by Gary Paulsen
The thief motioned to the door. “Go take care of that, Zamora. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
The big man set Katie down and walked out of the tent. Instantly she heard a loud thud and the sound of someone falling.
The thief grabbed Katie’s arm. He held her in front of him and forced her through the tent flap.
Outside there was no sign of anyone.
“Zamora? Where are you?” the thief called out.
“It’s the ghosts of the Indians who used to live here.” Katie tried to pull away. “They got him.”
“Let the girl go, Señor Vasquez. You are surrounded.”
Katie’s eyes widened. She didn’t see anyone, but she recognized the voice of the police sergeant from San Marcos.
“Show yourself,” Vasquez called. “Perhaps we can make a trade. The map for the girl.”
“Look up there.” Katie pointed to the ledge. The old Indian was standing there, right in front of the hidden opening, but from below, it looked as if he were floating in air. “I told you—it’s a ghost!”
Vasquez stared. He blinked and then aimed his gun at the Indian. Katie elbowed him in the stomach as hard as she could. The gun fell from his hand.
The police sergeant rushed from behind a boulder and kicked the weapon away. He held his gun on the thief. “Don’t move.”
Sam scrambled out from behind a creosote bush. “Katie, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She watched the sergeant tie up the thief. “But how—”
“You have me to thank, señorita.” Pepe stepped around the tent. “I told my uncle Francisco that you were going to the ruins. It was he who suggested following you just in case you ran into trouble. And when I heard the sound of motorcycles, I was sure you would need my help also.”
“The police sergeant is your uncle?” Katie demanded. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“You did not ask,” Pepe said, shrugging.
The sergeant winked at her as he marched his second captive to a flat rock and ordered him to sit.
“Hey, everybody,” Shala yelled down from the opening. “Look who I found.”
Katie covered her eyes and squinted up. Her breath caught in her throat.
The bandaged face of her father peered down at her.
CHAPTER 13
Katie brought her father a second cup of coffee from the machine in the police station’s lobby. He gave her a warm smile and then went on with his story.
“I was suspicious of Vasquez and Zamora right from the start. They didn’t seem to know much about archaeology, and yet they claimed to be the advance team sent down by the government to help me on the El Debajo dig. It was Isaac here who told me what they were up to.”
The tall Indian stood nearby with his arms folded. He nodded at the professor and talked to him in sign language.
“You see, Isaac is a descendant of the original cliff dwellers. Unfortunately, he can’t speak, but that didn’t stop him from being very concerned about the way the digging at the ruins would be handled. When he overheard those two imposters talking about exploiting the burial caves and stealing the artifacts, Isaac gave me his great-grandfather’s map for safekeeping.”
“And then you carved a copy of it on my money pouch and sent it to me so the crooks wouldn’t get it.” Katie held the pouch out for the sergeant to see.
“Right. Only at the time, I had no idea how desperate those two really were. They believed the old stories about the rivers of gold.” The professor touched the bandages on his head. “One night they ambushed me, tied me up, and left me in a ditch. If it hadn’t been for Isaac, I might not have made it. He carried me to the hidden burial tunnels and took care of my wounds. I was delirious for several days.”
“What about the legend?” Sam asked. “Are there really underground caverns of gold near the ruins?”
“It’s doubtful. But Isaac says there are miles of hand-dug tunnels. And the cliff dwellers were known to bury certain items they considered valuable with their dead. If we can find some of them it could help us understand their culture better. When I feel a little stronger, we’ll take Katie’s map and go exploring.”
“I am glad to see that you are recovering, Professor.” The sergeant put down his pen and notepad. “Your children and nephew were quite worried about you.”
“I know. I just wish I had found out about Vasquez and Zamora in time to warn them. If I had been paying better attention, maybe I could have prevented all this from happening.”
“Oh, they were never in any real danger, señor,” Pepe said pleasantly. “I was taking very good care of them.”
“He sure was,” Sam said sarcastically. “For a price.”
