The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure by James Redfield Read Free Book Online Page A

that he wanted cooperation. I can’t believe they tried to arrest him; he didn’t even have his copies with him.”
    “He has copies of the Manuscript?”
    “Only of the first two insights.”
    “I had no idea there were copies in the United States. Where did he get them?”
    “On an earlier trip he was told a certain priest knew of the Manuscript. He couldn’t find him but he found the copies hidden behind his house.”
    Wil looked sad. “Jose.”
    “Who?” I asked.
    “He was the friend I told you about, the one who was killed. He was adamant that as many people as possible hear about the Manuscript.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “He was murdered. We don’t know by whom. His body was found in the forest miles from his house. But I have to think it was his enemies.”
    “The government?”
    “Certain people in the government or in the Church.”
    “His church would go that far?”
    “Perhaps. The Church is secretly against the Manuscript. There are a few priests who understand the document and advocate it covertly, but they must be very careful. Jose talked of it openly to anyone who wanted to know. I warned him for months before his death to be more subtle, to stop giving copies to anyone who came along. He told me he was doing what he knew he must.”
    “When was the Manuscript first discovered?” I asked.
    “It was first translated three years ago. But no one knows when it was first discovered. The original floated around for years, we think, among the Indians, until it was found by Jose. He alone managed to get it translated. Of course, once the church found out what the Manuscript said, they tried to suppress it totally. Now all we have are copies. We think they destroyed the original.”
    Wil had driven east out of town and we were riding on a narrow two-lane road through a heavily irrigated area. We passed several small plank dwellings and then a large pasture with expensive fencing.
    “Did Dobson tell you about the first two insights?” Wil asked.
    “He told me about the Second Insight,” I replied. “I have a friend who told me of the first. She talked to a priest at another time, to Jose, I guess.”
    “Do you understand these two insights?”
    “I think so.”
    “Do you understand that chance encounters often have a deeper meaning?”
    “It seems,” I said, “like this whole trip has been one coincidental event after another.”
    “That begins to happen once you become alert and connected with the energy.”
    “Connected?”
    Wil smiled. “That’s something mentioned further in the Manuscript.”
    “I’d like to hear about it,” I said.
    “Let’s talk about it later,” he said, indicating with a nod that he was turning the vehicle onto a gravel driveway. A hundred feet ahead was a modest wood frame house. Wil pulled up beneath a large tree to the right of the house and stopped.
    “My friend works for the owner of a large farming estate who owns much of the land in this area,” he said, “and provides this house. The man is very powerful and secretly supportive of the Manuscript. You’ll be safe here.”
    A porch light flicked on and a short squat man, who appeared to be a native Peruvian, rushed out, smiling broadly, and saying something enthusiastically in Spanish. When he reached the jeep, he patted Wil on the back through the open window and glanced pleasantly over at me. Wil asked him to speak in English, then introduced us.
    “He needs a little help,” Wil said to the man. “He wants to return to the States but he’ll have to be very careful. I guess I’m going to leave him with you.”
    The man was looking closely at Wil. “You’re about to go after the Ninth Insight again, aren’t you?” he asked.
    “Yes,” Wil said, getting out of the jeep.
    I opened my door and walked around the vehicle. Wil and his friend were strolling toward the house, having a conversation I couldn’t hear.
    As I walked up the man said, “I will start the preparations,”