Shrouded In Silence

51





Jack walked casually as if inspecting the peaceful basilica by studying a tourist guidebook. Stopping next to Michelle, he glanced indifferently at the twenty-eight stone steps.

"Looks like regular old Italian marble to me," he said cynically.

"Only a Protestant could be so disrespectful," Guido replied. "You have to be an Italian to understand these sacred objects."

"But since we're Protestants, we don't fall in behind the party line quite so obediently as you local boys do," Michelle said.

Guido grinned. "As if I didn't already know." He whispered to Jack and Michelle. "I don't see anyone watching us, but I am a rank amateur in this hunt-and-chase game. Hopefully we're still clear. I think we can start walking back toward the entry to the church again. Just stroll leisurely and look around, but don't get too far behind me."

"Don't worry," Michelle said. "We've got our radar tuned up to the maximum capacity tonight."

Guido sauntered away from the Scala Santa. Once he reached the distant wall of the sanctuary, he looked at the frescos by Nebbia and d'Arpino. Farther on, he paused beneath the work of Torriti for a moment. When he reached the massive front doors, Guido stopped for a final scrutiny of the crowd milling around the church and then strolled out.

Jack and Michelle maintained a slow pace marching toward the front door. Stepping outside into the darkness, they could no longer find Guido.

"Where'd he go?" Michelle stammered. "He was here a moment ago."

"Behind you," Guido said out of the blackness. "Don't turn around. Walk to your left toward the small building near the end of the cathedral. Stop there."

"OK," Jack said.

"Wait at the entrance," Guido said.

The night air felt unusually brisk, but Jack kept their speed at an easy gait. When they reached the smaller building, Jack stopped.

Within a few moments, Guido emerged out of the shadows. "Go in," he whispered. "Look around like tourists until you know no one else is inside. I'll watch out here to make sure we are not followed."

"What is this place?" Michelle ask.

"The ancients built baptisteries apart from the actual church building. The baptistery for San Giovanni has stood on this spot for nearly two thousand years. You will find it most interesting."

Inside the heavy door, the interior revealed a large circular room with a substantial baptismal font in the center. The tranquil surface of the water stood motionless. The black stone had a chipped appearance and worn edges suggesting antiquity. Made to emulate candles, the electric lights around the walls cast long, dismal shadows across the room. Nothing disturbed the silence.

Jack looked up at the frescos decorating the ceiling and the walls. "Great paintings. This building hasn't had the bland changes that the main church has undergone. Interesting."

Guido walked in while Jack was talking. "My family has carefully followed the development of the baptistery through the years," Guido said. "You will notice the metal grates along the bottom of the walls. Look closely and you will see an opening exposing the smaller area beneath this floor."

Michelle bent to look. "Appears like another circular room is down there."

"That's the original level of this edifice," Guido said. "Go over to that door in the wall." He pointed across the baptistery. "You didn't notice it because it is so well hidden in the fresco." Guido walked around the stone font and pressed against the panel. A narrow door swung open. "You have to have the magic touch. Let's go down."

The narrow staircase wound in a semicircle as it dropped to the old ground level while only accommodating one person following another. Granite walls and stairs with rough edges gave the descent into the darkness an even more ominous feel. Michelle hesitantly planted her feet one after another climbing down the steps. Reaching out, she clung to the rough wall to maintain her balance.

A hint of dampness hung in the air, and it felt colder than above. The granite floor had been laid with slabs of rock set together to form triangular forms in a nondescript pattern. Smaller than the upstairs, the room remained circular. In the center stood a much smaller font. Against the back wall an ancient wooden altar emerged from the shadows. Paint had peeled and niches with scratches marred the surface.

"We are now on the original floor level of the baptistery when it was built by Constantine in the third century," Guido said. "While this church has been attacked by everything from the Vandals to earthquakes, this baptistery has prevailed. My family realized this fact long ago and decided that it would make an excellent hiding place for the original ending to Mark's Gospel. They concealed it down here."

Jack glanced at the stone walls. "In plain sight?"

"Not quite." Guido smiled. "They were too wise to simply put it out where someone might stumble onto the manuscript. It is much better concealed than simply tucking the document away."

"Where?" Michelle pressed.

"Watch," Guido said. "The altar has been rebuilt a number of times through many centuries, but because it was wooden no one took it seriously. No gold or precious frescos could be found here. When the attacks came, the marauders crashed in, but didn't stop for serious inspection. No one looked under the altar."

"I don't understand." Jack said.

"Help me move the altar" Guido answered and walked to the left side. "You get the other end and we'll swing it to one side."

