Evil Star (22 page)

Matt saw at once that all four corners of the square were cut off. The trap had closed in from every side. There were two police cars speeding toward him . . . they would reach him in seconds. That left just one direction — up. The cars couldn't follow him up the steps.

He looked round and saw that Pedro had worked this out for himself. He was already halfway up, heading for a group of Europeans, standing together at the top. They'd been about to have their photograph taken in front of the cathedral when the police raid began, but now they were just staring out, slack-jawed. Matt saw Pedro barge through them. Why? He glanced back and understood.

Some of the policemen had taken out their guns. Pedro had seen the danger — but at the same time he had guessed that they weren't Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star going to fire anywhere near tourists. He was using the Europeans as a human shield.

Matt joined him, clambering up the last five steps and then across the top, next to the cathedral. The tourists scat-tered. Someone cried out. Pedro was moving like the wind, and Matt wondered if he would be able to keep up. Already he had discovered something he had guessed all along: It was almost impossible to run in Cuzco. The air was too thin. He couldn't have been going for more than half a minute and his head was pounding, his throat was sore, and he felt as though he was about to faint. He forced himself on, not wanting to be left behind. Pedro was one of the five. Matt couldn't lose him now.

Luckily, Pedro was looking out for Matt. As a police-man swung round the corner, Pedro shouted out a warning. Matt ducked low.

There was an explosion and one of the stone steps spat dust. They were shooting at him! Matt Celt a tremor of disbelief. Rodriguez had given orders to take them dead or alive.

The gunshot had been a mistake. Now everyone in the square was panicking, running in all directions, desperate to get away. For a moment, the police found themselves powerless. The boys were out of sight. Then something strange happened. The policeman who had fired the shot threw himself backward and lay sprawling. Matt twisted round and saw that the slingshot was in Pedro's hand. He certainly knew how to use it. The policeman had been standing in front of a road that was otherwise unguarded. Matt forced some air into his lungs and set off.

Out of sight. That was the key. Matt knew they had to get under cover. They had to find somewhere to hide. Give them a bit of time and maybe they could work out what to do next. Pedro ran through Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star an open gateway, leading off the street, signaling Matt to follow.

Matt did just that and found himself in a rough courtyard with patches of grass growing through the rubble and the dust. There was another market here. Stalls, lit by oil lamps, stood haphaz-ardly against the walls. They were open even at this dme of the night, and a few backpackers were wandering idly between them, examining the hats and the ponchos, the rugs, beads, and bags on sale. The great mass of the cathe-dral rose up behind them.

The two boys didn't stop. They came to a second arch-way and burst out to find themselves in another street. But this time they were not alone.

A very old Indian woman sat facing them, squatting on the pavement with a little pile of handmade jewelry. Her hair hung down in two long pigtails, and there was a baby, wrapped in a striped blanket, nestling against her chest. She was looking straight at them, and as they stood there, panting, wondering which way to go, she suddenly smiled, showing yellow teeth that were little more than stumps. At the same time, she pointed toward an alleyway that led off behind her.

Matt wasn't sure what to do. The old woman was behav-ing as if she knew them. It was almost as if she had been sitting there all evening, waiting for them to come so she could point out the best way. Matt fought to get more air into his system and to keep the dizziness at bay.

"Which way?" he shouted at Pedro.

The old woman raised a finger to her lips. This was no time for a discussion. Once again, she pointed the way. Behind them, they heard shouting. The police had entered the marketplace.

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star

"Gracias, senora,"
Pedro muttered. He had decided to believe her.

The two of them ran up the alleyway, disappearing into the shadows that pushed in from both sides. Tattered post-ers hung on the walls, and wooden balconies jutted out over their heads. The street was cobbled, and Matt's rubber sandals were almost torn off his feet as he tried to run.

But was it worth going on? Matt could hear sirens and whistles echoing all over the city. With a heavy heart he knew that he and Pedro were never going to get out of this, no matter how fast they ran. They were two rats in a maze. They could scurry round the streets and passageways of Cuzco until they were exhausted or they could find a building to hide in . . . but it would make no difference.

It might take the police all night to find them, but they would do it in the end. Cuzco was surrounded by mountains. There was no way out.

Somewhere, just out of sight, another car pulled up. Boots stamped down on concrete. A whistle blew. Even Pedro was beginning to slow down. Sweat was dripping down his face. It would all be over very soon.

The alleyway led to another narrow street with a Tjunction at one end. Pedro started toward it, but almost at once a blue van came skidding to a halt and three police-men piled out. One of them shouted excitedly into a radio while the other two took out their guns and began heading toward them. Matt didn't have the strength to move. His heart was about to burst. He could only watch as the two men approached.

And then it happened again.

Another Indian appeared, stepping out of a doorway, pushing a heavy cart laden with food and drink. He was wearing white trousers Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star and a dark jacket but no shirt. Nor did he have any shoes. Long hair hung down, obscuring most of his face. He stopped in the road, completely block-ing it, and it seemed to Matt that he had acted quite deliberately. He had known they were coming and wanted to give them more time. The policeman began shouting. One of them was trying to push past. The Indian nodded and smiled at the two boys. With renewed strength, they set off the other way.

Something was happening in Cuzco. Someone was trying to help them. First it had been the old woman, now it was the food seller.

But who were they? How had they even known that he and Pedro were there? Matt wondered if he was imagining things. And no matter how many peo-ple tried to help them, he still couldn't see how they were going to get away.

They turned another corner and suddenly Matt knew where they were. This was one of the most famous streets in the city. Just a few hours earlier, it had been filled with tourist groups and guides. Now it was completely empty, lit only by the glow reflecting from the sky. One side of the street was lined by old Inca walls, ten meters high. Matt recognized the huge stones, slotted so ingeniously together. Pedro was leaning against one of them, straining for breath.

