The Loot of Lima

The Loot of Lima

The Loot of Lima is a real treasure that Captain William Thomson stole from the Spanish in the early 19thcentury. He supposedly hid it on Cocos island in Lima. It was never found. The treasure is said to be worth up to £160 million today.

Chapter 1 - The Tomb

Thompson’s treasure eluded them for over five years but originally it belonged to the Inca Empire. Wayne Marin, an Inca descendent, stood at six feet with unkept stubble characterizing the long and hard journey he had endured. “C’mon Wayne, hurry up, I’m almost at the beach”, Kyle barked. Kyle Saunders stood just as tall as Wayne, with blonde, sandy hair and small blue piercing eyes contrasting Wayne’s which were both dark brown. Kyle was also more reckless but just as sharp.

The hike through the mountains was treacherous but they had made their way through the rocky cliffs and finally to what they hoped would be their last destination. Wayne stood at the edge of the cliff leading into the final descent before the beach. His map consumed him, and he ignored Kyle completely. His brow furrowed; he glided his finger across the map. Pencil marks and annotations would have made it incomprehensible to anyone else. Kyle never guided them through their quest. He was an accomplished map reader himself, but a lost Inca treasure was Wayne’s area of expertise. “C’mon get down here, one hell of a view!” Kyle’s voice echoed up the mountain trail again. This time, Wayne heard him and folded the map into his back pocket before descending. His black boots followed the loose dust and gravel preceding him. The final path twisted and turned precariously but he eventually reached the bottom and his first step on the beach saw his right boot sink halfway into the sand. Heavy steps then brought him to the shore beside Kyle.

Uncharacteristically, Kyle hadn’t said a word since Wayne had caught up with him. He sat on a rock staring into the sea. The silence was strange at first, but they longed for it to last forever. Wayne was about to snap him out of his trance when he realised what he was looking at. The view was spectacular. The sunset immersed the sky with red and orange. Ripples of colour across the sea seemed never-ending. Untouched by people, civilization and time. Neither man wanted to interrupt the other’s tranquillity. A gentle breeze shifted the sand under Kyle’s feet causing him to drift out of his daydream. He knew they had to continue. There would be another puzzle set by Thompson that they needed to solve.

“Hell of a view right”, Kyle said. Wayne nodded silently. “Cheer up. We made it. How many years have we been talking about this, crack a smile? Please?”, Kyle maintained the grin on his face not doing well to hide his excitement. The edges of Wayne’s lips stretched out into something that resembled a smirk. “Knew it. Mr solemn and serious finally shows emotion”, Kyle joked, “Now where is the next clue?”. Wayne fiddled the folded map out of his pocket hoping to find something in his notes. The map had endured the journey just like the treasure hunters, but it had taken its toll.

Two hours had passed since they reached the beach, and they had gotten nowhere. Wayne’s patience waned. He paced along the beach whilst Kyle sat looking at their notes on the sand. Kyle looked up at Wayne struggling to hide his frustration and Wayne let out a cry of anger throwing his compass onto the sand. He sighed, bent down to pick up the compass and glanced at the sunset one more time before surrendering. The rocks lay perfectly aligned in the sea amidst the sinking sun. Where have I seen that before? He frantically slapped his pockets trying to find his notebook. He couldn’t contain his excitement. “Kyle! Get over here now! See this?” He pointed at the sketches on the page he had turned to. Kyle looked at them blankly. He looked up at Wayne and said, “Uh yeah sure”

“Look, just kneel here and look between the rocks towards the sun”. Kyle followed the instruction. “Ok? So?” he was dumbfounded. “Look at the shadows”, Wayne continued as they swayed across the water. Kyle followed the shadows up to their tips and saw that they all converged at one point. The rocks weren’t far from the shore so they swam up to the convergence. The seabed was slightly raised right there but only just. You could only see it if you were looking for it. Wayne rested his hand on the shallow seabed, instinctively tracing the Inca symbol for abundance and prosperity. A flower. Eventually his hand found a stone panel carved into the ground. He pressed it without hesitation despite the risk of a trap. Behind him metal groaned. There was a spiral staircase at the beach which rotated into the ground. Sand began to fall into the orifice left behind. The two explorers turned around instantly and clawed their way through the shallow water back towards the beach. As they reached the circular hole in the ground, they realised it was a tomb. In big, gold encrusted letters on the wall, it read: THE FINAL RESTING PLACE OF CAPTAIN WILLIAM THOMAS, DECEIVER OF THE ENTIRE SPANISH EMPIRE.

