Treasure of the Mayan King (2012) (15 page)

“What was I to do? We would have all died, me and the men I’d already pulled from an earlier job! That experience, it left me crazy in the head. Post-trauma something or other the doctors said, know what I mean”? Kelly ran a nervous hand over his head. The memories were too traumatizing.

“After the war I started having terrible nightmares! I would see these men in my dreams, hear them screaming at me, and I’d see “em with their limbs all blown off, and asking me why I left “em, why I abandoned them; you don’t know how terrible it was, boy, no idea what the mind can do to you. I dreamt about their mothers spitting on me, screaming at me and cursing me….”

He wiped his face with his shirtsleeve. After taking a few shallow breaths he continued. “It wasn’t fair - I was just a young man. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy. I had just been trying my best to serve my country and get through the war! I couldn’t stand the nightmares anymore, so I took to drink and drugs to forget the pain. It wasn’t long before I was living on the streets.

“Chauncy found me on a street in Wyoming. He must o” felt sorry for me. He took me to a restaurant and fed me. We was talkin” for a while and he found out about my past. “So you know how to fly helicopters?” he asked. Well, o” course I did, and I said so. One thing lead to another and before I knew it, he’d cleaned me up and given me a job flying choppers for him, airliftin” giant pieces of granite from some excavation site in the canyons of the Dakota Badlands. I worked for Chauncy on and off for years. Then my dad died and I decided to come back to the farm. I’ve been farmin” and raisin” hogs for the last ten years or so. But all thanks to Chauncy. He saved my life. I woulda been dead long “fore now, the way I was going.”

Marlo had a pained expression. “I’m really sorry for what you went through, Mr. Sorenson. No doubt it was a very horrible experience. And I understand if you feel you can’t go down to Cancun and help Chauncy. I guess I’ll have to tell Anita why I came back empty-handed.”

Marlo stood up, sighed, and pulled on his gloves and jacket. “It won’t be easy to tell her. I’m not sure how she’ll react to more bad news.”

Kelly stared at the floor, then looked up and saw Marlo slowly heading for the door. “Anita, eh?” he asked.

“Yes, Anita. This is breaking her heart.”

Kelly winced. “She was good to me too. She fed me well when I worked for Chauncy.”

“She is going through a horrible ordeal,” Marlo said.

Kelly clenched his teeth. “She was such a sweetheart. I will never forget her kindness.”

“There is only one way to show your appreciation.” Marlo pleaded .

Kelly’s face was downcast. “I know.”

There was a moment of silence. Marlo sensed he was done. He figured the old man wasn’t going to budge, so he slowly made his way out the door. He turned to see him still sitting there all forlorn. Marlo silently berated himself. Had he come all this way just to fail in his mission? It was too much for him to bear. Standing out in the cold he spread his arms out in a pleading gesture. “Come on! You gotta come with me! There’s no way can go back empty handed! I can help you, man. I’m serious. I can walk you through this. Just don’t let Anita down!”

Kelly peered pensively at Marlo.

Marlo sensed Kelly was going to capitulate. “Anita was crying when I left her!”

Kelly finally broke. “Ah! You drive a hard bargain, son. Anita has always been very good to me. I suppose I can’t break her heart, can I?”

Marlo grinned as he turned to face Kelly. “Got any plans?”

Kelly scratched his chin as he went into deep thought. “Well, I got a buddy down in Belize, he was my gunner back in “Nam. He’s different from me - he loves the jungle! But he don’t like the States, he says there is too much racism you know, “cause he’s black. So he decided to move to Belize, “cause they speak English there. Anyhow, he’s a chopper mechanic and I know he can set us up with a good bird.”

“So you’ll really do it, Mr. Sorenson?”

A smile crept across the older man’s face. “Call me Kelly, and I suppose so! But I don’t suppose you got a plane ticket for me?”

“Actually, Anita insisted. I don’t know if she knew or just hoped. You’d best grab anything you want to take with you.”

Kelly walked to a dresser in the hallway. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a passport and a dirty white envelope. Glancing inside the envelope, he smiled and shoved it in his shirt pocket.

