Fourteen-year-old Rudy Patella shivered and threw a log on the fire. He didn’t like being alone in the dark. Having lived in New York until a year ago, he wasn’t yet used to New Mexico’s vast open spaces.
Something thick and rectangular slammed against his leg, making him jump. He turned and saw a lean figure lurking in the shadows. “Mac! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He pointed to the object at his feet. “What’s that?”
“A book. You do remember them, don’t you?” Makya Lucus sauntered into the firelight. He was tall and wiry, with sun-brown skin and jet-black hair and could have passed as Rudy’s brother had it not been for the almost oriental slant of his dark-brown eyes, a trait inherited from his Hopi ancestors. “Sorry I’m late. I got held up at the rectory. You should have come. The fair was fun. I got a lot of free loot for helping out.”
Rudy probed the heavy, green volume with his foot. “You call this loot?” Dog-eared and stained, the book's only redeeming quality was a looped cross on its cover, inset with three large, large green stones. He pulled out his pocketknife and reached for it. “This should burn well. And, we might be able to sell the decorations to old, Miss Willis for her bracelets.”
“Don’t you dare.” Mac snatched the book out of his friend’s hand. “Have you any idea what this is?”
“Yeah, a book. ”
“It’s more then that. It’s our ticket to adventure. Didn’t you say you wanted to do something exciting this summer? Well, we can with this to guide us.” He opened the tomb to a page he’d marked. “Check this out, a human skull carved from pure crystal. It says there are thousands of these things just lying about for the taking.”
Rudy leaned forward, his expression skeptical. “Where?”
Mac skimmed the page. “In a place called British Honduras.”
“Never heard of it.”
“That’s not the point. These skulls exist and they can magnify light and enhance your psychic ability. Can you imagine what we could do if we could read minds?"
Rudy sat up straighter. “What else is in that book?” He turned the cover so he could read the title as Max flipped to the front of the book. “A Guide to the Word’s Greatest Treasures. Cool."
Huddled together beside the fire the two boys pored over stories about amber rooms, the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, and Atlantis. They stopped at a picture they both knew well. The title on the page read, Egyptian Artifacts of the Grand Canyon. “Now, that sounds doable. You can’t get much closer to home then that.”
Rudy rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes. “You do the reading. I’ll do the listening.”
“It says there’s a labyrinth of tunnels in the Grand Canyon, which lead to a crypt with real mummies.” He frowned. “I wonder why Uncle Silas never mentioned anything like that? He’s a tour guide. If anyone should know about mummies in the canyon, he should.”
Rudy shrugged. “Maybe it’s some dark secret, like Area 51.”
Mac flipped the page and read its contents in silence. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “Listen to this. The area where the mummies are reported to be is riddled with Egyptian names like Osiris Temple and Cheop’s Pyramid. I’ve heard those names. That’s the section on the north side of the canyon that’s been shut down.”
Rudy rolled onto his side and grinned. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Mac nodded. “Field trip.”
~~
Rudy watched his mother scoot around the kitchen the next morning as he ate his breakfast.
Jianna Patella was a stout woman with thick black hair sprinkled with gray. As if sensing his scrutiny, she turned and narrowed her eyes. “Okay. What's going on? You haven't been up this early since school ended.”
Rudy took a large bite of toast and chewed it slowly, trying to gauge his mother's mood. "Mac and I are going fishing. That's all.”
Jianna filled a glass with orange juice and placed it before her son. "That better be all you're up to, unless you want to spend the rest of your summer at Uncle Giorgio's in Philly.”
Rudy put a hand to his heart. “Your distrust of my stellar motives wounds me to the quick, ma.”
Jianna gave a snort. Smarty Pants. If you used half the brain God gave you, you'd excel in school."
“What? And give you nothing to complain about?" Rudy laughed and bolted for the door. "Love ya, ma," he declared letting it bang shut behind him.
