“How high are we?” he asked Alfredo.
Looking at his altimeter wristwatch, Alfredo said they were above six thousand feet and therefore had about two thousand more to go.
“We can slow things down so no one gets sick. If anyone wants to rest just say so.”
For half an hour Lynne had been scouring the jungle for the marked tree that would show she had been here before. Finally they came to a fork in the trail, both paths ahead barely visible because of overgrowth.
Lynne yelled for the group to stop, dropped her backpack and pulled brush aside. Notched into a tree were the initials LP and an arrow pointing to the left.
“OK. I went that way and there’s nothing there.” She asked Alfredo to ask the two Belizean guides which way Arthur Borland had gone. The guides agreed they had also gone to the left. They all agreed the left trail wasn’t the correct one. They took the trail on the right.
They hiked for four hours, taking regular breaks for rest and water. It was obvious no one had been on this trail in some time – the workers walked in front of the others removing vegetation, vines and small trees. They lost the path completely now and then only to look further and pick it back up. Lynne walked the edge of the trail, peering into the undergrowth to try to find some sign of an ancient staircase. The sun was setting when she finally saw something.
Directly in front of them the trail took a sharp turn to the left. “Guys, come over here. Look at this. The trail’s been cut with a dogleg to the left right here. Know why the natives did that? Because they couldn’t go straight any longer. Any idea why not?”
Brian threw out a guess. “Because it’s easier to go up a winding trail instead of one that goes straight up a mountain? That’d be some tough climbing – most people would rather take a switchback than go straight uphill, especially at this altitude.”
“I don’t think that’s the answer. I think the natives hit a dead-end. It was too hard to continue to clear undergrowth on the straight path so they turned. This is the first real dogleg we’ve seen on the entire trail. Something’s different here – let’s see what it is.”
She asked the workers to clear some brush and in a few minutes they found three stones perfectly aligned in a row. There was a second row above that set. As Mayan stairs tend to be, these were very tall. Everyone dropped packs and the three guides began hacking in earnest. The straight line of stones continued both to the sides and upwards.
“This is definitely man-made,” Lynne said quietly. “It’s possible we’ve found our stairway. This may be the very place the letter talks about.”
Chapter Fourteen
They set up camp along the trail next to the stairway since it was too late to begin clearing it. Everyone was excited – they had that renewed sense of energy that comes with discovery. Alfredo and the workmen chatted quietly as they smoked pipes. Sam rummaged through his pack and came up with two bottles of warm beer. He brought them out and everyone had celebratory swigs, passing the bottles around like champagne.
Brian said, “Lynne, I need your phone again.”
She took it out, turned it on and handed it to Brian. “You’re not the only one who needs something. Keep that in mind when I ask you to pay me back.”
He looked at her quizzically but she just laughed and walked away.
Sam dialed the number and handed the phone to Brian. “You can talk this time. They know we’re calling now so Nicole should be on the line too.” For once the connection was clear.
Odette answered on the first ring and he asked to talk to Nicole.
“I’m so sorry but she’s gone. She talked to her boss this morning. She told him the kidnapper was most likely coming for her so he insisted she fly home. I took her to the airport in Belmopan at noon and she caught the Tropic Air flight to Belize City. She was booked on the nonstop American flight to Dallas that left a half hour ago.
“She said you’d want to talk and she does too but don’t waste your phone battery. She said she loves you and she’ll call me if there’s anything urgent she needs to talk to you about. She asked you do the same. If either of you has something urgent I’ll relay it or set a time for you to talk.”
Nicole would call Collette Conning at Brian’s gallery and let her know that he was going to be gone longer than he had expected.
“Nicole said if Collette needs anything she’d let me know.”
Unwilling to waste precious minutes, he thanked Odette, handed Sam the phone and told him Nicole had gone home. Lynne perked up when she overheard.
