The Jeep slowed and came to a halt.
“We are here,” their guide announced. Faruk was a slightly built man in his late twenties with sharp brown eyes and a mustache which he had allowed to grow wild, perhaps to compensate for his receding hairline. “This is not one of the usual stops. I can take you to places with better views of the mountain if you like.”
“Not right now,” Dima said. “We are meeting someone at the camp. If you wouldn’t mind waiting here?”
Faruk nodded, turned, and cranked up the radio. Loud music, an odd form of hip-hop with distinct Arabian strains, filled the van.
Maddock and the others climbed out and follow Dima over a low rise. Down below they spotted a small campsite. Several tents were arrayed in a circle around a cold campfire. In the distance, a man pushed a four-wheeled object that resembled a lawn mower.
“Ground penetrating radar,” Maddock said. “We’ve used that a few times.”
“What you mean we, white man?” Bones said. “You make me and Willis push the thing around while you sit back and drink mint juleps.”
Before Maddock could correct him, someone called out from the bottom of the rise.
“Can I help you?”
The speaker was a bear of a man, broad shouldered and even bigger around the middle, with a silver-streaked black beard and mustache that obscured most of his face. He wore a pith helmet pushed down over his flyaway gray hair that seemed to stick out in every direction.
“Are you Henderson Bentley?” Dima asked.
The man might have frowned, but it was hard to tell behind the mass of facial hair. Only a furrowing of his brow afforded any hint to his mood.
“Who’s asking?”
“My name is Dima Zafrini. I’m a professor from the United States.” She hesitated. “I tried to contact you but I was unsuccessful.”
“That’s because I don’t want to be contacted.” Bentley folded his massive arms and glowered. “What do you people want?”
Maddock was quickly losing patience. “Were looking for a missing person. We have reason to believe he visited your camp recently.”
Bentley tilted his head. “We haven’t had many visitors. As you can see, I’m not the sociable type.”
“His name is Robert Crane,” Dima said.
The lines on Bentley’s forehead smoothed and straight white teeth appeared in the gap between mustache and beard. “All right, then. Come on down.”
The made their way down the slope and fell in alongside Bentley as they walked back toward camp. Dima introduced Maddock and Bones. At the mention of Maddock’s name, Bentley stopped.
“Dane Maddock? I’ve heard that name before.” His fingers vanished into his facial hair as he scratched his chin. Then his eyes brightened. “I remember. You know Jade Ihara, don’t you?”
Maddock nodded. Jade was a former girlfriend with whom he was on the outs since he and Angel had gotten engaged.
Bentley threw back his head and laughed. “I tell you what. That girl can’t decide if she loves you or hates you.”
“You two have worked together?” Maddock asked as they resumed the track toward the camp.
“We attended the same seminar last summer. Didn’t take too many drinks before the two of us started swapping stories of the lovers who have done us wrong. I gotta tell you, my ex is a vindictive little thing. Took off and stole my dog. But the memory of her doesn’t raise half the ire in me that the thought of you does for Jade.”
“She has…a bit of a temper.”
“That she does. Anyway, I’m sorry about the way I acted. We get all sorts of crazies here: amateur archaeologists, conspiracy theorists, religious nuts. Try to do any kind of surveying, much less excavating, out here and people start thinking you’ve found Noah’s Ark.”
“Have you?” Bones asked.
“That’s not what we’re looking for. Not exactly. We are searching for signs of an ancient settlement that might have sprung up in the wake of the Great Flood.”
“You believe there was a flood?” Maddock asked.
“I’m open to the possibility. I know the evidence is stacked against me but I still think it’s not out of the question. I’m a true believer and I don’t apologize for that.”
“So, have you found anything promising?” Dima asked as they entered the circle of tents.
“Nothing like what we’re looking for, but we did find something interesting. Remnants of an old monastery. Matter of fact, that’s what your friend Robert came here to ask about.
“That’s surprising,” Dima said.
“He said he was following up on an old story and he just wanted to confirm it could be true. He seemed really pleased to learn that there had been a monastery here. He said it, what was the word, ’dovetailed’ nicely with his research.”
“Did he say if his research pertained to Noah’s Ark?” Dima asked.
“No, he didn’t. He said it was a story about a wandering monk. He also said that he had just come from the Ishak Pasha Palace down the road a ways. That’s all I know. He looked around for a little while, had a cup of coffee, and went on his way.”
“Did he say where he was going next?” Maddock asked.
Bentley looked up at the sky. “I believe he did. Let me think.” He took off his pith helmet and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “I remember. He said he was going to the ice cave.”
Chapter 25
The tiny town of Halac lay deep in the shadow of Mount Ararat. Faruk steered the jeep along the narrow dirt street that ran between the mud and stone huts. Few passers-by looked up as they passed. Tourists were, according to Faruk, not uncommon here. People came to see Ararat or Durupinar, but the ice cave drew its share of interest.
"What do you think he was looking for in the ice cave?" Bones asked, keeping his voice low.
"Difficult to say," Maddock said.
"The cave is part of a massive system of lava tubes," Dima said. "Maybe he was looking for a passageway leading to…I don't know, maybe up to the anomaly?"
"It's possible," Maddock agreed. "Or maybe something connected to the monastery, since that's what he was interested in, according to Bentley."
They spent the remainder of the short ride exchanging ideas. They quickly ran out of realistic scenarios and soon delved into the absurd, each idea more ridiculous than the one before, until they had one another in stitches. By the time Faruk stopped the jeep, the three were in high spirits.
Maddock stepped out into the hot afternoon sun and looked around. "I don't see a cave."
"It's down in the hole." Faruk pointed to a spot in the distance. "We will have to walk the rest of the way."
"You can wait for us," Maddock said. "No need to exert yourself unnecessarily on our account," he added, seeing the hurt on their driver’s face. "We've already taken you out of your way with this side-trip."
"It is no trouble. I would also like to visit the cave," Faruk said. "It would get me out of the heat."
Maddock couldn't think of a believable reason the man should remain behind, so he acquiesced and they followed the guide to a deep hole at the foot of the mountain.
"You can't see the cave from here," Faruk said. "It's at the bottom. We must be careful on the way down. The way is, how do you say it, steep?"
Maddock and Bones exchanged amused smiles.
"We've made our way down a steep hill or two in our time," Bones said.
"Very good." Faruk bobbed his head, smiled, and beckoned for them to follow him into the hole.
They worked their way down the steep slope until they reached the bottom. Here, the ground was flat but cluttered with undergrowth, boulders, and sharp, broken rocks. On the far side of the pit a dark shadow beckoned.
"That is the way in," Faruk said. He led the way toward the entrance, which was partially obscured by fallen stones from the ceiling of the cave entrance.