In the Beginning: Mars Origin "I" Series Book I (20 page)

I couldn’t get away from Mrs. Margulies’
house fast enough. It had become gray out and the rushing wind whipped around
our legs making us have to lean into it and push against it to stay upright. It
was bitingly cold and the ground was beginning to freeze over. We made our way
slipping and sliding down to the car. I opened the door for Claire. “Get in.” I
had to speak over the wind. I handed her the envelope and shut the door.

A blanket of snow covered the car. I
opened the back door, reached in and got the snow brush to clear off the
windows. I ran around the car sliding on the icy ground, my arms flailing to
help me keep my balance. I just hit at the snow on the windows. I didn’t have
time to do it right. I opened my door and threw the snow brush in the back. I
turned the ignition, and not waiting for the car to heat up, put the car in
gear, clicked on the windshield wipers and pulled off.

As I drove down the street, Claire reached
over and turned on the heat. It blew out cold air. I reached over and turned it
off. “Stop!” I ordered Claire jerking my head around so she could see that my
eyes said, “Don’t mess with me.” My hands had started shaking and I had somehow
caught Mrs. Margulies’ butterflies because they were beginning to take flight
in my stomach. The icy cold was no match for the burning apprehension that slithered
through my veins. Droplets of sweat began to form under my knit hat. I pulled
it off and wiped my forehead.

There was no way I could wait until I got
home to look inside that brown envelope. I turned around the first corner I got
to. I didn’t want Mrs. Margulies to see me stop in the middle of the street in
case she was still standing in that door or looking out the window. I pulled
over and put the car in park.

 “Give me the envelope, Claire.” Smoke
came out of my mouth.  Claire, shivering, handed it to me.

“What is wrong with you?” She was actually
yelling at me.

“I don’t know. I’m nervous I guess.”

“Nervous? Nervous about what? So nervous
that I have to freeze?”

“You can’t turn the heat on until the car
warms up.”
Didn’t she know that?

I stared down at the envelope like it was
a precious gem. I took my glove off and stroked it gingerly, gently.

“Justin, what is wrong with you?”

I looked over at her, wide eyed and eager.
I spoke softly and slowly, “What about if this is the translation of the
manuscripts we found in the cave?” I looked at the envelope.

“What are you talking about?” She was
still upset with me. The cold sure did change her usual sweet disposition. “Why
in the world would you think that? Every old thing from Jerusalem doesn’t have
to do with the manuscripts.”

“Yeah, but this does.” A sly grin crossed
my face. I looked over at her and nodded my head knowingly.

“How you figure?” She reached over and
turned on the heat. The low hum of the heater got louder as she notched up the
fan.

“Don’t you remember, in the journal
entry?” I whispered. “It said the interpreter who translated the manuscripts
couldn’t tell what he knew because he was dead.”

“Yeah. Murdered, right? I remember.”

“No. Not murdered.” I frowned up.

“Uh-huh. You said -”

“I didn’t say murdered,” I interjected
loudly. She looked at me. “Okay, maybe I did say that. But he wasn’t murdered.
And that doesn’t matter now.” I waved my hand. “Dr. Margulies’ father died on
October 22, 1949, which was the date of the journal entry.” I looked at her.
She didn’t get it. “He worked on the Scrolls.” She still didn’t get it. “What
if . . . ” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. “You open the envelope because I
am too nervous.” I pushed the envelope into her.

“Ooookaaay.” Her brows knitted in slight
confusion.

She turned the envelope over and started
to open it. I snatched it from her. “I’ll do it.”

She looked at me and laughed. “Girl, you
are losing your mind.”

It took me a moment or two to get up the
nerve to open it. I just kept stroking my hand across it. Finally, I turned it
over and slowly tore open the seal and looked inside. It was a notebook. A
notebook that looked no different than the other notebooks in the boxes - old,
worn, leather and - - there was a letter. I pulled both out of the envelope.

