I have written a book that was picked up by a publisher and should be out in August 2007. This is chapter two - I have one more chance to edit before it goes into final production. Please send me any thoughts you have on this chapter. Good or bad, both will be most helpful. Thank you, Tommy
Chapter two
The Pulpit
The small and delicate paintbrush moved back and forth with the precision of a brain surgeon using his scalpel. With each stroke, only a few grains of sand were removed from what looked to be just another pile of sand in a vacant lot in the city of Bethlehem. But Winston Chadaberry III knew better, and so did the dozen or so archeologists that were gathered around in a circle watching him painstakingly remove the last bit of dirt from what had now taken shape as a large iron latch. Winston took a deep breath and pulled ever so slowly on the latch. I would like to tell you that it took try after try to finally get the small door to open, but it did not. On his first pull, the door gave way as if it had been waiting for centuries for someone to open it. Stale air rushed out that had been kept prisoner for thousands of years. The smell of musky, old, decaying things filled the air. All those who were standing there knew that smell. It was the smell of success. It was the smell of a chamber where no one had visited since the door had been closed so very long ago. That aroma was more exciting to the archeologists who were standing there than the finest perfume on a beautiful woman. It did excite them and they wanted to hurry down through the small door and into the unknown. They wanted to run like school kids with their flashlights, laughing with delight at their success.
However, these were no school kids. They were the finest and most highly respected team of archeologists that had ever been assembled for one dig. Never again would such talent ever be in one place at one time. All held positions in various universities around the world. All were experts in their own fields. If one did not know something, then someone else did. It was amazing to watch their minds work as they went over again and again the treasure map of a hidden room in an ancient church that had a second church built on top of it that was only fifteen hundred years old.
Why this had not been found before was understandable - the first church for some reason had been completely buried. Its flat ceiling was the floor of the second church. There could be only one reason for a people to go to such tremendous trouble over years just to haul in the dirt needed to bury a building. Then the decades to build a huge church on top of it. There was something of great value down there. What it was no one had tried to guess. They all had reputations at stake. It could be nothing, an empty room, whose treasure was removed a thousand years ago. But it also could be one of the greatest finds of the modern world. Besides, the Vatican was financing the expedition, and they would not have done so if they thought there was nothing to find. They are the ones who supplied the map in the first place. They had the map for nearly 2,000 years. But for some reason had just now wanted what was in this room. But things change in two thousand years, and the Vatican's own team could not locate the old church, much less the one underneath it. And it was just waiting for Winston Chadaberry III to climb down those small steps and find it.
As Winston took his first steps, he thought about how fortunate he was to be here in the first place. In fact, he thought about how fortunate all of his team were to be here on the threshold of making some sort of hopefully great discovery. They were provided with every item that they requested. They were all being paid nearly a year's salary for what should be three months' worth of work. In effect, they were about to change history.
The stone steps went down only about 10 feet and then became a tunnel that went straight for over 40 feet before starting down again. What was unusual about this were the many cutouts in the side of the wall. Each was large enough for a man, where he could easily stand hidden from anyone who tried to come down the tunnel. They were placed in such a way that it would have taken only a dozen or so men in the various cutouts to be able to hold off an entire army trying to come through the tunnel. It was obvious to Winston that no battle had taken place here although it looked like one had been prepared for. Neatly stacked in each of the cutouts were bows and arrows and spears and axes and swords. Winston took this to be a good sign. He felt that, whatever the treasure was, it must still be here because there had been no battle defending it.
Down one more flight of stairs and into a fairly large room they went. It was big enough for all the archeologists and a dozen or so of the students who were helping with the dig. He guessed it to be about 100 feet by 100 feet. Winston shone his flashlight around the room. It was completely empty except for what looked like a stone pulpit at the other end. All the others were standing still, shining their flashlights in all directions, looking for they did not know what. After almost a minute of complete silence, Winston barked out, 'Check the walls, there has to be something else - a hidden passage or a stone that will pull out revealing whatever it is that we are looking for.'?
They looked; they looked high and low, nothing. No cracks in the walls, no fake ceilings that let down. The stones on the floor looked to be about a foot thick, but tapping each one, nothing sounded hollow. Winston turned to the stone pulpit. 'That has to be it somehow,'? he said. 'It's the only thing in the room, and it's got to somehow be tied into what we are looking for.'?
