Desert Passage (15 page)

The younger man with the ponytail smiled and asked the boys if they had been eating and if they had found a place to
sleep the night before. The boys responded that they were taking care of themselves on the road. The younger man recognized the adventurous spirit of the boys and nodded back to the older man, suggesting his consent to have Miguel and Ramón join the group.

“I don't mind if they stay. I'll take the responsibility, Dr. García,” the younger man said generously.

“If you have your own gear you can stay here for the night. We have a tent that's not in use and I'm sure the other boys won't mind.” He took a few steps forward and introduced himself. “I'm Dr. García and this is Dr. Shaw. We're heading up this dig. The others will be back soon.”

Ramón held out his hand to shake Dr. García's hand and introduce himself. Miguel dismounted the scooter and copied the actions of his cousin.

“We won't get in the way. We can set up our stuff anywhere,” Ramón said, suddenly feeling shy.

“Why don't you and Miguel drive over to the last tent by the second fire pit, I'll have one of the boys help you as soon as they return,” said Dr. García. He kept a stern expression on his face while he spoke but Ramón could see that he was a generous man. Dr. Shaw smiled at the boys through his cloudy lenses. He was closer in age to the boys than Dr. García and recognized their need for adventure.

Ramón and Miguel drove Natalie to where they had been told and untied their backpack and sleeping bag. Miguel was glad to have a safe place to sleep that night and Ramón was intrigued about the idea of a dig.

“What are they digging for?” Ramón thought to himself as they walked around the vacant blue tent. “Could there be buried treasure in the desert?”

Miguel went to look for wood to start a fire as Ramón's fascination with the desert and all its hidden mysteries grew.

 
Chapter 30
 

“A
re we supposed to be burning stuff in there?” Ramón asked Miguel.

Miguel had started a large fire in the fire pit and was standing back from the high flames, admiring his achievement.

“It's going to be dark soon and cold. Last night was real cold,” Miguel said, remembering how he had shivered all night without a sleeping bag to sleep in.

“What are you guys doing in here?” a voice suddenly said from outside the tent.

Ramón stood up and turned to see a young man dressed in dirty jeans and a straw cowboy hat.

“Who are you?” Ramón boldly asked in return.

“I'm Scott, and you're in my tent,” the tall blonde man said, removing his hat and looking around at the boy's belongings. “Who put you in here?”

“We'll put up another tent, Scott. They need a place to sleep tonight. Why don't you get Randy over here to help set it up?” Dr. Shaw shifted his dirty glasses over his face to the top of his forehead.

The young scientist was average in height and lanky. Ramón liked him.

“I'm sorry, man, we'll move our stuff,” Miguel said, standing up next to Scott, inadvertently showing everyone in the tent that he was just as tall as the young blonde man.

Scott took a step back from Miguel and nodded his head to Dr. Shaw's request. He wasn't expecting Miguel to act so maturely.

Dr. Shaw motioned for the boys to leave the tent and bring their stuff outside with them. He stood next to the burning fire pit to warm his thin body and said, “We'll get you set up right now. Randy is a pro at setting up these tents.”

“Thanks, Dr. Shaw, we really appreciate this,” said Ramón, hoping Randy would arrive soon. He suddenly felt tired from the drive and his left arm had started to hurt again.

“You can call me Greg. ‘Dr. Shaw' sounds like my dad,” he laughed.

“Greg, do you guys eat dinner. I mean, could we buy dinner if you have some extra?” Miguel was feeling his stomach start to growl with hunger.

“We have plenty, don't you worry. We all get hungry out here working like we do. We won't leave you out,” he promised. Then, seeing another young man approach, he added, “Ah, here's Randy. He'll get you set up. See you later.”

Randy was short for an adult and thickly built. He had stocky, muscular legs and his long khaki shorts were almost the length of regular pants on his short frame. He quickly unfolded a thick square of blue canvas and spread it out over a new piece of flat ground.

“Can we help?” Miguel said, picking up the metal poles he saw lying on the ground. “I've set up a tent before. Where do you want these?”

Randy tipped the brim of his baseball cap up on his forehead and looked at Miguel. “Yeah, put those over by the corners of the tent and bring me the sledgehammer by my pack.”