Sam cautioned his wife. “Be careful. That guy Tomas will be angry when he finds out she’s gone. And Odette, he’s been in our hotel. He took some papers from Brian and Nicole’s room. Keep your eyes out for him. Take care of yourself.” He disconnected.
Brian felt responsibility for his old friend. “I’m sorry you guys are in the middle of this. I hope Odette stays safe.”
“Don’t apologize for one minute. Odette’s a scrapper. She’s been independent her whole life and she knows how to handle herself. You’d better worry about Tomas if he decides to take her on!”
Lynne patted Brian’s arm. “I’m glad Nicole’s going back to the States. She’ll be safe and that should make you feel better.” She flashed a smile and walked away.
“What’s up with you two?” Sam muttered. “She’s suddenly your best friend.”
“She knows I have information and I’m not willing to give all of it to her.”
“That might be your intention but from what I see, I’d say she’s willing to give you anything she has to get it.”
“I can handle her, Sam. I’m not interested.”
“You may be able to handle her, buddy, but if you tell me you’re not the least bit interested in a female who looks and acts like Lynne Parker I’d say get your testosterone checked. She’s hot as hell, Brian. And you know what happens in the jungle stays in the jungle,” he smiled. “Know what I mean?”
Brian didn’t smile. “No, Sam, I don’t know what you mean. I presume you’re kidding.” He stopped as Lynne came back over and asked to see the letter written by Governor Alvarado. She read the part about the stairway, confirming it was ten varas wide and thirty long.
“How long is a vara?” Brian asked.
“A vara is a Spanish measurement used in the sixteenth century. It’s roughly three-fourths of a meter or about two and a half feet. Doing the math, the stairway Cortes saw was maybe twenty-five feet wide and at least eighty to a hundred feet high. So what we’re looking for is very tall.”
Around nine they retired to their tents. The man on watch was responsible for keeping the campfire burning; its firelight flickered against the canvas of the tents. The humidity and temperature were still sky-high so Brian lay naked on top of his pallet. His tent flaps were open but the screens were zipped shut. That way he could catch a breeze without getting eaten by bugs.
He thought about the stairway Lynne had found. Tomorrow would be an exciting day – hopefully the start of this trip’s real purpose. And it was all easier now that Nicole was safely home. He could concentrate on his goal. Maybe in a few days they would have the answer to Captain Jack Borland’s disappearance. And maybe a key to the ancient Mayan civilization. He drifted into slumber thinking of a stairway to a city high in the clouds – another Machu Picchu but this one in the rain forests of Guatemala.
He suddenly woke up, aware that he wasn’t alone. The pup tents weren’t big enough for two adults to sleep side by side but they were roomy enough for close company. Startled, he looked up and saw Lynne Parker sitting cross-legged next to him, looking up and down his body approvingly. She was naked just as he was. Her breasts were beautiful in the half-light of the flickering embers, he casually thought.
“What are you doing?” he whispered, trying to cover himself with a flap of his sleeping bag.
“Nice to see you too. Glad someone else sleeps in the nude with all this heat.”
“Lynne. What the hell are you do
ing?”
“Come on. I thought you were a smart guy. Can’t you tell what I’m doing?” She moved the cover away and put her hand on his penis. It jumped to life immediately but Brian jerked it away.
“Look, I can’t do this.”
“Part of you looks like it can do this.” She put her hand back on him. He grew harder as she held and squeezed it. He took her hand and roughly pushed it away.
“I am not going to do this. This isn’t right.”
“What isn’t right? Are you married? Am I? Are we tied down to one person? Have you and Nicole ever had dates with other people? We’re adults, Brian. I’m not hooking up with you for life. I want some fun. This stuff happens. And I want it to happen with you.” She took his hand and put it on her breast. He pulled it away immediately, feeling guilty with Nicole so far away.
“Lynne, any man on earth would be dying to sleep with you. You’re beautiful and sexy as hell but it isn’t right for me. I can’t do this. I can’t do it to Nicole.”
