Gold of the Gods Read Online Free PDF Page A

they're that good, why couldn't they
have stopped the gang in the first place?'
said Marco later as they dragged themselves
despondently to bed.
    Now, in the cold light of morning, Beck
held his breath and listened intently. Marco
was evidently talking to Ramirez, who was
giving him an update on the latest
information. From the tone of Marco's
voice, Beck guessed that the news was not
good.
    Hurriedly pulling on some clothes, he
made his way along the balcony, glancing
into Christina's room as he passed.
Everything was neat and tidy. In pride of
place on the wall above the bed was a
framed photograph of the Colombian pop
star, Shakira. Beck couldn't help noticing
that it had been signed in person and
wondered how many more pop stars were
on first-name terms with the twins.
    In Marco's room, the contrast could
hardly have been greater. A hurricane
looked like it had ripped through overnight
and clothes lay scattered around the floor in
untidy piles. A poster of the Colombian
football team, also signed, had been Blutacked
unevenly to the wall. One corner
had come loose and was curling downwards
at an awkward angle.
    Down in the hallway at the foot of a
sweeping wooden staircase that creaked
loudly as he descended, Marco and Christina
were already deep in conversation.
    'Ramirez says there is nothing he can do
until the gang contact him with their
demands,' Marco was saying. 'He's put a
police guard on the house in case the gang
try to kidnap us as well. We are forbidden to
leave under any circumstances. The Reptile
says it's for our own safety.'
    'What he means is he doesn't want us
poking our noses in where they're not
wanted,' said Christina with a contemptuous
toss of her curls.
    Beck took in this latest development. 'We
can't just sit on our backsides and do
nothing,' he said after a while. 'Anyway, it
might not be money the gang want. Surely
it must be something to do with the
expedition to the Lost City. Why else would
they have kidnapped the mayor and Uncle
Al just after the announcement?'
    'Ramirez didn't want my father to make
that announcement,' said Marco. 'He said it
was too dangerous.'
    'But the gang must have already known
about the expedition,' said Christina. 'It
must have leaked out somehow. Ramirez
probably couldn't keep his mouth shut and
told some of his goons. The walls have ears
in Colombia.'
    'But even your father doesn't know
exactly where the city is,' said Beck. 'After
all, it wouldn't be the Lost City if he did.'
    'Yes, but maybe the gang thinks he knows
how to find it, and with Professor Granger's
expert knowledge of the Indians, they could
force them to take them there,' suggested
Marco.
    'And loot the gold before the archaeologists
get there,' added Christina. A
silence fell on the room as this possibility
sank in.
    'Do you think your dad may have known
more than he was letting on?' asked Beck
finally.
    'I overheard him once telling Mum he
was convinced Gonzalo made a map before
he died, but no one in the family has ever
found it.' Marco paused and looked across
at his sister, as if for reassurance. Christina
gave a brief nod. 'Come with us, Beck,' he
said quietly. 'There's something you should
see.'
    The twins led the way along an oakpanelled
corridor before stopping in front
of a polished door with a brass plaque on it.
The single word, Jefe , had been etched on
the plaque in a flowery copperplate. 'Hail to
the Chief,' said Christina, raising her eyebrows
knowingly at Beck.
    Marco went into his father's study and
reappeared moments later, clutching a
heavy, ancient key that looked to Beck as if
it had been used to lock up prisoners in the
Tower of London. Hanging next to it on a
rusty key ring was another key that looked
like a miniature version of its larger brother.
    Further down the corridor, Marco led the
way through a door. The hacienda had been
built in the old Spanish style around a stone
courtyard. In the centre was an intricately
carved fountain of a dolphin and on the far
side was an