Trunks of Ages: Seven Seals

Trunks of Ages: 

The Seven Seals

A book about taking leaps of faith

By Mary Beth Frank

Contributing editor, Ruth Albright  

Graphic Artwork, Jeff Frank 

2nd edition; \u00a9 2014 Mary Beth Frank 

1st edition; \u00a9 2011 Mary Beth Frank

Special thanks to Greta Ehlers and Pam Jordan for critically reading and offering constructive advice. Thanks to Jeff Frank for helping me go through one last rewrite.

Thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose spirit called me to something beyond myself and forced me to step into a mission that required me to rely on his powers and not my own.

This book is lovingly dedicated to my husband who encourages my dream of writing for the youth, who compassionately listens to my ramblings about plot ideas, and who patiently waits while I always have a part of myself stuck in the imaginative world of The Hanks family. You are my heartbeat.

The events and individuals in this book are fictitious and do not represent anyone specific. While the children's names have been borrowed, with permission, their personalities and character are not real.

Prologue 5 

Chapter 1 10 

Chapter 2 21 

Chapter 3 28 

Chapter 4 39 

Chapter 5 44 

Chapter 6 51 

Chapter 7 61 

Chapter 8 74 

Chapter 9 82 

Chapter 10 95 

Chapter 11 102 

Chapter 12 115 

Chapter 13 130 

Chapter 14 137 

Chapter 15 146 

Chapter 16 162 

Chapter 17 173 

Chapter 18 182 

Chapter 19 191 

Chapter 20 204 

Chapter 21 222 

Chapter 22 237 

Chapter 23 243 

Epilogue 256

Prologue Egypt

May - Eight years earlier  

The sun was setting over the horizon as Jerold and Beth Hanks climbed out of the mouth of the cave they had been exploring for the last several weeks. Beth shook the dust from her long wavy blonde hair, and tried to clear the dirt from her bright blue eyes; eyes that dazzled everyone she met. Her husband, Jerold, tall and lean, had thick neatly cropped black hair. Together the couple looked more like they belonged on a red carpet than in the mouth of a cave in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Jerold grabbed his canteen and began dusting off his boots, when shouts from deep within the cave captured both of their attentions.  

"What is that?" Beth exclaimed, eyes quickly darting from her husband back to the cave. 

"I don't know, but we'd better go check to make sure nothing's happened." Jerold grabbed Beth's hand and dashed back inside the cave, dragging her behind him. Within a few feet, darkness surrounded them. Jerold flicked on his head lamp, and then fumbled to help Beth with hers. Together they continued into the darkness heading toward the sounds deep within.