Accordingly, I arranged for its safe storage. I tried to forget about the matter.
Now, almost fifteen years later, I find myself dredging up memories of an abominable nature. Señor Aureliano Garcia, most astonishingly, appeared to know about my possession of the artifact. Indeed, he wrote requesting that I agree to his purchase of same.
Naturally, I agreed. Anything to spare my heirs from having to deal with it.
It was therefore with considerable anxiety that I watched Señor Garcia remove the artifact from its place of storage. Unwilling to risk myself further, I hesitated even to watch. I was, however, assured that a gas mask would provide adequate protection. How I wish I had known this years ago when we first opened the artifact! Señor Garcia himself appeared oblivious to the perilous character of the relic.
He asked if I had read any part of the object. Wishing to be swiftly rid of Señor Garcia, I’m afraid I dissembled, replying in the negative.
In point of fact I did, years ago, attempt a transcription. Not touching the artifact presented a challenge. I turned a few pages with tweezers. What I read convinced me of the uselessness of proceeding further. I declined to share my findings with the world of fellow Mayan scholars. The artifact, I believe, has more in common with either an elaborate hoax, or perhaps more sinisterly, a supernatural nature of the most wicked kind. As such, it would hold no interest for me. I am an archaeologist, not a practitioner of the occult.
Señor Garcia, however, could scarcely contain his delight. He claimed that before long the item would be displayed in Mexico City’s spectacular new National Museum of Anthropology.
I await his findings with bated breath.
The language is a bit old-fashioned. We have to read it through a couple of times to get the gist. Tyler and I agree that basically, what it says is this:
Thompson got hold of a Mayan relic, which did something horrible to someone who touched it. When Aureliano Garcia (my grandfather) came asking for it in 1965, Thompson was only too happy to hand it over. Just like the brujo in Catemaco, he believed that the object was cursed.
I pretend to Tyler that I’m not sure what this “artifact” is, but even he guesses that it’s the Ix Codex.
“So these must be copies of the first three pages!” he says with delight.
“I guess so.”
“If that Madison guy is bothering with them, that means he probably hasn’t got the actual codex.”
“Yep. Definitely.”
“And now you’ve got these pages!”
“Uh-huh.”
“Dude, why aren’t you excited?”
“Because,” I reply, “I’m wondering why he didn’t chase us.”
“It was dark! We were out of there like lightning!”
I shake my head. “I know this guy. He wouldn’t give up so easily. He’s coming after me again.”
Tyler gives me a long, curious look. “You know a lot more about this than you’re letting on.”
“Yeah. It’s true.”
“But you’re not gonna tell me?”
“I will. One day, I promise. Right now it’s too dangerous. You okay with that?”
He grins ruefully. “Guess I have to be.”
“There’s a lot more to my father’s death.”
“Oh yeah?” he says, laughing. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Madison and me … we’ve got unfinished business.”
By the time we say good night and head for our houses, it’s past midnight. The next day, I decide I’m going to stay home. In fact, my plan is to stay in my bedroom with the pages until I can figure out what to do. I’ve pretty much decided that destroying the documents is the way to go. But first I scan the pages, set up a brand-new file storage account on a new Web site that claims to be super secure, behind a password I’ve never used before.
And then I erase all traces of my activity from the computer’s browser history. So even if Madison breaks in again, he won’t be able to follow what I’ve done.
This is all very absorbing, so when Ollie turns up on my doorstep around lunchtime, she takes me by surprise.
“Hey,” she says, her voice all soft. “I was looking for you yesterday. Where were you?”
“Tyler and I went on a trip.”
“Fun?”
“To be honest, scary.”
We go upstairs and I turn off the TV.
“Scary? How?”
I hesitate. But she’s only going to hear the same from Tyler.
“We found something. Another clue to the Ix Codex.”
She’s blown away. “Wow! Amazing! What is it?”
I shake my head. “You know what, Ollie, it was great having you and Ty to help me last time, but this time … I don’t know. I already got you both into trouble. So I’m going to finish this—destroy everything I have about that codex, forget about it, and get on with my life.”