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| Legacy Beneath the Scroll |
As Evelyn recounted her experience, Obadiah listened intently. She described Jonathan’s belief that the Psalms scroll would secure their legacy and how an appraiser had declared it a forgery.
“I don’t know what to do,” she finished, her voice breaking. “He trusted the dealer—a man named Victor Caldwell. But if it’s a fake...” Her tears flowed freely, her grief and fear overwhelming her.
Obadiah reached out, placing a steady hand over hers. “We’ll get to the bottom of this,” he assured her, though the weight of responsibility pressed heavily on him.
The air grew heavy, charged with a faint energy. Obadiah felt the ripple of a spirit’s presence. His eyes flicked to the corner of the room, where Jonathan’s ghostly form appeared, flickering and translucent.
Evelyn gasped, her gaze darting around. “Do you feel that?”
“Yes,” Obadiah said softly, his gaze fixed on Jonathan’s apparition. The spirit nodded toward him, his lips moving as if to say, “Help her.”
Obadiah turned back to Evelyn. “I’ll look into Victor Caldwell. I’ll call you once I have answers.”
The next morning, Obadiah arrived at Victor Caldwell’s office, an unassuming building tucked away on the outskirts of town. The shelves and display cases were filled with artifacts that exuded a false air of legitimacy.
“Mr. Caldwell,” Obadiah said as he entered, his tone calm but commanding.
Victor Caldwell, a wiry man with sharp eyes, looked up from his desk. His practiced smile faltered when he saw Obadiah’s expression. “Who’s asking?”
“Brian Sessions. Director of the Arklow Bible Museum.”
Victor leaned back, feigning nonchalance. “What can I do for you?”
“The Psalms scroll you sold to Jonathan Harrington,” Obadiah said, his voice steady. “It’s a forgery.”
Victor’s smirk didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“You museum types think you’re better than everyone,” he said, voice low. “But you don’t know the world I deal in. There are collectors out there who’d pay more for a convincing lie than the truth.”
Obadiah didn’t flinch. “You deal in shadows and lies.”
Victor’s jaw tightened. “You think I wanted to cheat him? He made me desperate. That scroll was worth everything. I was going to switch it back—before the appraisal…”
His voice faltered. Sweat began to bead at his temple.
Obadiah stepped forward. “Where’s the real scroll?”
Victor’s expression tightened. “That’s a serious accusation. Do you have proof?”
The lights flickered faintly, the room’s temperature warming subtly as divine energy rippled around Obadiah.
“Jonathan trusted you, and you betrayed him,” Obadiah said, his gaze piercing. “Where’s the real scroll?”
Victor paled, sweat beading on his forehead. “I don’t have it—I never had it.”
Obadiah stepped closer. “You’re lying.”
Victor slumped into his chair, trembling. “It’s in the back,” he finally admitted. “I kept it for leverage.”
Obadiah followed as Victor unlocked a cabinet, producing a worn leather case. Inside lay the authentic scroll, its energy unmistakable.
Later that evening, Obadiah returned the scroll to Evelyn, she clutched it to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t believe it... Jonathan was right all along.”
Obadiah stood a few feet away, his hands clasped. “He wanted to make things right—for you, and for his legacy.”
Evelyn turned to him, her voice trembling. “Why did he send me to you? Are you... an angel?”
Obadiah’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Your husband is at peace. He sent you to me because he trusted I could help. That’s all you need to know.”
Before she could reply, the air grew warm and light, and Jonathan’s ghostly form appeared beside her.
She sobbed as Jonathan faded into the light, her trembling hands clutching the scroll as if it were a piece of him still with her. Obadiah’s gaze lingered on her briefly, his expression softening. “Take care, Mrs. Harrington,” he said quietly before turning toward the door.
Several weeks passed before Evelyn Harrington returned to the Arklow Bible Museum. Obadiah was reviewing notes in his office when Cole announced her arrival. She carried the scroll in her hands, wrapped in delicate cloth.
“I thought about what Jonathan would have wanted,” Evelyn said softly, her voice steady despite the emotion in her eyes. “This belongs here. It’s where he wanted it to be.”
Obadiah accepted the scroll with a solemn nod. “He’d be proud of you, Mrs. Harrington. You’ve honored his memory.”
Before handing it over, Evelyn pulled something small from her coat — a gold lapel pin shaped like a scroll seal.
“It was Jonathan’s,” she said softly. “He had it made when the appraisal first came in. Wore it every day.”
She laid the pin beside the wrapped scroll on the desk.
“He wanted this scroll to be more than proof,” she whispered. “He wanted it to matter.”
Evelyn carefully signed the donation paperwork, her trembling hands now steady with a sense of closure. She glanced up at Obadiah with a faint but sincere smile. “Thank you, Mr. Sessions. For everything.”
Obadiah inclined his head. “It’s what Jonathan would have wanted. You’ve honored his memory.”
She nodded, clutching her purse, and after one last glance at the scroll, turned to leave. Her footsteps echoed softly as she made her way down the hall, the weight of grief lightened ever so slightly.
As the door closed behind her, a warmth lingered in the air. Obadiah glanced at the scroll now resting on his desk, its significance illuminated by the soft glow of the room.
“Thank you, Evelyn,” Jonathan’s voice seemed to whisper on a breeze only Obadiah could hear. “I’ll always love you.”
With a final glance at Obadiah, Jonathan’s form dissolved into light, leaving behind a profound stillness.
Obadiah glanced at the scroll resting on his desk. For a moment, the weight of this mission lifted, leaving him in quiet reverie. Another soul at peace. Another life set back on course.
Turning back to his notes, Obadiah’s thoughts lingered on what lay ahead. Somewhere, another mission waited—a call he would answer when the time came.
TO BE CONTINUED…
🔙 Next, in Episode 14: Eyes Above
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