Priestess of Paracas

by K Patrick Donoghue

  As Cesar’s last words bounced around Pebbles’ mind, she whispered, “The dwellers.”

  As fate would have it, from the Wari ruins, there were two roads that led down the mountain to the inland Peruvian jungles. The very road that they had traveled from Ayacucho to Wari, and the road Anlon and the others had taken to explore for caves at the far end of the valley.

  While it would have been more expedient to head directly for Otishi National Park, Pebbles, Sanjay and Cesar agreed it made more sense to link up with Anlon and the others and then drive to Otishi together.

  The plan was welcomed by the taxi driver, who, according to Cesar, preferred to drop them off two hours away rather than an eight-hour trip to ferry them to the end of the road leading into the jungle. So, they piled into the taxi and began the journey, consuming lunch on the way.

  Pebbles and her co-passengers tried several times to call all three of their cave-exploring colleagues, but without success. In between bites of her empanada, Pebbles said, “Either there’s no cell signal on top of the mountain or they’ve found a cave.”

  CHAPTER 20: TRAPDOOR

  Mountaintop

  Churcampa District, Peru

  September 28

  The slope they intended to serpentine down came with an unexpected surprise. The resolution of the image Anlon had captured on his computer did not show it, but there were crisscrossing, well-worn walking trails all over the plateau. While this made for easier access to the area they wanted to search, it also suggested people had traversed the area extensively. To Anlon, that meant the possibility the cave, if one existed, had already been explored. And if there had been booty in it, it was probably long gone.

  “Not necessarily,” Mereau had said when Anlon voiced his concern. “Look at all the ledges and crevices. Many are covered with bushes and trees. Gaps in the rock, whether they look like caves or not, may have escaped others’ notice.”

  “Yeah, but there weren’t trees or bushes in Pebbles’ mountain-chase vision. She said it was barren.”

  “Is it not possible that as people settled on the mountaintop, and began to grow crops, they brought with them plants that have spread?” Mereau asked. “It has been eighteen hundred years since Citali’s time.”

  “True.” Jennifer said. “Okay, then. How do we want to do this? Stay together? Split up? Grid search?”

  “I say we go together,” said Anlon. “We’ll start here, go trail by trail as we move across the ridge from left to right, with Mereau at the point, humming on the Sound Stone. If he feels a vibration from the beacon or we spot anything that might be a cave or gap on either side of the trail, we leave the trail to investigate. Otherwise, we move on to the next trail.”

  And so that was what they did. For an hour, they hunted for signs of a cave. While they did not find one, they did come across another unexpected surprise. At a junction of two trails, they came across a small set of ruins. Stone ruins. They were the remains of two or three small buildings that overlooked a chasm where the Mantaro River flowed around the back side of the mountain.

  “From its size, its position, it looks like it was a sentinel post aimed at watching the river,” Mereau said. “See the small village below at the bend of the river? There was likely a similar settlement in the past. With mountains on both sides, and how the river twists, the village would have had little warning if set upon by attackers who came by river. By posting men up here, where they could observe the river and mountains for many miles in each direction, they could warn the village with smoke signals if they saw trouble approaching.”

  Anlon pulled his cell phone from his backpack to photograph the structures and noticed his screen filled with call and message notifications. “Huh, that’s strange. I don’t remember hearing my phone ring. I didn’t even think we had a signal. In fact, I don’t.”

  Jennifer and Mereau retrieved their phones as well and discovered the same rash of messages and no cell signal.

  “We must have walked through a pocket where we had a signal,” Jennifer said.

  They opened and read their text messages, receiving a very brief summary of the two visions Pebbles had experienced and learning the three members of the Wari team were headed their way.

  “I should let them know where we are,” Anlon said. “I’ll head closer to the ridge, see if I can pick up a signal from the valley or Churcampa. You guys keep searching.”

