Alicia made her way to the top of the ridge as the western horizon became a broad, fiery expanse of vibrant color but it was the bleak land below that drew her attention. The land was uninhabited, wild, free. With freedom came a particular loneliness; it had been the darker side of the pendulum her entire life. Cut loose and leave those who cared about you far behind or stay with them and feel limited. Would she ever learn?
The train of thought brought more recent complications to the surface. There had been a time a few months ago when she thought an old flame might be rekindled, the one man that had held and impressed her year upon year, a man that offered limits she would like to be a part of, but then his old flame stepped into the breach.
Alicia sighed. Who knew what the future held? Treasure? Pandora? And after that?
She turned her back on the freedom in front of her as she saw into its true heart, noted the wrenching seclusion, and made her way back to the companionship offered by her team.
As the campfire flickered, waxing and waning across the assembled faces, Cruz suggested they tell old ghost stories. Caitlyn blinked and Crouch fixed him with a stare before realizing the Mexican guide was joking. If they’d had time Alicia would have liked to quiz Caitlyn further, to dig into the real reason behind her leaving MI6 at such a young and promising age; she might even have liked to get to know both Healey and Russo a little better, but now wasn’t the time. Their little sham was working; nobody from Coker’s team had ventured closer than a mile since they set camp, most likely thinking they wouldn’t be crazy enough to set out through this wilderness at night.
It was Crouch’s only thought. The maps he’d brought were explicit in their detail of the land’s topography — they wouldn’t fall down any unexpected canyons and despite dangers like quicksand, deep stitches in the ground and a hundred other pitfalls — and he remained incredibly determined to continue. The discovery of the Aztec gold was now within his grasp — just one of many boyhood dreams that had chased him down the years, unending, magnificent in its scope and, until quite recently, just another vision out of reach. A fantasy.
Some people dreamed of fast cars. Island paradises. Movie celebrities and music stars; youthful aspirations and goals that faded as the weight of the world grew heavier with every passing year. Michael Crouch’s somewhat sentimental dream had never waned within him — he was a treasure hunter through and through.
Allowing Coker to simply tag along and lead him straight to the Aztec gold was not a possibility.
As soon as he deemed it murky enough, Crouch signaled to the team. Nobody had slept; the tension was simply too high, the risks too great. Sleep could wait until tomorrow. With adrenalin pumping, the five men and two women crept through the narrow ravine and over the slickrock ridge and into even deeper darkness, using the silvery moon and starlight to guide them. Crouch took several moments to regain his bearings before continuing.
“Slowly now,” he whispered. “One slip and we’re done for.”
“You really think those bastards won’t have seen us?” Lex wondered.
Alicia glanced speculatively toward Russo and Healey. “Not if these two fine soldiers did their jobs properly.”
The camp had been veiled, disguised to match what the enemy would expect even down to lumps in the sleeping bags. The gamble had been played. They were all in now. The backside of the slickrock ridge was unexpectedly steep, falling at a far sharper angle than the front. After a quick consultation Crouch stuck closely to the line he’d already drawn, bearing south.
“Stay as high as you can,” he passed along the line as they traversed the ridge. “The further we descend the steeper the fall.”
Alicia stuck to the narrow path, taking great care where she placed her feet. The going was made harder by the vistas that opened up to every side, temptations offered with each passing step. After ten minutes of cautious walking, Crouch stopped and pointed ahead.
“See the large mountain? That’s where we’re headed.”
“You sure?” Cruz sniffed, gazing back and forth with more than a little skepticism. “One place looks pretty much like any other out here, especially in this light.”
“Of course I’m not sure,” Crouch snapped, the tension of the situation getting to him. “But we have to trust the old warriors. You of all people should know that. And for the rest of us — mostly soldiers — the notion of following their lead is nothing more than natural.”
Cruz bent his head. “We’re just following in the footsteps of thousands.”
“That we are,” Crouch said. “But even now no official trail of this region is provided to hikers. They are left to navigate and fend for themselves. The entire area is a challenge where travelers must find their own route. It’s very common for people to get lost and never find the landmark they’re searching for.”
Alicia checked on Lex. The biker, along with Caitlyn, was struggling more than a little, but the terrain ahead was starting to ease somewhat. With more time to scan her surroundings, Alicia looked to the mountain ahead, noticing for the first time the long, vertical crack in its side.
“Well, that’s a great landmark,” she said, nodding. “Surprised the Aztecs didn’t use something like that.”
Crouch shrugged, still staying high on the ridge but walking easily now. “Perhaps it’s too obvious?”
Russo, who had been trailing behind, now caught them up. “No pursuit,” he said. “I figure we’ve gained at least an hour on them. If all continues like this we should pull out two or three.”
Crouch nodded, not stopping. Using flashlights at the more awkward places, the team continued south, alert for anything. At this point, Crouch wasn’t particularly worried about missing a clue or even the treasure itself — the line he had drawn through the map pointed toward many more hours of travel yet. They squeezed past the sandstone slabs, bearing toward the marker, and passing two large buttes not surprisingly known as the Twin Buttes. Crouch checked the land’s layout, directing them to the right and through yet another wash. Caitlyn swigged from a bottle of water and again recited the poem out loud.
“As if we could forget,” Russo grumbled.
“One thing I’ve learned is you can’t be too prepared,” the young woman said. “Because whatever you do — life will surprise you.”
Alicia again wished they had more time. Caitlyn clearly had something she was struggling with. The one good thing about their new situation was that Healey was staying close — maybe the two younger members of the crew could help each other.
Across to the opposite side of the wash they circumvented two multi-colored domes, the whole team in awe of the area’s beauty, its natural wonder. Alicia imagined the Aztecs wandering this way for the first time and being party to so much idyllic scenery — perhaps they’d imagined they’d been blessed by their gods after so much toil and travel. Maybe that was why they secreted their heritage out here.
The sandy path now continued in an upwards direction, passing by the domes and entering a new section of the land. Crouch forged on ahead.
And suddenly stopped, switching his full beam on for clarity.
“Oh my.” His back was stiff, frozen. “This… is more than unnerving.”
Alicia slipped around him to investigate, then stopped in stunned disbelief as many flashlights lit the scene. Before them lay a phenomenon unlike anything she had ever seen. Depressions and hills in the rock were formed of thin ridges of undulating, wave-like patterns, eroded by time and runoff and wind ripple. The rolling forms appeared to blend into each other, one vivid, colorful sandstone swelling rolling into the next.