Untouched

by Jerri Drennen

  When she was inches away from the inside entrance, a hand reached out and covered her mouth.

  Panic set in. Mattie struggled to break free only to have the grip on her tighten.

  A whispered word stopped her instantly.

  She turned to see Galen, his finger on his lips telling her to remain quiet.

  Relief washed over her. She wasn’t alone. Galen was here. That relief was short-lived when she heard voices coming from directly in front of them.

  Mattie wasn’t sure what language the people were speaking—it sounded like Latin. She wished she’d taken the course in college now.

  She looked at Galen. He shook his head. He didn’t understand the voices either.

  How were they going to get out of there without being caught? It was unlikely they’d be able to communicate with these people.

  Galen touched her arm and tipped his head toward where she’d come in. Maybe if they tried one of the other entrances they could get out without being seen. As quietly as they could, they backtracked through the tunnel. On the other side, Galen led her away from the doorway.

  “How did you get in here?” he asked when they were far enough away not to be heard.

  “I’m not sure, but I think I fell through something above.”

  He nodded. “I discovered the entrance and scaled down the rocks.”

  Mattie’s spirits soared. “Can we get out the way you came in?”

  “I don’t think so. Maybe if we had a rope. Where are Travis and the girls?”

  Mattie pointed up. “I’m sure they have no idea where I am. If I didn’t see the hole I fell through, then I’m sure they couldn’t see it either. How are we going to get out of here?”

  “We can try one of the other doorways. Stay close to me and remain quiet.”

  Galen led her into the last entrance; again a light in the distance helped guide their way. At the end, Galen ducked his head around the corner, then tugged her forward.

  Mattie’s mouth slackened as she glanced around the room. Antiquities filled the area. She’d never seen anything like it before.

  Galen looked at her and smiled.

  “Is there something you know that I don’t?” she whispered, her gaze landing on a finely woven burgundy tapestry with a large golden cross in the center. It was beautiful in its simplicity. This was like National Treasure, but real, not a movie.

  Another doorway beyond had her moving. She wanted to find a way out—that’s all she cared about. Galen could admire the relics; she had more important things to do.

  “Wait, Mattie. They could be out there.” Galen reached for her arm.

  Mattie shook her head. “I have to get out of here, Galen.”

  He sighed. “All right. I’ll go with you.” He definitely sound disappointed that he had to leave. Again he led the way, inching through the tunnel. It seemed to go on forever. Then a bright gleam appeared at the end. This light looked different—like sunlight.

  Mattie’s heart pounded as they neared the end.

  When they reached the archway, both she and Galen gasped at what they saw. There was no other way to describe it but as the Garden of Eden.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Travis sliced through the underbrush, his gut in a ball of knots. Galen hadn’t been where he’d thought, which meant now they had two people missing.

  He’d backtracked to where Mattie had vanished, then turned toward the sun, hoping she had somehow wandered off, though he didn’t think that was the case.

  He had to find her.

  “I’m tired,” Sara said from behind him, plopping down onto the ground. “I need to stop and rest.”

  “We don’t have time,” Travis said in a commanding tone. “We have to find Mattie and Galen. We have no idea what could be happening to them while you sit on your ass. Now get up and keep moving.”

  She looked surprised by his outburst.

  Let her be angry. Mattie could be hurt and dying. He didn’t care one hoot what the red-haired bitch thought about him—not one hoot.

  When she didn’t move, Travis lost control and took off through the thick brush. “Stay here then. You can be the next to disappear.”

  He seriously had no time for this. He had Mattie to think about. His heart hurt every time he thought of her possibly lying hurt, or even bleeding to death. He had to find her before the worst happened.

  Travis pushed the image away and hacked at the brush, determined to die before he gave up looking for her. Galen could take care of himself, but Mattie was a woman—and could be exposed to unspeakable things.

  He swallowed hard. This was more than him feeling guilty about his abilities as a guide. It was much more. Every time he thought about her feeling any pain, he died a horrible death. The only reason he’d feel that was if he was in love with her.

  Shit! He was. He loved everything about Mattie.

  With this new revelation, he worked twice as hard, cutting through the jungle, determined to find her and tell her how he felt.

  An hour later, his body fatigued, Travis glanced behind to find both Dana and Sara trailing a distance behind. They looked ready to drop. They needed to stop for a while.

  He turned and started toward them. “Let’s rest a few minutes. Take in some water.”

  Sara plopped down onto the jungle floor, while Dana leaned against a rubber tree.

  Travis opened his pack and pulled out his water bottle. He took a long swallow, then wiped sweat from his brow.

  As they rested in silence, a piercing scream from some distance had them all on alert.

  Travis’s heart stopped. He’d know that shriek anywhere—it was Mattie.

  He took off toward where the sound had come from, heedless whether Dana and Sara followed. He had to get to the woman he loved to find out what was wrong.

  Fifty feet from where he’d been he ran straight into a rock wall. He looked up, shocked to find such a formation in the middle of the jungle.

  He looked left and right, realizing he’d have to scale the thing to get to where he’d heard Mattie.

