Legend of the Lost Read online

  The lion stood with its hind feet on the ground, and its front paws resting against the cliff. he noticed it was a female, and she probably had cubs. How was he going to force her to leave?

  He swung the grappling hook as hard as he could and hit the lioness in the ribs. The hook gouged her, and it must have hurt, because she quickly turned and ran off down the canyon.

  Alex climbed down from the ledge and looked the other way while Cindy retrieved her clothes. The falls were so noisy that his voice couldn’t be heard, so he crossed the stream by jumping from rock to rock, carrying the rope and grappling hook, and walked around the bend in the direction the lioness had run, wanting to make sure the lioness was gone and that Cindy was safe.

  The way Alex had looked at her made Cindy aware that he no longer saw her as a girl. She would never believe that his only reason for staring at her was his concern for her safety, so he listened and waited for her to call.

  Cindy grabbed her clothes, hid behind a large boulder, and got dressed. “You can come out now,” she yelled. She was embarrassed, but she had to step out from behind the falls to let Alex know where she was. Cindy crinkled her nose and smiled slyly. Alex has seen me naked—does he like what he saw? she wondered.

  Alex made the mistake of grinning when he saw her, and Cindy made a face and stuck out her tongue at him. Uh oh, now I have another angry female to contend with. There was nothing more to say, so he shook his head, turned around, walked to the cliff at the right side of the falls, and threw the grappling hook. After several tries, he hooked a ledge about twenty feet up, then pulled on the rope as hard as he could, making sure the grappling hook would hold his weight, and then scaled the wall. he then tied the large rope securely to his waist and dropped the loose end of the large rope to where Cindy was waiting.

  “Cindy,” he called down. “I’m glad you hid behind the falls— that lion gave me a scare.”

  “If I had been a second late in getting behind the falls,” Cindy said, “I would have been lunch for that lioness’s cubs. After I got behind the water, I wasn’t too concerned because I knew you would drive her away when you returned, but I had to let you where I was. I’m sorry if I shocked you.”

  Alex smiled, shook his head again, and said, “Tie the rope to your waist and hang on with both hands while I pull you up.”

  By the time Cindy reached the ledge, she had recovered from her embarrassment and was smiling.

  The next throw was more difficult; a small ledge was within reach, but Alex couldn’t get the hook to catch. Since Cindy could see the ledge better from her position, she coached him about where to throw. The hook caught on the first try, and he climbed up; however, the ledge was too narrow for both of them to stand on. Luckily, he spotted another ledge about half the remaining distance, made one good throw, and hooked it. Scaling to that ledge, he looked down—the view was similar to looking down from the top of a five-story building—the height was dizzying.

  “Cindy, come on up, but don’t look down! This one is as easy as the last one.”

  The remaining distance was greater than the distance they had climbed, but it was not as steep. Alex hooked the grapple onto a tree at the top of the cliff, scrambled up, and then pulled Cindy onto the valley floor where they viewed the lake below.

  * * *

  The lake was magnificent—the surface was as smooth as glass and mirrored the sky. The canyon walls were made of granite, laced with seams of quartz and towered hundreds of feet into the air. Sunlight reflecting off the quartz made the walls sparkle like gold.

  Below where they were standing, a small, flat shore extended out from the lake. Alex pointed to it. “Let’s go down there.” he tied the larger rope to a tree and then lowered himself to the shore. Cindy followed.

  The lake was so clear that they could see the bottom, and something glimmering caught their eyes.

  “What do you think that is?” Cindy asked.

  “I don’t know, but if the water isn’t too cold, I’ll dive down and get it. The lake appears to be about twenty feet deep.”

  Cindy dipped her hand in the water. “It’s cold, but no colder than the pond.”

  “Here I go,” Alex said as he shed his clothes. he had left his bathing suit beside the lake when he dressed to get the tools, so all he had on was his shorts. Is Cindy watching me differently? Nah, it’s just my imagination.

  He dove in. The lake was deeper than he had estimated, but he made it to the bottom, grabbed the object and came back to the surface. It was strangely shaped and very heavy. He passed it to Cindy as he pulled himself up, but instead of looking at what he was handing her, she was staring at his wet shorts. This time it was his turn to be embarrassed, and he self-consciously tried to cover himself with his hand.

  Cindy blushed and quickly focused her attention at the shiny object, tossing it back and forth from one hand to another trying to judge its weight. Alex pushed his wet hair back from his eyes and put his pants on.

  “This looks like the corner of a brick. It’s only a corner, but it’s as heavy as a full-sized clay brick,” Cindy commented, “and it’s very shiny. Do you think it might be gold?”

  “It looks and feels like gold, and it’s too heavy to be a rock,” Alex agreed.

  “Here, take a closer look and tell me what you think,” Cindy said as she passed it back to him.

  “Let me test it with my knife.” he drew the blade of his hunting knife across the object, and it cut a gash. Almost afraid to admit what he thought, he bit into it. his teeth made a dent. “Cindy, I think this is gold! It’s like the gold I read about in Mother’s book. The book said that gold is dense, soft, shiny, and the pure metal can be shaped and bent. . . . I looked it up after I saw Talking Drum’s gold coin.”

