 
DESTINATION EDEN

by

Jim Payton

A Novel

Published by Jim Payton

Copyright 2014 Jim Payton

Smashwords Edition Licence Notes

Thank you for downloading this eBook. The eBook remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favourite authorized retailer.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For my wife Yvonne with love as always

### Table of Contents

Death

Turkey

Joan of Arc

Loneliness

Signposts

The Valley

The Return

Epilogue

The End

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DEATH

Chapter1

"Jesse Solomani. Sit down and shut up this instant"

The shrillness and volume of the voice stopped the hubbub present in the year ten classroom. It was the period before lunch on a Thursday. The voice belonged to Joe Palmer: to be precise, Joseph Zechariah Palmer, B.A., M.Sc., a science teacher at Shackelton College in Auckland, New Zealand. His directions were aimed at one of the year ten students, Jesse Solomani.

Written in bold letters on the white board at the front of the classroom, were the words: Evolution – Natural Selection.

Solomani was a quiet and studious boy who until now had worked consistently hard at achieving excellent results. His argument with Palmer had come out of left field, as far as Palmer was concerned. He, Palmer, was taking the students through the Theory of Evolution based upon the Darwinian Theory originally espoused by Charles Darwin in his book, Origin of the Species, and enlarged upon by a myriad of followers. Palmer had pointed out that life, like the earth, was billions of years old. At that stage, Solomani had held up his hand, and when Joe Palmer pointed at him, Solomani had stood and said, "You are wrong Sir".

For a moment, Palmer had been taken aback. He was not the only one. The entire classroom had fallen silent. Palmer was known to not suffer fools lightly, and for someone to tell him he was wrong was not going to bode well for that someone.

"Oh, I see," nodded Palmer. "I suppose I must bow to your superior knowledge Solomani. After all, you are what . . . 16 years old and still at College? I am 30 years of age with two degrees. Yes indeed, you really trump me.

"Where am I wrong Solomani?"

"At billions of years Sir," replied Solomani.

"Where, at billions of years Solomani?"

"Everywhere at billions of years Sir. The earth is only thousands of years old. My Dad told me that whenever I hear the words 'billions of years old' I will know a lie is being told."

"Are you calling me a liar Solomani?"

"Yes, I think I am Sir."

That was when the hubbub had started, and was when Palmer issued his directive to Solomani. Solomani sat. Palmer surveyed the class. It was a mixture of boys and girls from the middle class suburb of Mt Albert. The ethnic mix favoured the European races and the academic ability of the school tended towards the above average. Until now, Palmer had always assumed Solomani to be a follower. He was unaware of his sporting and leadership roles outside school. Solomani's questioning left Palmer puzzled.

Palmer walked up to Solomani's desk and picked up the notepad upon it. The page was headed Evolution – Natural Selection, but written below that were the words: false assumption.

"So you dare to disagree with me do you Solomani? Let me point out to you that while you may relate to the name you do not have the Wisdom of Solomon.

"Now, the examination at the end of the year will be based upon what is in the text book that is provided by the school. What is in that textbook is law, as far as Scientists worldwide are concerned.

"It is absolute nonsense, Solomani, to presume that you and your father know more than those of us who have studied science for years. What is it your father does for a job?"

"He works for Elders Sir."

"Ah, yes. Elders! So, he handles farm supplies does he?"

"Yes Sir."

"Listen to me Solomani, and listen very carefully. You, your father, your family and anyone else who believes that this planet, solar system, universe, galaxy and humankind came into being in thousands, and not millions of years are idiots. Do you understand Solomani, idiots.

"Tell me son, where does your Dad get those ideas from? The Bible?"

"Yes Sir and it's not only Dad, but the Pastor at Church and other people at Church also."

"The Bible! I might have known. A bunch of unsubstantiated stories written by some desert nomads! You know what really gets me Solomani?"

"No Sir."

"The belief that someone, three or four thousand years ago, living in a tent in the middle of a desert, could know more than we do now. That is what gets me."

"So there is no God, Sir?" one of the children in the class asked.

Joe Palmer returned to the front of the classroom. He sat with one hip on the desk and let his gaze roam over the students.

"How many of you go to Church, or have parents who go to Church?" he asked.

About six children put up their hands.

"How about Grand parents?"

Another five or six children put up their hands. Palmer nodded his head.

"The belief in a Creator God is an aged concept, or way of thinking if you like," continued Palmer. "The world now requires proof of what we believe. We humans are intelligent. We will become even more intelligent as civilization gets older. While you will find it hard to believe, we did not always have television, mobile telephones or even motor vehicles. They are the sort of thing that proves evolution. Your Grand parents, Great Grand parents and all before them, lived without electricity and many of the things that we now take for granted. As man has evolved, he has been able to understand more about science and the world around himself. As a result, he has been able to improve his lot.

"When dinosaurs roamed the earth two hundred million years ago, Solomani, man was very primitive. Not even human really. Neanderthal man, our ancestors Solomani, lived five hundred thousand years ago.

"When you get home Solomani you tell your father, from me, that he is the liar."

Spontaneously the class turned upon Jesse Solomani and commenced systematically chanting,

"Jesses' Dad's a liar. Jesses' Dad's a liar."

Joe Palmer did nothing to stop it. He watched as Solomani, tears running down his face, picked up his books and left the room.

When the students had calmed down, Palmer resumed the lesson until the lunchtime bell rang.

Chapter 2

In the staff room, Palmer made himself a cup of coffee and sat down at a table with three other teachers. He opened his lunch box and proceeded to eat his sandwiches. As he munched, he related his confrontation with Jesse Solomani. At the conclusion of it Janet Winter said:

"I have always found Jesse to be a quiet but clever boy. As a matter of fact I would be pushed to recall him ever answering back to anyone, let alone me."

"I would have to agree," nodded Peter Jones. "Most unusual! I wonder of everything is all right at home? You never know what goes on behind closed doors."

"Do you think you might have been a bit hard on him," asked Brad Dudley? "He appears to be quite a sensitive child you know."

"You can never be too hard Brad," retorted Palmer. "Once you let them get the upper hand you are done for. Anyway, at the end of the day, we teach evolution, and evolution is what they will be examined upon. Christ, what doubt is there. Pun intended. Science has proved evolution. Let us face it, did the universe and the galaxies get there as a result of The Big Bang, or did some unknown 'thing' reach out its hand and put them there? Come on now."

"There is some opposition to evolution these days Joe'" pointed out Janet Winter. "Intelligent Design, or a Young Earth, has its supporters."

"Absolute rubbish," countered Palmer. "It is you 'Goody Two Shoes' who are ruining the world. A fact is a fact. Christ, next you will be saying that Noah's flood was worldwide and not just a local event. Come on, let us be real."

Janet turned back to Peter Jones.

"You have been known to go to Church. Do you believe God made everything?"

"Well it is more Diane than me," pointed out Jones referring to his wife. "While I know there are a few die-hards who believe the Bible's every word is sacred and direct from God, I think the majority of Church-goers have a different view. Let us face it, the Bible, particularly the early books like Genesis, come from an oral tradition. You can only imagine how many mistakes were made reducing oral to written. On top of that, you have got all the copying and translations that have occurred over the years. God would have had to be a busy man, or woman, to keep correcting everybody's bias and mistakes.

"No, I think most Church-goers these days believe that the Bible was inspired by God, but that would be as close as they would go. Research indicates that most Church-goers believe in evolution and that the seven days referred to in the Genesis version of creation probably relates to a period of thousands of years, or even millions of years."

"Still rubbish," grumbled Palmer. "Show me the proof, that is what I say, show me the proof. Science is the new religion. It is something you can rely on. It has a solid foundation."

The end of lunch bell rang and the teachers washed their cups, put them back on their pegs, and headed out to do battle with their students.

Chapter 3

The following day Jesse Solomani did not appear at school. The normal procedure, if a student did not attend school, was to telephone the child's parents, but in the case of Jesse Solomani, they did not do that this time because his departure the previous day was the talk of the school. The consensus was that his parents would be keeping him at home.

At about 3 pm. a Police patrol car arrived at Shakleton College. A uniformed Sergeant and Constable went into the Administrative offices. Following a short conversation with Mr. Jackson, the Principal, Mr. Joseph Palmer was sent for. Palmer walked into Jackson's office. He found Jackson sitting behind his desk and two Policemen to one side of it.

"What's this," he asked Mr. Jackson. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't think so," reassured Mr. Jackson. "It is just that these two officers would like a word with you."

"With me?" asked Palmer turning towards the Policemen.

The Sergeant stood up.

"Mr. Palmer, I am Sergeant Johns and this is Constable Nix. We would like to have a word with you concerning Jesse Solomani."

Palmer sat down on an empty chair, and with a questioning look at his Principal said, "Of course. How can I help? He's not in any trouble is he? Like, he's such a quiet thing normally that I just cannot see him causing you people any problems."

"He is dead Mr. Palmer," said Sergeant Johns resuming his seat.

"Dead? What do you mean dead? He was here yesterday," said Palmer.

"He killed himself Sir," said Constable Nix. "Hanged himself in his parent's garage."

"Whatever for?" asked Palmer. "I mean, why? When did this happen?"

"This morning," said Constable Nix. "As far as his parents were concerned he had left for school. That was at about 7.45am. At 9am. Mr. Solomani went to get the car out of the garage and found his son hanging from a rafter."

"Oh my dear God," said Palmer feeling quite sick and faint. "Why? Do you know why? Like, did he not tell anyone? No of course not. What an idiot thing to say. You don't tell anyone when you are going to kill yourself do you?"

"He did leave a note Sir," said Sergeant Johns. "They don't always but this kid did. It's always a little sad when kids do it but they have so many pressures upon them these days. Not like in my time."

"What did the note say?" asked Palmer, "That is if you are allowed to say."

"Oh, yes we can tell you," nodded the Sergeant. "Just before that though, we understand he got a little upset over something that happened in your class yesterday afternoon. Would you care to tell us about that Sir?"

"My God, gasped Palmer, "Don't tell me he killed himself over that."

"Just tell us what happened please Sir," repeated the Sergeant.

"Well, very little Sergeant," said a shaken Joe Palmer. "We, that is, the class, were looking at evolution. I was explaining how life had evolved over millions of years from a single cell to what we have today. Solomon took exception to what I was saying and called me a liar. I pointed out certain scientific facts to him. The class agreed with me and let Solomani know it. He was obviously upset and left the class. I haven't seen him since."

"And do you think he would have been upset enough with you to kill himself?" asked Johns.

"I doubt it. He was just reiterating what he had been told by his parents and Church. We get that all the time from Church people. If anything, he was probably terrified of his father. Once he discovered the truth of evolution he would have confronted his father and was probably scared of that."

"And what was Solomani's belief that it differed from yours?" queried Nix.

"He believed something that a bunch of desert nomads believed thousands of years ago; that God made all that we are, and have, in seven days. Can you believe that in the face of all the scientific data? Let's face it, I have an M.A. and a Master of Science degree. They do not come off the back of a cereal packet. Solomani has, I'm sorry, learnt his from a discredited book and a labourer father."

"Have you ever met Mr. Solomani?" asked Nix.

"Not so as to become involved in a conversation," replied Palmer. "I know the type though. All black and white. No grey. Bigoted."

"From personal experience I take it?" queried Nix.

"How very perceptive of you Mr. Nix," acknowledged Palmer. "Yes, from personal experience. I was brought up in such an atmosphere; an overbearing father, a submissive mother, Church, Church and more Church. Do not think. Do, do, and do. It was not until I was at university that I was able to expand my mind, and realise my possibilities. Indeed, Mr. Nix, from personal experience."

"And you don't believe your 'correction' of Jesse Solomani would have upset him enough for him to take his own life?"

"I doubt it. Even if it did then it is no fault of mine. I would place any external blame fairly and squarely upon the father. Solomani was a bright boy and his bigoted father would probably rather a dead child than one he would consider a blasphemer."

"Did you ever feel, as a child, that suicide would have been a way out of your father's dominance?" asked Johns.

"Never," stated Palmer. "Never crossed my mind." He stood up. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have students to attend too. Good day Gentlemen."

"Do you no longer want to know what young Solomani's note said?" asked Sergeant Johns.

Palmer sat down.

"I had forgotten I'm sorry. Of course. It had slipped my mind, what with the shock of the suicide and what I can only take as questions from you suggesting that I was somehow to blame."

Sergeant Johns turned to his Constable and nodded. Nix opened his notebook and commenced reading, glancing up at Palmer from time to time.

"The note said; 'Don't worry Mum and Dad, I love you both. I am sorry to upset you but I need to go to our Lord. Mr. Palmer is wrong. I will know this by the time you find me. Pray for him, and my heavenly father and I will touch him. Love you heaps, Jess.'"

A silence stretched out as Nix closed his notebook. Palmer's face lost all colour.

"I see," he eventually said, "If that is all, then good day once again."

He stood up and left the room.

Chapter 4

By the time Janet Winter got to the cemetery, the coffin was already on the strops and partly lowered into the grave. The pile of earth to cover the coffin was discreetly off to one side, and the edges of the grave covered with green faux grass.

The Church service had been held in a Samoan Church. The majority of it had been spoken in the Samoan language. Out of courtesy, a brief outline of what was being said showed in English on a large screen. Most Samoans retained a strong religious faith, even after they had left their home islands and settled in New Zealand. Their singing came close to lifting the roof off the Church building. It was an impressive building. While not the size of American Football Stadium Mega Churches, it could hold up to 400 people once the various sliding walls were open. Even so, the numbers attending Jesse Solomon's funeral were so large, the service had to be broadcast on speakers and a screen, outside the building. In contrast to the mostly casual clothes worn by those of European descent, the Samoans were in their 'Sunday best' dressed in mainly white.

There were many tears. The eulogies and stories were many and often long. Samoans had adapted many European church habits, and now celebrated the deceased's life. While not able to understand much of what was being said, Janet was left in no doubt what a valued member of the Church and the Samoan community Jesse had been; from Sunday school teacher to Bible class leader to sport and community service, he had been an enthusiastic, although quiet, member. He had lead by example rather than word.

Janet had sat at the Church with those teachers attending from Shakleton College: The Principal, Vice Principal, and others who had taught or interacted with Jesse. Also in attendance were various dignitaries', Police, and sporting heroes. It appeared to Janet that outside school Jesse had been regarded as a great leader with an almost God like status. There was no doubt that he had been intended as a future leader in the Samoan community, if not New Zealand and the world. His selflessness was legendary. It appeared that while Jesse's Dad worked in what some would regard as a lowly occupation, he was a Matai, or of the Chiefly class.

In contrast to the European tradition, Jesse's death by suicide was openly discussed. The many people mentioning it emphasized that while Jesse knew that he was loved, for just a short moment of time things had so overwhelmed him that he had been unable to see that love. It was made plain that neither the Solomani family nor the Samoan community blamed anyone for Jesse's death. Equally clear, from the European community, was that some one was to blame. Janet had looked round to see if Palmer was present. She had not seen him at the Church but did notice his car parked some distance away when she headed for the cemetery. She presumed he had attended.

As Jesse had died on a Friday, there had been a bit of time for the news to circulate amongst the college community over the weekend. At the Monday morning assembly, the Principal had broken the news to those who had not heard, and made counselling available for those finding it hard to understand Jesse's death. Palmer had appeared unaffected by the whole matter and carried on as usual. Whether that was an act or not, nobody knew. At breaks and lunchtimes, Palmer sat alone. Janet had attempted to befriend Palmer, but he had made it clear that he did not need, or want, her misguided 'Goody, goody two shoes' presence.

Janet pulled her mind back to the present where the Minister had picked up a handful of dirt and was dribbling it onto the coffin. Although spoken in Samoan, Janet understood 'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust'. She went forward and joined the queue dropping roses onto the coffin.

Janet next went to the Solomani family and hugged them. "I am so sorry for your loss," said Janet. "I cannot begin to imagine your hurt. I know it sounds trite, but if there is anything I can do, please do ask."

"Thank you Mrs. Janet," responded Mr. Solomani. "You were a favourite of Jesse's. Our faith helps us."

"It's Miss actually," corrected Janet.

"Oh you poor thing," said Mrs. Solomani. "You a nice looking girl. You want me to find a nice man for you? You need a man."

"Oh that's all right Mrs. Solomani," smiled Janet. "I survive."

"You call me Millie."

"Okay, Millie it is."

Janet walked back to her car thinking how marvelously the Solomani's' worked their Christian faith.

If only," she thought, "Europeans could do the same."

Chapter 5

Life carried on the way it does. Seconds grew into minutes, which grew into hours, which grew into days. Jesse became a memory that faded from most peoples minds. The school routine soon drew Janet back into its grip. From time to time, she visited the Solomani family. They seemed to have recovered. Whenever Jesse was mentioned, they were adamant that he was in heaven. In due course, Mrs. Solomani became pregnant again and although the baby was a girl, the Solomani family accepted her as God's replacement for Jesse. Jesse's photograph still stayed at the centre of the mantle piece.

Occasionally Janet would visit Jesse's grave. There were always fresh flowers on it.

At school, Palmer had become a sad figure. He refused to acknowledge any part in what people referred to as 'the Solomani affair'. He continued to sit alone at morning and afternoon tea breaks and during lunch. Various staff members, including Janet, had tried to draw him back into the fold, but those efforts were rejected. His teaching carried on, and was effective, but pupils did not look forward to his classes.

A year after Jesse's death, his unveiling was announced in the local free Community newspaper. Janet was only vaguely aware of what an unveiling consisted of. She knew it was a custom followed by Maori, and increasingly being followed by others. As she understood it, a year after the burial a ceremony was held to reveal, or unveil, the deceased's headstone. She did wonder if in some way it actually harked back to the days of Jesus and the Jew's burial practices. In those days, a year after burial the flesh would have parted from the bones. The bones were then cleaned and placed in an ossuary, which was sealed and named.

In Jesse's case, there was a brief ceremony of remembrance at the gravesite on a Saturday morning, and then every one returned to the Church for a meal in the Church hall. Janet found the whole thing quite moving. It was interesting to see how every one had 'moved on' from the death.

On her way home from the meal, Janet did a bit of grocery shopping and then went into the café associated with the supermarket. She prepared to do battle with a Chelsea bun and a large mug of hot chocolate. Although she had eaten at the unveiling, she felt the need for a little extra comfort. Her mind drifted. She was jerked back into the present by a voice.

"I beg your pardon," she said. "I'm afraid I was miles away."

"I'm sorry to intrude," said the voice. "I saw you at Jesse's unveiling and I wondered if you would like some company."

Janet saw the voice came from a ruggedly handsome older man. She could vaguely recall seeing him at the Church. She smiled at him.

"That would be nice," she agreed. He sat himself down opposite her.

"Ah," he said. "Comfort food." Janet looked at him quizzically. "Hot chocolate and buns." Janet gave a laugh.

"Good for the soul," she said.

"Ah, yes, the soul," he said. "However Miss Winter, I am forgetting my manners. My name is Prentice, Jude Prentice."

Janet reached across and shook his hand. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

"Oh, one of the family pointed you out to me as having been Jesse's teacher."

"And you are a friend of the family?"

"Yes indeed," agreed Prentice. "Forever actually."

"Jude is a bit of an old fashioned name for a male," pointed out Janet.

"Yes," said Prentice. "Biblical actually."

Janet nodded. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you a local?"

Prentice gave a smile.

"No," he said. "I travel a lot and really only return home to pick my next assignment. I am a messenger really."

"I see," commented Janet.

"He was a nice boy from a great family," said Prentice. "He had a great future in front of him. Great things were expected of him."

"Yes," agreed Janet. "From what I have heard, and seen, Jesse would have been an inspirational leader for his people. Certainly, I find suicide to be such a strange way of escaping. I have often thought of it as selfish and cowardly. The hurt and harm it does to those left behind is always so tragic. At least this time there was a reason.

"Are you a religious man Mr. Prentice?"

"Please call me Jude. I believe I am."

"So do you believe suicide is a sin?"

"No I don't. Do you?"

"I have always thought so. I thought that in the past, if you committed suicide, you were not allowed to be buried in a Church cemetery so it must have been wrong, or a sin."

"I think you will find that suicide is not condemned in the bible. The sixth commandment states 'Thou shalt not kill' and it was from that the anti-suicide bit came to be. There are references to the sacredness of our bodies also. What we need to understand today is the gift of grace and God's plan for each of us. There is great mystery there."

"Are you saying God approved of Jesse's death?"

"What I am saying is that God has a plan."

"A plan that includes such pain and suffering?"

"God did not introduce sin into the world Janet. That is another matter however. What I am saying is that God's ways are not our ways; his thoughts are not our thoughts. You remember that from the bible?"

"But . . ."

"No buts. That is the way it is. God has a plan."

"You sound like Colonel whatever-his-name-is from the A-Team television show."

"That was, 'I love it when a plan comes together.'"

"Whatever."

"Ah, Janet, I may call you Janet?" asked Prentice, raising an eyebrow and receiving a nodded response. "You use the current generation's idioms so well."

This time it was Janet's turn to raise her eyebrows.

"The 'whatever'", replied Prentice. They both smiled.

"You say you have known Jesse's family for sometime," said Janet.

"As I said, forever," nodded Prentice.

"Then how do you think they are handling this disaster?"

"Better than most," replied Prentice. "They have a faith and belief that will hold them in great stead. They will survive and it is possible their faith will become stronger."

"I hope so," said Janet.

"And what about you Janet?" asked Prentice.

"What about me?"

"Will you cope? Where do you see yourself headed?"

"I'll cope because as they say, 'time is the great healer'. While Jesse's name comes up occasionally at school, it's like he has already been forgotten. Even I find myself not recalling him as often as I once did."

"And do you see yourself continuing to teach?"

"It is what I do best."

"Yes, so I hear. Actually I hear great things about you."

Janet blushed.

"That is enough of me Mr. Prentice. What about you? You said you known Jesse and his family. How and where?"

"It is a little hard to explain actually," said Prentice. "I suppose the best I could do by way of explanation would be to say that I care deeply for them. I have known them all since their births and keep a benevolent eye upon them."

"I see," said Janet, not seeing at all.

"I understand you are a Christian Janet," said Prentice changing the subject back to her.

"Where did you get that understanding?" asked Janet. "That's a bit personal isn't it?"

"The Solomanis said you were."

"I don't know how they would know."

"Probably by the way you act, live and talk," replied Prentice. "However, if discussion of your faith upsets you then we'll forget it. I had no intention of upsetting you in any way."

"I am sorry also," responded Janet. "I know that when something like this comes up it is an opportunity for me to spread the good news, but I seem to lack the courage to do it. My religion is private to me although I do try to show it through the way I live and what I do.'

"Again," said Prentice. "I do not wish to offend you in any way. I also often have difficulty explaining myself. I am also a believer. Without wishing to alarm you, I have to say that I have been following your progress for some time. Now, don't be afraid. You could probably best understand by considering me as your guardian angel. As I said earlier, I am a messenger and I have been asked to give you a message."

Janet interrupted. "I am sorry Mr. Prentice," she said gathering up her handbag and grocery parcels. "There seems to have been some type of misunderstanding here. I have to go."

"Please Janet," soothed Prentice. "Just listen for a second please. You do not have to say anything. Just listen and I will be on my way."

"You have a minute," said Janet getting to her feet.

"Thank you," acknowledged Prentice. "As I said, I have a message. That message is in the form of a request. It is that you give the good news to Joseph Palmer. As you well know, he is a difficult man. An arrogant man! We have considered Mr. Palmer for some time and have decided that the best way to approach him is by challenging him. Your task is to challenge his scientific belief that evolution is correct.

"We are telling you that evolution is not correct. Once confronted with proof that he is wrong, we have great confidence that he will see the error of his ways and become a great asset to the cause.

"That, Janet, is your task. We will help all we can. Just ask."

With that, Jude Prentice left the table and walked out of the café leaving Janet standing at the table clutching her handbag and grocery shopping.

Chapter 6

One of the staff came and collected Janet's mug and plate while she continued to stand at the table. Janet automatically smiled her thanks, but her mind swirled with questions. What, where, when and how? She left the table and walked to her car. Before starting it, she sat trying to control a mind that seemed to be in overdrive. An almost euphoric feeling had her in its grip. Tears started to well in her eyes and then run down her cheeks. With great will power, she brought herself to the here and now and managed to drive back to her home.

Janet lived in the area between Ponsonby and Western Springs, known as Grey Lynn. She had inherited a reasonable sum of money when her Mum and Dad had died in a car accident. It had enabled her to purchase a house that she turned into a home. At one stage, the area had been pretty rough, but urban renewal had swept across Grey Lynn. Fortunately it had left some quiet little cul-de sacs, with solid villas, alone. Wisteria entwined the veranda. A hedge ran along the inside of the front picket fence. The garage sat at the end of the straight drive down one side of the house. There were sash type windows on both sides of a solid front door with a stained glass top panel depicting a flower.

Janet opened the driveway gate, drove the car down beside the house, and stopped in front of the garage. She automatically walked back and closed the front gate. If left open, dogs seemed to enjoy her back yard and leave deposits for her. Again, automatically, she took her mail from the letterbox and absent-mindedly glanced through it as she walked to the back door. The back door access was via a deck that the previous owner had built. With trellis and pot plants, it made an ideal spot for a barbeque or quiet contemplative time with a cup of tea. To the right of the back door was the washhouse, a nod to earlier times when washing involved copper boilers, and not automatic machines situated in an internally accessed garage. Janet unlocked the door and punched in the code for her burglar alarm. A passage ran directly from the back door to the front door. Janet often wondered what her mother would have thought of that. With Gypsy blood direct from Romania in her, she would have been horrified with such a set up. Such, according to her, would have allowed good fortune to go straight through the house without stopping. Consequently, anyone coming through either door would have been made to sit down in one of the rooms off the passage to ensure the leaving of some good luck or fortune behind. At least such a belief ensured some hospitality.

Janet returned to the car and carried her groceries inside. She emptied the bags and put her purchases away where they belonged. She then made a cup of tea and sat outside on her deck as she contemplated what had happened with Jude Prentice.

The setting was peaceful. Janet was not a great gardener so all she had done was maintain what had been present when she arrived. Clearly, the previous owner had known a thing or two about landscaping, and a beautiful lawn was interspersed with fruit trees, flower plots, and a small vegetable garden. Specimen trees and bushes called out for acknowledgement. While it could have been a busy garden, skill had made it a garden of tranquility.

Janet was a practical type of woman. At thirty years of age, she realised that spinsterhood was beckoning. While she was not averse to the idea of marriage and children, she had just never found a male with whom she connected. She had dated through college and over the years had her fair number of occasions where she had to struggle to retain her virginity, a struggle she later gave up. She realised that not only the students, but also many of her peers believed her to be 'on the shelf'. As a result, there was a hole in her heart that she longed to fill, but the shape of that hole had never been matched by another.

Turning to consideration of Jude Prentice, she acknowledged that she found him pleasant and warm. He had displayed manners and a humility that she found endearing. Men no longer displayed those characteristics. She realised that he had revealed little of himself, but seemed to know quite a bit about her. Then, out of the blue, it seemed to her, he had raised the question of her Christianity. Not only that, it appeared he had wanted her to make Joe Palmer a Christian. The thought actually filled her with horror. She believed her Christianity was a private matter. It was something that she acknowledged to herself and those who attended her church, or presented themselves as Christians or with Christian beliefs. On top of that, she did not like Palmer. She interacted with him on a social level, but since his involvement with Jesse's death, she had mainly kept her distance. As if that was not enough, Prentice had suggested she 'attack' him by challenging his stand on evolution. She was no scientist, and anyway, she 'sort of' believed that evolution and creation were pretty much one and the same.

"Oh dear," said Janet aloud. "I do appear to have got myself into quite a pickle." She smiled to think of Laurel and Hardy, or was it Abbott and Costello, who used that expression. The smile went as she returned her thoughts to Prentice. Why had he sought her out? Janet went inside and picked up the telephone. She dialed the Solomon's number and spoke with Mr. Solomani.

"Mr. Solomani, this is Janet Winter. I am sorry to intrude but I have just had an interesting talk with a Mr. Prentice, Jude Prentice. He said that he had been a friend of your family for some time."

"Ah," said Mr. Solomani. "Mr. Prentice. Yes, he is a friend. I did not see him at the Church, but then there were so many people."

"I am sorry to ask, but do you have an address or telephone number for him? I would like to speak with him some more."

"I am sorry Miss Janet, but no. He just turns up from time to time. He always has ever since Millie and I got together. He is a messenger for some big company but we have never known which. Usually he turns up when we have a celebration or something goes wrong. He is like a guardian angel according to Millie. Because he travels a lot, he does not have a permanent contact address or telephone number.

"Again, Miss Janet, thank you for coming today. I am sorry but I must go. A lot of people are still here."

"Yes, I understand," replied Janet. "Sorry to have bothered you."

"No problem Miss Janet," said Mr. Solomani as he disconnected.

Chapter 7

As Janet prepared for Church the next morning, she found her thoughts turning, once again, to Prentice. Her sleep had been restless and she had tossed and turned. It was not often that she recalled her dreams but this time they had been so vivid that they were still in her mind. There had been angels fighting dragons and people reading biblical scrolls while dinosaurs walked by. She had not been able to make sense of them, and still could not.

Janet attended her local Presbyterian Church: St. David's. The Minister was Peter Murfitt, a pleasant middle-aged man who was married to Denise, and they had three children. Two of the children were at University but a teen-age boy had rebelled and now spent a considerable amount of time with the Police explaining how what had occurred had nothing to do with him, and he did not know where the drugs in his possession had come from.

Janet sat where she always sat, third row from the front, left hand side. While some considerable effort had recently gone into making children welcome, the service still basically consisted of five hymns and a twenty to thirty minute sermon. Today's sermon was on the prodigal son. Janet still felt sorry for the son who had stayed home. After the service, Janet way laid the Minister. They adjourned to his office with a cup of tea each and some biscuits.

"What can I do for you Janet?" asked Peter.

"I always feel some what sorry for the son left to do all the work while the other one lived the high life and wasted all the money," said Janet.

"Yes indeed," said Peter. "But that is Our Lord's way. Jealousy can lead to terrible things. Love is never jealous.

"Still, I am sure you did not want to see me to critique my sermon. What's on your mind?"

"Several things actually Peter. I must admit I am a bit embarrassed by the questions but let's see where they go shall we?"

"Do we need some one else present Janet or are they not that sort of embarrassing?"

"Oh dear me no. Not that sort at all." Janet laughed. "Two things first. Do you believe we have guardian angels, and really a question prior to that, have you ever seen an angel?"

Peter Murfitt raised his eyebrows.

"I just want you to be honest Peter, please," said Janet. "If you'll bear with me, we will get to where I am going."

"Well," said Peter nodding. "I am not sure that a guardian angel is biblical. Have I seen an angel? Probably. Remember that there are a number of occasions in the Bible where angels appear as normal human beings. If you want, I can give you chapter and verse. Some people I have dealt with I am sure were messengers, others may have been. Has any one said to me, 'I am an angel of The Lord' or appeared dressed in white with wings, no."

"How about creation?" asked Janet. "Which is true; evolution or creation, or is creation evolution?"

"You can get into some deep stuff going down the Genesis track Janet."

Janet nodded. "I know, but I am not going to criticize either way."

"My personal point of view is creation Janet. I tend, in many ways, to be somewhat old fashioned, but there you are. The Church, over history, has always believed the Bible to be the inerrant word of God. If we, The Church, are to be true to our heritage and beliefs, we have to accept everything as written in the Bible. As such, I accept that God made the earth and universe in seven literal days. I know that scientists generally disagree but there are now many scientists questioning millions of years dating and finding thousands of years to be a better fit.

"Creation is a bit of a 'soap box' matter of mine so perhaps I had better leave it there unless you want to be here for some weeks.

"Does that help?"

Janet then went on to explain her meeting with Jude Prentice and his challenge to her. She ended up with, "What do you think of that?"

Peter was silent for some time before speaking.

"I believe Prentice was probably an angel Janet. I truly do. What he asks you to do is a great honour, and I would have to say, a monumental challenge."

"But I know little about evolution and creation," protested Janet. "Not only am I expected to change a scientist's point of view; I am also expected to make him a Christian."

Peter chuckled. "It is an Old Testament challenge Janet. As an avid reader of the Old Testament, you will recall that most people asked by God to do certain things believed themselves incapable of doing them. Many ran away but God was persistent and eventually they did what God wanted, to His glory.

"Frankly, Janet, I think this challenge is absolutely amazing. I believe God has given you an assignment. You have been deliberately chosen by God to do something specific. I, and most Church leaders, feel called by God to spread his good news, but Janet, in your case you haven't had a voice in your head, or some set of circumstances showing you the way, you have actually been visited by an angel of God giving you specific instructions. Obviously, you are overwhelmed, but God would never give you a task that was beyond you. You will find mighty powers at your disposal. This is fantastic."

"Please don't tell any one," pleaded Janet. "I need time to think this whole thing through."

"Of course, of course," said Peter calming himself down. "Take it slowly Janet. It will be, is, overwhelming. Think and listen. You will find yourself guided. Keep me in the loop if you would. I would love to help you all that I can. Honestly, Janet, this is a major thing. This is God. Millions of people would give their lives to be chosen by God to do something so specific.

"Mind you, many are chosen but most miss the opportunity."

Janet stood up. "Thank you Peter," she said. "I won't say you have made things clearer, or easier, but I accept your offer to keep you in the loop. Clearly I have a great deal of thinking to do but I would again please ask that you keep this between you and me at this stage."

Peter also stood, and walked with Janet to the front door of the Church. "Keep a diary Janet," he urged." No matter how small an incident is, note it down. You will see a pattern, and a leading. God bless you."

Chapter 8

Janet slowly made her way home. Her mind was in a whirl of emotion. At one moment she felt like leaping into the air with joy, and in the next she was plunged into self-doubt and wondering how she could do what appeared to be required of her.

At home, Janet made a cup of tea and took it out into her back yard. She sat at a table and as she sipped, she let her mind freewheel. It covered events past and present. She recalled things from her childhood. Swimming in the river on her parents' farm with her brother and sisters. The fun of making hay and the inter-action it brought with neighbours. She remembered Bible class youth camps at Easter and during the Christmas holidays. Queen's birthday weekends spent in the caravan at Auntie Bet's and Uncle Harrys in Napier. Friday nights at the Cosy picture theatre, longing to be in the back seats where it appeared a lot of kissing and cuddling and other things went on. Later it had been University and Teachers Training College in Wellington. Church had taken a back seat for a number of years as a 'good time' took precedence. Eventually she had lost her virginity to an unknown boy she had met while too drunk to realise what she was doing. Not only had she lost her virginity, she found herself pregnant. She could remember her Dad's words when she left home; 'Don't you push a pram before your time'. Devastated, and ashamed, she had struggled to find someone she could confide in. There was the possibility of tracking down the father but she was too embarrassed to go down that road. Fellow students suggested she 'got rid of it'. Knowing that she had let down her parents was a major point; along with the embarrassment she could foresee when her pregnancy became apparent. Afraid to confide in any authority figure at Training College, she sought out a Doctor in the Wellington suburbs. While counselling was a legal requirement prior to an abortion, or termination as 'they' called it, in reality it amounted to a woman asking whether or not you really wanted one or not. Within a week, it was all over. Janet found the whole episode extremely embarrassing but was glad when it was over. She had not felt a great sense of guilt. It was more one of relief. It was only years later when she returned to the Church that any real sense of guilt surfaced. The Church she had started attending harped on about abortions. From her personal point of view, it seemed an awful lot of men were against it with the women being blamed. She had often wanted to stand up and say, 'What about the males involved', but never did. She had long ago accepted that God had forgiven her. She still wondered how many women were turned away from a forgiving God, by Churches pushing the 'guilt trip', instead of God's mercy, love and forgiveness.

