The Knights Templar are Back

Chapter 4.1

They had broken camp, made the short journey that separated it from the mouth of the Exploradores Creek in the Lake Roca and were following the shore of the latter through the canyon limited on the north by the mountains Fonck and Hess -homonyms of the respective lakes- and the Mount Pelado in the south. Said canyon is completely covered by trees and the march was often difficult since they sometimes had to wade through the stream in both directions to find a practicable path. They had already passed the summit of Mount Hess and were entering a valley between it and Mount Fonck. The stream then slightly twisted its direction from north-northwest to northwest, and Teresa expressed need for a "technical stop" in her own words.

“ Do not go too deep between the coligüe rods, because they often hide wild animal burrows.” Warned Emil.

Teresa looked for a clear place sheltered from the eyes of the men. It disturbed her having to squat on that wild place, with all logical preventions of insects and animals with four and two legs; she still kept in her memory what had happened one afternoon in the sss basin, in the middle of the jungle, where once she had completed her needs she looked up and saw with a tremendous shock a young n***d Indian with a bow and arrows taller than him, who was silently watching her. In spite of the elapsed time Teresa could not get this memory out of her mind and it assaulted her every time she had to stop at such things. Fortunately none of this happened this time; after satisfying her needs she prepared to return to the place where her husband and the Swiss were waiting for her, when her gaze fell on something that immediately caught her attention. Staring carefully she could make a fairly large thin stone planted almost vertically in the ground, a position that seemed unnatural to Teresa. The woman approached it and found that the vertical position was not the only odd thing about it. Its surface was flat, as if it had been worked by human hands. An even closer inspection allowed her to distinguish carved notches in the exposed face, badly eroded by the elements and the lichens and other microorganisms that end up degrading the stones. The similarity of some outlines with the carved stones that Matias had found hit her immediately. Teresa shouted with all her might.

“ Come see this!”

“ I hope you're presentable.” Said Marcelo.

“ Of course, you silly.”

The men approached, leaving the horses tied to a couple of trees, and Teresa showed them the finding. The usually circumspect Emil jumped.

“The inscription -if indeed that's what it is- results illegible.” Expressed Teresa, after observing the marks with a magnifying lens. “But somehow the layout of the lines seems to correspond to letters of the Latin alphabet, in an ancient version.”

“Not necessarily of Templar origin.” Argued redundantly Marcelo as he took several pictures with his high resolution digital camera.

“ No, but the degree of deterioration of the surface shows that it is real old.” Completed Emil, who was determining as precisely as possible the location coordinates with his GPS.

“I'm going to photograph the natural environment, particularly the position of the hills and the stream as seen from here. This can help us find the site the next time we're in this area.” Marcelo concluded.

Emil marked on the map the location of the site as closely as he could, adding some comments in German. Once he finished he raised his eyes above the surrounding trees and prevented.

“It is already snowing in the mountains.” With his left arm he pointed at the summit of Mount Fonck, which was covered with a white mantle. A dark cloud moved from the west over the whole area.

“ It is moisture coming from the Pacific. Soon it´ll snow in the valleys too. We better look for a good campsite; the snow may come with a storm.” As if weather obeyed his instructions a dull roar erupted north of them.

“ It Is Mount Tronador, honoring its name.” Added the Swiss. At that time the path they had found, just a wild animals trail, had lead them away from the Exploradores Creek at an altitude of about thirty meters above its course, and looking down they could barely see through the vegetation the water running.

“ Down below there is a clear, about midway of the brook.” observed Marcelo. “I think that the space will be enough to place the tents and tie the horses.”

They headed towards the clear and once arrived, proceeded to hold the beasts with long reins, so that they could find comfort. Men quickly began to set up the tents, while Teresa looked for wood and stones to improvise a fireplace

“ The wind comes from the southwest and the night will be very cold.” Warned Emil, who had installed his tent; thereupon he took various thick and short logs and sunk them in the ground as a kind of shallow palisade perpendicular to the wind direction and facing the entrance to the tent; behind it he placed a circle of stones and bunches of branches and leaves; then he started piling up bigger branches and logs.

“ In this position the fire is downwind from the fence, and the air will not put it out but will carry the smoke away, while the radiant heat of the stones warms our tents” Emil explained to the young couple who looked at him with inquisitiveness .

A strong wind began to blow and the travelers quickly placed their essential luggage inside the tents.

“ I cannot see the mountains summits any longer.” observed Teresa.

“Soon we will be able to see only a couple of yards away.” Said Emil. With a gesture of concern the Swiss got up and went to take a look at the horses. “Brave boys! They were born in the area and know what to do. We must take care of the horses because from now on we will rely exclusively on them.

Emil entered his tent, while Teresa was inside hers accommodating the packages. At that time Marcelo joined her and his wife looked at him straight in the eye.

