Cusco Airport, Peru

The sun was rising above the mountains in spectacular fashion as the four travellers emerged from the Airport, having wrangled their way through immigration and reclaimed their packs from baggage. Luckily nothing had be lost or damaged in transit.

The altitude and clear air, on top of the jet lag, was as heady and clear as crisp champagne. Chloe felt almost drunk on the cool breeze and sunshine.

"Well … we're here Nate. So where's this contact of yours?"

"And where are we all crashing tonight?" Elena chimed in, stretching like a cat, her eyes tired and sunken behind her dark glasses.

"I'm sure he'll be here right about…"

"Nate!"

"Now…" Nate smiled, seeing the man come walking towards them from the parking area.

A stocky, obviously former military man, dressed in army surplus style fatigues, a black hat covering his balding head, while designer stubble decorated his chin and cheeks. Strong jawed, all muscle with big arms and twinkling eyes, it was difficult not to take an instant liking to him.

"Conrad, meet my wife, Elena, and our friends Chloe Fraser and Victor Sullivan. Guys … Conrad Roth."

"Pleasure to meet you all" Conrad spoke with a soft British accent, cultured, but used to being listened to and obeyed. "Truck's out front, I've arranged a place for you all to crash out and rest up for a little while."

This was welcome news and a relief all round.

Sully smiled to himself. He'd heard the name Conrad Roth, and it had never been spoken in anger. They were in good and competent hands.

"So where are we headed?"

"Villa just on the outskirts of the city. Belongs to a friend of mine, one of my old Sargeants. He retired out of here once he got out of the regiment. Then the daft old sod got himself married, and now spends his time shuttling his wife around to visit her extended family, bloody cousins all over the place who keep getting married, then having kids, who get married, and have kids… Life's one long round of christenings and weddings for him these days. He lets me crash here when I'm in Peru…"

A pleasant rumble of laughter spread through the group. The image was a familiar one.

"So how did it go?"

"With Sacha? Like a dream. I got you a guide. She knows the whole region."

"Excellent news."

"She knows the Padre too…"

"Padre?" Elena chimed in. Nat smiled and patted her knee with that 'I'll explain later when everyone's listening' gesture.

"That's great Conrad, you've done wonders."

"Don't mention it Nate. I owe you for that Thing with the Guy in the Place, and I won't forget it… Now, here we are…"

The jeep swung in through a gateway to a small courtyard of cobbled stones and bumped its way up toward a large wooden front door set into a white stone building.

Conrad switched off the engine and wrestled the door open.

"Come on in…"

The travellers came into the house and instantly blessed the thick stone walls and cool white washed decor that loaned such an air of cool to the place.

"Couple of rooms down there," Conrad thumbed down a corridor, "and there's a double here…" He pushed open a door, revealing a sparse but tranquil room, with a stone floor, white covered bed and linen curtains which shifted in a soft welcome breeze from the window. With its wooden furniture and white walls, the room exuded tranquillity.

"This one's got its own bathroom, there's another to share down there if you want to cool off and sleep for a bit. Fridge full of food in the kitchen for later."

Elena dropped her bag at the end of the bed and, without ceremony, face planted across the bed with a long groan.

Nate shook Conrad's hand.

"Just … don't mind us if we all pass out for a bit?"

"Always the same when I get to this place mate. The Altitude's a killer, if the jetlag isn't. Get some rest. I'll fill you in properly later."

"Couple of hours all round should see us right."

"Aye. Don't sleep too long or you'll be fucked tonight. I'll make us something for dinner later."

"You can cook these days?"

"Always could, mate. Better than that roast lizard in the desert anyway…"

Chloe inched down the corridor, quietly, slowly, keeping an eye on Sully over her shoulder, just as he rubbed his face and said "Well, I guess I'll just go take a …"

As he turned, she broke into a run, with a squeal of laughter.

"Hey, don't you even think about hogging that…"

He gave chase, just as Chloe and her pack reached the bathroom and slammed the door.

"Don't worry Vintage," she called through the door as he hammered heedlessly. "I won't take all the hot water…"

Nate and Elena couldn't help it, they dissolved into laughter, turning into their own room and closing the door behind them.

"Why does she call him that?"

"Hmmm?"

"Vintage…"

Nate laughed as he turned over to cuddle his wife after their snooze.

"Oh that… Vintage. Because he gets better with age. Like a fine wine. A good vintage."

Elena laughed and snuggled back into Nate's arms. The couple of hours sleep on a proper bed had done wonders, and the cure would be finished with a shower and a good meal.

"I guess it's better than some names."

"It just makes me wonder what names we'll get saddled with at some point."

"Hmmm…" Elena began to extricate herself.

Nate mumbled a groan of protest as she moved away.

"Honey, I need a shower…"

"Excellent, let me help…"

"Nate…"

"I'm serious…" Nate stood up and pulled Elena into his arms, nibbling at her neck and shoulder around the strap of her tank top. "This might be the last time we get any privacy for weeks…"

Despite herself, Elena was melting a little as his teeth nipped at her skin and his arms snaked further around her waist.

"Well…"

"Well what," he whispered, fingers slipping beneath her top and working it up over her body. "Look, I'm being a good boy, I'm helping you get undressed..."

Elena reached behind her, pushed the bathroom door open, and saw with immense pleasure that the shower room was of the wet room sort, not an over-bath type.

"Come on then," she said wickedly, pulling his hand into the room.