She had dated, and still did on occasions. She had convinced herself that if Mr. Right came along then she would marry, but if he did not, then that would be okay as well.

Her mind found itself back with Jude Prentice. He appeared to be everything she would want in a man. He had been charming, courteous, well spoken, well dressed, and while of average appearance, his demeanour was compelling. From there, her mind went to his request. Several questions faced her along the lines of; was he from God, was she able to confront Palmer, could she 'convert' any non-believer let alone Palmer and could she find anything to convince a scientist that evolution was wrong.

At that point, Janet became aware of the buzzing of a bumblebee. She watched as the fat furry bee landed on a flower and sought out the centre of it. After a bit of wriggling and turning around a few times, it lifted off and flew to the next flower. For the next few minutes, Janet became absorbed in the amazing hovering and flying abilities of the bumblebee. She had never really taken much notice of people who said proof of creation was everywhere. Trees, the grass, wind; all drew her attention. How, she wondered, could all of those come from rocks or primordial slime? She did not doubt for a moment, that if God wanted to turn a rock into an elephant he could, but why would he want to when he could just make an elephant?

Chapter 9

Over the next few weeks, Janet went about her normal duties. Prentice, and his requests, were never far from her mind but she would push them away with the thought of attending to them at some time in the future.

A month later, as Janet drove along the Northern motorway, a bumblebee smashed itself against her windscreen. It clicked her mind back to the bee in her garden, and the wonder of creation. She again pushed it to the back of her mind. The next Sunday the Old Testament reading at church was from the first chapter of Genesis. Janet's conscience gave her a bit of a nudge, but the sermon was on the New Testament reading so Genesis did not make it back into her mind. Back home after Church, she opened her Sunday paper to be confronted with an article from a scientist saying he had found a rock that proved evolution. He then went into a rant about 'bible bashing creationists.' A couple of days later Janet thought she saw Jude Prentice, but then lost him in the crowd.

That night Janet dreamed she was in a land inhabited by dinosaurs. They were of no danger to her and just accepted her and let her get on with whatever she was doing. The people with her did not speak a language that she understood and they were physically bigger than she was. When she awoke, she could clearly remember the dream and felt relaxed and refreshed.

When she finished school teaching that day, she returned home and sat down in her home office, or study, as some would call it. She placed two bibles in front of her: a King James Version and Today's English Version of the Good News Bible. Verse five of King James's Genesis leapt off the page at her. In it, God created night and day. Later she read that God rested on the seventh day and blessed it. It also said that lights were put in the sky to separate the day from the night and for them to be signs for days, years, and seasons. The Good News said the same thing but differently. The thing that her mind seized upon was that God created days and nights, which were signalled by the sun and moon. To her that clearly meant God made everything in six literal days unless the length of days had somehow changed.

"Oh my goodness," said Janet. "What have I got myself into?"

She turned to her computer and entered 'Evolution' into her search engine. It showed 155 million results. She then entered 'Creation' for 151 million results, 'Young Earth' for 72 million results and 'Intelligent Design' for 8.5 million results. For a moment, she sat quietly. She then lifted her eyes up to the corner of her study and said, "Okay God, I give up. I'll do what you want me to do. I don't know how I am going to do it, but I will. I trust you to show and guide me. I put myself into your hands. I am yours. Amen."

Janet felt a great warmth surround her, and a feeling of love the like of which she had never felt before. That night she slept deeply and awoke refreshed. She jumped out of bed and said aloud, "Okay God, here I am. Show me the way."

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred to her that day or the next few days. Each day she prayed for guidance and help but nothing happened. A big fat nothing!

Gradually Janet became despondent. She felt that clearly she was doing something wrong. She could not, however, figure out what. While she continued to pray, she also commenced reading the bible twice a day. If she did not have time to do the morning reading before she left for school, she would do it during her lunchtime. A couple of times she caught Joe Palmer watching her. Eventually it must have proved too much for Palmer. Three weeks after Janet had prayed to God and said she would do what he wanted; Palmer came and stood beside her. She looked up.

"May I sit with you?" he asked.

Janet closed her bible, put it into her bag, and pulled her mug closer to make room for him.

"By all means," smiled Janet. "Long time no talk."

Palmer nodded.

"Can I help?" asked Janet.

"I think it is more about me helping you," responded Palmer.

"How's that?" queried Janet.

"This is slightly awkward," said Palmer hesitantly.

"Let me help," said Janet. "My Bible offends you."

Palmer laughed. "By no means," he said. "What offends me is that a person as bright and clever as you are, allows yourself to be taken in by what it says."

"Thank you for the compliment Joe, about my being bright and clever. Even you, though, would have to agree that our entire civilization is based upon Christian ideals."

"For many centuries, yes, but while some of the ideals are indeed good for us, the idea that when you die you go to a place somewhere above the clouds is a bit too hard to swallow. I think that if you removed yourself from ancient unproven beliefs you could do an awful lot of good in the world. You are a caring and gentle person with leadership skills that are going to waste."

"I take it Joe, that by your comments you wouldn't go along with Intelligent Design, with God being the intelligent designer of earth."

"You take it right. You see you are following things written from an oral tradition. Life has moved on from that."

"Maybe by some," responded Janet wondering where her words were coming from. "But regardless, I find it difficult to believe you and I have a hunk of rock, or slime, as our great, great, plus a few more greats, ancestor."

"Real life science shows different though Janet."

"To a degree, maybe Joe, but there is a lot of doubt being expressed now by an increasing number of scientists."

"Pseudo-scientists," interrupted Joe.

"No Joe," said Janet. "Real life PhD scientists in geology and biology."

"They cannot prove what they are saying though Janet," pointed out Palmer. "It is all theory."

"Come on Joe, so is most of your science. As a matter of fact, all of your science is based upon flawed assumptions and circular arguments."

Joe threw up his hands. "I knew I should have kept my mouth shut," he said. "I was only trying to give you a bit of a helping hand."

Suddenly Janet was filled with a wonderful warm, almost euphoric, feeling. Without thinking, she leaned across the table and said, "Tell you what Joe, I am going to prove major holes in your evolutionary beliefs. Not only that, I am going to do it publicly. How many holes do I have to provide for you to change your mind?"

Palmer stood up. "One would do me Miss Winter."

"How long do you give me?"

"You can have eternity as far as I am concerned," retorted Palmer. "But, since it is to be done in public, let us meet right here in one years time."

"Accepted," said Janet standing up. "Shake on it."

With a brief handshake, they both left the room.

That evening Janet sat wondering what had made her react the way she had. She then recalled the feeling she had experienced just before her mouth had landed her in so much trouble. It had been the same feeling she had experienced when she told God that she would do what he wanted. Again, she lifted up her eyes to the corner she had looked at last time, longing for that feeling to return. It did not return. She sat, and she prayed. She read portions of the Bible and walked around inside her house. She sang hymns, emptied her mind, sat down, and prayed again. Nothing happened. No warm feeling enveloped her. Instead, she experienced feelings of loneliness, desertion and abandonment. On top of that, she now saw herself faced with a challenge that, to her, now appeared insurmountable. Finally, she went out into her backyard and walked to where she had watched the bumblebee with the flowers.

"Okay God," she said. "If you aren't going to help then I guess I'll have to do it myself. I do wonder why you have given me this job and then headed off elsewhere, but there you are."

Chapter 10

The next day Janet made an appointment to speak with the school Principal. She explained she had an assignment she wished to undertake that would require a lengthy leave of absence. After some gentle probing, the Principal elicited the full story from her.

"I know Joe can be pretty abrupt and somewhat cantankerous Janet," said the Principal, Alistair Jackson. "He is bright and dedicated though. Do you think you could perhaps smooth things over and forget it?"

"Not really Ally," replied Janet. "I have actually given more thought to this than I have a lot of things. There is a feeling in me that it is something I have to do. Yes, I may end up with egg on my face, but so be it."

"I will be sorry to see you leave Janet. You are a real star in this school. No, I mean it! Perhaps the best way round this would be for you to take a leave of absence, or sabbatical, for a year. If you go that way we could hold an opening for you."

"That would be lovely Ally. There are only a couple of weeks left in this term, so what say I leave then? A new teacher will then get a clean start at the beginning of the new term. Would that be okay?"

The next two weeks moved quickly for Janet. She spent some time trying to work out where she would start, and how to go about proving creation and disproving evolution. She headed up an A4 page with the word Evolution. Below it, she wrote Dictionary, and below that another heading: Evolve, (1) to develop or cause to develop gradually (2) undergo slow changes in process of growth. Under that she wrote the heading Evolution, (1) evolving (2) development of species from earlier forms.

On a separate A4 sheet, she wrote Creation. Below that, she wrote Dictionary, and below that the heading: Create, (1) bring into being (2) give rise to (3) make.

Janet could immediately see how confusing the whole thing could be. In its simplest terms, you could say that from earliest times, humans believed they had been created by God or Gods. At the time there appeared to be no actual way of proving or disproving that belief. Then along came various clever people whose interpretation of nature and the environment differed from that. It had eventually become a 'them and us' situation, which never helped anyone.

Janet turned to her computer. She researched numerous articles for and against evolution and creation. Again, it came down to two things: a young earth or an old earth. One interesting thing was that there appeared to be central ground occupied by scholars from each side who believed some of their assumptions and theories were flawed. Janet knew she was up against serious intellectual powers on both sides. She knew it would be hard for her to argue with PhD's and people who had 'been there, done that and had the tee shirt'.

"Right," said Janet sitting down with another cup of tea and talking aloud to herself. "How can I attack this? As a layperson, what would convince me that evolution is correct? The only way would be if some 'primeval soup' or DNA 'stuff' was found in the body or being of all current and extinct life forms upon the earth, under the sea or in the air. Okay, so, again as a layperson, what would convince me that creation is correct?

"The only thing, I guess, would be to find the Garden of Eden, or maybe stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them, or Noah's ark. Yes, I reckon the Garden of Eden could do it."

A knock on her front door interrupted the self-talking. She opened it to find a young Samoan man standing on her porch. Well, she assumed him to be an adult, but some of the Samoan children she knew from school looked in their twenties while young teenagers.

"Can I help you?" asked Janet.

"Please Mrs. Janet can I talk with you? I am a friend of Jesse's. My name is Eti, Eti Solomon."

"Of course Eti," said Janet opening the door wider. "Come on in. It's just Janet by the way. I am not married."

"No Mrs. Janet," said Eti standing awkwardly in the passage twisting his beanie.

"Would you like a cup of tea Eti?"

"No thanks Mrs. Perhaps water," he answered.

Janet filled a glass with filtered water and on the way through to the lounge found Eti still twisting his beanie in the passage.

"Through here Eti."

Eti followed Janet through into the lounge and sat down behind the coffee table upon which Janet had placed the glass of water with a coaster beneath it.

"Do I know you Eti? Have you been at Shackleton?"

"No Mrs. I have just come back from Wellington."

"And what are doing down there Eti?"

"I was at Victoria doing my degree Mrs."

"What discipline?"

"Science Mrs. Majoring in geology but with more than adequate biology thrown in."

"How old are you Eti?"

"Twenty-six Mrs.

"Impossible, you only look eighteen at the most."

Eti's face split with a huge grin. "I wish Mrs."

"So, Eti, how come you know Jesse?" asked Janet.

"I taught him at Sunday School and Bible Class before I had to go to Vic. I suppose you could say that I took him under my wing. He was a really great kid. I only wish he had made contact before he did what he did.

"I came up for the unveiling and Jesse's Mum and Dad told me about you when you rang them about Jude Prentice."

"You know him?" asked Janet.

"Oh yes Mrs. Well, I have met him a few times. He pops up at unlikely moments Mrs."

"So I have found out," agreed Janet.

"I last saw him when I returned to Wellington after the unveiling. He met me for a drink and said that you needed my help in an assignment you had undertaken."

"I don't believe it," cried a shocked Janet.

"Yes Mrs.," said Eti. "That's what he said. Truly."

"When exactly did he say that Eti? Exactly how long ago?"

"Well first he telephoned me probably a couple of days after I got back to Wellington, then we arranged to meet for the coffee and then he told me he would ring me when you needed me. I suppose it would have been about a week after I got back to Wellington that he told me and then he rang me yesterday to say that you needed me now, so here I am.

"You did know I was coming Mrs.?"

"Actually no," confessed Janet. "I suppose Mr. Prentice must have forgotten to tell me."

"Oh well," said Eti. "Not to worry. So, what is it you need help with?"

"It's a bit of a story Eti. Are you a Christian?"

"Yes I am Mrs."

"Even after taking your degree?"

"Yes Mrs."

"Please stop calling me Mrs. I am Janet."

"Yes Mrs. Janet."

"So do you believe in creation or evolution?"

"A tricky question Mrs. Janet! Being in mainstream science, you are locked into an evolution point of view. The theory of Evolution is what is taught and what you are examined on. I can see that point of view. It is similar to being taught English and Pidgin English. If you are being examined on Pidgin English and answer using English, or vice versa, then you will not get a pass mark. One is derived from the other but that has no bearing on the matter. If you are being examined on evolution theory it is pointless to give creation answers if you want to pass."

"I can see that," said Janet.

"So," said Eti. "To answer your question; I am a creationist with a Master of Science degree in evolution."

Both Janet and Eti laughed.

"If you were to help me Eti, you would have to commit to a year. What would that mean you giving up?"

"Work toward my Doctorate."

"Have you published at all yet?"

"Just one small article. I must admit that really I am a bit lost at the moment Mrs. I intend to do my Doctorate but exactly on what I am not fully settled. Perhaps a break will help me to refresh my mind and make a decision."

"Okay Eti. You could be the answer to my prayers. Literally. Let me tell you what sort of a hole I have dug for myself. I suppose it goes back to when Jesse killed himself. I kept in loose touch with the Solomanis' and then went to the unveiling. I was, am, a sort of Christian. I believe in the basics, and go to Church regularly enough of course. I know Joe, Joe Palmer, who had the disagreement with Jesse that led to what he did. Then, after the unveiling, Jude Prentice introduced himself to me. He said that I could consider him as my guardian angel and that he had a message for me. His words. He said he wanted me to challenge Joe's belief in evolution and convert him to believe in creation. Then he left. I have spoken with my Church Minister and he is convinced, and this will sound silly, that Prentice is a real angel. From heaven.

"So there you are Eti, that's my dilemma. I have to some how convert Joe into a creationist. This is a man who knows evolution backwards."

"Is Palmer aware of any of this?"

"'Fraid so. I have told him that within a year I will have proof that he is wrong."

"Oh boy," said Eti.

"That should be girl," smiled Janet.

Eti laughed.

"Indeed Mrs.," he said. "Tell me though; do you think Jude Prentice is really an angel?"

Janet sat in silence for a while.

"Really Eti, I don't know," she said. "Clearly I have no proof, but since speaking with him I do seem to have this occasional contact or acknowledgment of something greater than me. It's a type of warm euphoric feeling. I have no 'beyond reasonable doubt' proof, but I do have 'on the balance of probabilities' proof."

"I would have to agree with you Mrs. Janet," Eti nodded. "That would also be my feeling."

"Can we say no to God?" asked Janet.

"Many have," responded Eti.

"But we're not going to are we?" questioned Janet.

"No Mrs.," said Eti. "I don't think we are."

"Have you arranged anywhere to stay?"

"No Mrs." replied Eti. "Not yet. I think I am expected at Jesse's parents."

"Well stay here," offered Janet. "There is a spare room and that way we will be able to sort out what we are going to do and how we are going to do it."

"Okay Mrs. Sounds like a scheme to me. I haven't got much. I tend to travel light. I'll get my bag out of the car and then we can start."

"For goodness sake Eti, call me Janet, Jan, Hey you, or something, but not Mrs."

"Sorry Mrs., I mean Janet, habit."

"One you use to your advantage I suspect," smiled Janet.

With only a grin in reply, Eti headed out the door.

Chapter 11

Over dinner, as they washed and dried the dishes by hand and while sitting having several cups of tea afterwards, Eti and Janet talked. They discussed such diverse subjects as the geologic column, carbon dating, species, the universe, quantum physics, rotational relativity and goodness only knows what else. The majority of it could hardly be called discussion. Mainly it consisted of Eti answering Janet's questions. Eti enjoyed answering. He found Janet was like a sponge and able to absorb and correlate facts easily. Before they knew it, midnight had come and gone. They retired for the night.

Janet awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon and coffee. Pulling on a dressing gown, she hurried out into the kitchen to find the table laid and Eti sipping coffee. As soon as Eti heard Janet, he poured a cup of tea and handed it to her as she came through the door.

"What's all this?" asked Janet. "I normally only have toast and a cup of tea for breakfast if I have anything at all. I suppose you are going to tell me you have been for a run as well?"

"Oh yes old lady," said Eti. "Had my run, done my exercises, showered, and prepared breakfast. Besides you old ladies need your beauty sleep."

Eti sidestepped Janet's mock punch.

"Not so much of the old," said Janet. "Only four years older, or three and a bit depending on the time of year. Perhaps you should go back to Mrs.

"Honestly though, thanks, this is lovely."

Janet and Eti polished off plates of bacon, eggs, hash browns and tomatoes. Over follow-up cups of tea and coffee, they began to lay out their plan of attack, so to speak.

"Before your arrival, Eti," said Janet. "I was trying to work out how and where to try and prove evolution wrong. As a layperson, I knew I would be up against it with the PhD's against me so I was hesitant to go into that area. With you to assist though, perhaps we could have a go. If you were to attack the theory of evolution Eti, how would you go about it?"

"Scientifically there are weak areas. The geologic Time Scale would be one. Basically, it provides dates for the various layers of sediment and rock and the various crustaceans and other life forms in them. In other words, if you find a certain life form preserved in rock, or petrified wood etc., you would check the Geologic Time Scale. If you found it in the Silurian period of the Paleozoic Era, you would 'know' that it lived 430 million years ago. The problem is that the whole thing is based on a circular argument. The evolutionists say the earth is four and a half billion years old. If, in the Hedeon Eon, which is the oldest time frame, a certain type of fish is found fossilized in a rock, evolutionists would say that fish was about four billion years old. Based upon that, wherever that certain type of fish is found, the rock it is in must be four billion years old and wherever such a rock is found, any fish found in it must also be four billion years old regardless of where they are found. As you can see, one leads to the other. It is what is generally called a circular argument. Certain assumptions have been made and then figures are made to fit the assumptions and therefore 'Prove' it. That's a bit simplistic but do you get the picture?"

Janet nodded.

Therefore," continued Eti. "Other figures could 'prove' a different age. That must not be allowed however. Now, the average guy on the street isn't going to be bothered checking any of that out. He just takes what the majority believe and leaves it at that. Because things are so technical, the majority of people don't delve into it. They just assume the people with letters after their names talking millions of years with complicated formulae, must know what they talking about."

"So really we would be fighting an uphill battle?"

"Yep."

"Okay, what say we found the Garden of Eden?"

"The Garden of Eden! Well, yeah that would make a few, to say the least, sit up and take a bit of notice. How would you prove that though? We would have to find a piece of rock with 'God was here' written on it or something. Maybe if we widened the search we could go for stone tablets with the commandments written on them, or better still; Noah's ark. They would at least point to a young earth."

"Still, if we were able to find Eden or the Garden of Eden somehow, it would throw the whole thing wide open wouldn't it?"

"Possibly."

"Surely more than possibly. Evolutionists regard Genesis as a book on a myth. To prove it was true would make them have to rethink the whole relationship between the Bible and science wouldn't it."

"True," agreed Eti. It would be a pretty big ask though. It was probably in present day Turkey and over the years I think earthquakes and even Noah's flood, would have eroded and changed the shape of things."

"Hasn't some one located Eden in Israel or North Africa or something?" asked Janet.

"Yeah, but I think the evidence is pretty thin. It is a bit like Mt. Ararat being where the ark came to rest. Locally Mt. Cudi is said to be the correct site. Tradition and local place names relate to Noah and the ark. Also, Noah's tomb is traditionally said to be at Cizre, not far from Mt Cudi. Always go with the locals I reckon."

"You know quite a bit about it all don't you Eti?"

"I must admit that I have checked a few web sites about it all. As a geologist, it interests me greatly. The problem is locating exactly the area referred to in Genesis.

"The Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers hang together okay, but there is a bit of a problem with the Pishon and Gihon Rivers. We have to accept that things changed after Noah's flood. When Noah landed and found a couple of rivers, it would be logical for him to either name them after rivers he knew, or assume that they were the rivers he had known before the flood. Who is to say which way he went? No actual current river source coincides with the Pishon and Gihon, although scholars suggest that the Pishon could now be the Uizbun River, and the Gihon the Karkheh River."

"Okay then," said Janet. "Let's make our number one priority an attempt to locate the Genesis Garden of Eden. Failing that, let's have a go at proving Noah's flood to have been world-wide, rather than a local one like evolutionists maintain?"

"It's a big ask," commented Eti. "It won't all end once we've got the location though. We will then have to find associated things like fossils and other provable evidence, but hey, if you are willing, so am I. We will need to set some ground rules though, costs, funding and all that sort of thing."

"I suppose it will be pretty expensive."

"A lot depends on how we attack it. My suggestion would be that we leap whole-heartedly into it. Go for it in a big way. We will make it a fully scientific task. I will make it the task I undertake for my Doctorate. That will be interesting. Also, of course, whatever we do find will be peer reviewed. That is good in one way but possibly bad in another. By that, I mean that if we find nothing then that will bolster the evolutionists to the detriment of creationists."

"Agreed," nodded Janet. "But we're after the truth and that is what matters. There is the saying 'that if it is of God then it will succeed and if it is not then it will not succeed.'"

"Okay," said Eti. "I'll see my Director and listen to his objections and how such a project must fail and will ruin my future. He'll agree in the end however.

"I will also ask around to see if anyone else is interested and then we will need to raise some funds and start advertising."

"Advertising?" asked Janet.

"Yeah. That will help generate funds. We'll also organise a website with blogs and Twitter and Facebook to get interest up and running. Maybe we can get weekly columns in some newspapers. The whole thing."

"Don't you think that's going a bit overboard?"

"Nah. Remember the old saying, 'In for a penny, in for a Pound'? That's going to be us. I think you will be greatly surprised at how many will come on board. You will end up being a celebrity. The Paparazzi will be all over you, lurking in the shrubbery to get your picture and find out what you are eating."

"Go on with ya," laughed Janet.

TURKEY

Chapter 12

The next three months went by in a flash. Janet found that Eti had not been joking. She was able to put $150,000 of her own into the venture, by using her house as surety for a loan, but was overwhelmed when Christian organisations came onboard. Even donations of $5 and $20, were given by individuals. Major news and television stations commented on the project, albeit with a cynical bias. Offers of help also poured in from individuals and companies with skills from computing and campfire lighting to helicopter pilots.

Predictably, the evolutionists got onto the bandwagon and countered the whole project with an advertising campaign of their own. It quickly became clear that the evolutionist's sources of finance heavily outweighed Eti and Janet's. Even buses carried advertising stating that only cabbages would have grown in any Garden of Eden. Scientists weighed in on both sides, but the news media favoured the evolutionists. With so much pressure against them, a number of organisations withdrew their support. Some of those were Christian ones, which particularly hurt Eti.

In the end, Eti and Janet were left with some contacts in Turkey, a website, a monthly column in an independent Christian monthly newspaper, a couple of satellite telephones, a couple of cameras and quite a bit of cash.

They had attempted to get detailed maps of the area they were going to in Turkey but they were hard to come by. Even the Turkish Embassy in Wellington suggested they should contact the New Zealand Embassy in Ankara for assistance. Turning to modern technology, they went to Google Earth to check out the areas as best they could. The two rivers they thought the most likely were, of course, the Euphrates and the Tigris. The sources for both rivers were in the Eastern Turkey area known as Eastern Anatolia. The Bible suggested that Eden, and the Garden of Eden, could have been in different locations. The Bible said that the rivers came out of Eden to water the garden and then became four different rivers. Janet and Eti decided to work from the supposition that Eden would be the headwaters of the rivers, and that where that river became four rivers would be the site of the Garden of Eden. They discovered that the Euphrates River actually formed from two other rivers: the Karasu and the Marat. The Marat headwaters were in the vicinity of Mt Ararat, north of Lake Van, and the Karasu headwaters from the plains around Erzurum. They joined to form the Euphrates River near Keban, although, they discovered, a lake behind the giant dam at Keban drowned the actual physical junction. Many tributaries joined the Karasu on its way to the junction with the Marat.

After some discussion, Janet and Eti decided that they would first check the sources of both the Marat and Karasu with the Karasu being first. They wanted to travel as light as possible so arranged for the bulk of their equipment to go ahead to Ankara, for storage by a Christian contact. It was their intention to fly to Elazig in Turkey, via Istanbul, and then to go to nearby Keban, the site of the dam, and work their way from there.

Since Janet and Eti had joined forces, she had found that he had a tremendous Church support group. Although based in Wellington, the Church that Eti attended swung their support in behind him, and Janet as well. That support and enthusiasm had proved invaluable.

At the airport to see them off were large numbers of those support groups with flags and placards. As had become the norm, there was an opposing group. Among them, Janet saw Joe Palmer. She walked up to him.

"Hullo Joe," she greeted him with a smile. "Nice of you to come to see me off, after all I am going to try and make you eat your words."

"Try is the right word Janet. I see you have got your Neanderthal supporters."

"Don't be so silly Joe. Those sorts of comments are uncalled for and should be beneath you."

Joe had the decency to blush. "I am sorry Janet, yes they are. I wish you luck."

"Thank you."

Chapter 13

Kemal Kural greeted Janet and Eti in Istanbul. Kemal was a Christian but as he pointed out, in Turkey Atheists out numbered Christians. Even with an overall 97% plus Islamic populace, Kemal did not find himself particularly discriminated against however.

The job of obtaining Visa's and catching a Turkish Airlines aeroplane to Elazig Airport went without a hitch. Kemal, or KK as Eti called him, helped, but things would have gone smoothly even if he had not been there, so helpful were the authorities. They flew in a Boeing 737-400 aircraft. After a one hour and forty-five minute flight, they landed at Elazig Airport. It was a modern and efficient airport similar to probably all airports the world over. Ali Pamuk, a friend of KK's, and a Muslim, met them. His English was not as good as KK's but they were able to understand each other. He had been standing with a piece of cardboard on a stick. Printed on the cardboard by marker pen was the word 'Eti.' He was dressed in casual western dress of jeans, tee shirt and cap. He was clean-shaven and aged about nineteen.

Ali was able to convey that there was nothing much at Keban in the way of accommodation, so Janet and Eti were to stay with him and his family. He did indicate that Elazig did have many hotels but that they were very expensive. Elazig was, after all, a city of three hundred thousand people. Ali had a reasonably modern vehicle, a Toyota van, and their possessions fitted comfortably in the back. The journey to Keban was easy and comfortable to commence with, but towards the end became hilly and winding. It took about an hour and a quarter to cover the thirty-eight miles. It was close to dusk when they arrived at Ali's. His house consisted of some type of roughcast with a tile roof. Ali's parents were not home, being away on holiday apparently. The journey had taken its toll on Janet and Eti, and once shown their beds they collapsed upon them and slept. Even the calls to prayer did not awaken them.

Later the next day they awoke to the smell of coffee and toast. It turned out that Ali leaned towards a Western lifestyle, although he was firmly in favour of Turkey's life and customs in general. They ate their breakfast outside in the fresh air. Neighbours walked past and waved or nodded to Janet and Eti. While they were in a foreign land and spoke little of the language, both felt comfortable. There was the occasional person dressed in traditional clothes, but most wore western style jeans and trousers or overalls. The logos on their caps were often recognizable; the Nike slash, Coca Cola, or American baseball, basketball or grid iron teams. One person wore a cap with a New Zealand All Black emblem upon it. Eti and Janet stopped the person but even with Ali's help, they were unable to make the wearer understand who or what the All Blacks were, or where they came from. He had heard of Australia, but did not know where it was.

On a high rocky outcrop, the Turkish Flag flew proudly. They were to find that the flag and a Mosque were the two things every town had in common. The regular and rigid adherence to prayer impressed Eti. As he pointed out to Janet, if Christians were so regular and devoted with their worship perhaps Christianity would be more dominant.

Ali showed them around Keban and, of course, the Keban dam. It was certainly impressive and a source of pride and continued employment for the region. Coca Cola and Streets ice cream signs were common, as were blue and orange roofs. The mosque was impressive, showing elaborate tile work and a high Minaret for the calls to prayer. The vehicles ranged from modern to 'rough as', and none would be out of place in New Zealand.

By the time they had done the sightseeing thing, it was mid afternoon. Janet took the opportunity to update their blog and upload photographs they had taken. Ali excused himself to attend to other matters. Eti and Janet made a drink and sat down.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Eti.

"From what we have seen so far, it's a big country Eti. It's going to be a big job isn't it?" answered Janet.

"I believe that would be the understatement of the year."

"Well, too bad. We decided that we had to search the headwaters of both the Euphrates and the Tigris so maybe the first thing to do is see if we can get more detailed maps than the ones we have at the moment. As we know, things have changed, even recently, let alone over thousands of years. With the earthquakes they have here, and the volcanoes, the place is worse than home. The local dam has changed things as well, covering the Marat and Karasu junctions."

"I don't know that much about maps Eti," said Janet. "But looking at even these we have got, and from what we did on Google Earth, I can see that both the Marat and Karasu start near the cities called Erzurum and Erzincan, but also reach out to a Lake Van. As the Marat and Karasu join to become the Euphrates, and the Tigris starts up by Lake Van, maybe we should be looking at Lake Van as being the Garden of Eden. Perhaps even the Karasu or Marat may originally have been Pishon or Gihon or even the Tigris and Euphrates.

"You know, by just looking at the maps, I would, as an unknowledgeable lay person, have to think that two major places where we should have to look, would be the upper reaches of the Firat and Mirat rivers which are tributaries of the Karasu. Actually all the area around there. Mind you, we would have to walk the area because all the names seem to keep changing depending on which map you are looking at."

"And the other area?"

"Well obviously the upper reaches of the Tigris, but Lake Van itself interests me. I don't really know why, but I am just drawn to it. What say we take a trip on one of the tourist trains that go out along the rivers and see what we can see? You know, to get a feel of the place."

When Ali returned, they put their plan to him but he said the trains were not part of the main network and broke down more often than not. He suggested that the road might be best. It almost seemed as though Ali had lost enthusiasm for the task. Eti and Janet agreed that road might be best so booked a rental vehicle. Assured by the vehicle agent that the road was a good one, they arranged a Nissan Micro. It was their intention to travel to Palu, situated out beyond the lake formed by the dam. The agent suggested that the trip would take about two and a half hours to cover the 80 miles to Palu.

While it may have only taken two and a half hours for most people, it took nearly six hours for Eti and Janet. They took every opportunity to sightsee, and take photographs for uploading onto Google Earth and their own website and facebook. The electronic map fitted to the car guided them efficiently. The trip gave them an accurate view of the South Eastern Anatolian geography. Wherever they stopped, Eti would take out his little pick hammer, check the various rocks, and make notes in his notebook. In his scholar mode, he used computers extensively, but out in the field he preferred to rely on a pencil and notebook.

Some of the scenery was stunning with the mountains always as a backdrop. Cir-Cir falls, close to Keban, were typical of the South Eastern Anatolian waterways: narrow, deep and fast. Vegetation blossomed alongside the waterways but generally quickly turned to a barren brown. Janet likened the green areas to oases, an apt description. Little villages and small collections of buildings competed with large modern towns.

They drove through Elazig, without stopping, and found it a bustling and thriving city. With a population of over three hundred thousand people, it had all the modern amenities any Western city would expect. There were Vodafone shops, cafes, restaurants, Firat University, wide streets, multistory buildings, floodlit football grounds at Ataturk Stadium and the overwhelming majority of people dressed as if they were in Auckland or any other New Zealand town or city.

In contrast, Palu was like comparing Auckland with Pahiatua, except some of the streets in Palu were only dirt roads or tracks. It was set upon alluvial flats beside the stony sides of the Marat River.

Eti and Janet left the Nissan and walked down to the river under the modern bridge that crossed it. It was not particularly swift flowing at that point. Janet scooped up some water in her cupped hands and splashed her face.

"Just think Eti," she said. "Adam may have stood on this spot."

"Can't see any apple trees," grinned Eti.

"Who says they were apples?" asked Janet.

"Actually, nobody," acknowledged Eti. "The bible just says the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The evil was making the wrong choice, a choice against God's command. That choice gave Adam experiential knowledge of evil."

"Whoa," said Janet. "When did you turn into a theologian?"

Eti grinned again. "There is a lot you don't know about me yet Mrs."

While Janet took photographs, Eti examined rocks, mud, slime and 'things'. By the time they had finished it was dark so they set up their tents. While Eti prepared a meal on a small camp burner, Janet reviewed the photographs she had taken. As she went backwards and forwards to select those she wanted to post to the website, something caught her eye. She checked and rechecked before calling out to Eti.

"Eti, come and have a look at these." When he took the camera from her, she said, "Go through the photos from today and then take a look at those we have taken since we arrived here."

While Eti went through the images, Janet finished the cooking. Eti took his dish from Janet as he put down the camera.

"Did you see what I saw?" she asked.

"The friend?" asked Eti answering a question with a question.

Janet nodded. "While he's not in every photo, he's in a good eighty percent of them. That can't be a coincidence can it?" she asked.

"No it can't," agreed Eti. "He is clearly following us I'd say. I wonder why? It is no secret as to what we are doing. We've got it on the website, in newspapers and magazines."

"He must be somewhere here right now," pointed out Janet. She and Eti immediately looked around but darkness cloaked Palu.

"He was in a camper van type of thing according to the photos," said Eti. "Let's see if we can find him."

"In case he is watching us, maybe we should act normal and after we have been in bed a couple of hours, get up and search." suggested Janet.

"Done," agreed Eti.

Chapter 14

Two hours after they had climbed into their sleeping bags, Eti and Janet crawled out of their tents, and equipped with turned off flashlights, set out to investigate Palu by night. Initially, with a bright moon, it was easy. They had reasoned that there were four places needing to be checked, but knew that would not be completely possible. Spot number one was near the road they would travel if they were leaving to return to Keban. Correspondingly, number 2 was near the road they would take if they intended to carry on through Palu. Number 3 was somewhere in Palu itself, and number 4 was an elevated spot that would give general cover of Palu. The moon helped to prevent them falling into the deep ditches on the sides of the roads, as they checked the immediate area of their campsite. While they found no sign of the van, during the time it took, clouds covered the moon. There was no sign of life on the streets, and no lights. Dogs barked distantly. Janet and Eti decided to give the whole thing a miss as walking the streets with flashlights would draw adverse attention.