It would have made it a lot easier if the Vatican had just told them what they were looking for. I mean, is it bigger than a breadbox or what? But the Pope was quite mum on the subject of what they should find, only that they should find something. And Winston felt it would have been rude to push the Pope into telling when he had just stated that each of them would receive $20,000 a month and a $100,000 bonus if they found what the church was looking for. He returned his attention to the pulpit.
Maybe it was sitting over something he reflected, so they tried to move it, but it was firmly attached to the floor. Maybe it had a secret opening or something? No, they all went over it with a fine-toothed comb, but there were no secret openings, no nothing. The only difference between the pulpit and the rest of the stone in the walls and ceilings was that they were cut stones and the pulpit was poured, an ancient type of cement if you will. Was the fact that the pulpit was poured cement significant? No one, including Winston thought it was. So, tomorrow then, we will try again, starting with the cutouts in the side of the walls to see if any of them have a secret opening.
As they were leaving the chamber and slowing climbing up the stairs, one of the students remarked that he had seen something like this only once before, a block of poured cement all by itself in a room. But he stated that the main difference was that he was part of the pouring of the cement. His school did it to encapsulate a time capsule that was not to be opened for a hundred years or so. Winston stopped in his tracks, nearly causing all the ones behind him to stumble and fall. He whirled on his heels and looking at the student asked in a very calm voice, 'What did you say?'?
'We poured cement all over a time capsule so that no one could get it,'? he replied.
Winston looked back into the room, everything else in here was cut stone. The pulpit was the only thing out of place and it was poured. Why pour when it is so much easier in that day and age just to stack stones to make a pulpit? He knew that the Romans had started using Pozzolana cement in the year 300 B.C. They used Pozzolana cement to build the Appian Way, the Roman baths, the Coliseum and Pantheon in Rome, and the Pont du Gard aqueduct in south France. All of these structures still exist today. They used lime as a bonding material: a mixture of one part lime to two parts Pozzolana. Then they would add animal fat and blood as admixtures (substances added to cement to increase the properties).
'Son of a bitch,'? Winston looked at the other archeologist and said, 'Out of the mouths of babes.'?
He started barking orders like a drill sergeant with a new crop of recruits. 'Bring down the portable x-ray machine, string lights all around this thing; run me several extension cords for power. We are going to see if Mr. Kelly's theory is correct.'? He looked at the scared little student and said, 'Don't worry, boy, just your future reputation in the archeology world is riding on this. You do remember Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone's vault, don't you? Made him the laughingstock of the entire journalism world. This could do the same for you if you are wrong.'? Jason Kelly just stared at him, too scared to know what to say and too confused to know how his future got put on the line here and not Mr. Chadaberry's.
It took over an hour and a half to run all the extension cords and set up the lights. After all of that was done, the x-ray machine was set up and rolled in front of the pulpit. 'Well,'? said Winston, 'let's see if we got anything and if Mr. Kelly is going to be famous as a joke or as a brilliant archeologist.'?
'Mr. Kelly, if you please,'? Winston said and gestured toward the switch. Kelly walked slowly over to the machine, took a deep breath, let it all out, and then reached down and threw the switch. A low hum started reverberating throughout the chamber, and a white glow showed on the screen, but nothing could be made out of it. This machine was one of the newest models and Winston thought it must have cost the Pope a fortune. He hit the print button and out came a piece of paper with the x-ray printed on it. He started to turn the sheet over, but decided instead to x-ray all four sides first so that he could have a comprehensive picture of anything that might be inside the cement block.
When the first sheet was turned over, everyone was silent for just a second. Then they all begin cheering and slapping each other on the back. There was something in the pulpit. The only problem was that no one was sure just what it was. The best guess was that it was a wooden box of some sort. Inside the box, according to the x-rays, was a level of straw or packing material of the day. Then three iron rods about 10 inches in length. Another layer of straw, surrounding an object which no one could make out. Then finally a last layer of straw.
Kelly, feeling a little cocky and proud of himself, said to everyone, 'We need to sleep on this and determine how we will remove the box tomorrow.'? Winston just smiled and said, 'Have you now taken charge of this dig, Mr. Kelly?'? Kelly could feel himself blushing and offered a meek, 'No, sir.'?
'Well, maybe you should; you are doing quite well,'? said Winston. 'Everybody! We'll sleep on it tonight and open it tomorrow.'?
