Flight of the Eagles (13 page)

18

The River Road

H
e was the same as before, dressed in a gray cloak with nothing to announce his rank but his strong face. Those who were seeing Goél for the first time viewed him with awe. It was as though he embodied the assurance that people wait to experience all their lives. Goél spoke softly, but his words seemed to give safety. Everyone leaned forward a little as he spoke.

“I am Goél. That is one of my names. Later, you will learn others as we grow to know each other better.”

He looked at them, and each would later swear that Goél looked at him alone. His gaze struck so deep that he seemed to see inside the most secret place of the heart.

“I have been building a House for many years, but today—with you—the House of Goél has its beginning in Nuworld.”

“But—but …” Josh stammered. “We're nothing, Goél—just half grown!”

The strong face of Goél suddenly melted into a fine smile.

“I have chosen you, and I will strengthen you. All I ask is that you believe in me—all of you. Sleepers, Gemini, dwarfs, all people of Nuworld are invited, for you are my sheep from a strange fold. Now, who will follow Goél—to any danger?”

Without a single exception they all knelt at Goél's feet, and their lips and eyes expressed their love and willingness.

“Good! You will walk in dark places—but I will be there to be a light for you. You will never be alone. Now before I go, one word of counsel I will give.” He smiled again and added, “It is written in the prophets that 'it is the honor of kings to search out a matter.' So, here is a thing for you to search out:

“
Follow, follow the hidden way

That flows down to the sea.

Pass on through the truth, my word obey,

And come at last to me.

“Now I will leave you for a while.”

“But, Goél,” Josh said, scrambling to his feet. “What about—I mean all the old songs talk about seven Sleepers. We're only six now.”

Goél looked at the boy searchingly and said, “Be of good cheer, Joshua, and never be afraid to ask too much of me. What do you want?”

A startling thought shot into Josh's mind.
But no, not even Goél can do that. On the other hand, it's worth a try
. Now, with Goél looking right into his eyes, almost as a dare, he blurted out what he was thinking.

“I—I want Dave to be one of us!”

Goél looked at Josh, and a broad and delighted smile lit up his strong face. He placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and said softly, “I have chosen well, my Joshua. You have great faith.”

He turned and walked to Dave's body and touched the pale face lightly with his hand. He spoke softly at first. “David, you must return, for you are the servant of Goél.”

Then Goél raised his voice to a shout that seemed to crack the rocks of the ancient structure. “
Return! Return! David! I command you!
”

Stunned by the sudden call, they all looked wildly at each other. Josh saw Dave's legs move, then his hands. Next his eyes opened, and he looked directly into Goél's face.

“You are now in the House of Goél, David!”

“Yes,” Dave said strongly and sat up. “Yes, Goél.”

Goél nodded. Then he turned and walked to Sarah. Gently he put his hands on her shoulders, and Josh saw her sway under their light pressure.

Very softly, but loudly enough for all to hear, Goél said, “Daughter, your road will be lonely. Those you trust most will betray you. That which you love best will be taken from you.

“But even when all is gone, if you will embrace the fate that waits for you, and if you will not rebel against it, a door will open before you. Behind that door you will find everything you have ever longed for.”

He wheeled and looked deep into Reb's eyes. He was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke. “Your strength is your weakness, son. You will either learn to walk through deadly paths without a single weapon except your trust in Goél—or you will fail.” Goél smiled and touched Reb's arm. “Throw your sword down, and let
me
be your strength.”

Jake's lips were trembling as Goél stepped in front of him. The little redhead had never seemed afraid of anything, yet now he appeared deeply shaken past even fear.

“Son of Isaac,” Goél said to Jake, “the seed of faith is in you. There will come a dark hour when every friend and every companion will abandon hope. In that hour of total and complete darkness, the fate of Nuworld will be in your hands. If
you
do not believe at that hour, there will be none who will believe, and all will be lost.

“And you, Wash, what will you do for Goél?”