"Which way?" Matt asked.

Pedro shrugged. Either he was too exhausted to talk or he had come to the same conclusion as Matt: There was no way out, so it didn't matter where they went.

They started forward, slowly, making their way down the deserted street. They could hear shouting all around them, disembodied voices flitting like night creatures, everywhere and nowhere. Only one thing was certain. Their pursuers were getting closer all the time.

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star The street led nowhere. It was blocked by a tall^ metal gate that had been swung across the end and locked.

There was no way back. Matt could hear footsteps rush-ing up behind them and knew that the police were only seconds away. He no longer had the heart to run or to hide. He reached out and raided the gate. It was too high to climb. Pedro had given up, too. He was looking angry and exhausted — with the bitterness of defeat obvious in his eyes.

"Amigos!"

The voice came from just behind them. Matt turned. Incredibly, there was a young man standing in the street, just a couple of meters away. He was wearing a red-and-mauve poncho, jeans, and a woven hat that had flaps hanging down over his ears. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

And Matt was sure he knew him. For a strange, unnerv-ing moment, he was sure it was Micos. But Micos was dead. So who . . . ?

"Amigos,
"the man repeated. "Come quickly!"

Amigos.
It was one word of Spanish that Matt knew.

Friends.

The man gestured. Matt looked past him and saw an incredible sight.

Part of the wall had swung open, revealing a secret door with at least seven sides. It was impossible to imagine the hinge mechanism that had made it work, but when the door was closed, it was completely invisible. Matt and Pedro had just walked past it without realizing it was there. Millions of tourists must have done the same. Matt took a step forward. There was a passage inside the wall. He could just Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star make out a narrow corridor, but it ended almost at once in total blackness.

"No." Pedro shook his head. He was afraid.

The man spoke to him quietly and quickly in Spanish, then turned back to Matt. "The police will be here very soon," he said. "If you want to live, you must trust me. Come now. . . ."

"Who are you?" Matt asked.

The man made no reply and Matt understood. He wasn't prepared to talk about this, not now. An amazing secret, this hidden door, had been revealed to them. It had to be closed before the police, or anyone else, saw it.

Pedro was looking at him, waiting for him to make a decision. Matt nodded. The two of them stepped into the wall. The man followed.

The door swung shut behind them.

• • •

Matt couldn't hear anything apart from the sound of his own breathing. He stood in pitch-black, and it occurred to him that he could have died — that death might not be so different from this. He had been cut off from the city of Cuzco the moment the wall closed.

There was a slight dampness to the air that clung to his skin, but apart from that he felt nothing. He had to force himself not to panic, to avoid the thought that he might be buried alive.

The man in the poncho turned on a flashlight, and the light sprang out to reveal a narrow corridor with a staircase leading down. They Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star were
inside
the wall. The great stones were on both sides. Where did the steps lead? Matt couldn't even begin to guess.

The light also showed the face of the man who had come to their rescue. Matt had only glimpsed him in the street, and the earflaps of his hat had concealed much of his face. Looking at him more closely, he saw that he did have a very close resemblance to Micos

— though without the scar. He was also slightly thinner, with a narrow chin and the beginnings of a beard. He couldn't have been more than twenty-two or twenty-three years old.

"Who are you?" Matt asked. He wondered if his voice would carry out into the street. But that was impossible. The walls were at least a meter thick.

"My name is Atoc," the man replied. His accent was strange. There was a hint of Spanish in it but also some-thing else.

Atoc was the name that Micos had spoken just before he died. He had wanted to get a message to this man. His brother? That would explain why they looked so alike.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"It is an old Inca passage. Very secret. Very few peo-ple know."

"Where does it lead?"

"I take you somewhere safe where Salamanda cannot find you.

There are friends waiting, but it is far and there is still much danger.

Police are looking everywhere. We can-not talk now."

Atoc turned to Pedro and spoke briefly in Spanish. Once again, to Matt's ears, his accent sounded strange. Presumably, he was repeating what he had just said. Pedro nodded. A decision had been made.

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star

"This way," Atoc said. He swung the light at the stairs. "We go down. It will be easier soon."

They began to climb down. Matt tried to count the steps, but after twenty-five he gave up. The walls were very narrow, pressing in on them from both sides, and he could feel the weight of the earth pushing down from above. There was a heaviness in his ears, and the air was getting cold. He could see only a few steps at a time. The flashlight wasn't powerful enough to light much more. But as they

reached the bottom, with a second passageway bending round ahead of them, he became aware of a strange, yellow glow coming from somewhere just out of sight. They began to walk forward and after a few steps, Atoc turned off the flashlight. The way ahead was lit, but not by an electric light. Matt turned the corner and gasped.

The passage ran on for as far as he could see, with flames burning in small silver cups, set into the walls about twenty meters apart. They must have been fed by a hidden oil supply. But it was the walls themselves that caught the light, magnified it, and reflected it back.

The walls, miles of them, were lined with sheets of what looked like brass but — Matt somehow knew — were actually solid gold.

How much gold was there in the world? Matt had always thought it was precious because it was rare. He remem-bered what he had heard outside the temple of Coricancha: The Spanish conquistadors had looted the city. They had been mad with greed. They had taken all the gold they could lay their hands on. Or that was what they had thought. But now he could see that they had found only a fraction of what was there. Tons and tons of it had been used to make this incredible roadway far below the city. It was stretching ever farther into the distance, picking up the light from the lamps, turning night into day.

Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star They were not intended to make the journey on foot. Another Indian, dressed like Atoc, was waiting for them with four mules.