Bhutan—June
When Ty woke again, he remembered how sick he was. He had to face the grim fact that death was a possibility. An illness that would be a nuisance in the United States had taken a deadly turn, with miles of snow-topped mountains between him and antibiotics.
The room was dark, lit only by the orange flames in the stove. The only sound was the hissing of the fire and the occasional sputter and crack of wood burning. The girl was still sitting in the same spot with her eyes shuttered. Ty watched the orange, flickering lights skip across her face as he wondered how she could sleep sitting upright. Her eyes opened and Ty noted how delicate her features were as she turned toward him.
“My father…he was dead. How did you…,” Ty’s face twisted in confusion. “I want to see him,” Ty demanded.
“Maybe better see him in morning,” she replied.
Her accent was a curious combination of both the lilting, hesitant sounds of Chinese and crisp, aristocratic British.
She regarded him for a few moments, then announced, “I am Ashi.”
“Uh, hello. My name is Tyler…Ty.” Ty assumed he was in a dzong, a fortress temple. “Are there any monks here or are you the only one?”
“Monks? No, Tyler Ty. But many loyal disciples live here.”
“Loyal to what or who?”
“The path of light.”
Ty was silent, thinking about how Buddhism was the state religion. It was against the law for citizens to have their spiritual loyalties lie elsewhere.
“I make medicine for you now.” Ashi arose and placed brown leaves in a bowl, then poured boiling water from a teakettle into the bowl. After stirring, she poured the liquid into a cup and handed it to him. “Drink. This make you feel better.”
He sat up and took a sip. It was bitter and unpleasant but he wasn’t afraid of what it might be this time. Her face was so open and innocent that he trusted her. She moved closer and put her hand close to his forehead. Ty thought she was feeling to determine if he had a fever but she didn’t touch him. Her hand hovered a few inches from his brow.
He felt his forehead heat up and vibrate. As the heat became intense, almost uncomfortable, Ty suddenly felt as if he knew Ashi; she was like the moms back home, his friends’ sisters, and just like Jenna. He felt connected to her, felt love pouring from Ashi to him and in response he felt a release, as if everything was okay with the world. His shoulders sagged, relaxing involuntarily. He wondered briefly if the brew was drugged but he had taken only a sip.
Ty felt his sinuses in his forehead and face open up, drain into his nasal passages and out his nose. Ty was embarrassed and disgusted.
Here I am with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and globs of yellow and green snot are falling out of my nose, he thought.
The expression of caring did not change on Ashi’s face. Unconcerned, she picked up a cloth she had ready and caught the foul discharge, still holding her other hand in front of his forehead. When it was over she sat back on her heels. With the faint odor of incense and the stronger odor of burning wood registering in his brain, Ty realized that he could smell something for the first time in a week. He felt energetic and whole. He was healed!
****
Months ago, Jenna persuaded Ty to work on the yearbook with her. He suggested adding a DVD, a montage of clubs, parties and sports events and the yearbook committee jumped at the idea. When Ty saw an interview with the author of the book, Secrets, he found it incredible that people were willing to reveal such deep and dark parts of their souls when they thought they were anonymous. He decided to add a “My Secret” section to the yearbook DVD, thinking it would be poignant, real and a true remembrance of what people were thinking in high school.
Ty fast-forwarded through some of the footage of the soccer team and arrived at a frozen frame of two smiling girls. Ty pointed the remote and the girls erupted into giggling, putting their arms around each other and glancing shyly at the camera.
Jenna smiled. “Kathy and Kerry!”
“I’m not going to tell,” Kerry managed to say between giggles.
“Kerry, if you don’t tell, I’m going to tell for you.” Kathy faced the camera. “Kerry has the biggest, baddest crush on…”
“Okay, I’ll tell. I think Eduardo Cruz is the cutest guy in this school. There, I said it. You happy?” The two girls, with their arms around each other, laughed some more.
“Ty, you have to promise you’ll edit that out,” Kerry said.
“I’m not promising anything,” Ty's voice sounded from off the screen.
“Eeeeeek!” Jenna put her hands over her mouth and squealed into them. “I knew it! Ty, Eduardo has to see this right now. Let’s call him.”
