Gold of the Gods (14 page)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Beck guessed it was around midday. After
leaving his camp he had quickly found the
Kogi path and followed it through the
jungle once more. The howler monkeys
were nowhere to be seen and the undergrowth
had become less dense. Above him
the trees were getting taller, and as the day
wore on, he caught glimpses of blue
through the clouds high above him. The
carved stones of the path were growing
easier to make out under the lichen and
moss.

By now, Beck's instinct for survival was
on auto-pilot. In front of him he moved his
stick from side to side like a zombie with a
metal detector. As long as the Kogi path lay
under his feet, he knew that sooner or later
he would find the Lost City. But his mind
was starting to wander once more.

His thoughts returned to the twins.
Where were they now? Had they managed
to make a camp? He knew Marco still had
the embers in the fire sleeve. With any luck,
they would have been able to make a fire to
keep themselves warm during the night. He
thought of Christina and the look in her
eyes when she had blown that kiss across the
river. He wondered whether—

He stopped suddenly. His stick had hit
something hard on the floor of the jungle.
Immediately all thoughts of the twins were
gone. The path seemed to have suddenly
run into a brick wall. For a moment he
stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe
what his senses were telling him. Then he
remembered: the words and numbers that
had made no sense the day they discovered
Gonzalo's map at the hacienda. Beck spread
out the map in front of him. Next to the
scrawled figure of a toad were the words
Escalera con mil pasos
. A staircase with a
thousand steps.

Beck slowly raised his eyes and looked
up. Ahead, disappearing into the distance,
was a stone staircase that seemed to be leading
up the side of a huge mountain into the
clouds. It was covered in a carpet of green –
in places the roots of trees wrapped around
the steps like gnarled fingers.

Beck took a deep breath and began to
climb.

1, 2, 3 . . .

He felt as if he were climbing the steps of
a great cathedral. In the eerie light of the
forest, the atmosphere was overpowering.
Huge vines, bigger than any Beck had yet
seen, hung down around him. Above,
the branches of giant trees arched over the
ceremonial steps like the swords of a guard
of honour.

148, 149, 150 . . .

As he climbed higher, peering into the
gloom on either side of the giant staircase,
he could make out the remains of ancient
terraces and stone fireplaces where the
houses of the ancient Kogis had once stood.

373, 374, 375 . . .

Pausing for a moment to rest, Beck wiped
the sweat from his brow. Suddenly the sun
burst through the trees high above and the
shadow of a giant cat towered over him. He
cowered helplessly, waiting for the giant
talons to rip into his flesh. But it was frozen
in mid-pounce, its shadow etched on the
steps in front of him. Slowly Beck raised his
head. Choked by the vegetation, the jaguar
had been turned into stone. As the shock
gradually drained from his body, Beck could
make out statues in the undergrowth all
around him. The wings of a giant
condor. The fangs of a snake. The tail of a
monkey. The city felt as if it had been frozen
in time; as if some demon of the mountains
had turned all the creatures of the jungle to
stone.

488, 489, 500 . . .

Beck stopped. And listened. He was
halfway to the top now, and doubting voices
inside his head were crowding in on him
like the dark shadows of the jungle itself.
Now that he had come so far, would all his
efforts be in vain? What would he do if he
came face to face with the kidnappers? How
would he rescue Uncle Al and Mayor
Rafael? He put his right hand across his
body and felt for the handle of the machete.
From now on, he would need to be as quiet
as the grave.

748, 749, 750 . . .

Beck was climbing slowly now, crouching
down among the statues in the shadows
beside the staircase. His eyes flicked
nervously from side to side, scanning the
jungle. High above him he could see
the outlines of curving stone walls buried
in the undergrowth. Centuries ago, ancient
Kogi craftsmen must have built these
ceremonial platforms. But since the city had
been deserted, huge trees had smothered
them with their roots like the tentacles of a
giant squid.

973, 974, 975 . . .

The steps were narrowing now and the
ground was beginning to level out. Beck
peered into a narrow passage between two
huge walls that towered above him. Ahead,
a stone archway linked two ceremonial
platforms standing on either side of the
staircase. Thick tangles of foliage hung
down from the crumbling stone arch like a
curtain.

988, 989, 990 . . .

