Free The Temple Mount Code by Charles Brokaw

mountains.’ Lourds adjusted his protective goggles. ‘The snow blows, maybe melts a little on warmer days from the direct sunlight, and forms a thin crust over cracks and holes.’
    ‘Yes.’ Gelu nodded. ‘Much deadly, you see.’
    ‘With all the blowing snow shifting around, you might not see a crevasse until you went through it. You could fall a few hundred feet, and maybe your body would be found in a few hundred years.’ Lourds turned to the reporter. ‘Still feel like walking across now?’
    Even with the cold turning Rory’s face pale, his features turned even whiter. ‘Nope. I can walk around just fine.’
    Gelu assumed the lead once more, and they resumed their march.
    ‘You said the monks don’t get many visitors.’ Lourds matched his stride to the Sherpa’s.
    ‘No. No many. Only men seeking to know what monks know come here.’
    ‘What do the monks know?’
    ‘I not know. I know Sherpa ways. I know trade. I know guide.’ Gelu smiled. ‘I know how to feed myself, not need others to feed me.’
    ‘Have you ever gone to the monks to learn anything?’
    ‘Father taught me all I need to know. Work hard. Live careful. Raise strong sons and obedient daughters. What more is there?’
    ‘I suppose.’ As he walked, though, Lourds couldn’t help watching the gusting rainbows and wondering what lay inside the temple.
    Professor Hu pulled at Lourds’s elbow. ‘You realize, of course, Thomas, that whatever made that temple special thousands of years ago could be long gone.’
    ‘I do.’
    ‘If it is, at least the BBC will have a lot of pretty footage of mountains and rainbows.’
    ‘I reconcile myself with one thought.’
    ‘What’s that?’
    ‘Even if a package is empty, many times you can learn a lot about what was there from the package itself.’
    At Professor Hu’s side, Gloria Chen shot Lourds an exasperated glance. ‘Great thinking, but what if someone found a Big Mac wrapper? Do you really think that person could reconstruct how those two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun really went together?’ She shook her head. ‘I think we’d be better off if we found an artifact or two. So excuse me if I hope we find more than a wrapper up here.’
    ‘Gloria!’ Professor Hu studied her with a furrowed brow.
    ‘I’m sorry, Professor Hu. I think I’m just tired.’ Gloria didn’t look apologetic. She turned and headed back into the climbing party, Lourds watching her go with a puzzled expression on his face.
    ‘Good evening.’ Dressed in thick winter clothing, the young monk stood in the stone doorway and looked over the expedition with a beatific smile. ‘This is the Temple of the Scholar’s Rock. I am Ang. I bid you welcome.’
    Gelu talked to the young man in Mandarin, explaining that the group was from Peking University and had come out all that way to see the temple.
    Ang looked bemused as he turned to Lourds. ‘Usually climbers find us by mistake on their way up the mountain. Or we sometimes discover them when they are lost or while we are walking. You are the first to come looking for the temple in a long time.’
    ‘I hope our arrival and our curiosity won’t be an imposition. We’ve brought food, enough to leave with you and your brothers when we leave, and we have our own tents.’
    Ang smiled. ‘Food is always welcome in the temple, and I’m certain we can find space for all of you. The temple is much bigger on the inside than it looks at first glance.’ He moved to one side of the door and waved them in. ‘Please. Enter. Our home is your home for as long as you wish.’
    ‘When he said it was bigger on the inside than it looked, I thought he meant it was only a little bigger.’ Rory stared in openmouthed wonder at the cavernous vault around them.
    Lourds kept his own jaw in place with effort. The Scholar’s Rock Temple was huge and ran back deep into the mountain. His explorer’s instincts flared, and his hopes