“OK, Mister Honorable Guy. I didn’t know guys like you still existed. I was just looking for a little fun. Nothing more, nothing less. Don’t read a lot into it. I’m a red-blooded American girl and you’re a red-blooded American guy and we’re both out here in the jungle. I’m attracted to you. That’s all I can say. I was looking for fun. Obviously you’re one of those men I don’t see very often. A loyal, faithful one!”
She crawled out of his tent and walked five feet to hers. It was nearly midnight and the only other person awake was the watchman, one of the Belizean workers. He had seen her walk naked into Brian’s tent. He smiled approvingly as he now watched her return. She glanced at him and smiled back, unconcerned about her nudity.
I bet that was fun for Brian, the watchman thought to himself.
When Brian awoke it was dawn. He pulled on a pair of shorts and crawled out of his tent, smelling coffee brewing on the campfire. He saw Lynne standing nearby, holding a water bottle and with a toothbrush in her mouth. She was dressed in her signature t-shirt and shorts. She gave him a little wave and he nodded back.
Sam popped his head out of his tent. “Morning. Did you sleep OK?”
“Uh, yes.” Brian wondered if Sam had heard them talking last night. “How about you? Ready for the adventure today?”
“Ready, buddy. I’m excited about all this. Alfredo, come over here a minute. I thought about something last night. What requirement do we have to report archaeological discoveries?”
“Same here as back in Belize. As soon as we discover something significant, whatever that means, we have to notify the Department of Archaeology. Work has to stop until they come out and investigate.”
Sam replied, “Yeah, and it might take years for them to come out. I know a guy who found a tomb on his property along the Macal River near San Ignacio. He obeyed the law and called the authorities. They haven’t been out there yet and it’s been two summers. If word gets out about his find, my friend’s afraid looters will show up. Word actually always gets out because the people who work for the Archaeology Department don’t make any money. Passing along a little tip here and there about hidden treasure can supplement your income pretty well. There are so many Mayan things buried in Belize and there’s so little money to properly conserve anything. That’s why nobody ever follows the rules. If you notify them it takes forever.”
Alfredo added, “Here there wouldn’t be much of a problem so long as we didn’t find something really significant. But for instance if we find an ancient city like we’re looking for, then it would be no bueno if we hadn’t reported it as soon as we knew we were on to something big.
“Here’s my suggestion. Until we come across something important, there’s no reason to notify them anyway. Let’s see how things go and if we stumble across the find of the century, we call the authorities and let them take over.”
Lynne overheard the end of the conversation and said, “The Ministry of Culture governs archaeology here in Guatemala. They try to protect looters but it’s impossible in remote places like this. If we found something the country itself would be better off if we kept exploring, properly mapped our finds and brought our treasures to the authorities instead of waiting for them to get around to coming out here. I guarantee you word would get out because our workers would talk. Then looters would come and by the time the government got to the site nothing of value would be left.”
“So do we agree it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission?”
“Absolutely,” Lynne smiled. “Always.”
Alfredo agreed. “Works for me. I need to get packets so the men can eat and get to work on that stairway.” He told everyone to leave their camp intact in case they needed to spend another night here. No one knew how long it would take to clear a path up the staircase or what was next.
Alfredo and the Belizean workers used the three machetes they had, clearing dense vines and small trees that had grown up between the stones of the staircase. Brian tried to see how wide the stairs were but had to give up. He could see about four feet but presumed they continued on deep into the jungle since the letter described them as about twenty-five feet wide. Without a knife he couldn’t clear enough foliage to see how far they went.
For three hours the men worked on the stairway, cutting a swath about two feet wide so the group could ascend. The tedious work stopped mid-morning when clouds built up overhead. Suddenly the daily rainstorm dumped several inches of water on them. Everyone retreated to tents to wait it out without getting soaked. Half an hour later it was over and the men were back at work.