The next morning they loaded up the Nissan and headed back to Keban. On the way, they stopped at an internet café in Elazig to upload their chosen pictures. They also emailed their support base back in New Zealand with a photograph of the person who appeared to be following them, with the request to 'show it around' to see if anybody recognised him. In a text message they asked KK to see if he could check whom the vehicle belonged to via the registration number visible in the photographs.

At about midday they arrived back at Keban and went to Ali's address. They had not sighted the mystery van or person since leaving Palu. At Ali's, an agitated Ali met them. Once he had calmed down, he explained that a group of fellow Muslims had come to him and told him he was to have nothing to do with Janet and Eti as they were infidels and his association would jeopardise his and his family's position with the Synagogue. He made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with them and they had to leave immediately. He stood watching as they packed and loaded their possessions into the vehicle. The little Nissan Micro was somewhat small so they went back to the rental agency and negotiated a swap of the Micro for a Nissan Pathfinder and paid the extra associated with the transaction.

On a whim, Janet gave one of her photos to Eti and suggested he ask the rental agent if he knew the person. He did. It turned out that the van was one of his, and a Peter Howard Marshall using an EU passport numbered 664976341 issued in the United Kingdom had hired it for a month. Eti gave the man a bit more money. They then emailed KK to make some more enquiries about Marshall.

Once they cleared the rental agency, they drove to a spot above the Keban dam. From where they parked, it was again obvious just how big it was. Until recently, it had been the biggest dam in Turkey Eti told Janet. The lake formed by the dam was even larger.

"You realise it could take years to do this job don't you?" pointed out Eti.

"It is rather formidable," agreed Janet. "However, once we have set our boundaries we'll be right."

They took out the maps they had purchased while at Elazig and those given them by the rental agency. As it turned out, the information obtained from Google Earth was still the best.

"Look," said Eti pointing at a map. "Where the Marat and Karasu and their tributaries start in the vicinity of Erzurum and Erzincan, with a bit of imagination you can see that between them the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris cover the North, West and South forming a triangle. Erzurum and Erzincan form the base at the North. The West is covered by both the Euphrates and the Tigris down to Cizre and the East is covered by any number of tributaries and further over to the East you have the Karkheh River which some suggest is the current name for the Gihon river."

"And we have to check them all out," said Janet.

"I don't think so," Eti demurred. "We have to take into account this whole region. It is pretty wild. Major fault lines exist here and it is volcanic. Since Eden, there has been a worldwide flood, many major earthquakes and goodness knows what else. I think it is more than possible that we are 'barking up the wrong tree', to use an old expression. However, I would suggest that there are two possibilities; that the Elazig area could be Eden and the other, and this goes back to something you have mentioned and is a little out of left field, Lake Van or its area could be Eden."

Janet picked up the map, opened the door and laid the map on the car bonnet while she looked at it. Eti watched with a bemused expression on his face. Janet then rolled the map up and walked about talking to herself. Again, she laid out the map on the bonnet, moved her fingers over it, rolled it up and sat back in the vehicle.

"Let's put Lake Van to one side," said Janet. "This is a very rough and mountainous area. The whole country is. I am not a geologist or anything remotely like one, but even I know that water, under normal circumstances, cannot flow up hill. The Elazig area, and in particular the Euphrates, has water running into it. That is, downhill. The Bible says that a river, that is one river, ran out of Eden to water the garden, and then separated into four heading East, West, North and South. I am right aren't I?"

Eti nodded and smiled.

"So," continued Janet. "For Elazig to be Eden there would have to be four rivers flowing from it and one flowing into it. Where are they? To me it looks like a better case would be four rivers flowing into Elazig and one flowing out. I can't see where you are coming from on Elazig being Eden."

"I am coming from a long way back. I am so far back that the earth, planet earth, was still forming. Consider us as being at day three of creation. God commanded the water below the sky to come together in one place so that the land could appear. Once done, he named the land earth and the water that had come together, sea. To me that means the land was one solid piece. It was not in separate places."

"So you are saying the Evolutionists are right and that from one piece of land it all turned pear shaped and split apart to form the current continents."

"Yes I am," agreed Eti.

"But I thought we didn't agree with, or like, evolutionists."

"Not at all. A majority of what the evolutionists produce, and believe, is reasonable. Their big problem is time. Many of their results could produce similar outcomes to ours if they could only remove their blinkered 'everything must have taken billions of years' point of view.

"However, getting back to where we were. We have to realise that things now are not what they were. Perhaps sometime I'll be able to give you a full rundown, but in the meantime we sort of have to run with what we have got. People more clever than I, have done the computer modeling and decided that this is where Eden possibly was."

"Computer modeling presumably done by evolutionists," interrupted Janet.

"Please Janet, give it away."

"But we are meant to be proving Palmer wrong and instead you are agreeing with him," protested Janet.

"Only to a point," said Eti. "Everyone and everything has good and bad points. Based upon the Bible, Noah's experiences, local history and many other things, this area is, I believe, the most correct assumption of where Eden was. I find Elazig interesting because we have the source of two major rivers here. Admittedly, it would be nice to have another couple, but beggars can't be choosers. Also there really needs to be one input which then divides, but again you've got to work with what you've got. It could well be that one of the sources of the Euphrates came from Eden, and then after earthquakes etc it became divided and separated into the Karasu and Marat etc. From Elazig, it could be that the Euphrates River from there on was one of the four rivers. So, two is not as good as four are, but they are better than none. One of the rivers running down to the Black Sea or across to the Caspian Sea could have originated from Elazig as well. It would only take one earthquake to change things. Remember that Eden, and the garden, existed prior to man's expulsion from it, and prior to Noah's flood, which could have destroyed a lot of evidence and the geographical features that existed prior to it.

"Next, we are completely in the dark as regards the size of Eden and the garden. We know that Adam and Eve were bigger, stronger and taller than we are. Remember that everything was perfect at that time. Lions and lambs lay down together and one presumes man was a vegetarian at that stage. After all, sin had not entered the world. As there were no cars, we must presume they traveled on foot. How many miles a day could they cover? Another unknown. They probably returned to the same place each evening because God walked with them then. If Elazig was the area, then I reckon we could assume a one hundred mile radius should cover it as far as a search area is concerned. However, there are many assumptions in what I've said.

"My best suggestion is that we check the shores of Lake Hazar, do the area above Batman, and around Mus as those areas could be construed as headwaters, and perhaps the four rivers flowed out from there. Finally I think around the Tercan area should be done.

"So, yes we've a huge area. On top of that, as I said, we should do Lake Van, but we will leave that for now. Sound okay?"

"Oh Eti, we've committed ourselves and our supporters to something huge haven't we?"

"Huge for us," agreed Eti. "But nothing for God."

"I pray so," said Janet. "So I take it you have a plan for us?"

"Nothing detailed, but as I said, we need to do the shores of Lake Hazar. It's not far from here, thirty to fifty miles, so it sounds like a place to start. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?"

"Oh very 1970's Eti, but I doubt we could ever be called the A Team. So, Lake Hazar it is. What do we know about it?"

"Well it is the headwaters of the Tigris River. That is what makes it so exciting for me. Well, of course the whole place does, but here we have the Euphrates and close by the start of the Tigris, the two mighty rivers that cradled civilization."

Eti turned to open the door of the Pathfinder when his eye caught some movement. Another vehicle was driving up to the area. It was a van. As Eti watched, he reached out to Janet and touched her arm. She turned to see what he wanted. Following his gaze, she also watched the van. It stopped not far from them; about 100 yards. It was the van that featured in their photographs of the Palu trip. Getting out of it was the man of the photographs.

"Stay here," commanded Eti as he strode towards it.

Ignoring his command, Janet followed. As they reached the van, the man turned towards them.

"Ah," he exclaimed with an English accent. "Mr. Solomon and Miss Winters, what a pleasure."

Eti walked close to the man, invading his space, and making eye-to-eye contact at a distance of twelve inches.

"What's your game Marshall?" Eti asked.

Marshall attempted to move away from Eti Solomon but for every step he took backwards, Eti took one forward. Those steps eventually found Marshall with his back to the van and unable to move further.

"I don't know what you are talking about," gasped Marshall.

Janet grabbed Eti by the arm and pulled him back. Eti allowed it.

"I take it you are Peter Marshall?" asked Janet.

The man nodded but did not take his eyes off Eti.

Janet continued, "Why have you been following us Mr. Marshall?"

Before Marshall could respond, Eti pushed closer to him.

"Tell him to leave me alone," demanded Marshall in a voice that made it a plea. "I mean you no harm. I'll explain everything."

Janet again pulled Eti away. Marshall made to shift, but a twitch from Eti and a shake of Janet's head changed his mind.

"Explain," ordered Janet.

"I know what you are doing," said Marshall.

"Whippy-do," jeered Eti. "You and everybody else in the world that reads the news or has visited our website."

"No, no, no not that," said Marshall shaking his head. "The bet. The wager thing."

"What?" asked Eti.

"No, not you," explained Marshall. He looked at Janet. "The thing between you and Joe."

"Joe Palmer?" asked Eti and Janet together.

"What do you know about Joe Palmer?" asked Janet.

"We did an advanced teaching course together at one stage," explained Marshall. "Look, can we please sit down and discuss this. I think we have got off on the wrong foot, don't you?"

"We haven't," growled Eti.

"Okay, okay," said Marshall holding up his hands. "I've played the whole thing wrong." He wiped perspiration from his brow and made to move away from the van. When Eti made no threatening move, Marshall seemed to regain some confidence. He led them over to a cement block and sat down. Eti and Janet remained standing. Marshall stood up.

"Look," said Marshall. "I was talking to Joe on the telephone and when he heard I intended to take a bit of a holiday in this area, he asked me to keep an eye on you."

"You mean spy on us?" exclaimed Janet.

"No, not at all, well, not really," corrected Marshall. "You see, it appears as though he is a bit worried that you might be on to something and Joe doesn't take defeat lightly. You would know that Janet, working with him."

"Miss Winter will do fine," said Janet.

"Of course, of course," agreed Marshall.

"How did you know where to find us?" asked Eti. "Turkey is a big place."

"From your website and blogs," said Marshall.

"Okay," agreed Janet. "Fine. I'll accept that, to a degree, for the moment, but what else is there that you are not telling us?"

"Nothing, that's it," said Marshall as his eyes flickered between Janet and Eti.

"Peter, Peter, Peter," admonished Eti as he reached out and squeezed Marshall's shoulder. "Surely you and the truth are not such strangers. Come on now, how about the full story and then we'll sort the whole thing out. Don't be afraid. Pretend you are among friends." Eti smiled.

To Marshall it appeared as a snarl.

"I'm sorry," he gasped. "I am not very good at this type of thing." Having started, Marshall seemed unable to stop. "It's true what I said about Joe. I do know him and we do keep in touch. He did ask me to check on you while I am here but I was to do it secretly. I am no good at that type of thing. I tried, but following people is not as easy as it is in books or at the movies."

"Get back to it," prodded Eti.

"It turns out there is a group of scientists that are afraid you might turn up something on this quest of yours; something that might jeopardise scientific belief in evolution. Personally my specialty is languages, and I like the Bible language, the way it rhymes and its rhythm is poetry."

Eti squeezed Marshall's shoulder again. Marshall winced.

"Alright," he said. "No need to be a bully. Your website and all the bits and pieces have worried them so much that they are actively working to ensure you are both discredited and that anything you do find can be adequately explained away, or if that is not possible, be destroyed."

"You've got to be joking," said Eti in disbelief.

"No," countered Marshall, "I'm not joking. Okay, I may not be very good at my bit in this thing, but believe you me there are bigger fish than me involved. You lot need to be careful."

"Who were you to let know if you discovered anything?" asked Janet.

"I was to tell Joe, but if he wasn't available I have a list of others to try."

"Do you know if there is any one other than yourself actually in Turkey?" asked Janet.

"Look, I am very sorry," reiterated Marshall. "I don't know. Joe will be furious that I've told you all this. Please, can I go now? I need, no, want, to put all this behind me."

"Of course you can go," smiled Janet. "You are not some prisoner, or anything actually. Thank you for what you have told us. I will not mention you to Joe when I next see him."

With that, Marshall ran. In a cloud of dust, and with much revving of an engine, Marshall's rental van left the dam site. Janet and Eti remained standing looking at each other.

"Do you believe all that?" asked Janet.

Eti nodded slowly. "I think so. He was too frightened to tell mincey pies."

"Mincey pies?"

"Rhyming slang; lies, mincey pies."

"Oh, very Cockney."

Eti nodded. "It puts a whole different complexion on things though doesn't it?" he said. "Scared and frightened people can become angry and dangerous very quickly. I think our task has become a lot more difficult. For our own safety and peace of mind, we are going to have to change the way we do things. That is if we decide to continue in the face of this threat."

This time it was Janet's turn to pause. "I do want to carry on," she said. "It is just so sad to think that some people, intelligent people, are prepared to go so far to protect their point of view."

"They are driven by the ruler of this world unfortunately," replied Eti. "My ruler outranks theirs so we will be okay."

"I wish I had your faith," said Janet.

"You'll get there," promised Eti. "Now, getting back to Eden. First, let's do Lake Hazar. We'll do the shoreline and some of the tributaries. It will get us into the swing of things and we may be able to work out what the opposition is up to. Prior to that though, we will post the information, without naming names, that Marshall gave us. That will act as a bit of a safeguard and perhaps cause them to pause for a rethink before doing anything else. Maybe we can get someone back home to make some discreet enquiries about your friend Joe Palmer."

Janet and Eti drove back to the rental agency and reached an agreement whereby they could leave the Nissan and their equipment not needed for the Lake Hazar trip. They packed a tent, and everything they expected to need for their trip, into two backpacks. They updated their blog and website at an internet café and emailed New Zealand about Palmer. By the time they had finished it was mid afternoon.

Chapter 15

They travelled by bus to Elazig and then managed to get a lift out along D300, the Elazig Bingol highway, to the road leading into Karasaz. Road was possibly quite a grand name. It was just over a mile long and was really a dirt track. The land on either side of the track was a burnt brown colour, but nearby, greenery ran along the side of irrigation canals. They realised they could have gone to Derebogazi, but the hydroelectric station there would have clearly affected any original terrain. Eti's intention was to hike over the hills from Karasaz to Golardi, a distance, as the crow flies, of about 3 miles. Eti believed the trek would not only help their conditioning, but would bring into their minds 'nudges' from God.

"Nudges," queried Janet.

"Oh yes," said Eti. "Sometimes I need a length of two by four timber over the head to just get my attention. God doesn't do that. He is generally nice to me. He gives my old brain a nudge. Don't you laugh, you wait and see."

Karasaz turned out to be a name only. It was not a village, or a collection of buildings. There were a few houses scattered about and a bit of what appeared to be collective farming. They sighted half a dozen adults but no children. Electric power existed with lines strung along poles. The adults did not approach them but did raise their hands in acknowledgement of Janet's waves.

Eti and Janet made camp for the night. They arose early the next day, packed up and headed for the hills. Golardi was South to South East of Karasaz. They followed a valley into the hills. Vegetation was quite prolific. Here and there, they found water in puddles. It appeared that there were springs in the vicinity but neither Janet nor Eti saw them. Slowly the valley narrowed and grew steeper. The vegetation turned to rough sun burnt grass and weeds. When they first started out that morning, they had seen goats roaming free but gradually the animal and bird life disappeared, along with the vegetation. At the head of the valley, they ran into a solid wall. Facing them was a climb of several hundred feet.

"Should we go back do you reckon?" asked Janet.

"Do you have any climbing experience?" countered Eti.

"Only on a climbing wall at the gym," said Janet.

"Better than nothing," said Eti. He started to climb. Janet could see that hand and foot holds were plentiful. She thought that perhaps safety ropes might have been a good idea, but Eti dismissed it with a flip of his hand.

"Chauvinist," muttered Janet. Nevertheless, she followed Eti and found that it was not as formidable as she thought it might have been.

"Beware of sharp edges," called out Eti. "This stuff is volcanic and you could cut yourself.

"I am not worried about that," responded Janet. "It is playing havoc with my nails though."

Eti's laugh made her smile. The climb to the top took an hour. When they sat down and looked at how high they were, Janet marvelled. There was a fantastic view of the Keban Lake behind the dam. It was easy to believe the figures quoted for the displacement of the population caused by the dam's lake. Even so, it was impressive.

As they ate their lunch, Eti pointed out various rock formations and explained how they had formed by a combination of volcanic activity and seismic shifts caused by various fault lines running through Turkey. Janet was familiar with fault lines, and their earthquakes, as New Zealand 'owned' numerous fault lines. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had claimed many lives in New Zealand over the years but they numbered in the hundreds while those in Turkey numbered thousands.

As they finished eating and got ready to move on, a helicopter interrupted them. It flew over them, circled a couple of times, and then returned in the direction it had come from. Janet and Eti waved but received no response. Shrugging, they headed off, guided by their GPS system, towards Golardi. It took them three days to reach it. They were enjoyable days. Their fitness did not let them down, and they explored with enthusiasm. Coached by Eti, Janet began to understand the rudiments of geology. She was shown different rock formations and taught how they formed. They touched on the geologic column and Eti again reiterated the defects in it that led to accusations of a circular argument proving nothing. Again, Janet asked Eti why scientists stuck to the millions and millions of years theory when a seven day creation proved basically the same thing.

"Because they won't believe that a simple and obvious explanation exists. They want to keep it complicated and exclusive. They do not want to admit mistakes. Above all, they do not want to admit that God, someone they don't want to acknowledge, explained it all to his people a few thousand years ago."

"Ego," stated Janet.

"Bigotry," stated Eti.

They also saw the holes and craters left in rocks as the lava cooled. Eti showed Janet the different layers of sediment in areas where the earth's movements had tilted strata. He showed her various fossils that geologists used to 'prove' the age of the strata.

On the tops of the hills, the vegetation had continued to be scarce, and what grasses, shrubs and bushes there were, conformed to standard flora and fauna.

Golardi provided a view across Lake Hazar. As they saw, it was a beautiful blue. They knew it to be one of Turkey's deepest lakes at a depth of about 690 feet and nearly 35 square miles in area. It was obviously a popular holiday destination as there were numerous camping areas available. Small settlements situated round the lake sported small buildings that were obviously holiday units. Eti had explained that there were three different fault systems dominating the geography of the area, the significance of which had only recently become apparent, seismically speaking. It was prone to quite large earthquakes.

Janet and Eti decide they would camp at Golardi until they decided upon which part of Lake Hazar they would explore first. Golardi residents were friendly and provided them with fresh food and water. They were not intrusive, however, and left Janet and Eti to themselves. Strangers and visitors were obviously one of the disadvantages of living where they did.

As Eti and Janet sat quietly the next morning, with a map of Lake Hazar before them, a helicopter flew overhead. It circled above them briefly and then turned back towards the North from whence it had come.

"Isn't that the same one that we saw after leaving Karasaz?" asked Eti.

"I don't know," responded Janet. "They all look the same to me. Why?"

"It just seems funny to me," replied Eti. "Give me that Sat. 'phone will you please? Let's update things shall we?"

Eti connected to their website and updated their location and blog. He checked their emails and found several messages from New Zealand and Turkey. Eti looked across to Janet.

"Listen to this," he said. "It's from Jason." He read aloud from the screen.

'Hope you are all fit and well. The team is keeping you in our prayers and thoughts. We are all well. There have been some developments here, and internationally, of which you need to be aware. Likewise, we have done some background work on Palmer. To help us we had to get an ex cop. I know one who does Private Investigation work now. Wow, you would not believe the information that guy has access too. Anyway, back to Palmer. I am not sure if you are aware of his religious background, but sufficient to say his parents were very strict fundamentalists connected to what we would call a cult. A leader who classified himself as a Bishop, and who demanded congregational allegiance, ran it. The allegiance was to him, not God. Suffice to say, once Palmer extracted himself from his parents influence, he had no desire to return. As is often the case, he then turned violently against any form of religion. Well, so he thinks. In reality, evolution has now become his religion. He belongs to a scientific group called Galapagos Incorporated: obviously based on Darwin's voyages. It has branches throughout the world and is a cheer group for evolution. The group only comments publically occasionally. Normally it contents itself with providing finance and data to its members for them to do the talking. They also fund evolution expeditions and scientists to oppose creationists. It funds several skeptics' organisations. Clearly, it will come as no surprise to you that they are behind those who are against your endeavours. My P.I. friend has this Mantra about 'follow the money', so he followed the money. In this case, he concentrated his investigations on how Galapagos Inc. received its money. Surprise, surprise, it tracked back to some fundamentalist Muslims based in the oil producing areas of the Middle East. Gary, my P.I. mate, found that to be an explanation that was too simplistic for him to accept. He went deeper.'

Eti paused and looked at Janet.

"Do you believe this stuff?" he asked. "Sounds pretty far fetched to me. I wonder how much this Gary is charging us?"

"Let's not pre-judge," suggested Janet. "I think we both know that shady things do happen and fundamentalism in any form reacts violently when challenged."

Eti resumed reading.

'To cut a long story short, Gary traced the original source of funds back to a 'slush fund' provided by a group of twelve International oil producers. They are very 'backroom' as far as their connections to the fund are concerned, but are well known. They are super rich and untouchable. Their connection to the slush fund will never be legally provable. Why would they want to get involved in a creation verses evolution argument you ask. Because they are afraid that if creation wins, then the world will change so dramatically, their huge income sources would disappear. They believe, more positively than the majority of Christians, that such a situation would lead to either worldwide peace, or chaos, and that would result in the intervention of a supernatural power. Of that, they are very afraid. So, you can see Janet that your friend Palmer is probably being used. Mind you, he will be unaware of how he is being used. Looking at what we have against us, you will realise that there could be some dangerous times ahead. Because of that, you will have to take great care. I seriously mean that. We are actually suggesting you give serious consideration to abandoning the whole thing and come back to good old New Zealand. In the meantime, we are keeping on with the website, fund raising, blogs, tweets and facebook etc. God Bless, Jason and team.'

Eti looked across to Janet.

"There are a few other emails but really they are just touching base kind of thing.

"So what do you think?"

" Actually, I don't know what to think Eti," replied Janet. "I really don't. It's hard to take it all in. It is actually scary."

"Does what Jason says about Palmer sound right?"

"I would say so. Maybe he is not as bad as Jase supposes he is, but he can be pretty pig-headed. He's anti Christian alright. I just put it down to Joe being Joe. We are all different right?"

"Right," agreed Eti. "Surely all that stuff about slush funds and that can't be right though can it? Like, at the end of the day, surely you and I are not going to bring down the world as we know it? Okay, say we find something that may indicate that there was such a place as the Garden of Eden. Before our find could mean anything it would have to be subject to all sorts of scrutiny, scientific included. It would be years before acceptance or rejection."

"You are forgetting the media," said Janet. "Look how many times Noah's ark has been 'found'. If it was sensational enough, the media could beat it up into a major drama. Stock markets would become bears or bulls or whatever they become. Currencies would go up or down, as would all types of other things. It could create turmoil for a while before it was spirited away for scientific analysis.

"You know what greed does."

"Hmm," said Eti. "So what do you think?"

"I think we just carry on. Maybe we should keep an eye open for the unusual but that is all. As far as you and I are concerned this is a Joe and us thing. Okay?"

"Okay," agreed Eti, "Just a Joe and us thing."

They gazed out over Lake Hazar for a while, each with their own thoughts. Eventually they resumed contemplation of their plans.

Chapter 16

Early the next day they walked down to Lake Hazar and headed South along its shore. Small clusters of buildings were interspersed with car parks, batches, villages and barren wind blown areas of dust and burnt grass. As Eti pointed out to Janet, snow fell during the winter and made the place picture postcard stuff. That was not to say that where the villages, rather than a cluster of buildings were situated, that they were unattractive. Around Gezin, gardens and trees vied for space with human habitation. It seemed strange to Janet and Eti to see satellite television dishes on the majority of the buildings. Multistoried buildings had multiple dishes. Coca-Cola and McDonald's signs revealed the Western influence even if jeans, tee shirts, IPods' and footwear had not. Modern era designed Mosques had their minarets attached, or nearby. Macadam sealed roads led to European styled houses. Tourist buses caused gulls to lift ponderously from where they scavenged.

At the Eastern end of the lake, at Plajkoy, they found a river which flowed from the lake, and which, with the addition of many tributaries, became the mighty Tigris. Janet and Eti camped there for the night. The sky was wondrously clear and the stars shone brightly.

"This could be the Garden of Eden Eti," pointed out Janet.

"Indeed it could. Part of it anyway."

"What do you mean part of it?"

"Well, Lake Hazar is a pretty complicated bit of territory. As I've said before, there are several fault lines around here with a major one running right under the lake itself. Originally, the lake would not have been here. It formed after various earthquakes. If I wanted to get technical, I would tell you about how this area was thought to be a strike-slip setup with a step-over, which developed into a pull-apart basin, but I won't."

"And now?" queried Janet.

"And now it is thought to be a fault wedge type of pull-apart basin caused by the subsidence of an intervening block bounded by two sub-strands of the master fault, leading to what is called a negative flower structure."

"Which means?"

"Which means one side of the lake is moving towards us while the other side is moving away but that there is an area in the middle somewhere moving from right to left. Furthermore, the floor of the lake is being pushed downwards at the same time."

"So if we have an earthquake?"

"Well anything from a bit of a jolt to a massive shift could easily cause the lake to flood depending on which fault gains prominence."

"Now that you have dazzled me with your science, what part of Eden or the garden do you reckon this could have been?"

"Well this river we are close to is the Tigris of today. Lake Hazar would not have been here at the dawn of time. I don't think so anyway. It may have been in Noah's time, or even shortly after the fall. The Bible is pretty clear that all four rivers came from the same source though. That is why I pooh-pooh the idea of the Garden of Eden being at Al-Quinah in Southern Iraq. That is where the present day Euphrates and Tigris merge. There is a tree there called the Adam tree, but I believe it to be so far off the truth that you can forget it. I believe Abraham would have been familiar with it but not Adam.

"Anyway, I digress. That doesn't surprise you does it?

"There is the possibility that this river did flow into or from of the Garden. Earthquakes will have disrupted things in this area; hence, the birth of Lake Hazar, but God and Adam could have been in this area. I find it interesting that the Euphrates and Tigris are so close together here. It may have been that in early times this current Tigris and the current Euphrates could have come from a lake situated in this general area, and been one river flowing into the Garden or they could have been two separate rivers flowing from the garden. If either of those possibilities were correct then God and Adam could have walked and talked here."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Janet. "Carry on round the lake or what?"

"I think we will go up into the hills a bit eh? Follow one of these tributary rivers for a bit to see what we can find from both a geological and biological aspect."

"So it's sleep now?"

"Oh I think so."

Eti headed into his tent and the sounds of gentle snoring soon joined the other nighttime noises. Janet continued to gaze up at the stars and out across the lake. There was a feeling of calmness and confidence in her. She did not believe she felt a 'presence', but certainly something she was unable to put her finger on. She found her bed and instantly fell into a deep undisturbed sleep.

The next day dawned calm and clear. It was also very still and quite humid.

"A bit like earthquake weather back in New Zealand," said Janet to a skeptical Eti.

After breakfast, they repacked and went back to Gezin. They purchased a few items they needed and noted on their website where they were and where they were heading. Eti included his information and thoughts on the geology of Lake Hazar. They then headed up the valley towards Yesilova. While Lake Hazar and its towns were clearly geared towards tourism, the surrounding area was strictly agricultural. There was a mixture of old and modern. The harvesting of seed was done using old fashioned machinery towed by modern tractors. Sheep and cattle grazed haphazardly, not confined to nice rectangular fields, or paddocks as New Zealanders called them. Beehives appeared to be the same the world over.

Yesilova boasted the required Turkish flag and a Minaret higher than its surrounding buildings. An intriguing sight was a solar panel set up on the top of an old shed.

As they moved further into the valley and higher up the foothills, they came upon huge boulders. Clearly they had been part of the surrounding hills but some were the size of houses and bigger.

Eti continued to point out geological formations and, with his explanations, it was easy to see where earthquakes had changed the landscape. Whenever they came upon a bush, tree, flower or grass that they could not recall having previously seen, they would photograph it, check it against books of fauna and flora that Eti carried, and if it was not listed, they would press it into an album. The day was pleasant and they were quite oblivious of time. Before they knew it, the temperature was dropping and darkness was extending her tentacles.

As had become their routine, before going to bed they reviewed their day and updated their personal diaries. Their review revealed three items they had been unable to identify; two were grasses and one was a bush.

"Do you think there is any possibility of these being descendants from the Garden?" asked Janet.

"Who knows," replied Eti. "If not, we may become famous for finding some new flora and get it named after us."

"In your heart of hearts Eti, do you think we will find Eden somewhere here?"

"If God wants us too," replied Eti. "As we've both said before, and must not forget, the Bible says that God made a garden in the East at a place called Eden. A river flowed out from the garden and split into four. Eden and the Garden are probably two separate places. As I said before, I reckon Lake Van, or somewhere near there, is probably where the garden was. Let's face it. As you so rightly pointed out, water cannot flow up hill so the headwaters of the garden river would have to be higher up than the garden, and the place where it separates into four would have to be lower than the garden. Quite probably, the current rivers are not the originals, but they may have been part of them. That means this area could have been part of the Garden.

"Also, we have to remember when God booted Adam and Eve out of the garden; he put cherubim's and a flaming sword at the East of the garden to protect the tree of life. I have to believe that they are still in place. How and where and in what form I don't know. Maybe only God knows. I think, myself, that the sword will be judgment though."

"So we won't find it will we?"

"Who knows the way of God Janet? Certainly not us. Don't forget though, he has given you this task."

The next day dawned hot, still and humid. Janet's earthquake weather. As they prepared and ate breakfast, a helicopter circled overhead and then disappeared.

"How many times have we had a helicopter circle us Janet?" asked Eti.

"Probably at least half a dozen," replied Janet.

"Do you think it might be those Galapagos people Jason was telling us about?"

"Very likely. A helicopter always appears and circles us within a couple of days of us reporting our position on the web. As long as they stay in the air they will not be able to check what we've found so let them do whatever they want I say."

A distant rumbling stopped their conversation. They looked quizzically at each other. The birds stopped their singing. A palpable and heavy silence grabbed them. Janet and Eti stood up and took a step towards each other. A jolt threw them together. The ground moved up and down as well as backwards and forwards: so it seemed anyway. Janet and Eti clung to each other. A crashing sound came from the south. They automatically looked. A huge boulder, no two boulders, were rumbling towards them. The size of houses, they were squashing all before them. Smaller rocks crumbled, bushes and trees were pushed into the soil. Goats and other animals ran for safety. Eti and Janet broke apart and Eti pulled Janet behind him as he dashed to one side. Glancing back, Janet stumbled and pulled Eti down with her. Janet started to scream. Jumping back to his feet, Eti scooped Janet up into his arms and ran from the boulders paths. One of the boulders cast a nearby tree aside as it hurtled by, gathering pace as it went. The ground was still moving, and in several places, foot wide cracks had appeared. Snapping and crashing noises continued for a few more minutes as Janet and Eti lay holding each other. A deep silence then settled. The ground stayed still. Gradually the birds began talking again. Normal sounds returned. Animals tentatively moved about.

"Are you okay?" asked Eti.

Janet nodded as Eti helped her to her feet. With their arms still round each other, they drew comfort from the warmth generated. Slowly they pulled apart and checked each other for injuries. Eti was unmarked, but Janet had grazed elbows and knees where she had fallen. Her left ankle ached a bit but there was no sign of swelling and she could stand on it without bad pain. Her toes moved and she declared herself unharmed.

In the distance, they could see smoke. It was coming from somewhere near Lake Hazar. The air remained still and they could now hear the sound of sirens.

First, they took stock of themselves. Their tents were both untouched and while one of the boulders had gone very close, their cooker and packs were likewise untouched. They repacked their gear and headed back towards Lake Hazar.

As they approached Kartaldere, they realised how big the earthquake must have been. There was the sound of a siren still blaring. Car horns were sounding in a continuous harsh tone. Burglar alarms were ringing. While the cacophony of noise was horrendous, the human keening and screaming were worse. While the roads had only consisted of packed earth, they were now ripped apart. Craters several feet deep pockmarked them. Where they wound round hillsides, they had disappeared. The majority of buildings had suffered extensive damage. Janet and Eti approached a car. A falling tree had crushed it. Trapped inside was a woman. The tree had crushed the roof and pushed the steering wheel down trapping her thighs. One of the branches had broken both her legs and almost severed them. The woman was conscious but shock looked to have rendered her speechless. She looked at Janet and Eti without expression.

Eti crouched down beside her. He smiled as he took hold of her hands. The movement, while slight, was enough to shift her sideways. Eti jumped back in terror as the woman slumped towards him. With severed thighs, she had bled out. The look at Janet and Eti had been her last living act.

Turning away Janet and Eti could hear the sound of a baby crying in a house. A crack in the road ran straight to the house and then through it. This had caused the house to also crack and the roof had fallen in. Eti could see some coloured item that could have been either clothes or a blanket. Working frantically, he pulled at bits of wood and rock as he tried to find a way into the collapsed building. Finally, he was able to see the child. It had been in a highchair when the earthquake had struck and knocked it over. The child's left arm was trapped under the chair. Where it had fallen, a table and a wooden beam protected it. There was a small gap between two pieces of stone, but it was not large enough to let Eti through to the child. Janet became stuck when she tried to squeeze through the same gap. She tried to wriggle backwards but that was also impossible. Fear gripped her. She started to struggle frantically.

"Janet, Janet," shouted Eti. "Stop. Stop still. Stop struggling. You'll only make matters worse."

Janet continued to struggle.

"Stop Janet. Please stop," implored Eti. "Wait just a second. You are making things worse."

It was then that the rumbling started again. Janet was unaware of it but Eti could hear it. He knew what it was. Looking about him, he saw a piece of metal pipe lying on the ground. He picked it up and as the ground started to roll, he jammed it into a crack to one side of Janet. Then the rolling ground, caused by an after-shock, freed up one of the rocks forming the hole through which Janet was trying to reach the baby. With a frantic shove on the bar, Eti was able to free up enough space for Janet to fall through. The rolling stopped and then there was another sharp jolt. Dust rose up around Janet and she became disorientated. The sound of Eti's voice calmed her.

"Just try to stay where you are for a minute," it said. "Let the dust settle." The baby continued to cry.

"Stay calm. Stay calm," coached Eti.

Slowly the dust thinned. Janet could now see the baby as well as hear it. She crawled on hands and knees towards it. When she reached the baby, she found that the chair was in a reasonably clear area. She was able to lift the highchair and free the baby's arm. She then slipped the child out of the chair and cuddled her. She decided the baby was a girl due to the pink cardigan she was wearing. Janet rocked the baby back and forth until she calmed a little. Peering about, Janet was unable to see anyone else, but collapsed walls presented her with only a visible four foot by six foot area.

Janet slithered along on her behind, while cradling the baby, back to the hole where Eti waited. She handed the baby though the hole to Eti. She then tried to follow but found the hole smaller than previously. While the rolling had freed up the hole for a moment, the following jolt had crushed the rocks closer together. Janet's claustrophobia reignited itself. She could feel her agitation increasing. Her body temperature increased and her adrenaline re-kicked to commence her flee or fight impulses. The baby decided, at that point, that Eti's care was no match for Janet's. She started to scream. It pulled Janet's attention from her own situation to the baby's plight.