Chapter 2 - Supay

Wayne blurted, “Holy- “

“Language?”, Kyle interrupted taunting his friend who usually was more composed. Wayne ignored him. They followed the spiral staircase down to the bottom. The architecture around them was stunning but they were left slightly underwhelmed. It was only a dark underground burial site filled with cobwebs. “Is that it?”, Kyle asked, “a crypt, really?”

“Shut up”, Wayne replied exasperated. He too struggled to hide his disappointment, but he knew there would be something of value to find. They both absorbed the come down after the enormous high of solving the mystery of the staircase and walked through the burial ground, their flashlights guiding the way through. There was one tombstone held above the others on a mound. They jogged towards it, their excitement returning. It was the tombstone of Captain Thomson. They scanned the tombstone and its surroundings trying to find any clues, but they found nothing. Over time, that excitement seeped away and Kyle now sat on the ground in defeat. Wayne paced around the burial site deep in thought but he’d been doing it for so long that Kyle had given up on him too. “This doesn’t make any sense”, Wayne said breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?”, Kyle had given up. Wayne continued to explain, “Thomson left Cocos Island and was taken to the coast of Costa Rica after he managed to successfully hide the treasure somewhere here, right?”

“Right”, Kyle confirmed. Wayne continued, “Well here’s his gravestone in Lima, which implies that he’s buried here. That suggests he returned to the island at some point in the future”

“Ok well, maybe he came back to find it? We know he never was able to recover the treasure after he hid it and what do you mean ‘supposedly buried’ Wayne, that’s his gravestone”

“If he had come back to Lima, he would’ve found the treasure. There is no doubt in my mind and therefore we wouldn’t be here looking for it today. No, I’m confident he never returned here. I have my reasons for thinking that”, Kyle now caught on. “Then who’s buried here?”, Kyle wondered, turning to the gravestone. He then turned to Wayne with doubt, “Hold on, that’s a pretty big assumption. How do you know Thomson never came back?”

“I just do, okay”

“Wayne…”

“Kyle, you’re my best friend and I tell you everything but please just trust me on this”, Wayne said with finality.

“Fine”, he was not happy, but he accepted Wayne’s request, “let’s say you’re right, why the gravestone?”

“There’s another thing, I’ve been staring at the walls in this place. The architecture is way older than when William Thomson was alive. It’s Inca architecture”

“Okay, so?”

“C’mon Kyle, a hidden burial ground with the supposed body of William Thomson? A crypt designed in Inca architecture. Thomson never even came back to this island”, Kyle gave him a look. He did not like assuming that no one else had been here in centuries. It was too big an assumption for him, but he went along with it for the moment.

“Wayne, you can’t tell me this place has been untouched in…”

“…a few centuries before Thomson found it?”, Wayne finished his question. “Yes, actually. I can. The Spanish defeated the Inca’s. They would have destroyed this if they had found it. Not to mention the untouched growth of plants proves humans have barely been here. The architecture is so well preserved that it makes me wonder who else knew about this except for the Inca’s and Thomson obviously. Best guess would be no-one”

“Isn’t it a little cocky to think no one has been here in centuries?”, Kyle asked. He was not wrong. Wayne acknowledged what he was saying but he just knew. Something told him people may have gotten as far as the beach but not further.

He turned back to Thomson’s gravestone. He’d been examining the walls and the architecture around the burial site but not the gravestone. There was something inscribed on it. He kneeled in front of it to get a better look. It read:

Ekeko blessed us with much, as he has you. A true descendant of Inti. Supay has not taken you yet as you fear his power unlike the Spanish. Supay is our salvation as he is yours. He shall show you the path forward. But beware, Supay will take as much as he has given.

“What does that mean?”, Kyle was baffled.

