The Secret of the Stones (19 page)

They
both shrugged.
 
“Maybe a long time
ago,” she said nonchalantly.

“Well,
it is fascinating,” Joe didn’t let their ambiguity slow him down.
 
“There are several instances where the
people of Israel bore witness to the great power the Ark possessed:
 
Uzzah was killed instantly when he
reached up and touched it to keep it from falling off a cart, the walls of
Jericho crumbled before it, and the Philistines were struck with what seems to
be some kind of radiation sickness after they stole the box from the
Israelites.
 
The program on the
History Channel said the reason the Ark had such amazing power was that it was
essentially a superconductor for static electricity.
 

“Researchers
discovered that there are certain points on the surface of the earth that
collect more of this electric energy than others.
 
Non-coincidentally, most of the hotspots for this geo-static
power are where Egyptian temples were built.
 
It seems the Egyptians had discovered a way to harness
electricity.
 
To what ends is still
a mystery.”

Sean
was starting to understand, “So these arks were designed by the Egyptian
leaders to control the people with displays of electric power.
 
To the ordinary citizen, the arcs of
“lightning” they produced would appear to be some kind of divine power.”

“Yep,”
Mac agreed.

Allyson
was also starting to draw the connection.
 
“Do you think that these golden chambers were designed for a similar
reason?”

Joe
shook his head.
 
“I honestly don’t
know.
 
But I do know that Egyptians
had a far greater understanding of gold and its uses in science than we could
have ever imagined.
 
Just makes me
think that if they constructed four golden chambers, there must have been two
reasons.”

“Two
reasons?” Allyson’s eyes scanned him curiously.

“Most
definitely,” Joe chuckled.
 
Then he
said, “If we find one chamber, we should be able to find the next one.”

“Why
is that?”
 
She wondered aloud.

His
voice grew a little quieter, “The other reason the chambers were built was to
point the way home.”

Chapter
30
       

Cartersville,
Georgia

McElroy’s
dog perked his head up for a second and turned toward the back porch.
 
His brown ears twitched; probably hearing
a raccoon or some other nocturnal animal in the woods.
 
Whatever it was, he lost interest a few
seconds later and laid his head back down on the floor.

“Home?”
 
Sean asked.
 
“You mean Egypt?
 
That home?”
 

Joe
had presented an enormous amount of information over the last hour and it was
all starting to come together in a way that Sean would never have imagined.

“Egypt,”
Mac confirmed with a matter-fact nod.

“So
the chambers are some kind of beacons,” Ally said more as a declaration than a
question.

“Yes.
 
And if someone can find the first one,
there should be a clue that will point to the next one and so on until
eventually, the final chamber is located.”
 

Reaching
down, he scratched behind the hound’s ear.
 
The dog tilted its head slightly in appreciation.
 
“Naturally, the people who placed the
chambers in their locations would have found it simple to find the way
home.
 
This could only mean that
they were ordered not to return until an appointed time.”

“But
the appointed time and path were lost to antiquity,” Sean pointed out.

“Until
now.”
 
Joe had picked up the stone
disc and was examining it again.
 
His eyes were mesmerized by the object.
 
“Amazing that such a remarkable treasure has been hidden for
thousands of years without anyone ever coming close to finding it.”

Allyson
interrupted his thoughts, “So, what’s the next step?”

“We
figure out the riddle, of course,” he replied straightforwardly.
 
“That’s the reason you came here.”
 

Taking
the sheet of paper in his hand, Joe began re-examining the lines.
 
His finger traced the passages a couple
of times before he looked up from the page.
 
“It is so simple and yet, it is immeasurably difficult to
figure out.”

“Do
you have an idea of what it might mean?”
 
Sean had hoped his friend might know something in relation to the key
words used in the clue.

“Not
really.”
 
Then he corrected
himself, “Well, I mean, the chambers make sense.
 
That part we get,” he forced a quick laugh.
 
“But the raven and dove, chariots of
heaven, stones?
 
