The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist by Yasmin Esack Page A

19
     
     
    He shifted his
focus to Hart. “You know what, Tom?”
    “ What?”
    “ Your
nature’s way too intense and perhaps, a change of scenery will
help. Why don’t you go out and meet some new people, socialize a
bit?”
    “ You mean
date women, don’t you? Have them look in my eyes with hope of a
future I can’t give. I don’t know my own future. I only know what I
have to do, and, that is to find a direct connection to our realm.
The world is suffering, Josh. Look at all the lost people. They
don’t know they’re so powerful and glorious that the dictionary
hasn’t a word to describe it. We must have a better world, one of
change, self-realisation and love. Nobody pays
attention.”
    “ To
what?”
    “ A
complete understanding of who we are and how we’re connected to the
beyond. People should read Rumi.”
    “ The
Persian poet?”
    “ When I
die, I will fly with angels and when I die to the angels, what I
will become no one can ever imagine. That’s the truth and he knew
it centuries ago. He also said that the physical person was not the
real person.”
    “ I guess
you want to prove that?”
    “ And, I
will.”
    “ Don’t
you feel lonely?”
    “ No.”
    It was a
decisive no, an acid tone that bit the air. Marin decided it was
better not to pursue the matter.
    “ I’ll
wait for Olsen’s revelation, Josh, before I make any personal
decisions about my life.”
    Marin doubted
it. He had tried talking to Hart before. Hart seemed destined to be
a loner. He got up glancing at his watch again.
    “ It’s
late and I really better be on my way. I’ll call you
soon.”
    As Marin headed
to the front door, Hart grabbed the phone and dialled Julius
Olsen’s number.
    “ Hey,
Tom?” Olsen answered.
    “ I’ll be
around in the morning. I have some deductions that I want you to
look at.”
    “ Sure,
Tom. What time will you be here?”
    “ About
ten.”
    “ I’ll be
here.”
    Hart had a
sense that someone was in his house when he placed the phone
down.
    “ Josh?”
he called.
    There was no
answer. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 8.19PM. It
wasn’t long before he caught the scent of perfume. It was Jude’s.
He turned round to see her staring at him with a gun in her
hand.
    “ What the
hell are you doing?” he shouted at her.
    “ I’m not
good enough for you, am I, Tom?” Jude’s face was ugly, contorted by
rejection.
    Anger arose in
him but he knew it would get him nowhere. Jude’s finger was on the
trigger and she would pull it. They were eight feet apart, he
calculated, with nothing but a sofa between them.
    “ Give me
the gun, Jude,” he said.
    “ I like
seeing you scared, Tom. I really do. I want you to bend down on
your knees and beg.”
    He wanted to
tell her she was schizoid and that she probably smashed her pet’s
head in for fun. He wanted to tell her to go and get help.
    “ We can
work this out,” he strategized instead, inching his way forward. It
wasn’t working. Her eyes showed little else than mania. “Give me
the damn gun, Jude,” he shouted now with his hand
outstretched.
    “ Stop!”
she screamed.
    A bullet
smashed his lighted cabinet to pieces. A figure appeared behind
her. In the melee, Hart barely recognized Marin’s frame, as another
bullet whizzed past him.
    “ Grab the
gun, Tom,” Marin shouted as he pinned Jude to the ground. “Grab the
gun.”
    Hart did and he
pointed it to her face as she got up. The woman’s mouth was a
cauldron of profanity when he shoved her onto the sofa.
    “ You’re
going to sit there till the police arrive. What the hell’s wrong
with you?” he said, his body trembling from shock and
dismay.
    “ She ran
past me like a wild cat as I was making my way out, Tom. I decided
to track back.”
    “ You
saved my life, Josh.”

Chapter 20
     
     
    “ You’re
certainly not very easy to decipher, are you?” Olsen muttered.
“But, I must find the date for the new age, the date the
god, Inti , gave his
people. I know