Kelly returned to the living room. “Chauncy ain’t no dummy, son,” he said as he patted the pocket that contained the envelope. “He knew I was the best one to help him outta this mess. Now if you’ll be so kind as to stop by my neighbor’s on our way to the airport, I can tell him to look after my hogs, dogs, and cats.”

As the two drove down the gravel road, dark storm clouds filled the sky. But for Marlo, the future looked just a little brighter.

Chapter Eight

Blindfolded and handcuffed, Chauncy tried to stay calm. He kept in mind that they needed him alive to find the money. At the top of the stairs their footsteps echoed, as if in a large empty warehouse. A moment later he heard the telltale squeaking of a large door sliding open.

His senses were assaulted by the hot humid jungle air and the sounds of nature. Both were so different from the cool quiet of his basement prison. Even through his blindfold he could see the sunlight as they stepped from the warehouse. A guard held his head down and pushed him into a vehicle as its engine roared to life.

After quite a while, the vehicle they were in stopped and they transferred to another. To Chauncy’s horror, this time it was a small plane. As much as he hated flying, flying blindfolded was even worse.

After Chauncy survived the flight and the landing there was the careening down a bumpy road in yet another vehicle. His captors finally removed the blindfold. He blinked against the harsh sunlight. He was in a Humvee with Domingo, Madrid and the two bodyguards. Thick vegetation surrounded the dirt road they drove on.

“We will be in Palenque in twenty minutes,” Madrid announced. “From that point onward you will direct us to the pyramid.”

“What about military roadblocks? Or tourists?” Chauncy asked.

Santo smiled. “Not to worry; that has all been dealt with.”

“Temporarily,” Madrid said, glaring at him in the mirror. “I hope we are not delayed.”

Chauncy looked out the window. “I hope so too.”

Twenty minutes later, the Humvee stopped in a clearing in the jungle. Though it had been a long time, Chauncy recognized the area immediately. The guard and the driver were the first out, their weapons sweeping the area. They motioned all-clear and the others got out of the vehicle. The guards motioned Chauncy to the back of the Humvee, where they removed two large suitcases - and a set of ankle chains. The driver removed the handcuffs while the other guard shackled Chauncy’s legs, then handed him the suitcases to carry.

“Quickly!” Madrid snapped. “Where to?”

Chauncy took a quick look at their map. “Temple #22 is straight ahead of us down this path.”

As the group made their way through the jungle, the howling of monkeys and screeching of birds mixed with the unceasing whirring and clicking of millions of insects.

They passed smaller ruins covered with vegetation, where the jungle choked out man’s incursions. The giant roots of ancient trees had long since tumbled these glorious buildings into disjointed masses of bricks. Like a mighty hand, the vegetation was slowly dismantling all traces of a once-powerful civilization.

“Do you know why the Maya disappeared?” Chauncy asked no one in particular as they continued their trek.

“No, why?” gasped Santo between breaths.

“It was due to deforestation, ecological disasters, hunger, war, overpopulation, mass migration to cities, less farmers in the rural areas, less production of food. They trusted in their gods to save them, and so they built more temples. The elite class was so isolated from the common worker that soon their society collapsed, the mighty empire vanished. There are many similarities with our generation, the same things are occurring today on a global scale. The only difference is that the gods have changed. The god that people worship today is money.”

Santo simply grunted.

Stopping abruptly, Chauncy pointed and said, “There it is; Temple #22!”

He stared at the temple that had made such an impact on his life five years earlier, rising high above the jungle canopy, defying Nature’s death grip on the lesser ruins. Centuries of wear and tear from the elements had removed any sharp features of the structure, but not its regal splendor.

After trudging through the heat of the jungle the climb up the steep stairs was excruciating. They stopped to rest more than once. Reaching the final step they passed under a stone canopy. Chauncy mentioned that this was probably where the priests performed their rituals.

Madrid wasn’t interested in a history class. He walked back and forth under the canopy looking down. “Where’s the entrance?” he demanded.

Chauncy pointed to the floor. “Right here; see these flagstones?”

Madrid snapped his fingers and pointed to the flagstones. The guards swung their guns onto their backs and began pulling on the stones.

