Yaotl groaned, struggled to his feet, stumbled into the bathroom and splashed water onto his throbbing head. Then holding the side of his neck, he tried to remember what had happened. At first, all he could remember was the blinding flash of light inside his head and a sensation of falling. His befuddled wits told him he had been hit from be hind, but he had not seen nor hear anyone approaching. Why not, he wondered and dragged out the answer from the gray cloud inside his skull. He had had his back to the entrance. The next piece of information he wanted was why he would have been like that. His aching brain told him he had been talking. To whom? 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8F3v6gyVC9
And as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over him, he remembered. He staggered back into the main room. Nobody was there, nor was the bundle. He checked the bedroom but it was empty. He reeled across the courtyard and went into Don's quarters. There was no sign of life but, reluctantly, Yaotl's intelligence had to concede that Don was still alive and that it had been Don who struck him down. He picked up the cudgel that had been assigned to Don and went out into the early morning light with two enterprises in mind: to recover Penny for Ollin, and kill Don for himself.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fk05qMvIv
Yaotl met the High Priest of Sacrifice in front of the pyramid and Ollin listened angrily while the shame-faced Chosen Warrior made his report.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlQvFlu340
"But I shall recapture the handmaiden," he promised, and brandishing the cudgel, he swore to kill Don with his own club.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7ke6Ay6ho
Ollin's eyes narrowed. "That belongs to Don?" he asked.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEh7SvBG9S
"I took it from his quarters," Yaotl replied.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkurxlHirx
"Let him live a little longer," the High Priest said and tapped the cudgel with his forefinger. "I have a better purpose for that. Every day at this time Tetzal meditates in the garden of peace. Go and strike him down from behind, but do not kill him.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyudShPaWWn
Yaotl was horrified. "Strike down the High Priest?" he yelped. "There is no greater offense!"323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVPwngdkzN
Ollin ignored the protest and told Yaotl to throw the cudgel into the bushes nearby where it would be found and identified. "That will destroy Tetzal's faith in Nenetl's divinity and tomorrow when the darkness comes, she and her servants will be opposed by all who worship Huitzilopochtli. Now, do as I bid you," he ordered and Yaotl, under the High Priest's mesmeric gaze, nodded and strode off towards the garden.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CTDjTQcnj
Ollin went into the pyramid and started to climb the stairs, but drew into the shadows when he heard footsteps hurrying down. Don passed him, taking the stairs two at a time. Ollin followed and saw that Don, too, was making for the garden.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2UFF1ABgB
"This time, Yaotl, do not fail me," he murmured and went in search of the temple guards.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3RkR1Oqt4
Yaotl's mission was easily accomplished. Tetzal was sitting by himself on a bench looking at the lake, so the Chosen Warrior slunk up behind and rapped him smartly on the back of the head, making sure that no obsidian stone penetrated his skull. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnC1Ztj1i4
Tetzal slumped to the ground and Yaotl threw the cudgel into some bushes close by. He heard the garden door open, ducked down and watched as Don made his way to the back wall and the entrance to the tunnel. Then Ollin and four temple guards came into the garden. Keeping his head down, Yaotl ran over to them, nodded slightly to the High Priest and pointed to Don who was pulling aside the bougainvillea in front of the stone.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYUuofXWfm
"Take him," Ollin hissed.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWjrDV6UCD
The guards raced over to Don who was now crouched in front of the stone getting a grip on the sides with his fingertips. He looked dup and saw four javelins pointing at him and decided it was not a moment to dispute the toss. He rose slowly to his feet as Ollin, flourishing the cudgel, and Yaotl, supporting Tetzal, came along the path.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1I2PlzM2Pl
"Take him to the barracks and imprison him," Ollin ordered. "He struck down the High Priest of Knowledge."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC91wijrgq3
"That's not true, Tetzal," Don said.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYDj0droVC
"This is your club," Ollin replied. "Yaotl, the Chosen Warrior, has so identified it." And left his fingerprints all over it, Don thought as he was led away, while Tetzal, much to Ollin's delight, cried out that he had served a false god.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOyznSxNHb
