They went into the courtyard and sat under the shelter on wooden stumps.
“Aishe, iki kahve getir (Bring two coffees).”
After a while, the grinning merchant sipping his coffee, with a good tone asked, “What else do you need? Chains, harness, ropes…”
“I will not harness them, just reins, ropes, and 4 sacks of corn or oats. Calculate how much it will cost?”
“Give five thousand levs, so there is enough for bread for the children.”
“I can give four thousand and five hundred. Do you agree?”
“Effendi, do not beat my price. The commodity is good. In all markets, I’m very well known. I guarantee for my cattle.”
“Okay, okay,” smiled happily the Ninth.
Both shook hands, and he counted out five thousand Levs on hand. Ivan knotted the animals, one after another, at the front were the two horses. On the last donkey, he loaded the grain.
“Do you know the fountain near Fiseka?” Asked Ivan before departure.
“I know it. It is two kilometers away from the village.”
“Can you find five people for digging with shovels, pickaxes and cart?”
“I can get you twenty if you like. What’s the day payment?”
“Thirty leva per person per day. Every night they will go back to sleep in the village. We work 6 hours per day.”
“When do you need them?”
“Tomorrow 8 am at the fountain. Can you arrange it?”
“Can I arrange it?” Grinning, the Dzhambaz smoothened his mustache. “At least for a treat, can you give something?”
Ivan handed him a hundred leva smiling, “I see that you have everything. If I need something, I know who to look for.”
“Well, go with health Effendi,” sent him the happy seller.
Ninth lead the cattle to the yard of their house.
In the morning, at 7:30, the loaded animals arrived at the stone fountain with gutters.
“Do not let them drink water while they are tired. Let them relax a little.”
Not long after arrived two loaded carts, with five local men.
“Mustafa sends us. He said you would give thirty leva per day. We bring tools and cart as you wanted. Where are we going to dig?
Professor pulled out a GPS, checked around and said, “Follow the caravan.”
The group took on a dirt road up the mountain. The two cocker spaniels Pisco had taken ran around and barked happily. On either side stood an ancient forest. There was a varied song of songbirds. Near the old oak could be seen a white skeleton of a large animal. The dogs rushed at him and barked furiously.
“Here, here,” shouted Pisco.
The dogs obediently returned to the caravan, and he continued to climb the uneven road. Not long after came a large meadow where the archaeologists had to make camp. On top over it, no more than a hundred meters away was the very sanctuary.
“We arrived, unload the animals.”
The workers went to work, and the professor left the place together with the other seekers and headed for the summit to show them the site.
The flat rocks of the sanctuary were nestled among the trees and outspread in length. The dense forest around concealed them. Meters away from them, large rocks had broken off. The Professor sat on one of them and felt the mysterious force of the place. In the rock was carved a niche for the flowing blood, where the shamans made sacrifices for the god. Down on the slope were visible holes made by treasure hunters and looters. They showed the path from where the pilgrims flocked.
Pisco felt a strange sense of the ghostly atmosphere and asked timidly, “There are no mummies here, right?”
“There are worse things here,” grinned the professor wickedly. “But I will tell you tonight by the fire.”
“Relax, I took my gun,” Ivan tapped Pisco on the shoulder and continued. “From where do we start, Parlatov?”
“Tomorrow will arrive the surveyor to make a plan square network for the site, and then we will start to dig around the rocks. Later, we will go down and check those large chunks torn from it. We will seek an entrance for the place where the shaman had kept the disc.”
“Let’s fix the camp and relax a bit. I don’t want the meat to go to waste,” offered the hungry Fantomas.
The hunters descended the slope to the meadow. One was gathering stones for the fireplace, another ordered the workers to build a fence for the animals. In the middle, they erected a large tent with sleeping compartments. Ivan got one tube with water on a tree, tied it with rope and made himself a bathroom. While Fantomas was flavoring the steaks, he asked two of the laborers to collect firewood. A separate large tent for the professor was fixed, where he set an extendible table and chairs for its convenience where he could take notes and draw.
