CHAPTER 29

The three angry old men were dressed in traditional Quechuan costumes.

“The gold on the temple walls was our gold,” said one.

“Which the Spaniards stole,” said another.

“To melt down and send home to their king,” said the third.

“Stay away from Paititi,” said the first one.

“The Lost City of Gold belongs to us,” said the second.

“It was a gift from Inkarri,” said the third, who was the oldest and the scariest.

“We’re not here to steal your gold,” said Mom. “If we were to find—”

The oldest one raised his hand to cut her off.

“Stay away from Paititi, Kidd Family Treasure Hunters. The Home of the Jaguar Father holds many, many dangers. Those who search for it seldom come out of the jungle alive.”

We all just stood there, stunned. I also gulped a little.

How could these three scary old men know who we were and what we were looking for? Had the bad guys from the submarine been here already? Did they figure out the owl-on-the-rock clue meant Cuzco as quickly as Storm did? Had they told the angry old guys that we were on our way?

The three wrinkled men in their bright red costumes turned and disappeared into the shadows of the sun temple’s ruins as eerily as they had arrived.