  Anlon headed away from the trail, angling to get as close to the cliff’s edge as he could without invoking vertigo or risking slipping on loose rocks and tumbling down two thousand feet. The wind intensified as he neared the edge, whipping against his jacket and jeans. Holding out his cell phone, he turned in all directions. A one-bar signal appeared in the direction of Churcampa. Was it strong enough to place a call? Only one way to find out.

  He pressed the icon for Pebbles’ number and cupped his hand over his other ear to cut down on the sound of the wind and gushing water. It took several seconds, but then he heard the warble of Pebbles’ phone ringing. The sound faded in and out, and so he missed when Pebbles answered the call.

  “…lon? Anlon? Are you there?”

  “Hey there, yes I can barely hear you,” Anlon shouted into the phone. “Signal sucks. Lots of wind up here.”

  “Okay. That better?”

  “Yes, much.”

  “Where are you?”

  “We made it to the top. We’re looking around for a cave. Nothing yet, though.”

  Pebbles said something but again the wind and water interfered with Anlon’s hearing. “Can you repeat? I missed what you said.”

  “We’re about an hour away from the plateau. Where did you park?”

  “Oh, you’ll have to come up—”

  Anlon stopped in mid-sentence. Water? Why am I hearing gushing water up here? He looked around. There were dry cuts in the terrain that looked like places where water drained after a rain, but he saw no running water.

  “Anlon? Are you still there? Did I lose you?”

  “Uh. Yeah. I’m here.” Afraid to move for fear of losing the call, Anlon tried to peek over the cliff. He didn’t remember seeing a waterfall on the satellite image or when they looked up at the mountain from the plateau. But it damn sure sounded like a waterfall. “Hey. Can I call you back in a couple of minutes?”

  “No. Don’t hang up yet. Tell me where you parked. Tell me where we can meet you.”

  Anlon gave her quick directions and ended the call. Unwilling to step any closer to the edge, he dropped to the ground and crawled until he could poke his head over the ridge. To his left, there were several waterfalls. One big, the others small. None of them descended very far down the sheer mountain wall before they disappeared from view.

  “Son of a gun. No wonder we didn’t see them from the plateau.”

  The waterfalls were tucked into a mini chasm that did not appear visible from where they had initially parked. The water was seeping from gaps in the rock, which meant there was a stream inside the mountain…which meant there were cavities in the rocks that allowed the water to flow. And where there were cavities…

  He squinted to focus on the gaps where water poured out. There was a thin ledge that ran along the vegetation-covered mountain wall. The water appeared to be exiting from spots along it. Anlon edged his head a little further out. That was when he saw the caves. There was no ledge above them like in Citali’s vision and they did not look accessible without rappelling down the side, but they were the reason the water disappeared. The waterfalls slid back inside the mountain through the mouths of three caves.

  Anlon frowned. Could it be? No. It’s on the wrong side of the mountain. Or is it? He thought of the stone ruins and Mereau’s comment about sentinels warning the village below. Anlon pushed back from the edge and stood. Retracing his steps to the ruins, he spied switchback trails leading down to the village. Had Citali come up the back side instead of from the plateau? It was certainly more barren than the plateau side. But how could she have
reached those caves? And where was the ledge?

  Another of Mereau’s comments popped into his head. He had described the crater as having formed a lake for water running down the mountain until erosion or an earthquake caused a break in the crater wall that resulted in the lake emptying into the river valley. Had similar erosion from the waterfalls eaten away the overhang above the ledge until it broke free and fell into the valley? Had water, wind and vegetation then chipped away at the unprotected ledge? He recalled Pebbles said Citali had first had to descend step-like rocks to reach the ledge.

  Returning to the edge, Anlon once again lay down and peeked over. In the corner of the mini-chasm, there was a runnel that indeed had a step-like appearance. It was very steep and looked slippery and worn, but eighteen hundred years ago, had it looked the same? Perhaps the overhang had protected the steps from the flow of water at that time.