~~~
The day was sunny with the promise of warmth in the air. Grabbing his bike, Rudy peddled down the drive towards the road. Within half a mile, he veered onto a weather-beaten path. To his right, he could make out the lip of the canyon’s walls, blazing red in the early morning sun. He stared long and hard at the view, then breathed deep of the fresh air, allowing a smile to linger on his lips. He’d never known there could be such freedom, such space, until he’d moved out west. And now, he never wanted to live anywhere else.
Mac’s uncle Silas was heading for the kitchen when he heard the knock at the door. Opening it, he saw Rudy standing on the porch. His expression changed from surprise to approval. “You’re up early, Rudy.”
“Is Mac awake yet, sir?”
“Not yet, but you’re welcome to come in and wake him if you wish.” Silas held the door open.
“Thanks.” Rudy hurried past the man and down the hall without a backward glance. Hearing no response to his knock, he opened the door and peered in.
Mac was asleep in his usual position, head and arms hanging limply over the side of the bed.
Knowing it would take more then a gentle whisper to wake Mac, Rudy let loose a sharp whistle.
Starting awake, Mac toppled off the bed and rolled onto his side. He glared up, instantly recognizing his antagonist. “What are you doing here this early?” he groaned?
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about that book.”
Mac yawned and sat up, sweeping his hair out of his face. “Me too. That’s why I stayed up half the night researching the story on my computer.”
“What did you find?”
Mac stood and walked to his desk. “I managed to track down the original article where the story came from. It was in the Phoenix Gazette, in 1909.” He offered Rudy the printout along with a hiker’s map. “There were a lot more details in the original story. It gives us a starting point. We need to get to an area called Ninety-Four Mile Creek, which should be somewhere near Trinity Creek.”
“Got it.” Rudy tapped the spot on the map. “It’s not that far away. It shouldn’t take us more than half a day to hike there.”
“We’re going to have to camp out at least one night, maybe two, which shouldn’t pose a problem. I’ve already told Uncle Silas I’m planning to stay at your place for a couple of days next week. Now, all we have to do is tell your parents you’re going camping with me and my uncle and no one should be the wiser.”
“Unless they run into each other.”
“What’s the chances?” Mac shrugged off the possibility. “Once we hitchhike east, we can rent a kayak and head for the North Rim. We’ll have to bring ropes and climbing gear. The entrance to the cave is supposed to be about fifteen hundred feet down the side of the canyon.”
Rudy stood silent for a moment, staring at the map in his hands. Then, a grin split his face. “This is really going to happen. Isn’t it?”
“Yep, providing we find the cave. That’s why finding that original article was so crucial. One of the missing components was a marker, stains in the sedimentary formation on the east wall, forty-two miles up river of El Tovar Crystal Canyon. Find those stains and we find the entrance.”
~~
It didn’t take the boys more than a few days to arrange the campout. Together, they managed to scrape up enough money for the boat rental and supplies by doing odd jobs for various tourist shops. On Monday, the third week of June, they set out.
The sun was just beginning to rise when an old man pulled off the road to give them a lift. Learning they were headed for the Wahweep Marina, he informed them he could take them the entire way. Mac and Rudy settled into the back of the truck, delighted with their good fortune.
The boys arrived at the marina hours ahead of their schedule, just in time to rent the last two-man, inflatable kayak. They paid the proprietor the standard five-day fee, then stowed their gear and donned their life preservers.
“I can’t believe we’re actually here,” Rudy said, starring up at the cannon walls on either side of the river.
“Me neither.” Mac pulled a chain from beneath his shirt and dangled the attached rabbit’s foot for Rudy to see. “Chalk it up to my lucky charm.” He kissed the foot, then tucked it back into his shirt.
The Colorado River wound snake-like through red, sandstone walls. Seen from the perspective of the river, the beauty of the varying colors was overwhelmingly beautiful. The boys paddled in silence, looking everywhere and nowhere, absorbing what they saw.
They were coasting on smooth water when they sighted a strange discoloration on one of the cliffs. Rudy saw it first. “We’ve got stains.”
