Chapter One  
 
 

CHAPTER 1
December 25, 2011
 
    The sun was not yet up over Monte Alban as Esperanza started the long climb up the hill.  She had begun taking the trip with her father this year to help him sell "antiquities" to the tourists.  Her tio Juan made the little coyotes and gargoyles in his big horno, a homemade kiln.  They all lived near the town of Arrazola, the other side of Monte Alban from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico.  She carried a little watermelon on her shoulder.  The "epoca de sandia" was her favorite time, so she gladly carried the extra weight up the long hill so she and her father could have some cool refreshing sandia in the heat of the day.
    They left about six in the morning so they could be there when the first tourist buses arrived from town.  Esperanza loved Monte Alban.  It was alive with the mystery of what was before.  The Zapotec spirit still resided there and she could feel its presence.  In her minds eye she could see thousands of Zapotecs winding up the trails to go the market in the huge courtyard of the leveled off mountain top.  Their brightly colored costumes shining in the morning sun.  Their brown faces aglow in the happiness of life.  Their black eyes absorbing a world which gave them all they needed to be happy and free.  Esperanza knew this was a fantasy, but she could not help but feel in her mind that Monte Alban would live again.  Not that she minded the Gringo and European tourists that came to marvel at her beautiful home, they bought a lot from her father, but she dreamed that the days of old would return and Monte Alban would be the center of a world that fed and clothed all its people.
    Esperanza was a happy girl though.  Her fantasy was not one of a sad longing, but more of an uplifting hope.  After all her name was Esperanza.  And Dios himself had said that faith was derived from hope, so she decided that her hope would be a happy one.
    About a quarter of the way up the hill, Esperanza saw what she thought was a shooting star head straight to Monte Alban.  "Papi, did you see the star come to the mountain.  Do you think it was a sign from God?"  Esperanza asked.
    "You've been watching too much television mija.  I'm not going to let you go to your cousin's to watch the Cristina Show if you don't control your imagination," commented Valente.
    Esperanza just laughed.  Her father was always joking, and he never refused her anything.
    When they got to the top of the hill that morning, Esperanza stashed her little watermelon in the shade of the closest pyramid and left her father resting in the sun after their long climb.  She headed for the middle of the courtyard to let her imagination recreate the beautiful world that had existed before the arrival of the Europeans.
    When she entered the large grassy center of Monte Alban she swore she heard violin music.  The violin was her favorite instrument.  It made her believe that the Spaniard's couldn't be all bad because they had brought this beautiful instrument with them.  But it did not sound like any Spanish music she had ever heard.  It was coming from the center pyramid so she headed closer. The music had a bouncing, lively rhythm that she had never heard before.  Esperanza was surprised, because for the first time this year that someone had beat them to the top of the mountain.  She climbed up, and saw a small building in the center of the pyramid structure and an old man with a long mustache playing his violin.
    The old man looked up, stopped playing, and smiled at her.  It was a smile that inspired trust, she even felt for a moment that she knew him, but Esperanza was suspicious.  It was all too bizarre.  The old man then approached the building.  She watched as he walked up to one side and stood in front of what looked like the boxes she had seen at the banks in Oaxaca.  Only where the ones in town had a slot for you to put your little card, this one had the outline of a hand.  The old man placed his hand on the hand print, and the opening below kicked out eight 100 peso notes.  He put the money in his pocket, stepped back, and told Esperanza it was her turn.  He seemed to be speaking English, but Esperanza could swear she understood it.  800 pesos was more than she and here father made in two weeks.  So Esperanza's fear was overcome quickly.  She walked up, put her hand on the screen and took the money from the machine.  She ran back to where her father was by now sleeping.  She shook him awake.
    "Mira, mira. Look, it's money," Esperanza shouted.  "800 pesos Papi.  A box over in the middle gave it to me."
    He took one look at the money, grabbed Esperanza's hand and started heading down Monte Alban.
 

    Felipe Calderon drove past the museum and restaurant and parked in the employees parking lot.  He started his morning rounds at the western pyramid and headed on into the courtyard toward the central structure.  He had been coming to Monte Alban for 15 years and other than the occasional dead animal, nothing had been added or taken away.  Every day was the same, until today.  He caught a glimpse of something shiny and did a double take on the central pyramid.  He was at first surprised but that surprize quickly turned to shock.  He saw what appeared to be a cash machine like they had at his bank in Oaxaca.  Felipe wasn't easily frightened, so he strode right up to the machine.  He did not flinch when he read his name on the screen. He was curious that the machine recognized him, but he was calm.  His calm didn't last though.  When the money started to appear, Felipe began to look around to see if anyone was looking before he took it.  After stuffing the money securely in his pocket, he headed straight for the phone in the museum.
 

    Felipe Calderon caught Ignacio Monroy in a deep sleep.  Monroy was the head of the Federal Judicial Police in Oaxaca.  He was new on the job, and idealistic.  He was swept up in the spirit of reform that had brought him swift promotion, as virtually the entire Oaxaca bureau had been removed due to ethically unfit behavior.
    He went roaring up the new highway to Monte Alban to see if Felipe Calderon had gone nuts or if he had a real crisis on his hands.  Monroy was driving particularly fast because he was feeling foolish.  He had gotten his boss, the attorney general, in Mexico City on the line, but was treated with a good deal of contempt because he had failed to check the situation out before calling.  His boss did not suffer interruption lightly.
    Calderon met Monroy in the parking lot and jumped in his car.  He told him to head up over the rise that led into the courtyard.  They drove to the central pyramid and got out of the car.  Monroy's scepticism began to melt and turned to confusion as he placed his hand on the machine and received eight one hundred peso notes.
    Monroy was on his cellular phone immediately, and this time the attorney general was not too busy to talk.  Monroy told him that he had personally investigated, and that it was true.  There was an ATM machine on Monte Alban that was giving away money.  They both knew something important was up.
    The Attorney General told Monroy to let no one in or out of Monte Alban until further notice.  They did not want the state of Oaxaca to turn into another Chiapas.  Monte Alban was closed to the world.
 

    Esperanza and her Papa practically ran all the way to their house.  Valente lit a candle to the Virgen of Guadalupe, and another to San Miguel, a bringer of messages.  This was surely a message.  "We will pray and fast until tomorrow morning.  And no one will enter.  Your education mija.  La preparataria.  I needed 800 pesos, and I did not know where to get them.  Es un milagro mija, a miracle from God."
    "Si papi, let us thank the Virgen, and San Miguel tambien.  For you papi, I'll study for you and for the Blessed Virgen and for our people."
    "I only wish your mother could have lived to see you like this mija.  Let us pray."