Laura 01 The Jaguar Prophecy (26 page)

“What treasure?” Laura is not sure if she should believe Manco, and if the treasure she is seeking is the same as the one Manco is talking about. No, it cannot be, she and Victor are here by pure accident, not fate or some ancient prophecy.

Manco smiles as he replies, “The treasure that was hidden from the Spaniards when they invaded Peru, and the treasure that was taken from the Spanish ship that stranded on the coast, it is in the next room.” His answer takes Laura by surprise.

“In the next room? What room? If you know where it is, why don’t you get it yourself?” Laura is now unsure about Manco and starts to wonder how Victor is doing and where he is. She now doubts that they are healing him, expecting more to be spicing him for tonight’s feast, with her as dessert.

Manco’s answer brings her attention back to the room.

“We cannot solve the puzzle of the door, and besides, it is written that the treasure is cursed and only the jaguar lady can safely find it.” Manco points to a section of the wall on the left from the opening that is decorated with a beautiful painting of a bare chested young Peru woman holding her arms out to the sides and up. The woman has her back to the room and is looking over her shoulder into the room. Looking closer Laura notices that where the woman’s heart should be, there is a one-inch size hole with a slit in the wall at either side of the hole.

“What is this hole for?” Manco shines his light over the hole and then from top to bottom over the painting. He shakes his head when he replies, “I do not know, but I think it has something to do with opening the door to the treasure chamber.”

Looking down Laura notices a few small paintings close to the bottom of the floor, between the woman’s legs. Due to years of rain, flooding and dust, the pictures are almost totally obscured by a layer of dirt and mud. “Do you have some water, Manco?”

Manco shouts to someone outside and not long after a warrior enters with an animal skin water canteen. Laura takes the water from the man and carefully starts to wash the mud from the wall. Slowly, a story is beginning to unfold from the pictures. Manco shines the light where Laura works and after a few minutes, all the mud is cleared from the paintings.

Repeatedly, Laura studies the three inch high sized paintings before looking up to Manco with fear on her face.

“There must be another way,” Manco says softly. Looking back again, Laura studies the paintings in detail. It shows a young woman standing against the wall with her back to the room that is full of people. Then it shows how the woman places her feet apart on the ground and presses against the wall. The next picture is the one that horrifies Laura, it shows a spear coming out of the wall and impaling the woman, while a door next to the woman opens and treasure flows through the doorway, while people bend down to the ground in thanks to the woman for her sacrifice.

“Manco, how will this treasure help your people?” Laura does not look up for she does not want him to see the tears in her eyes. She is thinking of Victor and how much she cares for him.

“Our people are starving. We have no roads to link the towns to allow the people to easily get their coffee harvest to the market. The government is bankrupt, and we do not have money to build schools or hospitals. Many people die because they cannot reach a hospital, or have no access to clean water. If the legend is true, then the treasure is worth billions.”

Laura wipes the tears from her eyes and slowly stands up. Looking directly at Manco she softly says, “My dad used to say that only when you accept death can you truly live your life, and that those that have the power to help others, have the duty to do so. This is my chance to make a difference in the world, for my life to have meaning.”

Manco can only stare at this young woman, showing so much courage. Laura steps forward and hugs Manco while saying, “Goodbye Manco,” then she gives him a kiss on the right cheek. Manco returns the hug but cannot speak.

Slowly, Laura moves to the wall with the painting of the woman. She is exactly the same size as Laura. Carefully Laura places her left foot on the ground following the painting and feels the tile under her foot give a little, then she places her right foot on the ground as shown in the painting, and again she feels the tile under her foot give a little and sink into the floor.

From behind the wall she can hear scraping and sounds as if something mechanical is moving. Pressing her body against the wall she spreads her arms out, following the painting. She feels a small bump under each of her hands on the wall where the hands of the lady in the painting are. This must be what she needs to press. Giving one last look at Manco, she turns her gaze forward and takes a deep breath.

