And Catalina. Where does she fit in? She had made her choice. She had no loyalty, no gratitude. Phillip realized he'd succumbed to jealousy. She was no different from the rest of the people he had spent a lifetime avoiding. He was better off without her.
If he needed a beautiful companion for the evening, he could easily acquire one. A "no strings" relationship would be more advantageous than a long-term commitment, the kind he'd once had with Catalina. He vowed to avoid emotional attachments. Life would be much simpler that way.
How stupid to have been jealous of Shade. It was an emotion not worthy of him. Shade was just a guide, nothing more or less. Phillip laughed inwardly as he recalled the clich?: "You can take the man out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the man."
* * *
Catalina tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. She thought about the last seven days she had spent in the wilderness. It was difficult for her to conceive that an aryballos, for which Phillip paid less than five thousand euros, would soon lead her to a grotto inside Muela Del Diablo in search of a fabled golden mirror. She also struggled with her feelings. Could she trust her intuition? In the course of the journey, she had switched allegiance from one man to another. She hoped she hadn't made a mistake. She had misjudged Phillip. Could she be wrong about Eric, too?
Eric. She found him exciting, and although he seemed to care for her, life with him would be anything but predictable. In many ways, he was a rogue, an adventurer who lived for the moment and didn't seem all that concerned about the future. Just thinking about him made her skin tingle. He was the most exciting man who had ever entered her life. Who was she kidding? Besides, Phillip, he had been the only man in her life. She had known Phillip for eight years and would have never believed there would have been any surprises, and look what happened. How could she be sure about Eric when she had only known him not much more than a week?
* * *
Eric also couldn't sleep. He had never truly believed Valverde's directions would lead to the grotto they were about to enter. If this much was true, could the Golden Disk of the Sun also be real? He had never believed in the story, but then he had always thought the Star Walkers were just a myth. Now he wasn't so sure. He felt confident they would find something of value. And if they did find gold, would there be enough for him to secure his own future? No more outhouses. No more guiding a bunch of rich, unappreciative people into the Amazon-and no more sharing a two-room shack with Chris.
Even if there was no treasure, just the mere fact that they were about to enter a grotto that no one had set foot in for five hundred years made his heart beat faster. He had lived in Brazil long enough to know that not all of the legends could be false. There were far too many incidents of strange occurrences, particularly in the area that most of the locals referred to as the place of tall trees, namely Mato Grosso. And then there was Muela Del Diablo, which was surrounded by a myriad of mysterious tunnels and caves. Would they find tangible proof that the Star Walkers were more than just a bedtime story? Those questions and quite possibly many more might be answered once they'd had an opportunity to fully explore the place.
For tomorrow, if they found the Golden Disk of the Sun, they could very well prove to the world that a centuries' old legend was true-and quite possibly they would be rich. Very, very rich.
CHAPTER 33
When dawn broke, Eric was thankful it was a clear day. All of them with the exception of Phillip waited impatiently for the sun to reach its apex. To make certain the batteries to the flashlights didn't get wet, Eric double-wrapped them in his waterproof poncho.
Catalina voiced her exuberance, "Shouldn't we go now?"
Eric glanced at the sun. "We'll go in another half hour."
* * *
Once they arrived at the tunnel, Eric decided the safest way to proceed would be for Chris, Catalina, and Phillip to enter one at a time. Once they were past the waterfall, Eric pointed to the pool of water. "Listen carefully. What each of you will have to do is dive into the water. The volcanic chimney is at the far side of the pool. Once you find it, surface, take a deep breath, and plunge in. The scavon is large enough to allow you safe passage to the grotto." Eric glanced at Phillip who had a pained look on his face. "There is no cause for panic. You'll be able to swim through it in less than half a minute."
Upon removing his backpack and boots, Chris was the first to plunge into the murky water. "We'll wait a few minutes, and then you can go," Eric told Catalina.