"The gap's too small Eti," Janet said in a soft voice.

Eti caught the alarm in Janet's voice. He took the baby out of the house and laid her in an open area and went back to Janet.

"Just let me have a look," he said. "There may be another way to get out."

Eti surveyed the area. His eyes settled on the car with the dead woman in it. An idea formed. He turned to Janet.

"I will have to get to that car with the dead woman in it," he said. "Hopefully there will be a car jack in it somewhere."

"Don't leave me Eti," pleaded Janet. "Please don't leave me."

"It will only be for a few seconds," soothed Eti. "Hold on, I know what I'll do." He went to where he had placed the baby. He picked her up and passed her back through the hole to Janet. "Here," he said. "Hold her until I get back. If you feel another quake coming, put her back through the hole. She will be safe there." He did not explain Janet's safeness. He left Janet and headed for the car with a prayer on his lips.

At the car, Eti found that to open the boot he would need the ignition key. He went back to where the dead woman lay slumped to one side with her non-seeing stare. Even knowing it was only a body, with its soul no longer present, Eti cringed to touch it. He gingerly closed the body's eyes. He then tried to remove the ignition key. It would not come free. His position made the operation difficult. Finally, he found the button that would release the key. It involved him having to lean against the dead woman. With a sigh of relief he got the key out and then yelled in fright as the woman burped. Shaking himself, he went to the back of the car and opened the boot. He located the wheel brace and jack and found the vehicle's first aid kit. He ran back to Janet. He positioned various other pieces of solid rock until he was able to provide a stable platform for the jack. He then pumped the jack until it took up the pressure to one side of the hole. Once it was stable he reached in, took the baby from Janet, and placed her back outside in the open.

"Move back Jan," said Eti. "Better to be safe than sorry."

Janet shuffled back towards the highchair. Eti then resumed pumping the jack. He was able to increase the hole size by two or three inches. Prior to attempting the hole, Janet took a last look around the area. She located a bag partially covered by the table. She was able to pull it free. It contained a baby's bottle, a tin of formulae, some tins of baby food, a change of clothes and of all the blessings, disposable diapers.

Eti had found some more pipe and stout pieces of wood with which he had shored up the hole.

Janet slipped through without incident. She immediately reclaimed the baby and rocked it back into silence. Eti smiled at the baby talk in the midst of the carnage. He left Janet heating a bottle of formulae on their camp element while he went further afield to assist wherever he could. It was late afternoon by the time he returned to where Janet and the baby were. Besides Janet, there were another fifteen or so people around her. Ominously, off to one side, lay six wrapped bodies of the dead. The baby was now with another woman.

Janet filled Eti in on what had happened while he was away. The woman in the car was the baby's mother. The care of the baby had now passed to an Auntie. The baby's father was away in another village and his situation was unknown. The others in the group were parts of various families. Some of their immediate families were among the dead awaiting burial that night. The others were uncertain of where their families were. Janet had acted as a calming influence and convinced them all to pool their resources and provide some stability for those still alive.

Eti told how he had joined a group of six others and gone from house to house attempting to locate anyone alive. They had rescued twelve people and found twelve bodies. They had left the bodies where they were but marked their location for later recovery. Gradually a semblance of order established itself. A drawn up list of those missing, compared with a list of those known to be in the area, showed most people were accounted for, although two or three relatives of the town groups still required checking on.

Once Eti was sure Janet was managing, he had something to eat and then left to resume working with his assigned group. He suggested to Janet that she post a report on the internet, if she was able to make a mobile telephone connection, to let everyone know they were alive and safe.

The following days went past in a blur. They were days of frantic activity. They saved the living and recovered the dead from buildings and vehicles. Formal legal protocols existed for identification of the dead, but in most cases, the burial of both the identified and unknown bodies was the norm. The community was a small one and everybody generally knew everybody else. As a result, the equivalent of a Justice of the Peace made a note, and rescuers buried the deceased.

Janet and Eti worked as hard as anyone else did and for Eti it was a golden opportunity to spread his Christian message. While one hundred percent of the people he dealt with were Muslim, for once they were open to a different version. The women questioned Janet about her God as their men folk relayed Eti's words back to them. Janet did not have Eti's faith or ability, but was able to convey her version of her beliefs. Neither Janet nor Eti were able to tell if any of the people believed them or not. Certainly none accepted Jesus in their presence.

After a week, things had settled down a little. The Turks are a resilient people and they had managed to build themselves some makeshift shelters and organised water and cooking facilities. The freshly dug graves, crushed buildings, and vehicles were obvious reminders of tragedy, but according to the locals it was Allah's will. Eti's God got the shove once the local Mullah had visited his flock.

Janet and Eti packed up their gear one morning and headed on down towards Gezin. The sights on the way varied. The odd village appeared untouched while others showed moderate damage. The Martinet at Yesilova still stood untouched. Gezin, in some areas reduced to rubble, also retained the martinet and synagogue untouched, along with the main street and shopping area. Janet updated their website, blog and e-mails at the internet cafe, while Eti purchased some needed supplies.

Once those tasks were completed, they walked along the Lake Hazar shoreline to Plajkoy again, and then headed out along the beginning of the mighty Tigris River.

JOAN OF ARC

Chapter 17

They had travelled less than a mile when a helicopter circled above them and then carried on into the distance, apparently following the Tigris River.

"That's the first one that's taken any interest in us since before the earthquake," pointed out Janet.

"Yeah," agreed Eti. "I imagine most of the choppers would have been involved in Search and Rescue and such until now. They knew where we were so probably knew we would have been staying put for a while. Probably hoped we had been killed. Oops, bit judgmental don't you think?"

"Maybe. How far along the Tigris are we going to go?" questioned Janet.

"Not far actually," said Eti. "A bit further along here the river makes a big 'dog leg'. It circles back upon itself. There is a large fertile valley as a result. On one side of the valley is a place named Kiziltepe and on the other side two tributaries join the Tigris. One comes from the mountains to the South of Lake Hazar, and the other comes from the Drejfatih Dam.

"I want to have a bit of a look around the valley and talk to a few people. It's a very fertile area because over the years erosion from the mountains and hills has been carried down and deposited there. While it is probably unlikely that anything of interest to us would have been carried down, I believe it is worth a check and a bit of a chat."

The sight that met their eyes as they entered the valley could have been mistaken for a New Zealand valley dated in the 1950's. The canals providing water were the only incongruent things. As regarded the rest, the paddocks were planted in different varieties of grass, vegetables and crops. Orchards and vineyards rubbed fences with paddocks of cantaloupes or walnut trees. Donkeys competed with tractors and cars. On house roofs, satellite dishes competed with solar heating panels. Elaborate houses and buildings competed with corrugated iron lean-too sheds.

Janet and Eti located the local person in charge, or spokesman, for Kiziltepe. In New Zealand, the person would have been the Mayor or local Councillor. He spoke with passable English. In response to Eti's questions, he directed them to an old man regarded as the local historian. His name was Muhammad Hakim. Mr. Hakim turned out to be a well-educated and erudite gentleman who had studied in America and obtained a degree in Political Studies at a Mid-Western University.

Over a bottle of local red wine, drunk by Mohammad and Janet because Eti did not touch alcohol, and a substantial meal prepared by Mrs. Hakim, they gained the best insight into the region they could have asked for. It appeared Hakim had little time for the current political regime, but even less time for the terrorists operating in nearby parts of the Eastern Anatolian region. He discussed the P.K.K. or Kurdistan Workers Party rebels who wanted autonomous rule for their part of Turkey. His advice was to stay clear of them. It appeared that generally they operated close to the Iraqi border but also the Syrian and Iran borders. They claimed that the greater part of Eastern Turkey was theirs.

Hakim was a nominal Muslim. He appreciated the close relationship of the Christian and Islamic faiths but preferred to acknowledge neither.

One room of his house was a mini museum. It contained photographs and artifacts of objects found and/or used in the area. Eti found only a couple of items to interest him. They were both pieces of rock. Imbedded in them were trilobites. Janet and Hakim listened while Eti explained how the pieces of rock originated in that period of the earth's growth known as the Cambrian period. He explained that most, if not all, early life appeared in the Cambrian period. Prior to those signs of life, rocks showed no evidence of anything other than rocks. Evolutionists, he explained, have a problem with those signs of life. For the trilobites to have reached the stage they had, there should have been examples of a 'lead-up' life form in pre-Cambrian rocks. Eti's summary consisted of three words: Problem for Evolutionists.

Eti and Janet declined to stay the night as they had already set up their campsite. They agreed to stay in touch. Back at the campsite, Janet was keen to hear if Eti had seen or heard anything of use to their quest.

"Not really Jan," said Eti. "It was all as I would expect. The Cambrian period rocks were interesting, but the Garden of Eden won't be proved by Trilobites. Besides, the rocks could have come from anywhere. They need not have arrived via erosion in the mountains. Some hunting dude could have picked them up somewhere and dropped them in this area. Still, we will note it any way."

"So tomorrow we head where?"

"Off into the hills Mrs."

"Because?"

"Because following the river will tell us little. Any authenticity will have been destroyed, or contaminated, long ago. Even the fish and plant life will have been detrimentally affected. Dams have prevented fish and water-life from travelling upstream to spawn, and copper mining and the like have polluted the Tigris and it's tributaries. No, we need to get up into the hills and mountains. Some of them will have been sea beds, swamps, or lowlands prior to being uplifted. Any positive evidence will be there."

The next day found them leaving the fertility of the valley behind. They followed a tributary up towards the Drejfatih Dam near Isiktepe. The trip took two days as Eti spent time photographing and checking rocks and vegetation as he had before the earthquake. He said that while he did not expect to find anything of significance, it was just possible that water released from the dam may have scoured out portions of the embankments revealing something of interest. Eti discovered nothing of note.

Again, they took stock of the situation, and decided to return to where they had been when the earthquake struck, prior to heading further on up into the mountains. Five days later, they were treated like royalty when they arrived at Kaltadere. They spent two days there firming up friendships before resuming their tramp into the hills. During the day, they once again observed what they now referred to as 'their' helicopter. Each time they waved but received no acknowledgement from it. They reached Sarikamis and then cut across to Kashan. Their plan was to travel through rugged mountainous country to Esenlik on a tributary of the Tigris leading to the Dicle Dam.

The trek across the mountains took two weeks. To Eti it confirmed in his mind and soul God's creation. Janet was likewise inclined to accept the rugged beauty as indicating 'something'. The mountains were rugged, steep, barren, plentiful and more, all at the same time. Spectacular waterfalls tumbled hundreds of feet onto smooth rocks that, to Janet, appeared to have been there since time began. High mountains led to fertile valleys. There were no signs of habitation in those valleys and it was easy to believe they were the first to have set foot in them. Birds sang in languages they had never heard before. Beautiful flowers beckoned. Some of the valleys had wild fruit that they were able to eat. Eti was able to ascertain what family the fruit was from and even discovered domestic varieties that had to have been carried there by the wind.

It was easy to see where the winter months covered mountains in snow. Virtually no vegetation grew there. The metal slopes were slippery and dangerous. Eti insisted that for safety, they cross those areas roped together.

In many places, there were caves where they were able to find night shelter, or protection from rain or wind.

An easy intimacy developed between them. Both felt drawn to each other, as people spending a great deal of time together often are. There was possibly a sexual element to their attraction but neither went there. Janet questioned Eti extensively about his Christian beliefs and he expounded them as best he could. While academically Eti was an over-achiever, he found difficulty explaining the passions he felt inside him.

The helicopter continued to appear every two or three days, circle them, and then disappear. Neither Janet nor Eti knew how the pilot was able to locate them with such accuracy. They discussed the possibility of an electronic tracking device in their bags, but had no idea of what it would look like. They decided to ignore the possibility.

During the tramp to Esenlik, they ensured that they did not enter any of the remote villages they encountered. They wanted to be entirely on their own, and therefore open to any supernatural influences that might be at play. Such a desire turned out to be impossible. From time to time they encountered itinerate travelers. Usually they were using donkeys or horses as transport. Conversations, due to language difficulties, were brief. The travelers treated the appearance of two foreigners as nothing unusual. Janet and Eti noted that they all carried firearms.

About halfway through their journey, as they were bypassing the village of Bozcenak, the helicopter appeared again. Unusually, it hovered in front of them at a height of about one hundred feet. It was not a big machine. It seemed quite lightweight with a glass or perspex bubble in which the pilot and co-pilot sat. The machine turned sideways so the co-pilot was closest to them. Janet and Eti watched as he opened his door. He then picked something up from behind his seat and pointed it at them.

"What's that?" asked Janet.

"Good Lord," yelled Eti. "It's a gun." He grabbed hold of Janet's arm and pulled her after him towards one of many rocky outcrops. As they ran, little puffs of dirt sprouted up on their left and right. They could hear the crack of gunfire and whine of ricochets. Eti pulled Janet down behind the outcrop. The shots did not stop. The helicopter moved to circle the outcrop and Eti pulled Janet with him to keep the outcrop between them and the helicopter. It circled them twice, continuing to fire shots at them, and then turned and headed back to wherever it had come from.

Eti held Janet in his arms. She was crying hysterically. Mucus ran from her nose and she was shivering violently. Eti found himself also shaking. They clung desperately to each other. Gradually the shaking eased and the tears and runny nose stopped.

"I don't think I am ready to die Eti," said Janet. "This place is dangerous. Let's go home. Please, let us go home."

"Hey Mrs. I hear you. I don't want to be here either."

"I've never been shot at before,"

"I must admit I've never had the pleasure before either."

"I am scared Eti, really scared."

"So am I Jan, so am I."

"What are we going to do? What if they come back?" Janet started to shake again. "I am so cold."

Eti held her close, trying to get some warmth into her. He kept petting her, and making soothing noises, as he did not know what else to do. Eventually Janet calmed sufficiently to disentangle herself from Eti. He stood up and pulled Janet to her feet. He looked around.

"Let's find somewhere safer to hide while we think this through," he said. He took Janet by the hand, picked up their packs, and led her away from the area. As they left, Eti noticed two small pieces of lead lying on the ground. They were badly mangled. He realised they were probably the bullets fired at them. He picked them up and put them in a trouser pocket.

They found shelter in a cave. Eti scratched around and located enough wood to start a fire. He hoped the smoke was dispersing enough for it not to act as a beacon for anyone trying to locate them. He mixed up soup and made sure Janet ate enough to warm herself.

It was some time before Janet regained any colour in her face.

"Who were they Eti, and why us?" she asked.

"I don't know Jan. Thinking things over; I have come up with a couple of ideas. I am sure they are the ones who have been following us the whole time. At least the pilot was. I know it's hard to tell with the helmet on, but his movements, and the way he rolled his head and shoulders were the same as previously. I also think they were only trying to scare us. I don't think they actually intended to shoot us."

"They were real bullets Eti. It was a real gun. It was being pointed at us."

"Yes Jan," nodded Eti. "We were sitting ducks though. The bullets always went to the left or right of us, never behind or in front. Why did they make us circle that outcrop when they could have just sat right above us and we would have had nowhere to go? No, I am certain they were there to scare us off."

"They have succeeded. I want to go home. I don't care about Palmer. I don't care about the Garden of Eden. I just want to go home, be able to wake up in the morning and go to work and then go home to peace and quiet at night. Is that too much to ask?"

"Of course it's not. Right at this moment I am right with you."

"But?"

"Oh yes, there is always a 'but' isn't there," agreed Eti.

"The only but I see, is that but for the Grace of God we would be dead."

"Perhaps," agreed Eti. "As I said though, I think they were only trying to scare us off. If I am right, then the next question is why do they want to scare us off?"

"I don't care Eti. I need to get out of here."

"Okay, okay Jan," soothed Eti. "I hear you. Look, there is little we can do now. I suggest we stay here in the cave and let a little time go past. Maybe we should spend the night here and then reassess things in the morning. Let's face it; there is not much else we can do."

"Well," countered Janet, "At least let's tell everyone what has happened. We can e-mail them back home and also let KK know so he can report it to the Police. At home they can get the Government and Foreign Affairs involved to stir things up with the Turkish Government."

"Good idea," agreed Eti. He went to Janet's pack. As he picked it up, he noticed a hole in one side.

"When did you rip your pack?" he asked.

"I didn't know I had," said Janet getting up and joining him. "I haven't seen that before."

Eti opened the pack and pulled out the satellite telephone and computer. They were shattered. A ricochet had pierced Janet's pack and mangled both. While he did not want to show it, he was alarmed at how close Janet had come to being seriously injured. They gazed at each other for a while and then Janet began to shake again as she realised the significance of what she was seeing. The shaking became worse and then she started to keen. The wail got louder and louder. She started walking in circles, and when Eti tried to hold her, she pushed him away. In the end, Eti slapped her hard across the face, twice. The second slap was hard enough to knock her to the ground. Eti was then able to hold her. Her wailing had stopped but her shaking and tears had not. The tears soaked into Eti's shirt. Eventually she cried herself out. Eti continued to hold her and rock her as though she was a baby. She fell into an exhausted sleep in Eti's arms. For fear of awakening her, Eti stayed where he was, holding her. Daylight faded and darkness pulled her blanket over them. From time to time Janet jerked and stirred in her sleep but did not awaken. Dawn found Janet still in Eti's arms but with him also asleep. As rays of sunshine penetrated through the cave opening they both stirred. They continued to lie in each other's arms as reality joined them. Eventually Janet pulled herself free from Eti's arms and sat up.

"Sorry for being such a baby," she said.

"You were no baby," contradicted Eti also sitting up and wrapping his arms round his knees. "You were scared. So was I. How close you came to serious harm doesn't bear thinking about.

"Hey, hey it's alright," said Eti reaching out as he saw tears welling up in her eyes again.

"No it's okay," said Janet wiping the tears from her eyes with her knuckles. "I'll be okay in a minute. What I wouldn't give for a bath right now." She smiled. "Thanks Eti."

"My pleasure," he said.

As they set about preparing breakfast, Eti seemed, to Janet, to be turning something over in his mind. He showed all his usual cheerfulness but there was something withdrawn about him. Over their meal, Janet asked, "What troubling you Eti?" He smiled back at her. "Not just this situation," she added. "What is really troubling you?"

Again, he smiled. "Okay," he said. "I'll come clean." He seemed to relax. "As you know I am a Christian. Not the greatest, but a Christian never the less. How do I know I am a Christian? Because I have acknowledged Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose to life again on the third day. I have tried ever so hard to go where God leads me but finding the correct road is no easy task. I envy those who seem to cruise on through life without a worry. God seems to open doors for them, pay their bills, give them whatever they need, and all that without breaking a sweat. On the other hand, I struggle. I struggle with all types and kinds of sin. Several things I have tried have failed, and really, I have been wandering pretty aimlessly through university. Suddenly, this opportunity came, out of the blue, to do this research thing with you. It appeared as though God had suddenly said to me, 'This is what I have got for you.' I have thrown myself whole-heartedly into this and enjoyed it, but suddenly now things are spiraling out of control. We are being shot at, threatened, scared and are so very much alone.

"I have prayed for us to be safe and guided in the right direction. I put on a brave face but as we lay there last night, I felt abandoned. After yesterdays shooting my thoughts were the same as yours, to get home as quickly as possible. I know I was suggesting to you that they were not shooting at us, but merely trying to scare us, but really, I didn't know. I was just trying to be the hero for you.

"Janet, I think I am losing whatever faith I might have had. I thought God had sent me on this search to do his work, but now I think I did it to make me look good and a bit of a hero in the eyes of Jesse's family."

Janet moved to sit beside him. She put her arms round him.

"Hey," she comforted. "I think you are doing a great job. You say your prayers morning and night, say grace before meals and read your bible daily. Surely all that counts for God?"

Eti smiled ruefully.

"That makes me a plastic Christian, that's all. Day in and day out, I seem to be just going through the motions. I used to get an idea of what God wanted through my dreams, but I don't remember most of them these days."

Janet interrupted.

"You mean God has spoken to you in your dreams?"

"Yeah. Like, I don't see him on his throne telling me what to do. It is more that I dream a story and a person in that dream is doing something that clicks in my mind and remembering it when I awake makes me believe God has planted that dream in my mind."

"I had a dream last night," commented Janet.

"Oh yeah," said Eti. "You are not going to tell me it was God telling you to tell me that I am on the right track was it?"

"No. Usually I don't remember my dreams. Can I tell you about it?"

Eti nodded.

"Well, I dreamt that I was Joan of Arc. Well, I think it was her. She wasn't her though, she was me, or I was her if you get what I mean. Well, she, or I, was on a mission. I can't recall, or remember, what that mission was, but I was on it. I had an army with me armed to the teeth. We passed many people as we travelled along. Some cheered us on and others threw things at us and booed.

"We were attacked by, and fought with, numerous groups of bandits. We won all the fights. Then we became involved in a battle that we were loosing. People in my army were deserting and I was certain that we were going to be beaten. The bandits were closing in on me. Then, and you will laugh at this, a hero came out of no-where. He had a group of warriors with him. They attacked those against me and rescued me. The hero and I then joined forces and we headed off, with our combined armies, to complete my mission. We had just met a large dragon blocking our way when I woke up to find you holding me.

"Do you think you are my hero Eti?"

"Oh I don't think so Mrs.," laughed Eti. "It is an interesting dream though. Let me think about it. I get the feeling that it is important. In the meantime, let's get packed up and get out of here before anything else happens to us."

"Without a means of communication, what are we going to do?" asked Janet. "Where are we going to go?"

"I think we will carry on as we were. We will just have to be careful. If we hear an aeroplane or helicopter, we will have to hide. Likewise, if we see anyone, we will have to avoid them unless they are in a group. If we do meet a group I suggest we join them in going wherever they are going so we get to civilization safely. Sound like a plan?"

With Janet's agreement, they tidied up and set out.

The day was like so many of the days that had gone before: hot, routine and uneventful. When they made camp that night, it was as if the previous days happenings had occurred a long time previously. They had not met any human travelers, nor had they heard any human sounds. No helicopters had appeared. They found themselves able to discuss the previous day's events without getting upset or hysterical. They canvassed the possibility that the helicopter was associated with some of the brigand bands of terrorists that were a feature of the South Eastern Anatolian region, but decided that was unlikely.

"Have you thought about my dream?" asked Janet. It had played upon her mind most of the day.

"Indeed I have Mrs.," grinned Eti. "Cross my palm with silver and I will interpret it for you."

"Oh dear," responded Janet. "I seem to have left my purse at home."

"Okay then," smiled Eti. "Actually it has lifted me up Jan."

"So it means something to you?"

"I believe so. I think you realise that it does as well. I think you were Joan of Arc in the dream. Your army was those who are backing you in your search for the Garden of Eden. Those booing you are those on Palmer's side. I am not sure whom you were fighting when you started to lose, but I do have a possible enemy. That possible suspect would be the group calling itself Galapagos Inc. Maybe, maybe not! You should perhaps consider another possibility: that the group you were fighting when you started to lose actually represented yourself giving up. Anyway, your hero then arrives on the scene."

"You were my hero?" joked Janet.

"No," smiled Eti. "I was probably one of the crowd cheering you on because I was with you before you started to lose."

"So who is my hero?"

"Jesus."

"Jesus? The Jesus?"

"Is there any other?"

"And the dragon?"

"Satan."

"I thought he was a serpent?"

"He was but he can be many things. In this case, I think he is a dragon and that the dragon incorporates Galapagos Inc., Marshall, Palmer and all unbelievers.

"Janet, I believe your Minister was right. You are being used by God to do great things."

A silence settled over Eti and Janet.

"I hope you are wrong Eti," whispered Janet. "I hope you are wrong. I'm no heroine. I am just a silly woman who let her ego and stubbornness get out of hand. If I am doing this for God, then he has chosen the wrong person."

Chapter 18

The next day went routinely, as did the following three. It was on the fifth day after the attack that they came upon the helicopter. The day, as with the previous few, had started out routinely. The area was extremely mountainous but their fitness levels, by now, were extremely high, and they were making good progress to wards Kalkali. They had stopped for a midday break beside a mountain stream. Just upstream from where they were, they could see a waterfall. These had become quite common occurrences since leaving Lake Hazar and they no longer regarded them with awe. As Janet scooped water from the stream, she noticed what appeared to be an oil slick. It was on the water closest to the stream edge. She called Eti over and showed him. He also agreed that it looked and acted like oil. They followed the stream up towards the waterfall. There was oil in the pool at its base. They returned to their lunch area and packed up having decided to take the time to investigate the source of the oil. It took them three hours to find a way to the top of the waterfall. That was where they found the helicopter. The smell led them to it. Lying on its side, with its rotors damaged, oil and aviation fuel had leaked from it and found its way to the stream.

"Phew, what a stink," said Janet when they were still several hundred yards from it.

"Something has died," agreed Eti.

When they actually reached the helicopter, they both took one look in the cockpit bubble and vomited. Two bodies lay inside the bubble but were barely recognizable as humans. They were hugely bloated, and although still wearing helmets, they only had partial skulls showing under them. Birds and other creatures had eaten the flesh away. The rest of their bodies had not fared any better. The easily accessible skin had been eaten, and their clothing was in the process of being torn away for further access. Maggots crawled everywhere and the flies were like a solid black cloud.

Once Janet and Eti had recovered, they sat up-wind from the crash site.

"What do we do Eti," asked Janet. "We can't just leave them there can we?"

"Yes we can," replied Eti. "That's the chopper that attacked us. They have got what they deserved don't you think?"

"You are probably right, but even so . . ."

"Okay, I know you're right. We have to do something."

"There's not much soil is there."

"Not really. I know, we will wrap them in blankets, or whatever we can find in the chopper, and cover them with stones. At least that will stop the animals and birds getting at them. Then, when we reach civilization we'll let the authorities know and they can come and collect them if they want to."

"Sounds like a plan Eti."

"First though, we are going to have to get them out of there. It's not going to be easy or pretty. Do you think we are up to it?"

"It's just going to have to be done isn't it? They're rotten so it's likely they'll fall apart isn't it?"

"Yep."

"So how do you reckon we go about it?"

"With the chopper on its side, we are going to have to take them out the top door. First, though, we'll have to cut them free of their harnesses. Are you ready?"

It took three hours to remove the bodies and get them onto a tarpaulin engine cover they discovered tucked behind the seats. To start with, they were stopping to vomit, or reach, every few minutes. They were also being very careful how they handled the bodies. In the end though, they just wanted to get the job over with and treated the bodies as though they were cleaning up animal remains. By the time it was too dark to continue, they had the bodies, and their various parts, out of the helicopter and lying on the tarpaulin. They covered them by folding in the sides of the tarpaulin and weighing it down with stones to prevent any scavengers getting at the contents. They lit a fire nearby to further deter interference, and then camped themselves some distance outside the smell zone.

Exhausted, physically and emotionally, they fell quickly into a deep sleep.

The next day they scooped out a small hollow at the base of a rock wall and dragged the tarpaulin and its contents over to it. They managed to get the tarpaulin into the hollow so that its contents lay on top of it with the edges folded over as it had been during the night. They then covered it with the soil they had scooped out, and placed rocks on top. They said a small prayer over the gravesite asking God to forgive the dead.

They spent the remainder of the day going through the helicopter to check what it carried. They had also gone though the occupant's pockets and clothing before burial. The resultant pile was considerable, and included firearms. The helicopter logbook confirmed it as the one that had been checking on them. The pilot was from Iraq and the co-pilot, or person who had been in the co-pilots seat, was an American named Randy Albert Henderson from California. Both had cellphones, but there was no coverage available. The radio in the helicopter did not work, and while they located what the thought was the 'black box', which was actually yellow, they were unable to remove it. They did not recognize any distress signal equipment that they could have used to summon help.

Amongst the items recovered were several specimen jars. Eti examined them with great interest. They contained chips of rock, soil and vegetation. One of them even contained a plant that Eti had never seen before. He was unable to identify it via his books either. Affixed to the top of each jar were a date and a GPS location. There was no computer. The helicopter base was in the town of Batman. Janet and Eti rued the fact that their computer was down and that they were unable to check the GPS locations. In the end, Eti took the specimen jar with the unidentifiable plant and put it into his own pack. He made a note of the other GPS locations and the contents of each specimen jar. They then placed everything into steel toolboxes and left them beside the helicopter. With them, they took the logbook and the personal stuff relating to the helicopter's occupants, including their cellphones.

Three days later Janet and Eti made it to Halkali. From there, they made contact with the Police who interviewed them at length. At the request of the Police, they camped at Halkali until the helicopter and human remains were recovered. The Police confirmed that the bullets recovered by Eti had come from the rifles recovered with the helicopter. However, as Janet and Eti were alive, the offenders were dead, and they were all foreigners, the matter went no further.

Eti and Janet had removed the memory cards from the cellphones, so when the cellphones had not worked, the Police threw them away. The Police thanked them for their assistance, wished them well, and provided transport down to Diyarbakir.

The luxury of a bed, warm baths, fresh laundry and food seduced Janet and Eti. They allowed themselves two days of idleness, after they had placed a comment on their website from an internet café, advising they were safe and sound, and with a promise to update happenings in the near future.

After their break, they knew there were decisions required regarding the future of their expedition. Janet and Eti spent a solid day setting out all that had happened to them since they had left Lake Hazar to travel over the mountains to Halkali. They posted the information to their website. They then e-mailed Jason in New Zealand. They gave him the details of the helicopter, including its registration details, the details of the pilot and co-pilot and advised that they were couriering him two cellphone memory cards. They asked Jason to get his Private Investigator friend to look into all the information and provide a report upon it. Janet also made an insurance claim on her computer and their satellite telephone. The insurance company settled immediately as they had reported the matter to the Police. Janet had thought there might have been a problem as they had been shot at, but the company paid promptly. Eti thought that their media profile might have had something to do with it.

A computer specialist in Diyarbakir removed the hard drive from their old computer and downloaded its contents onto a new computer. Eti entered the GPS co-ordinates for the specimen collection sites taken from the jars on the helicopter. In the main, they were from the sites he and Janet had travelled.

"Why did they get stuff from where we have already been?" asked Janet.

"I would say so they could check that we had not found anything out of the ordinary, or, if we had, that they were aware of it and could prepare a defense or something."

"That's pretty desperate stuff. We would have allowed them access to our findings for them to recheck wouldn't we?"

"Yes, but we are not them. They are thinking everyone is like them. If they found something, they would never let anyone else peer check it until they had put safeguards into place to ensure their version was going to be the one and only version."

"Sad."

"Very."

"What about those other GPS readings?"

"I am not sure Janet. The unknown plant one is from the Lake Van area and the others are from widely separate places; Mus, Munzar, Vadiri, Milli, Parki, Cozre, Hakkon, Patnos and even some from Hani on the Armenian border."

"So they know something we don't?"

"Possibly, but really we have considered most of those areas. Some we are choosing to ignore, at the moment, because the task is too great. Besides, we now know what they found at each place from my examination of the specimens.

"The fact that they have a specimen from Patmos is interesting although my examination of it showed it only to be a sample of petrified wood. Maybe that fact requires further examination. The Lake Van plant is what really interests me but we have already decided to 'do' that area anyway. I don't know anything about that place up on the Armenian Border."

"Okay, so what next?"

"I'll send off all the samples we have taken, along with the 'Van' plant we got from the baddies. My colleagues can analyse them, compare them etc. and ensure that they conform to what one would expect to find where they were located. I'm sending the 'Van' plant because I am actually hoping for great things from that."

"Do you think it could be something worthwhile?"

"Maybe. It's probably just something I am unfamiliar with, but you never know. Let's wait and see. If it has possibilities, we will look further into it when we get to Lake Van. We have to consider the possibility that it might be a red herring so let's continue to where we were going to go, and see what eventuates."

"So you are going to carry on?"

"I am tempted," said Eti seriously. He took Janet's hands into his. "If you still feel as though you cannot carry on then so be it. I'll either carry on alone or call it quits also."

"Have you prayed about it Eti?"

"Yes."

"And have you had an answer?"

"I believe so."

"And that answer told you to go on."

Eti nodded. They sat in silence for a while.

"Exactly what did you ask?" queried Janet quietly.

When Eti did not immediately reply, Janet pulled her hands free.

"If you would rather not say," she said. "I would understand?"

Eti took her hands again. He looked embarrassed.

"No, no, it's alright." He said. "It's just that I am not good at explaining how these things happen." He paused as he collected his thoughts. "I asked God for his guidance. I went over all that had happened, even though he would already know. I then asked whether or not I should continue. I had set out a list of what I thought a course of action was, and I held that in my hand as I asked. I got this warm calm feeling come over me. I have had it many times before. It is hard to actually explain, but my mind becomes suddenly at peace. There is no voice in my head or anything like that. It is just a comfortable feeling. I know that I am not explaining this very well but that's just the way it feels to me. As I said, I have had the feeling before and I have always taken it as a 'go ahead, I'll be with you' acknowledgement."

"That seems like an answer to me Eti."

"Yeah," agreed Eti. "I know. I just don't feel right about it though. There is just a nagging bit of doubt there. Anyway, what about you? Have you decided?"

"Actually I have," acknowledged Janet. She pulled Eti to her and gave him a hug. "I want to go on. I know I said that I just had to get out of here, but just being able to relax for a while and analyse, if that's the right expression, the pros and cons, I have changed my mind.

"Maybe I am just being bloody minded, but I don't see why I should be pushed around. Perhaps it is the feminist coming out in me."

"Was there any other feeling or anything?"

"You want to know if God spoke to me?"

"Perhaps."

"I don't know. Maybe. That dream with Joan of Arc had a bit to do with it. The fact that those who shot at us have died seemed a bit like Divine justice. Oh, I don't know Eti. It just seems that I need to go on. Let's not analyse it. Let's just see where it takes us."

Eti squeezed her hand

"I'm all for that," he promised.

"So where do you reckon we go now?" asked Janet eating another delicious apricot, a fruit Diyarbikir was famous for.

"Ah," sighed Eti. "The big question. I know I said that we should do Batman, Mus and Tercan but I really do want to go to Lake Van. Let's leave them at this stage. I have a good feeling about Van. With Mt Ararat not far from it, it appears, in a warm feeling type of way, to be important. Mt Judi, or Cudi Dagi, near Crzie also has some history regarding Noah's Ark. Actually I prefer Mt Judi over Ararat for the site of Noah's Ark. For a long time, Mt Judi was considered to be where the Ark came to rest. Cizre, the modern day city, is said to be the original site of a town called Thamanine, founded by Noah. Also, a so-called Tomb of Noah is there, and local legend has it that the Mosque incorporates remnants of the Ark. I know where Noah landed doesn't necessarily equate with Eden, but even so . . ."

"Let's put the Ark to one side for another day," suggested Janet. "Let's do Van."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Eti. "Hey, perhaps I am a poet and don't know it."

"What?"

"Van and plan."

"Don't give up your day job. So when, where, how?"

They opened their maps, and Eti opened one of his notebooks. He told Janet how Lake Van was Turkey's largest lake and that it had no outlet, the original outlet having been blocked by an ancient volcanic eruption. Geologists believed that the eruption that blocked the outlet occurred in the Quaternay period of the Pleistocene era."

