A Golden Legend

Chapter 21

When the breeze ceased the haze returned to cover the scene. After a couple of minutes, which seemed endless, the noises produced by the marching men became extinct, and were gradually succeeded by the usual sounds of the forest. Francisco appeared again and still in a low voice said.

“The imminent danger has passed, but anyway let's wait until the fog has risen to continue our journey. Get your backpacks ready.”

That said, he continued to advance crouch to pass the word to the remaining companions. Teresa quietly said to Marcelo:

“Listen, I think I know who they were.”

“Going to say to you recognized a few men in the fog, in the middle of the jungle and thousands of miles from where you live?

“Marcelo, I have the impression that those were members of the same group that kidn*pped me in Yucatan. Uniforms and even some of the faces were familiar to me.”

“As far as I could see, the uniforms were not all equal, i.e. were not precisely uniform.”

“Same as the ones in Yucatan. In particular one of them had a jacket with camouflage, dark trousers and a red beret.”

“Teresa, are you sure you really spotted them, or was it part of any of your... visions?”

“No! I have seen them clearly!”

The young man was not very convinced, and argued that the girl had made the association between two equally alarming facts of her life, i.e. what were similar were the circumstances and not the men. Anyway it not could be excluded completely the possibility that Teresa was right; for this reason and since they could not elucidate the problem in that moment, they resolved to keep this dilemma for themselves, in order not to  create more confusion in the group, and do not generate doubts about the character of the woman.

Once the fog had dissipated completely they were ready to go on. Some members asked Francisco which was the reason for distrust of hikers in the forest.

“Nothing good can come of people that travel in this part of the jungle, and those of us who could see them, state that they were armed. This jungle is teeming with batches of gold seekers, potentially hostile Indians, drug traffickers and even scattered elements of the Shining Path of yesteryear. We had nothing to gain and everything to lose if we are disclosed.

“And what happens if we find them again?”asked Miguel, the Mexican archaeologist.

“We will send scouts to the front” said Francisco “two local men will be preceding us one hundred steps away. If there is doubt one of them will approach the rest to warn us. As a precaution we will advance in silence and we will establish our camps after inspecting the surroundings.”

In this way, the excursion was transformed into something very similar to a military maneuver, which added further complications and tension. A festive air that had recovered after the incident in the canoe again resulted in a sorry and fearful climate.

That afternoon they penetrated into an especially dense area of the jungle, with not very high but grisled trees, twisted and joined by vines and lianas. The area was very wet, and the vegetation dripped condensed water falling everywhere, being retained by plants of the family of the Bromeliaceous that collected it inside. The amount of insects was unbearable, despite repellents that visitors sprayed on themselves

“This is not the native forest” said Francisco "you can even see fruit trees mixed with others.”

“It looks like an abandoned orchard, swallowed again by the forest” Jimenez added that this occurs very frequently in Central America.

In fact, everything indicated they were in a secondary forest, i.e. in an area once occupied and cultivated by humans and that was eventually abandoned by them, which then succumbs to progressively the native vegetation, better adapted to the environment and with the complicity of the fauna, which preferably feeds on the fruits of such vegetation, and therefore contributes to its dissemination of its seeds. The first species covering the abandoned properties are the so-called pioneers, of rapid deployment, which leave then space to other species that colonize in final form, covering the area with trees growing taller and more sparsely distributed.

When they approached a bend where a brook ran over stones and provided crystal clear water, Francisco gave the order to stop.

“Juan and Nemesio will beat the surroundings” he ordered two of the Peruvian pawns “if there are no hazards we will prepare lunch and rest until the Sun runs down.”

They then established a temporary stop, sitting on fallen logs and discharging their heavy backpacks. Returning scouts saying that the site was safe, encouraged them to light bonfires and prepare a hot meal.

Marcelo sat in an emerging rock covered with moss, took his plate and began to eat with his fingers. Teresa, Jimenez and Miguel were with him. The conversation was low by the fatigue that invaded them. At a time when Marcelo wanted to place his buttocks in a more comfortable position, but he slid along by the smooth surface of the rock and fell to the ground before the laughter of his companions.

“Cursed be!”  cried “I’ve scraped all my back.”

He turned back facing to the guilty stone, and for a moment was silent.

“This is strange” whispered he “these look like made artificially marks.”

Indeed, as his fall dragged moss that covered it, the rock surface laid bare. Incisions that looked very geometrical to be natural appeared in parts of the stone that had been put in evidence.