Pepe looked hurt. “Are you saying that you are dissatisfied with my work? Did I not do everything you asked?”
“And then some.” Shala patted Pepe on the shoulder. “Bringing your uncle to the ruins was beyond the call of duty.”
“It sure was,” Katie assured him. “Without you, those two thieves might have gotten away with their rotten plan. Isn’t that right, Sam?”
“Okay. I guess we do owe him. How much is it going to cost me this time?” Sam reached into his back pocket. “My wallet. It’s gone!”
“Looking for this?” Pepe grinned and dangled the wallet in front of him. “My friend, you already paid for the donkeys and also gave your trustworthy guide a very unselfish tip.”
“How nice of me.” Sam grabbed the wallet. “Do I have anything left?”
“Enough. Of course I would be glad to help you spend the rest. It so happens, I have an aunt who makes the finest enchiladas and menudo in all New Mexico.” Pepe moved to the door. “I will take you there. It will cost you practically nothing.”
“Enchiladas sound great.” Katie winked at her dad and Shala. “I am so lucky to have such a wise and generous older brother.”
Professor Crockett scratched his head. “Am I missing something here?”
Sam looked into his wallet and sighed. “No, Dad—it looks like I’m the one who’s missing something.”
THE CLIFF DWELLERS
In the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, evidence still stands of ancient peoples who built their villages high in the faces of sheer canyon walls. These ancient Indians are now called the Anasazi, which means “the ancient ones.”
Almost every facet of the cliff dwellers’ lives was conducted high above the canyon floor. Families slept and stored their possessions in small, cell-like rooms, which opened onto a common courtyard. Here they held religious ceremonies, worked, cooked, ate, and played. The cliff dwellers grew crops, hunted, and searched for roots and berries. Water was a problem; they had to carry it from springs below their homes and store it in jars.
Hundreds of people could live in the cliff dwellings, which were easy to defend from outside attack. Shouts of warning that enemies were entering the canyon echoed loudly off the rock walls. And when the ladders and ropes to the cliff dwellings’ entrances were lifted, the only way to reach them was by handholds and footholds carved into the sides of the sandstone walls.
The Anasazi felt safe in their cliff fortresses, but drought and new enemies eventually drove them from their caves, and they moved south and east. Their descendants can be found among the present-day Pueblo Indians.
Don’t miss all the exciting action!
Read the other action-packed books in Gary Paulsen’s
WORLD OF ADVENTURE!
The Legend of Red Horse Cavern
Will Little Bear Tucker and his friend Sarah Thompson have heard the eerie Apache legend many times. Will’s grandfather especially loves to tell them about Red Horse—an Indian brave who betrayed his people, was beheaded, and now haunts the Sacramento Mountain range, searching for his head. To Will and Sarah it’s just a story—until they decide to explore a newfound mountain cave, a cave filled with dangerous treasures.
Deep underground, Will and Sarah uncover an old chest stuffed with a million dollars. But
now armed bandits are after them. When they find a gold Apache statue hidden in a skull, it seems Red Horse is hunting them, too. Then they lose their way, and each step they take in the damp, dark cavern could be their last.
Rodomonte’s Revenge
Friends Brett Wilder and Tom Houston are video game whizzes. So when a new virtual reality arcade called Rodomonte’s Revenge opens near their home, they make sure they’re its first customers. The game is awesome. There are flaming fire rivers to jump, beastly buzz-bugs to fight, and ugly tunnel spiders to escape. If they’re good enough they’ll face Rodomonte, an evil giant waiting to do battle within his hidden castle.
But soon after they play the game, strange things start happening to Brett and Tom. The computer is taking over their minds. Now everything that happens in the game is happening in real life. A buzz-bug could gnaw off their ears. Rodomonte could smash them to bits. Brett and Tom have no choice but to play Rodomonte’s Revenge again. This time they’ll be playing for their lives.
Escape from Fire Mountain
“… please, anybody … fire … need help.”