“Well, it’s obvious isn’t it?”, Wayne said turning to him waiting for it to click with him too. It didn’t. “What the hell is Ekeko?”, Kyle said breaking the silence. “‘Ekeko is an Inca God, Kyle”, Wayne said disappointedly. “Ekeko is the god of wealth, Inti is the sun god and Supay is the god of death.

The first sentence mentions Ekeko blessing the Inca with wealth and prosperity. The second part: ‘as he has you’ must be referencing Thomson’s wealth, probably the treasure we’re after.

The second sentence, a true descendant of Inti, re-iterates that all Incans were believed to be descendants of the Sun God. It’s almost as if they had accepted Thomson into their culture. This is incredible!”, Wayne struggled to hide his excitement. He was lost in his own world for a few minutes making sure he understood the message correctly.

A few moments of silence passed where Wayne continually shushed Kyle so he could think. He continued reading, “‘Supay has not taken you yet’: that means Thomson was not dead when they created the gravestone, I guess. The next part, as you fear his power unlike the Spanish, talks about how the Inca’s, and Thomson, revered the god of death and would regularly pray to him to prevent harm from befalling them. The Spanish on the other hand were catholic and would never pray to their equivalent, the devil. The next line is the only one I’m not sure about”. Wayne continued, “Supay is our salvation as he is yours, he shall show you the path forward. I have an idea about this one but it’s really out there”. Kyle remained silent for quite some time absorbing the ideas Wayne had presented. “Ok fine, I’m with you so far I think, but what about the last line? Beware? Shouldn’t we pay attention to that?”, Kyle replied concerned. “Kyle being cautious?”, Wayne joked, “No, the key to this puzzle is Supay, the god of death”, he summarised. Wayne was doing his know-it-all routine which Kyle didn’t mind. He was actually very impressed. It looked like he had deciphered the clue.

Kyle, however, felt useless. He was overwhelmed by where they were and the things that they had seen on the road to get here. The countless hikes, sleepless nights in a tent, there had even been some combat from time to time. Not everything they had done had been strictly legal, so to speak.

Wayne had been right about the architecture. It was just stone, but the designs were so intricate. Kyle had never seen anything like it. He returned to reality hoping he could help Wayne but as he turned around ready to help, Wayne now lay on the floor positioning his feet and legs in a certain angle to his torso. “Wayne, you taking a nap?”, Kyle asked. Wayne ignored him. He now stood up and started moving his feet in a way that resembled tap dancing. It was not tap dancing exactly, but it was some sort of dance. “Uh Wayne…”, Kyle thought he was losing it. Wayne now replied while continuing his dance. “Did I ever tell you about my mom Kyle?”

“Er I don’t think so, why. Do you guys not get along?”

“We used to do this dance that she taught me when I was younger. She called it Supay’s dance”, he said as he danced. He continued, “Supay will show you the path forward”

“And you think that some random dance your mom showed you is what it means? Isn’t that a little far-fetched?”, Kyle questioned. Wayne replied sensing his scepticism, “It’s not random. It’s a traditional Inca dance that was done at festivals”. He moved onto the second part of the dance when his foot landed on a panel. It sunk slightly. He continued and sure enough his feet kept finding these hidden panels in the ground. Kyle just watched him with no clue what was going on. “Kyle look”, Wayne ordered as he pointed at the boulder behind the tombstone. “What now?”, Kyle said frustrated. Wayne was dancing around while he’d been sitting around for the last hour. They were wasting time or so he thought. Then dust loosened from one of the walls. A giant circular boulder rolled to its side revealing a hidden passage. Wayne put his arm around Kyle as they walked towards the passageway together. He chuckled and said, “Random dance eh?”.

Chapter 3 - Flowers

They entered a very long hallway. The walls adorned with Inca architecture. They took a few steps into the passageway when everything started to rumble. Stones crumbled around them, dust precipitating from the ceilings. Kyle and Wayne gripped the walls to steady themselves. “What is happening!”, Kyle yelled in terror. “It sounds like the whole place is falling apart! We need to get back to the entrance, now!”, Wayne yelled back. Both hurtled themselves back towards the entrance when a square stone came crashing down, blocking their only way out. The sun god, Inti, was engraved into the stone. Wayne noticed this immediately, unlike Kyle who was just grateful to be alive. The rumbling had stopped now, and silence descended. Kyle panted resting his hands on his knees as the adrenaline rush deteriorated. “Great, it was a trap. Thanks Wayne”, Kyle visibly frustrated now. “Well at least the entire place didn’t come crashing down on us”, Wayne replied shrugging his shoulders. Kyle wasn’t impressed. They both quickly decided they should figure out how to escape rather than bicker.

