Free The Amber Room by T. Davis Bunn Page A

off your bank balance?”
    â€œI try not to think on that too much. Red ink scares me.”
    â€œThe legend of the chalice is as old as Christianity itself. It began with Joseph of Arimathea, the wealthy Jew who was granted care of Christ’s body after the crucifixion. The story goes that Joseph was also given the cup that Christ had used at the Last Supper, the one which held the wine that Jesus declared was His blood, and from which the apostles all drank. As Joseph washed the Lord’s body, some blood flowed from His wounds, and Joseph caught this blood in the vessel.
    â€œWhen the Jewish authorities discovered that Christ’s body had disappeared from the tomb, they frantically began a search for a scapegoat. This makes perfect sense, you see—that’s why I think there might be a grain of truth to the legend. An essential element of their desire to kill Jesus was to endthe turmoil caused by His claim to be the Messiah. Now, if His body had disappeared, then His followers could easily either proclaim that He had not died, or that He had risen.
    â€œAt that point, therefore, the authorities were not looking for answers; they had no time for such niceties. They were looking for someone upon whom blame for this misdeed could be publicly laid. And Joseph was the perfect scapegoat. He was rich, he had been identified as a follower of Jesus, and he was as well known in some circles as are the rich of today. In other words, he was not some nobody just pulled off the street—perhaps that is why the Lord’s body was entrusted to him in the first place.
    â€œWhatever the reasons, Joseph was seized by the authorities, accused of stealing the body, thrown into prison, and denied food. After several days of this harsh treatment, according to the legend, Joseph received a visitation from the risen Christ, who was said to have entrusted the cup to him, along with instructions to share the secret of the communion with all believers.
    â€œJoseph remained in the cell for forty years, fed by a dove that came every night and dropped bread into the cup. When he was finally released, in A.D . 70, he immediately left Jerusalem on a trip that was positively filled to the brim with adventures. He made his footsore way to England and finally settled in Avalon, the Celtic name for the heavenly otherworld, located in what today is known as Glastonbury.
    â€œJoseph then received another vision, which instructed him to establish a church on that site and spend his remaining days sharing communion with all who came seeking truth. And it is there, my young friend, that the shroud of time falls over the legend until it is revived in the days of King Arthur.”
    â€œThe Grail,” Jeffrey said. “You’re telling me about the Holy Grail, aren’t you.”
    â€œPrecisely. In very early medieval times, the idea of the Grail fell into disfavor with the church. Alchemists, as magicians of that day were known, began to say that the Grail was nota cup at all, but rather a hollowed-out piece of stone called lapis exillas , or lapis lapsus ex caelis , which translates as ‘the stone fallen from heaven.’ This stone was said to have remarkable properties, healing anyone who touched it and stopping the aging process for anyone who kept hold of it. Great wizards were said to remain unbounded by time through tying a portion of this grail stone around their necks. So long as it remained upon their persons, the only sign they would show of passing years was the whitening of their hair. Their bodies would remain locked to the age they had been when first touching the stone.
    â€œNaturally, the church was less than pleased by the rise of such heretical nonsense, especially when it was supposedly connected to the person of Christ. So they split the concept of the Grail, and all the legends attached to it, from the concept of a chalice, or the cup used in taking Communion.”
    Alexander folded his