With all her might she presses the small bumps on the wall under the palms of her hands and feels the bumps give and sink into the wall. Laura waits for the spear to pierce her heart. A thud sound against the wall from the other side gives Laura such a fright that she almost jumps back, yet she holds true, waiting for death.

Nothing happens, no spear. Laura waits for a few seconds more, then suddenly a cloud of dust shoots into the air and the wall starts to shudder. The sound of a heavy stone being moved over another stone can be heard. The dust blinds Laura and causes her eyes to water. She closes her eyes and again waits for death.

Suddenly she feels a hand being placed on her shoulder and Manco speaks behind her.

“Laura, you have found the door.” Opening her eyes slowly, she notices that a section of the wall next to her has swung open, revealing a passageway. Slowly Laura steps back in disbelief.

“I don’t understand, what happened?” Laura is relieved and excited at the same time, for not being dead and for finding the door.

Manco just shrugs his shoulders. Laura steps into the small passageway with Manco right behind her. As soon as they enter Laura notices mechanical arms and pulleys to the left of the door, behind the wall where she was standing waiting for the spear to end her life. Manco shines the light over the contraptions and draws his breath.

“You truly are the one!” Right in line with the hole is a spear ready to be fired, a large stone is over the spear and against the wall. The stone is attached to a pulley system and clearly the stone must have swung from the roof down and hit the wall. Now Laura knows what made the thud sound. They notice that the stone is linked to pressure plates in the floor which must be what Laura stood on. Laura’s weight is just perfect, for had she been heavier the stone would have been lifted just a fraction more, and the end of the spear would not have passed through the small hole in the stone, causing the stone to hit the spear and kill Laura.

The same would have happened if Laura had been just a bit lighter, as the stone would not have been lifted high enough for the end of the spear to fit into the hole as the stone slammed into the wall. An impressive system.

Looking closer, Laura notices a small lever resting on the spear and against the wall. The stone has a groove in, allowing the stone to sit flush against the wall while the lever fits into the stone. Tracing the lever they notice that the lever allows the door to be opened. Had the spear been fired, the lever would have dropped down and locked the door forever.

Laura and Manco notice that they are in a long passageway, with the left being blocked by the intricate mechanical door system and the right leading off away from the door. Nodding to each other, they start to make their way along the passage, Laura in front and Manco lighting the path. The passageway is built from perfectly cut granite stone blocks and is about three feet wide and six feet high. The walls are undecorated.

After 60 feet, the passage suddenly turns right and then starts to slope down. Laura and Manco continue down the passage, in the hope of finding the treasure appearing in front of them at any moment. The section drops fast and after about 50 feet they come to a left turn. Following the passageway, they turn left and continue on, now on a slightly less steep angle down. After what Laura reckons to be about 100 feet, the passage again turns left. As they round the corner Laura suddenly stops dead in her tracks, causing Manco to bump into her.

He shines the light past Laura and while looking over her shoulder comments angrily, “This cannot be!” Seven feet in front of them is a wall, a dead end. Laura and Manco start to inspect the walls around them for a sign of a hidden passage or door, but there is none. The walls are solid rock with no indication of any passage or irregular stonework.

Laura drops to the ground on her knees and starts to cry, facing Manco. After all she went through and the hopes of helping the poor, it is all for nothing.

Manco puts his hands on her shoulders to comfort her, suddenly something pushes him from behind, causing him to almost fall on top of Laura. Turning around and shining the light down the small passage he gasps in surprise. Right in front of him stands the jaguar. Laura and Manco are cornered by the jaguar with no weapons or means of escape.

The jaguar gives a growl and pushes past Manco towards Laura, pressing him into the wall without any effort or concern. Before either can react, the jaguar puts its head on Laura’s right shoulder for a moment, and then stands on its hind legs with its front paws on the back wall of the passage. As Manco shines the light on the jaguar to see what it is doing, the jaguar puts its head against the roof right at the wall and pushes. Dust comes from the sides of the roof stone and there is the sound of stone moving on stone.