A sudden screech made Beck jump out of
his skin. A blur of coloured feathers
swooped from the branches of an overhanging
tree. It was Ringo. The parakeet was
soon flapping his wings and squawking at
Beck for all he was worth from his perch on
top of the archway.

Beck froze. The back of his neck felt cold
and goose pimples ran down his spine.
Then he heard a sound like a boot scraping
against stone and the faint pop of a twig
snapping. It was followed by another outburst
from Ringo. Beck tightened his grip
on the handle of his machete and continued
up towards the archway.

997, 998, 999 . . .

Beck stopped again and listened. He
could feel his heart thumping in his chest
and blood pounding at his temples. He put
his foot on the final step of the staircase.
Slowly he raised the machete towards the
curtain of vines that hung from the arch
and gently parted them with the tip of the
blade.

There, under the archway, in a stone
chair like the throne of a medieval king, sat
a hooded figure shrouded in darkness. Two
glittering eyes stared out at Beck. His heart
leaped. He was safe at last. Mama Kojek had
heard the call of the amulet and had been
following them all along. The twins had
been rescued. Uncle Al and the mayor were
free. The golden toad would soon be
returned to its rightful home.

1,000 . . .

As Beck moved forward under the arch to
greet Mama Kojek, two burly figures leaped
out of the shadows beside him and grabbed
him, pinning his arms roughly behind his
back.

The figure in the stone chair rose slowly
to his feet.

Then it spoke.

'
Buenos días, amigo
,' snarled Ramirez.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Beck's head was thumping and bright lights
like laser beams bored into his head. His
mind was a blur and he was struggling to
remember where he was. Who he was. A
fight scene was going round and round in
his head. Men were shouting and he was
struggling to release his arms. He broke free
and was running hard, his lungs about to
burst. And then? His memory went
blank.

He could feel hard rock under him and
his limbs ached. A noise like a dentist's drill
was screaming in his ears. Every time he
tried to move, the noise grew louder, the
lights flashed brighter, his head thumped
harder. As he attempted to raise his arm to
rub his aching head, he felt the sharp steel
of handcuffs digging into his wrists.

Struggling to sit upright, he let out a long
agonized groan. A blindfold had been tied
too tightly around his eyes and was digging
into his temples. The sound of dripping
water echoed in his ears and there was a
smell of dampness in the air. At last the
thumping in his head began to slow and his
mind began to focus on other quieter
sounds nearby. The regular rise and fall of
breathing. He was not alone.

'Beck. Beck, is that you?'

The voice was unmistakable.

'Uncle Al?'

'Beck. Beck, my boy. What are you doing
here?' Uncle Al's voice was trembling with
emotion. Beck felt tears welling up in his
eyes. He tried to speak but his uncle and
Mayor Rafael were both talking at once. A
flood of questions washed over him. Was he
all right? Were the twins with him? How
had he found them? Was there a rescue
party on its way?

In between spasms of relief and despair,
Beck tried to explain everything as best he
could. Mayor Rafael gasped in amazement
when he told them the story of Gonzalo's
map and the golden toad. Then Beck
explained how they had escaped from under
the noses of Ramirez's men and described
their voyage down the coast aboard the
Bella Señora
and the shipwreck near
the Kogi village.

At last both men fell silent as Beck told
them the story of Mama Kojek, of his
journey into the spirit world of Aluna and
his discovery of the true story behind
Gonzalo's golden amulet. Mayor Rafael let
out a stifled cry when Beck explained how
the twins had been left stranded on the
other side of the river when the Kogi bridge
had collapsed. A hushed silence fell once
again when he told them about the
final disastrous encounter with Ramirez.

At last Mayor Rafael spoke.

'Ramirez has been planning this for years.
He was always asking questions about
Gonzalo. Once he realized I was setting up
an expedition to find the Lost City, he knew
he had to act or his chance would be gone.'

'How did you know where to find the
city without Gonzalo's map?' asked Beck.

'I've known about the map for years,' said
the mayor. 'A few weeks ago I finally discovered
the hiding place, but it was too
dangerous to let anyone know. It was a
secret even from Maria and the twins. But
when I heard that Professor Granger was in
the country, I thought the time was right to
mount an expedition. Once we discovered
the Lost City, the looters would have lost
their chance. But I hadn't reckoned on
Ramirez. That was my big mistake.'