Ann, Penny and Dr. Smith were anxiously awaiting Don's appearance when Tlaqui, three women with a large folded curtain, and two guards carrying a ladder came into the temple. Tlaqui looked curiously at Penny but said nothing. He clapped his hands and the guards propped up the ladder beside the corner of the back wall. One of them went to the top and unlaced one end of the curtain in honor of Tlaloc, the God of Water, which fell to the ground. Ann, Penny and Dr. Smith looked at one another in alarm as the guards moved the ladder to the other end of the wall. One of them climbed up and started to unlace the other side of the curtain. Ann glanced quickly at Tlaqui, the women, and the guard at the foot of the ladder. All eyes were on the one unlacing the curtain. She turned to Penny.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYaUqhXxYZ
"In respect for the god Tlaloc, break the fall of the curtain," she ordered.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8U0wv4V4l
Penny bowed, ran to the corner, put her foot behind the curtain and swept the coiled strip of silk under her monastic robe as the curtain fell into her arms. Dr. Smith twiddled his thumbs in relief. The women came over with a corner of the new curtain which was handed up to be laced. The rest was laid out along the foot of the wall and the old curtain scooped up. Penny didn't move, keeping her foot firmly clamped on the strip of silk under her robe. The ladder was moved back to its original position and the other end of the curtain laced into place. Penny discretely pushed back the strip of silk behind it. The new curtain was blood red with the head of Huitzilopochtli woven with gold thread in the middle. Rays of sunlight radiated from it, but the face was sinister, the eyes cruel and the mouth hard. Ann looked at it and knew that the sooner they were away from the Aztecs the better.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRBi15EuvR1
As soon as Tlaqui, the woman and the guards had left the temple, Dr. Smith congratulated Ann for her quick thinking and Penny for her fast reaction.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4EldVbI66
"I was worried that Don would open the wall while they were changing the curtain," Penny admitted.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4npLM6TTbz
"If I could have one wish granted," Ann replied, it's that he should open it now."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgQmt5I6Vm
But nothing happened until Tlaqui returned with four temple guards, Yaotl, and Ollin, who sidled over to Ann.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8xrLBqc3i
"Your servant, Don, is to die for striking down the High Priest of Knowledge and your handmaiden will be doubly punished for attempting to escape the scourging and piercing with thorns. Now her eyes will be put out." Ollin relished the moment when 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Dw3Tl9J1S
Penny screamed as Yaotl took her by the arm. She struggled to free herself hitting him repeatedly with her fist.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJG0Zbzx9w
"Quit that, Penny," Dr. Smith was brusque, but his voice softened as he told her to go quietly with Yaotl.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQ6EiMDfaS
Ann looked with loathing at Ollin. "You will kill my servant and you will blind and torture my handmaiden?" She pointed to Dr. Smith. "What fate have you in mind for my aged servant?"323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJN4gzRjny7
Ollin spread out his arms. "I have none. The old man has not transgressed our laws." The insinuation was evident. "Let him sit in peace in the garden," and Ollin ordered the guards to escort him there. Dr. Smith looked at Ann and momentarily clenched his fists to tell her to hold on. Ann understood and when there was only Tlaqui, Ollin and herself, she mounted the dais and sat on the throne.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwUVYoiYm4
"And me, Ollin?" she asked. The High Priest of Sacrifice had vengeance in his eyes as he pointed to the curtain behind her.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLnGqlFS0d
"You tried to deny Huitzilopochtli his right to human blood. You tried to humiliate us with a false faith. And by your own admission you are not a God. I have always known it. The Priest of Knowledge, Tlaqui, knows it, and now the High Priest, Tetzal knows it," Ollin crowed. "Sit there until Huitzilopochtli accepts our perfect sacrifice and as he gives light back to the earth your entrails will tell the Aztec nation of your deception." He turned his back on her and with Tlaqui waddling at his side, he limped away from the temple.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCHXgMTeIQ
A few minutes ago, Ann thought, I believed we were within an ace of being free. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhHCRzxhs0
Now, our plight is worse than it ever was and all I can do is hang on, as Dr. Smith has asked me to.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGPj8m3MN0
As soon as he was released by the guards, Dr. Smith went to the garden shed, found the stump of a dead bush, sawed off a section and, sitting himself down on a bank outside, he began to whittle away at it. He was working quietly when Zuma saw him.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmtJjoKcgp
"Of all the Aztecs, the High Priest of Knowledge is the most gentle," she said reproachfully.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCWg92NyWr
Dr. Smith concentrated on his piece of wood. "Don didn't hit him, my dear."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXen5fQuQOV
"His club was found nearby," she countered.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lMuQsB9EW
"Planted nearby, more likely." Dr. Smith peeled off a sliver of wood.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtA7ZU7Lr6s
"He is to die." Zuma sat down beside Dr. Smith.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UjqW8y7je
