by Sharon Sala
“It rolls.”
Layla laughed. “It’s called a car.”
Cayetano frowned. “What is a car?”
Adam hid a giggle.
“It is a way to go from place to place without walking,” Layla said. “Real ones have seats inside and a roof on the top so you won’t get wet or cold. They move because of something called an engine, and when you sit inside the car and turn on the engine, the wheels will roll and it will take you very far in a short time.”
He laughed, certain that they were making a joke, but then realized they were serious.
“This is real?”
Layla sighed. “This was real. But it won’t happen for a long, long time. Before this, our people will capture and tame wild animals called horses. Have you ever seen a Vicuna or a Llama in your country? They are tall animals with very long necks and small heads, and are used to carry heavy loads.”
He frowned. “These I have seen, but they do not live here.”
“In the Andes,” Adam said. “The high mountain areas. These are the lowlands… the jungles.”
“Well, anyway, a horse is a little like that animal only beautiful, and so strong. In the future, they will be tamed and we will have big herds of them. When we want to go a long distance, we get on the horse and it will take you wherever you want to go, much faster than if you walk.”
The servants were staring.
Yuma saw the doubt, and pushed the car back toward Cayetano so they could watch it roll again.
The servants giggled behind their hands and then ducked out of sight.
Cayetano frowned, and then got up and walked out.
The boys were immediately upset.
“Did we make him mad? We didn’t mean to hurt his feelings,” Yuma said.
Layla got up. “He’s not mad. I think it’s a little scary, knowing you boys understand something so easily, and yet it’s a thing he will not grasp. You play. I’ll go talk to him.”
She went out into the hall but he was nowhere in sight. She looked in their room, but he wasn’t there either. It took a bit of searching before she found him standing at a window overlooking the city. She slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head in the middle of his back. The tension in his body was palpable.
“Don’t be angry.”
“It is not anger that I feel.”
“Then what?” she asked, and slipped under his arm to look up at his face.
“Fear. I see this city and the many people who live here. They have food and shelter and they are happy. Why is this not enough? Why do things change?”
She sighed. “Everything changes, Cayetano. Even the people we are now have changed greatly from what we once were. Once we lived beneath bushes and in caves. I guess we got tired of being hot or cold, and learned how to make better shelters. Much time has passed between then and now. The palace is beautiful, and the white streets of your city are beautiful. We walk on them and do not get muddy when it rains. But there was a time when such a thing as this place would not exist.”
She could see him coming to grips with that answer, and slowly understanding dawned.
“So our people will always be changing?”
“Not just our people, all people will be changing, Cayetano. Some change faster than others. One day we will have cities so large it takes a whole day to pass through. In Layla Birdsong’s world people got in cars that could fly like a bird. Before Firewalker destroyed earth, man had already walked on the moon.”
His voice was shaking. “That is not possible.”
“Not now, but it will happen, but when it does, this time our people will not be standing by watching, we will be making it happen with all the others.”
He didn’t say anything for a very long time. She understood how confusing it must be, knowing they had lived in a future he would never see, let alone understand. He didn’t even know the meaning of the word engine, and yet he’d had a glimpse of what it could do.
“Are you all right?” she finally asked.
He pulled her into his arms. “Yes, because I have learned something today that I did not know.”
“You mean about the cars and airplanes?”
“Yes, I know that now, but I also know that my bones will be dust long before that happens, and that means it will be someone else’s problem.”
She laughed. “You are right. All we have to do is lay the first blocks to build it, and others will carry it on.”
Before he could answer, Acat came running.
“Chak is with the new boys. I went in to bring them food and he was there. He is scaring them and I could not make him leave.”
Cayetano didn’t wait for Layla’s reaction. He left the room in long angry strides. By the time Layla reached the hall, he was running. Their happy day had taken a dark turn she didn’t like.
***
Evan was crying, and Adam was standing astraddle his brother’s legs, refusing to obey the shaman’s order to move.