Headlamps strapped in place, four of them descended the triangular shaped tunnel. One guard remained outside while the other led the way down, his weapon at the ready. Despite the darkness and humidity of the tunnel Chauncy smiled, remembering the excitement of the first time he had come down this tunnel with Dr. Sova.

“What do we find at the bottom?” Santo asked. “Are the remains of the Mayan King still down there?”

“Of course not, King Chac’s remains have been in a museum in Mexico City for the past five years, along with the sarcophagus, stone cover, and all the jewelry and other artifacts that had been found. All that is left down here are these steps and perhaps, one million dollars.”

After what seemed like ages, the stairs ended and they entered the stifling darkness of the crypt. It was larger than the cramped stairs they had just descended, about twelve feet across.

Chauncy dropped the suitcases and crawled along the floor, peering closely at every crack. “It said ‘under him it must be,’ so I think it must be under the crypt. Ahh, I think I found a loose stone - come here!”

The guard helped him wipe away the sand covering the flagstones. One of them was indeed loose, and the guard ordered Chauncy to move out of the way as he lifted it up.

“How did Dr. Sova accomplish this task by himself?” Santo mused.

“He knew a lot of people who worked in this area. He could have bribed them to keep silent. Knowing him, he could have opened the temple in a sequential order, not disclosing the reason to his workers and then placed the money in the temple by himself.” Chauncy answered.

Santo grunted with approval at Chauncy’s explanation. “Makes sense.”

Underneath the stone was a square niche, and within this niche were two large wooden crates, their lids strapped shut. Even Chauncy was excited as the guard heaved one of the boxes from its niche and pried open the top.

Madrid was the first to react. “Ha! It’s the money! We found the money!”

Chauncy let out a sigh of relief as he stepped back and watched. The men yelled and whooped with excitement as they clenched the money in their fists.

As the initial excitement passed, Madrid barked an order, “Quickly, get out the other box and fill the suitcases with the money. We have to get out of here!”

It was late at night when the crew finally arrived back at the basement where Chauncy had been for that past week. Santo led him down to his room and told him that they would be leaving in two days; there were now many things to prepare. Santo also promised that they would release him at that time, but for now he should rest.

Chauncy hit the bed in sheer exhaustion. They had made him walk all the way back to the vehicle carrying two heavy suitcases full of money with his legs bound in chains. On top of that, his body was covered with insect bites, his arms and face were sunburned, and he had not eaten well.

He was miserable, physically and emotionally. He had no way of knowing if his wife had actually figured out his encrypted message. What if she hadn’t? What if his plan wasn’t working? What if they decided to kill him?

The next day Santo and his guards came into the room. He was holding a letter and a book. “Your wife is a very smart lady, Mr. Rollock.”

“What do you mean, Mr. Domingo?” Chauncy’s heart pounded. Do they know? Did they find out about the message?

Santo walked up to Chauncy and then turned to the desk. “She’s a smart lady and also religiously inclined, wouldn’t you say?”

Careful what you say! Chauncy thought. His heart pounded so hard that he imagined that Santo could hear it. He offered a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, I suppose; depends on the week. Why do you say that?”

“She left a Bible and a letter for you at the front desk of her hotel. She assumed, correctly, that our courier would pick them up and deliver them to us.”

Chauncy licked suddenly dry lips, fearful of how to answer.

Santo continued. “We took the liberty, Mr. Rollock, of reading the letter and also examined the Bible, but we have found nothing wrong with them. You are now welcome to these two items. Early tomorrow morning, around three, we are leaving for good.”

When Chauncy was alone again, he leaned against the wall, his heart pounding so fiercely it was difficult to breathe. When he had calmed down enough to walk to the desk, he picked up the letter with a trembling hand and read it:

Dear Chauncy,

I hope that all is well with you. We have been praying for your safe return. I hope the following scriptures will bring you relief. You will see from them how God’s message comes together for your comfort.

Matthew 10:8

Proverbs 30:1

Exodus 2:23

Exodus 16:1

And the second set of scriptures will be of great spiritual comfort too.

Joshua 10:9

Genesis 8:9

Exodus 8:6

Please keep safe. I love you and hope to see you soon.