'So you told Ramirez where to find the
city?' asked Beck.

'I didn't tell him about the map. But I
had already hired porters and a team to
make the expedition into the jungle. One of
them was in Ramirez's pay. So he knew I
had a good idea where the city was, if not
how I knew. All that was needed then was to
stage a kidnapping and make it look like he
had nothing to do with it. After that terrible
night in the square, we were held in a prison
cell by Ramirez until I agreed to help him
find the city.'

Beck heard a stifled cough, as if the
mayor were choking back tears.

'I was so worried about what he might do
to Maria and the twins. I had no choice.'

'So how did you find the city?' asked
Beck. 'And how did you get here?'

'No one believed it could be reached by
sea,' Mayor Rafael continued. 'The mountains
are too sheer and the jungle too thick.
It is a miracle you managed to survive. I
believed that the only way in was from the
other side of the mountain. Ramirez's men
have a helicopter base there. It's officially for
hunting the drug barons and destroying
their crops. So once Ramirez had forced the
information out of me, it was easy. The
police have infra-red cameras and they
scanned the jungle for days. Finally
they found it and we were dropped off by
helicopter.'

A heavy silence fell, broken only by the
sullen dripping of water from the roof of
their prison. Then Uncle Al was speaking
again.

'Beck, we are all in great danger. Once
Ramirez has found the gold, he plans to kill
us. Kidnappings happen every day in
Colombia. People disappear for months,
sometimes years. Ramirez will keep up his
smoke screen. If our bodies are recovered,
he will simply blame the drug barons.'

Beck was fighting despair. They had
survived against all the odds and now it
had come to this. He was mumbling about
how they mustn't lose hope for the twins'
sake and how they would find a way—
Then a blinding headache suddenly crept
up on him and everything went black.

In the darkness he lost all track of time.
His nightmares returned. He was back in
the burning Kogi village: screaming women
and children scattered around him,
desperately trying to escape the slashing
swords of Gonzalo's conquistadors. Once
more he was gazing into the eyes of the
golden toad . . . Which in turn changed
into the reptilian eyes of Ramirez . . .
Which in turn changed into the eyes of
Mama Kojek . . . Which were now
turning—

He woke with a jolt. There was a sound
of boots on stone and someone shoved him
hard in the ribs. Two voices were raised in
anger and there was a quick exchange
in Spanish. Mayor Rafael let out a stifled
laugh. 'Ramirez can't find any gold. All this
– and for what?'

His words were followed by a curse and
Beck heard the sickening thump of a boot
crunching into the mayor's stomach. He
flinched as the mayor let out an anguished
scream that echoed around the cave.

And now Beck was being dragged to his
feet.

'
Vamos, Inglés
,' hissed a voice in his ear as
he was pushed roughly forwards.

'Be brave, Beck, my boy!' Uncle Al's
echoing voice faded behind him as he was
bundled out of the room. After sitting
down for so long, Beck almost fainted
as the blood rushed from his pounding
head. He could see shafts of sunlight
through his blindfold – their angle, along
with the smell of the jungle, told him
that it was already evening. Men were
shouting to each other in Spanish and he
could hear the ringing clink of metal on
stone and smell the odour of freshly dug
earth.

He was being pushed up a series of stone
steps, and when he slipped and stumbled,
he was dragged roughly to his feet again.
Then he was brought to a halt and someone
started fumbling with his wrists as his handcuffs
were unlocked. His hands were numb
and he felt a stab of pain in his fingers as the
blood rushed back into them.

The next minute his blindfold was
removed. Beck blinked and gazed around.
Mountain peaks circled him on all sides. It
was almost dark now and a glowing ember
of orange light was dropping over the horizon
as a blood-red sunset lit up the sky. He
was standing on one of the high, circular
terraces he had seen when he was climbing
the staircase of a thousand steps, and was
now looking out over the jungle canopy
below. Searchlights lit up the night sky, and
around him men were scanning the ground
with metal detectors and digging into the
soft earth.

But something else caught Beck's eye.
The outline of a huge rock was silhouetted
against the red sunset. It stood to one side of
the terrace on its own simple platform.
There was no mistaking that familiar outline.
He had first seen it bobbing above the
crowds at the carnival in Cartagena, then on
the coat of arms of the mayor's family crest
and finally in Gonzalo's golden amulet.

