be good to take my teeth out, since I am a lord whose finery and brilliance are my teeth.”
“We’ll put in new teeth made of ground bone. All will be fine,” they replied.
“All right, pull them out! I can’t stand the pain!” said Seven-Macaw.
But when they pulled his teeth, instead of ground bone, they replaced them with white corn. Seven-Macaw’s face no longer looked brilliant or handsome. With the last tooth, the jewels of his mouth were no more.
And then they trimmed back the last of the brilliant metal from his eyes, and he was great no more, just as Hun-Ahpu and Xbalanque had planned.
And then Seven-Macaw died, and Chamalmat died also, in despair, and so Hun-Ahpu got back his arm. The arm was reattached and healed.
The two boys went on their way. What they did they had done to obey the word of Heart of Sky.
There was a short silence. Jeb said, “is that it?”
“Yes, that’s it for now. The Hero-twins had other adventures at other times,” replied Lucy.
“Lucy,” Jeb said, “I hate to tell you this, but that story makes no sense at all.”
“Well,” she said, a little defensively. “It has a moral. You shouldn’t be a braggart or arrogant. That’s a good rule.”
“I suppose,” Jeb replied, “but the point could be made without tearing peoples arms off and committing murder. Do you really tell these stories to little tiny kids? To cute little girl-kids like you were, hugging a little doll in your arms?”
“Of course we do,” she huffed. “And don’t get so smarty. What about Hansel and Gretel, witches cooking and eating little children. That’s even worse.”
“What about Goldilocks, bears eating little child thieves. Horrible story. Or Little Red Riding Hood, wolves eating a cute little girl child and her grandmother, too, not to mention the packed lunch.”
“Point taken,” Jeb admitted, “but I still think the story line needs work. Seem to be some gaps there. And who are those other guys, Zapac and Caber or whatever. What happened with them?”
“Zipacna and Cabrakan. Well, that’s another story, but if you are going to be so snotty.”
“Sorry, go ahead, maybe it will end the suspense,” sighed Jeb.
“OK,” Lucy replied, “just hang on.”
“Hanging on every word.” Jeb said, looking out the window.
“Now I’ll tell you the story of Zipacna.”
That didn’t happen.
THE DESERT / EL DESIERTO
The Desert / El Desierto
CARLOS
In the rear-view mirror, I’d had my eye on a big newish looking car that had been hovering back of us for some time. Lucy was just starting one of her stories, when the big car suddenly accelerated. It rushed along our left side, and without warning there were bullets buzzing and plunking all around us. They tore through the roof of the pickup, carved gouges in the hood, shattered the driver’s side window and, fortunately, just missed the driver. That would be me.
The big car swung half into our lane and its brake lights flashed. It was slowing down to make another pass, or to run us off the road into those rocks. I careened to the right and was able to squeeze past between the car and a solid looking rock formation off to the side of the road. We picked up some more bullet holes as we roared past, but only in the pickup bed with no real damage.
LUCY
A big car zoomed past us and I saw guns! Bullets whizzing all around and I didn’t have a gun to shoot back with!
Our only chance was to get the hell out of here! Carlos had floored the accelerator and the big engine was screaming. A curve in the highway was coming up and I saw a dirt track heading off into the brush.
“There!” I shouted as loud as I could over all the noise. I guess Carlos heard me or saw the track himself. He roared onto the little road, almost rolling the truck. We careened down that mostly invisible path at full speed. I don’t know how Carlos was hanging on to the truck, but I was hanging on to him. He felt kind of good, kind of solid, but I didn’t have time to think about that—I was too busy thinking about dying horribly!
CARLOS
I stood on the gas pedal and picked up some distance with the motor roaring, but I knew they would still catch us. “There,” Lucy shouted and pointed to a barely visible dirt road – more of a path – coming up ahead fast as the highway curved slightly.
I mashed on the brakes, wrenched the wheel, and the truck slammed into the road at a tilt, accompanied by a huge bang as it left the highway. We bounced and banged down the track dangerously fast, but it was even more dangerous to slow down. I hung on to the steering wheel with both hands, wishing I had two more. Jeb gripped the doorframe with white knuckles, and Lucy, in the middle with nothing else to hold on to, held on to me. That was the one happy thing in this whole terrifying experience.
Through the dust we threw up, I could barely see the big car in the mirrors. It was still there, but it was no longer gaining on us.
I slowed down slightly. We could easily roll the truck or tear off the oil pan on this kind of road. So could our pursuers, and I hoped they would. Our truck was a far better vehicle for this terrain than that city car was.
We kept going, slowing more and more as the road worsened and we could no longer see the car behind us. They had either gotten stuck, wrecked their car or just given up. We relaxed a little, and wondered where the hell we were and how to get anywhere from here.
This was desert, or semi-desert. Terrain that Jeb and I were used to working in, more often on horseback than in a pickup truck, but that was no help in telling us where we were. We didn’t think going back would be a good idea, so we continued on. We were in 4-wheel drive mode now, and going very slowly. The road had all but disappeared and had become more of a trail, and a trail should go somewhere, but where?
LUCY
Finally we were able to slow down to a merely terrifying speed. I looked back and could see only dust. If those guys were still back there, they would be driving blind.
We continued on for miles and miles through the dry landscape, going more and more slowly as the road deteriorated. It wasn’t even a road anymore, just a scratch on the ground. But it was the only indication of human activity we could see in any direction. The desert is beautiful in its way, but it seems so lifeless. I’m a tropical person. I like lots of plants and trees and flowers around me, a place full of life and smells and movement, like a jungle.
Now that things were calmer, I began to wonder how this could have happened.
