The Prescience Read online

  “What did Doctor Luke mean when he said he could get ‘that taken care of’?”

  “Nidal asked if he could remove something from his lower right arm. Doctor Luke said when he examined it, although he had never seen it before, it reminded him of the Urim and Thummin on the Ephod of the High Priest. They no longer exist, even in this century, but are referenced in the Talmud.”

  Another mystery to unravel—“What?”

  Daniel explained. “Doctor Luke said he had never seen one, had only read about them because they disappeared in the post-exilic period.”

  “Daniel, can you explain to me what you are talking about? Urim and what?”

  Daniel took a sip of tea. “The Ephod was what the High Priest wore, and the Urim and Thummin were on the breastplate of the garment. They were like oracles of the High Priest. He used them to make predictions.”

  A chill ran down my spine. “That sounds creepy. But it wasn’t underneath the High Priest’s skin?”

  “No.” Daniel shrugged. “Doctor Luke just said it reminded him of that. More concerning to me is what it is and why Nidal wants it removed.”

  “Why didn’t Doctor Luke remove it?”

  “He said he wanted to talk to me first. He mentioned that Nidal was a little odd, and because of everything that’s happened, with the death of Yeshua, the disappearance of his body, and then his unexplained appearances to hundreds, he had some concerns.

  “The Urim and Thummin haven’t been seen for hundreds of years, and to have something similar on a man’s wrist—I think it spooked him.”

  “Could it be something like what Doctor Luke said?”

  Daniel lifted his tea and took another sip. “Not if he’s from our time. I suppose he could be from the first century, but that would destroy our hypothesis.”

  I nodded.

  “But if you were Doctor Luke and saw something embedded in someone’s skin, you’d be a little curious. I mean, Nidal certainly isn’t a High Priest, but Doctor Luke is relating it to something he’s heard of.”

  “So—you’re going to let Doctor Luke remove it?”

  “After we meet with Nidal. I want to see it first.”

  I glanced at Shira. Could she sit still long enough for me to eavesdrop on the conversation between Nidal and Daniel? He must have been reading my mind.

  “Are you planning on bringing her?”

  “If she causes too much of a disturbance, I’ll take her out. But I want to hear at least a part of what he has to say. I might pick up on something important.”

  “Are you ready?” Daniel asked.

  I nodded. I took another rose off the table and handed it to Shira. “For my princess.”

  She smiled.

  I draped my arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Daniel needs to talk to someone, and I need you to be quiet for a few minutes. Can you do that for me, be very quiet?”

  Shira nodded.

  As we stood to leave, Ami and Levi entered the dining hall. Ami led with Levi trailing, using his cane for support.

  Ami waved his hand. “Daniel, do you have a minute?” He pointed to the table. “Sit. I want to talk with you.”

  I leaned Shira against my body as we sat in the chairs again. Ami was long-winded and I feared this might take a while. I was anxious to find out what Nidal knew. I sighed, hiding my impatience.

  Ami grinned at me. “How are you, ma’am?”

  “I’m fine, thank you.” I sensed Ami would have preferred for me to leave so he could discuss business with Daniel.

  “What’s on your mind, Ami?” Daniel asked.

  Ami squinted, looking down the hallway towards the inn rooms. Then he peered around the lobby. Levi leaned his cane against the chair after sitting beside his brother.

  Please, Lord, I prayed, let this not be a long conversation. Shira was antsy propped up against my lap. I stroked her on the back.

  “That fellow, Nidal,” Ami said, “is the most religious man I’ve ever seen. Those Followers of the Way are pretty religious, but Nidal is more religious than any of them.”

  Daniel eyed Ami curiously. “What makes you say that?”

  “Or maybe he’s one of those hypocrites, like the Pharisees, who pretends to be religious, but wants to be admired by men.”

  Daniel shook his head. “Tell me more. What do you mean?”

  Ami laughed. “Now that he’s well, he’s coming out on the portico several times each day. Actually, I’ve been counting. He comes to the portico five times every day. He places a mat underneath him, faces the same direction, and bows, chanting strange words. He prays at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and at night.”

