"Move faster!" Gaspard growled, angry but trying to keep his voice down at the same time. We didn't know who was about and needed to find a safe place as soon as we could. He was clearly anxious to avoid attracting attention. I felt his anxiety too. I knew Cortez had worse punishments available to him than the dungeon from where we had just escaped. Marinche was clearly not used to this sort of treatment and her tone of voice told us. "You'll never get away with this!" she hissed. "Your timing is bad. Tomorrow is such an important day. Senor Cortez already knows you hold the secrets of the great golden Condor, and he will soon be coming to the dungeon to extract the secrets of the silver sphere as well. Once he sees you are gone...." - she chuckled evilly despite her predicament - "then his revenge will be terrible!"

"Commander, what....Ummmf!" Gaspard was silenced by my left boot. This talk of a silver sphere was news to us and I didn't want Marinche to know. It reminded me of something I had seen a little while ago..when we captured Marinche, that boy Tao took something from her. Was that the silver sphere? It must be important!! I turned and glared at Tao. He carried something under his arm, and although it was partially concealed, I could see it was silver. I smiled evilly to myself. I yearned to question him about it, to find out what secrets it held, but that would just have to wait.

Cortez's current place of residence was huge. I had heard that those in the New World built great structures - larger than anything back in Spain - but I never imagined it would be quite so large as this. The passageway we walked down seemed to go on forever, increasing our anxiety.

"Aw, how much further are we going to walk?" moaned Pedro quietly. "It's painful."

"Yes," mumbled Sancho. "My legs feel like a....a....a...."

"Shut up!!" I turned on them, managing to keep my voice down as low as I could to avoid possible detection. Then I turned back to Marinche.

"You'd better be taking us straight to Mendoza and Esteban." I said strongly.

"And then I want to find out exactly what is going on here."

Marinche was silent for a moment. Then she slowly turned her head towards me and Gaspard and a small evil smile grew across her lips. "Why, commander," she said. "We've waited a long time to get the information that you're seeking. You didn't think I'd give up all the secrets of the solstice just like 'that?'" and she snapped her fingers together. We didn't have time to puzzle her words. Immediately, a group of armed figures stepped out of the shadows at the end of the passageway. Cortez's Guards!

"Oh!" cried the two children.

"Commander!" exclaimed Gaspard nervously. The guards started to bear down on us! Instinctively, abandoning our captive, we all started to run!

There was no other option but to run or face capture. We didn't know where we were running to, but we ran all the same, back down the passageway. Curse that Marinche! Despite our cries and the clatter of shoes as we ran, I was sure I could hear her laughing in the background. We had been double-crossed! It was a risk we had to take, but anyone who deals with Cortez has to be prepared to be double-crossed. I hated running away, but we only had a dagger for a weapon and just couldn't risk recapture. Escape was now the priority, or we would be at the mercy of Cortez!

The guards were fully armed so we had a little speed advantage over them. Gaspard and myself led the way, and started to outdistance the two children. Mendoza's sailor friends, forever getting in each others way, were even
slower. I didn't concern myself with them. I was more worried about searching for a way out. There was a door up ahead of us and I hoped that it wasn't locked or we would be trapped. Gaspard wasn't taking any chances. He may be a bungler, but he is a strong soldier. A blow from his shoulder brought the door in, and we all lurched through.

"Keep running!" I called to everyone.

"Wh....wh....where are we g....g....going?"

"Just RUN!"

Pestilence! How large was this place? And where was there a way out? I felt we were living on borrowed time, but that didn't make me want to give up. I was certain the children certainly would not be giving up - I knew them too well for that. At any moment, I expected more guards to step out in front of us and trap us, but this did not happen. Perhaps Cortez isn't as prepared for this as I thought he might be....I heard a cry from behind, and glancing backwards, I saw that the guards had grabbed Mendoza's two sailor friends and a couple of the group was preparing to tie them up. Good - I thought - that would mean fewer guards on our tail.

"They have Pedro and Sancho!" cried Zia.

"We can't stop!" called back Tao. "We have to get away!!"

"Quite right!!" said I breathlessly, as we hurtled along the passageway. "Just make sure you keep that silver thing safe."

We rounded a corner and I saw light ahead, though another doorway at the end of the passage. A way to the outside possible freedom! "This way!" I pointed.

Gaspard, Zia, and Tao followed, Tao still clutching the silver sphere tightly. I could hear there were more guards not too far behind us, as their metallic shoes clanked on the stone floors. I only hoped we could make it outside in time!

As we ran, we passed a staircase leading down and to the left, into darkness, but it didn't seem like a good idea to take it. It probably only leads back to the cells, I thought. That was the last place we wanted to be! No, we would be safer outside, if only we could get there.

We were running so fast we were almost upon the female figure that seemed to suddenly emerge out of nowhere, before I even saw her. I only got a brief look at her face. She was an Aztec, similar to Marinche. For a fraction of a second I confusedly thought that it was Marinche, but I didn't stop and neither did
the others. As he passed, I heard Tao exclaim "Zema!"

