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"It is," he said gravely And dangerous With the stakes so high violence has becoo a chiclero said instead of sending Mayan artifacts out of the country, leave the the tourists in to see them It would mean more money for all"

"Not a bad idea Did anyone listen to him?"

"Oh yes" His mouth curled in a dark smile "Someone heard him loud and clear He was killed Whoops!"

He hit the brakes The Huue chute and swung to the right in a twelve-G turn

"Sorry!" Chi yelled as they buet carried away Hold on, we're going in!" he shouted over the din of snapping branches and the roar of the engine

Gamay was sure they were headed for a crash, but Chi's sharp eye had seen what she hadn't, a barely discernible opening in the dense forest With the professor hanging on to the steering wheel like soh the woods

They bounced along for nearly an hour Chi followed a route that was entirely invisible to Gamay, and she was surprised when he announced they were at the end of the track The professordown at least an acre of vegetation, pointed out, and switched off the motor

"Time for a stroll in the woods"

Chi exchanged his straw hat for a Harvard baseball cap, ith the visor facing backward so it wouldn't catch on branches While he unloaded the packs Gas froh the straps of the rucksack holding their lunch, slung the shotgun over his shoulder, and hung the machete from a scabbard tucked into his belt Gamay carried a second pack with the calance at the surfs position to get his bearings, he set off into the woods in a groundcovering scuttle

Gas, sirl, always running with a gang of boys, building tree houses, playing baseball in the streets of Racine, Wisconsin As a grooman she beca and biking and hiking during fainia countryside At five-ten, Gamay was nearly a foot taller than the professor As lithe and fit as Ga up with Chi He seeh branches she had to push aside His quiet passage through the forest h the bushes Only when Chi stopped to hack aith his et a chance to catch her breath

On one such halt, after they had climbed up a s the ground

"This is part of an old Mayan road Raised paved causeways like this run between cities all over the Yucatan Good as anything the Ro should be easier from now on"

His prediction proved true Although the grass and bushes were still thick, the solid underpinning

Before long they stopped again, and Chi indicated a low line of fallen stones that ran through the trees "Those are the remains of a city wall We're almost there"

A few minutes later the forest thinned, and they broke out of the trees into the dear Chi slid the machete into its sheath