‘Muggins leads the way, as usual,’ he said. ‘All right, I’ll go and find you another archaeological wonder. If I must.’ He grinned, then gathered his equipment and went to the foot of the cliff.
The edge of the waterfall was only ten feet from where he began to climb, and spray quickly soaked him. As Mac had thought, the ascent was straightforward; it took barely a minute before he was level with the ledge. It was only a matter of inches wide. Eddie hammered a spike into the rock and attached a carabiner, then threaded the rope through it and dropped one end down so the others could follow him up, tying a knot to secure it. Then, the line coiled over one shoulder, he faced the wall and edged sidelong along the ledge.
Even though the route was set slightly back beneath an overhang, the falling water still pounded at his back. He dug his fingers into cracks in the rock, clinging tightly and advancing step by cautious step.
After about forty feet, the cliff bulged slightly outwards. It would force him directly into the deluge. He tried to look past it to see if the ledge continued on the far side, but his view was blocked by water and spray. Keeping hold with one hand, he took out a second spike and gingerly supported it in the crook of his thumb before tapping it into place with his hammer. Another carabiner was hooked on, and the rope clipped through it. Satisfied it was secure, Eddie took several deep breaths – then found a firm handhold and pulled himself into the deluge.
He almost lost his grip as the full force of the water hit, threatening to hurl him down on to the jagged rocks below. Blinded, unable to breathe, he pressed his chest against the rock and groped ahead. The protruding section of cliff was only short – his hand found clear air again on the other side. He hugged the wall and slid round it, emerging back beneath the overhang.
Utterly drenched, Eddie shook water from his face and regained his breath before attaching another spike. Holding the rope, he twisted to look at what lay behind the waterfall.
His eyes widened at the sight. ‘Well, bloody hell . . . ’
Nina’s radio crackled, Eddie’s voice almost drowned by the noise of the waterfall. ‘Nina, you there?’
‘Eddie! Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Fucking soaked, though.’
‘What can you see?’ she asked. ‘Is there an opening in the cliff?’
‘Nope.’
A shock of disappointment ran through her. ‘What? There
‘Oh, there’s an opening. There isn’t a cliff.’
The group exchanged confused glances. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, it’s not a cliff. It’s a
31
Eddie gazed up at his discovery. Behind the waterfall, everything was shrouded in shadow, but there was still more than enough light to see the scale of the wall. Like the ceremonial buildings at the heart of Paititi, it was built from exactingly carved blocks, fitted together with incredible precision. Thirty feet above him was its top, a horizontal line bisecting what had once been an irregularly shaped cave mouth. He couldn’t help thinking it looked like a battlement, the almost sheer, incredibly smooth surface making it impossible for anyone to get inside.
Except by the entrance further along the ledge.
The laser rangefinder had been correct; there was a second, much smaller hole. He regarded it with deep suspicion. It was about five feet high by four wide, and as far as he could tell wasn’t barricaded. A simple, inviting way in.
Too simple. Too inviting. The Incas wouldn’t have built a massive defensive wall, then left a hole through which any gold-hunter could wander. There had to be a catch.
‘What do you mean, a wall?’ said Nina over the radio.
He described it, then continued along the ledge. ‘I’m going to look through the doorway,’ he reported as he advanced. A gentle trickle of liquid splashed over his hand as he balanced it against the wall – not from the waterfall, but from a small slotlike opening above. There were similar gaps nearby. ‘I think there’s water behind the wall as well. I just went under a drainage hole. Hope nobody’s still living here – I’ll be pissed off if I’ve been pissed on.’
‘At least you’ll be able to wash yourself straight away,’ said Nina. ‘How far to the doorway?’
‘Almost there.’ He sidestepped along the last few feet, then cautiously peered into the opening.
Nothing leapt out at him, no traps were sprung. The confined stone passage looked empty, extending about twelve feet before stopping at a wall. Taking out a Maglite, he crouched and shone the torch inside. There appeared to be a vertical shaft rising up on the other side of the wall. But to where?
‘Okay,’ he said, after telling Nina and the others what he had found, ‘it looks clear, but I don’t really trust it. Were the Incas big on booby-traps?’
Osterhagen took the radio. ‘The Incas never developed the wheel, so they weren’t able to build complex mechanisms. But there have been simple traps found at some sites – tripwires, balanced stones.’
‘Great. Just what I needed to hear.’
Nina’s voice came back through the speaker. ‘Eddie, wait where you are. I’m coming up.’
‘Don’t suppose I could persuade you not to? Yeah, thought not,’ he added before she could even reply. ‘You’ll want to put on a rain hat, though.’
It took her ten minutes to get there, holding the rope tightly as she shuffled along the ledge. Even though she had donned a hooded nylon poncho over her clothes, she was still soaked to the skin. ‘God damn it!’ she said as she reached him. ‘This thing was supposed to be waterproof.’
‘Even if you wore a full gimp suit, water’d still get in somewhere,’ Eddie told her. ‘Anyway, this is what we’ve