"Gee," interrupted Janet. "The Pleistocene era. I'm impressed."

"Now, now," grinned Eti. "Sarcasm."

"Well," responded Janet.

"Oh such ignorance," sighed Eti with another grin. "What it all means is that secular dating would put the date of the volcanic eruption blocking the outlet as between naught and sixty million years ago. In evolutionary terms, the Quaternay period means the era of recent life: when man first appeared. Creationists say that everything prior to six thousand years ago happened at the time of creation. I would say it could fit within the parameters of when Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden."

"Really, Eti, really?"

"It opens me up to a lot of criticism from my 'peers' but there are those who would support my view. It would seem, to me, that this volcano, Nemrut, appeared about the time God created man, or shortly after. For us, you and me, perhaps this volcano appeared when God banished man from the Garden of Eden. So, you can see why I like Lake Van and its time frame in relation to what we are looking for.

"Now, if I may, let me carry on with what I was saying about Lake Van.

"It also contains four islands within its 1,499 square miles of area and is very salty. So salty in fact, that there appears to be only one breed of fish capable of living in it, the Pearl Mullet.

"Various geological expeditions have explored the area and drilled core holes to ascertain climatic and geological data. That information shows that there have been at least fifteen volcanic eruptions and that the water level of the lake varied dramatically in the 1990's and is currently on the rise again. Why, I don't know, I'd have to look into that. Probably something to do with goodness knows what.

"There are also a lot of Monasteries around the lake and the islands in it. That suggests to me that there must be some good spiritual vibes in the area."

"Spiritual vibes?"

Eti blushed.

"Well, yeah," he acknowledged. "You know, the things that give you good warm, happy, caring feelings."

Janet laughed.

"I knew what you meant."

"Of course you did," agreed Eti. "I suggest we fly to Van, to start with, and see what historical information we can find and then do the Western and Northern shores. With luck we'll be able to find some indications of an earlier age."

LONELINESS

Chapter 19

Van turned out to be a bit of a revelation. For some unknown reason, Janet and Eti thought that they would find a town of old stone buildings with narrow alleyways instead of roads. Wrong. They found a modern bustling city of over half a million people. The majority ethnic group was Kurdish. The dominant landmark was Castle Rock. The streets were wide, cellphone towers were obvious and there were numerous construction sites. Some of the sites had occurred because of recent earthquakes that had caused widespread damage and death.

Janet and Eti took an expensive taxi into the city and again set themselves up in a hotel. They did the touristy things, visiting the Van Bazaar and some of the jewellery sites. Janet became quite entranced by the Van cats, with one blue eye, one green eye and thick white fur.

Finding themselves spending an excessive amount of money, Janet and Eti left the hotel and returned to camping, and their quest.

The present city of Van is located about five miles from the lakeshore, so they turned their back upon it, and concentrated on history. Google advised that Van had been the centre of the Armenian Kingdom of Ararat from 1000 BC, and was therefore an area rich with geological formations and artifacts. Eti relished the opportunities presented. His main area of interest covered the Western shore of the lake, but he wanted to check out the Tilkitepe Mound that contained information dating back to Van's oldest cultures. Archaeological surveys and excavations in the area had indicated human settlement had existed there since 5000 BC.

Eti's comment was, "I reckon that puts it a lot closer to Adam than a lot of other places."

They found the mound south of Van castle, the ruins of which are encompassed by Castle rock. While the site itself was remarkable, the surrounding area left Janet and Eti speechless. It showed only stone outlines of buildings that had once been the centre of a thriving community.

"Oh Eti," said Janet. "What happened?"

"The Turkish Government is what happened," replied Eti. "After the Russians left the area in 1915, during the First World War, the Turks killed all the Armenians left in Van, and reduced their city to rubble. It is generally known as the 'Armenian Genocide'."

"How awful,"

"Indeed. You struggle to find out much about it these days though," continued Eti. "Scholarly, it still exists, but modern day Turkey is happy to let the facts slip gradually from history."

"There's no real feel of sadness here though is there?"

"You're right," agreed Eti. "Many Armenians were Christians, so one can assume they are with the Lord now."

"Still, what a terrible thing to have happen," said Janet. "Sometimes it is so hard to see God's hand in something like that, don't you think?"

"You mean it is hard to reconcile Jesus to the Old Testament God of fire and brimstone and punishment and death?" asked Eti.

"I suppose that's what I am saying," agreed Janet.

"Still the one and the same," said Eti. "We are all going to be judged at some stage. While currently Churches push the 'love' side of Christianity, because that is what the masses want to believe, they forget the judgment side at their peril. Still, let's leave that for another day."

"What is it you wanted to see at this place?" asked Janet turning back toward the Tilkitepe Mound. "What is the connection between this mound and the Genocide thing?"

"Well, there is no great one thing that will help us with our current trip, and there is no direct connection between the mound and the Genocide apart from the fact that Armenians are involved. It is just that while we are here I'd like to actually see it so that I can relate the research I've read to an actual site.

"See over there, they uncovered several burial sites. The Christians were buried in East-West orientated graves, on their backs, with their heads looking west. Muslims lay on their right side with their heads facing south.

"The excavations have provided a window into the cultures that have inhabited the area. It really is rich in history, but I think it would be more important to us if we were looking at Noah and the time of the flood rather than pre-flood. As I've said, something for another time perhaps?"

"Perhaps?" asked Janet.

Eti smiled.

"Perhaps," he repeated. "Anyway, I've seen what I wanted to see, let's go."

"Lead on McDuff," instructed Janet.

They made their way to the ferry terminal and took the ferry across Lake Van to Tatvan on the Western shore, a city of about ninety thousand people. It took four hours to reach Tatvan, which turned out to be a rather sterile and blank city. It gave the impression of being a jumping off point for the Nemrut and Suphan volcanoes.

Nemrut dominated the view once you turned your back to the lake.

"Are we going to climb it?" asked Janet.

"Do you the world of good I reckon," replied Eti, and received a punch on his arm for it.

"It made Lake Van what it is today though," said Janet.

Eti nodded.

"Yeah! As we know, it blocked the outward flow of a number of streams causing them to form the lake. Prior to Nemrut the whole area was a basin which geologists call the Mus-Van river basin. Nemrut divided that basin into two. In the back of my mind is the possibility that it may also have disrupted the headwaters of the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon and Gihon rivers."

"You mean that the area where they were formed from the one river may be under Lake Van? That under the water may be the original Garden of Eden?"

Eti lifted his hands in the universal gesture for 'who knows'.

"How far are we from where the helicopter people found that plant sample?" asked Janet.

"A-ways yet," said Eti. "That was a bit North and West of Nemrut."

"In this general area though," pointed out Janet.

"Yep," agreed Eti. "Maybe when Nemrut erupted, it hid Eden, and the eruption became the flaming or flashing sword that Genesis says keeps man out of the garden."

"Do you really think that is possible? You're not winding me up?"

"Of course I'm not winding you up. It's possible, but I can only say that. I certainly could not say that it is probable."

"Still it is something Eti, isn't it?"

Eti nodded.

"Let's find somewhere to camp shall we?" he asked. "It's getting on and will be dark before too long."

They found themselves a sheltered park and set up their camp. After eating, they planned their next day that consisted of visiting the lakes in the Nemrut crater, and obtaining a decent visual idea of what lay to the west and north of Nemrut.

Chapter 20

Janet jerked awake. She lay still trying to piece together what had awoken her. There had been a sound, but she was uncertain if it had been in her dream, or outside it. Nothing was registering but she felt moved to check with Eti and see if he had heard anything. A glance at her watch showed the time as 3.30am. She opened her tent flap and looked across to Eti's tent.

"Oh my God," she cried leaping to her feet.

Eti's tent lay collapsed. Janet pulled the canvas aside to open it up. The poles had collapsed, or fallen, and it made it difficult for her to uncover Eti's sleeping bag. It was empty. Frantically Janet felt through the canvas in an attempt to ascertain if he was elsewhere in the tent. He wasn't. She now realised that the noise she has heard had been a cry from Eti. Janet willed herself to be calm and not jump to unsubstantiated conclusions.

After several deep breaths, she returned to her own tent and picked up a torch. By its beam, she was able to confirm that Eti was not within the park area. A check of the tent poles showed that the ropes holding them had been freed from their pegs. Eti's pack was still inside the tent but items from it lay scattered about. His bible lay to one side. There were no signs of a struggle, so if Eti had left, it had either been voluntarily or he had been rendered unconscious.

Janet felt tears welling up in her eyes and angrily brushed them away.

"This is no time to be a girl," she said aloud.

Almost automatically, and without thinking it through, Janet turned off her torch and quietly walked some distance away from the tents. She squatted down with her back against a tree. She had a good view of the tents even though there was no moonlight available. Her immediate thought was that some one associated with those men killed in the helicopter crash had kidnapped Eti for revenge. Janet also knew that she would be unable to help Eti if she panicked.

"What would you do Eti?" she asked herself. "If you discovered that I had disappeared, what would you do?"

The word 'pray' filled her mind. Actually, she could not be sure if it just appeared in her mind or if she had actually heard it. She focused her mind on Eti, looked up at the darkened sky, and said, "Please."

It would be nice to be able to say that either a course of action flashed into Janet's mind, or that something startling or supernatural happened, but they did not. Janet's heart continued to beat too quickly and a feeling of panic threatened to engulf her. She took several deep breaths and forced herself to see, in her mind, a white board. She envisaged picking up a marker pen and writing the figure one on the board. There was a short pause and she saw herself writing; check area. She followed this with the number two followed by Police. She continued the list and before long, she had a course of action to follow.

By that time, the night sky was giving way to a new day. People began walking in and around the area. It was almost as though it got lighter with every step some of them took. Janet's eyes were continually drawn back to the two tents. Tears would well up, and she would wipe them away, determined to be strong, and again survey the surroundings, only to be drawn back to the tents.

Willing herself not to succumb to her fears, and to a degree that was helped by daylight, Janet left the comfort of her tree, and approached the tents. Flashes of detective programs she had seen on television came into her mind. They always maintained that what was present at a crime scene would provide valuable evidence. With that thought, Janet took down Eti's tent, folded it up and put it to one side. She then, item by item, went through what remained. She checked and rolled up his sleeping bag. Neatly set down beside the sleeping bag was a pile of folded clothes that she recognised as having been those he had worn the previous day. No underwear was present, so she presumed he must have been wearing it to bed and been given no chance to dress before he had been taken away. His boots lay nearby. His pack had been ransacked and no effort made to replace the items left scattered on the ground. Following her search, Janet realised that whoever was responsible had, along with Eti, taken his cellphone, computer, specimens and notebooks.

To keep herself from falling apart, Janet concentrated on packing up Eti's gear. His pack was now much lighter than it had previously been. She packed up her own belongings and tent and placed everything in the middle of the park area in which they had camped. Janet then walked the area looking for any signs that might have been left behind by those responsible for Eti's disappearance. She found nothing.

In her mind Janet had the Police as next on her 'to do' list. She put Eti's pack on her back, picked up her own, and headed off to find a Police station. She found it quite close by and did her best to explain the situation to the uniformed person behind a desk. He spoke reasonable English. After she had told her story and provided a picture of Eti, the Policeman made a few written notes, and then suggested that perhaps her boyfriend had run off with another woman. An argument ensued before Janet left in tears. She had no doubt that the Police would do exactly zero about Eti's disappearance.

Once Janet realised that she was left alone in a foreign country, she found her panic returning. Sitting on a low stonewall, she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She again consulted her mental list. Reloading herself with the packs, Janet headed for the commercial part of Tatvan. She located an internet cafe and made Skype contact with Jason back in New Zealand. Initially Janet spent more time crying than anything else, so it took Jason some time to understand what had happened. Once he had the full story, Jason made Janet promise that she would book into a hotel and provide him with the contact details so he could make contact with her there. He told her she was to do that immediately, while he made arrangements for assistance.

Within half an hour, Janet had booked a room and provided Jason with her contact details. He made her promise to get something to eat and remake Skype contact within half an hour using the hotel's facilities. Janet found it comforting to have contact with somebody encouraging and helpful. While she had no appetite for food, she nonetheless forced herself to eat some cereal and fruit and have a shower, before contacting Jason. He advised that he had spoken with the New Zealand Embassy in Ankara and they would be providing assistance by liaising with the Police to ensure the investigation of Eti's disappearance. He also said that he was in the process of making various other contacts and would put Eti's disappearance on all the websites he could. They agreed to make further contact that evening.

With the immediate pressure off, Janet found a deep melancholy descending on her. The sadness was like a heavy weight pressing physically down upon her. She had never felt like it before. She missed Eti tremendously and realised that perhaps her feelings were more than just loneliness and friendship. Tears had again started to fall when there was a knock on the door. Janet debated not answering, but realised it could be someone from the Embassy.

She opened the door to find a young woman standing there. Initially Janet did not notice much about her except that she appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties and was extremely beautiful.

"Yes?" asked Janet.

"Miss Janet?" was the response.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"My name is Jasmine and your friend Jason asked me to contact you."

"Jason did? Oh my God, my God, thank you, thank you. Come in please."

Janet pulled Jasmine into the room and sat her down at the table. She held Jasmine's hands.

"Please forgive my manners. I am just so glad to see you. Some one has kidnapped Eti and all of his research and left me alone in this place. I just have no idea where to go. I have been to the Police but they don't want to do anything because they think he has run off with a girl. Surely he would go in more than his underwear if he did," gushed Janet.

"Not some of the guy's I know," smiled Jasmine.

"No, no, I don't mean like that," said Janet. "I mean, that was a stupid thing for me to say. I'm sorry, I'm not making much sense am I? Here I am, a grown woman and acting like an idiot. I surely didn't think that by coming here I would be shot at, stalked and my companion and guide kidnapped.

"Sorry. Sorry again. You must think me awful. Let me try to let you get a word in edge-wise.

"How do you know Jason? Are you from the Embassy?"

"First of all," said Jasmine priseing her hands from Janet's grasp. "Let's make a cup of tea or coffee. Which will it be?"

"Oh, coffee please. That would be fine."

"It looks like the hotel only provides instant stuff I am afraid," said Jasmine looking through what was available on the room bench. "It is nothing like real Turkish coffee but you can't have all you want in this world can you?

"So, Miss Janet, how do I know Jason? Well, I am not from the Embassy. We both belong to an on-line discussion group of Christians looking at international outreach. Possibly you would call it Missionary work."

"And how long have you known him?"

"Oh, about five years."

"You must have still been at school then when you first made contact."

Jasmine laughed.

"Thank you Miss Janet but I have just celebrated my twenty-sixth birthday."

Janet also laughed.

"You do look very young Jasmine," she said.

"Thank you. Now, here is your coffee. Just you drink it and I will tell you all about myself so that you will feel confident with me helping you.

"Now, where should I start? Okay, I am a Muslim. What you say? How can that be? You are not wearing a burkha and you belong to a Christian outreach program. Yes, I must admit it does appear a little strange. However, to continue. I was born fortunate. My parents are very well off and money has never been a concern for our family. Unfortunately, for Mum and Dad, I damaged my Mum while she was giving birth to me and I am an only child. Consequently, I have been spoilt rotten. I admit it. Due to my parents being clever as well as rich, I have been blessed with some small degree of intelligence. I was able to do Post Graduate study in the United States and I am now employed as a Consultant by our Government. Not your every day job for a Muslim woman."

"But you're in an on-line discussion group with Christians."

"Yes indeed. Perhaps I am a spy? No, of course I'm not. I can see the advantages of Muslims and Christians working and worshipping together. We both have the same ancestor, Abraham, but our paths have diverged. I would like to see us come back together. Okay, I am an insane dreamer, but there you are.

"Now, about you. Jason tells me that you have reported Eti's disappearance to the Police but they have been less than helpful. Unfortunately, I can't say that I am surprised. He has also updated me on all of your adventures. I have been following you on Facebook, and your blog, as I was interested in what Jason had been telling me about you and Eti, and also because you are doing this in my country. Correct me if I am wrong, but you do seem to have some people attempting to ensure your expedition is a failure."

Janet explained to Jasmine in detail their experiences with Peter Marshall, the men in the helicopter and now Eti disappearing.

"Wow," responded Jasmine. "It seems to me that maybe you are on to something and it's making the opposition pretty uneasy.

"However, that is beside the point. First, we need to get your Eti back from wherever he has been taken. Let me start by putting some pressure on the Police. I have contacts a bit higher up the chain that will get things moving. There is nothing like the threat of a pending international incident to get people moving. I'll also contact the local television station and newspapers and get photographs of Eti circulated. Let's put the pressure on whoever has him."

Jasmine's enthusiasm gave Janet hope. She sat listening to her badgering and promising and threatening various people over the telephone. At her request, Janet emailed photographs of Eti to the addresses provided by Jasmine.

By the time evening arrived, Janet was unable to believe how Jasmine's efforts had altered the Police perspective. Combined with Eti's photograph on local television, and on posters around Tatvan, it gave Janet much more hope. There had been a telephone call from the New Zealand Embassy as well offering any support that was needed.

Jasmine took Janet down to the hotel restaurant for a meal. They sat discussing the day's events.

"I can't thank you enough," said Janet. "You have lifted me up no end."

"One of your sayings is, 'a problem shared is a problem halved' is it not?"

Janet found that she was able to laugh at that. She then turned serious. Reaching across the table, she took hold of Jasmine's hands.

"I know that I have only known you for a few hours, but it seems as though it has been a life time. Why, I wonder, are you really helping me? I know you are Jason's friend but I have obviously seen that you are fully a Muslim as far as your behaviour goes. You have said your prayers twice so far, although you went into another room to do so. You also said grace before eating now. Eti does that. I am often more slack. What I am trying to say is; why are you helping me a non-Muslim? Won't you get into some sort of trouble with your Church or Mosque or something?"

Jasmine squeezed Janet's hands and asked, "Why would I?"

"Well," replied Janet. "We have had Muslims work with us before but they came under pressure from family and friends to not do so. I don't want to sound awful, or ungrateful in any way, but are you going to be able to continue to help me?"

Jasmine leaned back in her chair.

"Don't you worry at all," she said. "It actually, and forgive me for saying this, pisses me off the way I get judged by non Muslims."

"Oh I didn't mean it that way. I just . . . well, I just don't want such a wonderful person as you to get into any trouble on my behalf."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," said Jasmine. "I know what you are saying. Judgment is one of my many soapboxes.

"Are you a Christian?"

"I say so but I'm not a particularly good one I don't think. I'm not as good a one as Eti for example. I go to Church and try to do what is right but sometimes life gets in the way."

"Muslims and Christians have a lot in common you know," pointed out Jasmine. "We share the same roots in Abraham, Moses and Jesus. We believe in one God. We are also greatly misunderstood by most of the world, and Christians in particular. They judge us although Jesus said not to judge least you be judged. Mohammed said, 'Surely Allah does not look at your face or your body, but looks at your heart and your deeds'. Sound familiar?"

"I didn't know that," said Janet with embarrassment.

Jasmine laughed but it was a gentle comforting sound.

"It's not your fault," she said quietly. "Just as Christianity is often judged by the goings on of televangelists and their fundamentalist groups, so are we judged by our fundamentalist Clerics and their followers. Just be assured Janet that I am your friend and we will find Eti.

"Now, let's get back to your room and get you settled in for the night. First thing in the morning we rescue Eti."

"We do?"

"Of course. With all the pressure now being applied those who have taken him, will want to get rid of him as soon as possible."

Janet and Jasmine went back to Janet's room. Absolutely exhausted emotionally, Janet fell asleep. As her eyes closed, she was aware of Jasmine kneeling and touching her forehead to the floor as she chanted something in a language she did not understand but presumed was Arabic.

Chapter 21

Janet awoke to Jasmine again saying her prayers.

"Come on lazy bones," said Jasmine. "Time to be up and at them."

They showered, dressed and went to the dining room for breakfast. Janet noted that Jasmine ate using only her right hand, something she deduced to be an Islamic 'thing'.

As they opened the door to Janet's room, following breakfast, they found an envelope lying on the carpet. It had apparently been pushed under the door.

"What's this?" asked Janet as she picked it up. It was sealed, but there was no writing upon it. She slipped her finger under the flap and ripped the envelope open. There was a sheet of folded A4 paper inside. On it were a series of words written in a language she did not understand. They were made up from cuttings taken from a newspaper and glued, or stuck some how, onto the paper. Janet handed it to Jasmine.

Jasmine read aloud.

"Pay One thousand American dollars and stop the search for your friend. He will be released upon payment. Instructions will follow. No Police."

Janet and Jasmine stood staring at each other. For a moment, neither said anything, and then Janet burst into tears. She was uncertain whether they were tears of relief or fear. Jasmine hugged her and calmed her down. They sat on a couch holding each other.

"What do we do now?" asked Janet.

"Wait until we hear from them," said Jasmine. "Do you think you will be able to raise a thousand dollars?"

"Yes, but shouldn't we go to the Police?" asked Janet. "I know they say not to, but isn't that just something kidnappers say? After all, surely they know we have been to them. It's on TV and in the papers"

"Maybe in New Zealand," retorted Jasmine, "but Turkey is a lot different. You can't always trust the Police. Actually, you can never trust them. I think this is a good thing. I think they mean not to tell the Police about the demand. There is the possibility that it might be a hoax, but let's play along and see. If they won't provide proof that Eti is okay, then we will get in touch with the Police."

"Oh my God," gasped Janet. "I never really thought that Eti could be in real danger. I guess I just accepted that it would be something in connection with our quest. That criminals would physically attack us never crossed my mind. After the helicopter thing it should have though, shouldn't it."

Jasmine nodded her head.

"Yes, it should have. You have all been a bit naive about the whole thing. I hate to say this, but you should probably have brought a security detail with you. This country can be dangerous, especially in the North Eastern area where there are a lot of cross border incursions by militants."

They sat in silence for a while, and then, as something occurred to her, Janet asked Jasmine:

"Why is the ransom note written in Turkish?"

"What do you mean?" asked Jasmine.

"It just seems funny to me that the kidnappers would make their demand to me in a language that I don't understand. In it, they tell me not to go to the Police, but if you had not been here then I would have needed someone to translate for me and I could well have used the Police. The whole thing would then have been a disaster."

"Yes," admitted Jasmine. "You are right. Let's not over-think it though. There could be a number of explanations. These people are obviously criminals, and therefore not too bright, so presumably they have just assumed that because you are in their country you will know the language. As I said, not very bright. Another reason could be that they are watching you, have seen you with me, and know that I would be able to translate for you."

"Of course," agreed Janet. "That sounds more reasonable doesn't it?"

They sat in silence for a while before Janet again burst into tears. As Jasmine tried to calm her down, the telephone rang. It was Jason ringing from New Zealand.

"Oh Jason, thank God it's you," cried Janet. "They've got Eti and want a thousand dollars before they will give him back. We've got a ransom note and they are watching us. What are we going to do?"

"Calm down Janet," urged Jason. "Things will work out. Just take a big deep breath. Now that's better isn't it? We have our prayer group praying for you and Eti.

"Now, is Jasmine with you?"

"Oh yes. She has been wonderful Jason. Why haven't you told me about her before? I don't know what I would have done without her."

"Yes, she is something isn't she? So what is happening as far as the Police are concerned?"

"Well, Jasmine has got all these contacts, and the Police are now taking it as serious. They realise that it could turn into a big International incident so it is on television, radio and in the newspapers. Jasmine thinks that pressure has made the people who have Eti panic. As a result, they have decided to get some money for him and leave it at that. They say we aren't allowed to go to the Police though."

"And what does Jasmine say about that?"

"She agrees."

"Okay, she's the local expert I reckon. When do you have to pay the money, and what arrangements have been made to get Eti back once it is paid?"

"Oh Jason, I don't know. I hadn't thought of that. It just says that they want a thousand dollars and when they get it they will release him and that instructions will be given at some time. Jasmine says that we need to know that Eti is unharmed before we pay the money. Jason, I just don't know what to do."

"Janet, Janet," said Jason roughly. "Get a grip on yourself. You are a grown woman. You are intelligent and resourceful. Calm down and start thinking clearly. Running around in a panic is not going to help anyone, and especially not Eti. He will be depending on you to be strong and do the right thing, as we all are. Don't let us down.

"Now, put Jasmine on the line will you please."

Dully, Janet handed the telephone over to Jasmine.

While Jason and Jasmine talked, Janet sat on the couch and tried to calm herself down. She took several deep breaths and ensured that she pulled her mind back to the present. As she sat, she felt a calmness envelope her. She found herself in a vacuum. Jasmine's voice was not penetrating. Actually, there was no sound. There was just her and her beating heart. She could 'see' Eti. It was as if he was sitting across from her. Clearly she heard him say, "Trust God Mrs. trust our Lord," and then, with his cheeky grin, he disappeared.

Sound penetrated again and the vacuum of silence slid away. The word 'trust' stayed wedged into her mind. 'Trust our Lord.'

Janet walked over to the bedside cabinet and pulled out the Gideon's bible. Something in her mind brought back a memory of words in Isaiah about trust and strength. She found it in Chapter 40, about waiting and trusting the Lord to help you so that your strength would be renewed and you would be able to fly like an eagle and be able to walk and not grow weak.

"That's all very well for you," said Janet. "This ain't so easy." However, the calmness stayed with her, although panic tried to push its way through. Janet found that she was able to keep it at bay though, and, she started to see things a lot more clearly.

Jasmine's voice drew her attention.

"Jason wants to speak with you again," she said, holding out the telephone.

"Yes Jay?"

"You can trust Jasmine Janet," said Jason. "She knows her way around and can be pretty tough when she needs to be. If there is anything you need, let me know, and keep in touch."

"I will Jay, and thanks. Jasmine has been a great help and we'll get it sorted. Sorry for being a cry-baby."

"No worries," said Jason. "I have arranged for a few thousand dollars to be available for you at the nearest bank, so access it for the ransom as and when you need it. Okay?"

"Of course Jay. Thank you."

"No worries," repeated Jason as he hung up.

Janet put down the telephone and turned to Jasmine.

"So," said Janet, "what's next do you think?"

"Unfortunately it now becomes a waiting game I think," said Jasmine. "The kidnappers will probably make contact with a place and time to swap the money for Eti, and then we will do it and that will be that."

"You're probably right," agreed Janet."

Anything in there to help?" asked Jasmine pointing at the Bible Janet had been searching through.

Janet explained the passage that she had found.

"You don't believe in the Bible though do you?" asked Janet. "You've got the Qur'an and that was written by Allah wasn't it?"

"No," laughed Jasmine. "It was written by Mohammad."

"So who is Allah?"

"That is our word for God. We are not all that different from you, you know."

"But you don't believe in Jesus do you?"

"Yes, we do, but to us he was a prophet before Mohammad. Mohammad was the last of the prophets. Like you, we believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, we believe that translators corrupted the original writings over the years and that the angel Gabriel revealed the true word to Mohammad between 610 and 632. We believe in one God, a Day of Judgment and bodily resurrection.

"All in all, we are pretty much like you."

"So, do you believe in what we, Eti and I, are doing? Do you believe in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and everything?"

"Oh yes. Adam was the first of the prophets and everything came into being by God's command, 'Be' and so it was."

"Well why are we always against each other. Why are Muslims trying to kill us all so that they can get to Heaven and have twenty-seven virgins or something?"

Jasmine laughed.

"Aren't all men the same? Always dreaming of sex?"

Janet laughed as well.

"I guess."

"Those beliefs are a corruption of Mohammad's teachings. Just as you have extreme fundamentalist Christians, we have them in Islam. The jihad, which you take to be a holy war against you, the Infidels, really relates to our own personal war against sin and evil. It's as simple as that."

"Perhaps I need to look at Islam differently then," said Janet.

"It's up to you," replied Jasmine.

They lapsed into silence, each with their own thoughts. Janet's centred upon Eti and finally she said to Jasmine, "I need to be doing something. I just can't sit here waiting for them to initiate things."

"I can understand that," agreed Jasmine. "Let's go for a walk. Show me where you were camped when Eti went missing. Maybe some little detail will come back to you, something that might help."

They left the hotel and headed towards the park where Eti and Janet had camped. It was just approaching midday and the call to prayer issued forth from the Mosque. Jasmine asked Janet if she would like to go into prayers with her. Janet felt a tug inside her to do so but her fear of the unknown was stronger, and she declined.

"I'll say my prayers out here," she said and Jasmine merely nodded.

Janet sat on a bench seat, closed her eyes, and asked God to keep Eti safe. Again, she experienced a fluttery but warm feeling inside her chest, and a belief that all would be well.

When she opened her eyes and looked around, she saw that there were very few people on the streets. Those that were, mostly had backpacks, or looked like tourists without backpacks. Her eyes settled on a person leaning casually against a tree on the opposite side of the street. He was dressed casually, like the tourists, but his clothes were clearly local. His colouring and demeanour placed him as Turkish, although Janet knew that was merely an assumption on her part. Initially her gaze flicked over him but then came back. She wondered why he was not at midday prayers. Their eyes met and he glanced quickly away. Janet stood up and took a few steps towards him. He turned and started to walk away. Janet continued after him. He walked a little faster and glanced back at Janet.

"Hey," she called. "Hey, you!"

The man then started to run. Janet also broke into a run. She was no match. Within a hundred yards, she had lost sight of him. She checked down alleyways in the vicinity but could not see him. She fixed him in her mind and knew that she would recognize him if she ever saw him again. There was just a touch of fear in her mind. Although there may have been an innocent explanation, for what Janet now regarded as something untoward, she did not believe so.

"It's got to be something to do with Eti," she said to herself.

Slowly she made her way back toward the Mosque. People were coming out of it having completed their prayers. Janet quickly spotted Jasmine and then stopped in shock. Jasmine was talking to the person she had just chased through the streets. Janet took cover behind a tree and watched. The man handed Jasmine an envelope, kissed her on both cheeks, and then wandered off into the crowd. Janet remained where she was and watched Jasmine open the envelope, take out what appeared to be a letter, and read it. Jasmine then returned the paper into the envelope and tucked it into her pocket.

Janet stepped out from behind her tree and walked towards Jasmine. Looking up, and seeing Janet, Jasmine waved.

"Who was that?" asked Janet.

"What?" responded Jasmine.

"Who was that talking to you?"

"Oh, him. I don't know really. He seemed to think he knew me but I can't remember him. A lot of people think they know me but they've usually just seen a photograph in a newspaper or something."

"But kissing you?"

"Oh, that. Nothing really. Just a friendly gesture. So, did you say your prayers?"

"Yes," said Janet. "I prayed for Eti to be kept safe."

"Me too," said Jasmine. "Oh well, let's carry on to where Eti disappeared shall we?"

Janet was now feeling quite apprehensive. She felt that Jasmine was not being truthful. Not only did her explanation about the man seem forced, she had not said anything about the envelope she had been given. While Janet hoped there was a reasonable explanation, she decided to review her trust in Jasmine, and reassess all that she had said keeping in mind that she might not be all that she appeared to be.

They arrived at the park where she and Eti had set up their tents. It appeared tranquil. Tourists were plentiful; reading the inscriptions on plinths situated on one side of the park. Jasmine explained that the plinths were memorials of local people who had died in wars that Turkey had been involved in. That reminded Janet of the New Zealand - Turkey relationship that had developed as a result of a battle between their soldiers at Gallipoli during the First World War. Now both Turks and New Zealanders commemorated those killed during that battle, one lost by the Allies consisting of mainly New Zealand and Australian troops attempting to establish a landing place, for a flawed Winston Churchill plan, on the coast of Turkey.

The park did not do anything for Janet except bring back the pain of her loss. She went through the motions of showing Jasmine where the tents had been, where she had sat awaiting daylight, and then packing up and leaving. There was nothing to indicate what had happened, and that everyday life continuing to take place upset her. That, and the fact that Jasmine was apparently not what she appeared to be, further depressed Janet.

"Let's go," she said to Jasmine. They headed back towards the hotel.

"Where will you get the money from?" asked Jasmine.

"What money?" asked Janet, still preoccupied with her own thoughts.

"The money for the kidnappers."

"Oh, that. It's waiting for me to pick up when we get told where to take it."

"Do you think that perhaps we should pick it up now?"

"No, not really. If it isn't with us then there is no chance of it being stolen before we hear from the kidnappers is there? Unless you know something I don't?"

"No," said Jasmine. "It was just a thought crossed my mind."

Back at the hotel Janet lay down on her bed, depressed, and tried to make sense of what had developed. Jasmine mooched around for a while and then said that she had to return to her home and pick up a few 'things'.

No sooner was she out the door than Janet was on the telephone to Jason. She explained what she had seen and burst into tears.

"Oh Jay," she ended, "I think Jasmine is one of the kidnappers, or at least working with them."

"Calm down Janet. Calm down a minute please," begged Jason.

"I'm going to have to get out of here Jason. She's evil. I know it. There is just no way a Muslim can be trusted. I don't care what you say, or she says, she is not here to help me. There is no other explanation for her behaviour."

"Stop it Janet," commanded Jason. "Sit down and listen. There are other explanations. As I have told you, and as you now know, Jasmine is well known, not only to me, but also to a large number of important people around the world. Over the years she has done a lot for Christianity and Islam."

"But she lied to me and she was trying to find out where the ransom money is," interrupted Janet.

"If she told a lie then there will be a reason for it. Let's face it Janet, you are in a highly stressful situation. You are in a strange and dangerous place and one of your most important supports, Eti, appears to have been kidnapped."

"Has been Jason, has been kidnapped and may not even be alive for all we know."

"My point exactly Janet. Maybe Jasmine has been approached by the kidnappers and is negotiating with them, or something."

"Well why not tell me?"

"Because you are in such a highly emotional state. If the negotiations are delicate then there is always the risk that you might do or say the wrong thing. It may be that she is unsure if she is dealing with the right people and doesn't want to get your hopes up. There are a number of explanations Janet."

"I suppose you could be right," begrudged Janet.

"I am right," said Jason.

"She has been great up until now," allowed Janet.

"There you are then. You are a stranger in a strange land Janet so you are right to be suspicious but I can guarantee Jasmine is on your side. Ask her."

"I'll see. Thanks Jay. I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was."

"You are doing very well I think," soothed Jason. "You've been shot at, followed by strangers, mixed up in the middle of an earthquake and had your partner apparently kidnapped. It's not your everyday holiday now is it?"

Janet was forced to give a short bark of a laugh.

"Well, putting it that way," she agreed, "I suppose you are right."

"I am right. So, let's say a little prayer shall we?"

After saying goodbye to Jason, and hanging up the telephone, Janet felt a lot better. She washed her face and made herself a cup of coffee. By the time Jasmine returned, she had composed herself and pushed her doubts to the back of her mind.

"How are you holding up?" asked Jasmine as she laid an overnight bag, with a change of clothes underwear and makeup in it, on the bed.

"Very average," confessed Janet. "I have a lot of doubts and a lot of worry about the whole thing."

"Of course you have," said Jasmine. "Look, these things take time. I have handled this type of thing before."

"You have? Kidnapping?"

"Yes. Because I am known to be a 'moderate', and can communicate with 'infidels', I have been used as a 'go between' before."

"So they trust you?"

"Not wholly. They use me for their own purposes, but by doing so I am usually able to achieve a satisfactory outcome."

