The Fifth Mountain Page 0,15

house. "Angel of the Lord, where are you?" he cried to the heavens.

At that moment, everyone stopped. The widow had risen and come toward him. Taking him by the hands, she led him to where the cadaver of her son lay, then removed the sheet that covered him.

"Behold the blood of my blood," she said. "May it descend upon the heads of your line if you do not achieve what you desire."

He drew near, to touch the boy.

"One moment," said the widow. "First, ask your God to fulfill my curse."

Elijah's heart was racing. But he believed what the angel had told him.

"May the blood of this boy descend upon the heads of my father and mother and upon my brothers, and upon the sons and daughters of my brothers, if I do not do that which I have said."

Then, despite all his doubts, his guilt, and his fears, "He took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

"And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, hast Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

"And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord, my God, I pray Thee, let this child's soul come into him again."

For long moments nothing happened. Elijah saw himself back in Gilead, standing before the soldier with an arrow pointing at his heart, aware that oftentimes a man's fate has nothing to do with what he believes or fears. He felt calm and confident as he had that day, knowing that, whatever the outcome might be, there was a reason that all of this had come to pass. Atop the Fifth Mountain, the angel had called this reason the "grandeur of God"; he hoped one day to understand why the Creator needed His creatures to demonstrate this glory.

It was then that the boy opened his eyes.

"Where's my mother?" he asked.

"Downstairs, waiting for you," replied Elijah, smiling.

"I had a strange dream. I was traveling through a dark hole, at a speed faster than the swiftest horse in Akbar. I saw a man - I am sure he was my father, though I never knew him. Then I came to a beautiful place where I wanted to stay; but another man - one I don't know but who seemed very good and brave - asked me kindly to turn away from there. I wanted to go on, but you awoke me."

The boy seemed sad; the place he had almost entered must be lovely.

"Don't leave me alone, for you made me come back from a place where I knew I'd be protected."

"Let us go downstairs," Elijah said. "Your mother wants to see you."

The boy tried to rise, but he was too weak to walk. Elijah took him in his arms and descended the stairs.

The people downstairs appeared overwhelmed by profound terror.

"Why are all these people here?" the boy asked.

Before Elijah could respond, the widow took the boy in her arms and began kissing him, weeping.

"What did they do to you, Mother? Why are you so sad?"

"I'm not sad, my son," she answered, drying her tears. "Never in my life have I been so happy."

Saying this, the widow threw herself on her knees and said in a loud voice:

"By this act I know that you are a man of God! The truth of the Lord comes from your words!"

Elijah embraced her, asking her to rise.

"Let this man go!" she told the soldiers. "He has overcome the evil that had descended upon my house!"

The people gathered there could not believe what they saw. A young woman of twenty, who worked as a painter, kneeled beside the widow. One by one, others imitated her gesture, including the soldiers charged with taking Elijah into captivity.

"Rise," he told them, "and worship the Lord. I am merely one of His servants, perhaps the least prepared."

But they all remained on their knees, their heads bowed.

"You spoke with the gods of the Fifth Mountain," he heard a voice say. "And now you can do miracles."

"There are no gods there. I saw an angel of the Lord, who commanded me to do this."

"You were with Baal and his brothers," said another person.

Elijah opened a path, pushing aside the kneeling people, and went out into the street. His heart was still racing, as if he had erred and failed to carry out the task that the