Mac pointed to a bank forty yards beyond the reddish markings. “That looks like a good place. Let’s pull up over there and check them out.”
They lifted the kayak onto the shore and, at Mac’s direction, began collecting brush to cover it. After the camouflage was completed, they set out, searching for a possible trail leading up the cliff. Both boys were sweating profusely by the time they reached the base of the cliff and broke their fast for a late lunch.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Rudy knelt beside his pack and undid the clasps. “Well. What next?”
“We’ve got about four more hours of daylight. Do you want to do some climbing now and see if we can find the entrance, or would you rather make camp and wait until tomorrow?” Mac unclipped his water bottle and took a big swig, then pulled a prepackaged meal from his pack. The plastic container held minced chicken, crackers and cheese. He set to eating, not waiting for his companion.
Rudy glanced up at the cliffs with a thoughtful expression as he unpacked his turkey burrito. Thanks to Silas, he was almost as skilled a climber as his friend. “I’m too excited to just rest. I say we continue on. It would be safer, less chance of snakes. Plus, it would give us more time to explore tomorrow.”
“Then, eat up and we’ll go.”
After collecting and their wrappers and stashing them in their packs, the boys got out their ropes and pick axes and began the climb. The cliff was sheer, but not without handholds. They moved cautiously up its face, securing the ropes as they’d been taught to ensure their safety. Halfway up, Rudy happened to glance into a narrow split between two rocks that hadn’t been visible from below. He was amazed to see what looked like a narrow staircase leading upward. He could hear Mac yelling for him to get a move on, but ignored the other boy’s cry as he allowed his eyes to become accustomed to the darkness within the niche. Loosening his ropes, he swung his body into the narrow opening.
Mac looked down in time to see Rudy disappear into the rocks below him. Puzzled, he secured the line, then backed down the cliff. “Rudy, what are—”
“I found it,” Rudy yelled, sticking his head back through the opening. “The entrance is through here.”
Mac’s expression was one of wonderment. He let the rope slide loosely through his hands and within seconds was dangling in front of his friend. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, see for yourself. There’s a staircase cut into the stone.”
“I really didn’t…I mean…I never thought we’d actually find anything.” Levering himself through the opening, Mac unclipped the ropes from his harness and hurried to the stairs. “There’s chisel marks. These were man-made. My dad used to tell me a story about the Hopi coming out of the rocks after a great flood. But, I always thought those tales were just make believe.”
They set up base camp at the foot of the stairs, exploring only far enough to ensure themselves that it wasn’t a dead end. The air had cooled. But, the sun-warmed boulders surrounding them held enough heat to dry their sweat-soaked clothes. Both boys stripped to their underwear and draped their pants and shirts on the rocks, then settled into their sleeping bags.
Rudy yawned and pulled a can of beans and wieners from his pack. His mouth curled with distaste as he stared at it. “I wonder if Christopher Columbus ever felt like I do right now?”
Mac looked up from his own meager dinner. “You mean excited about what we might find tomorrow?”
“No, I mean, wishing he could trade the ship’s lousy food for a warm pizza. Have I told you how my mom makes her stuffed crusts? Her pizzas are the best. And, her lasagna—” He was interrupted by a spray of water that hit him square in the face. He looked over and saw Mac holding the bottle’s tip threatening in the air. “Why’d you do that?”
“If you don’t like the provisions I supplied, give them to me.” Mac extended his hand. “I’ll be glad to eat the inferior food.”
Rudy shook his head, then popped the lid open. Without another word, he began to eat.
~~~
They awoke early the next morning before sunrise. After a hurried breakfast of dry cornflakes, about which Rudy made no negative comments, they dressed and gathered together their gear, stuffing extra batteries for their flashlights in their pockets.
The passageway that began at the top of the stairs was about twelve feet wide and angled downward, with doorways on both sides. The boys shone their flashlights into several joined chambers, but found each empty. About a hundred feet further, the tunnel opened into a large, high-ceilinged chamber. Passages branched off from it, like spokes on a wheel. In the center was an enormous Buddha-like figure sitting cross-legged, with lotus flowers in each hand.
