The Mayan Priest (33 page)

She moved to stand just as Caton increased the power of the torch and lit the area with a new intensity. Gillian caught a full view of the print in the dirt and she gasped in shock. The pattern was fresh and created by a distinctive thick rubber sole she knew well: Adam’s beloved boots made by the iconic Australian shoemaker R M Williams.

‘Oh … my … god,’ was the only phrase she could think of to reflect her feelings. Adam was alive and she longed to exhibit her feelings by jumping for joy, but a more urgent matter demanded her instant attention. If she had seen the prints, so would Caton and that would certainly spell death for them all.

She had to cover them quickly and now. She could not delay.

Gillian picked up her aching body from the dirt and summoned every last amount of energy and determination she could find. She needed all her strength to feign the absolute excitement she needed to portray forcing her body into a buzz of activity. She jumped to her feet and ran frantically around the room like a woman possessed ensuring the floor had so many prints that distinguishing between them would be impossible.

‘What are you doing, you bloody stupid woman?’ hissed Caton as he grabbed her by the hair and struck her across the face with so much force that she stumbled backwards.

It was exactly what Gillian expected although the hit stung more than she had anticipated. She took it bravely and moved directly to the spot she had seen Adam’s prints lead to. Caton followed closely.

Gillian gasped in surprise as she immediately noted the Kinix painting and the slight seam around the perimeter bearing minute cracks that were invisible to the untrained eye. It had been opened, and in an instant Gillian understood what had happened. Adam, the primary school teacher with no training in archaeology had uncovered the long lost hiding spot of the third Kinix clue.

She also guessed that he had removed the evidence to ensure that it did not fall into the wrong hands.

One thing remained to be done. She had to trick Caton into thinking the box was intact and somehow manage to secure both her and Georgio into this room. With intense concentration, Gillian easily opened the small safe, located the box and noticed the lid was marginally open. She quickly closed it.

‘Give that to me,’ Caton hissed with the glimmer of desperation and fervent desire in his eyes. He yanked the object from her and pushed her roughly aside.

‘Excellent. Samuel will be pleased,’ muttered Caton before turning his attention back to Gillian.

‘Well, love, it looks like your use-by date has expired! We don’t need you anymore. Samuel is highly experienced with these types of puzzles and will love the challenge. All that is left is to get rid of you two. My first instinct it to shoot and get it over with, but I’d prefer something more lasting, something that will allow you to consider your fate.’

Gillian prayed he would do the latter.

‘Out of respect for my dear friend Georgio,’ Caton’s voice dripped with sarcasm, ‘I will allow him to live a little longer.’

Caton pushed Georgio into the room and french-kissed Gillian before biting her lip. ‘Just a passing reminder for you to remember me by.’

The look on Georgio’s face was murderous.

With the door slammed shut behind them and the inner handle shot off to prevent their escape, Gillian was overtaken by an uncontrollable fit of laughter with Georgio looking at her like she was an insane lunatic.

‘I fail to see what’s funny about our predicament. We were foiled by a traitor, beaten to within an inch of our lives, had our final treasure stolen and on top of that, we’ve lost a friend. So, unless I’ve totally lost my mind, I can’t seem to find the cause of your amusement.’

Gillian kissed the top of his head and waltzed with new found vigour to the secret exit and rapped on the plaster.

‘If I didn’t have the benefit of knowing you when you wore your hair in pigtails, I would have seriously questioned your wisdom. But this time your actions are a bit bizarre, so please explain.’

Gillian giggled and knocked on the panel once more until she was rewarded by the sudden tilt of the decorated panel and a smile from a familiar battered face.

‘All clear?’ was all Adam had time to ask before Gillian pounced on him in joy and squashed the oxygen out of his lungs. ‘Gosh, Mate!’ he gasped as he hugged her back, thoroughly enjoying the close contact until she pulled away, clearly abashed by her overzealous conduct.

Thankfully Georgio broke the uncomfortable moment. ‘By golly, I’ve seen a ghost, a welcome one but a ghost nonetheless.’

Georgio embraced Adam unashamedly with relief and pride. ‘It’s good to see you, boy. I can’t believe you’re alive, but I guess that Gillian knew about this for some time.’

‘I discovered Adam’s distinctive boot prints as soon as I entered the room and quickly put two and two together. Thankfully Caton’s malice was his undoing and he didn’t even bother to check that the box was complete,’ said Gillian.

Adam handed Gillian the inner container, noting the look of exhilaration and wonder on her face.

‘Wow, I can’t believe I am actually holding Kinix’s third instalment. Unfortunately any desire I have to read it will have to wait until we can find a way out of here.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

With the exit into Palenque well and truly sealed, Adam led the way back down the tunnel and eventually into the cavern that had played host to his life and death battle with the fearsome jaguar. He shivered uneasily as his eyes fell upon the stains left by the Jaguar’s burst eyeball and was surprised to feel Gillian affectionately place her hand on his shoulder.

‘A bad memory,’ she stated in understanding as they began to search for a way out.

With the benefit of a couple of extra torches, it soon became evident that the cave was a natural formation but had been manipulated to become a man-made passage.

Gillian was the first to make a discovery.

‘Hey, guys, look at these!’ she called as Adam and Georgio hurried over and studied the series of stepping stones compressed into the side wall of the cave.

‘Why would the Mayans go to the effort of building steps when they could walk on the sand or stones?’ queried Adam.

‘If this was constructed 1500 years ago, it was likely that this stream was considerably wider than it is now. The steps may have been required to pass the river,’ offered Georgio as Gillian clapped her hands in enthusiasm.

‘See? Spending so much time with me is starting to rub off. Good guess, Georgio, and I’ve no doubt that you are correct. Let’s see where they lead.’

