The Serpent Road: A Science Fiction Novel

by Anthony James

  He stood thinking for a few seconds and then came to a decision. “Yes, we should make for where the lights were. I think that’s right.”

  “Then we should go,” said Xquic. “Have you seen enough?”

  “I think so,” he said slowly, considering. “I don’t think we’ll find answers here. Just more questions. We should probably leave.” As he said the words, he could hear the traces of doubt in his own voice.

  Xquic stepped in front of him, looking up into his face. “What is it, Tohil? Tell me.”

  He gave a deep sigh then. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I am making the right choices. I miss the others. Oquis was always so steady. Acab, well, Acab is Acab, but he always had an opinion. I don’t know if I am just dreaming and imagining things in my head.”

  She reached out and took his hand. “Look at me, Tohil,” she said. “I am here. Tepeu is here. We trust you. You have brought us this far, and so far, you have not been wrong. If you are reading the signs properly…look at that carving. That tells you that you’re right.” She slung her bow upon her shoulder and with her other hand, clasped his hand as well.

  He looked into her face, chewing his lip, saying nothing.

  “Come on,” she said. “We have more of this road to travel today.”

  He nodded. After a few moments, she let go of his hand again, reached up to his shoulder and steered him back through the altar room and down the steps in front. He didn’t even look at the carvings as they passed through. Right now, he simply felt foolish. He glanced at Xquic as they descended to where Tepeu stood vigilant, considering, trying to analyse what else he might be feeling, but then he pushed those thoughts aside.

  “So,” said Xquic to Tepeu. “Nothing?”

  “No,” he replied, looking up at them. “Everything quiet.”

  “We should move then,” she said.

  “Did you find anything?” he asked.

  “Nothing that makes any real sense,” said Tohil finally. “Again, more carvings. Again, more questions than answers. Xquic is right. Let’s move.”

  As they strode off into the forest again, Tohil looked back behind them, at the ancient temple building, his head full of thoughts, and then finally, as the structure disappeared from sight, he turned his attention to the path in front of them.

  Later that afternoon, they emerged from the forest atop a low hill that sat above gently rolling grass, clumps of trees, denser in some spots. What caught his attention most, now that they were closer, was that vast body of water in front of them. Lines of white rolled into beaches that stretched around bays. White foam stirred around the ends of headlands, covered in trees, here and there cliffs, but everywhere, as far as the eye could see, blue sparkling water. The further out it went, the darker it became. Here and there, flocks of birds rose, spiralled, and dipped. Tohil tried to spot the location they’d been heading for. They’d come out a little further along than he’d expected, being diverted by the forest paths, but they were close enough. A large bird of prey circled overhead, riding the wind, hunting and he tracked it for a while. He turned to check their position relative to the smoking peak behind them and then turned back. They would need to backtrack a little, but he couldn’t see that it would do any harm.

  “I think it’s that way,” he said finally and they started down the hill in that direction.

  There was much to see along the way. The vegetation, the bird life, they were all slightly different to that which they’d seen before. They’d been too busy finding their way through that last patch of forest to pay much attention, but now, here in the open, they could see enough to notice. Despite those things, Tohil found his gaze being drawn back to the water. He could not avoid it. He could never have imagined something so vast.

  Another hour or so passed and finally, they saw the first signs of civilisation. There were fields not too far away and a couple of plumes of smoke. Who was to say what they were likely to find there? And now, now, there were only three of them to face whatever might come.

  It is not quite clear, however, how they crossed the sea; they crossed to this side, as if there were no sea; they crossed on stones, placed in a row over the sand. For this reason, they were called Stones in a Row, Sand Under the Sea, names given to them when they [the tribes] crossed the sea, the waters having parted when they passed.

