And then it spoke a single word.
“Ask.”
Maddock could only think of one question.
“How do we find King Solomon’s Mines?”
Maddock gazed at the spirit thing, amazed that this was even happening. What was this thing? An actual ghost? Something the ring had conjured?
The lips moved.
“From the center of the Sacred Twelve, within the Houses of the Seven, across the river, through the bad water, between the breasts of Sheba, you shall return as the wise king did. Speak the words and ye shall enter.”
“What words?” Bones asked.
But the spirit was already flickering like a television set losing its signal.
And then it was gone.
“Dropped connection,” Bones said. “Need a new cell phone tower out here.”
Maddock nodded grimly. “Those were directions to Solomon’s Mines, for certain,” he said. “Haggard mentions the Breasts of Sheba and bad water.”
“Is what he gave us enough, though? You’ve got to figure people have been looking for Sheba’s boobs for a while now.”
“The starting point has got to be key. Figure out what the Sacred Twelve is and go from there.”
“If you say so. I guess now we get to find out if those dudes are planning on letting us out or if we need to use the back door.”
Bones stood, knuckled his back, and headed back the way they had come. “I’ve got to admit, I expected fancier digs for Solomon’s ghostly gatekeeper or whatever he is.” Bones looked around as he walked. “I guess we’ve gotten spoiled.”
“Bones! Stay on the path!” Maddock shouted.
Too late. Bones had strayed a bit too far to his left. His booted foot came down outside the specks of blue light. With a loud crack of shattering stone and a shout of surprise, he fell.
Maddock reached out and caught Bones by the back of his jacket as the big man struggled to regain his balance. He hauled Bones back into the center of the pathway.
“What the hell?”
“The floor gave way,” Maddock said. “I think it must be a false floor on either side of the path. No telling what you’d be falling into or onto.”
“Nice of them to warn us.” Bones flashed an angry look at the ceiling.
“Probably a way of weeding out the unworthy or something like that,” Maddock said. “Let’s get out of here. And don’t step off the path again.”
“Don’t worry. For the first time in my life I’m going to walk the straight and narrow.”
They climbed back up and Bones roughly shoved the cover aside. The kings and scribes stood there waiting for them. If they were offended by his rough treatment of the seal, they did not say so.
“Thanks for telling us about the floor,” Bones said. “Good thing I didn’t tear my jeans.”
“You found what you were looking for, I assume?” Princio said.
“We learned something,” Maddock said. “I don’t suppose you have anything to add?”
“None of us knows the secrets. It is believed that only one of a few sacred relics can turn the key, if you will.”
“Thank you for showing us,” Maddock said, disappointed that they hadn’t learned more. Surely, whoever or whatever had laid this path before them had known what they were doing and provided adequate information. They’d have to hope for the best.
“Any of you know what the Sacred Twelve are?” Bones asked. “And how do we get to the middle of them?”
The men all sprang back as if Bones were a viper about to strike.
“You must not speak of what you hear in the sanctum.” Princio raised his hands as if to ward off their words.
“Really? Who made that rule?”
“It is older than memory.”
“Maybe you remembered it wrong. We’ve got the ring, so the way I see it, that puts us in charge.” The men were inching away, but Bones continued on. “We need to find the Sacred Twelve, the bad water, and if any of you have ever poked your face into Sheba’s cleavage, it would be cool if you could draw us a map.” He said the last to their backs as they hurried away.
“Nice, Bones,” Maddock said.
“They were pissing me off,” Bones said. “We show up with Solomon’s Ring and they won’t tell us jack.”
“I guess we’re on our own again. Let’s see if they’ll give us our weapons back.”
That proved to be no problem. The kings and scribes were more than eager for the two men to be on their way. They had lost all semblance of royal demeanor, anxiously shoving the weapons into their hands and ushering them out the door, where Isla waited.
“Well?” Her green eyes blazed. Clearly she hadn’t been as all right with being left behind as she had pretended.
“We spoke to a ghost,” Maddock said.
“Don’t wind me up, Maddock. I’m not in the mood.”
“I’m not kidding.” He quickly recounted what had transpired inside, omitting the bit where Bones almost fell to his death.
“The Sacred Twelve,” she said, taking out her phone and performing a quick search. “Sacred Twelve…” she mumbled. “Here’s something. The Twelve Sacred Hills of Imerima.”
“Never heard of them,” Bones said.
“These hills are sacred to the Marina people of Madagascar. Located in the central highlands, the sacred hills are sites of many ancient capitals and the tombs of important historical figures. Many leaders of renown were also born in these hills. According to legend, King Andrianjaka declared these hills sacred. He had twelve wives, and kept one at each sacred hill.”
“That’s the way to do it,” Bones said.
Isla rolled her eyes and kept reading. “There are, in fact, more than twelve hills that currently claim sacred status, but there are twelve that are generally agreed upon.”
“So, we draw a bunch of lines and find what’s in the middle?” Bones suggested.
“It’s worth a try,” Maddock said. “But how about we go somewhere less conspicuous before we continue the discussion?”
They found an out of the way spot, sat down, and began consulting maps of the Twelve Sacred Hills.
“I don’t get it,” Bones said. “These sacred hills aren’t a secret. Why wouldn’t someone have found the clue by now?”
“If the ring was needed in order to receive the spirit’s message, then it’s possible no one knows the significance of the hills,” Maddock said.
He scanned a map he had called up on his phone. “This would be easier with a paper map, but maybe if we were to draw lines between the various hills and see if there’s a spot they all meet?”
He saved a screen capture of the map, opened it in a new app, and began drawing lines.
“Anything?” Bones asked.
“No joy. The lines don’t all meet in the same spot.”
Bones glanced down at the map Maddock had been drawing on. “You know, if a few of those hills were in slightly different spots, you could make Solomon’s Seal.”
Maddock’s heart began to race. “Bones, I’d say you’re a genius, but you only make these brilliant deductions when you aren’t trying.”
“How’s that brilliant? The hills are in the wrong places.”
“Isla said there’s some dispute as to which of the hills are the true, original Sacred Twelve.”
“I see what you’re getting at. Isla, are there any alternatives that fit the bill?”
“Already on it,” Isla said. “Let’s start by marking the hills that are considered certainties, then we’ll play with the others.”
They set to work, trying out alternatives, marking the spots on the map, and lining them up. Finally, just as Bones predicted, they had marked out twelve hills that formed the points of Solomon’s Seaclass="underline" the six points of the star and the six jewels.
“We did it!” Isla said. She gave Maddock’s hand a squeeze. He didn’t respond. There was still a distance there that hadn’t yet been bridged.