‘Please, Michelle?’ Hamish pleaded.
Michelle’s unfinished cup of coffee tempted her to stay but without another word she stood and followed Jim.
She returned after a few minutes absence.
‘So, what’s the problem?’ Hamish asked.
Michelle laughed. ‘The boy’s in love and he doesn’t know it yet. There’s no problem Hamish.’
‘In love? With who?’ Hamish asked, refusing to understand.
Michelle laughed again and then said to Arthur, ‘Let’s get back to work.’
Michelle and Arthur walked together up the mound, leaving Hamish behind to ponder his new worry.
‘So, Jim really is OK?’ Arthur asked.
‘Of course,’ she said.
When Arthur’s face remained concerned, she asked, ‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
‘Don’t you think it’s all a little strange?’
‘What is?’
‘Well, Jim comes here and, you’ve seen him. In, what? Five days he’s as fluent in KulWinik Mayan as you and I. Don’t you find that strange?’
‘I hadn’t until you just mentioned it. But, yes, it’s the fastest I’ve seen anyone learn a language. Maybe he read some of Hamish’s books before he came.’
Arthur’s face displayed skepticism.
‘It could be true,’ she said. ‘What else could it be? Maybe he’s just a talented young man and has found what he excels at.’
‘Well, he definitely excels at the Mayan language.’
Michelle laughed at him. She did that a lot now and he didn’t mind, he loved hearing that sound.
‘Look who he’s learning from,’ she said. ‘He’s a seventeen year old, well, man and he’s learning from a beautiful young woman. I think, Arthur, that he’s concentrating on his lessons.’
Chapter 32
In the mid-afternoon heat, Hamish sat on a smooth rock further around from where Michelle ringed the mound with her excavations. It had become his favorite place to sit. It would be a day or two before he would have to give it up to the excavation team. His head was in his hands, he worried about Jim.
Arthur sat down next to him. They were silent for a long time.
‘Michelle’s a bit of a slave driver,’ Arthur said. He picked up a stone to hold. He investigated its texture and weight without seeing it.
‘She’s fitter and she’s younger too,’ Hamish said lifting his head from his hands. ‘I don’t think she understands how easily us old guys wear out and break.’
‘I think she might understand, actually. And that’s what she enjoys,’ Arthur smiled.
‘Maybe.’
A distant car sailed passed the dirt road leading into the huts. Arthur swung his head quickly to watch it and did not breath until it had gone.
‘You’re worried, are you?’ Hamish asked.
‘Worry doesn’t begin to describe the feeling.’
‘Then why are you doing it? Why don’t we pack up now?’ Hamish asked.
‘I can’t,’ Arthur said. ‘No, that’s not true. I don’t want to. I’ve based a large part of my career on what I’ve learned from Yax K’in. That’s enough without also, our friendship. It’s important to him so it’s important to me. But, I can’t keep it up much longer. The money will be gone.’
Arthur juggled the stone in his hand and then gently lobbed it down the slope. He picked up a replacement.
‘I’ll have some major problems when I return to Mexico City,’ Arthur said. ‘I actually ran out of money yesterday. I don’t know how I’ll pay for this last bit. I’ll have to juggle my funding somehow and try and sneak it passed Roberto.’
‘I didn’t like him. He was a supercilious prick,’ Hamish said. ‘Those admin types are the same everywhere, it’s only about money, budgets, nothing else.’
‘How’s Jim?’ Arthur asked, after another silence.
‘Surly as ever,’ Hamish said. ‘I’d forgotten how hard it was parenting teenagers. Even good ones like him.’
‘He’ll be right,’ Arthur said. ‘He’s a good kid. He’s probably just missing his friends in Boston. That’ll be the reason for his fixation with Pep’Em Ha. Apart from the obvious reason.’
Hamish looked at Arthur like he had made an inappropriate comment.
‘He’s seventeen,’ Arthur said pointedly. ‘And she’s attractive.’ Arthur shrugged his shoulders. Hamish searched for the form of his grandson among the workers.
‘And you?’ Arthur asked.
‘Fine,’ Hamish answered tersely.
‘And what about you?’ Hamish said. He was smiling again. ‘What about Michelle?’
‘What about her?’
‘Exactly,’ Hamish laughed.
‘She’s good value, isn’t she,’ Arthur said, evading an answer.
Hamish stood up, stretched and then sat down again. ‘I wouldn’t know.’ He placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, as if Arthur was the one with the problems and needed reassurance.
‘You’re just going to let her go?’ Hamish asked.
‘What else can I do?’
‘Pity,’ Hamish said, then asked quickly, ‘Who’s that?’ Hamish pointed to a car bouncing down the one lane access track.