The tall figure towered over the small youth. Yet in one way or another, when Wash looked up, he must have seen in Goél's strong face something that made him feel wanted. Tears in his eyes, Wash could only shake his head.

“You will be the key, my son, to unlock the hidden mystery. In the days ahead, when others are used and you seem to have no purpose in the House of Goél, remember what I say to you. The hour will come when you will offer the key that will unlock the mystery of all destiny.”

“David,” Goél said and simply looked at Dave, who had risen to his feet. “I will not force anyone to a task that he does not choose for himself. And the task I choose for you is the most difficult of any that I will give to the Seven Sleepers.

“I do not tell you what it is, but you must agree now—blindly—to accept what comes to you. It will be more difficult than you can ever imagine. Will you accept this quest?”

“Yes!” Dave said at once. “I will accept my part—whatever it is!”

“Do not forget,” Goél bade him.

And then Goél turned once more to Josh. He put his hands on Josh's head, and Josh suddenly knelt. Goél leaned so close and spoke so softly that surely none but Josh himself could hear the words.

Suddenly his eyes opened, and he gasped, “But, Goél—” Then he looked up into the face of Goél and whispered, “Yes, I will do it.”

Goél looked at all the Sleepers and finally turned to Abbey. He did not put his hands on her as he had with the others—not at first.

Abbey looked at him searchingly. Then she looked toward Josh and the others to find the support she suddenly needed.
Finally she glanced up and said in a bare whisper, “Yes, Goél?”

He nodded with a slight smile in his warm eyes. “Daughter, you have been given much, perhaps too much. It is more difficult for those who have much. Tell me, daughter, would you give up the thing you prize most if I ask it of you?”

“Oh, yes, Goél!”

“What if I ask you for all your beauty?”

Abbey caught her breath. She had traded on her beauty for years. To lose it all—to be ugly! She probably could not conceive of such a fate, and her whole soul cried out against it. She could not speak.

“Well, what is your answer?” Goél pressed. He did not take his eyes from Abbey's face, and slowly she blushed a deep red of shame. Then her eyes fell.

“You cannot do that for me?” Goél asked quietly.

Abbey shook her head and began to sob. “Oh, I want to, but I just—can't!”

Goél looked down at the sobbing girl. Then he slipped his arm around her and lifted her up. He said gently, “I will take you where you are, Abbey, and not where I would like for you to be. But someday, I will ask you this again. When that day comes, I will have to have your final answer.”

Suddenly he raised his hands over his head and cried, “All of you are now in my House. You are the servants of Goél! Even when you look for me and see me not, even then, believe. For I will be not only in the bright sunlight, but I will be in the darkness of the storm cloud. I welcome you, my friends, into the House of Goél!”

The ringing words were almost drowned out by a sudden rushing wind that swept through the ancient structure and seemed to rock the world. The columns swayed, and a flickering light touched every face.

Then the wind calmed, and the light faded to the old silver of the moon. In the stillness came one last whisper that Josh could never locate, except that later each would think it came from his own heart. “The House of Goél must be filled. Go into all the world.”

A deep and total silence followed, washing through the old temple while they knelt in the moonlight.

“He's gone,” Sarah whispered.

“Yes, but, you know, I can still feel him,” Josh murmured. He looked at the others, trying to see if the difference he felt inside was visible to the eye. The room was the same. He could even hear faintly the activity of the Sanhedrin outside. But there was Dave, sitting quietly beside them as he had always been.

“Dave,” Sarah whispered. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. For the first time in my life I'm all right.” He touched Sarah's arm as if to reassure himself. Then he added, “It's good to be with you.”

“Well,” Mat said suddenly, “I have my reputation as a prophet of gloom to maintain, so I may as well point out that despite all that's happened, we're still in trouble.” He waved his sword toward the door. “Won't be too long before we'll have company.”

“Shoot, I reckon that's right.” Reb nodded. “We can't go on forever! Even Stonewall knew when to back off and wait for another day!”

