Curse of the Ruins (5 page)

The bus slowed down and then stopped. Pepe’s brother-in-law put the emergency brake on and opened the doors. He jumped out and raised the hood.

“This is it, guys.” Shala stood up. “Let’s go see if we can
help
the driver.” Katie and Sam nodded and followed him down the aisle.

Outside, Pepe’s brother-in-law didn’t say a word. He just pointed at the chalk hills, closed the hood, and got back into his bus. The engine started, and black smoke billowed from the exhaust as it pulled away.

“I’m not so sure about this.” Sam watched the bus until it was out of sight. “How do we know we’re not being set up?”

A donkey brayed.

Shala’s head went up. “Sounds like our ride is waiting.” He walked across the sand and
disappeared behind the first hill. “Over here,” he called.

Katie and Sam sprinted up the hill. On the other side, Pepe was sitting by a small camp-fire roasting a hot dog on the end of a grease-wood stick. Four donkeys were hobbled nearby.

“
Buenos dias
, good morning, my friends. Would you care for a snack? I suggest you eat and drink. It may be the last chance you get for some time.”

“No thanks,” Sam said. “We had a good breakfast in San Marcos and we’re kind of in a hurry.”

Pepe stuffed the hot dog into his mouth and kicked sand on the fire. “See how I try to please?”

They watched as he quickly unhobbled the donkeys. “You would not believe what a good price I was able to get for you on these fine burros.”

“I can just imagine.” Sam took the reins of the first one and hopped on. “When we get back to San Marcos you can send me your bill.”

“There is no need. Because I knew you would want to pay me as soon as possible, I brought the bill with me. If you wish to pay me now, you may.”

“I don’t wish,” Sam growled. “Which way to the ruins?”

“Oh, you would like me to also be your guide. I would be glad to do that—”

Shala interrupted, “For a small fee, of course.”

Pepe crawled onto his donkey and nudged it out in front of the others. “Of course.”

Katie shook her head. “That boy will be a millionaire by the time he’s a teenager.”

“Yeah,” Sam muttered. “And most of it will be
my
money.”

A whirlwind kicked up dust and carried it across the trail. Pepe stopped until it passed, and then continued at a trot. He rode without looking back for almost an hour.

“This is worse than the bus,” Sam complained. “My legs hurt and my insides feel like they’re about to come out my ears. How much longer?”

Pepe pulled his donkey to a halt and slid
off. “I think this is a good place to stop.” He tied the reins to a mesquite limb and started to remove the blanket from the burro’s back. “There is sand grass here. Enough to keep the burros happy until you return.”

Katie stepped to the ground. “What do you mean, until
we
return? Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Sorry. A few hundred yards ahead there is a long wooden bridge that the donkeys will be afraid to cross. Since I am responsible for their well-being I must stay with them. But do not worry. After you cross the bridge, the ruins will not be far away.”

Pepe knelt and, using a stick, drew a map in the sand. “I have not been to the site myself, but these are reliable directions, according to my uncle Francisco.”

“How many times has he been to the site?” Shala asked.

“He has not been there either. But he has heard talk.”

“Great.” Sam shook his legs out. “So what you’re telling us is that you’re sending us on a
wild-goose chase. All I can say is you’d better be here when we get back.”

“I would never leave my friends in such a place as this.” Pepe took the reins from Sam. “Especially friends who owe me money.”

“This must be the bridge Pepe was talking about.” Shala frowned. “I can see why the donkeys wouldn’t want any part of it.” He looked across the canyon that the bridge crossed. It was as wide as it was deep. The bridge over it was made of planks held together by old rope.

“I’m not sure I want any part of it either.” Sam shook the rope railing. One of the planks fell out, plummeting until it fell out of sight far below. “Maybe we should look for another way around. There has to be one. Dad wouldn’t have come this way.”

“Pepe said this way was the fastest.” Katie shoved Sam in front of her. “You go first.”

“Why should I?”

Katie folded her arms. “Because you’re the oldest, remember?”

“True.” Sam stepped up to the bridge and stopped. “But then, I’m also the best-looking and the smartest and—”

“Oh, please.” Katie pushed past him and walked onto the bridge. “It seems sturdy enough. Just be careful—and whatever you do, don’t let go of the rope.” She took a few more steps and looked back. “What are you guys waiting for?”

Shala put his finger to his lips and listened. “Did you hear that?”

The hum of an engine was getting closer. In the distance they could see a cloud of dust moving toward them.

“Hurry! Somebody’s coming.” Katie bolted across the bridge, taking giant steps.

Shala was more cautious. He worked his way over the shaky boards with Sam following close behind.

The boys were halfway across when two
motorcycles roared up behind them. It was the thief from the airport and a tall, heavyset man.

“You lied to us,
senorita!”
the thief yelled. “That was not a very smart thing to do.” He began to roll his motorcycle onto the bridge. “Especially since now you will have to give us the map anyway.”

Katie stepped off the bridge on the far side and felt in her pocket for the army knife she carried with her. She unfolded the sharpest blade and began sawing on the rope.

“What are you doing?” Sam shouted.

Shala’s eyes narrowed. “I think she means it. Hang on to the rope—and hurry.”

The boys started running. They leaped onto solid ground as the first strand of the rope railing snapped.