Instead of diving into the pool from the rocks like Chris had, Catalina lowered herself to the water's edge, then dove in. Although it was difficult to see, she managed to spot the volcanic chimney. Its shape reminded her of an inverted snail's shell, but much larger. She surfaced, took a deep breath, and swam through it. She entered the grotto with her wet clothes clinging to her skin. That's when apprehension set it. Chris was nowhere to be seen. Even though she knew the others would be joining her soon, not having Chris nearby frightened her. She was about to call out his name when he appeared.
"The grotto we're in is huge," Chris said. "It's also well lit because the land fracture above us stretches a long way."
Catalina looked up. Above her, like thousands of laser beams, the sun's rays penetrated through the grotto's ceiling giving the cavernous structure a wraithlike appearance. Small wonder Eric had told her the place gave him the willies. She stood next to Chris and waited for the others to arrive.
* * *
When Eric figured enough time had elapsed for Catalina to swim through the volcanic chimney, he signaled Phillip to jump into the water. "Leave your backpack, your gun, and your boots. I'll help you through the scavon."
"What about my stuff?" Phillip asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'll come back for your gear later."
Eric saw the glint in Phillip's eyes. They were like a caged animal's, darting from side to side. "No way in hell am I going to enter a tunnel that's underwater. I'll drown."
"It will take you less than a minute to go through the volcanic chimney. Trust me. You won't drown."
Phillip backed away from the pool. "I just know I won't be able to make it through."
"Is there something you aren't telling me?" Eric asked.
"If you must know, I can't swim! I almost drowned when I was a child. I've been afraid of deep water ever since."
Eric advanced toward the rock Phillip was leaning against. "I'll make sure you don't drown. Come on, we don't have all day. I have to get back to the others."
"You mean to Catalina, don't you? Bastard! You stole her from me. The only woman I've ever cared for."
"I didn't steal her. You drove her away. Just take a deep breath and jump in. Trust me, I'll guide you through."
Phillip took the magnum revolver and pointed it at Eric. "Stay where you are. Don't come any nearer or I swear I'll pull the trigger."
"No you won't. You had your chance to get rid of me when you placed those scorpions in my tent. I don't know how you did it, but I know it was you. Did you remove the strychnos plants from the trench?"
Phillip laughed the laugh of a demented man. "No. I never put any strychnos in the trench to begin with-at least not until early yesterday morning."
Eric edged a little closer toward Phillip. "The gun won't do you any good. I took the bullets out."
"Oh, but that's where you are wrong! I discovered I had no bullets. You were so busy schmoozing with Catalina that I snuck inside your tent. I rummaged through your backpack and found a case of cartridges. The gun is fully loaded!"
"You won't pull the trigger."
"Oh yeah? Want to try me?"
"Think about it, Phillip. If you kill me, what do you think is going to happen to you? When I don't enter the grotto, Chris will come looking for me. Once he finds out what you did, he will most likely hack you into little bits and pieces. He's pretty handy with a knife, you know."
Phillip was having a hard time holding the gun steady. "No, he won't. I have the gun
, remember. I'll kill him, too."
"If you kill both of us, you'll be signing not only your death warrant, but Catalina's, too. Neither one of you would ever find your way back to civilization. Sooner or later, the Amazon would end up killing both of you."
"I don't trust you, Shade. You say you will help me. What's to prevent you from leaving me to drown?"
Eric advanced a little closer. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so a long time ago. I don't know if Catalina ever told you, but I was once with the Special Forces. Had I wanted to, I could have snapped your neck like a twig-but I didn't. Not that the thought hasn't crossed my mind. I respect Catalina, and whether you know it or not, she does care for you. Just not in the way you would like her to. Put the gun away and jump in. All you need to do is take a deep breath and close your eyes. I'll do the rest."
Phillip reluctantly leaned his backpack against a rock and placed his gun inside. "I suppose you'll tell Catalina that I panicked, and I don't know how to swim."
"What happened here will be just between the two of us."