Dave shrugged and added, “I just can't believe that Goél would leave us here without something to go on.”

Kybus suddenly quoted the last promise of Goél.

“
Follow, follow the hidden way,

That flows down to the sea.

Pass on through the truth, my word obey,

And come, at last, to me.
”

Then he stopped, and they were all silent.

Josh wondered what the words meant.

Finally Jake said, “I wish he'd said just what he meant. I
hate
riddles!”

“Maybe he did,” Josh said slowly.

“Did what?” Jake asked.

“Maybe he said exactly what he meant.”

“But where's the
road
, Josh?”

Jake shook his red head in bewilderment. “What we need is a
real
road, with rocks on it you can pick up—not some sort of ideal way.”

“Right.” Wash nodded vigorously. “Like what we are standing in need of is a genuine, guaranteed, certified, literal road that will get us out of here.”

“Listen,” Mat said suddenly. “I think they're getting ready to make another rush. And they may have us this time. Get your weapons ready!”

“Wait,” Josh said suddenly.

He held up his hand, and they all stopped their rush to the door as if they had run up against an invisible wall. “There's a time to fight, and there's a time to obey. And right now we're going to obey Goél.”

“But
how
, Josh?” Sarah asked. “We don't know what—”

“We don't have time to do anything but obey Goél,” Josh said. “Now listen. What do the words say? Never mind for now about what they mean. What do they say?”

“Well,” Reb said slowly, his face twisted in thought, “the words say there's a road.”

“Right,” Josh cried. “Now, where is it?”

“Well, we don't really know,” Jake said.

“Maybe we ain't supposed to know that,” Reb suggested.

“Nonsense,” Josh said. “The words tell us where the road is.”

“Where, Josh?” Sarah asked in bewilderment.

“The words say, 'Pass on through truth.'”

“But, Josh—” Sarah shook her head with a smile. “That's just too vague. ‘Truth'—why that could be anything.”

“Let's take it literally,” Josh said. He saw that none of them had the least idea of his meaning, so he pointed up at the wall and said, “Look!”

They all looked up, and there were the huge letters they had seen a hundred times:

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE

They all stared blankly, then Sarah suddenly smiled a brilliant smile.

“Josh, you mean that 'truth' is right
there
”

“Can't see any other way,” Josh said. “Let's look for some sort of a door or something right around that word
TRUTH
.”

“But there's two of them,” Jake said.

“We'll look at both.” Josh straightened and looked at the doors. “Hurry! I think they're coming.”

They all scurried to the wall and began to feel the apparently solid stone walls that were directly behind the word
TRUTH
. Almost at once Wash cried out, “I think I hit the jackpot!”

He pointed to a small steel lever that extended from between the cracks of stone. There was the outline of a massive door—a faint hairline crack, almost hidden by centuries of fine dust.

“Quick!” Josh urged. “They're coming!” He pushed the lever.
Silently the massive stone swung open to reveal a narrow tunnel that led down into the earth.

“Inside, right now!” Josh cried. He shoved them in like chickens, calling every name to make sure none was left. “Hunters, you first. It'll be dark inside, so you must guide us down. Volka, you next. Now you, Mat, Tam, and you, Amar and Rama—get in, now. Kybus, go along. Next, Sleepers—Dave, will you take Abbey's hand? Jake, now you. Reb, Wash, and Sarah—”

He touched them all lightly as they stepped inside, then Josh tripped the lever. Just as the massive gate began to close, he jumped inside to safety, only a second before the gate slammed in place with a conclusive thud.

“They'll never get through there!” he shouted as they began to walk downward. Even as they made their way along the passage, he thought he heard the faint, frustrated cries of the Sanhedrin, but then their babble faded to deadly silence.

Though it was completely dark, there was plenty of air. The Hunters led them carefully down the road that kept dropping more and more sharply. Finally, Josh was forced to lean backward to keep his balance. He could not judge the time, but it seemed a long while before the Hunters stopped and said something to Mat.