“ Do not be crazy! Do not even think about it!”

Approximately at eight p.m. Marcelo opened the fabric door of the tent and looked out. In the dim light of the sky and embers he saw a white curtain covering the ground. At the same time Emil emerged from his tent and told him.

“ It seems that the first snows have arrived in the valleys. Help me, let's feed the fire.”

The men threw several armfuls of firewood and waited until some cheerful flames appeared in the camp fire again. Teresa poked her face out of the tent door.

“ Let´s take advantage that it no longer snows to prepare the dinner.” She came out very resolute from the tent but immediately returned numb with cold. The woman only newly resurfaced when she had put on an inflated polar jacket.

They made preparations in the midst of the intense cold and then huddled around the fire and proceeded to have dinner. They had drawn the turns for washing dishes and silverware and that night it was Marcelo´s turn. As he putting to work Emil said.

“It´s nine o´clock pm. Raquel must be wondering why I have not called yet.”

Emil brought the satellite phone out and made the connection though with some difficulty.

“Hi Raquel. How are ....? But what is the matter with you woman? ... Pull yourself together and tell me that again but slowly.” The Swiss´ countenance was haggard and the young couple was already alarmed.

“ And what has happened .... Dead? .... Oh God! ... Do the policemen have any leads? ... Who are you with? .... go to the hotel with Udo and his wife, I do not want you to stay alone. I'll call you back in an hour, while I think what to do.”

Emil hung up while Teresa and Marcelo threw distressed over him. Without waiting for questions he began to tell.

“ Kaukel, the machi we met, has been murdered. Not only that, someone savagely tortured before killing him. Policemen have no clue. Raquel learned it from a relative of a cousin living in the same village as the machi.”

“ What do you think?” Asked scared Teresa.

“ Really, I cannot avoid thinking that this crime has something to do with our visit.”

“It's horrible to think that because of us a man has been killed.” Moaned Teresa.

“ But this means that our steps are being followed.” Concluded Marcelo.

“ I'm not sure, but we must take it as a real possibility. This means that we and our loved ones should take additional precautions.” Added Emil.

For an hour the three travelers were evaluating the steps to take.

At ten p.m. Emil called Raquel, whom he found in the hotel room with Udo and his wife. The woman was a bit quieter. After some comforting words he said.

“Raquel, I want you out of Bariloche immediately, take the first flight to Buenos Aires or wherever, and then you go with our children in Bahia Blanca. Do not call them from Bariloche, or if you do, use Udo´s or some other safe telephone. Do not tell any neighbor or our employee in the store where you are going ... ..no, not that I distrust him, but we may be facing very dangerous people and do not want to unnecessarily imply other friends.”

The precautions list was extensive and Emil asked Raquel to write them down to avoid forgetting something important amid tension. When she hanged Emil told the young couple.

“I have full confidence in Raquel. She is a resourceful and courageous woman. I do not forgive myself for having placed her in this predicament, even though she never complained.”

The next call was to Sabrina and her husband. Marcelo and Teresa had concluded that they had barely been contact with them and hardly were in danger; anyway Marcelo calmed down when his sister told him they were traveling to the Province of Cordoba for a fortnight's holiday. Since he had to ask them not to make any comments about their destination, Marcelo was forced to give some indication of what was happening.

Finally, Teresa spoke with her father in Mexico City as sheaves of criminals who traded archaeological treasures moved internationally. Dr. Cifuentes had experience in managing risks and promised to strengthen the protection of his family.

After Yaroslav had communicated the news his partner shouted in Russian with obvious indignation, and he simply answered:

“ ... .. They killed one of the leaders of an indigenous community?” Was saying the other.“.... and they tortured him before? ..... This will bring a buzz in the area, and it is going to hinder our actions ... you must take this issue personally in your hands ....”

“ Yes, yes, I'll be there. Do not worry Commander ......... Ah! ..... Did you get the photos of the couple I sent you? ...... Do you know them? ...... What´s their name?, ..Yes, I am writing down .... Do they live in Mexico? ...... Well, don´t worry and trust Yaroslav, as you did in Chechnya.”

The so-called Commander cut the conversation and Yaroslav did not fool himself: the man who had been his boss in the Red Army from Afghanistan to Chechnya was furious with him. Yaroslav had delegated in that Venezuelan called Hernandez the mission to get information only because the man was momentarily in Bariloche and had obtained the scoop, but now he realized he should not have trusted him. He had seen Hernandez twice, and had impacted him as a braggart and perhaps a drunkard. In short, a hitman unworthy of consideration. How had he been so clumsy to entrust a reserved task to such a man? Yaroslav missed the times when he had command over real soldiers. Now he had to clean up the mess and there was no space for new errors!