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Twelve Words Left for Reason was a book containing twelve core prophecies and a number of ancillary branches. Those ancillary branches, when carefully cross-referenced, co
Chronology was often the most trying problem facing those working with prophecy. It was often impossible to tell if a prophecy was going to unfold the next day, or the next century. Events were in a constant state of flux. The setting of prophecy in the context of time was essential, not just to know when a particular prophecy was to become viable, but because what was of overriding importance next year might be nothing more than an unimportant minor event if set in the environment of the year after. Unless they knew which year the prophecy took place, they didn't know if it foretold danger or simply a matter of note.
Most prophets, when they set down their prophecy, left it up to those who would come later to fit it into its proper place in real-world events, There was no clear consensus on whether this had been done deliberately, through carelessness, or because the prophet, in the throes of having his visions, had never realized how important, and difficult, it would later be to chronologically place his vision. She had often observed with Nathan that a prophecy was so crystal-clear to the prophet himself that he simply failed to comprehend how formidable a task it would be for others to read and fit into the puzzle of life.
"Wait," Nathan said as she turned the pages. "Go back a page."
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"There," Nathan said as he tapped a finger to the page. "Look here. There are several lines missing."
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"So?"
Rather than answer, he rolled his hand, motioning for her to go on. She started flipping over the pages. Nathan thrust his hand in to stop her and tapped another blank spot so she would note it. He then urged her to continue.
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"Twelve Words Left for Reason is one of the few books of prophecy that is chronological," he reminded her in a soft voice.
She knew that, of course. That was what made the book such a valuable tool. She couldn't imagine, though, why he had felt it important lo point it out.
"Well," A
Rather than answer her directly, he handed her another book. "Subdivision of Burkett's Root. Take a look."
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She was growing impatient with Nathan's game. "What am I supposed to see?"
Nathan was a moment in answering. When he finally did, his voice had that quality about it that tended to run shivers up her spine.
"A
She was still not following what was obviously of critical importance In him. "Yes, we did. I remember it quite well."
"The copy we had didn't have those blank pages."
She frowned and then turned back to the book. She leafed through the pages again until she found the empty spot.
"Well," she said as she studied the place where the prophecy ended and then where an entirely new branch of prophecy resumed after the empty pages, "maybe whoever made this copy, for some reason, decided not to include some of it. Perhaps they had sound reason to believe that the particular branch had been a dead end and, rather than include dead wood in the tree of prophecy, they simply left it out. Such pruning is not uncommon. Then, because they didn't want to make it appear they were trying to deceive anyone, they went ahead and left the appropriate space blank to denote the deletion."
She looked up. The prophet's azure eyes were fixed on her. A
"Take a look at The Glendhill Book of Deviation Theory," he said in a quiet voice without taking his penetrating gaze from her.
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There were blank pages, only more of them.
She shrugged. "Not a very accurate copy, I'd say."
Nathan impatiently reached in with a long arm and turned the stack of pages back to the front.
There, on a page at the begi
"Dear Creator," A
"That's right. If you recall, the one we had in the vaults was a copy."
"Yes, I remember that ours was a copy."
She had assumed this one as well had been one of a number of copies. Many of the books of prophecy were copies, but that didn't diminish their value. They were checked and marked by respected scholars who then left their own mark to vouch for the copy's accuracy. A book of prophecy was valued for the precision and veracity of its content, not because it was the original. It was the prophecy itself that was valuable, not the hand that had set it down.
Still, to see the original of a book she loved as much as she love this particular volume was a memorable experience. This was the actual book, written in the hand of the prophet who had given these precious prophecies.
"Nathan — what can I say. This is a personal delight for me. You know how much this book means to me."
Nathan look a patient breath. "And the blank pages?"
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"Look at the place where the blanks fit into the text."
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"It would seem," she said as she studied a third place, "that the blanks appear in places where it talks about Richard."
Nathan was getting more edgy looking by the moment. "That's only because most of The Glendhill Book of Deviation Theory is about Richard. That pattern of blank pages associated with him doesn't hold true when you start looking at the other books."
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"It's what we're not seeing. It's the blank places that are the problem."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because," he said with a little more force in his voice, "there is something quite odd about those blank sections."
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