Marjorie Thelen - The Hieroglyphic Staircase

“ Buenas días , Sister Rita. How are you and how did Gordo pass the night?”

Sister Rita wearily looked up from the stack of paperwork before her. Paper covered every inch of her small desk. Permanent dark circles made her eyes look sunken.

“I am sorry, he is not here.” She sighed and shook her head in apology. “He slipped out during the night. You know, señor , we do not have bars on the doors and windows here. They don’t stay, young ones like him. They are wild as the wind.”

Dominic thought of Miguel sitting outside.

“I understand,” he said. “At least, we were able to get some medicine and food into him and provide a place to spend the night.”

“Yes, we must thank our merciful Lord and Savior for what we can do. The boy ate well at dinner and seemed better when I put him on his pallet. He fell asleep immediately. I didn’t have time to check on him again. We have several children sicker than he was, and I was up most of the night attending to their needs.”

“Thank you for taking him in. I’ll see if he’s back under the bridge.”

“ Que vayan con Dios ,” she said.

Dominic strode toward the entrance along the glass enclosed corridor, craning his neck as he hurried along, to see if he could see Miguel on the steps outside.

He stopped at the entrance door.

Miguel was gone.

Elena found Dominic on the steps of the relief house.

“Miguel disappeared,” he said without preamble. “Help me check the area in this block. Maybe he’s talking to some kids or something. Circle the block that way. I’ll meet you back here.”

Their search turned up no newly transformed Miguel. The street vendors had seen no freshly washed boy of Miguel’s description.

“He just disappeared,” Elena said back in front of the relief house. “I can’t believe it. Do you have the same sinking feeling I have?”

His unsmiling face told her he did. “I was hoping we’d be able to protect him from whoever is looking for him. He might be able to identify the man he saw.” He shook his head. “We were so close. I never should have left him here in front of the door by himself when I went in to check on Gordo.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” she said. “Something probably spooked him, and he went into hiding. He’s awfully jittery and deathly afraid of that man.”

“I know, I know.”

“How’s Gordo doing?”

“He’s gone, too.”

“What’s with these kids?”

“Bad experience, no home, no parents, no love. Should I go on?”

Elena shook her head. “Heaven help them. We certainly haven’t been able to.”

“I’ll check the clinic on the outside chance he went back there. Then I’ll drive out to the bridge. Not that I think they’ll be there, but I need to at least go through the motions.”

“I’ll go with you. My frustration factor is around one hundred percent right now. My boss is in Peru, incommunicado, and I need to talk to her. Did Oliveros show?”

“No.”

“We’re getting nowhere fast.”

Inside the clinic they found Corazón at the end of a short line of people. Dominic swept the clinic with his gaze, searching.

“ Hola, Corazón ,” he said. “Has Miguel or Gordo come back?”

She shook her head over the shoulder of a woman she was giving an injection.

“Can you spare me for a few more minutes?” he asked. “I want to try to find Miguel. He’s disappeared. Gordo, too.”

“ No hay problema . I can handle this.”

Elena followed Dominic to the Jeep and hopped in. He gunned the motor as a warning to people walking across the street. The people hurried aside, and Dominic pulled into the line of traffic. They traveled slower than usual, both stretching their necks, searching for any sign of Miguel or Gordo.

“He’s probably going to lay low,” said Elena, “since he doesn’t want to be caught. A kid like him has to have a thousand hiding places.”

Outside of town a car whizzed around them, honking, the driver brandishing his fist at their slow pace. The landscape was full of low, densely packed shrubs, bright green. The vegetation was so abundant and overgrown that a child or adult could be hiding easily within its confines.

Dominic slowed the Jeep as they came to the bridge. He stopped and switched off the motor. “Be right back.”

He checked under the bridge and turned back. That told Elena all she needed to know. The kids weren’t there. She hoped to heaven some angel was protecting them from whatever menace was out there, because they surely were not.

Dominic got back in the Jeep and blew out a breath. “I’m at a loss. You have any ideas?”

She shoved her sunglasses up on her head and didn’t immediately respond but stared straight ahead. The rays of the sun beat hot on her scalp. She patted away beads of perspiration from her upper lip.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “I have the uncomfortable feeling of not being in control.” She waved her hand over the lush landscape surrounding them. “Miguel and Gordo could be anywhere. Anywhere. I hope this same vegetation that could be hiding them from us protects them from whoever is looking for them.”

Dominic didn’t respond. She turned to look at him. He wasn’t wearing sunglasses, and his eyes were almost closed against the glare of the sun. His light brown hair fell across his forehead. It was darker by his temples, wet from perspiring. His gaze shifted to the field of wild green vegetation beyond her.

“Do you want to see Oliveros?” he asked.

“Later. Without Miguel, the punch goes out of my confrontation. Since we’re this far, could you drop me at Archaeological Park? I want to poke around again. Maybe I’ll find something else. I won’t stay long, just look around. Then I’ll take the religious medallion to the inspector, and we’ll have our chat. Maybe the boys will appear before then. I can be ever hopeful.”

“I’ll give you a ride, but I worry about your safety. I’d like to go with you, but I should get back to help at the clinic.”

“I’ll be fine at the Park. There are guards all over the place.”

Dominic dropped Elena outside the main gate to the Park.

“Thanks, Dominic. I appreciate the lift. I’m sorry we didn’t find the boys. I’ll keep an eye open for them.”

“Do you want me to come back for you later?”

“Not necessary. I’ll get a scooter taxi back.”

She waved as he drove away, watching till the vehicle was out of sight. He was a good man, Dominic was.

She turned toward the Museum. She intended to call on the director and tell him that she was still here and available, if he needed help. It would probably fall on deaf ears, but at least she could offer. He was acting funny, and maybe a conversation with him would shine some light on the reason for his strange behavior. He had some secrets of his own.

As she walked the path to the Museum, she worried about her career. She had come out on the losing end before when a sneaky colleague had accused her of plagiarism, then had used her work in his book without giving her credit. What a scandal that had caused in her department before it was all straightened out. She wondered if the inspector and the director were in cahoots since they both seem to have it in for her. What if she were framed again? The thought made her insides twist into a tangle of jungle vines.

She hadn’t planned anything else for the summer. The Hieroglyphic Staircase project was to last until the middle of August. If the project was incomplete, she wouldn’t have anything definitive on which to write an article that would enhance her credibility in her field. Solving the mystery of the correct order of the hieroglyphs in the Staircase would be a real career boost. The solution was to persuade the director to let her keep on working.