That was one of the longest nights in Winston Chadaberry's life. He knew that no one could steal the block of cement; it must weigh over two or three tons. And it would take a jackhammer several hours to make even a dent in the huge block. Besides, just as soon as someone started, the noise would be deafening and everyone would be down the stairs and into the chamber in less than two minutes. No, there was no way that anyone was going to open that block of stone easily.
It was that last thought that kept Winston up all night. How would he ever be able to open the stone without destroying what was inside it?
It was only 6:00 a.m. when he walked over to the mess tent, but Winston was probably the last person up that morning. Everyone was there with all their theories on how to successfully open the stone. Kelly was there, surrounded by a group of students. He was enjoying the attention and his 15 minutes of fame.
'Good for him,'? thought Winston. He poured himself a hot cup of coffee and took a small sip. It was too hot and it burned his tongue. Great, he thought, what a way to start what may be the most important day in my life. Or it could just be a wild goose chase, depending on two things. One, could he open the stone without destroying the contents? And two, are the contents of some significant archeological value? With a knot in his stomach, he stood up and said, 'Let's go'? and the entire tent as one put down their coffee mugs and glasses of juice and began to walk single-file out of the mess tent.
They remained in single-file all the way to the entrance of the chamber, and all the way down the stairs and into the large chamber room. Once arriving in the chamber, they fanned out all around the stone pulpit. They all just stared at it, each with the same question in his head. How is this going to be possible? Several suggestions were put forth by the archeologist, but each, when thought carefully through to its conclusions, proved that it would destroy the box inside the block. Then a little hand went up in the back of the group of students. Winston thought, Good grief, now I'm back teaching school and answering students' questions. I don't know why I had to bring along any of these college students on this dig. A little agitated, he said, 'You in the back, if you have something to contribute, speak up; if not, put your hand down.'?
'My true field of study is not archeology, but gemology,'? said a young girl who did not look to be over 14, but she had to be at least 21 to be part of this dig. 'You know, the study of gem stones.'?
'I know what gemology is, Miss, but what I don't know is how that is going to help us here. Are you suggesting that we use something hard, like a diamond-tipped drill to cut this stone?'?
'No, sir; I'm suggesting that you use something that will cut the diamond into a flawless gem -- a laser. I have used a hand-held one many times under the microscope to cut a diamond to within one thousandth of an inch of tolerance. If we used a laser here, we could get so close that you could almost peel the remaining cement off the box and there would be no vibration or any other type of disturbance that could cause damage to the box inside.'?
Winston looked at the group of archeologists and said, 'Why do I bring you along, when all I need is a bunch of college kids? Miss, uh, I did not get your name,'? any special kind of laser that we need to use?
'Johnson, Miss Johnson is my name, and, yes, the best kind for this type of work would be one of the new robotic lasers. Although they are portable, it will still take four men to carry one down those stairs. Once set up properly, all one has to do is feed the x-ray photo into the laser machine and tell it to cut away everything but what is in the photograph. Then hit the start button and stand back while the laser removes the cement one small slice at a time. Oh, and pray that the laser does not set the box on fire if it is made of wood. That laser is very, very hot.'?
Winston put in a call to the Vatican and requested the laser. The Pope himself got on the phone and began asking all kinds of questions about what Burk thought was in the block of cement. What were the dimensions of the wooden box that was encased in the pulpit? He wanted all the x-rays faxed to him. The Pope then startled Winston by saying that he was sending a team from the Vatican to take possession of the wooden box just as soon as it was removed from its cement tomb. Winston started to argue that a trained archeologist needed to handle the box, that it could be damaged beyond repair by someone who was transporting it but didn't know what he was doing. If the Pope was in that great a hurry to have the box, then he himself would bring it. However, with the large amount of money that the Pope was about to pay Winston and his team, he did not want to rock the boat. Besides, who even knew what was in the box, or if it was what the Pope had sent them to retrieve in the first place? All Winston knew was that he was about to open something that apparently was of great value to the church.
It took only two days for the laser to arrive, but with it came six men. These men did not seem to be priestly in any way. They more nearly resembled bodyguards or Special Forces types. They were all business and did not mince words. They let it be known that Mr. Jones, which we all knew was not his real name, was now in charge, and nothing was to be done without his personal approval. Mr. Jones turned to Winston when they were all in the chamber and said, 'Everybody out except for you, Mr. Chadaberry.'? No one will view the box or its contents but my team. I will need you here just in case there is some type of emergency. But everyone else must leave before we start.
