretty conclusive, Doc,” Jack
interjected.

“Agreed, but that’s not proof, at least not
in scientific terms.”

“Why this?” Gleason asked, motioning to the
chamber.

Perry spoke first. “It’s their way of paying
homage. They built two chambers: an anteroom and a sepulcher. Some
ancient Jewish tombs have been found that are similar in design.
Here they used rocks they could find and timber from the
surrounding trees to, at least in a symbolic way, return what they
took. Mary must have had a powerful influence on them.”

“Let me add to that,” Curtis said. “I’ve had
the wood coffins analyzed and learned that they were made of the
same kind of wood as ancient ships. They brought some of the wood
from their vessel with them. That would explain how they came to
have flat wood like planks. I imagine that their tools were limited
to whatever was on the ship.”

“Now there’s another puzzle,” Gleason said.
“Why here in these low-lying mountains? We’re more than seventy
miles from the coast as the crow flies.”

“More like eighty miles,” Curtis said. “And
you’re right. A journey on foot would be much longer, still not
beyond reason. Migratory people have been known to travel much
further. Time wouldn’t be a factor. If it took them a year to make
the journey, so what? Maybe the area reminded them of home.

“I suspect as we continue to excavate the
surrounding area that we’ll find other signs of habitation and
other graves. Five soldiers and a woman didn’t sail here by
themselves. And whoever buried them did so with respect and honor.
The soldiers were buried in military gear. Whoever they were, they
still felt a sense of pride in who they had been. Somewhere between
here and wherever they stepped ashore is evidence of their
existence. I’m ready to devote my life to finding it.”

“There are a lot of unanswered questions,
Doc,” Jack complained.

“There always are,” Curtis said. “And for
every question you can raise, I can raise five more. I don’t have
all the answers.”

“The real shame is that the linen chrysalis
was lost,” Anne said softly. “What a loss for all mankind.”

“That was my first thought,” Perry said. “I’m
not so sure now. I was devastated as I watched it dissolve right in
front of me. It was the greatest treasure ever found, and I let it
slip through my fingers. I felt that I let slip the greatest proof
of Christianity the world would ever know.”

“But you think differently now?” Anne
asked.

“Yes. I’ve had time to think and pray about
it. Most people read their Bibles without knowing that we do not
have a single original manuscript,” Perry explained. “That’s not to
say the Bible is a fabrication or filled with errors. It’s not.
There are thousands of ancient manuscripts, many of them extremely
old. Is that right, Doc?”

Curtis replied, “It is.”

“I think there’s a reason for that. I don’t
think God wants us to have objects that can be turned into idols.
Humankind has a tendency to worship things instead of God. In
Numbers 21 is the story of the brass serpent. Moses was leading the
children of Israel through a difficult area. They became bitter and
accused God of mistreating them. Judgment came in the form of
snakes. People were bitten and died. They pleaded for relief and
God gave it, but not as you would expect.”

“He told Moses to make a brass serpent,” Jack
said. “If people looked at it after being bitten, they would be
healed.”

“Exactly,” Perry said. “It seems an odd
solution. Why not just send the snakes away? Well, it has to do
with faith and trust and looking to God’s provision. Fourteen
hundred years later, Jesus would use it as an example of His work
on the cross. However, it was what happened in between those events
that’s provocative.

“The Bible records that seven hundred years
after Moses made the serpent, King Hezekiah had it destroyed. Why
would he destroy such an important object? Because his people had
made an icon of worship out of it. They were burning incense to it
as they did to other false gods.”

“So you’re saying that if the chrysalis had
remained intact, then it would’ve become a cultic icon?” Gleason
asked.

“Well, that’s what I think.” Perry said. “God
may have done us a favor.”

“Do you think people will ever come to
believe all of this?” Brent asked. “After all, we do have the
videotapes I made.”

Perry smiled. “Those who are willing to
believe will; those who don’t want to believe won’t. There has
always been plenty of evidence for Christ and His work; still
people ignore it.”

“I can’t speak for the world,” Brent said,
“but it has changed me.”

“That goes for all of us,” Anne said. “But I
do have another question, Perry. From what you told me, Joseph
predicted the woman who came to his house and abducted him and
Claire, and that he knew you would be outside the door where
Rutherford Straight was holding them hostage. How did he know what
was going to happen before it did?”

Perry looked at Joseph and smiled. Joseph
didn’t respond. “I don’t know, Anne. I don’t know how he knew those
things or could so accurately reproduce the work site and the other
things he drew. His mind works in a way we can’t understand.
Perhaps he sees more than we can. Perhaps like Daniel and other Old
Testament prophets, he communicates with God better than we are
able.”

“He’s never done it before,” Claire added.
“And now he seems back to normal. The pictures he draws are like
those he did before all this happened.”

“It’s a mystery,” Jack said. “But I’m glad he
was on our side.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Perry mused. “By the
world’s standards, Joseph is severely handicapped. The truth is, we
may be the handicapped ones. Since I first met him, I’ve wondered
what he sees that we can’t.”

“We will never know,” Claire said.

“Not in this life,” Perry added.

“So the work goes on?” Brent asked.

Perry nodded. “Dr. Curtis will be leading the
excavation here. He tells me there will be years of work. The
Trujillos have generously donated this whole area for as long as it
takes.”

“You have taken good care of us,” Hector said
from his wheelchair. “We are happy to help our Lord.”

Perry laid a hand on the ill man’s shoulder.
“One thing remains. I can think of no better church in which to
pray.”

There was a corporate “Amen.”

After Perry led them in prayer, a second,
belated “Amen” rang out across the room. Everyone turned to the one
who said it.

“Amen,” Joseph Henri repeated. “Amen.”

A NOVEL, by definition, is a work of fiction. The
characters spring into being from the author’s mind and come alive
on the page, fleshed out in words and phrases instead of skin and
bones. Those characters work before an equally fictional backdrop.
To undertake the writing of a novel is to undertake a juggling act,
for novels are seldom completely fictional. Elements of truth are
introduced to “what-if” questions. The author then follows that
“what-if” to see where it goes. Sometimes it leads to strange and
wonderful places.

In this book I have created a situation meant
to stretch our wonder. The town of Tejon is fictional, but the
beautiful Tehachapi Mountains are real. Each character presented
here is a work of my imagination. Many of the things mentioned in
the book regarding seagoing people making transatlantic or
transpacific crossings are based on evidence that is still debated
by those who study such things. It’s not the intent of this book to
say that Romans visited the North American continent two thousand
years ago. It’s the purpose of the book to ask, “Well, what if they
had? And what if they brought something truly special with
them?”