  — Popol Vuh, Part III, Chapter 7

  EIGHTEEN

  The first real sign of life they encountered was a man in a simple breechcloth wearing some sort of hat on his head woven out of rushes. He was driving a group of ducks in front of him across a field with a long stick. It didn’t make sense to Tohil at all. Why didn’t the ducks just fly away? The man looked up as they passed, acknowledged them with a simple toss of his head and went back to his ducks. Further along, a group of children charged past them, screaming as they chased each other. A little way off, a woman sat outside a simple hut, grinding corn. She paid no attention to the travellers at all. So, it seemed that strangers were not an unusual sight for these villagers. There were the normal fields of crops surrounding the dwellings, but then, as they neared the centre of the village there were other differences. In a couple of places, tall wooden racks held lines of fish, hanging, and drying in the sun. They passed some sort of wooden frame with a large net draped across it. Further in, a man sat in front of a house, cross-legged, apparently mending another net. He barely glanced up as they passed.

  “It’s almost as if they see strangers every day,” said Tohil after passing one or two other villagers who either simply ignored them or gave a brief sign or word of greeting.

  The village itself sat on a small finger of land, surrounded on three sides by water, with beaches running down from two of the sides. The houses were the same as those back home, mostly round with hard walls and thatched roofs. The villagers’ garb was much the same also, except that several of them wore those woven hats that they had seen on the first man driving the ducks. On one of the beaches, three long boats sat drawn up in the sand. Leaning to one side and not far from them lay another of the wooden frames with a net draped across it. Tohil took all this in, wondering why none of the local residents seemed to be interested in what this group of strangers was doing here. As they neared the centre proper, the smell of cooking food, and the sound of voices drifted from the houses around them. Two or three of the dwellings seemed larger, perhaps a young men’s house or a young women’s. Tohil drew them to a halt in what seemed a central area and looked around.

  Somebody wandered out of one of the houses and was crossing the open place, about to pass by them completely when Tohil called out to him.

  “Hello,” he said.

  The man stopped, looked at them, turned his attention to Xquic, looked her up and down and then frowned. He looked back at Tohil and then to Tepeu.

  “Hello,” he said to them and started walking again, seemingly intent on his destination.

  “Hey wait,” said Tohil.

  The man stopped and turned, frowning again. “Yes, what is it?” There was an accent to his words, but it was easy enough to understand him.

  “We are travellers,” explained Tohil

  “Yes, that much is clear,” said the man, waiting for something else.

  “We are heading for the Great City,” Tohil continued.

  “Quite a long way to travel,” said the man. “It seems you have already travelled far.”

  “Yes, we have,” said Xquic then. “We were wondering if you could help us.”

  It prompted a reaction that none of them expected. At Xquic’s words, the man looked shocked, then affronted and quickly turned and strode away.

  “Hey, come back,” said Tohil, but the man just waved his hand behind his back as if to brush them away. The next moment, he had disappeared inside another dwelling.

  Tohil looked at the other two. Thought for a moment, and then spoke to Xquic alone.

  “Perhaps it might be better to let me do the talking,” he said.

 
; She narrowed her eyes, pressed her lips together, but then acknowledged what he was saying with a toss of her head, but her eyes remained narrowed and her jaw set.

  The smell of food in the air was making him hungry, but there was something strange, unfamiliar about it. He couldn’t worry about that now though. For the moment, no one else had appeared. It would seem that they would have to wait here until someone else did. He lowered his burdens to the ground. After a short time, a woman appeared from another of the dwellings, carrying a large pot.

  “Hello,” he called out to her.

  She looked up in shock, saw him and quickly lowered her head and scurried away out of sight. Tohil stared after her with open mouth, and then slowly closed it again.

  “What is wrong with these people?” he said.

  “Maybe I should try,” said Tepeu.

  “Go ahead,” said Tohil. “Perhaps it’s the way we speak.”

  “All right, wait here,” he said. He dropped what he was carrying and headed for one of the smaller houses. He stood there outside for a couple of seconds and then poked his head through the doorway. Tohil couldn’t hear what was taking place, but it seemed that Tepeu was in conversation. After a couple of minutes, he withdrew from the house and came back over to join them.