"Always?"

"No, not always unfortunately. A couple have ended badly."

"Will this one?"

"I don't think so. This is a bit different."

"Different, how?"

"The contact seems unusual, and the ransom is such a small amount. Why go to so much trouble and risk for such a high profile target as you and Eti, and only ask for a thousand dollars?"

"I would have thought that a thousand dollars would be a lot for a Turkish criminal."

"For a 'run of the mill' one, yes. You and Eti, though, are not 'run of the mill.' There could be a political motive behind it, or more likely, a religious one."

"How will you know?"

"Well I won't until I see how they want to organise the payment and swap."

"Do the Police know you do this sort of thing? Like, won't you being involved, make Eti's position more dangerous?"

Jasmine laughed.

"I'm not that important Janet."

"Thinking back to the ransom note, I am sure that the kidnappers know you're involved."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, as I mentioned before, the demand was in Turkish. Surely they would not have risked me not knowing what was being demanded? I think they used Turkish because they knew for certain you were involved."

"Mmmm, good thinking Janet."

"And that means they have been, or are, watching me."

"Yes, it would."

"And that guy I saw you with at the Mosque had been watching me. He gave you something."

"No he did not."

"I saw him Jasmine. You put it into your pocket."

"Oh, I see."

"Are you going to tell me exactly what is going on?"

Janet and Jasmine stood staring at each other. Neither spoke. It was like a test of wills. Eventually Jasmine reached out a hand, pulled Janet to her, and hugged her until Janet's stiffness disappeared.

"I'm sorry Janet," she said. "I was just trying to keep the seriousness of the situation from you."

Janet pulled free from the embrace.

"So how serious is it?" she asked." Please just tell me so I know exactly what I am facing. Are you for real? Are you on my side? Does Jason know what you are up to?"

"Yes," said Jasmine. "I am on your side. Sit down and listen."

She waited until Janet was seated.

"You can trust me. As I said, I was trying to spare you the details. I was obviously wrong to do that. You are stronger than I thought. Usually witnesses fall apart in the face of threats so I have found it beneficial to sideline them and prevent them making irrational decisions under the pressure.

"I doubt Jason knows that I do this sort of negotiation type of thing with kidnappers, although he may do. It is no great secret. Certainly not amongst those in the know.

"I have been following you and Eti via your blog and website, as I have told you, because Jason had mentioned it and as I have said, it was happening in my country. The task to find Eden is something momentous to all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I didn't expect to become involved, but when Jason contacted me I jumped at the chance to help.

"When the ransom demand came I realised something unusual was afoot, as your Sherlock Holmes would say. The sum demanded, as I said, was ridiculous, and the fact that it was not made until I was on the scene, and then in Turkish, rang warning bells. It told me the kidnappers knew I was involved, and wanted me involved."

"Why would they want that?" interrupted Janet. "Surely, it would be better to have someone inexperienced in these things; someone more likely to just front up with the money. Someone, perhaps, from whom they might be able to extort more."

"I agree."

"So this leaves us where?"

"Well, there has been a development."

"A development? What do you mean? It's to do with the envelope that person gave you isn't it?"

"Yes."

"What was in it?"

"It's difficult."

"I'll bet it is."

"I know the person you saw me with. His name is Ishmael. He is a Jew and has attended some of the lectures I give from time to time at various teaching and learning establishments."

"And he has information about Eti."

"Indirectly, yes."

"What do you mean indirectly? He either has or he hasn't."

"Just hold on a minute Janet. Let me tell this in my way will you? It will be a lot quicker that way."

"I would have known now if you had told me at the time, but okay, I'll shut up. The floor is yours."

"Thank you. Ishmael has also followed your quest. Once we got the Police organised and Eti's photograph started to appear on T.V. and the newspapers saying he was missing, he put two and two together with a conversation he had overheard in a cafe. He has some rather strange acquaintances. He is probably tied in with Mossad, the Israeli spies. Anyway, he says he overheard a group talking about a kidnapping that they had undertaken on behalf of some people who wanted a foreigners expedition stopped. From what he could understand, one of the people had been kidnapped and was being held prisoner. A ransom demand had been made and the intention was to accept a reduced or small amount of money in return for the expedition being cancelled. Ishmael has the feeling that the matter relates to Eti. He didn't know that I was involved but approached me to get a message to what he called 'the appropriate channels' so the matter could be resolved. The envelope you saw gave descriptions the men Ishmael overheard."

"So what have you done with that information?"

"I have given the descriptions to the Police along with the cafe location and the date that Ishmael overheard the conversation. The Police will make their enquiries at the cafe and hopefully have cameras in the area, or perhaps even the cafe may have a security camera. I haven't told them that we have had a ransom demand.

"I have also passed the information over to the Turkish Security people. I have had contact with them in the past due to their misunderstanding of my relationship with various people from other countries."

"Are you telling me that you are a Turkish spy?"

"No I am not."

"Not what? Not telling me or not a spy?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well I don't but I understand. I can't say I believe in all that secret squirrel stuff but I understand the need."

"Good."

"So where does all this leave us, and more importantly, does it get us close to Eti?"

"I think so. It gives me hope. The fact that the whole thing seems to relate to your search for Eden is a good thing. It is high profile enough to prevent harm befalling Eti. The big question is though; who or what is the organisation wanting you to stop? I can imagine that there are a number of religious groups who would not want you to find Eden. It could affect their income stream. It could also cause major territorial problems with all three Abrahamic religions wanting a piece of the action."

"Another Jerusalem."

"Precisely. Tell me again why you want to find Eden. You are not that religious are you? You don't appear to be."

"I guess many would call me one of the 'frozen chosen.'"

"Which means?"

"I believe but have trouble bringing that belief into the real world. Not like Eti. He is a true believer in the Jesus Way. He lives it. I sometimes think I am getting closer. But, to get back to your first question. I made a silly bet with a fellow teacher that I could prove creation against his evolutionary stance. As a result of that stupidity, I have put Eti in danger. For all I know it could be that teacher, Palmer, behind the kidnapping. He has some pretty dodgy associates, and there is no way he wants to loose the bet."

"That crossed my mind I must admit. As you've told me, you were followed by an associate of his at one stage weren't you?"

"Yeah. His name was Marshall. There were also those guys killed when their helicopter crashed. They shot at us. I suppose it could be whoever employed them. Do you think the Police will make the connection?"

"I'll make sure they do.

"Look Janet, I'm sorry I wasn't fully up front with you about Ishmael but I doubted your strength. I judged you when I should not have. As I have told you, 'Allah does not look at your face or your body, but at your heart and deeds.' I did not look at your heart. I will deal with that in my prayers."

Janet reached out and put her arms round Jasmine

"Hey," confessed Janet. "I haven't been fair either. I made assumptions without knowing all the facts so you had better forgive me as well."

Chapter 22

Both women slept later than they intended. As Janet had tried to go to sleep, she had heard Jasmine speaking in Arabic as she said her prayers. Her own prayers were said as she lay in bed. Eventually the sleep of exhaustion overtook both of them.

After their showers and breakfast, Jasmine and Janet went down to the Police Station. Janet glimpsed the person she had originally reported Eti's kidnap to, but he scuttled off in the opposite direction when she made eye contact. This time she was ushered into a plush office occupied by a uniformed man with a lot of gold braid. Also in the room were a man in a suit who showed some type of Identification Card that meant nothing to her, but which Jasmine acknowledged, and another uniformed man with a row of medals upon his chest. The men spoke initially in English, but would occasionally forget themselves and break into their native language.

While Janet was eager to understand everything said, she realised that if she kept interrupting, nothing would be achieved, so she took a back seat to Jasmine in the belief that she would be filled in later.

When they left the Police Station, they went to a cafe. Jasmine said that it was not the one Ishmael had visited. She filled Janet in on the Police meeting.

"The suited man was from the Turkish Security Service; a spook, you know, a spy. The one with the medals was from the army. They are taking it all pretty seriously, but don't rate Eti's part in it. They are concerned that the kidnapping is the work of Kurdish rebels. They are causing quite a lot of cross-border trouble at the moment. They want self-rule separate from Turkey and often attack Turkish Police and Government buildings. I filled them in on what Ishmael had told me but didn't reveal my source. Like elsewhere in this world, the Jews do not have an easy time of it here. I didn't want to give the government authorities any reason to harass the Jews."

"You told them why we think Eti was kidnapped?"

"Yes, but I had the feeling they did not believe me. Oh, they agree that Eti has been kidnapped okay, but they prefer the version of Kurdish Terrorists doing it rather than our version of evolutionists verses creationists."

"You are not surprised are you?"

"Not really. They don't want an international incident on their hands with an internationally funded expedition being subjected to kidnapping for ransom. They prefer it to be a Kurdish problem."

"So they are not going to do anything. Is that what you are saying?"

"Yes and no. They will follow up Eti's kidnapping but will do so by harassing known Kurdish sympathizers rather than simple criminal elements."

"So they don't believe Ishmael?"

"In a word, no. Having said that though, I think the spook will probably sniff around a bit: just in case. He would love an International incident as his funding would increase."

"Politics."

"Pure and simple."

"So where does that leave us?"

Before Jasmine could answer there was an interruption. A waiter approached them and handed Jasmine an envelope. He said that a gentleman had handed it to him and said that he had seen her drop it. He was unable to point out the man as he had apparently left. His description fitted the majority of men the world over.

Jasmine opened the envelope, ignoring forensic rules that she would jeopardise any evidence it might have attached to it. Again, there was a sheet of paper with letters from a newspaper glued to it. Jasmine scanned the words written in Turkish. She read them aloud.

"One thousand American dollars, Nemrut Dagi in three days for Solomon. We meet you."

As Jasmine translated, Janet reached out and gripped her wrist.

"That's it?" asked Janet. "Oh, thank you God, thank you God."

"Allah is indeed great," agreed Jasmine.

"Do we tell the Police," asked Janet when she settled back down?

"What do you think," countered Jasmine?

"I'm tempted to do this by ourselves," replied Janet. "Do you think that would be wrong? Like, they will be wild if they find out that we haven't told them everything. Perhaps we should have told them"

"No, I think that would be the safest thing to do; less chance of over reaction and people getting hurt."

"Three days to Mount Nemrut seems to be a long time though doesn't it? Eti and I reckoned on one and a bit at the outside."

"You are forgetting that we are dealing with Muslim men. They would not believe that we women could travel as fast, or faster, than them so they are giving us extra time."

"So what do you reckon? Do we get there early or just in time?"

"Let's be early. That way we can have a bit of a look around and familiarise ourselves with the area; just in case some urgent decisions are required."

"Okay, I'll go and get the money and you give Jay a call and let him know what we are up to."

Janet and Jasmine left the hotel the next day just as daylight started to push darkness to one side. Janet had her own backpack and Jasmine used Eti's. Jasmine said that Jason had reservations about their plan but he did not forbid it. In a money belt under her clothing, Janet carried the ransom money plus a bit extra.

By the end of the second day after receiving the ransom demand, Janet and Jasmine had made a thorough search of the Nemrut area. The crater, which they estimated to be about 5 miles across, contained a large cold-water lake along with smaller pools with some of them quite hot, due to hot springs nearby, and suitable for swimming. It had taken a mere four hours to get from Tatvan to the crater edge. Apart from oak and birch trees on the southern slope, the mountain was bare.

"Eti said that this has not erupted since 1597 and that it is now dormant," said Janet. "Mind you, in New Zealand we have dormant and active volcanoes and I don't trust any of them."

"Oh, I think it will be safe enough," said Jasmine. "At least if there is a problem, there are quite a few others to share it with."

She indicated the tourist party groups with their guides.

"Actually," she continued, "I wonder why they want to do the swap here in such a public place?"

"Perhaps to make sure that if there are any Police then they, the kidnappers, won't be shot at for fear of hitting a tourist."

"Yeah? They obviously don't know the Turkish Police then. Could be though.

"What say we go back down to our camp at the base and come back up here tomorrow? I know it is another climb but actually spending a night on a volcano doesn't sit right with me."

Chapter 23

The hand clamped over her mouth woke Janet, It smothered any scream she would have made. Simultaneously her ankles were bound together and she was flipped onto her stomach. Her hands were secured behind her back. The hand over her mouth was removed but before any sound could escape, a rag was pushed into her mouth and taped in place with sticky tape round her head. Two pairs of arms dragged her from the tent and stood her up. The owners of the arms situated themselves on each side of her, threaded their arms through hers, and walked away from the tent with her between them. It looked almost like two people helping a disabled friend. Ahead of her Janet could see a similar situation and presumed it to be Jasmine in the same circumstances.

Janet had no idea of the time. She and Jasmine had climbed into their sleeping bags at about 10pm with the intention of an early 5.30am start. As it was, the current darkness indicated some time between midnight and 4am, she thought.

Questions chased themselves round and round inside her head. Why and who were the kidnappers? Along with the four carrying her and Jasmine, Janet countered four others. What alarmed her more was that those four each carried some type of gun. They carried what looked like small machineguns in their hands, but also had guns and knives attached to their belts.

After what Janet estimated to be about half an hour, they stopped on a road by two parked vehicles. To Janet they appeared to be big four-wheel drive cross-country vehicles. She and Jasmine were put in the back seat of separate vehicles and squashed into place between those who had been carrying them. The other four took their places, two to each vehicle; one as a driver and the other riding shotgun in more ways than one. No effort was made to blindfold either Janet or Jasmine and Janet took this to be a bad sign. She reasoned that if they did not care that she and Jasmine could identify them, and knew the route they were travelling, maybe it was because there was never going to be a chance for them to use that knowledge. Mind you, she also reasoned, she couldn't really see where they were going anyway. The headlights showed only a metal road with scrub and bush on either side of it. There was a bit of up and down that Janet took to be hills. She did not know how long it was before dawn broke and she was able, in day light, to see beyond the road. Nothing!

Eventually they turned off the metal road and onto what was clearly a driveway, well, more of a track really. Another half an hour saw them arrive at a group of buildings. To Janet they appeared to be a Church, Monastery, or something similar.

She and Jasmine were dragged unceremoniously from the vehicles and across to a building that appeared to be a storage outhouse. Their captives opened a solid looking door and cut the ties on their ankles and hands before carelessly undoing the tape wrapped round their heads, heedless of the pain caused. Pushed through the door, it closed after them with a solid clunk and the rattle of an outside latch.

They had fallen to the floor when pushed by their captors as the lack of circulation in their legs and arms meant they were unable to react quickly enough to save themselves. The pain, as the circulation slowly returned to normal, was excruciating and blotted out that caused by the removal of the tape. They spat out the rags from their mouths but were unable to speak due to the remaining dryness.

As they began to gain movement in their limbs, they took in their surroundings. The building was solid and about twenty feet square. The floor appeared to be compacted dirt. The roof seemed to be made of slate tiles, or something similar, and was about fifteen foot above floor level. Small windows, or air vents, were on all four walls about a foot down from where the walls joined the roof. They were about a foot square. There did not appear to be any covering over them. That is, they were just holes high up in the walls.

Janet and Jasmine held onto each other for comfort and cried their hearts out. They were cold, depressed, exhausted and very scared.

The door suddenly opened. Two men came in and dropped a couple of mattresses onto the floor. Janet and Jasmine were too stunned to do more than stare dully at their captors. Another man placed a tray just inside the door and then left again with a clunk and rattle.

When they had cried themselves out, Janet and Jasmine made the effort to check out the tray. It contained sandwiches and water bottles. They drank greedily from the water bottles and made a half-hearted effort at eating a sandwich before collapsing onto one of the straw mattresses and falling asleep holding onto each other for comfort.

They awoke some two or three hours later to the sound of voices and vehicles outside the building. The voices were muffled, and Jasmine was unable to ascertain the language being spoken. Jasmine examined the door but it was indeed as solid as it had sounded. There was no handle on their side.

"Do you think these are the people who took Eti," asked Janet?

"Probably," replied Jasmine. "It's hard to tell though. You would have thought they would have waited for the money before doing whatever it is they are doing."

"They didn't touch the tents or anything did they?"

"Not that I saw. Mind you I was too scared to notice much of anything."

Janet nodded.

"They knew exactly what they were doing though didn't they? They didn't say a word. Just got on with it."

They sat in silence for a while, and then Janet asked, "Do you know where we are?"

"Not really. It looked like an old church or Monastery. If it is, then it is probably Armenian. There are quite a few of them around this area. This was, after-all, the centre of the Armenian Empire at one stage."

"Those were the people whose houses and buildings were demolished during the First World War weren't they? That place near Van Castle that Eti and I saw."

"That's them. They were early Christians actually, and were the first Country to have Christianity as their national religion. A couple of your Apostles were also in the area. One was actually killed here."

"In Van?"

"Not far away. On the Eastern side I think."

"I didn't think you would know that sort of stuff. I mean, you being a Muslim and that."

"Well, that knowledge brings money to us. A large number of Coptic Christians revere the area; particularly the St Bartholomew's Monastery ruins. It is on the site where Bartholomew was martyred. Unfortunately those ruins are now inside a military base and access is limited or not possible."

"He is mentioned in the Bible isn't he?"

"In yours, yes. He was an apostle but things didn't end well for him. We, as a country, are officially removing, or rewriting, our treatment of the Armenians. Worldwide, our treatment of them is classed as the first major genocide of a people. We wiped out one point six million Jews and Christian Armenians. As I said, officially, genocide is denied, but secretly the majority of the Turks have no problem with it.

"It's sad when you cannot accept what you have done and learn from it don't you think?"

"I don't think Christianity, or us in the West, can be smug or complacent about such things either," said Janet. "Look at the number of people killed in the name of religion, God, and for the expansion of the white man."

"In New Zealand also?"

"Oh yes. To a lesser degree than some, but the early European settlers still managed to kill, fight and legislate against the Maori people."

A routine became established over the next few days. Initially Janet and Jasmine were confined to their stone shed. A bucket was provided for their toilet needs, along with toilet paper and a dish of water. There was another bucket of water for washing, along with a couple of towels. That enabled Jasmine to attend to her prayerful routines. Basic food was also provided. Their jailers were always male, and were the same eight who had originally kidnapped them. They did not talk to either Janet or Jasmine and ignored questions and pleas for information. From the few words that Jasmine was able to hear, she confirmed their captors as being Turkish.

Depression settled over them. It was like a dark heavy blanket physically pushing down on them. They started to neglect their personal hygiene and went from talking to each other, to accusations, to silence. By Janet's reckoning, fourteen days had gone by when in the predawn darkness she became aware of some one sitting on her mattress.

"What are you doing Jazz," queried Janet. "What do you want now?"

"I'm not Jasmine," came the reply. "It's me."

Janet sat up pulling herself well away from the male voice.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Janet demanded, straining to see the shape speaking with her. It remained a blurry outline, more just an area of light grey in the darkness.

"How did you get in here? What do you want?" continued Janet.

"Always questions Janet. Always questions," said the voice with a hint of a chuckle. It's me, Jude, Jude Prentice. Remember? The Solomonis' friend."

Janet's mind flashed back to the coffee shop and the mysterious person who had actually started her on this quest. A quest that had ended up in this cell she now found herself in. She actually laughed.

"How do you know him? No, I don't think so. You are just a figment of my imagination. I am aware of what is happening. I know that I am losing my mind in this place." Janet laughed again and then continued; "How sad this all is really. My lost mind conjures up you when all is lost. I would have thought it may perhaps have brought Mum or Dad, or other friends to mind, but what does it do? It brings up you. How sad for me."

"I am real Janet," said the shape. Janet could just see something pale reach out towards her and she felt something like a hand squeeze her shoulder. "I am not a figment of your imagination."

"Oh that's right," responded Janet. "You are my guardian angel. The one who didn't save me when I was shot at and kidnapped. The one who has let Eti also be kidnapped. The one who has let me be stalked by Palmer and his men. The one who said I had to attack Joe's beliefs. The one who got me into this mess."

Janet started to cry bitterly.

The shape shifted and seemed to sit beside her with its arms around her. It felt like a human and the arms were indeed comforting. Janet allowed herself to sink into the warmth.

"I still don't believe you are real," said Janet. "You are still just my mind going haywire."

The shape chuckled. "Okay," it said.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Janet.

"I've got a message."

"Of course you do. You are a messenger after all are you not?"

"I am."

"Well then what's the message? Be of good cheer and all that? Don't worry things will turn out right, blah, blah, blah?"

"More or less," said the shape.

"I could have thought of that myself."

"Indeed you could have but you didn't did you?"

"Well the circumstances don't actually lend themselves to such a belief do they? You know, locked up in a cell stinking of sweat and shit. That sort of thought doesn't occur too often."

"That's why I am here to remind you."

"Yeah, well thanks a heap. Got the message. You can head off now thanks. Oh, by the way, before you go, could you open the door like God did for Paul?"

Again the chuckle.

"You're not Paul, Janet."

"You can say that again," affirmed Janet. "Oh, before you do head off, is Eti okay?"

"Yes he is. You'll see him today. Stay focused Janet. You are doing well. There is a lot ahead of you and it's not all plain sailing but you'll make it. Be strong."

With that, Janet felt the warmth of the shape's body leave her and in the growing light of dawn saw the person she knew as Jude Prentice, stand up and walk away through the stone wall.

SIGNPOSTS

Chapter 24

Janet found that she was no longer in need of sleep. Despite her skepticism, she felt uplifted; somehow more positive. The room, or cell as she thought of it, had not changed. It was still grotty and indeed smelt. Never the less, hope seemed to have displaced the despair that had started to dominate her thoughts.

She looked across to where Jasmine slept on her mattress and wondered what she would make of Prentice's visit. She wondered whether she would even mention it in case it turned out to be confirmation that she was losing her mind. She believed Jasmine was holding up rather well. She did have her five prayer bits each day and seemed to have an inner strength that she, Janet, lacked. Janet wondered whether Allah, Mohammed, or their prophets, had visited her.

Jasmine awoke when full dawn had nearly arrived. She washed her face and hands and said her prayers. Looking across at Janet she said, "Are you alright Janet?"

"Same as always I'm afraid. After all, what could have changed?"

"Not much overnight I guess," smiled Jasmine. "It's just that you seem brighter this morning. Dare I say a bit more like the Janet of old?"

"Actually I do feel better today," admitted Janet. "I had a strange dream. I dreamt that a person I know visited me. Here, in this hole."

Janet explained about Jude Prentice, what he had said, how she had first met him and her Minister's belief that he was an angel.

"It's funny what the mind does under stress isn't it?" she finished.

"Why don't you believe he is an angel or messenger from God?"

"Well, well I don't know. Why would God bother with an old school teacher from New Zealand? I am sure he has a lot more on his mind than me and my troubles."

"You shouldn't try and limit your God," replied Jasmine. "I have found you Westerners often do that. We give Allah absolute belief and power while you people put him in a closet and only pull him out when you need him. Even then, you doubt he'll do anything for you. Take a look at yourself this morning Janet. Something has happened to you. Something has given you back your hope. Just accept that God has done it. Don't try and analyse it, just accept it."

"He said we will see Eti today."

"Wow," said Jasmine. "That is a big call."

"I guess if we don't, then I can put all this down to a figment of my imagination."

They sat in silence contemplating what had happened as they awaited breakfast. Normally it consisted of bread, tea and fruit.

The sound of voices approached and the door opened. Eti stumbled into the room, breakfast was dropped on the ground and the door shut again. Unable to keep his footing, Eti fell to the ground.

"Eti," screamed Janet. She jumped to her feet and then knelt down beside him. He had numerous cuts to his body, swelling closed one of his eyes and numerous bruises covered his body and he was bare footed. He wore an orange boiler suit like those worn by criminals appearing in court charged with a crime.

Jasmine brought a water soaked clothe over to Janet and together they set about cleaning him up. He was disorientated and did not seem to recognise Janet. He was no longer the happy full of life positive person he had been. He had clearly been severely beaten over a considerable period of time.

Once they had cleaned up the blood and forced a bit of water into him, they rolled Eti onto one of their mattresses where he slept. He did not show any signs of coherency.

Again, the door opened. It was normal, and expected, as usually the toilet bucket was exchanged for an empty one and the water bucket was replaced at the same time. This time though, the two men pulled Jasmine to her feet and hustled her out of the shed. The door was locked again leaving Janet and Eti alone.

Janet sat beside Eti gently stroking his face and hair. From time to time she bathed his face with a damp clothe and dabbed at his weeping cuts. When he started to shiver, she placed a blanket over him, and removed it when he started to sweat and mumble incoherently. She was unaware of how much time was passing until Jasmine was brought back to the room by the two rough looking men. She appeared to be suffering considerable pain as she was bent over clutching her stomach, and there was swelling to the right side of her face.

"Money," said one of the men gruffly.

"Give them the ransom money," gasped Jasmine.

Frightened, Janet turned her back on the men, lifted up her top and removed the money belt she had tied round her waist. She handed it to one of the men. He snatched it, and then the other gave Jasmine a push that left her sprawled on the floor. They locked the door behind them as they left.

With Janet's help, Jasmine made it to the other mattress where Janet bathed the swelling on the right side of her face with water. She appeared to have been punched in the stomach and on the right side of her face. Janet despaired of how she could administer to Jasmine and Eti without medical supplies to help. Limited to water and love, she bathed and held her two patients as daylight faded and darkness arrived. The night was long, dark and hungry for Janet. No food had been delivered since breakfast had arrived with Eti. Her two patients slipped in and out of consciousness, or so it appeared. They shivered and sweated. Sometimes their breathing was rhythmic and even but at others, it was ragged and uneven. Occasionally they would moan aloud and sometimes talk, although Janet was unable to understand what they were saying.

Gradually Eti and Jasmine moved away from shivering, moaning and restlessness to a deeper, calmer sleep. Although Janet tried to stay awake, as daylight started to arrive, exhaustion claimed her body and mind, and she fell asleep.

Janet jerked awake to find daylight had invaded the cell room. Her patients were still sleeping.

The door was partly open.

Janet scrambled to her feet and crept slowly to the door. It was only ajar and she could not actually see outside. Gingerly she pushed against it. It swung open. Scared that there might be someone outside she quickly looked out and was even quicker in pulling her head back inside again. Nothing happened. Nobody appeared. No shouted warning sounded. The birds did not call an alarm. The world ignored her.

Gathering her courage together, Janet stepped outside. It was beautiful. Still, quiet and beautiful! She was unable to take it all in at once. Apart from the birds, nothing moved. The damaged main building was where she remembered it, as were the two or three other outbuildings. There were no vehicles in sight, but a part of her mind reasoned that they would be hidden. She cautiously walked round the outside of the building that was her cell.

Still nobody appeared.

A water tank stood at one end of the cell room.

Janet went back into the cell room and picked up the toilet bucket. She carried it outside and placed it at a distance. She then took the water bucket to the water tank and filled it with cool fresh water. She used that to freshen up her patients who still showed no sign of awakening. Their breathing, though, remained calm and settled. Janet took that as a good sign.

Once finished the urgent patient matters, she washed herself at the water tank and then quietly went to check out the other buildings. They were more numerous than she had realised. The main Church building, principally consisted of ruins. Two walls had collapsed bringing down the roof with them. Weeds had penetrated the floor and creeper grew over much of the structure. She did not attempt to go into the ruins. They looked just like the photographs you saw of abandoned old castles from the middle Ages: buildings that had once been majestic but were now sad.

There were several outbuildings similar to the cell room. Some were smaller, but others were larger and contained several rooms. One had clearly been used as a garage but only vehicle tracks were left in the dust, along with a few patches of what she took to be oil from the engines.

There was no sign of the kidnappers.

Another building, almost as large as the church, had obviously been the home of the Monks, or who ever had established and run the community. There were individual bedrooms, a community room, bathroom, washroom, kitchen, etc. While most of it showed no sign of recent use, parts did. Unwashed plates, cooking pots and pans, and some items of clothing indicated occupancy by a small group. Some food remained in an aired storage room.

A medical kit sat on a shelf in what appeared to be the dining room.

Janet took it back to the cell room. She treated Jasmine's bruises with arnica cream and was bandaging Eti's cuts and putting antiseptic on his grazes when Jasmine groaned and opened her eyes.

"Oh my God," said Janet. "Thank God you are awake.

She helped Jasmine into a sitting position and gave her a sip of water. She kept hugging, petting and kissing her. Eventually Janet calmed down enough to give Jasmine the chance to detail her injuries; severe bruising to her solar plexus, possible concussion from a punch to her head that had caused the swelling on the right side of her face, and some possibly loosened teeth.

Jasmine noted the open door but the significance did not seem to penetrate her grogginess.

During the next few hours, Eti regained consciousness and Janet introduced Jasmine and brought both of them up to date on what she had discovered. They shifted from the cell room and took up residence in the home building. Proper beds were a luxury and there was sufficient food to sustain them. Eti fashioned some clothing out of old pieces of cloth and dressed himself in the Pacific Island fashion.

The days passed as Eti and Jasmine regained their strength and explained what had happened.

Eti had been kidnapped, in a similar way to Janet and Jasmine, and brought to the Monastery site. He had been beaten and tortured to reveal everything that he and Janet had done, and intended to do. He was advised that unless he and Janet gave up their quest he could expect more beatings and that Janet would also suffer. The men administering the beatings seemed to be just hired muscle. Their questions and demands had been repetitive and the significance or otherwise of Eti's replies seemed to pass them by. They had modern weapons and acted in a semi-disciplined manner. Eti placed them as mercenaries. They had not followed Muslim practices. His computer, specimens and notebooks were smashed and destroyed by his captors.

Jasmine's experience had been similar though obviously of a briefer nature. She had been told to give Janet the regards of Joe Palmer and the scientific community and tell her that if she did not pack up and go home she would have to suffer the same fate as Randy Henderson.

Eti and Janet explained to Jasmine that he had been the person in the helicopter who had been shooting at them before it that had crashed.

Jasmine, like Eti, believed they were mercenaries of some type and were simply reciting by rote something told them by their employers.

From observations made around the monastery site, they put the number of mercenaries at twelve with four vehicles. There was no obvious communication equipment with off-site connection, and no radios or telephones were discovered.

Apart from believing that they were somewhere north and west of Tatvan, they had no idea of their location.

Jointly, they decided on a plan of action. They were certain that people would be looking for them. After all, a person of Jasmine's standing would be missed, and with Jason and the Police involved, some type of search would have been commenced. In the meantime, they decided to stay where they were until they had recovered sufficiently to undertake the journey back to civilization.

Almost idyllic days followed. If it had not been for the visible injuries to Jasmine and Eti it would have been hard to believe what had happened. Sufficient supplies existed to feed them. They supplemented them with the wild remnants of the gardens that had fed the original inhabitants. Among those gardens, they found a plant that looked exactly like the one found in the crashed helicopter. They developed a routine that made them comfortable. Eti explained how he had sustained himself mentally by reciting memorised bible verses, and singing hymns. He had prayed constantly, for Janet, and for his captors. He and Jasmine entered into long discussions regarding their beliefs and faith practices. It actually got to the stage where Janet often felt isolated and alone.

She did not begrudge Eti and Jasmine their time together, and indeed thought it conducive to their wellbeing. Well, maybe there was a little bit of jealousy there as well.

While Eti and Jasmine bonded, Janet took to exploring the ruins, the outbuildings and the countryside. Initially she was attracted to the cemetery. It was surprisingly large, and crosses featured prominently on the headstones. Eti and Jasmine explained to her that the community based at the Monastery had obviously been Armenian.

Janet also found evidence that reasonably recently, people, other than the kidnappers, had lived in the environs of the Monastery and its buildings. Books, artifacts, the odd bit of clothing and bedding clearly provided proof of recent occupation. The books included bibles, some of which were English translations of other languages, and had come from the various shelves of books situated about the Monastery. There were obvious gaps between some of the volumes where some were missing. That was particularly obvious where there were obviously amateurishly bound groups of papers. Jasmine had confirmed they related to the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the founders of this particular Monastery. Jasmine explained that it was not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Instead, it was part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion tracing its origins back to the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Jasmine did try to go into some detail about the differences but Janet was not particularly interested and left her explaining it to Eti. As she left, Jasmine was explaining how it was believed that Thaddeus had at one stage been in possession of the cloth that later became known as the Shroud of Turin. It was quite possible, according to Jasmine, that Thaddeus might well have even visited the area. Perhaps, she suggested, it showed Eti's Christian God was blessing their expedition.

After leaving them to their Orthodox discussions, Janet wandered out to the cemetery. While looking at headstone inscriptions and trying to understand the picturesque friezes, inscriptions and drawings that abounded in and around the Monastery and cemetery, Janet had begun to notice a repetitive theme. It involved representations of a man and woman with God. Various animals were also present. Another feature was the depiction of four rivers.

After checking several headstones and finding similar depictions, she excitedly returned to Eti and Jasmine.

"What do you make of these," asked Janet as she took them around the Monastery and showed them the drawings. Some of them were no more than scratches. She showed them fifteen scenes.

"I think you have found a gold mine," said Eti in awe. "You do know what they show don't you?"

"I think they show God with Adam and Eve," said Janet.

"I think you are right," agreed Jasmine. "Obviously God is the one with the Halo."

"I think so," agreed Janet. "But look deeper. What else do you see?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Eti.

"Look," said Janet pointing at the images. "What do you think these lines represent?"

"I don't know," said Jasmine. "Roads? They could just be scratches."

"I don't think so," said Janet.

"You think they are rivers don't you," stated Eti.

Janet nodded.

"I do," she agreed. "Look how there is only the one line in some of them and in others there are four lines. The one-line pictures have only God in some of them, but in others, they have God and a man. In those with four lines, there are some with God and a man, and in some there is God with a man and a woman."

"So," said Jasmine, "You see God first with one river, and then Adam with God with one river, and then God and Adam with four rivers, and finally God with Adam and Eve and four rivers."

"In the Garden of Eden," finished Janet.

"Are you sure you're not reading too much into it all?" asked Jasmine.

Janet smiled.

"Hey, of course I could be, but it's there. It's what I see."

"This is of major importance you know," pointed out Eti. "Nobody has pointed out, or noticed, the significance of these before. At least I don't think they have."

"Have you ever seen these, or photographs or writings about these, at any stage?" Jasmine asked Eti. "I certainly haven't."

"No," admitted Eti. "They are new to me.

"This is going to hit the world as a major find. Janet, you are going to be famous. This'll sit Palmer on his backside. Let's see how he deals with this. Goodness, this virtually proves Creation."

"Hey," cautioned Jasmine. "I believe you are right as to what it depicts, but it doesn't prove anything does it? It just sets out in pictorial form the Genesis story."

There was silence as they considered Jasmine's comment.

"You are right of course," agreed Eti. "I got a bit carried away. It is still a great find but I have to accept that there are other matters to be considered, and actually scientific scrutiny will probably deflate us.

"Sorry Janet."

"Hey, don't be sorry," consoled Janet. She waited a few beats before adding, "But wait, there is more."

Eti and Jasmine stared at her.

"More?" they echoed.

"Check the background. What do you see?"

"These marks?" asked Eti pointing to what looked like more scratches.

"Yeah," agreed Janet. "Those marks!"

Both Eti and Jasmine examined the lines that did look like scratches behind the figures. They went from scene to scene and back again.

Eti looked at Janet.