There was a loud pop, and the bridge flopped up and down in heaving waves. One side dropped, and several planks fell to the canyon floor.

The thief moved back. “It won’t do you any good to destroy the bridge. We know another
way into the ruins. Eventually you will have to give us the map.”

Katie ignored him and started sawing on the other railing.

The thief burst out with a stream of Spanish words and shook his fist at them. The two men turned their motorcycles around, started the engines, and drove away.

“Are you crazy?” Sam sprang to his feet and grabbed Katie’s knife. “You could have killed us.”

“But I didn’t, did I? I saved us.”

“For now.” Shala brushed the dirt off his jeans. “That was pretty scary.”

“Sorry. It just seemed like there weren’t a lot of choices. Those two play rough. Believe me, I know how they operate firsthand.”

Shala pointed south. “According to Pepe’s drawing, we should head this way.” He started walking. “The ruins are supposed to be at the mouth of the next canyon. Let’s go.”

Katie turned to ask Sam for her knife. Her mouth fell open. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Shala asked.

“The old Indian. He was standing right over there, plain as day. Then he just disappeared.”

“I knew we should have brought water,” Sam said. “She’s hallucinating.”

“I am not. I saw him. He was right there.”

“Even if someone was there, we don’t have time to investigate.” Shala kept walking. “If we’re going to find any answers in the ruins we’d better get there first.”

“I can see why your dad wanted to come here. This is great.” Shala pointed above them. “Look at that. It’s like they built an apartment complex right into the side of the canyon.”

“Dad called them cliff dwellers.” Sam ran his hand over a crumbling dirt wall. “I wonder how old all this is.”

Katie poked her head out of one of the tents they had discovered nearby. “I double-checked. All Dad’s stuff is gone. There’s no sign of his two assistants either. Somebody
has already been here and taken everything.”

Shala ran his hand through his hair. “Where could Uncle William be?” He sat down on a rock. “Let’s have another look at the map. Maybe we’ll see something we missed before.”

Katie took the purse out. “We’ve been over it a million times.” She walked to the crumbling wall. “The pattern shows the ruins, a stream, a bunch of dots, and something that looks like a big hole near the top of the canyon face, with trails leading everywhere. The only problem is, we can’t see any hole from down here, and we didn’t find any trails.”

A shower of dirt and rocks fell from above them. Katie looked up and saw a man standing near the top of the canyon.

“It’s him! It’s the old Indian I saw before.”

“I think he wants us to follow him.” Sam scratched his head. “But how did he get up there? There’s no ladder.”

“He climbed.” Shala moved to the canyon face and pointed at some small indentations
that went all the way up. “There are your dots, Katie. They’re footholds.”

The roar of engines broke the stillness of the desert.

Sam put his foot into one of the small crevices. “If we’re going to climb it, I think we’d better hustle.”

A rope dropped down to them.

“All right.” Sam grabbed it and yanked. It was tied solid. He began pulling himself up. A few yards from the top, a hand reached out and helped him inside a narrow opening in the canyon wall.

The Indian knelt and waited for Shala. The engines were getting closer. Katie started to climb the rope and then changed her mind.

She yelled up, “I’ll never make it in time. Don’t worry about me. I know a good hiding place.” She darted to the nearest tent.

Shala swung into the same opening as Sam, and the rope snaked back up the wall and out of sight.

The two motorcycles came to a stop a few feet from the tent. Katie closed her eyes and
hoped the men would be fooled into thinking she and the boys had already left.

She could hear them talking and walking around outside. The thief sounded angry.

The tent flap was thrown back, and the men stomped inside. Katie held her breath. The thief was yelling at the other man in Spanish. In a fit of temper, he slammed the toe of his boot into the side of the trunk Katie was hiding in.

Suddenly the lid jerked open. The thief looked down at Katie, grinning. He waved his gun. “I might have never found you, but your father’s trunk should have sounded hollow, empty, when I kicked it. Too bad for you,
señorita
. Where are your companions?”

Katie swallowed. “They heard you coming and went for help.”

“And left you all alone? Somehow I doubt that. No matter. Give us the map and you can all be on your way home.”

“I don’t believe you. You already said you killed my father.”

The heavyset man lifted her out of the trunk and held her a few feet off the ground. “And
we will kill you too, little girl—if you don’t give us the map.”

“Yoo-hoo! We’re over here!” A barrage of small rocks hit the front of the tent.

Katie went limp. It was Sam. She had hoped the boys would stay hidden.

The thief motioned to the door. “Go take care of that, Zamora. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

The big man set Katie down and walked out of the tent. Instantly she heard a loud thud and the sound of someone falling.

The thief grabbed Katie’s arm. He held her in front of him and forced her through the tent flap.

Outside there was no sign of anyone.

“Zamora? Where are you?” the thief called out.

“It’s the ghosts of the Indians who used to live here.” Katie tried to pull away. “They got him.”

“Let the girl go, Señor Vasquez. You are surrounded.”

Katie’s eyes widened. She didn’t see anyone, but she recognized the voice of the police sergeant from San Marcos.

“Show yourself,” Vasquez called. “Perhaps we can make a trade. The map for the girl.”

“Look up there.” Katie pointed to the ledge. The old Indian was standing there, right in front of the hidden opening, but from below, it looked as if he were floating in air. “I told you—it’s a ghost!”