  “So….”

  “He is a fisherman,” said Tepeu. “He lives alone there since he lost his wife. Most of the people here are fishermen or they grow crops. He said that they trade with other villages up and down the coast, sometimes further.”

  “Is that all?” Xquic asked.

  “No, no,” said Tepeu. “He said we are welcome to share his evening meal, though it isn’t much, but he said it was freshly caught this morning, so it should be good.”

  “And you wait to tell us that,” said Xquic.

  Tepeu merely shrugged.

  Tohil had never eaten fresh fish, only the dried stuff that they’d acquired in the city. He was suddenly more interested and his hunger was not the only thing driving that interest.

  “Did you ask him about the Great City?” he asked.

  “No, not yet. But we will have time for that if we join him,” said Tepeu.

  “Yes, of course. Let us go.”

  He reached down and picked up his belongings, started to follow Tepeu to the house. Just before they reached it, an older man appeared in the doorway, his features dark and leathery and heavily lined. He stood at the door, looking at each of them approaching and then drew in his breath and waved his hand in front of him.

  “What is it?” called Tohil.

  “She,” said the old man. “She cannot come inside. The girl must stay out here.”

  Tohil could almost feel Xquic bristling behind him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. He could see the thunder written on her face, and he lifted a placating hand then turned back to the old man.

  “She is our companion,” he said. “We travel together.”

  “It does not matter,” said the old man. “These are the laws.”

  “But it doesn’t make sense,” said Tohil.

  He knew that women were treated differently in the village back home, but not like this, and there were always exceptions.

  “You might have different rules,” the old man continued. “But I cannot allow it. These are the laws.”

  Tohil turned and looked at Xquic and then back at the old man. He was not going to move and that much was clear.

  “If those are the laws,” he said. “Then those are the laws. Tepeu, you go with him. I will stay outside with Xquic.”

  The old fisherman seemed to relax a little at that. Tepeu nodded his understanding and then followed the old man inside. Tohil just stood there for a few seconds watching the now empty doorway and then turned away from the house.

  “Come on,” he told Xquic, and took her by the arm leading her back in to the centre of the clear open space. He dropped his stuff and sat, motioning for her to do the same. He could see that she was barely containing her anger. He watched her for a little while, but every time he met her eyes, she narrowed them and looked away with set jaw.

  “Listen,” he said after a while. “What are we supposed to do? This is not our village. They have different ways. We do not have to agree with them. Did you agree with the slaves that we saw with the merchants? Could we do anything about that? We are on a path that we must follow. This is yet another thing to test us.”

  She slowly turned back to face him, a speculative look on her face.

  “It doesn’t mean it’s fair,” she said.

  “I didn’t say it was. Let us just wait here and see what Tepeu comes up with.”

  To pass the time, he broke out some dried bread and meat and passed her some. The food smells by now had got the better of him. As they waited and twilight and then night fell, one or two other villagers passed them by, but said little, a brief greeting if anything. They seemed unconcerned to find the two of them sitting in the middle of the central square. Tohil was starting to think of it as a square, like the one they had seen in the city, even though it was rounder. He had not seen anyone that looked like an Elder in this village. Perhaps they kept to themselves, or perhaps there weren’t any Elders at all. It was all very strange. Once or twice, one of the passing villagers would look at Xquic, but then quickly look away. None of the women looked in their direction at all, keeping their faces resolutely facing to the front or down at their feet.

  Eventually, Tepeu reappeared, looking sated. He carried a pottery plate in front of him.

  “Here,” he said. “Caquix sent this out for you. That is the old man’s name.”

  He placed the platter down on the ground before them. On it was some baked fish and cornmeal with some sort of sauce upon it. “Beware of the small bones,” said Tepeu. “I found that out very quickly.