Laura and Manco gasp in surprise to see the roof stone move and inch forward, creating a gap between the last two roof stones. Suddenly a rat drops through the opening right on Laura’s head. With a scream Laura jumps up and throws the rat off her head, causing it to skid on the ground before it runs off along the passage. As soon as the rat hits the ground the jaguar is down on all four legs and pushes past Laura and Manco, bumping them into the walls, going after the rat down the passage.

Laura’s heart is pounding against her chest, both from the fright of the rat and from the excitement of finding a hidden passage, of new hope of finding the treasure. Working together they push the roof stone more forward until they cannot move it any more. There is now a 12 inch gap in the roof.

Manco lifts Laura up on his shoulders to allow Laura to put her head through the opening. Using the flashlight, Laura peers in all directions.

“What do you see?” Manco asks impatiently.

“It seems like a passage about 10 feet long, but there is a turn at the end.”

“I am too large to fit through, you will have to do it Laura”. Reluctantly Laura starts to pull herself into the passage. Lucky she is petite, as the passage is only 15 by 15 inches big. With a struggle, she manages to reach the turn and peers around the corner. Without warning, a rat jumps onto her head and runs down her back, under her shirt. Laura is so shocked that she cannot manage a scream. The rat is now trapped under her shirt and goes wild on her back, scratching her.

Laura tries but cannot reach around as the passage is too narrow, all she can do is to push up against the roof and crush the rat. She pushes as hard as she can, hearing bones crack until the rat is not moving any more. Her back hurts and blood is running down it, she shivers at the thought of the dead rat on her back, but continues on.

Shining the light in front of her she is surprised to find another wall, yet this one has two holes in it, just large enough for her to pass her arms through. Looking inside the holes, she notices that each one has a lever in it.

“Manco, I am at a dead end and there are two holes in the wall with levers in each one, what should I do?”

“Is there small holes in the walls next to you?”

Looking next to her and as best she can down her body Laura notices rows upon rows of one-inch holes at either side of her.

“Yes, there are a number of holes in the walls, what are they for, Manco?”

“It is a protected doorway, one lever will open a door somewhere, while the second lever will cause wooden spears to come out of the holes and kill you.”

“Which one shall I pull?” Laura is not so much afraid of dying anymore, but rather that she will die in vain.

“I do not know, Laura. I think it must be the left one.”

“Ok, I’ll try the left one,” replies Laura uncertainly. Slowly, she inches forward until she can get her left arm into the hole and grabs the lever. Closing her eyes she starts to pull. The lever is sticking from years of dust, but slowly it moves towards her. Laura can hear noise coming from the sides of the walls. She wonders if it is the door opening or the mechanism shooting the spears.

The lever gives another bit but then gets stuck. Laura puts her right hand against the wall and braces herself to give the lever a jolt to free it. Just then she hears her name being called. Laura freezes; can it be?

“Dad, is that you?” she says softly, shaking her head to try and wake herself from this illusion. It cannot be, her dad had died a year ago. Memories of him come flooding in, and then one sticks in her mind. Softly, Laura repeats her dad’s favorite words to her.

“The righteous always walk the right path, no matter the consequences.” Gently, Laura lets go of the lever and pulls her arm out of the hole. What should I do dad? Silence answers back. Uncertainly Laura puts her hand in the right hole, and grips the lever. Taking a deep breath she pulls on it, it does not move. Again, Laura uses her other hand to brace herself against the wall.

“It’s now or never,” she says to herself and pulls as hard as she can. The lever comes loose, and she pulls it all the way forward as far as she can. Suddenly the floor beneath her opens and she falls about three feet before coming to land hard on the floor. The flashlight rolls away from her until it stops against something that blocks the beam.

Laura can just make out where it is but cannot see anything around her. Carefully she crawls to the light and picks it up. Her jaw drops at the same time as she loses her grip on the light, from what she sees. She has to shake her head to get herself to pick up the light again.