‘Oh, shit,’ Arthur said and jumped to his feet. He closely examined the approaching car then hung his head and put his hands on his knees as if he was resting after hard exertion. He spoke to the ground between his feet.
‘That’s all right. It’s a village car. It’s just someone from the village,’ he said.
Arthur left Hamish sitting in his favorite spot and walked across the slope to Michelle to wait and greet those in the car. Hamish saw the two back doors open and out of them emerged two figures dressed in white KulWinik tunics. Jim had run down the slope and then merged with one of the figures.
Chapter 33
Jim was the first to see the approaching car. He threw down his shovel and bounded down the slope willing the car to contain Pep’Em Ha. When she opened the door and stepped out, she looked drawn and haggard, as if she had not slept the previous night but, to Jim, she was wonderful. She broke into a broad smile when she saw him. He ran around the car but came to a self-conscious, jerking halt and did not know what to do next. However, Pep’Em Ha spread her arms and fell into him, hugging him so tightly that he could not breath. Her happiness and her strength were exciting. She spoke into his ear.
‘I heard the voices,’ she whispered.
She let Jim go and stood back from him before walking around the car to her father. Jim remained on the spot of her embrace. He did not want to move from the hallowed ground nor let that memory fade.
Pep’Em Ha and Yax K’in climbed the mound. Jim quickly followed.
‘So, you have come then?’ Arthur said in greeting.
‘Pep’Em Ha is ready,’ Yax K’in said. ‘Hachakyum has spoken to her.’
Everyone gathered around as if Yax K’in was about to say something momentous.
Yax K’in looked for a place to sit and found one that was less dusty than elsewhere. He sat down while all eyes were on him.
‘I will dig as well, if you like?’ Yax K’in said, after a few seconds.
Michelle and her team were disappointed as they returned to work, shoveling and removing rubble. Pep’Em Ha stood by watching them but with a scowl on her face.
‘Pep’Em Ha?’ Yax K’in said.
She looked quickly to her father.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘That’s not the place,’ she said with certainty. She raised her arm. Everyone stopped working and looked to where she pointed.
‘That is the place,’ she said.
Hamish had observed the group of Jim and the two KulWinik’s climb the slope. He had seen the group of workers congregate around Yax K’in and then, reluctantly, return to their work. He watched Pep’Em Ha raised her arm. All eyes turned as one and rested on him.
Pep’Em Ha pointed at Hamish.
‘What have I done now?’ was the fir
st thought that passed through his head.
Michelle relocated her team and shunted Hamish out of the way.
‘This is much easier. It’s almost soft.’ One of the workers called to Michelle from where he dug.
Michelle stood next to that worker and watched him work for a second. Below a thin layer of rocky rubble it was like compacted soil. She instructed her team to make the trench wider. The group strung out, side by side. Hamish picked up a shovel and placed himself at the far end of the line of workers. He was pleased when he struck solid stone almost immediately so that no more digging was possible. He poked at the stone under the rubble. He cleaned away an edge, slowly, and then alerted Michelle.
She ran over, knelt down and used her hands to delineate the edge of the solid stone. Arthur rushed over and stood behind her. He took one look and strode to the far end of the line of workers. He took the shovel out of the hands of the last person in line and began to dig. He found what he expected. He got down on his knees and used his hands to clear away another edge of solid stone.
Arthur, still on his knees, looked along the line of standing workers. Michelle was on her knees at the far end, no longer digging but staring at Arthur, her face expectant. Arthur smiled and like the passing of flag signals between ancient ships on the ocean, Arthur’s signal was returned with a smile broader than his own.
They had found the entrance to a tomb.
Part III
Chapter 1
A dozen steps into the structure were quickly uncovered. The sides of the stepped passage angled and narrowed the entrance the further it descended. At the bottom, the way was blocked by a triangular slab of rock. The broad base and height would have allowed a person to pass through, but the rock slab sealed the entrance and prevented further progress.
The excavation workers were dismissed. Hamish was especially pleased to sit in the tent with a cup of coffee, it did weigh on his mind that he rested often while others labored. After the site had been cleared of people, Arthur and Michelle again examined the triangular stone entrance. Arthur scratched his head with the same hand that held his hat. Michelle’s arms were crossed, neatly folded over her chest.
They were unsure how to continue.
‘We could dig from above and behind,’ Michelle volunteered.
‘We could.’
The triangular stone slab was a door, that was obvious.
‘The best option,’ Arthur laughed. ‘Would be to go through. After opening it. Somehow.’ He slapped his hat against his thigh, to dislodge the dust on it, and then resumed scratching his head.
Michelle unfolded her arms. ‘It’s a big bit of stone.’
‘OK,’ he said. He had made a decision. ‘We’ll cut through the corner, at the bottom, and have a look inside before we decide the best way forward.’
