Evil Star

past the open window, past the dining room. Matt hoped that they wouldn't be seen in the growing darkness — or, if they were, that none of the peo-ple in the room would realize they weren't meant to be there. He heard the woman talking as he went past, and wished he could have stayed longer to hear more. But he and Pedro had only just moved in time. A second later, the guards appeared, both of them dressed in loose-fitting khaki overalls and armed with rifles hanging from their shoulders. The veranda they saw was Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star empty.
    Matt and Pedro didn't stop moving until they had reached the back of the house, where they came upon an inner courtyard, immaculately laid out with antique benches surrounding a well and a single, dark green molle tree in the very center. There were two more wings to the house, one on each side. Matt noticed that here some of the windows on the upper floor were barred. Perhaps these were the cells he had been imagining. Could Richard be sitting in one of them even now?
    He needed a way up — and saw one, on the opposite side of the yard. An open staircase with a series of arches over a wooden banister, running up to a gallery. But before he could move, a third guard appeared, coming through a doorway on the first floor and making as if to come down. Matt cursed himself. Had he really thought he could just walk in here, find his friend, and. walk out with him? Was it likely that one of the richest and most powerful men in Peru wouldn't make sure he had plenty of protection?
    Sebastian had been right. This was stupid. Worse than that, it was suicide. He and Pedro were going to get caught. They would be handed back to Captain Rodriguez. And neither of them would ever be seen — in Ayacucho or anywhere else — again.
    Pedro had obviously had the same thought. He glanced at Matt, who nodded. They would get out of the house and wait. Maybe later, in the middle of the night, it would be safer to take a look around.
    Together, they crept round the side of the courtyard, keeping well into the shadows. There were lights on inside the rooms and they could see moths dancing in the door-ways, but fortunately no lamps had yet been turned on outside. There was a door leading into the study that they had already seen from the front. They could pass Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star through here and out the other side.
    They entered the study.
    Matt quickly took in his surroundings. This had to be where Diego Salamanda worked. There was a grandness about the room, the rich tapestries on the walls, the expen-sive rugs on the floor. A sudden thought occurred to Matt: If this was Salamanda's private office, perhaps the diary of St. Joseph of Cordoba might be here. He hadn't thought about the diary since Richard had disappeared. His entire mind had been focused on finding his friend. But suppose he stumbled across it? If he could get his hands on it, per-haps he could use it as a bargaining chip. The diary for Richard. The Nexus would hate that — but he didn't care. Salamanda and the Old Ones could do what they liked. All he wanted was to get out of Peru.
    Pedro was already halfway across the room.
    "Wait!" Matt whispered.
    Pedro stopped and watched in dismay as Matt began to search the desk. It was an ugly piece of furniture, heavier and bigger than it had any right to be, with a leather square built into the surface and gold rings on the drawers. Matt tried one of them. It wasn't locked but made so much noise as it was opened, wood creaking against wood, that it could surely be heard throughout the house.
    "Qué estas haciendo?" Pedro hissed.
    "The diary..." Matt replied, and Pedro understood. The word was almost the same in English and Spanish.
    Pedro went over to the side of the room where a num-ber of shelves stretched out over a modern photocopier. Some of the shelves contained books, but before he could examine them, he noticed a sheet of paper in the top of the machine.

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star
    "Matteo ..." he called out.
    Matt abandoned the desk — most of the drawers were empty and the rest contained nothing of any interest. He came over to the photocopier and took the paper. It was covered in writing, possibly made with an old-fashioned pen or even a quill. Could it have been taken from the diary? Matt cursed quietly. The words were in Spanish. He couldn't understand them. And Pedro couldn't read.
    Even if Matt