“It’s a notebook.” Claire said.

I glanced over at her. “No joke, Sherlock.”

My eyes quickly darted across the words on
the page.

“Don’t just read it to yourself. Let me
hear it.”

I read it aloud.

“‘Ruth,

I have made an outstanding discovery while
translating the manuscripts that were found in Cave #4. I plan on telling Dr.
Yeoman -’”

“Dr. Yeoman?” Claire interrupted. “The
madman himself,” she smiled sinisterly.

“I know.”

“So, it does have to do with the
manuscripts?”

“You wanna hear this or not?”

“Yeah.”

“So shush and let me read it.” I spoke to
her loudly, but then lowered my voice to read the letter. “Okay. Where was I?
Oh, okay, ‘I plan on telling Dr. Yeoman -

‘ . . . and I fear the ramifications of
announcing this discovery. If anything were to happen to the manuscripts this
information would be lost forever. I have taken steps to ensure that this
information will be safe. I cannot of course keep the original documents, but I
have done the next best thing. What lies herein will change the knowledge of
our history and ourselves, forever. Please find safekeeping for my journal. I
shall be home soon - - to stay, I promise. I miss you and our son. Give my love
to Jacob.

Your Husband, Amos’”

I handed Claire the letter and started
flipping through the pages of the notebook. The notebook was a handwritten copy
of the manuscripts that we had found in the cave by the Dead Sea.

It was an exact copy of the manuscripts
but in his handwriting.

I felt just like I was in a Nancy Drew
mystery.

It was, of course, in much better shape
than the original documents I had seen. But they were the same. I knew because,
despite what I told Greg, I remembered it exactly.

CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE

I couldn’t wait to get home. I handed the
notebook to Claire. “Here, hold this.” I put the car in gear and jerked away
from the curb.

“What, Justin? What is it?” Claire seemed
frantic.

“It’s the manuscript.”

“It is not the manuscript,” she moaned.

“It’s a copy.” I sang out the words and
turned to her and smiled.

“A copy of the manuscript? The ones we
found in the cave?” Her eyes got big and he mouth dropped open.

“Your tongue is going to freeze off.” She
shut her mouth.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No. Not kidding.”

“Oh, my God. I can’t believe this, Justin.
We went half way around the world looking for a document that was right at Dr.
Margulies’ house.” She spoke in a hushed voice.

“You know.” This was unbelievable. “Well,
actually they were still at his mother’s house when we went to Jerusalem, but I
know what you mean.”

“What now?” Fear creeping up in her voice.

“I’m going home and look through every box
and every piece of paper and every journal until I find the translation.”

“You think it’s in there?”

“It has to be.”

“What if it’s not?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”
What a horrible
thought
.

“I don’t know why it wouldn’t be, just
maybe it’s not. Maybe the dog ate it.” She held out her hands and hunched her
shoulders.

“Claire. Don’t talk to me.” The
butterflies came back, this time with a jolt. They seemed to be gnawing on my
insides, trying to get out.

As usual, she ignored me. “Justin, there
is a strong possibility, and with what the letter said, a more than likely
probability, that there is no translation.”

I just glared at her. When did she learn
to talk like that?

“It doesn’t matter, though. Right, Justin?
I mean, if the translation isn’t there, you can translate it, right?”

Hadn’t I just asked her not to talk to me?

“Ughh.”

Claire laughed. “What was that?” She
reached over and shook my elbow. “Tell me. You can translate it, right?”

“I do not want to have to do that.” I
spoke slowly.

Oh my gosh,
I thought. I
looked over at her and said out loud, “This thing is going to kill me.”

“Don’t say that. I’ll go home with you and
help you look for the translation.”

Back to the helpful Claire.

“Thank you. Okay, but right now I want you
to watch out for the police because I can’t wait to get home. I am going to
drive fast and it is slippery out here.” I glanced over at her. “And, put on
your seat belt.”

She fumbled to get it on. “Don’t forget
the last person that had the manuscripts died in a car accident.”