Jack took hold of the side of the small altar and lifted. Carefully, they carried it around the side of the font. Guido knelt on the floor and slipped his fingers into a narrow crack in the wall. A cracking noise erupted from the wall. Slowly, a four-foot section of the wall swung forward.

"You'll have to stoop down to get inside. Remember you are the first people to walk down this tunnel in a thousand years," Guido said. "I would consider that to be an honor of the highest order."

"Indeed." Jack stared. "We would never have found this secret room."

Michelle said. "Never!"

"Let me go first," Guido said. "I will have to light the lamps that are supposed to be inside. This area was built long before anyone had a hint about electricity." He stooped low and worked his way through the small entry.

"We're about to realize one of our greatest dreams of a lifetime," Jack said. "After you, my dear."

Michelle hugged him. "By the grace of God, we have come a long, long way. Here we go." She inched her way down the tunnel.

Jack crawled in behind her. The noise of Guido flipping his lighter echoed through the stone entrance. Slowly candle-light began to flicker from different corners of the small room. The air smelled musty and stale, but the chamber didn't feel damp.

"My ancient relatives built this room behind the first rebuilding of the baptistery and constructed it carefully to preserve it's hidden character. With time, the street built up around the outside building and the new baptistery was rebuilt on a higher level, but no one touched this area down here. I have been told countless times that directly behind me is a loose stone that will slip out of the wall." He pointed to a piece of stone. "This is the moment to find out. You ready?"

"My heart's pounding like the blades on a helicopter," Jack said. "I don't think I would have noticed that piece of stone unless I was on an archaeological dig. We simply pull it out?"

"Time has probably mired the stone into the wall, but we should be able to work it loose. Let me try."

Guido began pushing and pulling on the rock, but the stone didn't move. Guido kept massaging the hunk back and forth without success.

"Got a screwdriver?" Jack asked.

"Yes. I keep one with me on excursions like this one."

"Let me try using the steel point like a wedge," Jack said. "Maybe it will help." He worked the point in between the stones and started prying.

"It's moving!" Michelle exclaimed. "Yes, it's starting to give."

"OK!" Guido said. "I think we're making progress."

Jack kept pushing the point back and forth while pulling on the bottom of the stone as it inched forward. Guido grabbed the stone and pulled it away. Dropping to one knee, he shined his small, high-intensity flashlight into the hole.

"There it is!" Guido gasped.

"What?" Jack hovered over his shoulder.

"They always told me the treasure was a flat stone box that had been sealed around the edges with pitch and gum to keep the contents from being affected by moisture. As the story was passed down from generation to generation, the details remained precisely the same. Probably back then no one realized air could be the greatest enemy, but the sealant should ensure nothing got inside." Guido reached into the dark hole to pull out the long slender container that was about a foot long. "Heavy." Guido dragged the rectangular stone object forward. "I've got to set it on the altar." He placed both hands underneath and slid the stone sarcophagus out. "Look at this! Astonishing!"

Jack stared at the roughly hewn container. "Looks like it was chiseled out of two pieces of rock that they must have hollowed out on the inside. Must have taken a considerable amount of time to cut this rock into a proper shape. Hard work." He ran his hand over the surface. "Feels like a piece of volcanic rock. That substance would have been easier to cut. I have no idea why they were afraid to share this document with the Christian community. Could be that some pope scared them to death. Probably their era was a time of attack and warfare. Maybe this seemed like the safest thing they could do. Perhaps they intended to retrieve it on a better day and never came back."

"Something like that," Guido said. "Nothing has happened in this hole for all these centuries until this moment. Let's take it outside where the light is better and see what we can find." Carefully he picked up the stone box.

"I'll get in front of you," Jack said. "You might need help in getting through the small exit then we can lay it out on the larger altar outside." He began backing into the tunnel with his hands extended to catch the container if Guido slipped.

Guido got down on his knees and inched his way forward. Michelle fell in behind him.

"Slowly," Jack said. "I've got my hands out to grab it if the container slips.

"No problem," Guido said. "We're just about out."

Jack backed into the ancient baptistery, keeping his eyes glued on the treasure. "Just about there." He straightened, but intensely watched the stone box.

Guido slowly emerged, never removing the object from his sight. Michelle came out at his heels and straightened up. Suddenly, she gasped and stiffened.

"Nice work," Dr. Albert Stein said from behind them. "We appreciate what you've accomplished for us."

Jack stumbled backward against the wall. Guido grabbed the stone object.

Klaus Burchel leveled his German-made 9 mm pistol at Jack's face. "I've been thinking about blowing your head off for a long time," he said. "If you even twitch, I'll do it right now."