Ty hit the pause button and thought about his best friend for a moment. “He’s studying for his quarterlies. Don’t you have quarterlies?”
Jenna jumped up and waved her arms around. “I don’t care about quarterlies. Come on, Ty. Call him. He’s your best friend.”
Ty smiled. “I already did.”
“And…?”
“I had a hard time convincing him I wasn’t kidding. Then, I think the news scared him. Believe me, he’s very interested in her but he said he can’t ask her out because of lacrosse.”
Jenna sat back down and laughed. “That makes no sense at all.”
“That’s Eduardo.”
Ty was struck by Eduardo’s lack of confidence. Last year, in tenth grade, Eduardo had been one of the smallest kids. He had a winsome smile and flashing eyes but he was still childlike. Over this past year he shot up to a hair over six feet. His heavy-lidded eyes, coupled with his broad smile gave him smoldering, good looks. Eduardo was clueless as to how many girls turned their heads to look at him when he passed them in the halls.
“What else did you get?
A second of electronic snow appeared on the screen, then a group of five smiling girls appeared, outside a side door to Parkview High.
“Hi, Mr. Castellani,” the girls said in sing-song unison.
“Remember one day when you said we could use our lab period and go to the library and research our papers?” one of the girls asked, still in a sing-song voice. The other girls giggled and snickered behind her. “Well, we really went to breakfast at McDonald’s.” They all erupted into laughter.
In unison again they said, “We love you Mr. Castellani.”
“You’re the best!” one added.
“Thanks for a great year,” another said.
They watched a couple more secrets, then Jenna had an idea. “You know, maybe you should give people the option of telling their secrets anonymously, maybe just recording their silhouettes,” Jenna said.
Ty put his arm around her and pulled her backward on the couch. “I like that idea.”
“Then, they’d really tell their deepest, darkest secrets. Maybe I’d find out all your secrets.” She nestled in closer under Ty’s arm.
“I don’t have any secrets,” Ty laughed. “You know every last thing about me.”
“No secret crushes?” Jenna smiled up at him.
“Not one.” Ty thought, You have my entire heart. “Now, what do you mean you don’t care about quarterlies?”
Jenna leaned back on the sofa, crossed her arms and pouted. “I wish I was like you, Ty, but I’m not. I’ll bet you didn’t even study at all.”
Ty smiled and shrugged. “I’ll test you. What do you have tomorrow?
“Global. You don’t even know which test you have tomorrow, do you? Must be nice to be a genius.”
Ty quizzed her until she asked, “How much longer?” and “Don’t I know this stuff yet?”
“Okay, let’s take a break. I’ve got some new music.” He took out his phone, handed her one earbud and put the other one in his ear.
“I love this song,” she said, her head nodding in rhythm.
Ty felt the warmth of her body as they sat slouched, shoulders touching, feet on the coffee table. Her hair exuded a faint flowery scent. He barely heard the doorbell ring and loud voices in the foyer…excited…laughing.
Jenna turned her face towards his and smiled. He lightly touched her face with his finger, moving from her brow to her chin, barely skimming it. Why did she say yes? Why did she want to go out with me? How did I get so lucky?
In the background of his mind he heard noisy boisterousness and his father say, “I have
to tell Ty.”
Ty focused on her eyes, light umber with dark spokes. His eyes traveled down to her lips and he leaned closer.
Vincent burst into the room. “They found something, Ty. We’re going to Jerusalem!”
“We’re going? Does that mean you want me to go to Jerusalem too?”
“Of course. You’re part of the team,” Vincent replied. His eyes narrowed and his demeanor turned pseudo-serious. “You’re doing okay in school, right?”
“I think so,” Ty laughed. Vincent knew Ty was brilliant and school was never an issue. “But Dad, I have a couple of quarterly exams tomorrow.”
“So take the exams and then you can afford to take a few days off. Pack your cameras. I want everything documented. And I need for you to come. You bring a fresh view to the same tired interpretations of this stuff.” He turned and addressed Jenna. “We’re having a team meeting when everyone gets here. I need Ty in there.”
“Dad, can she hang out here until the meeting is over?”
