They set out from the priest’s house, and Remi told Sam about Señora Velasquez. “I’m sure she was listening,” said Remi.

“No harm done. We would have been happy to have her join in the conversation.”

“I know. But I’ll bet a lot of people around here wonder how their secrets get out.”

Soon they found Pepe’s garage. They could see they had the right place from the cars parked all over the block and in front of the house. They found Pepe putting on a set of tires. Sam hired him to service their car and keep it safe.

Pepe referred them to the nearby house of the Pérez family, who were willing to rent them a guest room for the night. In the evening, they ate at the small restaurant where they’d had breakfast with Father Gomez and Dr. Huerta on their first visit.

The following morning, as the sun grew bright, they set out on foot to find the structure they’d seen on the map in the Mayan codex. It was a beautiful day as they crossed the fields, cleared for planting corn and beans, and then entered the forest. After some searching, they found a path that led up the side of the plateau, above and beyond the town.

After climbing about a hundred feet on the path, Remi stopped. “Look at this.”

She stood at a place where the path turned upward and to the left. There was a steep incline to the next level, but they could see that it had been reinforced with slabs of rock laid horizontally like giant steps.

“I guess this means we’ve found the right trail,” Sam said. He joined her in climbing toward the turn ahead.

“That’s right,” she said. “But in all the other sites we’ve visited, the stone was all overgrown. This is exposed.”

They walked along the path, climbing steadily. Sam said, “This is closer to a place where people live than the other sites were. And it does make sense to use a perfectly good path when you find one instead of blazing a new trail.”

They climbed for a while, unimpeded by thick brush or centuries of fallen earth. Remi said, “The part I haven’t figured out yet is why.”

“I know,” Sam said. “Maybe there’s something else up there—good fields or something.”

“I’d hate to carry the harvest down this path,” Remi said.

“Then what do you think it could be?”

“I’m hoping it’s a shortcut to another village that has an air-conditioned spa and restaurant.”

“A good working theory,” he said. “I’ll accept it until we find something better. That’s the way we scientists operate.”