  Tohil reached for some, picked at it with his fingers and then brought it to his mouth. The taste was similar to the dried fish they had purchased, but lighter, not as salty and the meat was tender, falling apart in his mouth. It still tasted a little bit of salt. The sauce was hot and spicy, burning his lips. He quickly learned to heed Tepeu’s warning about the small bones, digging one out from the side of his cheek with his fingers.

  He gestured to Xquic. “Go on, try some. It’s good.”

  “If I’m allowed to,” she said, but then relenting and reaching herself for some of the food.

  Tepeu stood watching them.

  “We are lucky,” he said. “I told you they trade up and down the coast. Caquix said that tomorrow, one of the large canoes is coming, heading for the Great City with goods for trade. They will be stopping here to pick up a load of dried fish to carry there. We might be able to find a way to travel with them.”

  Tohil stopped with a piece of food halfway to his mouth. He knew there was a reason they had come here, and now it was confirmed.

  “Did you thank him?” Tohil asked.

  “Yes, of course. I gave him some of our dried meats in return for the food.”

  “And this canoe comes in the morning. Did he say when?”

  “Usually about the middle of the morning, he said. It stops first at some other villages further up the coast.”

  “So, what do we do until then,” asked Xquic.

  “We cannot stay in the village,” said Tepeu. “Not together. Caquix made that clear. He’s a nice enough old man, I suppose, but he was very firm about that.”

  Tohil stood and looked around. It was starting to get a lot darker now. The moon was not yet up. Then he had an idea.

  “We can spend the night on the beach,” he said. “Down by the boats we saw. That way if the canoe comes early, we will be ready.”

  Xquic quickly stood up. “Yes, let’s do that. Tohil, are you going to bring the food, or should I do that too?”

  Tohil shook his head and got slowly to his feet. Once he’d slung most of his items on his shoulders, he retrieved the plate from the ground, and carried it before him as together, they found th
eir way down to the beach.

  By the time they’d found a spot, settled and eaten, their full stomachs, the path of silver light swimming hypnotically across the water and the sound of gentle waves lapping against the beach soon lulled them into a sleep. Tohil woke once in the night to find that Xquic had moved, nestled up against him, one arm over his chest. He thought to move it and reposition her, but then he decided to do nothing. In fact, it felt quite pleasant. His thoughts of what would happen if the villagers found them like that quickly faded and he soon drifted back off into a contented slumber.

  They were woken before full light by the sound of men struggling with the weight of one of the boats, sliding it off the beach and into the water. He had a moment of panic, but then relaxed as the fishermen seemed to pay them no mind. Two men got into the boat, a pile of netting between them, and then paddled further out into the water. Within a couple of minutes, they had disappeared around the headland. Shortly afterwards, some more fishermen appeared, a group of three and then four. There were two younger men with the second group and within a few short minutes, they too had launched their boats and paddled off and away. The three of them were left sitting on the sand, looking out across the water, the only thing to say that the fishermen had been there in the first place, three deep tracks across the sand where they had dragged the boats. Tohil was presuming that the trading canoe would come in on this side of the promontory, because that’s where the boats had been, but he had no way of knowing. He looked around, but now that the fisherman had left, there was no further sign of life. He stood, looked up and down the beach and then headed down to the water’s edge, stood looking at the waves for a while as it grew lighter and then splashed forward till the water reached right up to his waist. It was cold, and the waves washed up against his chest. He could feel the force of the water, pushing against him. It was like standing in a river, but one that stopped and started in its flow. The sand slipped under his feet. He closed his eyes, just feeling the sensations, taking in the scent and taste of the salt water. It was like nothing he had really felt before. And then he was not alone. The others were in the water with him, and Xquic splashed him with a handful of water and laughed. Using both hands he splashed her back and she yelled and bobbed back out of the way. In the next instant, Tepeu had joined in and in moments, they were all splashing and laughing together. For that few minutes, all the things that had been troubling him had flown away forgotten and there was only the sea and the sky and his companions.