He remembered Mama Kojek's words.
This was surely none other than
la rana
, the
toad stone, the sacred fertility goddess of
the Kogis. And quietly sitting on its head
between the two raised discs of its bulbous
eyes was Ringo.

'
Buenos días, amigo
.'

Beck spun round. Ramirez was staring at
him with a look of undisguised malice. He
barked an order and the two flunkies who
had bundled him out of his prison began
frisking him. One of the men gave a shout
and the belt carrying Gonzalo's map was
roughly pulled out from around his waist. A
satisfied smile crossed the police chief 's face.
Studying it briefly, he handed it back to the
flunkies, who started pointing out over
the terraces and shouting orders to the men
digging below.

But Beck could not help himself now. He
felt nothing but contempt for Ramirez.
'
Oro no más
,' he spat. 'The gold is gone.' As
soon as the words were out of his mouth,
Beck wished he had stayed silent. In a fit of
rage Ramirez strode towards him and,
grabbing him around the neck, lifted him
clean off the ground.

The moment the policeman's fist closed
around his shirt, Beck knew it was all over.
A ghastly smile spread over Ramirez's lips.
Feeling Gonzalo's amulet under Beck's shirt,
he slowly lowered him to the ground.

'
El oro de Gonzalo, por favor
,' he said
quietly, motioning to Beck to remove the
amulet from around his neck.

Beck knew he had no choice. Slowly
undoing the top button of his shirt, he
lifted the golden toad from around his neck,
letting it swing slowly from side to side in
front of the police chief 's face.

Ramirez's face was twisted in a ghastly
smile, as if he had been hypnotized by the
amulet: his eyes followed it back and forth.
'
La rana!
' he whispered, almost laughing.
'
El oro de la rana!
'

Suddenly, his words were drowned out by
a screech and a loud beat of wings. Ramirez
was flailing at something above his head and
feathers were flying all around him. Beck
did not miss his chance. As Ringo divebombed
the policeman, he put the amulet
to his lips. And blew.

In an instant there was chaos all round
him. A ring of fire burst into life on the
terraces below – flaming torches rose out of
the jungle on all sides. Ramirez's men were
shouting and running in all directions on
the surrounding terraces as he barked orders
from above.

Seizing his chance, Beck dived over the
edge of the terrace and made a run for cover.
Ramirez's men had dropped their tools and
were fleeing in every direction. Above him,
silhouetted against the sky, Beck could see
Ramirez pulling a gun out of a holster at his
waist. Leaping from the terrace onto the
platform with the toad stone, the police
chief was soon scrabbling desperately at the
ground beneath, a mad glint in his cruel
eyes.

Beck watched in amazement as a sea of
white tunics surged up out of the jungle, lit
by the blazing torches. The ring of fire was
rising up on all sides, as if every tree in the
forest were ablaze. Beck gazed down the
staircase of a thousand steps. The statues on
either side seemed to have come alive, the
animals of the jungle climbing the stone
steps alongside the Kogis.

And then Beck's heart leaped. For at the
top of the stairs under the ceremonial arch
Beck spotted Mama Kojek, his eyes glittering.
Then his heart skipped a beat once
more, for there, just a few steps behind him,
were Marco and Christina.

Beck let out a shout and burst from his
cover. Dodging the despairing clutches of
Ramirez's bodyguards, he was soon hugging
the twins and dancing a little jig at the top
of the steps as the Kogis crowded around
the three joyful teenagers. In front of them,
Mama Kojek sat down in the stone chair
under the archway. For the first time Beck
could remember, the merest hint of a smile
softened his stern features.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it
happened. One of Ramirez's men shouted a
warning from above, and as they turned to
look at him, a dark feline shape emerged
from the depths of the jungle on the far side
of the terraces. The creature moved so fast
that to Beck it was like a shadow passing
over the face of the moon. Like a coiled
spring, it leaped from terrace to terrace, and
in just a few strides it was closing on its prey.

An ear-piercing scream tore through the
jungle night as the teeth of the jaguar
crunched into the policeman's skull. It was
followed by a deep rumbling growl as the
creature rose up on its hind legs, snarling in
triumph at the moon.