  “You don’t know what he says?” Daniel asked.

  “Elah, Elah, that’s all I can catch. Why would he be talking about an oak or turpentine tree in his prayers?”

  Daniel and I exchanged glances. Could Ami be hearing Nidal saying Allah?

  Daniel shook Ami’s hand. “Thank you, Ami. You’ve been most helpful.”

  Ami seemed pleased with himself.

  Levi interrupted. “Nidal needs to leave the inn before the Romans show up. They are likely to arrest him. The claims of Yeshua’s resurrection are going to lead to the deaths of many Jews. The Romans will kill us. We live in dangerous times. Make him leave, Daniel. Send him away. Now.”

  I could feel the tension rising around the table, and I felt about twenty degrees hotter.

  Daniel stood. “We are fixing to meet with Nidal now. Thanks for your concern, Levi.”

  I reached for Shira’s hand. Was Nidal a Muslim?

  CHAPTER 14

  DANIEL MUMBLED UNDER his breath, “I’ll be back in a minute.” As he turned to leave, I caught a glimpse of his face. If only I could read his mind, but I knew. Daniel hurried out of the dining hall.

  I wanted to run to Nidal’s room and confront him myself. Daniel now had proof of what he suspected, but was Nidal involved in the kidnapping of his father?

  Levi tapped his cane. “You can’t trust anyone around here, except Doctor Luke. That was a kind thing Daniel did, rescuing that young man, but there is something spooky about him. Why—you can’t even trust the women anymore. That old one yesterday nearly took your little girl.”

  I clung tighter to Shira, afraid Levi might be scaring her.

  “We need God to come and save us from the Romans.” The man shook his head sadly. “And I thought Yeshua might have been our redeemer.”

  Ami interjected. “Levi, it wouldn’t have mattered what Yeshua did. You would have doubted him anyway, and Daniel will figure things out. God has never abandoned us.”

  Levi leaned over to me. “Don’t trust anyone, you hear me? That old woman…”

  I cut Levi off. “I think I should go check on my beloved,” I said softly.

  Levi tapped his cane again. “Nidal speaks an unknown language, and I’ve been around a long time. Strange man, he is.”

  I did a slight bow to the brothers and took Shira’s hand. “Let’s go find Daniel.”

  We walked down the hallway to Daniel’s room. I knocked on his door.

  Daniel opened it, and I followed him in as he sat on the bed. Shira chose the wrong time to be needy, running to him and lifting up her arms to be held. Daniel placed her in his lap.

  I crossed my arms in front of me. “At least we know your hunch was right. There weren’t any Muslims in the first century.”

  Daniel nodded. “Are you ready?”

  “I think so. Are you?”

  Daniel’s eyes flitted about the room. “Let’s hope he knows something about my father.”

  We walked to the end of the hall. As Daniel raised his hand to knock, I leaned into him reassuringly. He gave me a slight smile. After his first knock and no one answered, he knocked again, but we still didn’t hear any noise from the room.

  “Is he in there?” I asked.

  Then we heard footsteps and the door being unlocked from the other side. The man cracked the door, his eyes first st
udying Daniel and Shira and then glancing at me. Suddenly his eyes flashed and he shut the door in our face.

  Daniel knocked again. “Nidal, can we come in?”

  Silence followed.

  Daniel tried a different tact. “Nidal, I’m the one who rescued you and brought you here.”

  The man cracked the door, surprise covering his face and now embarrassed by his rudeness. He gave Shira and me a glance.

  “You saved my life? I mistook you for someone else.”

  Daniel and I exchanged glances.

  Nidal left the door ajar. He walked over to the window and didn’t say anything. “You rescued me?” he repeated. “I didn’t know who did it.”

  “Can we come in?” Daniel asked again.

  Nidal motioned. “Have a seat.” He still didn’t face us.

  An awkward silence followed. I directed Shira to the chair and sat at the table with her in my lap. The door was left open. I wished Daniel would close it.

