Beyond the Narrows by M. R. Durbin

Author:M. R. Durbin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LDS, Fiction, Adventure, Treasure, Maya, Navajo, Action, Quest, Canyons, Utah, Codex, Templar, Ancient, Legend
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2016-06-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Charley took a deep breath and combed his fingers through his hair in frustration. “So he wrote this so that his story is told but nobody can understand it.”

“No,” Mac clarified. “So that the bad guys can’t understand it. He also says that most people will think it’s a bunch of baloney.”

“A hoax.”

Mac nodded, reluctantly. “But that somebody might, eventually, be able to”—she leaned over the manuscript to find the right words—“discern and discover the truth.” She looked up at Charley and flashed a cheesy smile as an exclamation point.

“Only if YOU are”—he emphasized the word you as he, mirroring her, leaned over the manuscript to read the exact words—“familiar with the Art of Love.” He looked back up and mimicked her cheesy smile. “Well? Are you?”

Catching the double meaning, she could feel the blush creeping up her face. “No!” she exclaimed a little too fast then tried to make up for it. “I mean, I could be. Are you?”

“Too late,” he whispered then smiled what she thought of as a Cheshire Cat smile.

Bill came to her rescue. “Does the Art of Love have anything to do with Mayan legends?”

Obie shook his head, obviously lost.

Jack filled the silence. “It also says you have to pisk—, ah, pisk—” He struggled with the pronunciation.

“Pisk’alij.” Peter came to his rescue, and to theirs, Mac suspected, before Jack could turn the word into something embarrassing for all of them. “So somebody can become Eta’manel.” He looked up. “What does that mean?”

“Pisk’alij means ‘to turn inside out.’ Eta’manel refers to a sage, or someone who understands,” Obie explained.

Peter nodded. “Okay, so we need to turn something inside out in order to understand?”

“And Na’wikil?” Bill’s voice rumbled softly.

“Cleverness. To be clever. One who is clever.”

Bill’s eyes narrowed in thought, and Peter’s gaze seemed to be caught on the other side of the room, so it was Charley who summarized. “So we need to understand the Art of Love; we need to turn it inside out and be clever about it.” He turned to Mac with a grin. “It sounds just like surviving a party in a singles ward.”

A part of Mac was irritated at Charley’s previous comment about her and the Art of Love, and she resented his distraction from the problem at hand. But despite herself, she couldn’t repress a small snort at his unlikely comparison. Refusing to give him any more encouragement, she turned away. It was then she noticed the odd expression on Bill’s face. “What is it, Bill?”

Slowly Bill’s eyes turned and focused on her. “I’m gonna regret this.”

Mac frowned, not understanding. “What?”

Bill took a deep breath as though preparing for something painful. “As you all know, I don’t have much formal education like Obie and Peter or the two of you.” He nodded toward Mac and Charley. “But I read a lot—mostly philosophy but some other stuff too.”

Mac shrugged, still trying to understand where Bill was going. “So?”

“Something I read about once, oh, a year or so ago. About spying or the history of spying or something like that.

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