"No doubt. Butchered by Yaotl." Dr. Smith blew off some shavings.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDLmA2HcWE
Zuma reached out and placed her hand gently on his knee. "If it is your wish," she said, "let our marriage be postponed."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkTxOULg85
Dr. Smith looked at her in silence for a moment and then began to carve a groove around the rim of the piece of wood.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmBgc6tT4l
"What is that you make?" Zuma asked softly.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApkVNsLxOj
"Something to take my mind off my problems."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdICkfSvwcr
"Will you permit me to intercede with the High Priest of Knowledge on your friend's behalf?323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIRnclF6QD
Dr. Smith placed the piece of wood with the knife on the bench and took her hand between both of his. "If you will, I should be eternally grateful to you," Dr. Smith said. 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxSLhdfQSI
"But it is Ollin that we must contend with." He gestured to the garden. "All this, the peace you know, will one day be destroyed by him and others of his kind."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJ40757nIf
"If it is the will of the gods, it cannot be prevented."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMM0xxhppQ
"It was not Quetzalcoatl's will, nor is it Nenetl's," Dr. Smith replied.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeC1Dabbf7b
"You say the gods wish an end to sacrifice," Zuma sought to understand.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiesiH5ixIW
"Nenetl speaks for them, but without Tetzal's faith in her their words are meaningless," he explained.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr5iuQyGaP
Zuma stood up. "His faith shall be restored. I promise you that, beloved," and she hurried away.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXoHoczfa3
Dr. Smith stared after her. In another world, in another time, he mused, then picked up the wood and the knife to get on with the job at hand.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQziDwkDvHY
The High Priest of Knowledge stood rigid in front of the throne. Ann smiled and thanked him for attending her.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUweDH0ieeC
"Such gratitude is due to Zuma," Tetzal replied formally.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ379ji2NOnY
"Then say it to her for me," Ann said and Tetzal bowed. "Don did not strike you down." The High Priest looked at her directly.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXQ7huljHp
"Alas, Great Spirit, the evidence indicates that he did," Tetzal replied. "The club was his and he was in the garden of peace."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiMxBB0a11
"As were, by a strange coincidence, Ollin, Yaotl, and four temple guards," Ann added.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzFTjwn5jX
Tetzal conceded that the High Priest of Sacrifice sought to destroy Nenetl as a false god.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jMntKhKpl
"He has every intention of doing so," Ann said. "Indee, he has given me a graphic description of the manner in which I shall die. He has also announced that my handmaiden, Penny, will have her eyes gouged out"----Tetzal winced---"for daring to escape with Don, who is now condemned for a crime that he did not commit. In fact, the only detail the High Priest of Sacrifice has left unsaid is the manner of Don's death."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOkUExJ2FN
Tetzal looked uncomfortably at his posy. "Yaotl will throw him from the parapet just before the darkness comes," he murmured.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1q7a8VusN
Ann stood and came down from the throne. She circled the High Priest. "What manner of people are you?" she demanded in indignation, "who wallow in virtue and in bestiality? You Aztecs are schizophrenics."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY9dKdY6jP
Tetzal looked at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, then the realization dawned in his eyes. "You Aztecs," he repeated. "What manner of people are you/ Yes, I yield ground to Ollin on one point. You are not the Great Spirt of Nenetl. You are not of our nation. I know not who you are nor from whence you and your servants come." 323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ornapw1kI
He pointed to the blood-red curtain. "That secret is revealed in Nenetl's tomb. A god you may be, but none of my knowing." He walked away from Ann, his posy of flowers against his chin, then turned to face her again. "You have prophesied our annihilation if human sacrifice continues, yet you have always spoken softly with respect and affection."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBxEA5eCO9
"There is a legend I have heard, told to me by a wanderer from the desert, of another god far across the oceans, who spoke as you have spoken of gentleness and love, who was taken by those who opposed him and crucified as we crucify common thieves."323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowYKYo1kPQ
Ann did not reply.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyShJ4Ijxg5
Tetzal looked away, and then turned back to her. "What I can do, I shall do," he said. "Farewell." And he walked with dignity from the temple.323Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡss9dSUguDS