Phillip advanced toward the pool. "Do I have your word?"
"You have my word."
CHAPTER 34
Once Phillip hit the water, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let Eric guide him through the volcanic chimney. He came out spluttering.
"Are you all right?" Eric asked.
"I'll live," he replied.
Eric swam back through the scavon several times to retrieve their gear. He unwrapped the poncho containing the flashlights and their firearms. After checking to make sure the flashlights worked, he handed one to each of them. "As I said earlier, we may not need these, but one can never tell."
Only then did he begin to pay attention to their surroundings. The sun's rays emanated from the fissure above, a fracture less than a couple of meters wide. The light bore down on them so they had little difficulty in seeing what was ahead, but their peripheral vision was almost nonexistent.
"This place gives me the creeps," Catalina said.
"It's because of the light," Eric countered. "It gives the place an unearthly appearance."
Chris shined his flashlight away from the fissure into the blackness. "Our flashlights won't do us much good. Not in this place. It's too big. We better leave well before the sun sets."
Catalina shivered. Although her clothes were wet, she wasn't thinking so much about her discomfort as the treasure, more specifically the Golden Disk of the Sun. "You are right on that score. I certainly wouldn't want to spend the night here." Even though she didn't take much stock in folktales, she wondered if the mirror was somewhere inside the grotto. And if it was, could it be used to foretell the future? That's simply ridiculous, she thought. You know perfectly well there is no such thing as a magical mirror.
"The ceiling must be at least three stories above us!" Phillip exclaimed.
"From the looks of it, the grotto is as long as the fissure," Eric added. As he followed the light coming from above, a strange foreboding came over him. For a reason he couldn't explain, he sensed the four of them were not alone. One thing was certain. He would have much preferred the steamy environment of the jungle to this place. "Don't anyone stray from the light. It's important for us to stick together."
As the four of them walked farther into the cave-like chamber, Eric noticed the space between the grotto's ceiling and floor was now closer to four stories. He glanced in Catalina's direction. "Have you noticed we're heading deeper into the mountain?"
Her voice was barely above a whisper. "No, but it's colder?.?.?. there is also less light."
Chris, who had overheard Catalina's remark, said, "That's because the fissure above us is narrower."
They hadn't walked more than a few meters when Eric stopped. "Listen. Do any of you hear what I hear?"
"I don't hear anything," Catalina said.
Chris was now beside Eric. "I hear it." There was urgency in his voice. "Quick, duck down everyone and cover your heads!"
No sooner had they flung themselves to the ground, than they heard screeching and the sound of wings flapping furiously overhead. Within a few seconds, the noise abated. Cautiously, Phillip stood. "What the hell was that?"
Eric brushed himself off. "Vampire bats. We must have frightened them. They flew through the fissure above us."
"Filthy creatures," Phillip said. "Ugly, too. Are they poisonous?"
"Dangerous, yes, poisonous, no. These bats thrive on the blood of small animals, rodents mainly. Although they are not known to bother humans, most are rabid and that makes them dangerous. We better keep moving. Hopefully, the treasure is somewhere in this room."
No one responded to Eric's comment. Deep in thought, the four of them inched their way farther into the grotto. Suddenly, Catalina's scream filled the chamber; magnified tenfold, her echo could be heard again and again reverberating in the cavernous room. Everyone froze.
"What's the matter?" Phillip asked, fear in his voice.
"I'm sorry," Catalina said. "It just took me by surprise." She was staring at a skeleton that was slumped on the floor in front of her.
Eric placed an arm on her shoulder. "I guess this is one Indian who never made it out of here."
"How do you know it's an Indian and not a Spaniard?" Phillip asked.
Now that Catalina was over her initial fear, she examined the skeleton more closely. "A conquistador would have worn a breastplate and helmet. I don't see any of that lying nearby." She reached inside the ribcage and removed a shiny object, and held it up for all to see. "It looks like someone stabbed him with this knife." She handed the dagger to Eric.
