Athaliah's Redemption (Ortega Series 1)

Kabanata 11

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XI - Pay

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I saw how his stoic face changed a bit at my question. Tumaas ang isang kilay niya nang tumingin sa akin.

"Ako dapat ang nagtatanong sa'yo niyan," he said in a deep voice.

I gulped, trying to calm my beating heart with his presence. Agad kong tiningnan ulit ang libro sa harapan at tinanggal ang kamay sa salaming tumatakip rito.

"Kasama ko sina Jemima at mga pinsan mo."

I looked around to see that we are the only ones in this area.

"They are probably in another display area," I told him.

Pinasadahan ko ulit ng tingin ang librong sinabi niyang lumang bibliya bago tiningnan ang label nito.

"Do these symbols mean 'the bible'?" I asked.

"Yes... and the date when it was supposedly written."

Tumingin siya sa akin. Napansin niya yata ang pagkakaroon ko ng interes sa libro dahil sa pagmamasid ko sa pisikal na anyo nito.

I saw him go at the back of the glass box where a small security machine is installed. He enterd some code before it was unlocked. Slowly, he raised the top of the glass before putting it on one corner.

"You can touch it. It's not cursed."

Tumingin ako sa kanya at nag-alinlangan kung gagawin ba ang sinasabi o hindi. I just stared at it for a long time.

Narinig ko ang pagbuntong-hininga niya bago kunin ang kamay ko at inilagay sa ibabaw ng lumang libro.

I slowly let my hand touch the surface, taking in the intricate designs of its binding.

"The manuscripts are considered one of the oldest but the binding and cover were not part of it at first. It was said to be compiled in the early second or third century AC."

Hindi ko alam kung saan ako mamamangha...kung sa lumang libro bang hawak ko ngayon o sa napagtanto tungkol sa kanya.

I already know he is smart but I did not realize he knows about history too.

Siya ang nagbukas noon. I saw the texts written in the old parchments. Hindi ko nga lang alam kung anong wika iyon nakasulat. Probably Roman or Hebrew? O baka iba-ibang wika pa.

We were both silent as we scanned its pages. Ingat na ingat siya sa paglipat ng mga pahina.

"Shouldn't we be wearing gloves?"

We are dealing with a very old artefact. Hindi lang dapat ito hinahawakan nang walang proteksiyon.

Hindi nga lang niya ako sinagot. Nagpatuloy pa rin siya sa paglipat ng mga pahina nang nakitang manghang mangha pa rin ako.

"When are you leaving?"

I looked at him as we both walked towards another area in their museum. The voices of Jemima and the others are echoing from where we are. Mukhang nasa malapit na silid lamang sila.

"Paano mo – " I stopped and shook my head. It was stupid asking him how he knew about it when clearly, my sister might have already told them.

I sighed. "I don't know."

Nakita kon ang mahinahong pagtango niya bago muling nagtanong. "Do you want to leave?"

Natigilan ako. The only other person who asked me about that is my sister. My parents did not bother asking me if I really want to leave. Although I consider moving as a good choice, I never really asked myself if it is what I wanted.