Finally, at one o’clock, the group sat down to lunch on the folding table in the common tent. Vasko served them the roasted steaks with onion and white wine.
Parlatov stood with an iron pot in hand, “Cheers, here’s to the great expedition. We have done a lot to be here, I hope our dreams come true.”
“Cheers,” came in chorus and everyone eagerly raised their iron pots.
The dogs circled around them in anticipation of a bone.
While the hunters ate in silence, a melody of Ennio Morricone from the film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" was heard. Ninth, still chewing, pulled out his phone, “Hello, Tiberius, you think good for me, you are catching me just when I eat.”
“How are you? Where are you with the work?”
“We just settled in the place, tomorrow we will dig. For now, everything is OK.”
“Well, if you need anything, call me. Bye for now.”
“Bye,” said Ivan and put the phone in his pocket.
Having finished eating and smoking cigars, satisfied Ninth shouted to one of the workers, “Mowgli, gather a pile of wood for a few days, fill the tubes with water from the fountain and come get paid. That’s it for today.”
“Very well brother, as you say.”
Ivan paid off the workers, the group took the metal detector and the scanner for cavities and went to the site. Fantomas wandered around, looking for artifacts with the detector and a shovel in hand, while the rest walked with the high-tech scanner around the sanctuary.
There was a signal from the machine, and Vasco started digging with the military shovel. Not long after, he was holding an old ox horseshoe.
“Mother fucker, is that why I dug so much? I was hoping for gold.”
Ivan joked from the side, “Didn’t you find a pot with gold yet?”
“Ah, only ironmongery.”
They descended down the slope in different directions. In the evening, the professor sat down to review the data on the computer and found a suspicious cavity. He noted the place on the map, “Guys, we have our first place to explore.”
Outside was already dark, and the hunters lit a campfire. Lined up on chairs near it, Pisco cut jerky and sausage for an appetizer and poured brandy in the iron pots. Everybody cheered and talked enthusiastically.
Jackals howled nearby and the dogs ran with wild barking. Fantomas went to the tent and took the petromax lamp. He lit it and hung it on a tall pole near the fence of the animals. The whole meadow highlighted. One of the horses started neighing and fled in chase of the other cargo animals. It almost ripped the wooden stakes of the fence.
Ivan loaded the gun and fired in the air once. The jackal pack became silent, and the animals calmed down.
“This should be enough. I think they won’t come again tonight.”
“Are there any bears around?” Asked fearfully Pisco.
“In ancient times, there were even lions,” seriously replied the professor.
Ivan pulled embers from the fire and lined the ribs in order to roast them. Sitting around the campfire, the group talked again.
“Ivan, if you are such a chef, tell a recipe for rejuvenation,” pulling his ear intervened the chief archaeologist.
; “I’ll tell you, and if you are interested, I’ll write it down someday because it’s very easy. It also enhances the immune system, cleans parasites and generally improves health. So ancient Bulgarians had many like this one. You take two hundred and fifty grams of mushrooms, now is in grams but in old times was on eye, soak them for about half an hour in milk, what you have available, but it used to be from mare. After that, slice the mushrooms into rings and boil them for half an hour in salted water. In fat, you fry in a separate pan onion, garlic, in your discretion and spelled flour until it becomes golden. Again put the pot with mushrooms on the fire, in our time the pan on the stove,” laughed the chef, “and add the fried fat with the flour and vegetables to boil together. Drop a pepper or hot pepper inside, depending on whether you like spicy food. But know that a little spicy is good for the heart. A pinch of black pepper, savory, and colorful salt. Flour from flaxseed that in old times was attrited between stones. Now it’s sold in packages, use a handful, and a pinch of clove. A handful of dry ground nettle can be fresh too. Glass of wine with whipped spoon of honey in it, to boil with the rest for ten minutes. With this, you can submerge these ribs and chew them. With this dish goes wine and with it songs,” Ninth started moving the meat over the embers.