“Who? Dr. Sabir? He wasn’t the last person
who had it. Dr. Yeoman was. Anyway, Dr. Sabir didn’t die in a car accident. He
‘was
struck by lightning and killed instantly while trying to fix a flat on his
automobile in the rain
.’” I quoted the newspaper article.

“How do you know that?” Her eyes widened.
“Mrs. Margulies said he died in a car accident.”

I sucked my tongue and shot her a look
with squinted eyes. “I’m clairvoyant,” I said as if she must have forgotten.

She looked at me as if to say ‘Really?’

Oh my Lord, hadn’t she known me all her
life? Would I have gone through all this with the manuscript if I could see the
future?

 
Why do I even try to have a conversation
with Claire?

“Claire!” I practically yelled. “I read
the newspaper clipping. Man, Claire. Sometimes I really wonder about you.” I
hit the brakes suddenly as we rounded a slick corner.

“Yeah, well, okay, Justin, but if you kill
us no one will ever know what was in the manuscripts.” She was holding onto the
dashboard.

“Don’t worry. I am not going to kill us. I
don’t want to have to spend eternity, all the way from day one, with you.”

“I just thought of something.” Her eyes
got big again.”

“What?” I mimicked her face.

“Maybe the manuscripts are cursed. You
know, like King Tut’s tomb. Everyone that has them dies. Dr. Sabir, Dr
Margulies, Dr. Margulies’ mother. And it sure has made you bonkers.”

“I was already that way so that doesn’t
count. And nothing happened to Dr. Yeoman. Don’t you remember that interview
with
Life
that you showed me and the article in
Time Magazine
?’

“Yes. But he put the manuscripts back in
the cave.”

“Ugh, don’t be silly. There is no curse.
Dr. Margulies mother had the envelope for fifty years.” That didn’t seem to
matter.

“Dr. Margulies’ mother didn’t know what
was in the envelope. She was safe.” Claire was beginning to sound like me. I
really was scared about what was in those manuscripts. My ‘conspiracy theory’
flooded my mind. What if there’s a curse on it? I know I hadn’t had anything
but grief since I discovered them.

We got to my house and took everything in
my study. We sat on the floor and looked through every journal, article and
paper that was in the three boxes of things Mrs. Margulies had given me. Twice.
The translation was nowhere to be found.

“Shit!”

I glanced at Claire. “Excuse my language.”

“Oooo, do we need to pray?” she said with
a teasing glint in her eyes.

“No. I’m okay.” I hung my head and pouted.
“What am I going to do now?”

“At least you have the full copy of the
manuscript. You may have to translate it but this time you have it all. And,”
she smiled brightly, “you’re the only person in the world that does. You’ll be
the only one who knows what it says.”

Like I cared about that? I just wanted to
know what it said. Right now.

“Yeah, you’re right. But do not tell
anyone about this,” I cautioned her.

“About what? Everyone already knows about
the manuscripts.”

“No, I mean, let’s not tell anyone that I
have this notebook with the complete manuscript.”

“Why?”

“Just because, Claire, okay? I don’t want
anyone bugging me or teasing me about this thing until I can get it figured
out. For some reason I just feel nervous about this whole thing.”

“You’re not going to tell Mase?” She
couldn’t believe that.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Yes, I’ll tell Mase.
But under no circumstances do I want you to tell Greg, okay?”

“What about Michael?” she asked.

Did she really not understand the meaning
of don’t tell
anyone
?

“Michael already thinks he has this thing
figured out. But, no. Don’t tell him either. This is just between us. Me and
you. Promise?”

“Promise.”

I held the notebook in my hands and
remembered how Dr. Yeoman had written ‘God help us’ in Latin, in his journal.
Now I could see why. I didn’t even know what it said yet, and I knew I was
going to need God’s help to get me through this.

I flipped through the pages of the
notebook. It was going to take me forever to figure this out.