the last places the Incas visited en route was Kuélap, which is a pretty amazing fortress near Chachapoyas.’ She flipped open a reference book to show her audience a picture of its imposing outer wall.
‘Impressive,’ said Mac. ‘And it looks in good shape, too. Did the Spanish discover it?’
‘Actually, no,’ Osterhagen told him. ‘Even though they reached that region, they never found it – which is why it has survived so well.’
‘Which makes it more likely that they never found El Dorado either,’ said Nina. ‘The whole region is cloud forest; high-altitude jungle. Very few inhabitants, now or then – and lots of places to hide.’
‘So how close have you got to finding it?’ Eddie asked.
‘We think within a couple of miles. The directions from Kuélap take you more or less due north for about forty miles, until you reach the point where the Incas headed northeast towards Paititi.’
Kit peered at the map’s contour lines. ‘It looks rather hard to get to.’
Osterhagen shook his head. ‘Not as hard as you think. There is a road that runs through the mountains. Well, I say a road, but it will not exactly be an autobahn. It will be narrow, it will be steep . . . and it will be dangerous. Very dangerous.’
‘Oh, great,’ said Eddie. ‘A death road.’
‘A what?’ Macy asked, alarmed.
‘Well, you know how in the States dangerous roads have barriers and warning signs and kerbs to keep you away from massive cliffs?’
‘Yeah?’
‘This won’t.’ She appeared unhappy at the prospect.
‘Any road is better than no road,’ Mac assured her. ‘But presumably it can’t be too close to the road, or somebody would have discovered it by now.’
‘We’ve got some more clues,’ Nina replied. ‘The map in Paititi showed that El Dorado was very close to a waterfall.’ She nodded towards a laptop. ‘We’ve checked the IHA’s satellite imagery, and think we’ve pinpointed it.’
‘And we should be able to drive most of the way,’ said Osterhagen. ‘There will be a trek through the jungle, but nothing worse than at Paititi. The area around the waterfall is reasonably flat.’
Mac nodded. ‘That sounds good.’
‘For what?’ Eddie asked.
‘For me.’
‘What?’
‘I rather fancied coming along with you this time,’ said the Scot amiably.
‘Are you kidding?’
‘Not at all. I’d quite like to see one of these incredible discoveries first-hand. And to be perfectly honest, that little jaunt around Caracas the other night . . . well, it made me realise that in some ways I rather miss the action.’
‘But you really want to come on an expedition?’ Nina asked.
‘Why not? Dr Osterhagen said the place you’ll be exploring is fairly accessible. And just because I’ve got a tin leg doesn’t make me helpless. I’ve run a couple of half-marathons on it.’
‘Well, if you think you’re up to it, I’d be happy for you to come with us,’ said Nina. She saw from her husband’s face that he had a different opinion, but he said nothing. ‘So,’ she went on, addressing the whole group, ‘this could be it. We might actually have found El Dorado.’
‘What’s the next move?’ asked Kit.
‘The first thing is to contact the Peruvian government via the UN and ask permission to mount an expedition. Considering what we’re looking for, I think we’ll get an answer fairly quickly. Once we have that, organising everything shouldn’t take too long. As Leonard said, we can drive there.’
‘And if we actually find El Dorado?’ asked Mac.
‘Then we’ll probably be sticking around for a while! But you won’t have to stay if you don’t want to. As much as I love getting down to the real nitty-gritty of archaeological work, I know it’s not for everybody.’
‘Does that mean I can leave too?’ Eddie asked, raising a few laughs.
Kit had more to add. ‘When you talk to the Peruvian government, Nina, make sure you emphasise the need for security. If word gets out about what we’re searching for, the entire region will fill with treasure hunters – or worse.’
‘Wait, “we”?’ said Eddie. ‘You want to come an’ all? Thought the case was closed now that we’ve got back the stuff Da— de Quesada nicked.’ Only Kit noticed his near-slip, but the Interpol agent’s knowing look assured him that their mutual secret would remain that way for now.
‘Technically, it is,’ said Kit. ‘But . . . well, I agree with Mac. I want to see the lost city of gold! And I also want to see what happens when Nina puts all the statues together.’