“I’ll tell you a recipe for haidut beans,” grinned Fantomas.
“When did you start cooking? I haven’t even seen you boil two eggs brother.”
“Listen carefully, mine is easy to remember. In the past, haiduts in the mountain started a huge fire. In a large pot, they would put beans in water. As the water boils, they threw it away and poured new one. As it boils again, they removed the water again and poured a third one. The fourth they poured away together with the beans. Only then, they grub the lamb from the embers. When have you heard a haidut to eat beans?”
Laughter followed by the fire.
“Tomorrow awaits us a rough day, and we will have to get up early in the morning, let’s go to bed, to rest,” Parlatov anxiously interrupted the fun.
Ninth, however, wanted to drink more, “I’ll stay on guard, you go to sleep.”
When he was sure that everybody was in the tent, Ivan opened a bottle of rum. It was cold in the mountain at night, and he was looking for an excuse to drink.
Chapter XI
The mysterious murder
“The rum will warm me,” he whispered to the dogs who were lying next to him.
He was halfway through the bottle now with his head down near the fire when the dogs ran and slipped into the woods. The drunken man pulled out his gun, “Now I’m gonna shoot a jackal,” he headed after them with a lantern and gun in his hands.
Tree branches struck him in the face and he stumbled and fell on thorns several times before suddenly falling into a deep, narrow pit. For a moment, he lost consciousness from the blow. Coming to himself, he established that he had lost his flashlight and gun. Ivan saw the moonlight, but it was dark around. He began to grope the ground to find them. A pungent odor of carrion hung in the air.
“Fuck, what did I fall into? A foxhole?” Said Ivan when he felt something. His blood froze, and he felt terror. “Fuck, is this a shoe?”
Suspicion flashed through his mind, and his imagination started to work. He managed to find the projector and lit the place. Frantic panic seized him in the first moment when he saw а human foot slightly protruding above the soil. Ninth started to shout like crazy. The dogs smelled him and started barking furiously. Hearing the noise, the group woke up.
“What’s going on outside?” Asked Fantomas with a sleepy face.
“I do not know, maybe the jackals attacked Ivan!”
“He would shoot them, and this is coming from afar...”
Pisco and Vasco quickly got dressed, grabbed the lantern and set off in the direction the screams were coming from. They spotted the dogs overhanging a hole and came, illuminating the place.
“Quickly, get me out of here,” continue to yell Ninth. “There is a corpse. And the smell is disgusting.”
“Wait, we need to get the rope,” shouted Pisco, and soon the whole group helped get the drunk out.
The ex-con brushed lightly trembling, “Something is happening in this forest.”
“Let’s get out of here,” interrupted Pisco. “Fuck the money. My life is more valuable. Let’s go sailing and search for gold there.”
“Wait, wait,” intervened the professor. “First, we need to understand what it is that’s going on. Tie me up, I will go down.”
Equipped with a projector on his head, gloves, and a shovel, Parlatov gripped the rope, tied through the legs to his waist, “I’m ready. Lower me.”
Pisco crossed himself and helped.
After fifteen minutes, the professor shouted, “Pull...”
The men quickly pulled him to the surface.
“What is going on, did you find something?”
“The body was buried a few years back. There was a wallet on him and a sewn secret compartment in his coat in which was hidden a notebook with notes. Let’s go to camp and check them out. I buried the body again. It is not our concern. If we tell the authorities, they will shut down the excavations. And he is not weighing on our conscience.”
The group entered the tent and the professor placed the findings on the table before sitting on his chair. Parlatov put on surgical gloves and opened the wallet. He took the ID card and read, “Evgeni Petrov, 40 years old, from Svoge. What are you doing here, my man? I’ve never heard of such an archaeologist in our community. Apparently, you are a treasure hunter.”
“Check his notebook, there might be something,” said Fantomas.
“Yes, wait, everything in order. Do not interrupt me! Now I lead the investigation,” flaunted the chief archaeologist.
