through it, and as I came in last of all and the great doorstone was rolled back into place behind me, I fell to the floor, breathless and soaking and shaking, and totally and utterly amazed that I was still alive.
Renco came hurrying down from the roof to meet us.
'Lena!' said he, recognising the woman. 'And Mani!' he cried, taking the boy up in his arms.
I just lay exhausted on the floor to the side of all this happiness.
I am ashamed to say it now, but in that moment I actually felt a pang of jealousy toward my friend Renco. No doubt this astonishingly beautiful woman was his wife as one would expect of so dashing a character as Renco.
'Uncle Renco!' the boy exclaimed as Renco held him high.
Uncle?
My eyes snapped up.
'Brother Alberto,' said Renco, coming over. 'I don't know what it was you were planning to do out there, but my people have a saying. “It is not so much the gift as the intention behind it that matters”. Thank you. Thank you for rescuing my sister and her son.'
'Your sister?' said I, staring at the woman as she removed her waterlogged cloak and revealed a minuscule tunic-like undergarment that was itself soaked through to the skin.
What I saw made me swallow.
She was far more beautiful than I had at first perceived— if indeed such a thing were possible. She was perhaps twenty years of age, with soft brown eyes, smooth olive skin and flowing dark hair. She had long slender legs and smoothly muscled shoulders, and through her saturated undergarment I could see her ample bosom and —much to my embarrassment—her erect nipples.
She was radiant.
Renco wrapped her in a dry blanket and she smiled at me and I truly felt weak at the knees.
'Brother Alberto Santiago,' said Renco formally. 'May I present to you my sister, Lena, first princess of the Incan empire.'
Lena stepped forward and took my hand in hers. 'It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,' said she with a smile.
'And thank you for your most brave act.'
'Oh, it was.., nothing,' said I, blushing.
'And thank you also for rescuing my errant brother from his prison cell,' said she.
Seeing my surprise, she added, 'Oh, rest assured, my hero, word of your noble deed has spread throughout the empire.'
I bowed my head modestly. I liked the way she called me 'my hero'.
Just then something occurred to me and I turned to Renco. 'Say, how did you know the idol would have that effect on the rapas?'
Renco gave me a crooked smile.
'As a matter of fact, I didn't know it would do that.'
'What!' I cried.
Renco laughed. 'Alberto, I am not the one who jumped off a perfectly safe roof to rescue a woman and child I didn't even know!'
He put an arm around my shoulders. 'It has been said that the Spirit of the People has the ability to soothe savage beasts. This I have never seen, but I have heard that when it is immersed in water, the idol will calm even the most enraged animal. When I was awoken by your shouts and I saw the three of you surrounded by the rapas, I surmised that this was as good a time as any to test that theory.'
I shook my head in wonderment.
'Renco,' said Lena, stepping forward, 'I hate to disturb your revelry, but I have come with a message.'
'What?'
'The Spaniards have taken Roya. But they cannot decipher the totems. So whenever they reach one, they have Chanca trackers scour the surrounding area until they pick up your trail. After the gold-eaters sacked Paxu and Tupra, I was sent here to tell you of their progress since I am one of the few who know the code to the totems. I have since learned that they have burned Roya to the ground. They have picked up your scent, Renco. And they are on their way here.'
'How long?' said Renco.
Lena's face darkened.
'They move fast, brother. Very fast. At their current rate of travel, I estimate that they will be here by daybreak.'
* * *
'Found anything?' Frank Nash said suddenly from behind Race.
Race looked up from the manuscript to find Nash, Lauren, Gaby and Krauss standing in the doorway to the ATV, looking at him expectantly. It was late in the afternoon, and owing to the storm clouds overhead, the sky behind them had already begun to darken considerably.
Race looked at his watch.