That’s the urgent cry thirteen-year-old Nikki Roberts hears over the CB radio the weekend she’s left alone in her family’s hunting lodge. The message also says that the sender is trapped near a bend in the river. Nikki knows it’s dangerous, but she has to try to help. She paddles her canoe downriver, coming closer to the thick black smoke of the forest fire with each stroke. When she reaches the bend, Nikki climbs onshore. There, covered with soot and huddled on a rock ledge, sit two small children.
Nikki struggles to get the children to safety. Flames roar around them. Trees splinter to the ground. But as Nikki tries to escape the fire, she doesn’t know that two poachers are also hot on her trail. They fear that she and the children have seen too much of their illegal operation—and they’ll do anything to keep the kids from making it back to the lodge alive.
The Rock Jockeys
Devil’s Wall.
Rick Williams and his friends J.D. and Spud—the Rock Jockeys—are attempting to become the first and youngest climbers to ascend the north face of their area’s most treacherous mountain. They’re also out to discover if a B-17 bomber rumored to have crashed into the mountain years ago is really there.
As the Rock Jockeys explore Devil’s Wall, they stumble upon the plane’s battered shell. Inside, they find items that seem to have belonged to the crew, including a diary written by the navigator. Spud later falls into a deep hole and finds something even more frightening: a human skull and bones. To find out where they might have come from, the boys read the navigator’s story in the diary. It reveals a gruesome secret that heightens the dangers the mountain might hold for the Rock Jockeys.
Hook ’Em, Snotty!
Bobbie Walker loves working on her grandfather’s ranch. She hates the fact that her cousin Alex is coming up from Los Angeles to visit and will probably ruin her summer. Alex can barely ride a horse and doesn’t know the first thing about roping. There is no way Alex can survive a ride into the flats to round up wild cattle. But Bobbie is going to have to let her tag along anyway.
Out in the flats the weather turns bad. Even worse, Bobbie knows that she’ll have to watch out for the Bledsoe boys, two mischievous brothers who are usually up to no good. When the boys rustle the girls’ cattle, Bobbie and Alex team up to teach the Bledsoes a lesson. But with the wild bull Diablo on the loose, the fun and games may soon turn deadly serious.
Danger on Midnight River
Daniel Martin doesn’t want to go to Camp Eagle Nest. He wants to spend the summer as he always does: with his uncle Smitty in the Rocky Mountains. Daniel is a slow learner, but most other kids call him retarded. Daniel knows that at camp, things are only going to get worse. His nightmare comes true when he and three bullies must ride the camp van together.
On the trip to camp, Daniel is the butt of the bullies’ jokes. He ignores them and concentrates on the roads outside. He thinks they may be lost. As the van crosses a wooden bridge, the planks suddenly give way. The van plunges into the raging river below. Daniel struggles to shore, but the driver and the other boys are nowhere to be found. It’s freezing, and night is setting in. Daniel faces a difficult decision. He could save himself … or risk everything to try to rescue the others, too.
The Gorgon Slayer
Eleven-year-old Warren Trumbull has a strange job. He works for Prince Charming’s Damsel in Distress Rescue Agency, saving people from hideous monsters, evil warlocks, and wicked witches. Then one day Warren gets the most dangerous assignment of all: He must exterminate a Gorgon.
Gorgons are horrible creatures. They have green scales, clawed fingers, and snakes for hair. They also have the power to turn people to stone. Warren doesn’t want to be a stone statue for the rest of his life. He’ll need all his courage and skill—and his secret plan—to become a true Gorgon slayer.
The Gorgon howls as Warren enters the dark basement to do battle. Warren lowers his eyes, raises his sword and shield, and leaps into action. But will his plan work?
Captive!
Roman Sanchez is trying hard to deal with the death of his dad—a SWAT team member gunned down in the line of duty. But Roman’s nightmare is just beginning.
When masked gunmen storm into his classroom, Roman and three other boys are taken hostage. They are thrown into the back of a truck and hauled to a run-down mountain cabin, miles from anywhere. They are bound with rope and given no food. With each passing hour the kidnappers’ deadly threats become even more real.