Gargoyle type statues sat at regular intervals on the walls. They appeared to be Supay, the god of death. Wayne was mesmerised by it all. He stood and stared for an age while Kyle strolled through indifferently glancing around a few times. He did, however, notice the resemblance Supay had to the devil. A pair of horns to begin with and teeth revealed by a devilish grin. It all looked the same to him, but he had to admit even he was impressed by the detail of the carvings. Kyle reached the end of the long hallway and came to a foyer type area. It was a circular area with five exits. They were all long hallways stretching out in front of him in five different directions just like the one he had walked through a moment ago. “Funny, almost as if it were a flower”, Kyle said. He looked out into the other hallways. They all had a strange resemblance to each other. The walls were decorated with the god of death and at the end of each hallway, a larger carving of the sun god, Kyle figured. That’s strange, he thought, it’s almost as if the sun god faced the centre of this supposed flower to provide light. Just when Kyle thought to venture into one of the other expansive hallways, he noticed a stained-glass window above him. It was Inti, the sun god again, or at least he thought. The god wore a fan-like crown. It was like a beautiful golden extension of flames and it took his breath away. Kyle noticed more details the longer he stared at the incredible art. One of the hands appeared to be pointing in a certain direction. The other hand held a flower. There are literally flowers everywhere, Kyle thought. The bud of the flower was like a gem, however. It wasn’t just within the glass painting. It appeared to be sticking out of the glass like an autostereogram.

Wayne stumbled into the foyer area behind Kyle. He had been so engrossed in the stained-glass painting on the ceiling he barely noticed Wayne behind him. “You okay?” Kyle asked Wayne. “Er, yeah”, Wayne said hiding his trembling hand into his pocket, “I’m fine, let’s just keep going”. Kyle kept his eye on him, he is not stable. Wayne shuffled nervously behind Kyle. His mind spun. Ever since they had been trapped in this place, he felt like he was slowly being strangled inch by inch. He was not claustrophobic, but the caves were definitely doing a number on him. Now that they were truly trapped, he felt like he was losing his mind. He stood still, closed his eyes and just tried to breathe. It helped, and as he opened his eyes, a glint caught his eye. As he walked further into the foyer towards Kyle, he asked him, “Kyle, what was that? Was that gold? That glint”, he said hurriedly rushing towards him. “Where? Gold, where?”, Kyle searching frantically around where he stood. “It was right here in front of you”, Wayne stated. “No, I would’ve seen it. I-“

“Why are you lying”, Wayne interrupted him. “I’m not!” Kyle looked him square in the eyes. Wayne pulled an old revolver he had found on the floor out of his back pocket. “Don’t lie to me”, he said menacingly as he pointed it towards his best friend. “Give it to me so I don’t take it from your dead corpse”. He cocked the gun. Kyle raised his hands as if to surrender. “Easy Wayne, I didn’t see anything and I’m not hiding anything from you. We’re in this together remember?”

“Shut up!”, Wayne shouted, the gun quivering in his hand. Kyle took small calculating steps towards his friend. “Look Wayne, I don’t know what’s gotten into you! There’s nothing here, it’s an empty underground area! Your eyes are playing tricks on you man. C’mon, you know me”, Kyle pleaded with him. Another rumble like the first shook the entire flower designed passage. It felt like an earthquake. Wayne lost his balance and fell. Kyle saw this and took advantage immediately. He picked the revolver and leaped onto Wayne to subdue him. Wayne screaming with fury battling to get him off but in one swift motion, holding the neck of the gun, Kyle slammed the butt, straight into Wayne’s head and knocked him out. He was careful not to hit him too hard. Wayne slumped, passed out on the ground. The rumbling had stopped but Kyle knew if they didn’t get out of here soon, the entire place would cave in on them. Kyle needed to focus on escaping. He did not have much time.