What is so important that no one will be allowed to view it, even after they found it? thought Winston. Then his imagination started running away with him. What if after it is out they decide that because I viewed the contents that I have become a liability and arrange for me to fall down the stairs and break my neck or something. I cannot let myself be alone with these men. I need witnesses, safety in numbers, keep some others down here with you. That way they can't kill anyone, too many witnesses.
'Everyone can't leave,'? stated Winston in his most commanding voice. 'Miss Johnson is the only one who knows how to run the laser, and Mr. Kelly is an expert on encased time capsules. Both are essential parts in removing the box from this block of cement.'? Kelly looked at Johnson as she was looking at him with a 'what the hell'? look on her face. Kelly just raised a single eyebrow as if signaling to go along with whatever was happening. All Kelly knew was that he was about to be in on something very big, and he did not want to take a chance of missing out on such an opportunity. Whatever 'bull'? Winston was throwing around he did not know or care about at the moment.
Mr. Jones thought about it for just a second, started to say something, and then stopped. Then he calmly said, 'Of course, Dr. Chadaberry. We need all the expert help we can get.'? Winston let out his breath slowly. He just realized that he had been holding it until he heard what Mr. Jones was going to say.
Now Winston took charge. 'Everyone stand back; Miss Johnson is about to start the laser.'? Each man and the one woman put on dark glasses to shield their eyes from the bright red laser. She flipped a switch, inserted the x-rays, pushed a few other buttons, and hit the green 'go'? button. Instantly and with great speed the laser started slicing off pieces of the cement pulpit. At first it was very fast, taking off large chunks of cement, but as it neared the wooden box that had been entombed it started slowing down and making very detailed and precise cuts. It had been slicing off bits of cement for over two hours now.
Miss Johnson stopped the laser when there was still about four inches of cement all around the wooden box. 'We need to take more x-rays so that we can fine-tune the laser. We need to get as close as possible without touching the box,'? she said.
'No! Just keep going,'? said Mr. Jones. It was then that Mr. Kelly stated that the x-rays that we were working from had gone through two feet of solid cement. 'We could get much better pictures by only going through the four inches of cement and have a much better chance of not damaging the box. If the laser is only off ¼ inch, it could fry the box and everything that's in it.'?
It was the word 'fry'? that caught Mr. Jones off guard. What would he tell the Pope if the box was destroyed because he would not let them take better x-rays of the box before the final cutting? 'Take your x-rays, then, but hurry up about it,'? he snapped trying to sound as if he were in charge, even though everyone knew that he had given that position up to Mr. Kelly.
They rolled the x-ray machine back into place and began taking a whole series of x-rays. They took many more than they had originally and many more than they needed. Winston had hope that he could at least sneak out one of the x-rays, if he could not see the contents of the box itself.
These x-rays were indeed of much better quality, but still they could not identify the contents of the box. There was a level of padding, then three iron pieces about 10 inches long, another level of padding, and then something that they could not make out. It seemed to blend with the wooden box. It was not part of it, but made of similar, perhaps woody, material. Then a last level of padding.
Mr. Kelly spoke with the authority of a man much older than his age: 'Miss Johnson, do your thing.'?
She wheeled the laser in front of the much smaller block of cement and fed in the new x-ray photos. She made a few last minute adjustments. It would now cut much closer to the box but should not touch it. 'I think that I can get it as close as 1/8 of an inch to the box on all sides without hurting the box at all.'? She then hit the green start key for the second time that night. Very slowly the laser removed one layer of cement after another always getting closer to the box. Twenty minutes later, Miss Johnson stopped the laser for the final time. 'That's as close as I want to chance getting to the box,'? she said.
They all moved in closer to the box. It still had a very, very thin layer of cement on all sides. 'What do we do now?'? asked our Mr. Jones in a tone that carried a plea for help. He had gotten this close; he could not go back and tell the Pope that he was sorry but they just could not get through the last wafer-thin shell of cement.
'Hand me that rock hammer,'? said Mr. Kelly. He took the small hammer and started to tap the last layer of cement on the corners.
'Stop!'? yelled Mr. Jones. 'What are you doing? You'll smash the box.'?
'Mr. Jones, who is the expert here on removing time capsules from what they are encased in?'? said Mr. Kelly. He then lightly tapped the corner of the block of cement and it all just crumbled to the floor. 'Just like in high school,'? he said.
