"Hunahpu destroyed them. Look, this is a waste of time. We've already opened a tunnel. We should be in it, looking for weak spots."
Beverly crossed her arms. "Give him a minute, Dutch."
He grunted in annoyance.
I looked at the ceiling mural. "Do you see those little objects near the pyramid?"
Beverly shifted her beam. "Yeah. They look like wooden cranes."
"Remember that photo from the infrared camera?" I said to Graham. "It showed light red blobs on the edges of the pyramid. Maybe those blobs are notches."
He gave me a confused look. "Notches?"
"Think about the logistics of workers pushing and pulling a rectangular block up an interior spiraling ramp. At every corner, they'd be stuck with two sides pressed against the wall. In order to keep moving up the ramp, they'd have to turn the block. I think notches were carved at each turning point." I nodded at the tiny wooden cranes. "Those things were installed inside the notches. When a block reached a turning point, the crane would lift and rotate it so workers could move it to the next turning point."
Beverly nodded. "That sounds plausible."
"Plus, it explains why I've seen animals crawling around the pyramid. Hunahpu probably sealed the notches before he left. But a few of them came open over the years. Animals must use them for nests."
"Sure, it's plausible." Graham shrugged. "But so what? We're no closer to finding the Library of the Mayas."
A thought crossed my mind. It was so simple I was amazed I hadn't realized it earlier. And then I knew. I knew the tunnel we'd found was just another decoy. I knew where Hunahpu had hidden the true entrance.
And I knew how to get to it.
"The lowest notches were about ten feet off the ground." I studied the overhead mural. "But it seems pretty clear the exterior ramp was used for that part. Why would there be notches so close to the marsh?"
Beverly gave me a quizzical look. "Maybe they were a design feature?"
"It's better if I show you," I replied. "Follow me."
I strode down the steps and jumped into the marsh. Kneeling down, I thrust my hands into the water. Swiftly, I shoveled mud and vegetation away from the pyramid's southern edge.
My heart raced as I dug deeper and deeper. Soon, I'd cleared away a few feet of soft mud. "Exactly as I thought." I stood up and wiped mud on my shirt. "This isn't the real ground level. The pyramid extends under the marsh. Possibly way under it."
Chapter 74
"We're going to drain the marsh." I lifted my voice as a heavy wind swept over the canyon. "Dutch tells me our pumping apparatus was damaged in the crash. Once it's fixed, we'll start the process. It probably won't be finished until this afternoon."
Dora furrowed her brow. "Where are you going to put the water?"
"Yeah," Renau said. "It's not like you can just pump it into the jungle. The ground is sloped. It'll flow right back into the marsh."
"We're going to direct it east," I replied. "Into the river."
"But that old wall stands in the way."
"We're going to drill a few holes into the wall and snake the hoses through to the other side. But we need to be careful. We don't want to accidentally drain artifacts into the river." I nodded at Beverly. "Would you like to explain your plan?"
"Gladly." She stepped away from the crowd and joined me on the other side of the dome tent. "I'm going to weld a large box out of metal scrounged from the helicopter. It'll have multiple holes on each side in order to fit hoses. Dutch's pumping apparatus will direct water out of the marsh and into the box. Any debris removed from the marsh will sink to the bottom. Then the water will drain into the river via a separate set of hoses."
"That's not a bad system," Miranda said begrudgingly. "But aren't you worried about displacing artifacts from their context?"
"Yes." It took all my self-control not to grab her, to demand answers about Pacho's death. "It's possible some artifacts might get knocked around a bit. We'll do everything possible to keep that from happening. But I can't promise we'll be successful."
She sighed.
"This won't be perfect," I said loudly. "But it's the fastest way to achieve our objective. Now, I need people to monitor the box. Your job will be to scoop out debris and store it for later analysis. It shouldn't be too difficult and there will be plenty of downtime."
Dora raised her hand. "Renau and I can do that."
"Excellent. Once the water is gone, the real work begins. The tractor can do most of it." I glanced at Rigoberta. "Are you up for that?"
She looked a little more rested than the last time I'd seen her. She also wore pants so I couldn't get a good look at the bruises on her legs. But her face remained white. Her eyes were still bloodshot. And her limbs still trembled. "Yes," she replied.
"Thanks." I looked at the others. "The rest of us are going to be digging around the pyramid. We'll sift the dirt and look for artifacts, including bones. But the primary objective is to locate the pyramid's true entrance."
Heads bobbed.
"Any questions?" I asked.
Tum raised his hand. "What about the animals? There might be plenty of rain right now, but they're going to need that marsh when we leave here."
"Once we drain the water, I'll open up an access point to the cave river. Is that sufficient?"
He nodded.
"I have a question." Miranda raised her hand. "Why are we going so fast? We should slow down, take our time. At the very least, we should map the subsurface before we proceed."
I sympathized with her. Hell, the archaeologist within me even agreed with her. Draining the marsh could destroy archaeological evidence. The safest way to approach the situation was to conduct a geophysical survey of the area using ground-penetrating radar and other non-intrusive means.
"Archaeology isn't like other sciences," Miranda continued. "If you screw up this excavation, that's it. We can't redo it. There are no second chances."
"I'm not going to screw it up."
"You're talking about moving bones and debris from their original resting places. That could significantly taint this site."
You falsified your work and you're worried about me tainting history?
"I'm trying to balance different needs," I explained. "We want a professional dig. But we also want the library. I think we can accomplish both."
"Impossible. This is why archaeology and treasure hunting don't mix. One side cares about history. The other cares only about money."
"That's enough." Emily took a deep breath. "This is my dig. I'm the one paying for it. And I say we came here for a purpose. This isn't just about history. This is about saving lives. And the Library of the Mayas will do that. So, Cy's excavation will proceed as planned."
Miranda fell silent.
"Okay." I looked at the various faces. "If you can help with the box or the pumping apparatus, talk to us. Now, let's get to work."
I felt a small thrill as people flowed in our direction. But my excitement was tempered by apprehension. Four lives — two people and two dogs — had been lost in our quest to locate the library.
And unfortunately, I had a feeling Hunahpu wasn't done with us yet.
Chapter 75
"Wow." I stomped across the swampy marsh. "It hasn't fallen an inch."
"I know." Graham frowned. "I can't figure it out."
I checked the pumping apparatus. It was working fine. So, I walked east to the large metal box. Beverly had finished it several hours earlier. Now, six hoses sprayed water into it at a decent clip. Six additional hoses led away from it. They continued east, heading into the jungle.
I put my ears next to the second set of hoses. "I hear gushing water. It's flowing fine."