Mac panned his light on the statue’s base. Small figures surrounded it. Some were beautifully detailed images of humans in various graceful positions. Intermingled with the dancers were crooked-necked creatures with distorted faces and bodies. On either end of the dais stood a cactus with arms raised. “Wow. Have you ever seen anything like this before?”
“No. Not even in a museum. I wonder how it got in here?” Rudy turned to his friend, his eyes glowing bright in a face gone suddenly pale. “I just realized something. If this is some unknown or forgotten archeological site, we’ll be famous for rediscovering it. Let’s keep looking. There could be tons of loot in these tunnels.” He headed for the first doorway on his right.
“No.” Mac’s voice was sharp. “We have to get out of here, now. I think I hear someone coming.”
Rudy frowned with irritation. “So what? We were here first. It’s our find. What’s the matter with you? Isn’t this why we came?”
Mac held up his hand. He pressed a finger to his lips and signaled Rudy into the tunnel he’d wanted to explore.
Confused, Rudy stood his ground, lifting his shoulders and spreading his arms.
Mac spoke in a strained whisper. “Do you really think whoever’s coming will just stand back and let us claim this find? I hear two men, but there could be more. We can’t let them see us. Now, run.”
It took only a second for Mac’s words to sink in. Rudy’s face paled. Without a word, he turned and ran for the tunnel. After fifty yards, the shaft narrowed and slanted steeply upward. Burdened by the heavy camping equipment, he quickly tired and had to stop to catch his breath.
Max pushed against Rudy’s back with an insistent hand. “Crawl if you have to, but keep going.”
The naked fear in his friend’s words was enough to spur Rudy forward. He didn’t know why Mac was so afraid, but he knew the boy well enough to know he didn’t panic without reason. While living in New York, he’d heard horror stories about kids disappearing. Was that why Mac was so afraid? Did he think these men were going to do them harm? Bending forward, he used his hands as well as his feet to spur his momentum. He felt his muscles burn with the effort, but kept pushing.
After what seemed like hours, the passage leveled and opened into a large room. Satisfied they’d cleared the immediate danger, Rudy removed his pack and dropped to the ground beside it, panting for air, wanting only to rest and sip on a bottle of water. “I can’t hear anyone behind us. Can you?” he asked in a low whisper.
Mac listened for several moments. “No. I think we’re safe for now.” He stepped farther into the spacious room. The air smelled strongly of mold and damp earth. He trained his light on the walls, which at first glance appeared to be patterned with a strange checkerboard design. The chamber was huge, far bigger than any they’d seen so far and appeared perfectly square. He focused his beam on one of the dark rectangles and inhaled sharply as a human shape appeared to step out from the carved niche into the light. The body was only one of hundreds, visible as he skipped the light from one recess to the next. It was like staring into a graveyard that had been turned on its side and all the plots uncovered. Only, unlike normal American cemeteries, each figure was wrapped from head to foot with strips of cloth. He walked around, panning his light over the ancient mummies.
Death hadn’t robbed them of their stature, evidenced by their excessive height and broad shoulders under the wrappings. Some wore masks made of painted clay, others appeared to have been painted directly onto the wrappings themselves, the realism disconcerting in the darkness. The deterioration of the cloth covering some faces allowed teeth and hollow eye sockets to show through. The corpses appeared to return Mac’s stare with dour expressions that rebuked him for disturbing their slumber.
Mac circled the room. “I wish I’d thought to bring a camera. These men were soldiers. See the swords buried next to each? That’s the sign of a great warrior.” His voice held a note of awe. “This isn’t any normal burial. These men must have been very important to rate this.” He lifted his light and peered at the foot of the mummy closest to him. An urn was positioned on the opposite side of the sword, by the dead warrior’s feet. It was small and elegantly fashioned with strange, hieroglyphic-like writing on its base. “I wonder if these jars are similar to the canopic jars used by the Egyptians?”
