Gabriel Hunt - Hunt at The Well Of Eternity

“That’s not necessary,” Cierra replied with a defiant toss of her head, though her eyes still showed her ambivalence. “But will it hold all five of us?”

Mariella gestured toward the ropes that were attached to the sturdy pair of posts anchoring each end of the bridge. Those ropes were each as thick as a man’s wrist. “The bridge will support all of us without any problem. I’ve seen fully loaded pack mules go across it.”

“Let’s go, then,” Gabriel said. He was ready to see this so-called lost city of the Mayas for himself, and wanted to have as much time there before Esparza showed up as possible.

Mariella stepped out onto the bridge. The planks had gaps of several inches between them. She moved carefully but confidently, holding the machete in her left hand and the bridge’s guide rope with her right. There was no guide rope on the left, only open air.

The bridge sagged even more under her weight. Gabriel saw the ropes attached to the anchor posts tighten around the wood.

“I’ll go next,” he said. “Cierra, you follow me.” Escalante and Tomás could bring up the rear, Gabriel didn’t care in which order.

Despite his generally steady nerves, he felt a tightening in his belly as he stepped out onto the span. The gaps between the planks gave him a very good view of the hundreds of feet of empty air underneath him. The gorge was a good four hundred feet deep. At the bottom of it ran a stream that appeared to be nothing more than a thread of silver from this height.

Mariella was four planks ahead of him. She glanced back over her shoulder and called, “Are you doing all right?”

“Fine,” Gabriel replied. “No problem.” He moved to the next plank and paused to look back at Cierra. “Come on. It’ll be fine. Just hang on tight to the guide rope and don’t look down.”

Cierra swallowed hard and said, “I think you can count on that, Gabriel.” She moved onto the first plank. She’d reached out and grasped the rope with her right hand before she stepped onto the rough board. It was clear that heights bothered her a great deal. Still, determination was etched on her face as well as fear. She stepped out with her left foot, rested it solidly on the next plank, and moved her right foot to join it.

Slowly, they worked their way out onto the bridge. Escalante and Tomás followed Cierra. Soon, all five of them were above the deep gorge. The ropes had sagged so much that their heads were below the level of the cliff on the far side.

This would be a heck of a place for a trap, Gabriel thought.

As if reading his thoughts, Mariella turned to look back at Gabriel and smiled in encouragement.

That smile disappeared abruptly, to be replaced by a look of shock and horror. Gabriel jerked his head around, knowing that Mariella had seen something behind them.

Alexei Podnemovitch had stepped out of the jungle at the western end of the bridge. He no longer wore the sling for his injured arm and shoulder but had a gun in that hand instead. Podnemovitch leveled the revolver at Gabriel and the others and said, “Not another step, Hunt.”

Chapter 20

Looked like Mariella wasn’t the only one who knew some hidden trails and short cuts.

“What do you want, Podnemovitch?”

The big, broken-nosed man laughed. “What do I want? I want you dead, of course. Why don’t you just go ahead and jump off that bridge? Save us all a lot of trouble, don’t you think?”

“You first,” Gabriel said between gritted teeth.

A couple of other men stepped out of the jungle behind Podnemovitch. One of them carried a rifle, and Gabriel assumed that he was one of Esparza’s men. The other was short and slender and pale and wore a dirty, rumpled suit with no tie. He walked with a limp and used a branch in one hand for support. He laughed harshly and said, “You thought you could get here before me, didn’t you, Mariella? Think you’re so high and mighty, like you’re the queen of Cuchatlán!”

“Hector!” she said. “You…you traitor!”

Hector gave a mockery of a salute. “Soon I will be the ruler of Cuchatlán! Señor Esparza has promised me that I will be in charge here!”

What a fool, thought Gabriel. No one, no matter how self-deluded, should have been stupid enough to believe that promise, if indeed it had been made at all. The greed that had led Hector to betray his people in the first place was now blinding him to the truth of his own situation. He’d already been beaten to within an inch of his life, and as soon as Esparza had everything he wanted, that last inch would be taken from him as well.

But that time hadn’t come yet. Which meant Esparza didn’t have everything he wanted.

Podnemovitch said, “Step aside, Hunt, and let Señora Fargo past. Vladimir has decided that he will spare her life, as well as that of Dr. Almanzar. You and those two bandits, though, are of no worth to him.” He used the revolver to gesture at Escalante and Tomás. “You two, out of the way! Let the women come back off the bridge.”

“Gabriel,” Cierra said, “as soon as we get off the bridge, that bastard will shoot you all.”

In a low voice, he said, “When things start to happen, get around me, then you and Mariella make a run for the far side of the bridge.”

“You mean abandon you?”

“I mean get out of the way so we can make a fight of it.” Gabriel had heard voices not far away and knew that more men were coming. Esparza must have sent a few men hurrying ahead, but now the main party was approaching the Blade of the Gods. If Gabriel and his companions could just get across somehow and cut the ropes supporting the bridge before any of Esparza’s men could cross…

Of course, that would trap them in the valley, he realized, but they could deal with that problem later, once they’d made sure that Esparza couldn’t reach Cuchatlán.

“I’m losing patience, Hunt,” Podnemovitch called. “Let the women off the bridge now.”

Tomás took matters into his own hands then. The short bandit let out a yell of rage and hurled his machete end-over-end at Podnemovitch.

Gabriel brought up his Colt and yelled, “Go!” at Cierra.

Podnemovitch flung himself to the side and fired at Tomás, but the shot missed. At the same time Tomás charged toward the big Russian, bellowing in anger as he leaped from plank to plank, skipping every other one and causing the bridge to shake beneath him.

Cierra hurried toward Gabriel, who crowded against the guide rope to give her room to pass him. He reached out with his free hand to steady her, since she wouldn’t have anything to hold on to.

She didn’t get there, though. One of her feet slipped, and with a terrified cry her leg plunged between the planks. She started to tilt out to the side.

In desperation, Gabriel reached for her, caught hold of her shirt. It ripped down the front, the fabric parting under Cierra’s weight. But the shirt didn’t tear completely, and he was able to stop her fall and pull her halfway onto the bridge, which was now swaying worse than before.

Gabriel glanced up as shots roared out. He saw that Tomás had almost reached the end of the bridge, but Podnemovitch had set himself now and he didn’t miss as flame spurted from the muzzle of the big revolver. Tomás jerked and slowed as the slugs plowed into his broad chest. His momentum kept him going all the way off the bridge, however, and he crashed into Podnemovitch.

The other man opened fire with his rifle. Gabriel and Escalante ducked as bullets whistled past them. Escalante brought his Springfield to his shoulder and squeezed off a round. Esparza’s man doubled over as the bullet hit him in the midsection.

But his last shot had found a target, too, as Escalante twisted under its impact. Gabriel was trying to pull Cierra back fully onto the bridge—her leg still dangled through the gap between planks—ashe saw Escalante fall perilously close to the edge. The bandit leader dropped his rifle. It slid off the bridge and fell, turning over and over in the air as it plummeted toward the stream far below.