Lynne fixed lunch so Alfredo could keep working. Afterwards she said, “Brian, let’s see how their progress is going.” She walked over to the stairway and looked up. A sort of tunnel had been cut through the thick growth. “Come on! Let’s go up.”
Brian followed her. The heat inside the carved out tunnel of undergrowth was unbelievable. It was like an oven. He counted the steps up the narrow passage. The men had excavated ten very tall rows of steps that extended up nearly twenty feet.
Lynne said, “It obviously goes on and the letter says it’s maybe eighty feet high. If these are the right stairs we have a long way to go.”
“How could these not be the right stairs?”
“Easy. You’ve been to other Mayan sites like Tikal or Palenque. There’s never one stairway – there are dozens. Some go up the sides of tall temples, others lead the way to plazas or ceremonial areas. If this were the only stairway in this area I’d be surprised. I just hope to hell this is the right one.”
Suddenly she turned, her face inches from his. “Did you sleep well last night or were you a little frustrated?”
“I slept OK. I wasn’t frustrated. I just can’t betray Nicole.”
She laughed. “A little fling in the jungle never hurt anyone. Who has to know?” She nudged past him in the narrow tunnel of vines, starting back down. “See you again sometime.”
As they descended another brief downpour came and the humidity rose exponentially. Back at camp Lynne said, “I’m hot as hell and my shirt’s drenched.” She nonchalantly pulled her t-shirt over her head then walked to her pack, knelt down and retrieved a dry one. Sam looked at Brian and raised his eyebrows, smiling appreciatively at the gorgeous woman naked from the waist up who was casually changing clothes in front of everyone. Alfredo glanced at her too but continued gathering rainwater from a plastic bucket to refill their water bottles.
Work continued until four o’clock when Alfredo called a halt. There were twenty-two rows of excavated steps leading up the mountain. The stairway was visible only through the two-foot wide tunnel the workers had cut upwards through the vines. Lynne went up first – Brian held back and let Sam go next. He still wasn’t certain what Lynne’s plan was but he was pretty sure it wasn’t just a fling in the jungle. She looked like a girl who knew what she was after and how to use her numerous attributes to get it. What she was selling, he wasn’t buying.
Promptly at five
Lynne dug out her phone and turned it on. Handing it to Sam she said, “You’ve got 83% battery. You might think about making your calls every other day. How about you tell her to stand by every day at five just in case, but not to expect a call except every other day.”
Sam agreed and placed the call. Today it took three tries before he got a connection and even then the signal was faint, fading in and out. Odette answered on the first ring and told him she had spoken with Nicole who said she was fine and so was the gallery. She sent her love to Brian. Odette said things were good in San Ignacio – she hadn’t seen the mustached man around town and had heard nothing from anyone about him.
Odette understood that Sam would call less ften and they were saying their goodbyes when the call abruptly ended. “Signal’s lousy up here,” he said to Lynne. “I could barely hear her.” He looked down at the phone. “I used four percent of the battery on that call – it’s at 79% now – so we can calculate pretty well how much juice a call takes. We have to be careful.”
Later Sam told Brian what Nicole had said – when he mentioned that she sent her love Brian looked down, glad that he had done the right thing about Lynne. He had resisted her even though he had seen her naked more than once on this trip – including in his tent. And he had been aroused. After all this time away and with a woman who looked like her, what man wouldn’t be, he rationalized. He had new resolve – he wouldn’t let things happen with her. Even though he knew she’d try again.
The guides had slaved in the oppressive humidity all day; they were asleep before dark. Guard duty for them was begin at three am and only in one hour shifts so they could get a good night’s sleep first. The others would take two-hour shifts; Sam, Lynne and then Brian.
At one am Brian was sleeping soundly but he sat up abruptly when Lynne tapped him on the leg.
“Better quit sleeping naked,” she laughed. “If a mosquito bites you in the wrong place it could hurt.”
Brian Sadler Archaeological Mysteries BoxSet Page 42