He took everything out from the wallet of the unknown man, but there was nothing interesting. The notebook’s turn came. Professor went through it and read aloud, "5th May, 2012, I’ve found the sanctuary. It’s mysterious. "
“Here he sketched and described the area,” explained the professor and continued, "7th May, 2012, I suspect that somebody is following me..."
Hearing the news, Pisco jumped nervously and looked around, “Where the fuck did we come? Corpses, jackals and a serial killer. What else will happen? I will not be surprised if I see a mummy too!”
“Don’t interrupt me. Listen further, "9th May, 2012, the curse of the shamans is hanging over this place. This was no ordinary wind playing in the rocks. There is no entrance, but I’m on the right track."; "10th May, 2012, a strange shadow is stalking me in the woods. The end is near... I found the entrance. It is where the snake enters the ground."
The hunters got chills. Pisco was clutching the ax handle, “No, no, we shouldn’t have come here. The spirit of the shaman probably killed him.”
“Hello, come down to Earth. What spirit, what bullshit? Relax, Pisco!” Interrupted Valeri. “I think someone was following him, and after having ensured that the treasure hunter had discovered the entrance, they killed him. Why? And who is the killer?”
Parlatov pulled his ear and sighed, “The situation got very complicated and frightening. Apparently, there are living followers of the sect. We’ll have to put curfews and walk in groups. They are probably watching us at the very moment. We must act expeditiously, or we may end in some hole too!”
Ivan thought, “Is that why the dogs fled into the woods? They may have smelled him? It’s good that Pisco took them. Apparently, the killer had approached our camp.”
“And is it just a single man?” Asked Valeri. “I read somewhere an article about how the cults brainwash people beyond recognition. One can kill his own mother. They do strange rituals, call spirits, incantations, exorcism and such, and can lead you to suicide or whatever they want.”
“Ah, talk to me, talk to me,” the younger brother poured himself rum and drank it in a single gulp.
“My point is that they are brainwashed fanatics. And here we are dealing with an ancient sect, inf
ormed by the shamans about the mysteries of the universe.”
Pisco looked the empty iron pot and sighed, “Even alcohol is not helping...”
“What is this snake mentioned in the diary?”
“Clearly it’s drawn somewhere, or there is a figure reminiscent of a reptile. We will look for it by dawn. Now, let’s get some sleep. The killer won’t return tonight. Plus there are only a few hours until morning.”
Pisco and Ivan remained at post, while the others went to nap.
Deep asleep from fatigue, the whole group, including the "guards", was snoring, sleeping through time to wake up. There was a noise, and someone spoke in front of the tent, “Come on, Abi, are we going to work today?”
Ivan opened his eyes, as he stood on the chair and saw one of the workers, “What time it is?”
“It’s passing nine.”
Pisco crawled under the table, “I fell asleep a bit.”
Professor energetically accompanied the surveyor who had arrived with the workers.
“You eat, someone should just bring me a coffee. For now, we will put the plan square network around the rock. If we need to continue the excavations, we will call him again. Now, one should go with the surveyor to help him, and the four of you will come with me to show you where to dig.”
“Huh, Parlatov, wait, we have not yet stuck the pins.”
“Well, we’ll put the first peg where they start to dig and that will be the starting point, there is no time to waste,” the professor dropped a wad of bills in the surveyor’s pocket.
“Okay, we’ll fix it.”
The rest of the group started to cook breakfast, build a fire and warmed the coffee. They brought some food to the rest in the sanctuary, and handed a pot of coffee to the professor.
“Parlatov, do you want me to pour you a little "coffee" inside?” Laughed Fantomas.
“Vasco, you know that I don’t work when I drink,” tried to joke the archaeologist.
While drinking coffee, the surveyor began to question, “Will some gold coins appear here?”
“More than ritual pottery can’t be expected in such a place. Some clay pots or a horseshoe, and that’s it,” wisely replied the professor, seeing that Gypsies were snooping.
Secrets Of The Shaman Page 5