"What do you see Janet?" he asked. "I can see angled lines, a circle that could be a moon or the sun, and possibly a mountain, maybe a volcano; background landscape stuff."

Janet nodded.

"Yep, that's what I see," she agreed.

"And that gets you excited because . . ." queried Jasmine.

"Because I think they give the actual location of the rivers. In all the scenes that have the one river, it is shown as coming from between two hills that keep the same shape and position in regard to the orb - your sun or moon. Off to one side is a volcano, that one. (Janet pointed with her index finger.) Then in the scenes with four rivers, those hills and the volcano are positioned differently. I think that is because they are positioned in relation to the four different rivers, and the views are from those rivers looking back towards that particular skyline.

"I think that these scenes are actually a treasure map and the treasure is the Garden of Eden."

Eti and Jasmine re-examined the scenes.

"I think you are drawing a bit of a long bow Janet," said Jasmine.

"And you Eti?" asked Janet.

"It's possible," said Eti. "Many scientific and archaeological finds have been based on less."

"I'll take that as a yes," accepted Janet.

"Not an unqualified yes," agreed Eti, "but a bit of a nod. We will need to do a lot more work on it."

"Back up a bit," said Jasmine. "I hate to rain on your party, but really! This is a big world we live in. There are a lot of hills and mountains, volcanoes and rivers. These scenes, if that is what they are, could be anywhere in the world and could be depicting any place in the world. Also, is it East, West, South or North facing? There has to be a lifetime of computer modeling involved with this. That is especially so when considering the possibility that the hills may no longer be the same now as they were then. Whenever then was. Earthquakes, earthworks, wars and eruptions, not to mention erosion, have probably changed their shape by now."

"Well I didn't say it was going to be easy," pouted Janet. "I just pointed out something that I think is pretty important. You agree don't you Eti?"

"Actually I do agree with you Janet, but I also agree with Jasmine that establishing a location will not be easy."

"It would be impossible," said Jasmine. "Where would you even start?"

"Why not here," asked Janet. "This is where the scenes are. I mean the drawings are right here. They are not in New Zealand or America or Iraq. They are here, near Lake Van, in Turkey. As far as we know, nothing like these scenes appear anywhere else in the world. They may, but nobody has mentioned them yet. So, why would they be here? I would say that they are here because they relate to here. I suggest that the people, either of this community, or close by this community, made those scenes to ensure their knowledge of Eden's location was never lost.

"I'll bet that these scenes relate to somewhere around here. Maybe there is something else pointing to the location. Come on, let's be positive about this."

Janet walked outside. She looked around.

"We are too low. We need to be up higher so we can see the horizon. Probably all of these trees and things weren't here originally. Well, of course they weren't. I'll bet if we can find a high enough vantage point we'll be able to make some sense of our scenes."

"Okay," said Jasmine. "Let's just hold up a minute shall we? I think you are both getting a bit ahead of yourselves. As I said, this is a possibly great and important find. You, of all people Eti, should realise the importance of not jumping to conclusions. This needs doing systematically and scientifically. We need to document and list everything we do. We must document and preserve all we find. Unless we do that, we risk losing any credibility when this all comes under public and peer scrutiny."

Eti nodded.

"Okay Jazz," he said, "you are right. We are getting a bit carried away. Thank goodness someone is a bit focused.

"Janet, why don't you make drawings of these scenes? Note exactly where they are on a plan and how you interpret them. A camera would be great, but at the moment we will just have to make do with what we have got.

"While you are doing that, Jazz and I will sketch an outline of the area around here setting it out in a map form with some measurements so it can be located and quantified, if need be, at a later date.

"Okay, let's get to it shall we?"

Jasmine and Eti went off together, with pencils and paper located from the living area, leaving Janet to her own devices. Feeling somewhat let down, alone, and a lot jealous, Janet set about her work. As time went by, her preoccupation with the Jasmine-Eti relationship receded into the background, and she became more and more animated and certain in the reality of her discovery. She carefully sketched each frieze and did so to actual size. In two cases, she was able to do a pencil rubbing of the scene, which she believed to be of excellent quality.

The day disappeared all too quickly. In front of the fire that night, Eti and Jasmine continued to be involved in animated discussions while Janet was left to one side. She found herself longing for the intimacy that she and Eti had shared prior to the appearance of Jasmine. Janet knew she was being silly and petty about the matter, but found a feeling of dislike forming towards Jasmine. Her mind drifted back to her initial dealings with Jasmine, and the concerns she experienced as to whether or not she should be trusted. Could Jasmine be working with the kidnappers she wondered? An argument developed in Janet's mind in which Jasmine sided with her Muslim believers against the infidels Janet and Eti. Janet could feel her dislike for Jasmine building and this nearly boiled over when she saw her rubbing Eti's arm in a comforting and intimate gesture. With a toss of her head, Janet sought out her bed and settled down for sleep. It never came.

The next morning Janet was moody and bad tempered from the lack of sleep. She was sharp and snapped at both Eti and Jasmine who exchanged questioning looks with each other. Once breakfast was finished, Janet went back to her friezes. Calmness settled over her. She was convinced that the scenes depicted were a map, and that they pointed the way to the Garden of Eden. She found herself daydreaming of walking through a cutting or trail between two hills and it opening into a valley where everything was perfect. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. The grass was greener than she had ever seen before. The flowers were more colourful. Birds flew about her and their songs were more beautiful than she had ever heard. She had an urge to take her clothes off, as it seemed to her that they hindered the whole Eden experience. A fawn wandered across her path and allowed Janet to pet it before it ambled away on its journey. This, Janet felt, was truly heaven on earth.

She jerked back to the current world when her arm slipped from where it had been leaning against a wall. She realised that she had probably fallen asleep, dozing off because of the sleepless night.

At midday, she ate while listening to Eti and Jasmine discussing the merits and demerits of each other's religious beliefs. Feeling embarrassed about her jealousy, Janet cut short her meal and went back to the Monastery ruins. Her examination of what she regarded as the Eden maps, lead her to believe that the scene they depicted had to be from an identifiable point. Seeing they existed at the Monastery, it appeared evident, to her, that the hills must be visible from it: the obvious that she had explained to Eti and Jasmine. If not, there would have to be some other identifiable landmark from which to view the scene.

From the Monastery itself, Janet wandered over to the cemetery area. She felt a fascination for it: drawn to it. Many of the headstones had fallen over so weeds and grass obliterated the majority of the gravesites. Idly, Janet brushed aside weeds that had overgrown a headstone. There was the traditional Armenian style cross on the headstone and the writing or symbols relating to it chipped into the stone. Janet picked off the rest of the moss and growth covering the face of it. For some reason something about that particular headstone caught Janet's attention. Generally it looked no different from any of the other headstones, yet, something in her subconscious mind was telling her different. She moved on to an adjacent grave and cleared the rubbish obscuring the headstone. It was the same, as far as she could tell, as the first one. She cleared another two headstones because she sensed there was something existed that she was missing. She went over and over the three headstones but was unable to identify whatever it was that nagged at her. In the end, she copied the inscriptions down on paper. By that time, the daylight was failing so she returned to where Eti and Jasmine were preparing the evening meals.

Janet still found herself feeling somewhat aloof from the other two, but not in a negative way. Her mind was just preoccupied with the headstones.

After the meal, Janet took one of the headstone inscriptions, and set the engraved marks and lines into columns and rows as they appeared in the original. She then did the same with the other two inscriptions. While there were minor differences, she found that they all consisted of a set number of rows and columns. She had no idea what the inscriptions actually said or meant. Some were long enough to be words. The set number of columns and rows were generally similar for each headstone.

Janet was frustrated.

She knew there was something different but she could just not get her mind to bring that nagging little detail to the fore. As she idly doodled with her pencil, she found herself drawing crosses.

That was it.

Crosses!

There was something about the crosses. She examined each of the crosses she had copied from the headstones but there did not appear to be any difference, although she knew that what she had copied was possibly irrelevant because she had just drawn a cross. She had made no effort to copy exactly what existed. A cross was a cross, right? Well no, that was not right. As Eti would have pointed out, some crosses were more important than others.

Janet wanted, and needed, to go back to the headstones but knew she would achieve nothing in the dark. She resigned herself to having to await daylight. As she settled for sleep, her mind focused on crosses, but she fell into a deep sleep and did not stir until woken by Eti. It was daylight. She wolfed down some fruit, nuts and a drink before racing back to the headstones.

Eagerly she compared the crosses on all three headstones that she had cleared. Yes, they were deeply etched and were the most defined objects on the headstones: far clearer than the writing, or what Janet took to be writing.

There was no perceptible difference. Maybe a height or width difference, but even they were insignificant. She was bitterly disappointed. As she sat down, with her back against a headstone, she let her mind wander. As she took in the fruit trees and vines, she envisaged the Armenians of old who had built the place. She envied them their simple life back in the years when those who had actually spoken and eaten with Jesus still lived. Probably, she convinced herself, Jude Thaddeus had stayed at this very site. It was possible that he had Jesus' burial clothe with him. Oh, how bitter sweet that must have been. Could Jesus have known where the Garden of Eden was? Well of course he would. He, and his father, God, were one and the same. So, had he left clues? Had he passed that knowledge on to his disciples as they sat around a meal? The possibilities were endless. Mind you, would he have wanted his followers to go to the place where his creations had lost their way and disobeyed him?

Janet shook herself.

"You are getting into speculation that has no answer," she told herself. "Now get on with something constructive because you sure ain't achieving anything sitting here."

As she climbed to her feet, Janet slipped and fell. She did not hurt herself, but found that she was lying at the rear of one of the headstones she had cleared.

There it was!

Another cross, but on the back of the headstone. It was more in the form of an arrow than cross when you looked closer at it. And, it had a lean on it: about a forty-five degree lean. It was nowhere as large as the cross on the front, but it appeared as old.

Janet quickly checked the back of the other two headstones she had cleared but apart from the weathered wear and tear no cross or arrow existed similar to the one she had found. Excitedly she set to work clearing the backs of the other headstones that still existed in the cemetery. Within three hours, she had discovered three more arrow crosses on the backs of headstones. What was even more exciting, to Janet, was that they lined up. The direction of all three arrows was a straight line pointing in what Janet presumed was a North Westerly direction.

Chapter 25

Eti and Jasmine were unconvinced about the significance of the arrows and their direction. Yes, they agreed, the crosses, or arrows, lined up, but so what? That could be a coincidence. It could show the direction of another Monastery, or sacred site, or nothing. They were reluctant to accept Janet's theory that they pointed towards Eden.

"Look at it this way Janet," said Eti. "We wouldn't have known of this place unless we had been kidnapped. The purpose of the kidnap was to warn us off pursuing our plans to locate Eden. If these arrows are pointing us towards Eden, it would be the last place they would have brought us."

"They couldn't have known about them," replied Janet.

"I find that hard to believe actually," stated Jasmine. "While they were mercenaries and may not have possessed any local knowledge, I'm sure those behind the operation would have been aware of the place and its connection with ancient times. Particularly it's Armenian connection, so I don't see them pushing us towards anything with a religious connection."

"But you accepted the depictions of Eden I found."

"We agree they look like the real deal," pointed out Eti. "But until they are further examined and peer reviewed, their authenticity remains uncertain."

"Oh, it's we now is it? We remain uncertain," snapped Janet. "When did you and I, Eti, become the Eti and Jasmine we? You know Jasmine, my worries about you and a link to the kidnappers has just come back. I don't think I trust you. No I don't think, I don't trust you full stop. I think you are here for your own sneaky purposes."

"Hey, Janet," protested Eti. "Calm down. Don't be so silly. We are just pointing out real facts. Actually, I think you owe Jasmine an apology."

"No, Eti," said Jasmine placing a hand on his arm. "Janet, I'm not against you. I am on your side. If you logically look at the facts, I never knew you until Jason contacted me. Yes, I had heard of you, and were following your journey, but that was all. I'm all for what you are doing. If you find Eden then it will benefit Islam as well as Christianity. I'm not the enemy here."

"So you say," responded Janet. "Well, we'll see won't we?"

With that, Janet stomped off to be on her own.

The rest of the day limped by. Janet sat quietly in the cemetery. In her mind, she went over all she had experienced since Eti had been kidnapped. It had been turbulent and there, firmly in the middle, had been Jasmine. She had taken control, and more significantly was the fact that the kidnappers had dealt with her. They had communicated in her language. She, Janet, had had no control. Why had they dealt with Jasmine and not her she wondered? She did not believe they would have been dealing with Jasmine if they were really trying to get a message across to her and Eti. Okay, she had been at her wits end, and vulnerable, and that is where Jasmine inserted herself. What better time to take control and manage the success or otherwise of the project? Admittedly, her involvement had been at Jason's instigation, still, Jasmine could have manipulated even that. Oh, yes, she was a crafty cookie. In spite of her emphasizing the sameness of Christianity and Islam, there was that glaring bit about killing the Infidels no matter how you dressed it up. No, Jasmine was up to no good. Not only that, she had deluded Eti with her Jezebel actions.

Janet reasoned that Jasmine would want to keep tabs on Eti because she would believe him to be the important person in the whole set up: him and Jason. She believed that Jasmine had already driven a wedge between herself and Eti and was in the process of side lining her.

There was just a small niggle in the back of Janet's mind that she might be a little paranoid about the whole matter, but she put those concerns to one side.

"We'll see won't we," she said aloud. "If you want a fight Jazz, then you've got one."

Methodically Janet went about assembling items that she believed she would need. As well as some food and extra clothing, she packed her information and drawings relating to the Garden of Eden. She re-checked the direction the arrows pointed to and fixed in her mind nearby visible landmarks in that direction.

When night's darkness had covered the land, Janet crept away from the old Monastery. Strong bright moonlight helped her, but even so, she occasionally stumbled into ditches, or became entangled with unseen plant life. The going was slow, and the tears blurring her eyesight did not help. At each stumble, her mind told her to turn back but she stubbornly resisted the temptation.

Daylight found her probably about five or six miles away from the Monastery. The going became easier and the warmth from the sun encouraged her. She did wonder what Eti and Jasmine were up to, but dismissed them from her mind. She believed that whatever Eti wanted to do would be thwarted by Jasmine.

From time to time, she ate fruit and berries she discovered growing wild. Water supplies, while not plentiful, provided enough for her needs. With daylight, and distance, had come a better view of the horizons. She was able to place her position as somewhere between North and North West of Nemrut which she could see in the distance. There was another large mountain away to her right and so high that she took it to be Mt Suphan. The surrounding countryside alternated between areas rich in plant life and barren areas of volcanic rock. She repeatedly scanned the horizon in the North and West looking for the outline she believed would lead her to the Garden of Eden.

As the day lengthened, and the heat increased, Janet found her initial enthusiasm waning somewhat. On a couple of occasions, she slipped and cut her hands as she grasped at volcanic rock. Sweat then found those abrasions and cuts and increased the pain levels. Instead of deterring her, it increased her determination. She found herself talking aloud and the thought did cross her mind that she may have been a bit delirious.

"Why can't they see what I can see," she argued with herself. "It's clearly obvious that the whole area is so tied in with creation, and obviously Jesus' disciples had felt it also. Why else would two of them have been in the area, and with Jesus' funeral shroud as well? They must have known something to be here. There is the ark thing as well. Noah lived around about here. Creation began here, or hereabouts. It's logical that local knowledge would have been passed down from generation to generation, just as it was logical that at some stage something would have been written down in some form in case something happened to those passing on that knowledge. What better way of doing that than by drawing a treasure map, and not just any treasure map, but one that would be clearly apparent to anyone interested in history, because cemeteries were always a known source of history. Why couldn't Eti see that?

"I could understand Jasmine's reluctance. After all the Islamic faith wouldn't want anyone other than them to be in a position to reveal any further faith knowledge. She has got poor Eti wrapped round her little finger. I wouldn't trust her for one minute."

Janet tripped and fell again. As she lay on her back looking up at the blue sky with the white clouds hanging still and quiet, she started to laugh. To laugh at herself.

"How pathetic can I get," she asked herself? "Here I am, a grown woman, acting like one of the kids I teach. If I didn't know better I would say that I was just plain simply jealous. Jealous of her and Eti's relationship. Relationship? Get a hold of yourself you silly little woman. They have a shared interest, that's all. I frankly doubt Eti has noticed how attractive Jasmine is.

"Whoa, there you go again. Okay, so I am a bit jealous. Silly jealous as well. I know that Eti and I have built up a special bond but it's a bond of shared experiences, not feelings.

"Right, now that I've got that out of the way what do I do? Do I wait here for them to catch up with me or what? What if they don't even realise that I have run away? I haven't left any particular trail so perhaps they are unable to follow. Janet, what an idiot you are. A grown up silly old woman who should know better. Acting like a little school girl.

"Okay, I guess there is only one thing I can do. I'll have to go back and eat humble pie."

Having made the decision, Janet checked her direction markers, and turning one hundred and eighty degrees from them, and noted new markers towards which she would travel.

No sooner had she taken a step in the return direction than she felt a rumble from the ground move up through her feet. Her immediate thought was that an earthquake was underway.

In a way, it was, but it was not as a result of Teutonic plates moving. There was a loud rumble in the air. Her eyes searched the area to see what was causing the problem. They found the big mountain that she had assumed was Mt Suphan. There was a plume of grey-black smoke over it in the shape of a mushroom cloud. It looked like that formed by a nuclear bomb. Again, the ground shook and actually wobbled. A loud roar then assaulted her ears. It was continuous. The mushroom shaped cloud began to spread and it soon blocked out the sun. Janet could see lightening flashing around the mountain. The side of the mountain closest to her began to leak a red colour and she realised it was larva running down its side. She next smelt the sulphur smell that she knew so well from the geothermal activity back home at Rotorua in New Zealand. Looking back at the sky, she saw that the ash cloud above the volcano, because she now guessed that is what it was, stretched out towards where she was. Instead of panicking, she remembered the disaster training and drills of her childhood, and those she now taught her own pupils. Nearby she found a slow moving source of water. She filled her water container and soaked her bandanna. She was none too soon. Ash, grey and sticky, began falling around and upon her. Janet looked about for shelter. A derelict stone walled building was about 300 yards away. She ran to it. It had no roof, but old beams and pieces of iron lay within the walls. Working quickly, Janet dragged some beams out from inside the walls and leaned them against one of the sidewalls. She then placed sheets of iron against the beams to make a basic lean-to structure. She crawled inside and watched as the ash continued to fall. Not having experienced a great deal of snow, she presumed it was similar to what she was witnessing, although she knew how deadly ash could be. It could block up your lungs and could smother you. There was also the possibility of noxious gases being released, and of huge rocks of cooled larva crashing into you. Janet felt that she was far enough away from the volcano not to be in danger of the rocks, or the larva flow, but just in case, she peeked in the direction of the mountain. It was not visible. All she could see was a solid grey blanket of ash accompanied by that strong smell of sulphur. The rumbling continued and she could hear the crackle of the lightening.

Afraid, and alone, she prayed and prayed. She prayed that she would make it back home to New Zealand. She prayed for Eti, and she prayed that those living near the mountain would survive. Tears formed wet lines through the dust on her face. At the same time, she was filled with a deep feeling of melancholy. It was a feeling unlike any she had previously felt. Not having been the greatest and most regular user of prayer, she wondered if such a feeling was natural. She thought back to some of her conversations with Eti, and to sermons she had heard when she attended church services. She could not recall mention of such a feeling, but then, unexpectedly, into her mind popped the notion that she was feeling God's sorrow for those being effected by the eruption.

Regularly, she refreshed her bandanna with water. The air was actually becoming almost thick. Ash slid off the angled iron of the lean-to roof from time to time, and was also becoming quite deep across the exposed ends of it. Janet began to fear she might be buried alive. Pushing away the fear, she dug her way out of the shelter. The ash was up to a foot in depth, and quite a bit more in hollows. Her eyes revealed an eerie sight. It was, she presumed, like the view on a desolate planet elsewhere in the universe; still and grey with no movement, and now, no noise. She assumed the ash was deadening or absorbing sounds.

She struggled along the stone wall until she came to its end. She frantically dug under the ash searching for a downpipe that had, perhaps, existed from the guttering to the ground. Not finding anything remotely like it, she retraced her steps to the lean to, went past it, and continued to the other end of the wall. She again searched for a downpipe but without success. She did, however, find a length of galvanised pipe. It was about a yard in length and free of any internal obstruction except for spiders and other insects that she cleaned from it of by knocking it against the wall.

Back in her lean-to, she placed the pipe on the floor. She intended to use it as an emergency air line if the ash blocked her into her shelter.

Janet was unsure how long she stayed in the shelter. Her watch had been damaged when she had shifted the beams to build it. By her estimate, she was in it for the best part of eight to twelve hours. She had, from time to time, laid her parka outside the shelter to see how deep the ash became over an estimated period of time. On one of those occasions, she brought it back into the shelter to find no ash upon it.

She was not exactly buried, but she did have to dig about two to three feet of ash from the shelter entrance to get out of it. She could see nothing, and presumed that it was night time and not falling ash causing the darkness. Satisfied that there was nothing she could do at that stage, she went back into the shelter, made herself as comfortable as possible, and tried to sleep. She had been afraid to attempt sleep earlier in case she breathed in ash or choked on it.

Naturally, sleep did not come. Instead, she went back over her arguments with Eti and Jasmine and the thought came to her that perhaps this was all punishment for the way she had acted. In spite of realising how absolutely silly such a thought was, it still nagged at her. Just in case, she said a prayer accepting responsibility for what she had said and done and forgiving Eti and Jasmine of any wrong they may have done.

Eventually daylight came. Janet found that she must have drifted off to sleep at some stage as she awoke to a sky with sunlight. Unbelieving, she crawled from her shelter. There was still a strong sulphur smell. Looking over towards where the volcano was, she saw that the smoke was still coming from it but that a slight breeze was blowing it away from her direction. The grey moonscape still lay about her. There was no movement as far as the eye could see.

Janet rinsed her mouth out with some of the water she still had left, and blew her nose to rid it of the grey ash. She took stock of her position. She still had some food, some clean clothes, some water and was physically unharmed.

While there was a lack of identifiable landmarks, she could see what she believed was the horizon she had been headed towards; the one that would take her back to the monastery and Eti. With a brief thank you to the shelter, she set out. No more than a few steps later, she remembered she should say a prayer asking for God's blessing and guidance for the day. She remained standing, but bowed her head, closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer. Finished, she was back on her way and feeling much happier. Saying a prayer before setting out for the day had been an Eti habit and she smiled to herself thinking how pleased he would be if he had been able to see it.

The dust covered everything. It was thick on plants and the ground. Tree boughs were weighed down with it. It floated up in a fine mist as Janet walked, and it was necessary for her to continue wearing the bandanna over her mouth and nose. From time to time, she came across dead animals. They appeared to have died due to inhaling the dust although clearly she could not authoritively say so.

She found a stream that had running water but she was afraid to taste it in case, as a result of the eruption, it contained poison of some type. Occasionally she heard and saw a helicopter but none came near enough for her to signal.

About midday, according to the position of the sun, Janet located a road headed in the correct direction. It was still covered in ash but it was hard underfoot, and flat. The roadside markers allowed her to walk a bit faster as she did not have to take so much care with her foot placements.

Sometime later, Janet ran out of water. She approached a house situated about two hundred yards off the road. She had already passed several, but none of them had shown any sign of life in the vicinity. There were several sheds surrounding this house and it looked as though it was a farming operation of some type. She could hear dogs barking. The barking increased in intensity as she knocked on the front door. There was no response. She continued knocking and calling out but still, the only response came from the dogs. She walked around to the back door. The same result. Janet tried to open the door but found it locked.

Turning away from the house, she walked in the direction of the barking dogs. There were three and they were locked in their kennels along an implement-shed wall. They jumped and whined happily with wagging tails when they saw her. The kennels were without water and food. Janet quickly located a drum inside the shed with dog biscuits in it. She gave them half a dozen each. A tap, with hose attached, allowed her to provide them with drinking water.

Janet then traced the water pipe back to its source, a rainwater tank supplied by runoff from the shed roof. The shed gutters were choked with dust, but as there had been no rainfall, Janet presumed little of the dust would have made it into the covered tank. She decided to fill her water container from the same tap she had used to water the dogs, trusting that minimum, if any, contamination would have reached the bottom of the tank.

Refreshed, she set off again. It was not long, however, before she noticed an increase in the sulphur smell. She became aware of a breeze moving the dust around. It started to hurt her eyes and while she was dabbing at them with her wet hanky, she slipped and fell, banging her head on the road as she did so.

It was dark when Janet awoke. She was still lying on the roadway. Her head ached, her eyes stung, and her mouth was sticky and foul tasting from the ash dust. She sat up and immediately vomited. She crawled to the side of the road on her hands and knees. She rinsed her mouth out with water and gingerly felt her head. There was a lump the size of a large apple at the back of her head but she did not feel any dampness or blood, so assumed she had not broken any skin. She correctly deduced that she had been knocked unconscious by the fall. There was, she realised, the possibility of concussion, as indicated by the vomiting. Understanding that it was not good to go to sleep if there was the possibility of concussion, she sat waiting for her mind to reset itself. She was able to recall, or believed she could, all that had brought her to where she now was, so decided that she did not have any major trauma. Some shock and a headache, yes, but nothing major.

She fossicked around in her pack and located some chocolate, raisins and nuts. She ate them and then paused as she heard voices. They were raised and came from some distance away. Janet got to her feet, swaying a bit in the process. She looked in the direction the voices were coming from. They were off to one side of the road and back from whence she had come. She could see the orange glow of a fire.

Knowing that she was not well, and possibly in need of assistance, Janet decided to make her way toward the fire. The going was not easy. She had to leave the firm footing of the road and travel overland. The terrain turned out to be rolling with the odd deep gully. She was not able to move quickly and by the time she approached the area, the voices had ceased. The first thing Janet saw, was a man holding a rifle and staring towards her. Scared, she stopped. He soon glanced away from her and she realised that he could not see her against the dark background. She crouched down to make as small a target as possible.

The whole setup reminded her of camps in the cowboy and Indian movies she had watched at Saturday matinee movies in cinemas as a child. The fire was in the centre, and six tents were on three sides: two to a side. Four guards faced outwards and were armed with rifles. The open fourth side of the area was occupied by a man wearing handcuffs and tied to a tree.

How she managed not to scream, Janet never knew. The prisoner, because clearly he was such, was Eti.

"Oh no," she said to herself. "Not again. My poor Eti, what has happened to you?"

While she wanted to run to Eti, she realised that to do so would probably not achieve a great deal. She crept away from the camp and hid herself among some bushes where she could see and hear what was happening.

As she waited for daylight, the pain of her own problems was numbed by the plight of Eti. She presumed that the kidnappers had returned and taken him by surprise. As she had not seen Jasmine, she presumed she was also a prisoner but held in one of the tents.

Daylight showed how wrong she was.

Jasmine was indeed in one of the tents, but as the camp awoke and she appeared, she was clearly not restrained in any way. She ignored Eti but spoke and joked with the rest of the men present. In all, the group consisted of Eti, Jasmine and fifteen others. With daylight, the four guards were reduced to one. Breakfast was prepared after prayers. Clearly, because of their style of praying, the group consisted of either Muslims, or Muslim supporters. Eti was able to eat and drink because they removed his handcuffs but kept his feet tied to the tree. Once breakfast was finished, the group packed up camp and left. They walked in single file with Eti in the middle. They headed in the same direction Janet had headed when she first left the Monastery, headed for where she believed the Garden of Eden to be.

Janet considered going for help but discarded the idea almost immediately. The previous day had shown her the area was devoid of current human occupation, probably evacuated when the eruption occurred. She guessed that it would be a long time before she would be able to find anyone to help her, and her faith in the Turkish authorities was pretty much zero.

Janet decided to follow and see if she could somehow do something.

It was not hard to keep track of the group. They left sign of their movements in the ash. As a result, Janet was able to keep well back and not risk being seen by them. They stopped briefly for midday prayers and something to eat. Janet was unable to get close enough to hear what was being said. Off to one side of where they were, Janet could see the shed where her lean-to was situated. If the kidnappers noticed, they did nothing about it.

When darkness arrived, the kidnappers again made camp. Janet was able to creep up closer and watch. Plenty of talking was going on but, of course, Janet was unable to understand what was said. From time to time, one of the kidnappers would walk over to Eti and shout at him. Occasionally he would be kicked or hit about the head. Such actions led to shouting from Jasmine, but she seemed to be ignored. It did not take Janet long to work out that Jasmine and an old bearded man were the leaders. The relationship between them was not harmonious however. The man clearly had little time for Eti. Numerous times he approached Eti, with a knife and a sword, and made threatening gestures. Each time Jasmine would pacify him and lead him away.

Eventually the camp settled down for the night. The guards took up their positions and the others retired to their tents. Eti remained handcuffed and tied to another tree.

Janet crept away and spent a sad and lonely night wondering what she could do to help Eti. She tried praying but was unable to concentrate. She must have eventually fallen asleep because she awoke to daylight and silence. A check showed the camp empty but with a clear path in the dust showing their direction of travel. Looking ahead towards the horizon, Janet could identify the markers she herself had been heading toward. It was small comfort, to her, that Jasmine appeared to have turned out to be all she had suspected her to be.

That evening Janet crept closer to the camp. She approached from behind the tree to which Eti was tied. She had a knife with her and intended to try to cut the rope securing him. She slithered slowly towards the tree. She was within twenty feet of the tree when a violent argument broke out between Jasmine and her fellow leader. Jasmine was pushed to the ground and the man strode over to Eti with his sword in hand. A swipe of the sword severed the rope holding Eti. Eti was pulled to his feet, his legs freed, and then dragged closer to the fire. He was thrown to the ground. Jasmine struggled to her feet and grappled with the bearded man. During the struggle Jasmine was again knocked to the ground. Two men, at the leaders command, took hold of Jasmine and held her. Two others forced Eti into a kneeling position. The bearded leader held his sword in front of Eti's eyes and made a cutting motion. He then moved to one side of Eti and raised his sword. Janet sprang to her feet but before she could do or say anything, one of the men went to the leader and a conversation ensued. Some discussions then took place among the group. Jasmine remained held to one side. Janet sunk back to the ground having been unnoticed. Some laughter broke out among the men and there was much smiling and gesturing. The end result, after much coming and going, was that Eti's handcuffs were removed and a piece of paper thrust into his hands. One of the group went to a tent and returned with a mobile cellphone that he pointed at Eti, clearly using the camera facility. The bearded leader then wrapped a bandanna over the lower portion of his face, as a disguise, and reset himself beside Eti with his sword raised. At that moment, Janet screamed and leapt to her feet. Jasmine broke free of those holding her, and also screaming, ran at Eti and the leader. The group became disorientated. Some looked around to see where Janet's scream had come from. Others tried to grab hold of Jasmine. Eti jumped to his feet and ran. As Jasmine reached the leader, he swung at her with his sword and beheaded her. The sudden silence from Jasmine's scream, and her headless corpse, caused a monetary pause in every one except Eti and Janet. Eti had escaped out the far side of the camp and disappeared into the darkness. Janet had turned and also disappeared into the darkness. The kidnapping gang eventually got themselves organised and set off in groups to find Eti, and whoever had screamed. They quickly found Janet and Eti's footprints in the ash and set off following them. They were both moving away from the campsite in opposite directions.

As Eti and Janet stumbled away, a reasonably strong wind started up and before long, their footprints were obliterated. After wandering around hopelessly for a couple of hours, the gang reassembled at their campsite after much shouting and yelling. Several arguments and fights broke out due to the loss of their prisoner whom they were going to ransom, and also the loss of Jasmine who had been going to lead them to some unimaginable treasure trove.

Daylight found Eti and Janet several miles apart. Eti was unaware of Janet's presence. He thought he had heard a scream but was uncertain if it was real, or in his imagination, or if it had even been himself.

Eti knew it was Mt Suphan that had erupted, and as soon as he was able, he orientated himself in relation to it. He was fortunate enough to find some water, and by using a hanky, was able to prevent the dust choking him. Afraid of being recaptured by Jasmine's group, he made sure he did not head towards either the Monastery or in the direction of where Eden possibly lay. He had a reasonable idea of where he was. Jasmine and he had examined maps of the area when attempting to decide where Janet would have been heading after she left the Monastery. The area was sparse as far as population centres were concerned, but he could recall Guzelsu, a town of one to two thousand people. As he recalled, there was some ancient castle located there. He made it his mission to reach Guzelsu from where he would be able to access real civilization and alert the authorities that Janet was missing. He was in reasonable physical condition, apart from bruising, cuts and possibly broken ribs from the beatings. He knew there was little between the Monastery and Mus except Guzelsu and Lake Nazik off to the north so there was always the chance that he could miss them all and never be found alive. As luck, or God, would have it, he stumbled across a road heading north so took it. For two days he stuck to the road. He managed to break into a house and obtain some much needed food, cleanish water and medical supplies. The ash cloud continued to drift to the north so at least he had no ash fall to cause him any problems.

Late on the second day, a Red Crescent vehicle searching for lost and trapped people located him. They returned him initially to Guzelsu, and from there he went to Ahlat and then Tatvan.

He alerted the authorities about his kidnapping, Jasmine's death and Janet's disappearance. Despite air and ground searches, no trace of either Jasmine's body, or Janet's existence was located. Initially the ash made the searching fruitless as it obscured everything. Even months later though, once the ash had dispersed, and animals and humans returned to the area, no sign was found of the women. It was presumed, by the Police, and Search and Rescue, that the kidnappers had probably buried Jasmine's body, or that wild animals had eaten it.

The most commonly held theory concerning Janet, was that she had lost her way in the ash cloud and died from suffocation. Either that, or was attacked and eaten by hungry animals.

Several search teams from New Zealand combed the area for Janet but eventually all the teams returned home. Within six months of the last team arriving back in New Zealand, Janet, her bet, and her journey, had faded from most people's minds.

The monastery where Eti, Janet and Jasmine had been captive became the object of much archeological interest. Eti managed to raise enough funding to base himself at the monastery and work towards detailing Janet's finds.

Often, he would find himself staring off into the distant North West, but knew from the searches that the elusive Garden of Eden remained forever hidden from mankind.

Chapter 26

While Eti orientated himself and headed towards Guzelsu, Janet tried to find him. She did not want to go anywhere near either the monastery, or where she believed the Garden of Eden to be, in case Jasmine and her cohorts were there. She sought higher ground from where she might be able to see some movement. It did not take her long to become completely lost and disorientated. She ended up being unable to see the smoke and ash rising from the volcano. At some stage she lost her bag. Here, and there, she found sources of water and old abandoned houses, or camps of various types, from which she was able to obtain some tins of beans and meat. Three days after having seen Eti run away, she thought she could hear helicopters or aeroplanes. None came near her. The ash dust had settled down by then and she had managed to re-orientate herself. She guessed that she was somewhere South-South-East of Mt Suphan. She was now again able to see a plume of smoke rising from it, and from the height she was, she could see what appeared to be an expanse of water. She took that to be Lake Nazik, from what she could remember of the maps she had studied before foolishly leaving the monastery. She was somewhere slightly north of a straight line from Mt Suphan through Lake Nazik.

