They would arrive back at Vilcafor soon. But before they did, he wanted to read the manuscript—to read it right to the end.
There were so many questions he wanted answered. Like when Renco had substituted a fake idol for the real one, or how he had got the rapas back into the temple.
But most of allPmore importantly than anything else—
he wanted to know one thing.
Where the real idol lay.
Race settled into his seat at the back of the plane. Just as he was about to open the manuscript, however, he saw the emerald pendant hanging from his neck—Renco's pendant—and took it in his hand. He ran his fingers over the stone's glistening green edges. As he did so, he thought about the skeleton from which he had taken the leather neckpiece earlier that daymthe filthy battered skeleton that
he had found just inside the temple.
Renco . . .
Race blinked out of it, tried not to think about it. He released the emerald and collected his thoughts. Then he found the spot in the manuscript where he had last left the story:
Alberto Santiago had just saved Renco's sister, Lena, from the rapas, after which Lena had told Renco that the Spaniards would be arriving at Vilcafor by daybreak…
FOURTH READING
Renco stared at Lena for the longest of moments.
'Daybreak,' said he, repeating her words.
It was still dark outside, but it would be morning in a matter of hours.
'That is right,' said Lena.
In the dim firelight of the citadel, I could see the thoughts as they crossed Renco's face—his mission to save the idol conflicting with his desire to help the people of Vilcafor in their time of dire need.
Renco looked across the interior of the citadel. 'Bassario,' said he and sharply.
I turned to see Bassario sitting cross-legged on the floor in a darkened corner of the citadel, his back to the room as usual.
'Yes, oh, wise prince,' the criminal said, not looking up from what he was doing.
'What progress have you made?'
'I am almost finished.'
Renco strode over to where the devious criminal was sit ting. I followed.
Bassario turned as Renco arrived at his side, and I saw on the floor beside him the idol that it was our sworn mission to protect. Bassario then offered Renco something to appraise.
When I saw what it was, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Then I blinked my eyes twice and looked again for I was sure that they were playing a trick on me.
But they were not.
They most certainly were not.
For there in Bassario's hands, right before my eyes, was an exact replica of Renco's idol.
Of course, Renco had planned it all, conceived it from the very beginning.
I remembered our brief stop in the quarry town of Colco very early in our journey, remembered seeing Renco obtain a sack full of sharp-edged objects. And I distinctly remembered wondering at the time why we were wasting our precious time collecting rocks!
But now I understood.
Renco had obtained a collection of rocks from the quarry which had most imitated the strange black-and- purple stone from which the idol had been carved.
Then he had given those stones to the criminal Bassario and commissioned him to carve an identical copy of the idol with which, presumably, he would bamboozle Hernando.
It was brilliant.
I also realized then what Bassario had been doing throughout our journey, at those times when he would skulk off to a corner of our camp and huddle over a small fire with his back to us.
He had been carving his copy of the idol.
And truly, it must be said, what a remarkable copy it was.
The snarling jaws of the cat, the knife-like teeth. All of it carved out of a most lustrous kind of black-and- purple stone.
And for a moment, all I could do was stare at the false idol and wonder what kind of master criminal Bassario had been.
'How long until you are finished?' Renco inquired of Hassario. As Renco spoke, I noticed that the replica still required some finishing touches around the cat's jawline.
'Not long,' the criminal answered. 'It will be done by dawn.'
