need to cover was considerable.

without knowing exactly where to look, it would

be nearly impossible to accidentally come across
it. there wasn t just one peak but numerous peaks with frequent ridges and ravin
es, places where the ark could
be easily hidden from view. we made several passes over many of the peaks, never
over the same path twice.
i asked, "did anyone see anything?" "not me," said frank. i looked at rudy and s
aleem. both shook their heads
no. "no. wait. i see something. over there. below us at about 10 o clock from th
is path. do you
see it?" asked rudy. "sorry, rudy. i don t see anything," i said. "take us down
closer," said rudy. frank
didn t see anything either, but he pushed the yoke forward and they descended. "
am i headed in the right
direction rudy?" asked frank. "yeah, just keep going straight" said rudy excited
ly. "we re almost right on top of it.
do you see it now?" i did see something. i was getting a little excited myself.
i pushed my face
against the remaining portion of the window to get a better view. "get closer, f
rank!" yelled rudy. we dropped lower.
rudy and saleem leaned toward our side of the plane to get a better look out our
windows. then as
we passed directly over it, it became obvious that it was just a large ledge of
dark colored rock protruding
from under the snow, just as saleem had warned us about. i then realized that i
had been holding my
breath during the excitement. we all became aware of the reality of what we were
seeing at the same time.
no one said anything. saleem could have gloated, but he didn t. the excitement t
hat had filled the cabin just
a moment earlier left through the makeshift patch over the broken window, like t
he air being released from a balloon.
in its place we became more aware of the cold air at this altitude. "i m sorry g
uys. i could
have sworn that i had seen it," said rudy. "many a man has reached the same conc
lusion," reassured saleem. "that
is one of the reasons why there have been so many sightings, here and elsewhere
in these mountains." "jack, fuel
may become a factor before long. maybe we d better go ahead and call it quits an
d head back to
the airfield," said frank. "okay. at least we tried. it would have been pretty e
xciting to have seen it from
the air though, wouldn t it? but i guess i can wait to see it in person from the
ground,"
i stated, trying to remain upbeat. "let s put her down." soon we saw the small l
anding strip dead ahead.
frank lined up and set us down smoothly. the guide, the bearers and our supplies
were waiting there when we
arrived. saleem pointed out amir, the guide. he was a big man with a big smile a
nd very friendly, perhaps
overly friendly, which made me a bit uneasy and suspect. amir approached our gro
up. saleem made the introductions. amir grabbed
my hand with both of his and shook it vigorously. "mr. trader, i will do whateve
r i can to make
this journey a pleasant and rewarding one. please let me know if you need anythi
ng. all the supplies you asked
for have been packed and are ready to go. if you are ready, we will waste no tim
e and be
on our way." as if we were at a hotel, i could picture amir as a bellboy with hi
s hand

out, displaying a big smile, waiting for a tip. i expect he was eager to help as
long as there
was something in it for him. my gut told me i should keep a watchful eye on this
one. and
my instincts were rarely wrong. "just to let you know, amir, there may be some p
eople following us. we were
approached by a man that told us to stay away from this mountain, or else." "did
you happen to catch
his name?" "yes, he called himself onan." "oh, yes, i am familiar with him. he h
as a reputation for being
a very bad man. you are very fortunate you were able to escape him." "we didn t
have to really
escape him. he came to the bar, gave us his spiel and left. it was probably a go
od thing we
were in a public place." "then you are indeed fortunate. saleem mentioned that y
ou had problems at the airstrip at
mosul too." "we don t really know if that was him again or not. we did have our
suspicions though."
with that ever-present smile on his face he said, "then whoever it was, you are
safe now. do not worry.
once we start up the trail, we will be able to see anyone coming from below." hi
s attempt to make
me feel at ease wasn t working. i couldn t shake the feeling that something wasn
t quite right. amir
s nonchalant attitude seemed to put everyone else at ease. if he wasn t concerne
d, why should we be? of
course, as far as we knew, he hadn t been shot at this morning either. rudy and
frank came over
to me. nodding in the direction of amir and saleem, he whispered, "what do you t
hink they are talking about?"
i said, "saleem is probably just making sure everything is in order. he s a good
man to have with
us. i m glad he could come along." the convesation looked intense. amir walked o
ver to one of the packed
oxen and retrieved a cloth sack, which he brought back and shoved at saleem roug
hly, then walked away. the supplies
obtained by amir had already been distributed to the bearers and oxen prior to o
ur arrival. there was just the
matter of adding our personal items to the packs. "rudy, why don t you check on
the supplies," i said.
"see if they brought what we asked for." "amir said he brought everything you as
ked for," said saleem, walking