“You don’t understand how dangerous this could be for Jenna if she knew what I’m about to talk about in the meeting. People would kill for this knowledge.”
“You said the same thing to Fariba in your interview. But, nobody died. Nobody was murdered.”
Vincent’s eyes bored into Ty’s and Ty saw pain in them. “Ty, why do you not see?”
“See what? Tell me,” Ty demanded.
Vincent’s eyes flickered away to Jenna. “Some day you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.” He turned and walked out of the family room.
When Vincent left, Ty said, “Sorry. He was a little abrupt about kicking you out.”
“It’s okay. Ty, you are so lucky.” She hugged Ty, telling him how much she loved him, kissed him and told him to be careful.
“Do you think I’m going away forever?”
Ty ushered her to the door, past the dining room where Richard Lobinsky was busy making phone calls, assembling the team. Dr. Lobinsky was one of Vincent’s colleagues, a history professor, specializing in biblical history. He and Rishi Varghese, a grad student in the history department, had come to the house with the good news, causing all the commotion.
The house soon filled up with the others. Dr. Tullio Parisi was a professor, specializing in middle-east antiquities, archaeology, and history. Although he was trained in Italy, his background was very similar to Dr. Scalisi’s. The other graduate students rounded out the team: Therese Sheldon, Oliver Ross and Cheryl Pullman.
Whereas Rishi was fiercely intense and often opinionated, Oliver was relaxed and happy-go-lucky. The two women were very different as well; Cheryl was a no-nonsense kind of person and Therese was a romantic, a dreamer.
They gathered around the oversized dining room table, which doubled as a conference table. The delivery man came and went, the dinner remaining untouched on a kitchen counter, as the excitement in the house mounted.
Vincent sat casually at the head of the table, with one ankle crossed over the opposite leg, hands interlaced behind his head. “As you all know, Preston is in the Middle East, specifically, in Jerusalem.”
Ty knew he was referring to another professor at the university. Dr Preston Mulhern was the fourth professor on the team, besides Vincent, Richard Lobinsky and Tullio Parisi.
“He called Richard tonight…” Vincent nodded toward Dr. Lobinsky, “and told him they found a fragment of a scroll. Preston feels it’s authentic.”
“Yes, but is it legible?” Tullio Parisi asked.
“He feels the sample is deteriorated but it contains enough legible writing that it’s worth a trip over there.”
“I could stand by over here,” Dr. Lobinsky said, “in case you want anything dated with our equipment…”
Ty was amused, thinking he was probably volunteering to stay behind because his wife wouldn't allow him to go.
“But you’ll never be able to bring any samples back,” Cheryl said.
“She’s right,” Vincent agreed. “We won’t be able to take anything out of the country.”
Small-boned and delicate, Therese Sheldon reminded Ty of a sparrow. She was quiet and usually hung in the background, observing everything. She was an amazing translator of ancient Aramaic; not only could she translate but she could decipher characters that had deteriorated beyond most people’s recognition. It was almost like a sixth sense she had. They decided she would go, along with the other two grad students, Oliver and Cheryl. Rishi and the professors would stay and continue their work and classes at the university. Ty felt more of a kinship with the younger graduate students and was relieved they were going too.
When Vincent announced that Ty was also going, Therese smiled at him and Oliver said, “Okay, man,” slapping him on the back.
The phone rang. Vincent jumped up and hurried into the kitchen. They could still hear his muffled voice. “Yes…yes…we found something…” Vincent's voice drifted out of earshot as he moved away from them, toward his study. His door clicked shut and then there was silence.
Ty exchanged puzzled glances with the others, wondering who else Vincent could be talking to about the discovery. The whole team, except Preston Mulhern, was around the conference table. There was nobody else Vincent would confide in. The only sound was a clock ticking loudly as they sat in silence for long minutes.
Richard's phone buzzed. Running his hand through his few threads of blond hair, he gave an exasperated sigh. He glanced at the phone, muttered one word, “Wife,” and ignored it.
Vincent returned and stood in front of his chair.
“Okay everyone, we’ve got a plane chartered for tomorrow afternoon.”
