Her eyes fairly sparkled with anticipation. "Al says you found a way inside the mountain."
Pitt nodded. "We'll know shortly."
Giordino tied one end of a nylon line around a large rock. "Who gets the honor?"
"I'll toss you for it," said Pitt.
"Heads."
Pitt flipped a quarter and watched as it clinked and spun to a stop on a small, flat surface between two massive boulders. "Tails, you lose."
Giordino shrugged without complaint, knotted a loop and passed it over and then under Pitt's shoulders. "Never mind bedazzling me with mountain climbing tricks. I'll let you down, and I'll pull you up."
Pitt accepted the fact his friend's strength was greater than his own. Giordino's body may have been short but his shoulders were as broad as any man's, and his muscled arms were a match for a professional wrestler. Anyone who tried to throw Giordino, including karate black belt experts, felt as if they were caught up in the gears of an unyielding piece of machinery.
"Mind you don't get rope burn," Pitt cautioned him.
"Mind you don't break a leg, or I'll leave you for the gargoyle," said Giordino, handing Pitt the flashlight. Then he slowly paid out the line, lowering Pitt between the walls of the narrow chute.
When Pitt's feet touched the bottom, he looked up. "Okay, I'm down."
"What do you see?"
"A small cleft in the rock wall just large enough to crawl through. I'm going in."
"Don't remove the rope. There could be a sharp drop just inside the entrance."
Pitt lay on his stomach and wormed through the narrow fissure. It was a tight squeeze for 3 meters (10 feet) before the entryway widened enough so he could stand. He switched on the flashlight and swung its beam along the walls. The light showed he was at the head of a passageway that appeared to lead down into the bowels of the mountain. The floor was smooth with steps hewn into the rock every few paces.
A rush of dank air rushed past him like the steamy breath of a giant. He moved his fingertips over the rock walls. They came away wet with moisture. Driven by curiosity, Pitt moved along the passageway until the nylon became taut and he was stopped from venturing further. He-aimed the light ahead into the darkness. The cold hand of fear gripped him around the neck as a pair of eyes flashed back at him.
There, upon a pedestal of black rock, seemingly sculpted by the same hand as the demon on the mountain peak above, glaring toward the entrance to the passage, was another, smaller Demonio del Muertos. This one was inlaid with turquoise stone and had white, polished quartz for teeth and red gemstones for eyes.
Pitt thought seriously of casting off the rope and exploring further. But he felt it wouldn't be fair to the others. They should all be in on the discovery of the treasure chamber together. Reluctantly, he returned to the crack in the wall and squirmed back into daylight.
When Giordino helped him over the edge of the chute, Shannon and Rodgers were waiting in hushed expectation.
"What did you see?" Shannon blurted, unable to contain her excitement. "Tell us what you found!"
Pitt stared at her without expression for a moment, then broke into an elated grin. "The entrance to the treasure is guarded by another demon, but otherwise the way looks clear."
Everyone shouted in elation. Shannon and Rodgers hugged and kissed. Giordino slapped Pitt on the back so hard it jarred his molars. Intense curiosity seized them as they peered over the edge of the chute at the small opening leading inside the mountain. None saw a black tunnel leading downward. They gazed through the rock as if it were transparent and saw the golden treasure far below.
At least that's what they thought they saw. But not Pitt. His eyes were sweeping the sky. Foresighted, intuitive, maybe just superstitious, he had a sudden vision of the seaplane that had followed them to the demon, attacking the Alhambra. For a moment he could see it as clearly as if he were watching television. It was not a pretty sight.
Shannon noticed that Pitt was quiet, his face contemplative. "What's wrong? You look like you've just lost your best girl."
I may have," Pitt said darkly. "I very well may have."
Giordino returned to the helicopter and retrieved another coil of rope, a second flashlight, and a Coleman lantern from a storage locker. The rope he slung over his shoulder. He gave the flashlight to Shannon and handed the Coleman to Rodgers along with a box of wooden matches.
"The tank is full of gas, so we should have light for three hours or more."
Shannon airily took the extra flashlight. "I think it best if I lead the way."
Giordino shrugged. "Suits me. As long as somebody other than me sets off the Incas' booby traps down in the cave of doom."
Shannon made a sour face. "That's a cheery thought."
Pitt laughed. "He overdoses on Indiana Jones movies."
"Give me a hard time," said Giordino sadly. "You'll be sorry someday."
"I hope it's not soon."
"How wide is the opening?" asked Rodgers.
"Dr. Kelsey might make it through on her hands and knees, but we boys will have to snake our way in."
Shannon peered over the edge at the bottom of the fissure. "The Chachapoyas and the Incas could never have hauled several tons of gold up steep cliffs and then lowered it through a rat hole. They must have found a larger passage somewhere around the base of the mountain above the ancient waterline."
"You could waste years looking for it," said Rodgers.
"It must be buried under landslides and the erosion of almost five centuries."
"I'll bet the Incas sealed it off by causing a cave-in," Pitt ventured.
Shannon was not about to allow the men to go first. Scrambling over rocks and slinking into dark recesses was her specialty. She eagerly slipped down the rope as smoothly as if she did it twice a day and crawled into the narrow aperture in the rock. Rodgers went next, followed by Giordino, with Pitt bringing up the rear.
Giordino turned to Pitt. "If I get caught in a cave-in, you will dig me out."
"Not before I dial nine-one-one."
Shannon and Rodgers had already moved out of sight down the stone steps and were examining the second Demonio del Muertos when Pitt and Giordino caught up to them.
Shannon was peering at the motifs embedded in the fish scales. "The images on this sculpture are better preserved than those on the first demon."
"Can you interpret them?" asked Rodgers.
"If I had more time. They appear to have been chiseled in a hurry."
Rodgers stared at the protruding fangs in the jaws of the serpent's head. "I'm not surprised the ancients were frightened of the underworld. This thing is ugly enough to induce diarrhea. Notice how the eyes seem to follow our movements."
"It's enough to make you sober," said Giordino.
Shannon brushed away the dust from around the red gemstone eyes. "Burgundy topaz. Probably mined east of the Andes, in the Amazon."
Rodgers set the Coleman lantern on the floor, pumped up the fuel pressure and held a lit match against the mantle. The Coleman bathed the passage in a bright light for 10 meters (33 feet) in both directions. Then he held up the lantern to inspect the sculpture. "Why a second demon?" he asked, fascinated by the fact that the well preserved beast looked as if it had been carved only yesterday.
Pitt patted the serpent on the head. "Insurance in case intruders got past the first one."
Shannon licked a corner of a handkerchief and cleaned the dust from the topaz eyes. "What is amazing is that so many ancient cultures, geographically separated and totally unrelated, came up with the same myths. In the legends of India, for example, cobras were considered to be semi divine guardians of a subterranean kingdom filled with astounding riches."