"This is incredible," he said, running his fingers along the blade. It's made of gold, and the bone handle is encrusted with jewels. It makes you wonder who killed him and for what reason."
"May I see the dagger?" Phillip asked. Upon examining it, he said, "This is a sacrificial knife. I've seen a few in museums, but I've never seen one so heavily adorned with precious stones. I've been trying to acquire one for my collection, but I was told there are only a few in existence. These daggers were used by high priests. In centuries past, when the Incas practiced human sacrifices, they would cut out their victims' hearts."
Eric took the artifact from Phillip and re-examined it. "You may be right about the dagger, but I don't think that's what happened here. I say that because human sacrifices would have been conducted in a religious temple, not a chamber like the one we're in. My guess is the man must have had a disagreement with a perpetrator."
"I think you are right," Catalina said. "The Incas would have held a ceremony before sacrificing a human, and this doesn't look like a religious place of worship. I think it's rather ironic. Here was a civilization that succumbed to the murderous pillaging of the Spaniards, yet to the Incas, human sacrifices were a way of life." She backed away from the skeleton. "Whether the man was murdered or sacrificed is a mute point. I never thought I'd come face to face with history. It's more immediate, more human, and certainly more personal."
Phillip took the dagger from Eric and placed it in his belt. "Do you mind?"
"No, you can have it," Eric said. "If nothing else, at least you will recoup the money you spent on this trip." He nudged Catalina. "Come on, we better keep moving." With Catalina at his side, using the fissure above them as a reference, Eric and the others continued to walk toward the far side of the grotto.
* * *
They finally reached a barricade made of stone. Eric said, "Someone put up this wall. If you look closely, you'll see these stones interlock with one another. There must be hundreds of them?.?.?. and I don't see any mortar binding them together."
"Catalina moved to stand beside him. "You're right. It's hard to believe the ancient Indians would have been capable of this.
"Maybe they had some help," Chris said.
"You are referring to the Star Walkers, aren't you?" she asked.
Chris shrugged. "I don't know if they're responsible or not, but I'll
tell you this much. I know enough about construction to know it would have been extremely difficult to build a stone wall this high without the use of steel."
Catalina turned toward Eric. "Valverde mentioned a portal. I don't see one, do you?"
"No, but it has to be here somewhere. So far Valverde's directions have been right on the mark. Maybe it's-"
"There it is!" Chris shouted, the excitement in his voice contagious. "It's hard to spot because the slab blends in with the stone wall."
Eric, Phillip and Catalina went to where Chris was standing. "This isn't a door," Phillip said. "It's a piece of granite, nothing more. I warned you. I told you there wouldn't be any treasure." He took the jeweled dagger from his belt and pointed it at Eric "Tell me, was this worth risking our lives? I don't need a magical mirror to predict your future. You came to this mountain broke, and with the exception of the few measly euros you'll earn from me, you will end up going home broke."
Next, Phillip shook the dagger at Catalina. "And you. If you stay with him, the two of you will end up raising a couple of snotty kids who'll be running around with the rest of the mestizo children begging tourists to buy their Chicklets gum."
Phillip's tirade went on deaf ears as far as Eric was concerned. He approached the massive granite slab, placed his weight against it, and pushed. "It won't budge."
"Look at this," Catalina said, pointing to a cluster of stars that were etched in the slab.
Eric ran his hand over the diagram. "I believe this is meant to be the constellation Orion. You know, the Hunter."
"Are you sure?" Chris asked.
"I'm pretty sure. These three stars would make up the belt. And these"-he pointed to another set of four bright stars-"make up the outline of the hunter's body. Whoever did this must have been quite familiar with the heavens. It's so precise, so accurate. It's as if someone had taken a photograph of the constellation and superimposed it here." Deep in thought, Eric again ran his hand over the etched surface. Then he spoke slowly to the others. "Did you know the indigenous Indians who live in Brazil believe the Star Walkers came from Orion?"