ever there was one.'
'I think you underestimate Fallon -- and Paul,' she said 'Don't you think we'll find Uaxuanoc?'
I jerked my thumb at the green wall. 'In this? I wouldn't trust myself to find the Eiffel Tower if someone dumped it down here.'
'That's just because you don't know how to look and where to look,' she said. 'But Paul and Fallon are professionals; they've done this before.'
'Yes, there are tricks to ever trade,' I admitted. 'I know there are plenty in mine, but I can't see much use for an accountant here. I feel as out of place as a Hottentot at a Buck House garden party.' I looked into the forest. Talk about not being able to see the wood for the trees -- I'll be interested to see how the experts go about this.'
I soon found out because Fallon called a conference in the big hut. There was a huge photo-mosaic pinned to a cork board on the wall and the table was covered with maps. I was curious to know why the helicopter pilot, a Texan called Harry Rider, was included in the discussion, but it soon became clear.
Fallon broke open the refrigerator and served beer all round, then said succinctly, The key to this problem is the cenotes. We know Uaxuanoc was centred on a cenote because Vivero said so, and there was no reason for him to lie about that. Besides, it's the most likely occurrence -- a city must have water and the only water is at the cenotes.'
He took a pointer and stepped up to the photo-mosaic. He laid the tip of the pointer in the centre, and said. 'We are here, next to a very small cenote on the edge of the clearing.' He turned to me. 'If you want to see your first Mayan structure you'll find it next to the cenote.'
I was surprised. 'Aren't you going to investigate it?'
'It's not worth it; it won't tell me anything I don't know already.' He swept the pointer around in a large circle. 'Within ten miles of this point there are fifteen cenotes, large and small, and around one of them may be the city of Uaxuanoc.'
I was still trying to clarify in my mind the magnitude of me problem. 'How big would you expect it to be?' I asked.
Halstead said, 'Bigger man Chichen Itza -- if we can believe Vivero's map.'
'That doesn't mean much to me.'
The centre of Copan is over seventy-five acres,' said Fallon. 'But you mustn't confuse a Mayan city with any other city you've seen. The centre of the city -- the stone structures we are looking for -- was me religious and administrative centre, and probably the market-place. Around it, for several square miles, lived the Mayas of the city. They didn't live in neat little houses built into streets as we do but in an immense system of small-holdings. Each family would have its own little farm, and the household buildings were very little different from the huts that the Mayas now build, although probably more extensive. There's nothing wrong with the Mayan hut -- it's ideally suited to this climate.'
'And the population?'
'Chichen Itza was about 200,000 according to Morley,' said Halstead. 'Uaxuanoc might run upwards of a quarter-million.'
'That's a devil of a lot of people,' I said in astonishment.
To build the immense structures they did required a lot of hands,' said Fallon. These were a neolithic people, remember, using stone tools to carve stone. I expect the centre of Uaxuanoc will be about one hundred acres, if we can rely on Vivero's map, so the outer city would have been populous, with more people in it man in the whole of Quintana Roo .now. But there'll be no trace left of the outer city, timber buildings don't last in this climate.'
He tapped with the pointer again. 'Let's get on with it. So we have fifteen cenotes to look at, and if we don't find what we're looking for we'll have to go further afield. That will be unfortunate, because within twenty miles of here there are another forty-nine cenotes and it's going to take a long time if we have to investigate them all.'
He waved the pointer at the pilot. 'Fortunately we have Harry Rider and his helicopter so we can do it in reasonable comfort. I'm getting too old to tackle the forest.'
Rider said, 'I've already had a look at some of those water-holes, Mr. Fallon; in most of them there's no place to put down -- not even my chopper. It's real thick.' Fallon nodded. 'I know; I've been here before and I know what it's like. We'll run a preliminary photo survey. Colour film might show up differences in vegetation due to underlying structures, and infra-red might show more. And I'd like to do some flights early morning and late evening -- we might get something out of the shadows.'
He turned and regarded the photo-mosaic. 'As you can see, 'I've numbered the cenotes under consideration. Some are more likely than others. Vivero said there was a ridge running through Uaxuanoc with a temple at the top and a cenote at the bottom. Cenotes and ridges seem to be associated in this area, which is bad luck; but it cuts the possibles down to eleven. I think we can forget numbers four, seven, eight and thirteen for the time being.' He turned to Rider. 'When can we start?'
'Any time you like -- I'm fuelled up,' said Rider.
Fallon consulted his watch. 'We'll fix up the cameras, and leave directly after lunch.'
I helped to load the cameras into the helicopter. There was nothing amateurish or snapshottery about this gear; they were professional aerial cameras and I noticed that the helicopter was fitted with all the necessary brackets to receive them. My respect for Fallen's powers of organisation grew even more. Allowing for the fact that he had more money to chuck about than appeared decent, at least he knew how to spend it to the best advantage. He was no playboy of the jet-set circuit spilling his wealth into some casino owner's pocket.
After a quick: lunch Fallon and Halstead made for the helicopter, I said, 'What do I do?'
Fallon rubbed his chin. 'There doesn't seem to be anything you can do,' he said, and over his shoulder I saw Halstead grinning widely. 'You'd better rest up this afternoon. Stay out of the sun until you're used to this heat. Well be back in a couple of hours.'
I watched the helicopter take off and disappear over the trees feeling a little silly and like an unwanted spare part. Katherine was nowhere to be seen -- I think she'd gone into the hut she shared with Halstead to unpack their personal gear. I wondered what to do and wandered disconsolately to the far end of the clearing to look at the
