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“I think it means the mirror was removed in 1697 by someone with the initials FC.”
“Francisco Coronado?” Dewey proposed as Paige dug through the wet backpack, retrieving the waterproof pouch and pulling her phone from it.
“No, that doesn’t fit,” she answered. “Coronado’s expeditions were much earlier than 1697. Someone else discovered that mirror and moved it.”
She flicked on her flashlight and swept the tiny beam around the space.
“So, I guess we’re back to the drawing board. Assuming we can get out of here.”
“Not necessarily,” Paige said, focusing her flashlight’s beam on a portion of the stairs leading to the mirror’s platform.
“What is it?” Dewey asked, swinging his beam to the same spot.
“There’s something written on this stone. I can’t read it, but it must mean something.”
“Maybe it’s the way out,” Dewey said.
“I hope not. It’s tiny. I’ll never fit through there.”
“Maybe it triggers the way out.”
Paige collapsed onto the step next to the marked stone and traced the outline with her fingers. She tugged at it, trying to move it from its spot, but it did not budge.
Dewey set the flashlight down, aimed at the stone, and lowered himself to the step below it. He grabbed the bottom of the block and flipped it upward. The stone hinged backward, revealing a secret compartment.
Inside, a golden box covered in intricate symbols gleamed against the light. Paige’s heart skipped a beat as she reached for it , and she ran a finger over the cool metal.
“Open it!” Dewey shouted.
Paige flipped open the lid, finding a rolled-up scroll inside. Carefully, she lifted it from the container and unrolled it. Dewey grabbed the flashlight and shined the beam onto the parchment.
“That’s not Mayan,” he noted, spotting letters instead of glyphs.
“No,” Paige answered as she scanned the writing. “I’ve never seen a language like this before.”
Dewey’s eyebrows shot upward. “Paige, this is the incantation for the mirror! Look!”
He pointed a shaky digit to the name Xibalcan.
Paige’s eyes widened. “I think you’re right!”
“We did it,” Dewey exclaimed, pumping his paw in the air. “We found the incantation!”
Paige rolled up the scroll and placed it in the waterproof pouch along with her cell phone before she slung the backpack onto her back again.
She flicked the gold box closed and pushed the stone back into place. “Yeah, now all we have to do is find a way out of here.”
“And get that mirror.”
“Right,” Paige said as she swiped the flashlight from the floor and swept the beam around in search of an exit.
Dewey perched on her shoulder, resting a paw on the top of her head to steady himself.
“I don’t see anything,” Paige said after a few moments of searching.
“Maybe we have to go back into the river and under the stone wall it ran into.”
“I’d rather not try that. I’m afraid it doesn’t go anywhere, and I’ll be stuck underwater.”