It all seems
pretty random.”

Allyson
sighed.
 
Her brain was on
information overload.
 
She paced
her way over to the back door of the cabin and looked out the large window onto
a darkly stained deck.
 
Deep forest
awaited just beyond the moderately sized yard behind the house.
 
At the edge of the woods, twisted,
ancient trees stood hauntingly silent in the faint lights of the house like
something out of a horror film.
 
“You mind if I step outside for a minute, guys?
 
My brain needs a break.”

They
looked over at her, aroused from staring at the disc.
 
“Sure,” Joe responded, “Go right ahead.
 
Take a look around.”
 
He made a passive motion with his hand,
turning immediately back to the round piece of stone in the other palm.

Allyson
eased the glass door open and stepped onto the planks of the patio.
 
Her ears filled with the sounds of the
forest and, as when she arrived, her nose enjoyed the sweet smells of
nature.
 
In the clearing where the
house was situated, the cloudless sky that opened up above was absolutely
breathtaking.
 
With no moon
visible, the number of stars dotting the canvas of night seemed infinite.
 
After walking across the porch, she
stopped at the railing, spun around, and leaned back against it so she could
just gaze at the sky.
 

There
were many advantages of living in a big city like Atlanta, but there was
something very cool about being out in the middle of nowhere.
 
All of the day to day stuff just seemed
to melt away.
 
Well, except the
current situation.
 
That was hardly
something “day to day.”
 
She found
herself thinking about what they might find.
 
What would a golden chamber even look like?
 
Certainly, the events of the past
twenty hours were unfathomable.
 
On
the other hand, though, she felt a sort of calm at the moment.
 

Was
she a closet action junkie?
 
Or did
she have a secret passion for history that had never been explored until
now.
 
There was one other thought
that entered her mind, but she dispelled it quickly.
 

A
shooting star burst through the black sky above, shaking her from her
thoughts.
 
It only lasted a couple
of seconds before burning out.
 
Allyson closed her eyes, just like she had done as a child whenever she
had seen a falling star.
 
Abruptly,
she opened her eyes at the sound of the sliding door opening.
 

Apparently,
the two men had decided to join her for a bit of air as well.
 

“What
were you doing?”
 
Sean asked, a
little curious.
 

“Nothing.
 
Just saw a shooting star.”
 
Her response was lighthearted.

“Did
ya make a wish?”
 
Joe smiled
playfully.

“Of
course,” she said, returning the grin.

“And
what did you wish for?”
 
There was
hint of flirting to Sean’s question.
 

“I
can’t tell you that.
 
Then it won’t
come true.”
 
She twisted her body
around and propped her elbow on the wooden rail.

The
group stood on the platform, staring up into the universe.
 
Constellations and random clusters of
stars all blended together in the elaborate cosmic tapestry.

“Yeah,”
Joe began, “you can sure see a lot of shooting stars out here.
 
No lights from the city to blur out
anything.
 
On a clear night like tonight,
I bet you can see half a dozen an hour.”

Out
of the blue, Sean exclaimed, “That’s it!”
 

“What?”
 
The other two were startled by the
sudden excitement and spoke in unison.

“The
falling stars!”
 
Sean said
hurriedly.
 
“Chariots of
heaven.
 
You see?”
 
He held out his arms wide, reinforcing
the question.

Allyson
didn’t understand, but Joe caught on immediately.
 
“Dadgum it boy, I think you’re onto something.
 
I didn’t even think of that.”
 

Sean
tried to clarify what he was saying, “Meteors, or shooting stars, as we call
them, were sometimes called ‘the chariots of the gods’ in ancient times.
 
There are several myths in which a
deity’s arrival on the earth to visit mankind is by means of a falling star.
 
The chariot was a common conveyance so
whoever created the myths simply applied it to the story as a necessary detail
for the ordinary citizen.”

“Oh,”
she said after hearing the explanation.
 
“I see.
 
Sort of like those
pictures of a Greek god riding a chariot.”
 

