They picked up their pace, inspired now that their objective was in sight, and were fortunate enough to find a swollen stream that led straight to the half-mile-wide gap between the two peaks. When they reached the entry to the valley, Drake’s watch read three thirty, so they had at least three solid hours of light to go before they’d need to pitch their tents.
Allie adjusted the worn straps on her backpack as they eyed the valley. “We’re looking for a cave. But after five hundred years, it might blend into the landscape or have caved in. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“You mean there isn’t going to be a big stone gate or something?” Drake asked innocently, and Allie smiled.
“Wouldn’t that be nice?” she replied, and then they began methodically scanning their surroundings, Joe and Spencer taking turns with the binoculars Joe had brought.
After fifteen minutes, nobody had spotted anything. Spencer shrugged and unsheathed his machete. “Looks like we do this the hard way. Any preference on where we start?”
Allie pointed to the nearest of the two peaks. “Any cave is likely to be close to the base, so I’d suggest we begin at the bottom of the right one and work around it, then go across to the other.”
“Fair enough,” Spencer said, and headed into the brush.
Two hours later they’d been over the entire base, spread twenty feet apart in a sweeping pattern to ensure they didn’t miss anything. The sun was low in the afternoon sky, and its blistering glare had faded to a diffused glow. Ghostly tendrils of ground fog began drifting through the peaks as the air cooled with dusk’s approach.
Spencer called over to them. “I think we’re done for the day. Let’s find a decent place to camp, and we’ll finish this tomorrow.”
They made their way down to the steep bank of the stream and found a flat area behind a thicket of bamboo fifteen yards from the water. Uncle Pete busied himself setting up the tents with Drake and Spencer, and Allie excused herself to freshen up at the stream before it got completely dark. Drake was finishing up driving the final tent post into the ground when Allie came hurrying toward them from the stream.
“I think I found something,” she said breathlessly, her face shiny from the heat.
“What is it?” Drake asked. Spencer raised his head, and then he and Uncle Pete moved to join them.
“There’s an outcropping of rocks on the far bank that looks unusual. It could be a cave entrance.”
“I’ll get some flashlights,” Spencer said, and went to the tent to retrieve them. When he returned, he handed one to Allie, and they all set out down the stream to the suspect area.
Sixty yards down the bank from their camp, she stopped and pointed. “That’s it. What do you think?”
They stared across the water at a mound of rocks overgrown with vegetation, with another pile next to it that looked cleaner — as though the stones had been placed there.
“Could be. Definitely suspicious. Maybe we can get across around here?” Drake said, eyeing the rushing water.
Spencer shook his head. “Looks too deep. It’s wider by our camp. Let’s cross there, and we can work our way back along that side.”
They made their way back to the wider, shallower part of the stream and stepped across, the water rising to their knees. Once on the far bank, they made their slippery way toward the outcropping as the last of the sun’s rays surrendered to the blanket of fog settling over the valley. When they reached the rocks, Drake flicked on his rugged aluminum flashlight and moved to the fresher-looking pile of stones.
“It’s definitely not a natural formation. Someone stacked these here,” Drake said. “Allie, hold the flashlights for us. Spencer, give me a hand. Let’s see if we can budge a few of these and find out what’s behind them.”
Allie moved beside Drake and took his light, and the two men selected one of the smaller rocks at the top as Joe and the pair of Shans looked on. “Ready? On three. One. Two… three!” Drake exclaimed, and they both heaved. A vein bulged on Drake’s forehead as he strained. The stone shifted and tumbled down the face of the slope with a crash, and then settled in the mud by the side of the stream.
“There’s a space behind them,” Drake said, peering into the gap. “If we get a few more out of the way, we should be able to squeeze through.”
Spencer nodded. “This one looks like it could be dislodged relatively easily. Allie, hand me a light. I can use it for leverage.”
She gave one of the lamps to Drake, and he wedged it into a crevice between the two stones and pushed. The rock inched forward with a scrape. Spencer joined him, and together they got it free. It rolled down and joined its mate by the stream, creating an opening barely large enough for a child to squeeze through.
“If we shift this one too, that should do it,” Allie said, motioning to another medium-sized stone.
“You heard the lady. Third time’s a charm,” Spencer said, and they both wedged their lights behind the stone and rocked it back and forth until it gave. It dropped into the opening with a thud, creating an aperture twenty by thirty inches.
“That ought to do it,” Drake said, and then switched his lamp on and directed it into the opening. “You want to take it from here, Allie? You’re the expert.”
Allie took a final look at the twilight fog and the near-dark of the remaining visible sky, and crawled up the rocks into the space beyond. Drake went next, followed by Spencer. Joe contented himself with watching from outside while Harry scrambled through, leaving Dick with Joe.
The cave was narrow at the front and widened as it stretched deeper into the slope. Allie’s beam was transfixed on a carving near shoulder level — the unmistakable visage of a smiling Buddha with some stylized figures beneath it. She reached out and ran her fingers along the stone. “This is Khmer. It’s very distinctive,” she whispered.
“Then this…”
“Unless there are multiple caves between the ‘two guardians’ with Khmer carvings, I’d say this is our spot,” she said, and swung her beam toward the far chamber created by the cave’s irregular walls. She took a hesitant step, and then another.
Drake swept his light around them, alert for scorpions or snakes — caves being a favorite hiding place. Allie edged nearer the chamber as Spencer and Harry brought up the rear, and together they moved into the second area.
She stopped abruptly at the threshold, her breathing shallow. When she turned to face them, she was white as a sheet.
“Looks like we’re too late. But that’s the least of our problems.”
Chapter 39
Drake pushed by Allie and squinted into the recesses of the cave. There were more carvings on the rock face, matching the Khmer Buddha behind them, with alcoves cut into the stone walls and elaborate pictographs framing them — but any trace of treasure was gone. His beam hit something brown near the floor, and when he fixed the light on it, he understood Allie’s reaction.
At least twenty Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles lay in an open wooden crate, with several more containers of ammunition beside it, and a lump of material covered by a large camouflage tarp. Spencer approached it and lifted one edge of the fabric, then dropped it — he’d seen enough.
“It’s drug-refining equipment and another two crates of rifles. And at least a pallet of cellophane-wrapped blocks of white powder.” Spencer paused. “Looks like grave robbers got here a long time before we did, Allie. But I agree, we’ve got a bigger problem. These weapons look like they’re in good shape.” He leaned over and picked up one of the Kalashnikovs and ran a finger over the breech. “Oil. No rusting. So whoever owns them stashed them here relatively recently. And they’ll be back to collect their heroin, I’d bet. This must be a drop-off point. By the looks of it, a regularly used one.”