  Nidal stared out the window. A small bandage covered the left side of his head. Other than that, he appeared to have fully recovered.

  He wasn’t very tall, maybe five-ten, muscular, and younger than I had imagined. Perhaps he was in his late twenties. I knew racing chariots required a great deal of strength, but what did he do in the twenty-first century? Did he have those muscles before he arrived?

  Nidal turned and faced us. He didn’t look Middle Eastern. I wasn’t sure where he was from. He had darker complexion than Daniel, with brown eyes and straight hair.

  What was going through Daniel’s mind?

  He cleared his throat. “How are you feeling, Nidal?”

  “Much better, thank you. I didn’t know who had rescued me. I didn’t remember.”

  “You were unconscious,” Daniel said, “and badly hurt.”

  Nidal stared at the floor. “Thank you.”

  “It was the right thing to do, under the circumstances.”

  That seemed like an opening for Nidal to explain, to confess his wrongs, but would he?

  “Do you know who I am?” Nidal asked.

  “I raced against you in the chariot races.”

  “What else do you know about me?”

  “You were injured on Robber’s Road near Jericho and needed help.”

  Nidal looked away. “Why did you do it?”

  I was glad I had given Shira the flower as she played quietly with it at the table.

  Daniel ignored the question. “Why did you race?”

  Nidal laughed. “Like you, I wanted to make some extra money.”

  “How much did you lose?” Daniel asked.

  Nidal squirmed. “A little, not that much.”

  Daniel frowned. “Come now, it must have been more than a little.”

  Nidal didn’t respond, and I was surprised at Daniel’s directness.

  “How much money was stolen from you, Nidal?”

  Nidal threw up his hands. “I don’t know. All of it.”

  “All of your winnings?” Daniel asked.

  Nidal nodded.

  “What a shame.”

  Nidal didn’t respond.

  “Did you lose any other money besides your winnings?”

  Nidal wiped the perspiration off his face. I noticed the tattoo on his wrist. “What other money could I have lost?”

  Daniel sat on the chair beside me, peering intensely at Nidal. “I know what it’s like to have someone steal your winnings. You see, someone broke into my place in Caesarea and stole my money, too.”

  Nidal’s eyes bulged.

  Daniel had given Nidal another opportunity to explain himself. When he didn’t, I felt Daniel’s righteous anger. It was one thing for Daniel to rescue Nidal, but it was quite another for Nidal not to be honest. Daniel had saved his life.

  Daniel probed deeper. “What if I told you I know you and your brother broke into my apartment and stole my money?”

  Nidal turned halfway towards Daniel, his reddened face betraying him, although I wasn’t sure if it was because he was caught or because he was sorry.

  Nidal shook his head. “He’s not my brother.”

  “And I hear you are praying five times a day to Allah. Ami told me he has seen you on your prayer mat”—Daniel pointed to the mat rolled up in the corner of the room—“and we both know Allah wasn’t born until the seventh century.”

  Nidal stared at Daniel, speechless.

  “Nidal, I know you’re from the future.”

  CHAPTER 15

  NIDAL COVERED HIS face. “You knew, didn’t you, and rescued me?”

  “I knew you stole my money. Cynisca told me. But who are you? What are you doing here? And do you know anything about my father?”

  Nidal walked over and sat on the bed, staring at the floor.

  I felt the tension rise in the room as Daniel gravitated to Nidal. “Nidal, I know somebody must have sent you here. Do you know anything about my father, Aviv Sperling? He’s a businessman.”

  Nidal twisted his hands. “Yes, you’re right. I’m from the future.”

  Daniel asked a third time. “Do you know anything about my father? He would travel to Syria and other countries to purchase cloths, linens—textiles.”

  “No, no. Don’t know your father or a man by that name.”

  Daniel’s lips tightened. “Are you sure? He’s been missing since 2013. He was Jewish, tall, dark brown hair, curly like mine. He spoke Hebrew and Arabic well. We have a family business in Jerusalem.”

  Nidal shook his head vigorously without looking at either of us. “No, no.”