  He pulled back from the edge and went in search of Mereau and Jennifer. Fifteen minutes later, all three lay with their heads over the edge peering down at the waterfalls and the caves below.

  “Anlon, my friend,” said Mereau, patting Anlon’s back. “You have blessed us with an answer, but you have cursed us to find a way into the caves.”

  In turn, Jennifer patted Mereau on the back. “I know a way. Where’s that Sound Stone of yours?”

  They made it back to the van in time to meet the taxi carrying Pebbles, Cesar and Sanjay. The reunion was brief. Anlon grabbed hold of Pebbles’ hand and began to race-walk toward the cliff above the waterfalls. On the way, he explained what he had found and how it seemed to fit what she had seen in the visions. Their pace quickened to a jog as Pebbles relayed more details about her visions from Wari, including a discussion of the Three Sisters waterfall. Before lying down to look over the side of the cliff, Anlon showed Pebbles the switchback road descending the back side of the mountain and the small village it led to at the bend of the Mantaro.

  “I know your visions of the mountain happen at night, but does any of this look or feel familiar?” Anlon asked.

  “Not really. But I do know Citali had to leave the river while she was in the valley to avoid the men tracking her, so hiking up this side of the mountain makes more sense to me. She would have been much more exposed if she came up from the plateau side. And the slope down to the river looks very steep. I’d have to see lights from that village down there at night to be sure, but the angle looks better than what I saw at Pikimachay.”

  “What about the terrain? It’s not entirely barren but it’s pretty spartan compared to the plateau side.”

  “I dunno. I just remember lots of small rocks by the trail.”

  The others caught up with them as Pebbles finished speaking. Together, they went to examine the small set of ruins before returning to the cliff to gaze down at the caves. Cesar took several photographs of the decayed structures and vowed to check with local archaeologists to learn more about the ruins’ suspected heritage.

  Then it was time to view the caves. It would have looked bizarre to anyone walking on the trail behind them. There they were, six adults, lying on the ground at the edge of a two-thousand-foot drop, staring over the side and discussing options for reaching the caves.

  Concerned about the prospect of Pebbles having a seizure or a vision in which she became agitated, Jennifer and Sanjay held onto her shoulders as she edged her head over the side. She was quiet as Anlon pointed out the ledge, runnel and caves.

  “I know the overhang’s gone and the ledge looks too narrow, but—”

  “And the cave openings are way too big,” Pebbles interrupted, the tone of her voice expressing disappointment.

  “All of that could be explained by erosion,” Anlon said. He turned to Cesar. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Over eighteen centuries? Yes, it’s certainly plausible, especially considering the prevalence of earthquakes in these mountains. Eroded, unstable features could easily break free.”

  “But I don’t remember any waterfalls,” Pebbles said.

  “Maybe the stream inside the mountain hadn’t cut its way through yet,” Jennifer suggested.

  “Or maybe it channeled in a different direction at that time,” said Mereau.

  All eyes were on Pebbles as she scanned the area below. After a short interval of silence, she said, “So, how do we get down there to check out the caves?”

  Jennifer pointed to the runnel in the corner nook of the mini chasm. “Looks like the runnel goes all the way down to the plateau. I’d suggest hiking up the runnel from the plateau to get as close as possible to the caves and then have Mereau use his Sound Stone to lift Pebbles the rest of the way.”

  “Use the stone to do what?” Sanjay said.

  “Oops, sorry about that,” Jennifer said. “Sometimes, I forget you’re not familiar with everything the stones can do.”

  The Sound Stone, she told him, projected sound waves capable of lifting heavy objects and moving them through the air.

  “It’s true,” Pebbles said to the unbelieving Sanjay. “I’ve seen it. I’ve done it.”

  “What do you say, Mereau? Is it doable?” Jennifer asked.

  “Projecting her from the ground to the caves is an easy matter, getting her down from the caves is not.”