'High school!!!'? said Jones.
Kelly just looked at him and shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
Mr. Jones started to reach for the box but Winston grabbed his arm. 'We've come too far to have it ruined now. Let an expert handle it.'?
Jones hesitated and looked at his six huge men against these three weaklings. Winston stated, 'It's not going anywhere - just let me open it, I know what I'm doing.'? Reluctantly, Mr. Jones agreed to let Winston open the wooden box.
The box had two metal clasps that held the lid on. Winston very carefully removed the clasps and opened the lid to the box. Excitement was so thick that it was hard for anyone to breathe. What were they going to find? What would it mean to the world? Why was it so very important to the Pope? But, most importantly, thought Winston, would he get paid if it was nothing at all?
He removed the cloth padding one strip at a time until the first layer was completely out and safely in a sealed container. After all, this find was 2,000 years old, and he was not going to take a chance on ruining any of it.
Then he removed one of the iron rods. It was about ten inches long, fairly heavy and thick. The other two were exactly the same in shape and size. Why they were important he could not even guess, but somebody at some time had thought they were, or they would not be in the box.
He started again, very slowly, to remove the next layer of padding. Piece by piece, he took his time, not wanting to accidentally break or ruin anything by hurrying.
When the last piece of cloth was removed and he looked down into the box, you could physically see him gasp, see his eyes open wide in both fear and wonderment. 'I know what those iron rods are,'? he said. 'They're spikes.'? With trembling hands, he reached into the box and so very slowly pulled out the remaining contents. Everyone in the room just stared, not knowing what to say, not knowing whether to believe their own eyes, but knowing that what they were seeing was true; it was real, but it couldn't be. Winston lifted the remaining artifact in his gloved hands for all to see: a bloody crown of thorns.
These were the spikes that were used to nail our Lord and Savior to the cross when He was crucified and the bloody crown of thorns He wore while He was hanging on the cross. Winston just stared at what he held in his hands for two or three minutes more, trying to let his mind absorb the significance of what he had just found to the whole world. Finally, he glanced up and saw that two of the six men were on their knees making the sign of the cross and talking in a low tone but definitely saying prayers. He then looked over at both Kelly and Johnson to see their reaction to this historical moment, but they were not looking at the crown - they both were staring intensely at something across the room.
He turned to follow their gaze and saw Mr. Jones with a pistol in his hand. 'Are you crazy?'? Winston said to him. 'The crown does not need protecting from anyone here. We would all die to protect it from harm. The world will change today when we announce our discovery.'?
'I'm sorry, Winston,'? said Jones, 'but no announcement will be made about the crown and spikes. In fact, the world will never know of your tremendous work. It must be kept secret.'?
'You can't just expect us not to tell the world of something so utterly important.'?
'No, I don't think that you could keep from telling the world about your find. At least, I know that if I were in your position, I would have to tell. Therefore, Winston, I am truly sorry for what I am about to do.'?
'Wait! What about you and all of your men? They might tell someone; they might decide that the world deserves to know about its Lord and King. Are you going to kill them also?'?
'No, that has already been planned for. Each one of us, including myself, took a pill before we arrived. We have about 72 hours more to live - just enough time to get the crown and spikes back to the Vatican.'?
'But you won't be able to explain our deaths to all of the others waiting upstairs for us to return. They will know that you killed us; they will tell the world about what happened here.'?
'No they won't; they will simply grieve over the death of an old friend and his two assistants, who died tragically in an accidental explosion of a portable laser machine. In fact, this whole chamber will be sealed in over 500 hundred feet of solid rock. No one will ever dig down here to find the truth. Besides, who would not believe a man who had just lost two of his own men in the accident?'? At that point, two of the men pulled out their own guns, put them in their mouths, and pulled the triggers.
Jones turned back to Winston and again said how sorry he was, and then he shot him twice in the heart and once in the head before his knees ever buckled. Turning to Kelly, he did not say a word, but shot him in the same fashion. Looking at Miss Johnson, he said, 'You are a truly beautiful woman, and you have helped the church more than you will ever know. For that we will be eternally grateful.'? Then he shot her three times.
Jones carefully placed the spikes and crown in his briefcase and left the wooden box. No one would think anything about a man carrying a briefcase.
'Set the charges,'? he said as he turned to start his long journey up the stairs and then on to a private meeting with the Pope.
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