Exhausted physically, and mentally, Janet sat down with her back against a tree. Leaves formed a lush nice comfortable cover over the ground. Branches hung down forming a tent like covering. The ash had not been able to penetrate the leaves so she was dust and ash free. The peace and quiet did nothing for Janet. She did not hear the birdcalls. Her body was racked with sobs. Despair weighed her down. She could not see the colour of life. All she could see was black. Her hands shook and she plucked at her clothes and hit herself. She shook as if she were freezing cold. Tears poured down her face and mucus dripped from her nose. She slumped sideways onto the carpet of leaves and beat the ground with her fists. She jumped to her feet and looked wildly about for something with which to harm herself.

Deep within her, she knew that none of what she was doing was helping, but she was unable to exercise any control over herself. She slumped to the ground again and banged her head repeatedly on it but was unable to achieve the oblivion she craved. She sat up and tore at her hair.

She screamed at the top of her voice; "What am I going to do. Please help me some one. Please help me. Please help me!"

Her voice faded out to a whisper.

"God," she whispered. "God please help me. I've reached the end. I can do no more. I don't know who I am anymore. Please send some one to find me."

Janet drifted into unconsciousness. From time to time, she would regain consciousness briefly before again lapsing back into it. In her mind she was back in her childhood and then at Teacher's Training College. Next, she would be with a friend or her Mum and Dad. Something in her mind told her she was delirious, but that thought drifted away again. It was cold where she was, but just out of her reach, there was warmth. If only she could reach it. There was light there as well. Light and warmth. Janet got to her knees and crawled towards the light. Oh, it was so beautiful. It was indeed warm. Oh, it was so beautiful. There were flowers, birds, and trees. The warmth seeped into her bones and peace invaded her mind. She sat beside a stream. The water was bubbling and gurgling. She dipped her hands into the stream and drank from it. It was the most refreshing drink, she felt, she had ever tasted. She bathed her face and lay back down on the bank. Everything was so peaceful and she drifted into sleep.

THE VALLEY

Chapter 27

When she awoke, Janet found herself still beside the stream. Looking about, she was scarcely able to believe what her eyes were seeing. All the colours seemed to be so vivid and vibrant. The flowers contrasted with their leaves to such an extent that they seemed to be paintings. The sky was the most brilliant blue. Birds flitted from tree to tree, and shrub to shrub. They pecked at berries, and their songs were like heavenly music.

Puzzled, she looked at her clothes. They were torn and dirty. Her fingers and hands were dirty, and dust encrusted her boots.

Looking about, she appeared to be in a private clearing. Taking the risk, she undressed and washed herself thoroughly in the stream. The tangles in her hair freed themselves easily. She washed her clothing and it dried quickly. Washed, and with clean clothing, Janet felt wonderful. Hanging from one of the trees was some fruit. It looked like plums. Nearby was more fruit that looked like oranges. She ate one of each and then some apricots. The tastes were different to what she believed they should have been, but she did not know how she knew that. For greenery, she ate some lettuce like leaves that appeared to be plentiful.

Clean, and with a full belly, Janet sat and took stock of herself, and where she was. She could remember the despair that she had felt but could not remember why she had felt that way. She could also recall the warmth and light that had drawn her to it, but she could not recall how she had got from the despair to the warmth and light. Obviously, she must have walked, she presumed, but could not recall doing so. She knew that something had existed before the despair but that information appeared to be just outside the reach of her memory.

The warmth of the sun was pleasant and 'just right,' neither too hot nor too cold. There was a gentle breeze stirring the leaves but it was so light as to be almost unnoticeable. As the sun dipped towards the hills, Janet took better notice of what there was around her. She seemed to be in a valley, because she could see hills in the distance. The vegetation seemed to be different from any she could recall. The grass seemed to be leafier and greener. She presumed the valley must be so placed that it formed a microclimate of its own.

Uncertain of what to expect from the approaching night, Janet scouted around until she found a site where there were some quite high rocks with an over-hang making a small mini cave. She took her backpack to it and lay down gazing out at the sky as darkness replaced the daylight. The stars were incredibly bright and seemed to hang low in the sky. The Milky Way did not seem as distant as her memory recalled it. The moon made its appearance and was nearly as bright as the sun had been. The temperature was certainly not as warm as it had been during the daylight hours, but it was comfortable.

Janet drifted off into a dreamless sleep. She awoke to a chorus of birds welcoming a new day. Sunlight lit up the tops of the hills she could see. Outside her shelter, the grass was wet as though from heavy dew.

Again, she ate a meal similar to the previous day: fruit and salad.

Many questions flitted through her mind. Where was she? How had she got here? Why was she here? What had made her despair so? No answers seemed to be apparent so she settled upon a course of action. She decided to explore where she was, and make contact with whom ever she could find. She included locating different food as a priority. She did not fancy living on fruit and lettuce. Having settled upon that plan, she picked up her pack and set off for the closest hills she could see. It took her until about midday to reach the base of the hills. She found them to be vertical rock. To climb them, she deduced, you would have to be an experienced mountaineer. That surprised Janet, because she presumed that to be in the valley, she must have walked. By the same reasoning, one would have thought that where she found herself should have been close to where she had walked in, but the vertical sides continued as far as her eyes could see in both directions.

"Perhaps," she reasoned. "The vertical sides had something to do with the microclimate that existed."

"But", she continued to herself, "That does not explain how I got here."

She sat and ate some of the food she had gathered on the walk to the valley edge. She had found an abundant supply covering grains and fruit. It surprised her that they sometimes grew beside each other, something that seemed wrong to her mind. She put that thought to one side, deciding that she would examine obvious incongruities later.

The sun was pleasant but not excessive upon her back as she ate. She found that she was giving a lot of thanks to God for what she was experiencing in the valley, for that is what she thought it was.

With her body replenished, Janet set out to follow the rock side of the valley in a counter clockwise direction. As she walked, she heard the scuttling sound of animals in the bushes and behind trees. Apart from the birds, she had seen no other animal life, although she had heard various calls that were foreign to her. The rock cliff wall remained the same as she wandered along beside it. She continued to be amazed at the variety of fruit and vegetables that she saw. Many of them were familiar to her; silver beet or spinach, various herbs, onions, root vegetables including purple carrots, leeks, brassicas and many others. One of the plants she observed looked familiar but she could not recall where she had seen it before. She also saw figs, grapes, olives, apricots and apples. Again, it seemed to her, that something was different and unusual to have some of those things growing together in the same place.

Then she saw it. With a scream, she turned and ran. She crashed through undergrowth. Her heart beat frantically and fear consumed her. Even above her noisy stumbling, she could hear the thudding footsteps behind her. She then found herself out of the bush she had battled through and in a wide-open space. She turned her head to look behind, and tripped. Suddenly it was there. The creature. It looked like a giant lizard, or crocodile, but it was the size of a cow. Unlike a lizard, or crocodile, its four legs came straight down from the body. Its neck was just a continuation of its body and ended in its head. The elongated head was like a cow or horse, but its eyes bulged outwards on each side. There was a tail, but again, it was a continuation of the main body. Large shell-like ears sat on top of its head. Its skin was not slimy but similar to that of an elephant or rhinoceros. Laying on her back, Janet was frozen to the spot, unable to get her limbs moving. The creature lowered its head and moved closer. On the end of its face were its mouth and nostrils. Janet tried to get herself to shift backwards away from the creature but nothing of her body would get itself into gear. The creature suddenly jumped backwards away from Janet and then took sideway steps until it had circled her and arrived back at its start point. Again, it lowered its head to Janet as though it was sniffing her. Finally Janet's legs moved. Again, the creature jumped back from Janet and made a yelp type of noise. Ever so slowly, Janet began to move herself backwards away from the creature. For every yard Janet moved backwards, the creature would advance a yard. Janet then got slowly and carefully to her feet. The creature jumped backwards, tossed its head and proceeded to run round and round Janet. After three circuits, it stopped and tipped its head to one side. It then made what Janet could only call a long lowing sound; similar to a cow but somehow different. It was not describable. Then it opened its mouth. Janet then saw its teeth and its long tongue. Her mind registered the teeth as being flat, and the tongue as long. The creature shook its head, ran round Janet again, jumped up and down a couple of times, and then stretched out its long neck and touched her with the tip of its nose. Its ears were angled forward, and one eye looked at Janet while the other looked backwards. Tentatively, Janet reached out her right hand. The eye that had been looking backwards flicked back to the front and joined the other eye in focusing on Janet's hand. She touched the creature and rubbed up and down on the long nose above the mouth and up towards the eyes but forward of the ears. Janet jumped back as the creature again gave a sort of 'yelp' noise and jumped up and down again, before re-approaching cautiously. This time it opened its mouth and extended its tongue. Janet again held out her hand and it was licked by the tongue: a rough, raspy type of tongue. It was just a little lick, and then the creature did its little jumpy dance around Janet again. It dawned on Janet that it wanted to play. She started to run in a large circle. Immediately the creature joined her. From time to time, the creature would run past her, and then wait for her to catch up. Next, Janet tried running for about one hundred yards in a straight line. She was followed. When the creature reached Janet, it then ran a similar distance before stopping and waiting for her to catch up.

The creature was now letting Janet pet it and seemed to be reacting to her voice.

From time to time, the creature would stop at a particularly dense area of grass, wrap its tongue around some of the grass, and pull at it until it came free of its roots. It would then chew on it for a while before swallowing the grass. Janet now knew why the teeth were blunt and not sharp; they were for chewing vegetation and masticating, not sharp for eating meat.

By her reckoning, Janet played with the creature for about three quarters of an hour.

Suddenly the creature stood still and looked back towards where it and Janet had exited the bush. Janet turned to see a larger, much larger, version of the creature she was playing with, emerge from that bush. Janet could now understand that she had been playing with a baby or young infant, and that the mother, or father, had just appeared upon the scene. She suspected that the appearance did not bode well for her. The baby galloped to its parent who nuzzled it. The baby then ran back to Janet while the parent followed. The parent showed no overt signs of aggression as it approached.

When child and parent reached Janet, the parent stretched out its long neck, lowered its head, and licked Janet. It then sniffed at her while walking round her. It then headed off back towards the bush. With a similar lick, the child followed.

Janet decided to tag along, albeit at a distance. The creature was definitely unknown to Janet's mind, and nothing like anything she could place as having seen before. She discovered she was hard put to keep pace with her two newfound friends. Their ability to cross the ground left Janet, with her pitiful steps, in the dust. Well, they would have, had there been any dust. From time to time, the infant would come 'gulumphing' back to Janet, but after a quick check and lick, it would return to its parent.

Janet now found herself aware of many more animals, or creatures, about her. Many of them resembled animals she somehow knew; dogs, donkeys or horses, elephant like ones that she thought were mammoths, bears and even woolly sheep like animals. While they were similar to the animals she knew, or could remember, they were not the same. The dogs were more like wolves and the sheep more like woolly baby horses. There were also some unlike any animal she knew.

It was the same with the birds. They were similar, but somehow different. They had wings, and flew in the air, but some had two sets of wings and some had four feet and not the normal two. Some had ears like a mouse's ears. Again, like the big creature she had first encountered, the eyes were sometimes on the sides of their heads but sometimes on top. They appeared to eat grass and fruit or berries. She did not actually see them pecking at grass, that is the ones that had beaks as apposed to those with mouths, but they did poke their beaks around amongst it. Perhaps they were after small berries, roots or something. Janet did not know.

None of the creatures seemed to find Janet's presence alarming. They would look quizzically at her, but then go right on with whatever they were doing. The odd one would approach and sniff at her, but that was about the limit of their interaction.

As the day cooled, Janet found an area for her to spend the night. It was beneath a tree with branches that hung almost to the ground. There was a carpet of thick leaves upon which she was able to find a comfortable lying position. Satisfied with it, she picked some berries and fruit and ate them. While her hunger was satisfied, she longed for something more substantial, and for a warm drink. She fell asleep and dreamt of roast meat, roast potatoes and hot sips of tea.

Birds singing woke her. Outside the tent formed by the hanging branches, the ground was again wet: wetter than she had ever experienced with ground dew. She put that little mystery to one side. She had another breakfast of berries, fruit and a nibbled upon something she could only think of as a purple carrot. She drank from water seeping from a spring.

The day stretched in front of her. Bird song and animal movement surrounded her. There was a feeling of contentment within her that did not make her feel lonely, or alone, even without any discernable agenda before her.

She sat with her back against a tree. She knew that there was something missing in her mind. It did not bother her, but there was missing information. She knew that the birds and animals she saw were different to those that she knew, but did not know why she knew them to be different. She also knew that there were people like her, people she knew, but did not know why she could not see them now. Something in her mind seemed to have changed. Something was telling her mind that the world she was now experiencing was not the world that her mind knew. It did not worry her.

Getting to her feet, she wandered about the area. There was nothing specific she sought, but unexpectedly she came upon a nest; a bird's nest she somehow knew. There were three eggs in it. She picked up one of them. It was a light blue in colour, and fitted neatly into her cupped hand. It was slightly warm. She thought she had never eaten raw egg and did not seem to have any inclination to start. She put it back into the nest. Moving on, she came across waving stalks of grass. She plucked, absent mindedly, at the seeds on the top of the stalks. She found them to be crushable and with a content like flour. Having never experienced wheat in the field prior to harvesting, she could only assume that what she held in her hand was wheat. She allowed it to fall from her hand.

Her wandering took her close to the steep rock wall of the valley again. As she meandered with it ever present beside her, she heard an unusual noise coming from behind her. Turning, she saw that there were a few pieces of rock falling from the valley wall. The noise had been caused by the individual pieces of rock hitting against each other. Something niggled in her mind about rock against rock. Then it came to her. Sparks, fire. Of course, fire. Fire for heating, fire for warmth. What a great idea.

"I wonder where that came from," she said aloud.

A couple of the woolly baby horses raised their heads at the sound of her voice, but then resumed their grazing.

Janet picked up two pieces of stone and struck one against the other. They both broke in half. She threw them aside and continued her walking. As she walked, she picked at various items of fruit and berries and ate them on the move.

"Hey, sheepy things," she called to some woolly horses. "Look at me. I'm grazing just like you. If I'm not careful I'll get fat won't I?"

The woolly horses ignored her.

Not much later, Janet noticed the smell of sulphur in the air. Again she did not know how she knew it was sulphur, she just did. Following the smell, she found a pool of water. It was not large, nor was it very deep: about ten to fifteen yards across and knee deep. The surrounding rocks had a yellow and green tinge to them, but the water looked clear enough. Steam hung over the pool. Reaching down with her hand, Janet felt the water. It was warm, not too hot, warm. She slipped off her clothes and into the pool. She found the temperature perfect and she was able to float easily. It was so relaxing that she found herself in danger of falling asleep. She picked up her clothes and washed them in the pool. After that, she left them hanging over some rocks while she again relaxed in the water. When she found that her skin was wrinkled, she left the water and dressed again.

Daylight seemed to be slipping away so she made her way back to her hanging branches shelter. As she walked, she continued to graze fruit, vegetables, nuts and berries. By the time she reached her tree-tent, she was not hungry. Nearby though, was a goat-like creature. It was somewhat larger than the image her mind generated at the word goat. It was about the size of a cow and made a similar noise, although it had solid one-piece hooves. Another similarity was that it was feeding a baby from an udder between its rear legs. Janet walked towards it. The adult watched her but showed no signs of aggression. Actually, now she thought of it, Janet had seen no signs of aggression between any of the species she had seen. The goat-like animal allowed Janet to pet it, and exhibited total disinterest when she attempted to extract milk from the udder. Janet could recall farming practices, but again she did not know why or how she did. She wrapped one hand round a teat and pulled gently downwards while squeezing at the same time. She repeated that a few more times and was rewarded with a palm full of warm milk. Janet could not recall ever drinking fresh warm milk but she found it tasty and creamy. Her source of milk walked off followed by her baby.

Before settling down for sleep, Janet prayed. She could feel creative power all about her and knew that this was God. She knew, somehow, that God had a Son, and a Spirit form, but she could not recall the son's details apart from his name of Jesus.

She found that while saying her prayer, it was as if she were saying it to some one very close to her. It felt as though God was beside her but invisible to her naked eye.

The days drifted into weeks, and the weeks became months. It would be wrong to think Janet had settled into a routine. She had not. She had though, settled into the valley. Her explorations revealed that what she thought was a valley might not have been. She thought there was a possibility that it was three sided with an open end. Width wise it was about five miles, but four days walking failed to reach its end, lengthwise. At the end of four days, Janet returned to the end she called home.

Generally, she sustained herself by grazing, like the animals. She ate mostly of nuts, fruit, berries and vegetables. They were an endless source of food that replenished itself. On the odd occasion she would catch, and cook, a fish. She had managed to obtain a spark from some rocks that she had found, and subsequently set fire to some small pieces of wood that she found lying close to the rock sides. All the trees in the valley did not seem to die or rot, so she assumed the sticks she found must have fallen down the sides from whatever was at the top of the rock walls. Similarly, she was able to cook eggs from the nests she found and make a type of yeast-less bread from the wheat. Janet knew she could exist without the fish and eggs, but there was just something about them that connected her with a portion of her inner self.

Several different types of animals, medium, small, and even big, became pet-like to her. She named the goat-like animal 'Nanny' and collected milk from her and some of her fellow 'goats'.

Janet no longer wore the clothes she had worn upon her arrival in the valley. They had become tattered and worn. One morning she had awoken to find a set of clothes made from some type of animal skin, lying outside her tree tent. She had no idea how they came to be there, but they fitted comfortably.

For a while, she had only her hands to use as a cup for water and milk, but over a few weeks, she fashioned a cup using mud and hardening it in a fire. With a cup, she had been able to make a hot drink using some sweet smelling and tasty herbs.

Janet continued her praying but it became more and more an intimate conversation. Often she caught a glimpse of something at the edge of vision, but was unable to actually focus upon it; if it actually did exist. Whatever it was, it seemed to be nearest to her at prayer time. Answers and replies to her prayers flashed into her mind and there was always a comfortable feeling enveloping her. There were, though, no answers to her questions about how she got to the valley and what she had been doing prior to her arrival. She did not doubt for a moment that it was God, and God alone, with whom she was interacting. He did speak about another world and it was a world that she knew, but did not understand how she knew. He spoke of his love for the people of that world and the future he had for them. He also spoke of his sadness that those same people no longer lived by the guidelines they had been given.

From time to time, she believed she was actually talking with other beings that were with God, and sometimes even involved in discussions with them. If asked, she would not have been able to explain how she knew that, she just did. She did not hear the voices the same way that she heard the animals and birds. They were in her head and aloud at the same time.

From the forming of the earth, through to what she knew was the present day, was explained to her. Right and wrong, pain, suffering, prophecy, the bible as God's word and the end times were explained. The future was laid out for her, but her part in at all was not revealed.

Often, while wandering, Janet would be aware of a presence, or presences, about her and they would talk with her in their out loud but unable to be heard voices. They comforted her.

Overall, Janet felt contented and cared for. She felt overwhelming love for her and everything that existed. It was a feeling beyond any she had every experienced. It embraced her, covered her, lifted her up and carried her. It was indescribable.

From the time she had found herself in the valley, Janet had kept a record of the days as they passed. She did so by making a vertical scratch on the rocky walls with another piece of stone. From time to time, she missed the odd day but generally, she maintained her calendar faithfully.

One evening, as Janet sat gazing at the stars, she again felt a presence beside her. She welcomed it. For a while, there was a companionable silence and then the presence spoke. As usual, Janet heard the voice but was uncertain if it was aloud or in her mind.

"Janet," said the voice. "The time has come for you to leave here and return to your journey. You have often asked me how you knew certain things and why those things were different to what you were seeing and experiencing. You also knew that some other place existed that you had experienced. It is to that place you must now return.

"You will remember your time here with me. Many will not believe you when you speak of it but be assured that it has been real. Never forget me. You are a wise and clever woman. You will have to face many trials, but being strong, you will overcome. Above all, remember that I am always with you, and will be for all of your days, even until the end of the world."

Janet felt the embracing arms holding her. Tears poured from her eyes and her arms held a form that she could not see, but could feel. The invisible arms released her, stroked her hair, and disappeared.

Janet fell asleep.

The following day began as all her previous days in the valley had commenced. She bathed, ate some food and spoke with the animals that lived about her. Not only had the woolly horse settled with her, but Nanny and various other animals, large and small, also kept her company. There were a number of birds that remained local as well.

Janet said her morning prayers, as had become her habit, and went over the things she had heard the previous evening. The voice had been different to the other ones with whom she had spoken. She knew that it was Jesus and wondered why he, rather than the voice she thought was God, had spoken with her. She knew it was an interesting fact but could not work out the reason behind it.

Finished her ablutions, breakfast and devotions, Janet began her daily wander. She went to the rock wall and scratched another mark for another day. She counted the marks she had made since her arrival: five hundred and fifty. She continued on her walk, considering the fact she had been in the valley for about a year and a half, as she remembered time.

She had not experienced any great temperature change in that time. It did get cooler in the evenings, but she felt that previously there had been major changes called seasons, but they had not been present in the valley. There had also been a continual renewal of life, both animal and plant.

"Why was that?" she asked aloud. "Why did I not see anything dead? There were no dead plants, no dead trees or animals. Only those I killed.

"Another of those mysteries I guess."

She was now comfortable in the clothes provided for her, but likewise, was quite at home naked. From time to time, she would come across the clothes she had been wearing when she entered the valley, but they meant nothing her.

Out of the bush ahead of her came the first animal she had seen when she arrived. It was now as big as its parent. It walked up to Janet and licked her face while she petted it. As it went to move away, it accidently knocked Janet to the ground with its tail. As she fell, she hit her head on a piece of hard earth and knocked herself out.

THE RETURN

Chapter 28

When Janet regained consciousness, she found herself lying on the bed of leaves under the tree. The first thing she noticed, apart from that, was that she wore her old clothes. Looking out from under the branches, all she could see was barren land. In the distance, she could see what looked like farm buildings. There was no smell of volcanic ash. She looked off in the direction of the volcano. There was no plume of smoke in the air. Actually, the sky was perfectly clear, and a brilliant blue, with not a sign of a cloud. The warm sun penetrated her bones.

Janet sat down on a small hillock a short distance away from the tree, and took stock of the situation in which she found herself. She was not in the valley that she had been. Far from it, this was no peaceful paradise. She could recall all that had happened to get her to this place though. She knew of the bet with Palmer. She knew of Eti and their journey to find the Garden of Eden. She knew that when she had been unable to find Eti, she had ended up right there under that tree. She could recall the huge volcanic eruption and Eti's escape from Jasmine and her kidnapping gang. She also knew that she had spent about eighteen months elsewhere: five hundred and fifty days to be more or less precise. She put that thought to one side. Janet realised she had experienced something unique, powerful and life altering. She also believed that she was not in a stable enough condition to evaluate it at this stage.

"Okay, God," Janet said aloud, "Where to from here?"

Her gaze again caught the horizon, and she immediately recognised the skyline markers that had pointed towards where she had been seeking the Garden of Eden. She looked in totally the opposite direction and took note of the markers that she believed would lead to the Old Monastery. Before leaving where she was, Janet carved her initials in the tree under which she had sheltered. She built up a pile of stones on the hillock to mark the spot where she was. She also sought out other markers in her mind so that she would be able to find her way back at a later date.

Janet took a last look about her, and said, "Okay Lord, let's go." With that, she headed off in the direction of the Monastery.

It took her two days to reach it. She marvelled at how the countryside had recovered in the eighteen months since the eruption. There was little evidence of it actually: no ash, no dead pasture, and no dead animals. On the contrary, the countryside was alive with animals, plants, humans and movement. Trucks and cars whizzed along the roads and people cheerfully waved out. Janet found the ruined building where she had sheltered from the eruption in the hand made lean-to. It was no longer as she remembered it. Repairs had replaced the roof and fitted new doors.

It had to be late spring, or early summer, Janet reckoned, as she walked towards the Monastery. The sunshine, the growth, the noise, all indicated growth and life.

The outline of the Monastery was the same, but its unkemptness had changed. Freshly mowed lawns had replaced the overgrown weeds and gardens. The mouldy moss covered brickwork had been water blasted and shone brightly. The building that had held her, Eti and Jasmine captive, likewise shone brightly and outside it were several wooden seats. There were three tourist buses in an area that was now a parking zone. Young voices shouted joyfully, and laughter came from somewhere over to her left. She went to where the cemetery was: where her private quest had begun. The once moss covered headstones were now clean and flowers adorned those headstones upon which Janet had fixed her hopes of locating Eden. She stood in front of the first one in silence. She brushed her hands lightly over the engraved pictures and letters.

"Oh, Eti," she said softly. "Where are you now? Are you still alive as I am, or did you die after escaping?"

She turned away from the cemetery and made her way into the area where she, Eti and Jasmine had camped. The change was marked. Offices now existed where the main hall and dining room had been. There was even a reception area. Groups of people, whom Janet assumed were from the tourist buses, were being shown around by young uniformed men and women. The tiles Janet had spent so much time gazing at were lit up with strong spotlights, and the tourists were having the depicted scenes explained to them. Amazed, Janet opened a door to find what was obviously a classroom. It was occupied by about thirty students with a male teacher standing in front of them. All thirty students turned and looked at Janet.

"I'm sorry," she said. "My mistake."

Janet started to pull the door closed but glanced at the teacher as she did so.

"Sorry," she said again but to the teacher this time. She continued to close the door and turned away before her mind clicked. She jerked the door back open. Thirty student faces and one teachers face again turned towards her. Her gaze fastened upon the teacher.

"Eti," she asked? "Oh my God it is you. Eti, its you!"

The door swung back as far as it could go and ricocheted off the wall.

Janet ran to the teacher and enveloped him in her arms. She hugged and kissed him and cried and thanked God. The students sat in shock, many with their mouths wide open. The teacher had not moved. His face was as white as a ghost. He managed to push Janet slightly away from him and hold her at arms length. He was shaking like a leaf.

"You're dead," he gasped. "You died five years ago. You can't be real."

"She looks pretty real to me Mr. Solomon," observed one of the students somewhat wryly.

"My God Janet," said Eti pulling her to him with tears pouring down his cheeks. "Where in God's name have you been? We thought you were dead. It's been five years since you left us and set off for Eden. We searched and searched but couldn't find you. Thank you Lord, thank you."

"Hey," laughed Janet. "Go easy on the time. A bit over a year, not five years. Do I look that rough?"

"You're Janet Winter," one of the students called out.

Janet turned her head and nodded.

"It's five years since you went missing. It was when Sulphan erupted. That was five years ago. You were in all the papers and on the TV. They searched for you big time. Gee, wait 'til this gets out. Where have you been?"

With his arms still round Janet, Eti spoke to the class.

"Okay troops," he said. "Enough for now. Let's call it a day You're dismissed while this gets sorted out. Away you go. I'll fill you in tomorrow."

Chattering among themselves, the class left the room leaving Eti and Janet alone.

"Five years," asked Janet?

Eti nodded. He took her by the hand.

"Thank God you're okay. Well, better than okay. You don't look a day older than when you left."

"As far as I'm concerned I'm not, well a year older, but that's all," replied Janet. "The main thing is that you are okay. The last I saw of you was when that criminal was going to kill you."

"How did you know that," asked an amazed Eti.

"I was there. Didn't you hear me scream?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so. Look, let's go to my office and we'll sort all this out. My God this is so wonderful."

"Your office," said Janet. "I am impressed."

"You better believe it. I just can't take this in; that you are here and alive. Obviously we didn't find your body and boy did we search. After six months though we had nowhere left to look. It was the same with Jasmine and her bunch. We never found them either."

Seated in Eti's office with a hot chocolate drink and an open packet of biscuits, Janet knew she was back where she had come from.

Eti, between expressions of how great it was she was safe, and sound, explained what had happened since she left on her own to go and find Eden. He explained that he and Jasmine expected her to return quite quickly, but when she did not, they became alarmed. Up until then, he and Jasmine had continued as normal. Then, two truckloads of thugs arrived. It was at that stage, explained Eti, he discovered that he had been played by Jasmine. She admitted that she was in cahoots with the thugs and that her injuries had been inflicted only to fool Janet and him. After the thugs arrived, they and Jasmine had checked out what Janet had deduced, and in which direction she had probably headed. Jasmine and her group intended to hold Eti for ransom, but before doing that, Jasmine wanted to check if Eden did exist, as if it did, there was huge money to be made. The thugs had Eti's computer and notes etc with them, but once Jasmine had checked them they were destroyed.

The eruption had changed all that. Tempers had flared out of control, and the scenario witnessed by Janet had ensued. Eti admitted it was possible that he had heard Janet's scream, but that it had not registered with him, or he thought it had come from someone else. He told Janet that when he got back to civilization he had alerted the authorities, but there had been no positive result. Due to Jasmine's high profile and the publicity surrounding his disappearance the search for her had been a major news item.

He explained how even Palmer and his cronies had assisted in the searches, but after six months everyone had given up hope. Bearing in mind that the monastery had been occupied prior to their capture, Eti thought that Palmer and the Galapagos Inc. people might have been involved and been the ones who had taken some of the missing books from the library. Enquiries by Private Investigators had failed, however, to find any links. Their enquiries regarding the pilot and passenger in the crashed helicopter likewise yielded nothing. Memorial services had been held in New Zealand for Janet and then she became yesterday's news. He told how he had raised funding to document her finds and to continue research into them. As part of that, the Monastery had been tidied up and opened to the public. In the search for Janet, Eti explained, they had thoroughly combed the area she had indicated as being the possible site for the Garden of Eden, but nothing had been found.

At the end of his explanation, Eti sat back and said to Janet:

"So, Mrs., your turn."

Janet smiled.

"Don't you Mrs. me Eti Solomon.

"I've created a lot of commotion haven't I? What are people going to think of me turning up all this time later? Five years later, with a story relating to eighteen months of it."

"What happened in those eighteen months Janet?"

Step by step, Janet related her story; how she had woken up in a valley with no recall of how she had reached it and no recall of her life before it. As best she could, Janet explained how she had been aware of an existence before the valley but had been unable to recall details of it. She described, in detail, the animals, plants, climate and the conversations with a being she could only explain as God.

When she finished, it was dark outside. She was hungry and exhausted.

"I was in the Garden of Eden Eti," she whispered. "I was there. I don't know how I got there, but I was there. I truly was.

"Nobody is going to believe me though are they?"

Eti reached out and cuddled her.

"I believe you," he said.

Eti took Janet to his flat; well, two or three rooms within the Monastery, and made them some toast and jam, with sweet tea. Janet sat down on a couch to eat it off a tray balanced on her knees. Part way through the meal, Eti looked up to find Janet asleep with the tray still balanced on her knees. He removed the tray, laid her down and covered her with a blanket.

Returning to his office, Eti picked up the telephone and dialed a New Zealand number. When it was answered, he said, "Jason, it's Eti. You're not going to believe who just walked back into our lives."

Chapter 29

News media worldwide clambered over each other for access to Janet and her story. Ridiculous sums of money were offered for exclusive interviews.

Jason and Eti initially shielded Janet from all the attention. They hired a Public Relations company and allowed it to deal with the media. Meanwhile, Jason and Eti formed a small management team made up of people who had been involved in the project from the beginning. They, and Janet, spent a month together going over Janet's experience. Climatic and geological experts assessed the likelihood of the conditions Janet had experienced. Psychiatrists and psychologists questioned her. She undertook lie detector tests. Medical Doctors examined her. Astronomers questioned her about the stars she had seen and where they were situated relative to her, and what the moon had looked like. They also wanted to know how hot the sun had been and how long the days and nights had been. Botanists questioned her about plants and those who study animals had their turn. Searchers went to the tree Janet had sought shelter under prior to entering what she believed was the Garden of Eden but found nothing fitting her description of the valley in which she said she had spent her time.

At the end of a month, Janet gave an exclusive interview to a Christian television channel. The host treated her courteously and she answered all the questions put to her. She was completely open about the fact that she did not know how she had entered the valley, or how she had left it. She described the animals and conditions, and accepted the fact that experts described her as 'delusional.' She denied that all she had said was designed to extort money by selling her story to the highest bidder. As she pointed out, she had received no payment from any one or anything.

Subsequently, Janet published a book reiterating all she had said during the television interview. It was published as a free EBook by an independent publisher.

Janet did not personally speak with Palmer, but acknowledged in the television interview, and EBook, that while she believed she had spent time in the Garden of Eden, she did not have the physical evidence that would win her the bet.

The television interview and EBook provided fodder for the talk back radio, and agenda driven anti-Christian organisations, but gradually the publicity died away.

EPILOGUE

The knock at the door interrupted Janet. She put aside the correspondence school papers she was marking at the kitchen table, and went to see who was visiting her. She did so somewhat reluctantly, as ever since she had returned to her house in New Zealand she had been the subject of harassment and ridicule.

She opened the door.

Prentice stood smiling at her. Janet debated closing the door and leaving him standing there. Her manners won the internal battle, and she stood aside.

"Come on in."

Janet made a drink for them both and once Janet pushed aside her work, they sat at the kitchen table.

"Teaching again are we?" asked Prentice indicating the papers.

"I have bills to pay," pointed out Janet. "They include the loan I raised against the house to pursue a course of action detailed by you. A course of action that has relegated me to the cranks of this world fit only to mark examination papers for correspondence students. I can't be allowed in front of real live students."

"Yes," agreed Prentice. "Somewhat unfortunate!"

"Why are you here," asked Janet?

"I have a possible small job that I think may be of some interest to you. One certainly suitable for you."

Janet calmly put her mug of tea to one side. She stood up and leaned forward with her hands palm down on the table.

"I do not want to hear what you have to say," said Janet. "In my mind, owing to the circumstances in which I have met you, I presumed you were some sort of Guardian Angel or Special Messenger sent to me. I now doubt that."

Janet indicated a small leafy plant growing in a pot on the bench.

"The only thing I can cling to, as far as my sanity is concerned, is that plant. Eti and I found one in a helicopter wreck, and after I returned from the Garden of Eden, I found a seedling of the same plant in my backpack. That plant only exists in three places on this planet: Eti's place after it was returned to him by the scientists who examined it, my place and where I saw it in Eden. I know Eden exists.

"You are a Dark Angel Mr. Prentice."

Janet opened the front door and indicated for Prentice to leave.

"You are one of the few, like me, who have seen Eden Mr. Prentice, and your mission is obviously to rubbish it as much as you can. But, I have also been there, and my mission is to prove it.

"I do not wish to see you ever again."

Janet closed the door behind Prentice.

"Please God," she whispered.

THE END

About Jim Payton

Jim Payton lives in Masterton, New Zealand with his wife Yvonne. Their five children have all left home (thank goodness) and they have twelve Grand children. Jim led a varied life prior to retiring, which included time as a Royal New Zealand Air Force Avionics fitter, a Detective in the New Zealand Police, several years as a Licensed Private Investigator, a carver of Greenstone (Pounamu to Maori), and nearly every other occupation you could think of if you put your mind to it.

Connect with Jim Payton

Jim can be contacted and followed at his Website

http://www.jimpayton.co.nz

Blog

http://www.pilgrimjim08.blogspot.co.nz

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/Jim the pilgrim

Other books by Jim Payton

Ripples

A book of short stories for reading to children, based upon Christian and moral principles

The Begat Legacy

An adult fiction novel concerning a disgraced Detective who is believed to be a direct descendant of Jesus Christ.