  I could sense Daniel’s exasperation as he pressed harder for answers. “He purchased some scrolls from an antiquities dealer, scrolls that were sought by the authorities. Someone kidnapped him for the scrolls, and I think he was held in the Himalayan Mountains against his will.”

  “No, no. Don’t know the man.”

  Daniel got closer. “Look, I’m not accusing you. I’m asking if you know him.”

  Finally Nidal made eye contact. “I’m telling you, I don’t know the man. Sorry.”

  Daniel stood and crossed his hands behind his back.

  Nidal had to know more than he was saying, but how would Daniel find out?

  “Who sent you here?” Daniel asked.

  Nidal got up and started towards the door. I thought he was going to leave, but then he turned towards the window. “Scientists sent me here. I know about the scrolls, but I don’t know anything about your father.”

  “Tell me about the scrolls.”

  “At first I was told to find you and thought you would lead me to them, but that didn’t happen. Then they told me they were hidden among the Dead Sea Scrolls. I went there, but I couldn’t find them.”

  “Who are you?” Daniel asked.

  “I’m a Sherpa from Nepal.”

  “So there is a Nepali connection,” Daniel said.

  Nidal ignored Daniel’s comment.

  “How did you get mixed up with a bunch of scientists if you’re a Sherpa?”

  Nidal walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. “When I led expeditions up Mount Everest, we started seeing strange creatures in the Himalayans, dozens of them. They used to be very rare, perhaps a legend.

  “They were aggressive, not typical wild animals. They were different. Some of them seemed human, but they were deformed, and very tall.

  “The trekkers reported them to the media, the sightings. Some even had photographs, and they came up to investigate from Switzerland or France. They were connected with some science project. I forgot the name.”

  “CERN?” Daniel asked.

  “Yeah, that’s it. The scientists wanted to see what was happening at the top of the world. They said they had opened a portal of some sort, and apparently one of the star gates they had opened was near Mount Everest. The creatures were coming in through the portal.”

  “The yeti?” Daniel asked.

  “Yes,” Nidal replied. “The yeti.”

  “Like that tattoo on yo
ur arm?”

  Nidal rubbed his hand over the tattoo, as if in an attempt to hide it, but then gave up, dropping his hand to his side. I noticed one of the eyes of the tattooed creature had a small stone.

  Nidal added, “I got very nervous and went to see an old shaman in Deurali.”

  I glanced at Daniel. We had been to that area when we were in Nepal, but I couldn’t remember the name of the shaman.

  “I sought out the gods to understand. One night, I heard the voice of Shiva. He told me that Allah was the answer. I should become Muslim. Some Muslims lived in the area, and I went to see them. They told me I should make the pilgrimage to Mecca and see what Allah told me.”

  “What happened then?” Daniel asked.

  “I went on the pilgrimage.”

  “You did the Haj?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who told you about the scrolls?”

  Fear filled Nidal’s eyes and he clammed up. “I don’t know any more than I’ve told you.”

  Seconds passed. Why didn’t he read Nidal’s mind? This seemed like the perfect time to use the gift God had given him.

  “When did you make the Haj?”

  Nidal shrugged. “It’s hard to say. I’ve been here a while.”

  “How did you know to look for me?” Daniel asked.

  Nidal glanced away. “I’ve told you everything I know. Tariq told me they had been following you. I think they even sent you back to get the scrolls because your name was on them.”

  “And my father’s name,” Daniel said, “that you claim you don’t know.”

  “I don’t recognize your father’s name. I never saw the scrolls.”

  “You went to my apartment in Caesarea to get them, didn’t you?” Daniel asked.

  Nidal looked up at Daniel. “Yes.”

  “And found my winnings and stole them.”

  Nidal nodded. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  Both men remained silent for a moment.

  Nidal interrupted the silence. “Look, I don’t even want to go back. I want to stay here.” He thrust his arm forward. “Can you get Doctor Luke to remove the stone?”

  Daniel studied it more closely. I was too far away to see.

  “It’s a tattoo of a yeti,” Daniel said.