The 13th Tablet

One of the men shouted from below, ‘Miss Osman, Major, hand over the tablet and you will not be harmed.’

‘You mean like Eli in Safed?’ said Jack as he reached for the guy tucked into his waistband and tried to figure out through the pounding rain where they were.

‘Hand over the tablet,’ the man shouted again.

Jack assessed their situation. He was at the top of a tiny hill in the middle of fields. They had no escape route.

‘Mina,’ he hissed, ‘take a photograph of the tablet, quickly.’

She was petrified.

‘Mina!’ he repeated.

‘My camera’s flash doesn’t work. What should I do?’ she asked.

‘Don’t you have your notebook?’ he muttered.

‘Yes.’

‘Well get on with it,’ Jack replied instantly ‘while I think of something.’

Mina started copying the signs on the tablet as fast as she could, but it was hard work, writing while holding an umbrella at the same time.

‘Hand it over,’ yelled the man from below, ‘and you have our word you won’t be harmed. We’re only interested in the tablet.’

‘So you work for Shobai?’ shouted Jack. ‘He doesn’t mind murdering old men?’

‘That was a mistake, our brother shouldn’t have killed the old man in Safed. All we want is the tablet.’

By this time, the river had broken its banks and overflowed into the fields, which were so flat the water quickly reached the lower part of the mound. Jack looked at Mina, scribbling away feverishly in her notebook. He had to gain more time. He heard the man shouting something from below.

‘You’re still there?’ asked Jack to the voice down below.

‘Yes,’ said the man.

‘You’re still there?’ repeated Jack, pretending not to hear.

‘Major, I told you, I am not going without the tablet,’ said the man.

‘What do you want with it?’ asked Jack.

‘That is not your concern. We don’t want to harm you. Just give us the tablet. You will never see us again.’

Jack turned to Mina and whispered, ‘Have you finished?’

‘Almost,’ she replied. She looked up and saw the water rising almost to her feet. She yelped. ‘How are we going to get out of here Jack?’

‘We’ll swim if need be,’ he replied grimly.

Jack suddenly realised he shouldn’t have wasted time talking to Mina. He had misjudged his opponents. There were two of them, but he had been speaking to only one. Where was the other man? He quickly turned around and there he was, climbing the other side of the mound. He had circled it while Jack was foolishly trying to gain precious time by bartering with the other man. It was too late. Before he could dive behind the tree, the man shot Jack twice. The force of the impact spun him around, and with a thud, he fell down on the sodden ground.

‘Jack!’ screamed Mina.

The man then took a shot at Mina, who instinctively flung her arms up to protect her face. The bullet hit the clay tablet still clutched in her hands, which shattered into tiny pieces and plopped into the rising waters. In shock, she watched the pieces sink into nothingness.

‘Yakov, we must go. We’re done here,’ shouted the first man, from down below.

‘I’m coming,’ he called, throwing a last look at a pitiful Mina, who had crawled to Jack’s body and was hugging him to her, her tears merging with the steady rain.

‘Are they gone?’ muttered Jack.

‘You’re alive? Oh Jack, I thought you were dead!’

‘Have they gone?’ he asked again, weakly.

‘Yes,’ she answered.

‘I think he shot me below the shoulder, I’m losing a lot of blood. The other bullet just grazed my wrist. We need to get back to the cottage.’

He was breathing heavily and his head was spinning. They waded through the muddy water, Mina supporting him most of the way, until they reached the main road which, fortunately, wasn’t flooded. From there they managed to make faster progress back to the cottage. As they reached it, Jack slumped, unconscious, on the doorstep, finally overcome.

Chapter 27

December 20th. Hildersham. Mulberry Cottage

Mina stayed by Jack’s bedside in the upstairs room for two days. When they had returned on that fateful night, Joshua had made up his mind quickly. Although Jack had lost a lot of blood he was confident he could take care of him at home rather than take him to hospital, where they would have had to explain the gunshot wound. Jack had drifted in and out of consciousness the first night and had slept through most of the next day. This morning Joshua had pronounced that he was out of danger and was recovering. Mina thanked the heavens in a silent prayer, and kissed Jack’s brow.

Joshua and Daniel were sitting downstairs, discussing Mina’s notes. The night she returned with Jack, she gave Daniel what was left of her soaked notebook. He had managed to salvage most of it, but some parts were missing. On the second day, Mina had translated viva voce what was left of the cuneiform inscription she had copied in the storm, and this was what Joshua and Daniel were now discussing.

‘There you are, Mina. How’s Jack?’ asked Daniel.

‘He’s much better. We spoke a little, but he fell asleep again.’