The team looked at each other as each one ran through a list of who could be powerful and rich enough to charter a plane to Jerusalem at a minute’s notice. But nobody voiced the question to Vincent about his secrets.
****
Ty put his book down and looked out the airplane window. His father often ran his ideas and theories by Ty, so he was determined to make himself an expert on the subject, reading everything he could find about the Templars and their treasure. Still, the book was dry and plowing through it required both concentration and perseverance.
For the hundredth time he wondered whose private plane they were using and how his father had managed to wrangle a ride in it. He could see nothing but the clouds below but knew they were high over the Atlantic Ocean, headed for Jerusalem.
He looked down. The cover of the book on his lap showed a Templar cross but held very little information about the subject he was researching. It seemed as if nobody knew very much about the Rex Deus.
Ty glanced across the aisle at his father, who was leaning to one side, asleep. A stack of papers and journals were open on his tray table. His reading glasses had slipped down his nose and his mouth hung open. Without Vincent’s exuberant smile lighting up his face, he looked old and haggard. Ty knew his father was tired after their hectic night.
Ty reclined his airplane seat and looked out the window, thinking about how he and Jenna got together. He had known her since kindergarten but started noticing her in middle school when she never passed an opportunity to smile at him. He found himself thinking about her more and more and watching for her. Somehow he knew her class schedule and noticed himself scanning faces in the hallways between classes, looking for her, wanting to look into her smiling eyes and say hi to her. Ty was quiet and serious and he was attracted to her sunny, bubbly personality.
One night they both happened to be in the library working on a science project. He was sitting by himself and Jenna was with a group of giggling girls at a nearby table. Ty didn’t want to keep looking at her directly but he found that the darkness outside made a mirror out of the window, where he could watch her unobserved.
Jenna glanced out the window at one point and saw him looking at her. A few minutes later she caught him again and he looked quickly away, embarrassed, sure his face was turning red. After she caught him another time, Ty resolved to look down at his books and not look up again. But he heard a little cough and Ty saw her boots and jeans at his table. He looked up and Jenna was smiling at him. She asked him questions about the project and Ty asked her to sit down. She brought her books over, abandoning her friends. When the library closed, Ty naturally walked her home, Jenna chattering and laughing all the way. Ty felt quiet and shy but asked her if she was going to the library the next night and if he could walk her there.
After a few nights at the library, they switched to doing homework at Ty’s house until one night he leaned over, kissed her and asked if she’d go out with him. He was so surprised that she said yes.
“You’re so quiet. You think you’re flying under the radar unobserved, Tyler Scalisi, but you are not.”
“You noticed me?”
“You’re like my dog, Max, who hides his head behind a bush and thinks nobody can see him when his whole body is sticking out.”
He laughed, but then he wanted to laugh at everything she said.
Weeks later Jenna admitted that she had been very nervous when she approached him at the library and really didn’t know if she was watching him or he was watching her in the reflection in the window.
“Hey Ty, thinking about that cute little girlfriend of yours?” Oliver’s voice brought him back to the present. He glanced up to see Oliver hovering over him in the aisle, smirking. “She’s all that.”
“What do you want, Oliver?” Ty asked with a smile.
“Oliver,” Cheryl’s voice wafted from the front. “Leave him alone.”
“I saw him with his girlfriend. He’s nice and considerate and is a terrific boyfriend,” Therese said. Cheryl and Therese were sitting together but the plane seats blocked his view of them.
“Which is more than you’ll ever be,” Cheryl called.
“Aren’t you on your way to the bathroom?” Ty asked.
“On my way back. You were sitting there with that silly shit-eating grin when I passed you before.”
“Well maybe someday you’ll have a girlfriend too.”
“Woo, woo, the young man strikes back,” Oliver laughed.
“Come here, Oliver,” Cheryl called.
“Leave that boy alone,” Therese added.
Oliver made his way up to the women and sat on the armrest of the seat across from them. Ty listened to them with his eyes closed as they continued their teasing banter. He jerked awake when the plane landed in Germany to refuel but he quickly went back to sleep. When his eyes opened again he looked down in time to see the wings of the plane wobbling up and down over blue water, then thousands of squat, rectangular buildings, and finally, the flat, brown dirt of Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.