“Why? What’s in them?” Rudy asked with sudden interest. “Gold? Jewels?”
“Organs. The Egyptians used to gut the body and remove its organs before mummifying it.”
“How do you know all this?”
“It’s a hobby of mine,” Mac said sharply, glad the darkness hid the flush that reddened his cheeks. As close as he and Rudy had become, there were still some secrets he felt too sensitive to reveal. He backed up to get a better look at the urn, curiosity getting the better of him. His foot hit something hard and he heard it roll. The object, when illuminated, appeared to be a smooth sphere of rock, perhaps two inches in diameter. He bent to pick it up, noticing as he did so that it was only one of many that covered the floor. He turned to display it to his friend. Rudy had not entered the great hall, but stood as if frozen at its entrance. “Why are you out there? Come on in and take a look.”
Rudy shook his head. “No. I’d rather not.”
“But, you wanted mummies. You wanted adventure. That’s why we’re here.”
“It wasn’t supposed to get this real. I figured we’d go camping, have fun talking about what might have been. I didn’t expect getting trapped with a legion of dead men with the possibility of joining them.”
Mac chuckled uneasily. “We’re not going to die.”
“No? Then why are we hiding?” Rudy pointed back, the way they’d come. “Who are those people? Do you know something you’re not telling me?”
Mac dropped his gaze, unable to look his friend in the eye. “The only thing I didn’t tell you was about the sign I saw when we landed the kayak.”
“What sign?”
“A government sign. We’re trespassing on federal property.”
Rudy threw his hands up in disgust. “We’re in trouble with the feds? I thought you said park officials closed this part of the canyon off?”
Mac raked a hand through his hair. “I thought it was, then, when I saw that sign, I didn’t want to turn around and go home. We needed this adventure. We earned it.” Leaving the mummies, he returned to his friend, noting the look of hurt apparent on his expression.“I’m so sorry, Rudy. If I’d seen anyone around yesterday, I would have called it off. You know I would have. But I thought it was safe.”
Rudy let out a long breath and nodded. “What’s the worse they can do? Arrest us? That’s not near as bad as what I was imagining.” He raised his flashlight and panned the walls, taking in the burial sight. “And, no matter what happens, this was worth it.”
“It sure was.” Mac added his light to Rudy’s and for several minutes the two boys just stared, speechlessly up at the walls. “You know, I bet if these guys were in our places, they wouldn’t just give up. They’d fight for their freedom. So should we.” Mac pulled a second flashlight out of his pocket and played it around the room. “Why are you standing around? There might be a way out.”
“I don’t know,” Rudy said, hanging back. “There are worse things than getting arrested, you know.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Like getting lost in these tunnels and never finding our way out.” The sudden mental image of such a fate made Rudy’s mouth go dry.
“Look around you. Do you really think warriors of this caliber would have allowed themselves to be boxed in? They would have made sure there was a second exit, in case of a siege. I remember my dad telling me stories about the ancient Hopis and how they built kivas. Maybe we can find one of those.”
“What’s a kiva?”
“It’s an opening, something like an escape hatch. The Hopi’s used them to return from the underworld and, even if they’re only legends, there might be a grain of truth in the old stories.”
“Okay. But, where do we start?”
“Considering how steep that incline was and how far we had to climb to get here,” he pointed his flashlight upward. “The cliff top is probably right over our heads. All we have to do is find an opening.”
“Is that all?” Rudy asked, doubt apparent in his voice.
Like the chamber below, shafts radiated outward from the burial chamber. They marked the entrance through which they entered, using several of the round stones they’d picked up off the ground to fashion an arrow on the floor in front of it. One by one, they began exploring each tunnel. Some shafts led to more burial chambers, some to empty rooms. They’d explored half of the shafts when they came to a round chamber with smooth walls.
Mac walked around the narrow room, examining it. “This looks like an ancient granary. If that’s so, there should be an opening at the top through which they poured the grain.”
