Waste Not Want Not, Chapter XXXI

The next morning found the two back in the first entry chamber of the cave. They had plenty of gear which they had been storing in the entrance.
Today they decided to explore a small opening they had not yet been into. The hole was about four feet high and around three feet across.
The men were wearing coveralls, tucked into their hiking boots. They each wore a miner’s hard hat with it’s lamp over the brim.
“I’ll go in first,” said Conrad.
Conrad crawled into the cave on all fours. He had a coil of line hooked onto his belt. Paul fed the line back through the opening and attached it firmly to a climbing piton driven into the cave wall.
In a few minutes Conrad spoke to Paul on the small two way radio just like the one Paul had.
“I am through into what looks like another large chamber.”
Paul replied “I hear you loud and clear. Hold on and I’ll send you a bigger light.”
Paul then took a powerful flashlight and looped the cord around it.
“OK, pull it through.”
“My God! There is something here. You’ve got to see this!” Conrad’s voice crackled with excitement.
“OK. I’ll join you as soon as I can get through here,” Paul answered.
Paul entered and slowly crawled towards the light he could see through the tunnel. Paul had always had a touch of claustrophobia, He did not like being in a place like this but he was able to once again muster his will and self control and put his nervousness aside.
Soon he emerged and joined Conrad.
“Look,” said Conrad as he shone his light into the inky darkness.
There, before them, was an incredible sight. It was a pyramid, very much like the great pyramid at Chichen Itza known as El Castillo, meaning castle, in Spanish. It was built on a much smaller scale but an amazing sight to see so far underground.
Paul had done some research on the Mayas and he knew that Chichen Itza could be translated as “At the mouth of the well of the Itza.” The Itza were living alongside the Mayans on the north. They were able to maintain an autonomous nation though they were well located into Mayan territory. However they dominated their area politically, culturally and spoke their own language.
The Mayans believed they had magical powers and did not violate their autonomy.
The Spanish called them Brujas del Aqua or “water sorcerers.”
There was also a large cave near Chichen Itza which was believed to be a sacred place.
Ever since Paul had first seen some of the structures in the ante chamber he had made a connection with the Mayas or a similar culture. He was sure of it now. He was also beginning to think El Indio may have been telling him the truth all along.