  “Do you think there’s more down there?” Cindy asked excitedly.

  “I didn’t see anymore, but I’d like to look into a cave I saw as I was swimming back to the surface.”

  “A cave! Oh, Alex, going into a cave might be dangerous!”

  “I’ll tie the rope to my waist, and when I yank on it, pull me out.”

  “You might accidentally pull on the rope while you’re trying to get into the cave.” Cindy crinkled her nose while she thought. “Let’s establish a set of signals. I’ll give one yank to ask if you’re having problems. If you yank back twice, I’ll know that you’re okay, but if you yank three times, I’ll pull you out.”

  Alex had to remove his pants again. his wet shorts didn’t hide much, and Cindy couldn’t help looking.

  “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” he said, making a face at her in fun. “Maybe you should explore the cave.”

  “No, you’re a better swimmer, and besides, you know where the cave is.” Cindy shook her head and smiled.

  “Okay, here I go. Two yanks means I’m doing fine. Three yanks and you’ll pull me out.”

  Alex took two consecutive deep breaths, then one more breath, and dove in.

  * * *

  The opening to the cave was hidden under a rock ledge about ten feet below the surface. After getting to the cave, he swam another ten feet through a tunnel and then entered a room that was only partly filled with water.

  The room was about thirty feet long, and light filtering in from somewhere reflected off a wall of shiny yellow blocks that were covered by rocky debris at the top. The blocks extended into the sides of the canyon at either end, with about twenty feet of what looked like gold blocks exposed. It was an awesome sight!

  Since the water didn’t extend all the way to the top, Alex swam to the surface and found a pocket of air between the water and the ceiling of the cave. he felt a yank on the rope and gave two yanks in reply. Knowing that Cindy was getting concerned, he swam back to where she was anxiously waiting.

  “You took so long!” she said. “How did you hold your breath that long? What did you find?”

  Alex tried to hide his excitement and answer her questions all at the same time. “I think we’ve foun
d one of the lost cities of Cibola,” he replied with a big grin.

  “What do you mean? What’s a Cibola?”

  “You remember, Mother was a schoolteacher before she married, and she has a collection of books that I’m always reading. In one of them, I found a story about seven cities of gold. The cities were called the Seven Cities of Cibola. The story dates back to the nine-hundred-year war between the Catholics of Spain and the Moors of North Africa.”

  Alex looked at Cindy and told her what he remembered reading. “The Moors wanted to spread their empire and religion into Spain, and at first they were successful. They even captured seven Catholic monks. The monks were facing certain death, so they prayed for deliverance, and as the saying goes, they were whisked away to a land unknown at that time— and that’s where they found the cities of gold.

  “When the monks returned to Spain, they told of the cities, and thereafter, they were known as the Seven Cities of Cibola. Men searched for the cities, but couldn’t find them. When Christopher Columbus came to America, Spaniards found large quantities of gold in Central and South America, and that rekindled an interest in the Seven Cities of Cibola.”

  Cindy was all ears, so he continued. “A Spanish explorer named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led a large military expedition and looked for the cities all through our Southwest, right in this area. He didn’t find them, of course, but I think I saw one of them.” Alex could hardly contain his excitement and gave Cindy a big hug.

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Can you think of another reason why there’s a wall of gold in a cave at the bottom of this lake?” Alex waved his hand. “Look at the shape of this canyon. It must have been even taller at one time, but something—probably an earthquake—shook the sides down. The falling rocks formed the dam that created this lake. I think that long ago a city did exist here. Maybe the earthquake covered it with rocks, and then it was hidden by the lake. That would account for the stories the Ancient ones tell of a people who lived here in a city made of gold.”

  Cindy had been an apt student, but she lacked Alex’s academic interests. She didn’t want to talk about lost cities—she wanted to know about the gold.

  “That’s interesting,” she said with a nod, “but what do we do about the gold? Mother will be pleased because she can have a new dress. She hasn’t had one for a long time and has to mend her old ones. And I wouldn’t mind having a new dress myself. Father is trying to get enough money to buy our land so that no one will come along and lay claim to it. our parents are poor—this money will be a blessing.”

  “Yes, you’re right, but I think we’d better be careful how we handle this, Cindy. We could do more harm than good. Gold coins are money, but gold blocks aren’t. If we try to use a gold block for money, people will want to know where we got it. If we say from the lake, they’ll come here and plunder the whole area. In no time, prospectors would overrun the canyon and destroy the place. Our parents would have to fight off treasure hunters to protect their land.”

  Alex ran his hands through his wet hair, pushing it out of his eyes. “We’ve got to find a better way.”

  Cindy jumped up and down and hugged Alex. “Oh, Alex, wouldn’t it be wonderful if our families owned their land? If we could exchange the gold blocks for money, we could buy the whole valley. of course, we need to keep this a secret for now and get one of the blocks out of the lake and change it into money somehow.”

  Alex nodded; his mind was racing with options.

  “Why don’t you dive down and get a block?” Cindy asked.

  “Are you kidding? A block of gold that big would weigh more than a thousand pounds. We would have to rig a device to get one to the surface.”

