Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The Shaman

The gravel road had numerous curves as they were laboriously ascending the slope of the hill; the stones that stood in its path struck the vehicle chassis and in some cases the bottom of the fender. Marcelo, born and raised on the plains of the pampas region drove with extreme care; particularly as they climbed the winding slope he had to drive at a relatively high speed. Teresa accompanied him in silence, thoughtful and firmly holding the backpack where she was carrying the artifacts whose origin they wanted to confirm. After a half hour journey they reached a fork in the road, with the signal Tschudin had described them. Only then they were sure that they had not lost the way in the previous thousand curves. Five minutes later they parked in front of the hut that Emil had chosen for their meeting, next to an old Land Rover obviously belonging to the Swiss. Looking back, a sense of vertigo flooded them to see the winding mountain road they had traveled and that had led them to a considerable height; a visually magnificent view from that height of the Lake Gutierrez and the surrounding forests rewarded the driving efforts.

As expected, Tschudin was waiting at the door of the cabin. This was a small house of logs and stones, embedded in a natural landing on the mountainside.

The interior showed a medium size room and the entrance of a small bedroom that could only be glimpsed. The furniture was reduced to a rustic table and four chairs. Emil had already prepared coffee as he waited, and after certain polite conventional phrases he exhibited the anxiety that was consuming him and asked.

“ Did you bring the stones?”

Without answering, Teresa drew from her bag a neat package and opened it on the table, exposing the two pieces. Tschudin put on his glasses and examined the stones at the beginning without touching them and showing great respect, then turned them upside down and watched from different angles. When he had satisfied his curiosity, he said.

“ There is no doubt that this is of Templar manufacture. The only thing that surprises me is that it seems a product of the eleventh or twelfth centuries and not of the early XIV as I expected. In particular the calligraphy seems primitive.”

“ What does that mean?” Asked Marcelo.

“ That it was likely brought from Europe or the Middle East, along with some other unknown cargo.”

“ We should also confirm if the rocks on which the signs are carved are typical of this country, whether the area near the sea where it was found, or from the mountainous area around Bariloche. This would be inconsistent with the origin you assume.” Added Teresa.

“ Good observation.” Admitted Emil. “I do not think so, but it is a geologist who should have the last word.”

Once the Swiss had examined the pieces to his liking, Marcelo asked.

“ Tell us please, what is your interpretation of the texts and drawings of the stones?”

“ I agree entirely with what Dr. Cifuentes said.” Tschudin answered with his customary ceremoniousness. “The cross is the most commonly used by the Knights Templar. The word nobis probably corresponds to the motto of Bernard of Clairvaux, who as you know was somehow the Order´s sponsor.”

After a while of conversations about the artifacts, Marcelo asked the question that was floating in the air.

“ Well, now that you have seen the stones, what do you think we should do with them? How will this search continue?

Tschudin sank into the chair and thought for a moment. He was obviously deciding where to open his mind to these two people, perfect strangers until two days ago, and also looking for the right words to convey his thoughts.

“ Besides the legends referred to the transfer to the Templar treasure to America in a post-Columbus era, there are other even more bizarre versions, even bordering on the esoteric, with which I personally disagree." Tschudin paused as he confirmed that he had the full attention of his interlocutors. “And finally there are legends about the activities of the Knights Templar in the American continent.” He then made a longer pause.

“ According to them, the Knights who came to the Patagonian coast had already been attacked at sea by pirates and privateers who fought with them for the possession of what the Templars considered their heritage. The Knights eventually managed to defeat those foes and settled first in a system of caves very close to the sea, which provided them with shelter against the strong winds frequent in the area, the cold winters and storms. They believed that being completely out of the shipping lanes, which only reached establishments located far north, they were safe from potential intruders. But pirate ships and British, French and Dutch privateers arrived sporadically exploring such costs, which were temporary sanctuaries for them. Finally the caves were- always according to legend- once again raided by English pirates, which were rejected by the Knights Templar warriors. But the mirage of safety that gave them that location was broken and the leaders did not want to expose their treasure, whatever it was, to the persistent action of ambitious people who would eventually get their purposes. In addition, there was the possibility that the Spanish colonial authorities further north, alerted to the situation, would try to lay hands on any valuable cargo that might exist. Thus they crossed the continent westwards through the arid steppe in search of a suitable place to settle and put their treasure in a safe place.” At that point the Swiss made a new pause.

“ And do you know at which site they arrived?” Teresa asked. “I mean they were supposed to arrive?”

“ Precisely this region of lakes, either on the Argentine or Chilean side. The existence of the Andean-Patagonian forest would have seemed to be an adequate mantle to cover their treasure. We must assume that they took extreme precautions, given the composition of the treasure, always in agreement with those versions.”

“ What would that composition be?” Marcelo made the obvious and inevitable question.

Tschudin shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“ Among other things, it would have included the Holy Grail, whatever we believe its nature was “ At the end of his sentence he showed a gesture of skepticism.

“ But you do not believe in that version.” Teresa concluded.

“I do not want to get into arguments with other researchers, but I think the cargo was more earthly, that is to say the kind of things we usually associate with a treasure.”

“ That is to say?”

“ Pieces of gold and silver, and possibly jewelry, fruits of the extensive trade network of Templar Commandries throughout Europe. I have to say on behalf of my thesis that the other searchers, that is those ruthless men we spoke about yesterday, will certainly be looking for a treasure of these characteristics rather than solving a theological mystery.”

