to learn how to look. Don't the mounds look a little more regular than hills should look? And you see how they're arranged so that they make a nice path from here to there." He drew a line in the air with his hand. "And look at the rocks that are scattered around. They aren't your average rocks."
"I suppose so," I said doubtfully.
"We're standing right on top of an old temple," he said.
"How do you know it's a temple?"
Barbara broke in. "Everything's a temple until someone proves otherwise," she said in a mildly derisive tone. "We could even give it a name: Temple of the Sun, say. Or Temple of the Jaguar—that sounds good.
The names are arbitrary anyway."
"Careful," Tony said, smiling faintly. "You're giving away professional secrets."
"She'll keep it in the family," Barbara said. "She's trustworthy."
She started down the trail and we followed. I studied the rocks around us as we walked. Occasionally, I saw one that bore the remnants of carving, but most just looked like rocks.
The cenote was a pool of clear blue water, set in the limestone rock. Right beside the path, the rock sloped gently down to the water. On the far side, the rocks rose out of the water in a sheer face that leveled off several feet above the water's surface. I could not see the bottom of the pool. Water lilies floated at the far end.
We left our towels in the sun on the sloping rock. Barbara and I climbed in slowly. The water was cold, a shock after the heat of the morning. I swam a dozen laps, down to the water lilies at the far end and back. I could see tiny fish, each no longer than my finger, hovering just under the water lilies. When I swam toward them, they scattered, heading down into the darkness.
Tony sat on the sloping rocks, basking in the sun like an ancient reptile trying to absorb the warmth. He had leaned back on his hands and tilted his face to the sun. Now that he had taken off his shirt, I could see how thin he was. His skin, tanned to the color of old leather, seemed to fit him badly, like a shirt handed down from a larger man.
I climbed out on the rocks beside him. Barbara was still in the water, floating contentedly on her back. I spread my towel beside his and he acknowledged my presence with a nod.
"How deep is this pool?" I asked him.
He shrugged without opening his eyes. "Deeper than you think. According to the team from Tulane University, it goes straight down to a hundred and fifty feet. Keeps going at an angle from there. They did quite a bit of underwater work."
"Will you be diving this summer?" I asked.
Tony shook his head. "No budget for it. The university doesn't think this is a glamorous enough site for the big money."
I could understand that attitude. So far, I had seen nothing that looked particularly impressive.
"It's an important site," Tony was saying. "The oldest continuously occupied ceremonial center. But to convince the university to let us come back next year, we need to find something spectacular."
"Like what?"
"Jade masks, gold, pottery painted with pictures of important rituals. Or maybe a set of murals like the ones at Bonampak in Chiapas." He lay back, setting himself down gently as if his bones might shatter.
"Something flashy—a tomb filled with treasure would be ideal. Something that can double as a tourist attraction."
"You think the chances are good?" I asked.
His eyes were still closed against the sun. He shrugged without opening them. "Hard to say. We're gambling. We always have to gamble. Liz likes gambling, I think. But then, she's never lost big. She has luck. The academics don't like her. But she has luck."
"I hope I won't be in the way here," I said. My voice sounded thin and weak. "I don't want to get in her way."
He opened his eyes halfway and squinted at me. "What do you expect to find here?" he asked. His voice was a low rumble, like the thunder of ocean waves on a warm beach or like rain on a tin roof on a winter morning. "Some come looking for secret knowledge; some, for adventure. What do you want here?"
I shrugged. "I don't really know."
"You'll find something, that's certain. But it's never what you expect."
"What do you want here?" I asked him, closing my eyes against the sun.
"Warmth and peace," he said. "I used to want