  “You’re right—I never thought about how heavy the block would be. This little piece from the bottom of the lake must weigh a couple of pounds, but Alex, if we can’t get the gold out of the lake, what good is it?” her face showed her disappointment.

  “I didn’t say we couldn’t get them out—I said we’ll have to rig a device to get them out.”

  “Where could we get such a device, and how much will it cost?”

  Alex looked at the items lying on the shore. “I think we’ve got everything we need right here. We have ropes, a pulley, and a grappling hook. We could tie the pulley to a branch on that tree, and then feed the rope through the pulley. I’ll take the end of the rope into the cave and, by using the grappling hook, tie the rope around one of the blocks. I’m glad I paid attention when Father taught me how to weave a rope into a basket. We can weave a basket with this small rope and fill it with rocks until the weight of the rocks is heavier than the gold block. The weight of the rocks will pull the gold out of the cave.”

  “Oh, Alex,” Cindy said, her eyes gleaming, “how do you think up these things?”

  “I don’t think them up. I told you—I read Mother’s books,” Alex said sheepishly, not used to her flattery.

  “The gold will be too heavy to carry. What will we do with it after we get it out?”

  Alex was quiet for a moment. “I know, I’ll ask Talking Drum to let me borrow his gold coin to make a mold. If we had a mold, we could melt the gold in Mother’s big iron kettle and turn it into coins. Then we could tell our parents that we found the coins in the dry cave south of our houses. No one else knows about this cave in the lake, and let’s don’t tell them.”

  “Wonderful,” Cindy said. “That would turn the gold block into money, and we could buy our farms, the valley, the lake, and the falls—whatever we want. We would own it all, and that would give us the right to keep strangers off. our parents would own their land, and they wouldn’t have to worry about the ranchers’ cattle eating our crops. Oh, Alex, that would be wonderful. Let’s do it!”

  “We can do it,” Alex agreed as he started making loops in the small rope. “Let’s tie these loops together tight enough to hold rocks. I’ll climb the tree and tie the pulley to that heavy branch. Then, if you’ll throw me the rope, I’ll feed it through the pulley, and we’ll have the device for pulling a block to the surface.”

  * * *

  After checking the basket to make sure it would hold rocks, Alex dove into the lake with the large rope tied to his waist. he knew where he was going this time, and he knew what to expect, so he went directly to the air pocket and selected a block to pull out.

  The block was on top of the wall, wedged against the rocks at the top of the cave and then wedged against the other gold blocks at the bottom of the canyon. Alex took a breath, stuck his head in the water, freed a block, and tied the rope around it.

  When he raised his head above the water, he heard voices. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, or from where the voices were coming, but they sure sounded angry. This is not the time for hallucinating, he told himself. He pulled on the rope to test the tie that was holding the block, but when he did, the block fell and pinned his foot against the wall. Luckily it didn’t crush his foot. He put his head in the water and tried to free his foot—the block was too heavy to move. He was trapped!

  His mind was racing. Was this a coincidence, or had the spirits of the people who had originally built the city cause him to be pinned? It didn’t matter; he needed help now, and he hoped Cindy remembered the signals.

  * * *

  Cindy was holding the rope wondering how much time Alex needed to secure the gold block to the rope. he seemed to be taking too long, so she gave the rope a tug. Alex felt the tug, and he was in a quandary. If he pulled three times, signaling that he was in trouble, Cindy would try to pull him out. If he gave no signal at all, she would panic. If he pulled twice, how could he let her know that he was trapped?

  He would have to trust her judgment. He jerked once to let her know that he had gotten her signal, and then waited. Shortly, Cindy pulled again. This time he answered by jerking three times. She did what he thought she would do—she began trying to pull him out. The rope was tied to the block, and there was no hope that she could mo
ve a thousand-pound block.

  Oh, Alex, what shall I do? I hope you are not in trouble. Cindy pulled again, but nothing happened. Alex had initially responded, so he had felt her pull, but he might be in trouble and needed something—she had no way of knowing. She put the piece of gold that Alex had brought up from the bottom of the lake in his back pants pocket, and then tied her end of the rope to the tree, then dove into the lake and followed the rope. With luck, Alex would be at the other end.

  Alex said the entrance to the cave was about ten feet below the surface; but he hadn’t said how long the tunnel was. Cindy was determined to go to him. If there is no air at the other end, I’ll have to turn around, swim back through the cave, and then make my way to the surface to get air. I’m betting my life that Alex will be at the other end of this rope!

  Alex could tell by the way the rope was moving that Cindy was trying to reach him. She’s a good swimmer, but is she good enough?

  Cindy found the mouth of the cave, but as she entered the black hole, her heart was pounding. Swimming deeper and deeper, she was getting concerned about running out of breath, but she looked up and saw Alex about ten feet above her, standing with the lower part of his body in water and his head above water. She put both hands up as high as she could, pulled down hard, and shot to the surface only a few feet from Alex. He didn’t come to her, as she had expected, so she went to him. He took her in his arms and just held her for a moment. She liked to be held, but she needed to know what was wrong. He seemed to be okay.