The conversation took then another direction. At one point, making explicit a well meditated possibility, Emil asked the young couple.

“ Well, as destiny brought us together are you ready to continue your search with me?”

Marcelo and Teresa exchanged glances, and then she replied:

“ Everything depends on the destination you are planning to give to our eventual finds, in the unlikely event that we find something valuable indeed.”

“ Whatever the Argentine and international legislation regulate for findings, historical, archaeological or just treasures.”

The answer obviously satisfied the spouses, however Marcelo still asked:

“ And what do these legislations determine?

“ They vary from country to country and there are even provincial regulations that may be relevant. But generally they state that surveys should be conducted by professionals and not amateurs in order to protect objects of possible impairment for being handled by unskilled people.” Teresa said.

“ This aspect would be covered by the participation of Dr. Cifuentes and mine.” Emil added.

“ Secondly, in order to perform excavations a specific permission from the local authorities must be obtained.” Teresa continued.

“ And who owns the objects found?” Marcelo asked again.

“They enter the heritage of the country or region in which they are found, so that it can be known by the people to whose cultural background they belong. It may be the case -if the objects are from foreign sources- that another state claims ownership, which can result in lengthy trials.”

“ And nothing goes to those who make the discovery?”

“ Overall cash rewards are set for those performing the discovery and for the owner of the land where it takes place, which in this case may be the Argentine state or some provincial jurisdiction.”

Finally Marcelo said:

“Teresa and I agree to participate with you. Emil, but we still have to ask my sister and her family, which so far are the owners of the objects.”

“ Fair enough! for my part I will talk to my wife Raquel who would like to be in the game. For personal reasons I prefer her to stay in the city, although on a quest like this the intuitive female element can be valuable. For this we already have you. Dr. Cifuentes.”

“Not only for the much talked about feminine intuition. Teresa has other powers.” Added Marcelo.

“ Indeed?” Asked very interested Tschudin. “May I ask what those powers are?”

“ Well actually ...” Teresa was clearly uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation and glared at her husband in anger.“... I have certain perceptions, which have been useful in the past.”

“It's a feature that runs in her family.” Reported Marcelo. “Tell him the about the legend.”

“It's just a family tradition ...” Teresa talked leisurely.“... apparently there is in the ancestral line on my mother´s side blood of Mayan leaders of the classical period, including a princess who… allegedly had psychic skills. That legacy would have run in the family for the female side, coming to me.”

“ And it has been effectively shown in the past.” Confirmed the husband. “I have witnessed some remarkable facts.”

“ Well, he has acted well mentioning this power to me.” Said the Swiss. “ In fact I am a student of clairvoyance. Surely we will have opportunity to use those skills in the expedition. I'll make sure to be equipped to take advantage of them.” Added enigmatically.

The meeting lasted even for another half hour, after which Marcelo asked:

“ Now that we have decided to move forward together, what is the next step?”

“ I'll try to get in touch with a kind of witness to the time when these stones were abandoned.” Emil replied with a provocative air.

“ Living witnesses?” Teresa replied immediately. “That is impossible. We're talking about events that happened five hundred years ago.”

“ You´ll see.” Emil responded with a smile. “ Just give me two days. I´ll call to your mobile phone. Ah! This is the number of my new private phone...”He added writing it down on a small piece of paper. “ ... call me if you have news.”

After saying goodbye to Tschudin the young couple drove down the steep slope. The journey demanded Marcelo full concentration while Teresa admired the lake landscape that stretched before them, refraining from any comment.

Two days after Emil called indeed, and summoned them to meet him in a small town called Dina Huapi, located in the southern end of Lake Nahuel Huapi; from that point, far from potentially hostile stares they continued the journey together that as he anticipated, would bring them a certain stretch in the steppes of the Province of Neuquén.

“ Where are you taking us?” Asked Marcelo, who had decided to talk to Emil in a more colloquial way, realizing that he could not expect such an initiative of the Swiss or of his equally formal Mexican wife. Tschudin had left his car at an intersection near a police station, and they were travelling in a car rented by Marcelo, but the Swiss gave the itinerary instructions.

“ We're going to interview a machi that is a kind of shaman or religious leader in a Mapuche reservation, although he is rather a descendant of the tehuelches, i.e. of the ancient inhabitants of Patagonia who were defeated and incorporated into the culture of the Mapuches from Chile. But at the time we are interested in, that is in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, it was the Tehuelches who roamed the Argentine Patagonia.

“ And the shaman is the witness of the arrival of the Templars?” Teresa asked incredulous.

“ Not an eyewitness, of course. But I know he has access to ancient stories that have come to him by oral tradition, which refer to white warriors present in the area long before the arrival of the Spaniards, and later of Chileans and Argentines on either side of the Andes ridge.

The journey took them through dusty roads penetrating deep into an increasingly arid and desolate landscape. After a few hundred kilometers they spotted a group of a dozen temporary huts on either side of the path; Tschudin stated that they would stop there.

One of the houses was apart from the rest that crowded beyond. Emil went to the first dwelling explaining.

“The Machi calls himself Grandpa Kaukel, but I do not know what his real name. He has a rather inflated ego, causing him to have strained relations with the rest of the small community. But they need his knowledge of traditional medicine and are forced to endure. The rest of the small group is ethnic Mapuches but he claims to be Tehuelche, and it may be so, because he is taller and his skin is darker than his neighbors´.”