  Dana and Sara reached his side, they eyes growing large. They too were surprised by the formation.

  “You two stay here. I’m climbing it.”

  Dana nodded. “Be careful.”

  Travis got a sturdy hold on a rock and lifted himself, working his way slowly up the side. As fast as he could safely go, he eased from one rock to the next, getting a footing on each as he scaled upward.

  Once at the top, he pulled himself onto level ground and inhaled. When he’d caught his breath, he crawled to the other side and peered over the formation, blinking, sure he wasn’t seeing clearly. Below was a village peppered with adobe-type-structures; beyond that were fields of corn, wheat, and sugarcane. Wooden pens filled with animals were kept between the quarters and the crops, next to a pool of clear blue water created by a waterfall. The whole community was surrounded by a wall of stone.

  Travis stared in awe, unable to look away.

  Then he remembered Mattie.

  He scanned the scene again until he saw her. She and Galen stood in the middle of a crowd of people.

  A sigh of relief left his chest. They were together.

  The crowd around them looked angry, yet clearly intrigued. They spoke, but Travis couldn’t make out a single word—couldn’t place the language.

  Travis wasn’t sure what to do. He’d definitely be outnumbered if he went to their aid, but he couldn’t just sit here and watch them be harmed.

  A noise from behind him gave his heart a start. He glanced back as Sara and Dana topped the wall. They crawled toward him.

  “I thought I told you two to stay put.”

  “We felt helpless down there,” Dana said as she moved next to him. “Have you found Mattie?”

  He tipped his head to look down. When they did, both women gasped at the picture before them.

  “Did you know about this place?” Sara asked, her eyes saucer-sized.

  He shook his head.
“I don’t think anyone knows about this place besides the people who live here.”

  “I see Mattie,” Dana whispered. “How are we going to … is that Galen?”

  “Yep.” Travis was still trying to figure out how he and Mattie had ended up together. Had Galen been the one to grab her in the jungle or was there more to it than that? Only way he’d find out for sure was to save him and Mattie, then ask.

  “What are we going to do?” Dana asked.

  “I’m not sure yet. I can’t understand a word these people speak. It’s not a Peruvian dialect.”

  They turned to watch what was unfolding. The villagers spoke again, their fingers pointing toward Galen.

  Dana tapped his shoulder. “They’re speaking Latin. One asked Galen how he’d gotten there.”

  “Latin?” Travis didn’t think anyone spoke that language anymore. “How do you know Latin?” he asked.

  She smiled weakly. “I took the course in college.” She turned when they began to talk again.

  Travis waited until they finished, then asked, “What did they say?”

  Her face had whitened. “They’re angry. They threatened to kill Galen unless he told them how he found their village. How are we going to save them?”

  Travis had to think. Their chances of getting out alive were slim to none, but he wasn’t going to allow these people to harm one hair on Mattie’s or Galen’s heads. Even though he was furious with his friend right now.

  “I want you two to stay here. And I mean it this time. I’m going to slip in and try to cause a diversion to get them out.”

  Dana nodded.

  Travis turned to Sara. He didn’t need either of them to worry about, not when he had too much already to stress over.

  She scowled at him. “I won’t move a muscle.”

  “Okay then. Cross your fingers because we’re going to need it to get out of this alive.”

  Travis pulled himself over the edge of the wall and scaled down slowly. He couldn’t afford to make any noise; they’d spot him right away if he did.

  As he inched his way down the cliff, sweat beaded his forehead and ran into his eyes. It burned like hell and he had no way of wiping it away.

  Toward the bottom, he lost his footing and began to slide, but caught himself before he fell.

  While he righted himself, he glanced below to see if anyone had heard him. To his relief, their raised voices had muffled out any sounds Travis had made.

  When his foot hit the ground, he took off toward a building to hide behind. He still had no idea what he was going to do, but hoped something would present itself.

  Tucked behind the adobe structure, Travis glanced up to see if Dana and Sara had listened and stayed put. To his surprise, they had. Good. That was one less thing for him to obsess over.

  His attention turned to the crowd of men surrounding Mattie and Galen. He got a good look at the men dressed in simple garb, but unlike that of any natives he’d seen in the area. Less primitive. More European in style.

  Who were they? Where had they come from and how had they come to live in such an isolated place?

  He turned to look behind him. The whole village was like a world unto itself, hidden by a wall of stone cut into the earth.

  Travis realized coming down that the climb up had taken much less time than the one down, which meant that the village was farther into the ground than the jungle floor. The structure was baffling if not amazing to behold.

  He was sure Galen had found it as fascinating, especially its extreme isolation. Were the people able to move in and out without trouble or did they have to scale the walls to do so?

  Travis had so many questions, but now was not the time to dwell on them. He had to think of a way to distract the men so Galen and Mattie could get away.

  Mattie’s scream had him whipping back to see what was happening. One of the men had grabbed her by the shoulder, then lifted a lock of her blonde hair and run it through his fingers.

  An overwhelming urge to kill the guy struck Travis head-on.

  Why did he think he could touch her like that?

