Part 7 (1/2)
”Dr. Jacob Cooper.” He took just a few steps toward the girl, reached into his s.h.i.+rt pocket, and brought out her small blowgun. ”I believe this belongs to you.”
She took one look at it and shook her head. ”Oh no,” she said emphatically. ”That is not mine.”
Hmm. Interesting. Dr. Cooper played along. ”Oh. Well, it must belong to one of the men here.” He tossed it to the nearest Kachaka warrior, who looked it over, shook his head, and then pa.s.sed it to the next. It began circulating among the men in search of an owner. ”But please, can you tell me if you've seen my daughter? She's about your age and height, with fair skin and long, blond hair. She's lost somewhere in the ruins.”
The girl's eyes betrayed some kind of knowledge, but she was hesitant to speak.
Jacob Cooper prompted, ”That is my daughter Lila's hat. Where did you find it?”
She still hesitated until her mother bent and spoke some quiet but firm words in her ear. Then she admitted, ”I got this hat from a mukai-tochetin.”
That brought a gasp from some of the women standing nearby and alarmed looks from all of the men, including her father.
”Tell him the rest,” her father ordered. ”Tell us!”
”She was a girl, like me. Her face ...” She touched her cheek as she spoke it. ”Her face was green, like a lizard.”
The Kachakas muttered to each other, exchanging looks of alarm.
”Did she attack you?” the chief asked with a suspicious, sideways glance at Dr. Cooper.
The girl hesitated, then answered timidly. ”S. She ... she jumped out of the bushes and screamed at me. She was like a crazy person... .”
”She was a mukai-tochetin!” the chief proclaimed as if trying to regain his pride. ”What did you do?”
”I ran.”
”You ran away?”
”S.”
The chief patted her shoulder. ”Ah. That was good.”
Dr. Cooper asked, ”Then ... how did you get her hat?”
The girl thought a moment, then replied. ”I found her later. She was lying on the ground. And I took her hat.”
Dr. Cooper leaned forward. ”Lying on the ground? Why? Was something wrong with her?”
The girl looked from Dr. Cooper to the Kachaka men and women to her father and mother, and then at Dr. Cooper again. ”She is dead.”
SEVEN.
Jacob Cooper could not give up hope. ”Can you take me to her? Can you show me where she is?”
She looked to her father. He nodded that it would be okay. ”S, seor.”
”We need to go,” said Dr. Cooper. ”Right now. Jay's out there somewhere, too.”
Chief Yoaxa chose four of his toughest men to go with them. Then quickly, to get it over with, he handed Dr. Cooper his gun and two flashlights. ”You will want these in the ruins.”
Mara headed through the village while Dr. Cooper, her father, and four burly Kachakas followed. They took the main trail into the jungle, carrying torches and lanterns, guns and knives, as well as Kachaka blowguns with plenty of darts.
Jay thought he knew where he was when he came to an old stone wall, but it was so covered with jungle growth that he totally lost his bearings as he tried to explore around it. Finally, breaking out from under the thick jungle canopy, he saw stars overhead and determined which direction was north. He'd gotten turned around, all right. Doing a complete about-face, he headed the other direction, south, hoping to encounter the Pyramid of the Sun or any other familiar landmark. He had to get back to the compound and find help.
He was thinking of his father and sister, and how little time there was. Hope was hard to hang onto, but he tried.
Lila Cooper was not dead. She was dazed, half-conscious, half-dreaming, lying amid vines and rubble at the base of a lone, basalt pillar that had held up a roof centuries ago. She was still dressed in the extra clothes she'd put on to protect herself from slug slime, and she was feeling hot, sweaty, tired, and achy.
But she didn't want to wake up. Somehow she knew there was a very spooky world beyond her closed eyelids. It was better to hide inside her dazed mind where the world was all laughing, dancing colors; the ground was still moving like a carnival ride; and no bogeymen could get her.
”Seorita?” came a voice from somewhere.
Who was that, the bogeyman? Go away. I don't believe in you.
”Seorita?” came the voice again, and then it started talking in hushed tones with another voice. It was all Spanish; she couldn't understand much of it.
She could sense a light s.h.i.+ning on her eyelids. It made her squint.
”Aha!” said the voice. ”Est viva!”
She raised her hand to her face and then opened her eyes just a crack. There were lights out there, s.h.i.+ning in her face.
”Seorita Cooper, it is us, Juan and Toms. Are you all right?”
Toms. It took her a moment to remember who he was. She opened her eyes completely and could make out two men kneeling beside her with their flashlights.
”Toms?” she heard herself saying.
”S, seorita. It is a good thing we found you. How are you feeling?”
”Hot.”
She sat up and removed her gloves and extra s.h.i.+rt. When she raised her hand to wipe the hair from her eyes, she saw something peculiar. She looked at her hand again, then leaned forward to view it in the beam of Toms's flashlight. ”What happened?”
”We think it was the carvy slime, seorita. It made you loco ... crazy ... and it made you look a little green.” Toms chuckled, and so did Juan.
”A little ... ,” Her hand looked very green to her.
Juan s.h.i.+ned his flashlight on her hands and face and made some comments.
Toms agreed and told Lila, ”It was much worse, but you seem to be getting better now. Can you stand up? We will take you back to the compound.”
She tried to get her feet under her. With Toms's strong arms to help, she finally stood up. ”Ouch!” Her hand went to her leg. ”My leg hurts.”
”Would you like me to carry you?”