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"Yes—by resting. You and Munro need a break, so let me do this part. It might be a wild goose chase, anyway."
I take her advice and rest, leaning against the wall while I watch her crawling about with her erse wriggling every time she moves forward. At least I get a bonnie view while I recover from wrestling with a monolith.
Since she started in the middle of the slab, when she reaches the wall she turns around, while still on all fours, and crawls toward me. Three-fourths of the way to me, she freezes. "Get me the baby oil, Errol."
I jump up to retrieve the bottle.
Ashley scurries in the other direction, retracing the path she'd already taken across the floor. This time, however, she stops three-fourths of the way to the wall.
I hand her the bottle.
She pours some of the oil into the minute gap created by the seam. Then she hurries toward the other wall, halting three-fourths of the way there again. I watch while she pours more oil into the seam there.
Ashley sits back on her heels. "Try again, boys."
Munro and I grab the crowbars and head for Ashley's side of the seam.
She holds up a hand. "Stay over there. I think the slab has hinges on this side."
Hinges? Munro and I exchange curious looks, and I expect he's as surprised as I am by what Ashley said. We grab our crowbars and try again to lift the slab. This time, it slides up much more easily. We still need to exert a great effort to lift it, and the mechanism makes a loud noise, but the hinges Ashley had lubricated for us make the job less backbreaking. I don't think we'll need spinal surgery, after all.
The slab now stands upright, leaning back a wee bit so the whole thing doesn't fall back down.
I leap around the three-foot-high slab to grab Ashley and kiss her. Behind me, I hear Munro groan. After a moment, a good long one, I release Ashley and face my cousin. "Jealous, Munro?"
"Can we get back to work?" He peers down into the dark space revealed by the slab. "Or are ye no longer interested in this hole?"
I pick up Ashley and jump over the slab, landing near Munro. "Aye, we're still interested."
We retrieve our lanterns and shine them down into the abyss we've discovered. The light shows us a set of stone steps that lead down into the unknown. I lead the way as we cautiously go down the steps one by one, but my light can't reveal much since the steps are enclosed on both sides. When I reach the bottom step, I need to make a sharp left turn to provide room for Ashley and Munro to follow me. When I see what this chamber holds, I fight the instinct to freeze and stare at what fills the space. But I need to move so Ashley and Munro can join me. Once we're all inside, we shine our lights around the chamber.
What do we see? Mummies. Dozens of them. Wrapped in various types of cloth and in various positions. An Inca mummy of what most likely was a young girl sacrificed atop a mountain. An Egyptian wrapped tightly and accompanied by canopic jars, which should contain the deceased's organs. I don't recognize what cultures many of these mummies come from, but it's clear they have all lain here for a very long time.
Ashley shakes her head slowly. "Why on earth would anyone want to bring mummies from all over the world to this underground storage site in the Grand Canyon?"
"No idea," I say. "It must have taken a long time to find and transport these remains. Whoever did it was either obsessed with death or obsessed with preserving ancient remains. To what purpose, I have no bloody idea."
We photograph all the mummies, without disturbing them, and employ the laser-mapping device to create a 3-D replica of the chamber.
After that, we return to the main doorway, the one I'd blown open, and stand inside the entrance while we discuss what to do next. Report our discovery, yes. But how to do that without getting arrested? Not sure we can accomplish that feat. But in the beginning, Ashley had told me she didn't care if anyone else ever knew about the Grand Canyon treasure. She only wanted to prove her father had been right, to alleviate his shame.
But to abandon all these historical treasures…
It feels wrong.
"We need to consult with an archaeologist," I say. "I know several, but they all live in Scotland."
"I know some," Ashley says. "Or I used to know them. They won't talk to me anymore, not since Dad announced that he believes the Grand Canyon treasure is real—and I backed him up."
I slide an arm around her shoulders and give her a squeeze. "You've sacrificed a lot to get here, and it was all for your da."
A shadow falls over the hole I'd blasted in the canyon wall.
We all look in that direction, but the person hovering there is concealed by the shadows and the sun blinding us. Something about that figure seems familiar, though, and I step away from Ashley to take a few cautious steps closer. I cock my head, squinting at the figure.
"Do you know that person?" Ashley asks.
"Not sure." I shuffle closer to the man, who moves minutely sideways. And suddenly, a shaft of light spills across one side of his cheek. "Christian? Is that you?"