Chapter 4 - Inti

English Countryside, 10 years ago

Wayne decided to wear a fancy suit to the huge mansion today. It belonged to the Thomson family. He had wondered what had become of the Captain’s family and fortunately, they had ended up reaching out to him since he was the expert on the Inca civilization. They sent for him in a limousine. There was a large variety of drinks and snacks which the driver had emphasised that he should help himself to. He decided a few pretzels and a coke would suffice as he wanted to be completely sober. After a quiet half hour drive, he stood in front of two huge oak doors. The driveway was magnificent with a number of sports cars littering the front of the house. Wayne came from humble beginnings and he had never even imagined such wealth. His father had passed away when he was young, and he had been raised by a single mother in America. A young man opened the door as he took in all the wealth surrounding him. The man wore a polo shirt and denim jeans. Wayne felt heavily overdressed now. “The great Wayne Marin, please come in”, his British accent unmistakeable. “Hello Mr Thomson”, Wayne replied with an outstretched hand waiting for him to shake it. “Charlie, please”, Charles Thomson said with a smile. He shook Wayne’s hand, invited him in and they immediately got down to business. Charlie had hired Wayne to procure the treasure he believed he was owed. He was a few years younger than Wayne and a couple of inches shorter, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in ambition. Unfortunately, it made him rude and impatient. This coupled with his wealth made him very dislikeable as Wayne soon found out.

Charlie and Wayne worked together for a miserable few years particularly for Wayne. They scoured South America to no avail. To add insult to injury, Wayne found out Charlie had journals he had not shared with him. Journals kept within the family that gave necessary information and clues to find the treasure. When Wayne confronted Charlie about them, he innocently said: “People have killed for these journals. I was keeping you safe Wayne”. He did not believe him for one second. Wayne realised Charlie had planned to double cross him all along and was keeping his best chance of finding the treasure on a leash. He did not want others taking advantage of the unique resource that was Wayne Marin.

Eventually, Wayne decided it was time to part ways with Charlie. After three years of getting nowhere they were sick of each other. Charlie had used his power and influence to coerce Wayne and when he was done with him, he would have thrown him away like a used sponge. Despite the disappointment of getting nowhere with Charlie, Wayne was secretly glad that they didn’t find the treasure. Charlie did not deserve it.

The night before Wayne was to fly back to America, he broke into the mansion. It was not difficult, everyone knew and trusted him. He also felt like Charlie’s employees (the butler and kitchen staff) liked him more anyway so getting in was simple. He broke into Charlie’s office and then into the safe. By the time Charlie had even realised the journals were gone, Wayne had already landed safely back home. He never met Charlie again and nor did he wish to. He knew Charlie would never get his hands on the treasure. William Thomson had always said only a true descendent of Inti would be able to find it. An Inca. Charlie had neglected his ancestry and ignored Inca tradition. It was no surprise that he had not found the treasure after all this time. Not that Wayne cared. Now he had the journals. He was just glad to be rid of Charlie once and for all.

Chapter 5 - Clever Captain Thomson

Present Day

Wayne squinted as he eased himself up, his head pounding like a gong. Kyle stood in front of him playing with his torch. “What happened?”, he said sighing in anguish. Kyle calmly replied pointing his torch up at the stained-glass window, “You attacked me”.

“What?”, the last thing Wayne remembered was looking at the carvings of the miniature Supay’s in the hallway where they had first entered. Fragments of memory were slowly returning to him. His hands were bound behind his back tightly with rope. “Why are my hands… hold on, did you hit me?”, he stared at Kyle accusingly while Kyle chuckled. “Kyle, untie me please”, Wayne asked. Kyle looked at him, grinned, then turned away and continued playing with his torch. “Kyle dammit, untie me. We need to get out of here”

“I’m working on it”, Kyle said dismissively, “Wayne, I’m very close to solving this and we don’t have much time”