…

Sometime later, they finally emerged, clean and wrapped in towels, satisfied but tired, their previous clothes strewn around the bathroom floor, half of them now sodden with shower water.

"Well," Elena mused, wringing out her hair, "they probably needed washing out after two days consistent wear any way…"

"Hmmmm…" Nate towelled off his hair and looked at her with that boyish rumpled charm she'd fallen for all those years ago. "You however, " he said softly, "are still extremely dirty…"

"And you love me for it."

"Always."

"But it's time to behave now."

"I know. Game face on."

"I hope that was enough to keep you going for the next few weeks…"

"Oh ho! Plenty to dream about."

There was a thump on the door.

"You guys awake enough for dinner yet?" Conrad bellowed…

"Be right out!"

Elena picked up a clean shirt and threw it at Nate. "Come on you… or Sully will be eating our share of dinner…"

…

By the time they walked into the open plan kitchen-living room, Chloe and Sully were already into their first cold beers, freshened up and looking better for some sleep, showers and clean clothes.

"...last bit was cold…"

"No it wasn't…"

"How would you know…"

"... stop whinging Vintage."

"How're we all feeling?" Nate broke into the conversation good naturedly.

"Ready for the next bit of the plan," Chloe said eagerly. "What's next?"

Conrad bustled in the kitchen, his sleeves rolled up, dicing onions and bell peppers, peeling and chopping potatoes, while a delicious sauce rich with hot spices simmered in large open pot. He occasionally scooped up his own beer for a swig from the bottle.

"Cold ones in the fridge over there mate, help yourselves…"

Elena went to get them.

"Right…" Nate pulled out his papers, and gathered up the waiting stack in a beige folder on the side table. "Are these for me, Con?"

"Yep … help yourself … I'll just get this simmering and I'll come chip in."

Nate spread the map across the low coffee table and leafed through the papers.

"Come on guys…"

The others sat around and prepared to pitch into the next planning stage.

"So where are we headed?"

"We are headed… right … there…" Nate made a mark with a red pen on the map, a town in the middle of the Andes mountains. "Tantarā."

"What's in Tantarā?"

"A man who can help. A Padre. He's old now, heading towards his 80s, but when he was younger, he was an academic, a young research assistant who studied in Lima. He joined the church later in his life, he's been at Tantarā for the last twenty years."

"Surely he's not still an active Priest, after all this time…"

"No, not exactly, more of a Priest Emeritus. There's a younger man who does the real work, but this guy knows the region better than anyone, and speaks all the languages and dialects of the people."

"All the languages."

"Including Kawki?"

Sully's eyes lit up.

"Yep. And … rumour has it … a little Kawka."

"Wherever did you find him?"

"He was a penpal of Dr Jones. They met in Peru, then corresponded later in life. Dr Jones was going to come and stay with him, towards the end of his life, but the trip fell through."

"Wow…"

"Yeah. So … anyway, the Padre, Father Andreas… in his last letter to Doctor Jones, which was in the journal, he mentioned that Tantarā was the starting point for their 'great journey'. The first step. And look…"

Nate unfolded a photocopy of the earrings, annotated in his precise handwriting, with different highlights and colours next to different sigils.

"You see this one here? The translation says something like 'the spiral begins at the centre, a speck hidden among rocks, a treasure concealed on all sides.'"

"But how does that help?"

"If helps if you know what Tantarā is known as. The settlers called it La Perla Escondida Entre Los Andes."

Sully whistled softly.

"The pearl at the centre of the Andes."

Don't you see? The town is the treasure. The hiding spot. It's hidden on all sides by mountains. Just like a pearl is sealed inside an oyster, grown from a tiny speck.

Chloe marvelled to herself at how Nate had managed to pull all of this together.

"So, we need to get to Tantarā first."

"Yep, and once we get there, we're going to need a guide."

"Dinner's up…" yelled Conrad.

Nate stuffed everything back into the folder as everyone drifted over towards the table.

"This smells… wonderful Conrad…"

Bowls of the wonderful food were handed around, as Sully poured glasses of a rich red wine from a waiting bottle and passed them out.

"Tuck in, don't wait…"

"So Conrad, you found us a guide."

"Are, so I did…" Conrad munched a piece of lamb and chased it down with a swallow of wine. "Name's Mayra, she grew up not far from Tantarā. She knows the whole region. She was working as a tour guide for a while at Machu Picchu, but it's all a bit too, yknow…"

"Tacky?"

"Precisely," Conrad raised his glass in acknowledgement to Elena's suggested description. "Tacky. Any westerner with rich parents and daddy issues can take up that trail now. The romance has all gone."

The group sadly nodded heads. Their trade was being invaded by tourists ever more each year. Even Nate and Elena, who made significant money out of tourists wanting to see lost wonders, couldn't help but be a little sad that their world was being so thoroughly meme'd and instagrammed.

"You can barely walk up a mountain without some prick shoving a camera phone in your face these days," grumbled Conrad.

"But she won't mind helping us?"

"Mind…? You're some of the last great names in the business, Drake. She were delighted. Couldn't wait. She'll be here in the morning, to set off."

"Excellent," said Sully, reaching for the bottle. "Well, here's to a good night's sleep, and an adventure with no Instagram!"

Chloe laughed to herself, doubting that Sully even knew that Instagram was. But the toast rang loud and clear into the darkening evening, as the candles guttered and the moths began to gather.