  He explained the sound waves projected by the stone were most concentrated, most powerful, when the object being moved was in close proximity. The farther away the object, the more the sound waves would dissipate, making it more difficult to lift and move distant objects.

  “There are two additional problems with that plan,” Anlon said. “First, I don’t think it’s a great idea for Pebbles to go into the caves alone. Second, Mereau’s the best choice to go with her, but none of the rest of us is experienced enough with the Sound Stone to lift him up there.”

  “Why Mereau? Can’t one of us go in his place?” asked Sanjay.

  Anlon described Mereau’s theory about the cave housing a beacon marked Maerlif. He finished by saying, “Since Mereau’s the most experienced with the Sound Stone, he’ll have the best chance of finding the beacon.”

  “I don’t need Mereau. I can find the beacon,” Pebbles said. “I’ve done it twice before, the Maerlif in Nicaragua and Malinyah’s tomb on Isabela Island. I can do it again.”

  “I know you can, but you’re missing the point,” Anlon said. “How do we get you and the Sound Stone to the cave?”

  Pebbles turned to Mereau. “You only have one Sound Stone with you?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “And you still need someone else to go with you, Pebbles, even if it’s not Mereau,” said Anlon. “We have no idea what’s inside the caves. You could get stuck or fall. Rocks could fall on you. And the whole purpose of sending you in there is to stimulate your memory, stimulate a vision, right? What happens if that works and you have a seizure? We’d have no way of knowing something bad had happened and no way to reach you. To do this right, to do this safely, we need a well-thought-out plan.”

  Restaurante Nino

  Churcampa, Peru

  The group devoted another hour to debating alternatives before it became clear that a quick solution was not at hand. With the afternoon sun beginning to fade in the west, they decided to find a place for dinner in Churcampa before heading back to Ayacucho. It was a bittersweet way to end an eventful day, but the practical realities associated with exploring the caves could not be ignored.

  An hour later, over a family-style dinner comprised of fried chicken, rice and sautéed vegetables, a plan began to take shape. It would require climbing gear, walkie-talkies and orchestrating some speculative engineering to make it work, but the napkin-sketched plan, first envisioned and diagramed by Anlon and subsequently modified by Jennifer and Mereau, appeared feasible.

  As soon as the plan was agreed upon, Cesar pulled out the business card of the Ayacucho taxi driver and called him to solicit his help in rounding up the necessary supplies. The walkie-talkies would be easy to procure, the driver told him.
The climbing gear, not so much. He told Cesar he would check around and call back.

  Though it was a modest first step toward enacting the plan, Cesar was excited enough to suggest a celebratory toast of bottled waters. All but Sanjay and Pebbles raised their bottles. Sanjay was too absorbed watching Pebbles. She had taken the pencil used to sketch the plan and was in the midst of drawing something on another napkin.

  The table quieted as Pebbles continued to draw. When she finished, she dropped the pencil and stared blankly at the wall. Anlon picked up the napkin and let out a low whistle. Handing it to Sanjay, he mumbled, “Take a look at that.”

  The picture showed the three, smiling, bare-chested children from the waist up. A girl surrounded by two boys. They stood arm-in-arm in front of a waterfall. The hair on their elongated heads appeared to be wet, as if they had just emerged from playing in the waterfall. Around their necks, they wore thin necklaces adorned with identical pendants…pendants bearing the same symbol shaped into the shoreline sand of Paracas.

  A hand covered her mouth and pulled her into the darkness. A voice whispered in her ear. “Be still and listen. There is little time. You must take what was given and go immediately.”

  Citali pushed away the hand covering her mouth and whispered back. “Are you mad? Can you not see the glow of their torches? There is one way out, one way down to the river. If I leave now, they will capture me. We will wait until they are gone and go together.”

  “You cannot wait. Take what was given, Keeper, and go. Those that followed you will not prevent your escape. My men will see to that.”

  Shouts and screams from outside the cave could be heard through the entrance.