“What do you mean?”, he could feel the bruise above his left temple throbbing. Kyle pointed at the statues of Supay scattered across the walls of the hallways, “You see those, they’re releasing gases every fifteen minutes. That’s what made you crazy, aggressive and hallucinating about gold. Luckily you picked up a revolver that doesn’t even work”. He picked it up from the floor presenting it to Wayne. “How did you know it wouldn’t work?”, the memories returning to him. He remembered pointing the gun at Kyle, feeling this unexplainable anger towards him. “My dad was a gun nut. He taught me about all sorts of weapons but for some reason, old guns were his favourite. You would’ve needed gunpowder at the very least to shoot this, not to mention, there’s no ammo”

“I’m sorry Kyle”, Wayne said guiltily. Kyle continued playing with his torch. “What are you doing?”, he said frustrated that Kyle wouldn’t even acknowledge his apology. “Remember the gravestone: But beware, Supay will take as much as he has given”, Kyle said, “it meant these hallways. Those statues are everywhere, in each hallway. Also have you noticed this structure is kind of like a flower?”. Wayne looked around where he sat. In the middle foyer area. There were five hallways exiting in five directions like petals on a flower. Which meant they were in the bud. He looked up and realised the stained-glass painting of Inti. One of the hands held a flower. Kyle was trying to shine some light on the flower. The sun god, light, makes sense. Now Wayne was impressed. It took a few seconds, but Kyle finally caught the perfect angle and the beam of light instantly reflected into one of the hallways. “That must be the exit!”, said Wayne, standing up. “Wait! All these hallways are rigged”, Kyle said cautiously, “The only reason we haven’t taken in more gas is because of the way the place ventilates itself. Air flows away from this middle area”. Wayne realised he was right again. He stared into the hallway knowing they must have missed something.

There, he saw it. “Kyle, look”, he said pointing into the hallway, “On the walls, it’s not Supay, the small carvings are Inti. The end of the hallway, however, has a large carving of Supay. That’s the opposite of the other hallways. At the end of the others are larger carvings of Inti!”. They both walked out into the hallway to the dead end where the carving of Supay stood blocking their exit. “Kyle, there’s numbers on this wall. That can’t be right, they look like co-ordinates”, he looked over at him. Kyle pulled two stone shelves out of the wall. “Wayne, what the hell is this?”, Kyle questioned cluelessly. Wayne turned to the shelves. One held finely crafted pebbles while the other was separated into three levelled compartments. It was not more than twenty centimetres tall. “Oh my god Kyle. It’s a yupana”

“Come again?”

“An Inca abacus, they would use it to calculate taxes and do complex maths. Each compartment has a value and depending on where pebbles are placed within those compartments, their value changes. I can solve this Kyle, it has something to do with those co-ordinates, but you have to untie my hands”, Wayne pleaded. Kyle hesitated. He didn’t know if he could trust him. Then, in an instant, everything shook violently again. A huge crash came from one of the other hallways. “Kyle, untie me now. The entire place is caving in!”, Wayne screamed desperately. Kyle had no choice, he cut the rope with his knife and Wayne sprang to action. He started placing pebbles into the yupana. Kyle turned back at the hallway. Cracks crawled through the ceiling like spiders. Dust fell through while everything shook like an earthquake. “Wayne. Wayne!”, Kyle’s voice incrementally turning from a shout to an unrelenting scream. “Done! That should be it”, the stone wall crumbled at the edges, but then began to rise. Both stared in silence as it creeped up slightly and stopped. The avalanche of rubble sped towards them. “IT’S STUCK!”, Kyle yelled. They both dropped to the ground to crawl under the gap pulling at the grass outside to desperately lever themselves out from under the stone wall. The rumbling stopped and they had just made it outside. Then the door came crashing down just as they cleared it. They lay on the grass outside the doorway and both said nothing for a second. The hidden passage was closed forever. Kyle exhaled sharply, “I guess that’s what the gravestone meant when we were supposed to ‘beware’. Just tell me we’re done with all this now”

“Er. Well, the co-ordinates…”

“Wayne, I swear. No”

“They’re for Barcelona. Thomson hid the treasure right under the nose of the Spanish”. They lay there staring at the clear sky, letting the events of the last few hours sink in. There was no time to lose. They were headed for Spain.