Arthur replaced his hat on his head now that his itchiness caused by indecision had gone. He crouched and put his hand on the bottom left corner.
‘We’ll drill through here. You agree?’ he asked.
Michelle nodded her head.
Arthur inspected the sky, gauging how much light was left in the day.
Michelle touched the rock barring their progress. She smiled at Arthur.
‘Is it really here?’ she said.
Arthur loved that smile when it was directed at him.
Yax K’in had not left with the others. He had also been scanning the stone slab, from the top step. His eyes often came to rest on a slight imperfection, more an irregular indentation, about chest high and near the left edge. Yax K’in carefully descended the steps. He placed his face close to the stone then traced his finger over the irregular pattern. He knew that shape. He picked at it with a finger and some compacted material dislodged and revealed more of the shape.
He did not need to reveal the rest of it. He knew what to do.
Yax K’in spread the fingers of his hand and placed his palm over the indentation.
He pushed.
Nothing happened.
He shifted his hand and pushed again.
Nothing happened.
Arthur put an arm around him, in a patronizing embrace, as if Yax K’in was not responsible for his actions.
‘What are you doing, old friend?’ Arthur asked kindly.
Yax K’in shifted his hand and pushed again.
‘I think you’ve done your bit,’ Arthur said. His voice was soft and compassionate. ‘We’ve found what you expected. We can do the rest.’
Yax K’in laughed.
‘It was worth a try,’ Yax K’in said.
Arthur laughed with him and drew him away from the doorway.
‘That was the first thing Michelle did,’ Arthur said.
Yax K’in knew what he had to try next. The responsibility was no longer his.
Arthur, Yax K’in and Michelle climbed the dozen steps to the top. They paused there and gazed over the camp site and the green plain of maize.
‘I’ll have to contact Roberto,’ Arthur said to Michelle, in English. ‘There’s going to be all kind of shit now. We’ll need a permit.’
‘Do we have to wait?’ Michelle had waited long enough.
‘We should wait.’ Arthur was not convinced.
‘No more waiting,’ Michelle said firmly. ‘Let’s at least see what’s behind the entrance. Just a small hole. It’s the minimum that anyone would do.’
Protracted excavation may be ahead of Arthur to clear a way down into the tomb. Pacal’s famous tomb at Palenque had been back-filled with rubble and had taken years to clear before the tomb could be entered.
‘All right,’ Arthur agreed. ‘I’ll call Roberto from the car and get the procedure started. I,’ he hesitated, ‘probably, won’t get deported. I’ll just be sacked…’
‘Don’t be melodramatic,’ she said, impatiently. ‘You’ve found something important. This is unique. Let the politics sort itself out. They might get a bit angry but they won’t do anything to you now. They can’t, not with this.’ She pointed down the steps.
Yax K’in followed Michelle and Arthur down. Arthur went to the car to telephone Roberto. Michelle went to see if any food was available.
Arthur joined Michelle at one of the tables when he returned. He had also scrounged himself a plate of food.
‘OK. That’s done. Roberto was not happy,’ Arthur said. He began eating.
‘He’s a lawyer,’ Michelle said. ‘He’s not supposed to be happy. And working with you would add to anyone’s stress. I would know.’ She smiled.
‘Well, he’s more stressed now. In any case, it’s out of my hands, I’ll leave it to him. He can call me back if he has a problem.’
Michelle and Arthur ate in silence. After a few minutes Michelle noticed that Arthur was beaming a smile as if he had no problems in the world.
‘You’ve turned your phone off, haven’t you?’ she asked, quietly.
‘Yes.’
She laughed. ‘You’ll just make him angrier.’
‘Whatever the case,’ Arthur said. ‘He didn’t tell me to stop and he didn’t tell me to wait. So, we can look behind the entrance. I’m sure he’ll find a way to contact us tonight, even if he was to send someone from San Cristobal. We’ve got the rest of the afternoon.’ Arthur’s eyes sparkled.
She knew there had to be more to his happiness.
‘You’ve just told him what we’ve done,’ she said slowly as realization dawned on her. ‘And then hung up on him before he had a chance to reply, haven’t you?’
Arthur laughed. ‘Yes. And then turned the phone off. And then asked the others to turn their phones off.’
Jim appeared behind Arthur.
‘Where are they going?’ Jim asked. Yax K’in and Pep’Em Ha were halfway up the slope. Pep’Em Ha had been ushered away from Jim by Yax K’in, and Jim had been told to stay behind.
‘I don’t know,’ Arthur said slowly as he watched the two KulWinik.
‘Let’s go and see,’ Michelle said. She left her plate on the table and
set off after Yax K’in and Pep’Em Ha. Jim immediately followed her.
At the End of the World Page 14