Rudy focused his light upward. “I can’t see any opening from here. Even if there was one, that ceiling is ten feet or higher. How would we get to it?”
Mac pointed to a long pole leaning to the side. It had deep cuts hewn on one side, evidently used as toeholds. “By that ladder, which proves there must be an opening beyond those rocks.”
“But, that won’t hold our weight,” Rudy said, sizing up the dark pole. “It’s ancient. It would probably crumple if you touched it.”
Mac slipped off his pack, then coiled a length of rope across his chest. “It only has to hold one of us. You stay down here. If I find a way out, I’ll throw down the rope and you can climb up. Now, hold the ladder steady and wish me luck.”
“No. You could be killed if you fall.”
“Then I won’t have to worry about the Feds, now, will I?” Mac chuckled at the look of shock on his friends face, then turned and began to climb. He stopped halfway up and called over his shoulder, “There’s some debris blocking the opening, but there’s definitely light beyond. Back off while I clear it.”
Rudy held his breath as Mac disappeared into darkness. He heard a grunt. A rain of pebbles fell, then light poured into the chamber and the rope dropped down.
Mac’s voice was full of triumph as he called down, “Tie the packs on. I’ll haul them up first, then you. And, be quick about it. We’ve got a boat to return.”
~~~
They traveled for several hundred yards on the top of the cliff before descending, then back tracked. Three boats were drawn up on the shore, but the camouflage on their kayak was undisturbed. Being careful not to make a sound, they uncovered the boat and lifted it over the uneven terrain to the water. Once launched, they didn’t look back, but paddled for all they were worth.
It was dark by the time they made it to their next campsite. Both boys were too exhausted to bother with a fire. They unrolled their sleeping bags and crawled in. Rudy gulped down a pack of two cans of tuna, then sighed. “I can’t believe we managed to get out of that mess without detection. I have to hand it to you, Mac. Adventure accomplished. What I’d like to know is how that old ladder was able to take your weight. I touched it on the way up and it crumbled beneath my fingers.”
Mac’s mouth curved into a secretive smile. “It didn’t have to take my full weight. I had these to lighten the load.” He reached into his jeans and pulled out two round rocks, each the size of a golf ball. You don’t think I’d leave our first big adventure without at least one souvenir, do you?”
“But those rocks should have made you heavier, not lighter.”
“That’s what I thought until I held one. Here,” Mac dropped one of the balls into Rudy’s hand. “Check it out.”
“It’s light, really light.” Rudy examined the sphere. “In fact, I don’t feel any weight at all. How can that be?”
“Watch.” Mac held his ball on his palm. At first, nothing happened, then the ball began to rotate under its own power.”
“It’s moving.”
“Keep watching.” The sphere’s revolutions became faster, then it floated straight up and off of Mac’s open palm. He smiled as his friend’s eyes widen in surprise. “Don’t ask me what it is or how it does that. All I know is, the longer it’s in contact with body heat, the higher it rises. Enough of these in our pockets and we could have floated out of the place. No wonder the government is all over it.”
Rudy stared at the orb in his own hand, then gasped, “I bet those mummies were aliens.” He pulled out his cell phone and illuminated the screen. “Check it out. You’re not the only one with secrets. I’ll copy all my pictures to you for half of your floating marbles.”
“You got pictures?” Max released a chorus of excited wolf calls. “You’ve got a deal. But, we’ve got to keep this just between the two of us. We don’t want anyone finding out we were ever there. Right?”
Rudy nodded, then grinned brightly. “So, what’s on the agenda for next summer?”
“Funny you should ask.” Max stuffed his sphere back into his jeans and reached over for his backpack. He searched in it for a few moments, then pulled out a folded piece of paper. It was a scan of the crystal skull they’d looked at the first night. “What do you say to going after a couple of these next summer? We have a whole year to save up for the fare to British Honduras.”
Rudy’s grin broadened. “And, I have the perfect cover. “We’ll say we’re going to New York to visit my Uncle Giorgio. Ma will be in ecstatic to be free of me for the summer.”