Temple of the Jaguar (9 page)

“
It looks like a big dog or a cat,” said Ishi, nervously. “It’s too big to be a jaguarundi”

“
A
what?”
said Marie, inching closer to me, to where her light perfume filled my nostrils. “All I know is that thing’s huge!”

True. It certainly wasn’t the cougar-sized jaguarundi. The monster was far too big. But once it focused its luminescent yellow eyes upon us, I could tell it was the bigger cousin of the aforementioned jaguarundi. A panther. Black as midnight with a blue sheen running through its fur. And, bigger than any other panther I’d ever come across.

“
Well…what in the hell
is
it?”

The shrillness was back in Marie’s voice.

“
You should know, since it’s the creature depicted on your papa’s treasured disk,” I said, finding it impossible to not snicker. It’s a nervous tic of mine. “And before you try to tell me this ain’t a jaguar, think again—”

“
Yeah, I know, Nick—they’re part of the panthera family of big cats,” she said, interrupting me. Her tone sounded even more worried. “But I never expected to encounter anything quite that big. Papa said to watch out for the jaguars that guard the entrance to the ‘treasure cave’.”

“
What?!
So, you knew about this damned thing and never said a word about it? And, there’s more than this one??”

“
Yes. But, if we move quickly, we should be able to get inside before anything bad happens.”

“
Bad? What do you mean by ‘bad’??”

Ishi’s voice cracked as he said this. Meanwhile, the enormous panther began to creep toward us. Its yellow eyes were tinged with orange halos around the edges, as if the very fires of hell had ignited them. No, I didn’t think that thought right away...it was what popped in my head for a brief moment as I turned to follow Marie as she sprinted toward a group of gnarled trees near where our jaguar friend had originally been peering at us.

“
Where in the hell are you running to?”
I called after her, after urging Ishi to quit staring stupidly at the big cat and hightail his ass to join mine in pursuit of our more athletic female companion.
“Shit!
...Ishi, damn it let’s go!!”

“
I’m coming, Nick! I’m—ah, shit, it’s coming after us!!”

As if the jaguar’s menacing growl hadn’t already announced that fact. As much as I worried that we were chasing a mad woman into our death trap, the reality that an animal large enough to devour my diminutive companion in a couple of bites and me in under five provided all the incentive needed to for us to sprint into the shadowed foliage ahead of us.

“
Nick—get ready to dive!”

“
Huh?! Are you frigging serious? Dive
where??”

“
Both of you need to dive headfirst when I tell you to do it!” Marie shouted back toward me. I couldn’t see her, and I started to slow down so I could get my bearings. It seemed like the smartest thing to do.

“
No!
Nick, keep running! You’re almost there! I remember it...everything’s coming back to me. Get ready to—
oh shit!”

“
Marie?!
What in the.... Are you all right—”

“
Dive,
damn it—
do it now!”

But there was no response. Nothing. Well, check that...I heard several low growls in the deep shadows within the shade from the native palms, shrubs, and other broad-leaved plants. It sounded like there were a dozen big cats, although I only caught a glimpse of another pair of luminous eyes—this time orange. It seemed odd that the jaguar had companions, since they are solitary critters. But, when the eyes disappeared from view, none of that mattered. I knew instinctively that this particular cat was circling around us and that an attack might well ensue at any moment.

We were in a terrible spot. Yeah, no kidding...I wanted to warn Ishi, but as I turned to look back at him, my feet gave out from under me and I landed hard on my ass once more. This time it felt like a stone slide.

Oh, shit!!

I would like to tell you that it was a heavy-masculine thing that came out of my mouth in this latest moment of surprise. However, I must confess that a shrill scream that would rival any little girl’s frightened shriek escaped my throat instead. It didn’t matter that Marie had tried to warn me about what lay ahead. Not that plunging another few hundred feet or so down a cold, grime-covered chute surrounded by pitch-blackness wouldn’t prompt most males to utter a terrified response of some sort. That would have been my second excuse. The initial one? My rationale that I was actually frightened for Ishi. Hell, he might not have heard Marie’s warning either, and would soon become what amounted to a Happy Meal for the apparent protectors of this chasm.

I heard a surprised yelp from Marie up ahead, which told me that I deserved partial credit for descending down the correct rabbit hole. A small pinpoint of light soon greeted my eyes up ahead, as my body picked up speed. I would reach this mysterious glow that rapidly grew bigger in the next ten to fifteen seconds. Meanwhile, Ishi’s piercing shriek resounded behind me, which made me feel a little better about my reaction. Although, I initially feared he had failed to elude the enormous panther, or one of its companions. I would never want him to see me shed a tear—either in this life or the next—but I felt choked up, thinking of his unpleasant fate and ignoring the fact that Marie’s and mine might well be worse.

“
Nick?”