Dismissing this for the moment, I refocused my efforts on running and thinking how we were all going to escape. We were now close to the end of the passageway.

"Through the door!" I cried angrily. Gaspard tore it open. We all scrambled through - and not a moment too soon, for as I slammed it shut I saw the guards thunder round the corner. Fortunately, we could bar the door from the outside.

Without hesitating, as I knew there would be more guards about, I ran for the trees - and heard the others quickly follow. Plunging into the undergrowth, we carried on running for our lives, and prayed that no one had seen which way we went. If the guards hadn't seen us enter, they would never find us in the
trees.

We didn't stop running for what seemed like a long time, though in reality we probably covered very little ground. I finally called a halt after it seemed sure that we were safe. We'd come to a slight clearing in the dense trees, and
it seemed a good place to stop.

Tao and Zia both sat down on the floor, exhausted. Gaspard just leaned against a tree. I was already deep in thought. We made a small fire and rested. As we sat there, I made ready to inform the others of my intentions. I was furious with being forced to run away, thanks to the actions of Marinche and that wicked Cortez! How dare he treat fellow Spaniards in such a fashion! I knew he just wanted all the gold for himself, and he would stop at nothing to discover all the secrets. Well, I wasn't going to let that happen!

"We were lucky to get away from Cortez. I thought we were going to be captured again!" Tao was saying.

"Yes we were," I agreed. "But I assure you that's not the last Cortez has seen of us".

The focus of my reply now shifted to Gaspard. "Although we've had to run away, we've obtained some interesting information." I managed a smile. "I intend to go back there and find out what's going on. I think it's something very important."

"Aaah!" growled Gaspard, clearly disagreeing, "With respect, Commander, we've just spent most of the day clapped in iron chains - and we very nearly got caught again just now. If we risk going back to Cortez's palace and we're taken there's no telling what he will do to us. You said yourself if we get caught again there wouldn't be any escape." He shook his head as he spoke. "I don't know what punishment they've got for Mendoza but I know I don't want the same."

I knew the secrets of the Cities of Gold were close but right now, they seemed as far away as ever. "Gaspard, you amaze me." I said. "Don't you realize we're on the verge of a major discovery? This silver sphere" - I smiled at Tao - "is clearly important. Marinche clearly wanted it, now we have it, and I'm sure that two of us know what its purpose is."

"We wouldn't tell you anyway!" said Zia firmly.

"That's right, we'd never tell you!" Tao agreed. He was tired, but also as obstinate as ever.

"I've come to expect no less from you children." I smiled again. "But all will be revealed in time, I know that. Still, I want answers and I want them soon! What's all this about a solstice? And who was that female we passed on the way out? You recognized her, didn't you? What was her name again?"

"Zema," said Tao without looking up.

"Zema. There wouldn't be an Aztec allowed like that in Cortez's residence unless she's involved with this whole scheme somehow, like that Marinche." I continued. "She might know where Esteban has been taken. And I know that you children know at least some of the details of what's been going on!" I rounded on my comrade.

"No Gaspard, something very special is happening at that place tomorrow and I want to be there to see it!" Gaspard, rather taken aback, was silent.

"In any case," I said, "I these two here will be eager to go back". Tao and Zia looked at each other. They knew it was dangerous, but I was fully aware that they wouldn't want to rest until Esteban was safe.

"After all," I continued, "they are the ones with this silver sphere and they won't want to miss this important event either. And I am sure they want to see Esteban again. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us feel the same way about Mendoza and his friends."

Aaaah! Mendoza! I could only wonder what his role was in all of this, and whether he, as always, was plotting a way to grab the gold for himself. I wished all the plagues of the world upon him. "But right now, I think we all need to rest. It'll be safer to wait here for the moment. I took off my coat and spread it onto the ground. "We will sneak back there first thing in the morning. We'll sleep here. You two!" - I pointed to Zia and Tao - "You sleep over there."

They obeyed. In truth, there was little else to do except sleep. A day in the dungeon followed by the mad chase we'd just endured meant that a bit of rest was most welcome. Gaspard went to check as best he could that we had not been detected, and upon finding it all clear, we let the fire burn low.

It was still dark when I awoke, thanks to the confines of our surroundings, but I could just spy a glimpse of light. The sun must be starting to rise. It was deathly quiet out in the trees, except for the sound of Gaspard snoring.

"Gaspard?" Miserable oaf, I thought, still half asleep. It had been a long day yesterday, what with all our adventures. I was quite happy to go on sleeping for a while longer. But something was bothering me. It was the quietness. So very quiet. A little *too* quiet, in fact.

"Gaspard?" Slowly I raised my head, and looked across the small clearing. Although it was dark, I focused my eyes and could see what was there. Or rather, what wasn't there! Tao and Zia were gone! And so was the silver
sphere!

"GASPAAARRRRD!"