1 POSO DE LOS MUERTOS A Short Story By George Pararas ...

Satisfied that everything had gone well, Don Carlos grabbed a torch off the wallof the cave and started back along the same path they came. Enrique followed.When minutes later they reached the outer chamber both natives and soldierswere pleased to see them. There were greetings also from the soldiers above,pleased now that they were done with this cursed place. Back to the fresh air.This is what they all wanted.“Up we go you and I”, said Don Carlos to Enrique, “then the soldiers. Tell thebeasts that they have to wait their turn”.Slowly Don Carlos ascended first up a dangling rope ladder, followed byEnrique and the four soldiers. The Indians waited patiently their turn at thebottom of the pit, but a couple grabbed the knotted ropes and begun to climb.Soon as Don Carlos, Enrique and the soldiers reached the top, Don Carlosnodded and Enrique gave the order:“Pull the ladders and ropes up. Fire your muskets at the beasts and reloadimmediately. Kill the damn beasts”.Teniente Cisneros repeated the order and the soldiers around the pit fired theirmuskets at the Indians below. The sounds were deafening and smoke filled theair. There was screaming and yelling at the bottom of the pit. Some of theIndians, who made it near the top on the still dangling ropes, were pierced by theswords of the Spanish soldiers and fell back to the bottom. Others, even thoughthey were wounded, managed to hang on to the ropes, trying to climb.Enrique ordered the soldiers to reload the muskets and fire again and atanyone on the bottom of the pit that appeared to be alive. A soldier threw a torchdown to the pile of quivering bodies and the muskets were fired once more. Thesound was deafening and the echoes lasted for several seconds. Then Enriquegave the next order to Teniente Cisneros, “Now light the fuse and throw thegunpowder at the beasts”.Quickly the fuse was lit and a small container with gunpowder was thrown intothe pit. Less than five seconds later there was a big explosion and all torches andlamps were blown out by the blast, leaving the tunnel in total darkness. Morescreams were heard from below, followed by echoes from the long tunnel, thenabsolute silence.“Light the damn torches”, screamed loud Enrique. Soon one after anothertorches were lit but even with their light nothing could be seen, except for thesuspended cloud of dust. The air at Nivel Siete was heavy with smoke and thesmell of gunpowder. The dust made breathing very difficult for all in this closed29