“Exactly!”
 
The two men answered in tandem.

“So
what does ancient mythology have to do with a golden chamber in the United
States?”
 
She placed her hands on
her hips, still not seeing the big picture.

Turning
his attention to their host, Sean said, “Mac, check on your computer to see if
there was a significant meteoric event ever recorded anywhere here in
America.
 
I’m talkin’ cave
drawings, stone carvings, anything you can find.”

Joe
was already walking back to the door. “Way ahead of ya, bud.”

Still
confused, Allyson followed the two of them back to the computer.
 
The dog looked up curiously from his
spot on the floor near the fireplace.

Once
again, they huddled around the computer, Joe busily typing in different key
words to find anything he could that might give them some kind of indication as
to where they should go next.
 
After about ten minutes of turning up nothing, he had an epiphany.
 
“I think I know where the next clue
is,” he said, looking up.
 
“Have
you ever heard of a place called Brasstown Bald or Track Rock?”

Allyson
shook her head while Sean responded with a slight nod.
 
“I think so.
 
I’ve never been there, though.
 
You think it has something to do with all this?”

“Yep.
 
At this site there are a few large
boulders with very odd markings on them.
 
They’re ancient Petra glyphs,” Joe was on a roll again.

“What
do you mean, odd?”
 
Allyson didn’t
want to be left out.

“Well,
the shapes of the drawings are not like anything that has ever been discovered
on the planet.
 
There has never
been a single documented find of cave drawings or carvings anywhere in the
world that even closely resemble what is on those stones.”
 
He held up his finger to make the point
firmer.
 
“And that is exactly what
the riddle tells us to look for, ‘ancient stones.’
 
Along with finding these ancient stones, it also suggests
that they mark not only the path of those who are seeking the chambers, but
also the path of the chariots of heaven.
 
One of the theories that I had completely forgotten about says that the
markings on the boulders at Track Rock are actually recordings of celestial
events.
 
That has to be the place
that will show us where to go next.”

“How
are we going to be able to decipher the symbols if there is nothing like them
in the world?”
 
Sean hated to be
the downer in the conversation.

“I
don’t know.
 
Haven’t figured that
part out yet.”
 
Joe looked at both
of them gravely. “We have to try. We can take my car and leave first thing in
the morning,” he said as he rose and walked toward a hallway that led to a spare
bedroom.
 
“You two can sleep in
here tonight if you’d like.”

“I’ll
stick to the couch,” Sean insisted.

“You
don’t have to do that,” Allyson looked at him with a smile.
 
“I won’t bite.”
 

“No,
the couch is fine for me.
 
I might
snore, and I don’t want to keep you up.”

Joe
stared open-mouthed at the interaction.
 
“I don’t care what ya do or where you sleep.
 
I’m going to get some shut eye.
 
We got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Mac,”
Sean turned away from the previous conversation, “you don’t have to go with
us.”
 
As he spoke, Sean saw the
look in his friend’s eyes.
 
There
would be no keeping Joe McElroy from at least seeing where this next clue might
lead.
 
The man had, seemingly,
spent more time than Sean had imagined researching and learning about the four
chambers.
 

They
had most certainly come to the right place.
 
“Alright.
 
But
don’t tell your wife I let you do this.
 
She already doesn’t like you hanging out with me.”
 
Sean passed him a wicked grin.

“That’s
because you get me in trouble.”
 
Joe laughed, then said, “You think I want her to know what we’re
doing?
 
She’d go friggin’
nuts.
 
I’m just glad that she’s at
her mother’s tonight.
 
There’d be
no end to the grief I’d be getting right about now.”

“Sounds
like you have a good relationship,” Allyson said sarcastically.

“Oh,
I love my wife,” he answered.
 
“She
just doesn’t want me to do anything crazy.”

“Wonder
what would make her think you would do anything like that?” It was Sean’s turn
to be cynical.

“Why
do I feel like there is an inside joke going on right now?”
 
Allyson stabbed.