It sounded like an echo...Marie’s voice? Likely, and she called to me from just beyond the light that was now a few feet in diameter. The light suddenly flickered upon my approach, and I realized it was caused by another torch. My journey was about to end, and I would reach my destination in a moment.

“
Holy mother of Jesus!!!”

I flew out of the chute and grazed the back of my head as I emerged airborne.

“
Be careful, Nick!”

Now she tells me. I landed hard yet again...at least this time I landed on my back instead of my ass. But a rear-end landing would’ve been better, as I landed hard enough to where the blow knocked the wind out of me. Marie’s panicked voice soon followed, along with another, closer, shriek from Ishi. Their voices grew faint as my awareness of the world around me began to fade.

My little feisty companion lives to fight another day! Excellent news! But Marie sounds like she’s already started bitching at me about something again...my God...this place is glowing! There’s gold everywhere...

It was my last thought before blacking out.

Chapter Fifteen

It’s hard to say how long I was out.

When I regained consciousness, Marie and Ishi were standing over me. Check that...they were kneeling over me, their faces drawn close to mine as their blurred images soon became clearer.

“
Well, it’s about time,” said Marie, her tone and smile playful. She was in a damned good mood about something...and it surely had to do with the golden glow around me. “We’ve got just enough water to last until afternoon,” she added, “but I think you should take a few sips.”

She held out the canteen that had been strapped to her waist. The water tasted and felt good...but I only took a couple of sips before sitting up to look around me.

“
Holy...”

I couldn’t finish voicing the thought in my head. By then, Marie had lit three other torches in the immense room that was stacked high with golden trinkets, vessels, statues, and what looked like octagonal coins. All of it gleamed in haphazard array, and most was covered by cobwebs from centuries past, along with layers of dust and grime. But it all simply added to the wonder and magic of this moment.

I tried again. “This really does look like it could be worth a billion or two.”

“
Or three,” said Maria. “According to my father, who cataloged what is here long ago, the gold would’ve been worth well over a billion dollars five to ten years ago.” She flashed the same smile of amazement that I could feel stretching across my face. “Even if we can only remove a small portion of this, none of us will have to worry about money ever again.”

“
Well...other than scooping up enough items to fill our pockets, it does seem like we will have to take a few trips going back and forth to the Jeep,” I said, trying to not sound cynical since she willingly shared what was nearly the end of her personal water supply. Ishi and I already had to fend for ourselves after draining our disposable bottles of water right before our unforeseen tussle with the lizard-man.

“
No, we won’t!” said Ishi triumphantly, holding up several large bags. Clearly he’d checked the place out while I was busy being useless. “Marie’s father left these. Here, take one.”

He held out a bag that appeared to be army-issued, although the original green dye had greatly faded in the material. Then again, maybe it wasn’t army-issued to begin with. But the bag was definitely a strong heavy-duty grade—suitable for miners and legit archaeologists. Therefore, it was good enough for me.

“
As much as I’d like to bask in the gilded light of Xanadu,” I said, standing on legs that felt weak at best, “we need to grab what we can and then secure the place. It might be a while before we make it back here.”

I couldn’t imagine coming back via the way we came here the first time, and since we couldn’t go back that way either, we would have to find a different—and likely longer—way out of this valley. Of course, that was after we figured out how to escape this vault that had to be located several hundred feet below the earth’s surface.

No sooner than I thought these thoughts, Marie said, “After we gather what we can comfortably carry, father mentioned another exit from the room, an exit that will take us into a cave system that is not so hard to navigate.”

Both Ishi and I turned toward her with near-matching looks of surprise.

“
You’ve got to be friggin’ kidding me!” I seethed, feeling the headache that was starting to wane suddenly grow more intense again. “Are you saying we didn’t have to go the route we took—that there was an easier way to get down here?”

“
Yes,” she replied meekly. “But the easier path is known to my Uncle Leo—at least partially so. I saw one of his henchmen near my hotel this morning before I came to get you. It was too risky to go that route, since I knew you could get us through safely if I chose to take the more dangerous caverns instead.”

“
Wait...wait a moment,” I said, shaking my head. “So, you see one of the killers that works for Uncle Leo just hanging around the Sheraton you’re staying at, and you don’t think that maybe he and your uncle have at least a pretty good idea of the location you are going to, huh? Is that what you’re telling me?!”

“
Yes,” she again replied, this time even more demurely. “But, we couldn’t wait around to see what my uncle was up to. After all, he’s never been here before, since he is missing several access key landmarks that are difficult to discern on his map—landmarks that I’ve memorized.”

“
Well, sweetheart, that’s all fine and dandy...except for the fact I noticed a gray sedan following us out of the city limits,” I said, feeling a growing knot of dread in my gut.

Damn it! I
knew
something was up and didn’t say a frigging thing!

“
I saw it, too,” she confessed. “But it wasn’t the only gray Mercedes on the road.”