MAYA COSMIC NUMBER PUZZLES VOLUME 104 MAYA COSMIC NUMBER PUZZLES VOLUME 104 | Page 9

Maya treasure. The reunion of family members was joyous, and Guillermo, despite his advanced
years was eager to join the quest. It took little time to find a group of able-bodied men. Thomas began to equip them with picks, shovels and ropes, food and medical supplies, and other things they
thought they might need to improve their chances of success on their journey. Within days, the
new expedition set off on its long trek. They traveled through the cities to the farmlands, from the
grasslands to the mountains, seeing fewer and fewer pueblos, fewer and fewer people. Civilization
gave way to dense jungle, with its different shades of green, its highlights and shadows of brown.
Its hot, humid days, and seemingly hotter, more humid nights. Several of the workers wanted to
turn back, afraid of what would try to eat them in the impossibly, black night as they slept; or poison them to death as they hacked through the dense foliage. Thomas offered the men more money
to keep them working; but the fear was great, and it hovered like a cloud of mosquitoes over the
group.
Time had not diminished Guillermo’s memory of the earlier expedition, the tragedy was painfully etched forever in his mind. He led the group through a twisting and turning path, up one incline and down the next. Good luck was with them, or perhaps a benevolent Maya Spirit, for they
seldom had to backtrack. After twenty grueling days, around noon, the party stood at the base of
an ancient pyramid, the peak lost in the tops of the trees. Guillermo pointed to the entrance of
the previous expedition’s collapsed tunnel, which the jungle had reclaimed. A silent prayer was
offered, but the men couldn’t suppress a grim smile, for it meant the tomb had not been disturbed
since Guillermo escaped the cave-in all those years ago. The team found the old campsite, and
spent the remainder of the day clearing away the jungle. They salvaged what equipment they
could. Then they set up their own camp, before eating a hearty, well-deserved meal, and turning
in for the night. The next day, the real work began.
Early the following day, one group of men began reopening the collapsed tunnel entrance, while
another group took to cutting trees and making planks and posts to shore up the tunnel roof. This
time the soft soil would be fortified with plenty of support to keep the previous disaster from happening again. Within hours, human bones were unearthed. Some of the workers refused to go into
the deepening tunnel, fearing God’s wrath would befall them. The three leaders took turns digging
to reassure the other men it was safe. Once they had pulled the last of the eight men’s remains from
the old tunnel, Thomas knew they were close. The day was ending and so it was agreed to wait
until tomorrow to resume the final assault to reopen the King’s Chamber.
When the men sat around the campfire that evening eating a good meal, one of the older men
told a story to the others that evil demons would be released if they went any further. Juan and
Jorge tried to discredit the man’s story as being only superstition, but by the look of the men’s faces,
Thomas could see that several were very worried. As daylight broke, Thomas roused the other men
and discovered that five workers were nowhere to be found. They had stolen some burros and food
and left. Superstition had frightened them away.
After breakfast, work resumed, and by mid-day the last plank was pounded into place securing
the tunnel from collapse. On everyone’s mind was what would they find? The three leaders slowly
crawled into the final resting place of the Maya King. The burial vault was approximately five meters long, five meters wide, and about three meters tall. The air was stale, but Thomas had brought
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