Buffalo Mesa Mummy

Chapter 12

At seven years old Peter was certainly the youngest apprentice archaeologist on the Machu Picchu dig in the high mountains of Peru. Daniel and Margaret Ramsey, as a team, had traveled the world. Peter had grown up on archaeology sites in deserts, forests and mountains, and on tiny islands in the middle of nowhere.

They had been at this ancient Inca site for almost two months searching for some new information on trading that must have taken place as the people had hidden from the Spanish Conquistadors. Dr. Ramsey was hoping to find evidence of trade with other natives that lived on the coast.  

Early that morning Carlos, the site foreman, had informed the Ramsey’s that an entrance to what was possibly an underground storage area had been uncovered.

As soon as he had heard about the discovery Peter had begged to be allowed to explore the find with his father, and since his mother had to meet with the local government officials Daniel had agreed.

There would be two of the workers going with them and Peter’s father had spent the morning going over all the safety rules. He had made Peter promise to stay close to him when they went underground.

Excitement was in the air as the exploring team gathered at the entrance, which was just a small hole behind one of the walls marking a courtyard. Even with the brush cleared away Peter was the only one that could easily fit through the opening.

Dr. Ramsey went first, followed by Peter, and then the two workers. They had to crawl on hands and knees for about twenty feet until they suddenly entered a huge room. Shining his powerful light around, Peter’s father said the room seemed to be natural cavern. All along the walls there seemed to be rooms dug into the sides for storage.

They all moved around the perimeter of the room shining their lights into the various storage areas. Daniel Ramsey was so excited he couldn’t contain himself. He went from one large clay jar to another calling over his shoulder, “This one is full of grain and I bet if it was planted today it would grow. Look at this. I think this one is full of spices.”

Peter quickly got bored of jars full of stuff he didn’t care about and when the others moved on to another area he stayed behind.

Peter had a smaller version of his father’s flashlight and he moved its beam across the walls and ceiling of the room. He noticed an opening near one of the corners down at floor level and got down on his belly and shined the light inside.

The light settled on what looked to Peter like a man lying on the ground. He looked around for his father and saw lights moving around far on the other side. Shrugging his shoulders Peter followed the beam of his flashlight through the opening.

What had looked like a man lying on the floor turned out to be a stone statue that had fallen from its pedestal. The statue was one of a pair that had been guarding another opening in the wall.

Peter thought he should get his father, but then he also hoped he would find something important to surprise him with. After hesitating for a moment Peter walked through the dark entrance. He only went a couple of yards when the passageway split off in two directions. Shining his light into both new passages Peter finally chose the left one.

As he moved along, Peter noticed carvings along the wall and when he looked closely he could see they told a story. The story, at least as Peter could interpret it, told of a group of men traveling single file through a tunnel just like he was. He saw that they carried large baskets on their heads. 

As he moved down the passage and followed the story Peter did not even notice that he was taking different branches as the passage split again and again.