Jack Du Brul - River of Ruin

“I know that wasn’t easy.” Mercer tossed him a sealed plastic sandwich bag loaded with 35mm film canisters. “Those are all shots of the dam. I also took about an hour of digital video when we planted the charges. That might ease your conscience a bit.”

Parada nodded. “ Si, gracias .”

They found a vantage spot several hundred yards from the waterfall that allowed them to see the bottom of the dam as well as part of the river valley. No one argued when Mercer handed the radio detonator to Miguel. The boy was solemn when he took it, sensing that it would forever wipe away the spot where his parents were killed. Miguel looked to Roddy for guidance. The Panamanian dropped to a knee and held Miguel’s trembling hands in his and together they pressed the button.

The explosion was muffled by distance and the way the charges had been pressed into fissures in the rock. A gout of dust and rock shards blew from the face of the dam and water glinted like diamond chips as it flew away from the detonation. The blast wave shocked hundreds of birds into flight and caused a riot of shrieking animals as it boomed down the valley. With the rolling thunder dying away, the party could hear the earth groaning as tremendous weights shifted inside the stone facade.

And then they noticed that there was more water flowing at the base of the falls than was going over its top. It was negligible at first but grew steadily until water gushed from the hole cleared by the explosives. As they watched, the force of water expanded the gap by clawing away more loose boulders. And by increasing the hole, more water was allowed through, which eroded more of the stonework. A large section of the dam cracked, geysers of water spouting from around its edges, and then it collapsed completely, sweeping away tons more material.

The carefully placed stones next to the rushing torrent were sucked into the maelstrom and swept down the valley. The banks of the River of Ruin were overwhelmed. Everything that once lined it was caught in the flood and uprooted. Trees were smashed down and stands of jungle were ripped away by the unrelenting flood. More of the dam broke away, huge crashes of stone and water that shook the earth.

Like stormwater flowing through a drain, the water gushed through the opening, allowed to follow its natural course for the first time in hundreds of years. It was mesmerizing to watch, the force of that much water released all at once, and the party stood rooted for nearly an hour just to absorb it.

The deluge drew down the level of the lake much faster than Mercer had predicted. He’d used the Manning hydrology formula to determine that the billion-plus cubic feet of water in the lake would need about eight hours to drain away, but it appeared his resistance figures were off. Water flow was greater than the fifty thousand cubic feet per second he’d estimated.

He shot a furtive glance back at the little island in the center of the vanishing lake. As the level dropped and the shore of the lake seemed to retreat, more of the island was exposed. Already the spot where he had hidden Gary’s boat that fateful night was ten feet from the water’s edge.

“There’s no sense standing here,” he said at last. “Why don’t we take the boats out to the island to wait.”

They headed back. Where once the lake lapped just feet from the camp, they were confronted by an expanse of mud flats that dropped sharply to the retreating water. Much of it was so unstable that sheets of it oozed downward. The pier looked oddly out of place sitting alone on its pontoon barrels high above the shoreline. The three boats had drifted at the end of their tethers as the current tried to suck them down the ruined dam. Had Foch not lengthened the painters, the little craft would have been high and dry by now.

He and Rabidoux drew the boats back toward the shore and helped the party into them. Carmen had no interest in joining them so she remained behind with her children, although nothing could keep Miguel from the adventure. They motored out and circled the island once looking for evidence of a cave. That they didn’t see anything didn’t dampen their expectant mood.

The boats were beached and everyone was forced to wade through the clinging mud to reach high ground. Harry had the worst of it because of his fake leg and needed Foch and Mercer to help him. More beers and a Coke for Miguel were dispensed from the cooler they’d brought. Roddy also passed out sandwiches that Carmen had made for the occasion.

The conversation drifted from a recount of what had happened to the canal for the benefit of Parada and his companions to the possibility of finding the legendary treasure. Every half hour or so one of the group would excuse themselves and walk around the island, keeping clear of the mud by stepping along its old shoreline. As the sun sank toward the horizon, Mercer announced he would make one last circuit and that afterward they should head back to the camp to wait out the night and return in the morning. Lauren got to her feet as Mercer set off.

“Mind some company?” She grinned, taking his hand.

“Not one bit.”

They got no more than a minute from camp when Mercer stopped suddenly. Lauren turned to him, tilting her head, expecting to be kissed. She opened her eyes after a second, piqued that Mercer hadn’t gone through with it. He wasn’t even looking at her. His attention was riveted to a strange rock formation slowly emerging as the water receded. “What is it?”

“Pay dirt.”

“A cave?”

“I think so. It might take another hour to be sure. The water’s still hiding a lot of it.”

Even before they could return to tell the others, Professor Parada and Roddy had come out to see what was taking so long. A minute later they all made their way down the muddy shore. The morass was thick and stunk of rot.

They had to circle around the projection of rock that hid the cave and wade through water up to their knees to reach the entrance. The cavern was roughly thirty feet wide and about six tall, a black mouth that led into the earth. The rocks were cool and slick. Mercer was the only one to remember a flashlight.

Holding it in front of him, he stepped into the entrance, feeling along the stone floor with his feet to make sure it didn’t drop away suddenly. Water dripped from the ceiling like rain. Lauren joined him, keeping behind him to step where he stepped.

The floor vanished. Mercer probed out with his foot, feeling underwater, and found a step six inches down. He found another and another. He was on a staircase that disappeared into the murky water. He stopped when he was chest-deep.

“We might need diving gear after all,” Lauren remarked.

“No, the water’s dropping. I think there’s a subterranean outlet below us that will drain the cave. We just need to give it a little more time.”

In just a minute the water was down to his waist again and Mercer took another couple of steps. Lauren stayed a few stairs above him, shivering in the cold water. When he could, Mercer took another step.

“I think I reached the floor.” He turned to look back. The cave’s entrance, forty feet behind them, was ten feet over their heads. The others were silhouetted against the dim light filtering down the passage.

Somewhere in the darkness he heard water rushing through a small side passage, draining away as he’d predicted. The cavern was larger than the beam of his small light could reach. Mercer and Lauren moved to the right, trying to find a side wall. The water was still above their knees so neither saw the obstruction. Mercer hit it awkwardly, groped for balance and ended up knocking Lauren off her feet too.

He hit on his shoulder but the ground didn’t seem solid. More like landing on a patch of loose gravel than volcanic rock. He felt around under the water and picked up a handful of the pebbles.