His strong, wide hands took a firm grip around the hammer and he pounded in the metal stakes, then fitted the poles in place. He didn't speak again to the boys until the tent was finished. Randy stood back, put his rugged hands on his
thick waist, and commented, “That's how you pitch a tent.” He then picked up his pack and hammer and walked off toward the other end of the camp.

“When do you think we're gonna eat?” asked Miguel, moving the backpacks and sleeping bag into the newly constructed tent.

Ramón sat on the ground and moved the sleeping bag over to rest his head. “My arm is really sore. It's probably good that we stopped. I don't think we would have made it all the way to Albuquerque by tonight.”

“Yeah, but these guys don't seem too friendly. That Scott guy looked like he wanted to take a swing at me,” Miguel said, remembering that there was an uneaten granola bar in his backpack. “I mean, what if they decide they don't want us here and we have to leave in the middle of the night?”

He ripped open the paper wrapper and bit into the oatmeal-and-raisin bar with a concerned look on his face. He couldn't help thinking about the possibility of another cold night in the desert.

“We'll be all right. We're in their territory, remember. No one invited us,” Ramón answered.

Miguel chewed on the granola bar and kept wondering what they would eat for dinner that night.

“I wonder what Tío is having at his barbeque. Do you think they'll have steaks?”

Ramón laughed as he nodded off to sleep. Safe in the blue tent, he dreamed that he was digging for buried treasure in a far off land and that Miguel was eating the biggest steak that he had ever seen.

 
Chapter 31
 

M
iguel opened his eyes to see a small spot of light shining through the translucent blue fabric of the tent. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but after Ramón had gone unconscious, he had laid down to rest his tired legs and, before he knew what was happening, he was asleep too. He glanced around the dark interior of the tent in search of his backpack, and upon seeing it in the corner, he slid it over and took out the flashlight.

Shining the bright light directly into Ramón's face he said, “Hey, man, get up, we're going to miss dinner!”

Ramón slowly opened his eyes despite the brightness of the flashlight's bulb.

“What are you doing? Go back to sleep,” he said, turning his body over to the other side.

“It's not time to sleep yet, Ramón. Get up. I mean it. I'm hungry,” Miguel said, standing up and opening up the flap to the tent. In the distance he could see the young men starting to take their seats around a campfire and eating from their plates. “Come on, get up,” he pleaded with his cousin.

Ramón sat up and looked out the opening of the tent. He considered not eating dinner, but then remembered that they didn't have any more food in their backpacks. “All right, let's go,” he said.

They walked over to the group and Dr. Shaw noticed them first. “Hey, there, come on over and have some dinner.”

Dr. Shaw motioned for the two boys to join the group. “Scott made spaghetti tonight with his special sauce.”

Tipping his cowboy hat away from his forehead to get a better look at Miguel and Ramón, Scott said, “Hope you like
snake meat.” A few of the other guys laughed and kept eating from their plates.

Miguel looked into the large pot of spaghetti with a worried frown.

“Don't worry, Scott's kidding with you,” Greg interjected. “Grab a plate.”

Miguel decided to believe that the spaghetti was safe to eat and piled his plate with the long noodles covered in meat sauce. The two boys sat on two empty folding chairs facing the center fire and started to eat.

“So what did Dr. García say when you told him what we found?” asked Scott, directing his question to Greg.

“He's concerned that we don't disturb an ancestral burial site. He's going with us tomorrow to check it out for himself,” Greg replied.

“According to my research, the canyon we were in today could very well contain the foundations of the ancient city we have been looking for,” spoke another young man named Adam.

Adam was the group's smartest member and had been nicknamed “The Brain” back in high school. Adam knew everything about everything and his knowledge was invaluable to the expedition.

“Hey, Brain, did you see the cave leading from the watering hole, the one that was blocked by the large rock? I think we should check that out first thing tomorrow. Maybe the rock was put there to keep intruders out. It could be hiding something important,” Scott said, excited about the next day's adventure.

Brain opened his laptop and typed in some information. He always kept his computer with him. He researched everything that he discovered and was always eager to share his new information with his teammates.

“According to the last geological survey … ”

Brain continued to explain his scientific theory regarding the second cave until Scott interrupted him. “Hey, I bet that computer didn't tell you we would find a body down there, did it?”

Ramón had been following their conversation and was caught by surprise at the mention of finding a dead body in a canyon. He looked at the tall cowboy and hoped he would continue with more details about the morbid discovery.