  The man released her hair and moved closer to her, his hand reaching out to caress her bottom lip. The look of horror on Mattie’s face made Travis react. No way was he allowing him to touch her again.

  He picked up a rock at his feet and tossed it as far as he could into the distance.

  Right away the crowd scurried, intent on finding out what was going on. Travis raced around the building, then slid down the outer wall, nearing where the villagers had left Galen and Mattie guarded by one man.

  Galen spotted him as he approached the end. Travis crept forward; as he got within a few feet, Galen attacked the guard. Both wrestled the man to the ground and punched him in the jaw, rendering him unconscious.

  Travis grasped Mattie’s hand and took off at a sprint toward the fields. Their best bet would be to hide until dark, then try to scale the wall.

  He glanced back to see Galen was right behind him and Mattie. They needed to stay together. That way they’d have better odds.

  When they entered the corn, they got swallowed up. The plants stood eight feet tall, great cover for them. With a sense of urgency, they sped through the rows, Travis relieved that he couldn’t hear anyone behind them. It seemed that no sooner had they entered the rows of corn that the cornfield ended. The sugarcane growing next to the corn wasn’t as tall and didn’t help to hide their presence.

  Travis was amazed that Mattie kept pace with him as they jumped over sugar plants to get to the pool on the other side. On his journeys he’d seen caverns cut in behind waterfalls. Maybe they’d be lucky and find one.

  Travis turned to Mattie as they neared the pool.

  “Swim for the falls,” he said, neither faltering as they dived into the water. Travis tried to keep sight of Mattie but she disappeared under the surface. He couldn’t even say whether Galen was still following.

  With long strokes, he glided across the water until he was taken under the falls and came up into a dark pool beneath. There was a light filtering in from somewhere.

  He lifted himself onto the rocks and waited.

  Where was Mattie? She should have been here by now. Had she been caught? Just then, a head popped up. He blew out a breath. It was her. She swam to him and he pulled her from the pool.

  Seconds later another head emerged. Galen. He waded out of the water and smiled at him. “You think they saw us dive into the lake?”

  Travis wished he knew. “I’m not sure, but I’d say we’d better head for that light.” He pointed through a cavern. “I’d bet it’s a way out.”

  Before Travis got a chance to move, Mattie threw herself into his arms and held him tight.

  “Okay, you two. We don’t have time for any lovin’ right now,” Gavin said.

  Travis peeled her away from himself and gave her a light kiss. “We’ll talk when we’re safe.”

  She nodded and allowed him to tug her toward the beam ahead of them.

  As they raced forward, the light got larger and brighter. One hundred feet into the cave, they came out into the jungle. “We need to keep moving. Need to get back to Sara and Dana, then get the hell out of here.”

  Galen grabbed Travis’s arm. “I found it.”

  Travis frowned. “Found what?”

  “The treasure.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Mattie kept pace, all the while wondering why Travis seemed to understand what Galen had meant about treasure—as if he’d known it was there all along.

  But how could he have known? They’d just happened across the new world, a place no one knew about. Then again, how had Galen found the entrance above? She had only fallen through it. What were the odds of two people finding the hole when no one knew about the place?

  In front of her, Travis stopped abruptly; he looked intently all around them.

  Mattie reached him, winded, holding her midsection as a side stitch gripped her. She never was much of a long-distan
ce runner. “What’s the matter?” she asked through gasps.

  “I’m trying to get my bearings.”

  Galen caught up. “I didn’t see anyone following. Where’d you leave Dana and Sara?”

  “Above on the rock wall, but from this vantage point, it’s hard to see it.”

  Footfall on the jungle floor had them turning.

  Mattie blew out a breath when she saw Dana and Sara racing toward her. When the women reached them, Dana hugged Mattie. “We thought you were dead.”

  “Thank God Travis came when he did because we could have been. I couldn’t understand what those people wanted and that made the situation even more dire.”

  “They wanted to know how you found their village.”

  “Was it Latin they were speaking?”

  Dana nodded. “I was happy I’d taken the course in college.”

  “I hate to speed up this reunion, ladies, but we’d better get back to camp. These people want to keep their home a secret. Who knows what they’d be willing to do to accomplish that.”

  Mattie understood his meaning and nodded.

  All turned and headed east, Mattie fighting the pain that returned to her side a few minutes later. She hoped she wasn’t the only one struggling.

  Thirty minutes later, they entered camp. “I think we’d better get packed and travel back to Manu. It’s not safe to stay in the jungle when we could be discovered by those men,” Travis said, already moving to his tent.

  Mattie sighed. She knew Travis was right but it still disappointed her. She’d been working toward this trip for so long and to have to cut the trek a week short seemed unfair. But she understood how dangerous the expedition had become. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

  She quickly ducked into the tent and gathered up her belongings. Sara and Dana worked just as fast and within ten minutes they were hauling everything out and had broken down the structure.

  Another twenty minutes and they were loaded into the truck and on the road, heading back to civilization.

  Mattie glanced at Travis, whose face looked less stressed. She understood his concerns to get them to safety but it seemed more than that. Galen’s words came back to haunt her. “I found it…the treasure.”