Roman knows time is running out. Now he must somehow put his dad’s death behind him so that he and the others can launch a last desperate fight for freedom.
The Treasure of El Patrón
Tag Jones and his friend Cowboy spend their days diving in the azure water surrounding Bermuda. It’s not just for fun—Tag knows that somewhere in the coral reef there’s a sunken ship full of treasure. His father died in a diving accident looking for the ship, and Tag won’t give up until he finds it.
Then the ship’s manifest of the Spanish galleon El Patrón turns up, and Tag can barely contain his excitement. El Patrón sank in 1614, carrying “unknown cargo.” Tag knows that this is the ship his father was looking for. And he’s not the least bit scared off by the rumors that El Patrón is cursed. But when two tourists want Tag to retrieve some mysterious sunken parcels for them, Tag and Cowboy may be in dangerous water, way over their heads!
Skydive!
Jesse Rodriguez has a pretty exciting job for a thirteen-year-old, working at a small flight and skydiving school near Seattle. Buck Sellman, the owner of the school, lets Jesse help out around the airport and is teaching him all about skydiving. Jesse can’t wait until he’s sixteen and old enough to make his first jump.
Then Robin Waterford walks in with her father one day to sign up for lessons, and strange things start to happen. Photographs that Robin takes of the airfield mysteriously disappear from her locker. And Robin and Jesse discover that someone at the airfield is involved in an illegal transportation operation. Jesse and Robin soon find themselves in the middle of real danger and are forced to make their first skydives very unexpectedly—using only one parachute!
The Seventh Crystal
Chosen One,
The ancient palace lies in the Valley of Zon. It is imperative that you come immediately. You are my last hope. Look for the secret path. The stars will lead the way. Take care. The eyes of Mogg are everywhere.
As if school bullies weren’t enough of a problem, now Chris Masters has a computer game pushing him around! Ever since The Seventh Crystal arrived anonymously in the mail one day, Chris has been obsessed with it—it’s the most challenging game he’s ever played. But when the game starts to take over, Chris is forced to face a lean, mean, medieval bully.
The Creature of Black Water Lake
Thirteen-year-old Ryan Swanner and his mom just moved to the mountain resort of Black Water Lake. The locals say that b
eneath the lake’s seemingly calm surface, a giant, ancient creature lives. But Ryan’s new friend Rita tells him that’s just hogwash. She’s not afraid to go fishing out on the lake, even though, oddly, the lake seems to be nearly empty of fish. One day Ryan sees a small animal fall from a tree into the lake—and never surface again. Something is in the lake. And it’s alive.…
Time Benders
Superbrain Zack Griffin and hoops fanatic Jeff Brown wouldn’t normally hang together. But when both boys win trips to a famous science laboratory, they find out they have one thing in common: a serious case of curiosity. And when they sneak into the lab to check out the time-bending machine again, they end up in Egypt—in 1350 B.C.!
Grizzly
Justin swallowed and pointed the light at the soft dirt. The tracks were plain: two large pads with five long scissorlike claws on each.
A grizzly.
A grizzly bear is terrorizing the sheep ranch that belongs to Justin McCallister’s aunt and uncle. First the grizzly takes a swipe at the ranch’s guard dog, Old Molly. Then he kills several sheep and injures Justin’s collie, Radar. When the grizzly kills Blue, Justin’s pet lamb, Justin decides to take matters into his own hands. He sets out to track down the bear himself. But what will Justin do when he comes face to face with the grizzly?
Thunder Valley
Jeremy Parsons and his twin brother, Jason, have been left on their own to run the family business, Thunder Valley Ski Lodge. But ever since Grandpa broke his hip and Grandma went with him to the hospital, strange things have been happening. Things even stranger than the fire in the snowmobile garage … Jason and Jeremy had bettter find out who’s responsible, because Thunder Valley is going downhill fast.