‘And I thought you’d developed some balls over the last couple of days,’ he replied but conceded by stepping into the darkness with only the light of the torch to lead the way.

Unlike the passages that ran directly from the altar room, this one was considerably more eerie. The walls were lined with numerous recesses filled with the upright skeletons of children. Their vacant eyes gazed at the intruders. Adam gasped with a mix of shock and incredulity. This was not only sinister but downright creepy.

Gillian stopped for a moment and considered one of the long decayed bodies.

‘This is unusual for the Mayans. As far as I am aware, they either buried their loved ones under the floor of the family home or, in the case of a sacrifice, an allocated allotment. On occasion a tomb will be discovered with a noble or a king and a family member, but never with such purpose. These bodies were positioned with the sole reason of sending a message.

‘Message … what message?’ shivered Adam as he tried not to envisage the suffering these children must have endured when their lives were abruptly taken from them. It did not take a degree in forensics to see the cracked skulls and unnaturally broken arms and legs.

‘The arms and legs would have been broken post mortem although the cause of death was most likely by clubbing,’ said Gillian as if reading Adam’s thoughts.

‘Children were seen as the most pure of sacrifices, the ultimate appeasement to the gods. I do not think the positioning of the children was designed to frighten but more likely as a permanent tribute. We know that the room we came from was the altar, so it would be my guess that we will exit via a series of rooms designed to store tools and the various goods required by a priest to perform such important religious acts. My only hope is that the tunnel is still intact, but the remarkable condition of the structure would allow us to expect that the rest will be the same.’

The following few minutes proved Gillian to be correct. The cool, dry air had preserved the simple furniture and a number of religious icons and tools, but Gillian did not look pleased by her further discoveries.

‘This is not right. Mayan priests loved to be decorative and flamboyant. They were very important and wealthy, so I would expect to see various elaborate paintings, vases, writing implements, obsidian and jewels, but there is nothing of the sort. The beautiful arches, large statues of their deities and intricate flooring are all here, but there is no colour. It’s as if the place has been stripped but without the evidence of robbers.’

‘I can see what you mean,’ said Adam and they continued uphill along the paved path, eventually reaching another solid rock. This one had a similar lever as previously, but Adam paused in amusement before pulling the stone extension.

‘Our dear friend has been here. Look. Another portrait of Kinix. He just can’t help leaving his mark!’

Gillian pushed him aside.

‘Twice in one place. That’s unusual. I would have thought it was a piece of graffiti, but the picture is too meticulous and too similar to the one in the altar room to be a coincidence. He is definitely an enigma,’ said Gillian as she sighed and pulled the lever which opened easily albeit with a few groans of disagreement.

They stepped into an overgrown, partially demolished ruin which was sprinkled with the first rays of morning light and the distinctive sounds of a helicopter rotor.

Georgio waved his hands madly, grinning like a Cheshire cat, when the machine sat down in a vacant plot just beyond a row of trees.

Both Gillian and Adam looked at Georgio in utter confusion.

‘I may be old but I do own a mobile phone. Reception leaves a lot to be desired, but I was able to send a text message to Dale when our car was involved in that crash with Caton,’ Georgio spat Caton’s name out like a despised criminal.

‘You deceiving old bugger,’ chided Adam in good humour. ‘I thought you didn’t believe me.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ asked Gillian. She looked as if she had been deceived.

‘Sorry, love.’ Georgio wrapped his arms fondly over her shoulder. ‘The reality was, that I had no way of knowing if Dale received my message and even if he did, there was no guarantee that he would find us. My coordinates of Palenque’s location was rough at best. It was just a chance which luckily has paid off.’

‘I thought my father was working undercover and not able to employ any assistance for us.’

‘Dale is a very powerful man who simply does not like to use his position for personal gain, but they are also my men and I would have expected them to volunteer their time to assist us anyway. This could have been a mission to recover our bodies, so it’s my guess that your father would have presumed the worst and came prepared.’ His deduction was confirmed when two men came running frantically from the woods with stretchers in hand.

‘Georgio … you’re alive!’ exclaimed Tom, the young man Gillian had met a couple of days ago upon the Black Hawk.

‘Yep, and I’m bloody grateful for that too. I’m too young and tough to upend and kick the bucket just yet,’ replied Georgio as Tom turned his attention to Gillian.

‘If you don’t mind me saying, you really look like shit.’

Gillian pursed her lips but took it in the manner it was meant. ’I could do with a shower and some sleep.’

‘Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Dale has informed us that Tikal is under siege and we can’t let you in there until we have secured the site. Clearly this whole situation is under wraps and we need to tread carefully. We have obtained a small hut just outside of the Tikal National Park which we can use as a base and allow you time to shower and rest.’

Gillian looked as if she had won the lotto and Adam‘s expression was akin to a moment of extreme pleasure.

‘Sounds good to us,’ Adam replied as the helicopter took off and ferried them the short distance to the shelter.

Gillian was the first to step from the machine and even managed a tired jog to the door of the wood hut that resembled more of a run-down shack than the upmarket resort style cottage they had conjured up in their minds.

‘This is really crap,’ said Adam with the distinct look of disappointment as he viewed the dilapidated crumbling exterior, shattered glass windowpanes and hole-ridden iron roof. ‘I’d be lucky to get a cold shower in this place.’

‘I’m sure you’ll survive,’ laughed Georgio, sporting a comfortable and somewhat smug attitude as he took it upon himself to open the door and usher them inside.

Adam was shocked and he could not help but whistle in appreciation.

The one-room shack was as ultramodern as any multimillion dollar apartment with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a comfortable lounge, two beds and a separate bathroom. False wall panels had been installed on an angle and the roof sported an artificial ceiling and drainage to create the illusion that the exterior was leaking. There was no possible way that anyone could have guessed at the hidden extravagance.