They’d heard his thoughts the moment he’d walked into the room. Despite what he said to the contrary, they knew he was up to no good.
Chak stared at them without speaking. The twins knew he was trying to read their thoughts and promptly blocked him.
Yuma was clutching his awl like a knife, ready to defend his clan. Car building fun was over.
“Where do you come from?” Chak asked.
“We came with the others,” Adam said.
“Then why are you here in the palace? Why are you not out there with your people?”
Yuma spoke up. “They are like me. They have no family. Cayetano and Layla are our family now.”
“Layla. Who is this Layla?”
“You call her Singing Bird. Where we lived, we called her Layla Birdsong.”
Chak frowned. “Then she is not Singing Bird. She is an imposter and you just proved it! This is why bad things will happen here. The real Singing Bird is gone, and an imposter has come to take her place. Cayetano has been bewitched and will lead us all astray.”
“Stop talking like that!” Yuma shouted. “You are wrong. Go away!”
Chak was in shock. This was worse than he’d expected. He took the bottle of poison out of his pocket and began moving toward the jug of water by the window as if he was going to pour himself a drink. He reached for the jug, poured a small amount of water in the cup and quickly drank it, then paused, waiting for the moment when he could slip in the poison.
“You strangers bring bad ways to Naaki Chava. Soon our children will see your behavior and begin arguing with their elders. You should go!”
Chak heard footsteps behind him and turned just as Cayetano hit him. The vial flew out of his hand and through the window.
Cayetano was furious. “You have come into these rooms uninvited, shouting at these children as if you have the right. You are a shaman, not their caretaker, and a shaman who gives me great anger.”
At that moment, Layla burst into the room. Chak pointed at her, screaming every word that came out of his mouth.
“It is her fault this bad blood is happening. Even this boy knows the truth. She is not Singing Bird. She has another name. You are being tricked and we are overrun with strangers. We did not ask for them to come. Is she the chief now? Has Cayetano turned into a woman, and this false Singing Bird into our chief?”
“You are wrong. She had the same name, but it was only spoken in a different way. Bird song and Singing Bird mean the same thing and you know it. If you were not so old, I would strike you down where you stand!” Cayetano said. “Get your belongings and leave Naaki Chava now. You have no place here.”
Chak was speechless. The Shamans often had differing opinions from their chiefs, and it was understood because they could ‘see’ things that mere humans could not.
When Cayetano shouted for the guards
and ordered them to escort him out of the palace and out of Naaki Chava, he thought about begging. Then he saw the look in Singing Bird’s eyes and knew if he didn’t obey, Cayetano might kill him, and if he didn’t, she would.
“You will be sorry,” Chak muttered, as he pushed past Cayetano, only to find Singing Bird standing in his path.
“You have threatened my family. If I ever see your face again, my face will be the last one you see.”
Chak’s belly rolled as the guards moved in beside and behind him and escorted him out.
Cayetano walked out with the guards as Layla went to the boys and gathered them in her arms.
“I am so sorry that happened, but you were all very brave. Did he hurt you? Did he touch you… any of you?”
“No, but he was trying to sneak something into our water. I think it was poison. I could hear his thoughts, wishing he would be around to watch us die,” Evan said.
Yuma pointed out the window. “Something flew out of his hand when Cayetano hit him.”
She went to the window to look out and saw the shattered vial lying on the ground, and the contents spilled and soaking into the earth. Birds were dropping down from the trees to peck about and then flying back up to the branches. As she watched, she saw a bird begin to falter, as if losing balance. As she watched, it fell forward through the branches onto the ground and never moved. Then to her horror, another fell, and another until the ground was covered in dead birds. She turned away.
Cayetano walked in and saw her expression.
“What is it?”
She pointed out the window. “Yuma said that fell out of Chak’s hand when you hit him.”
When Cayetano saw the broken vial and dead birds, his fingers curled into fists; his voice was shaking with rage.
“I should have killed him.”
Adam slipped into the space between them. “I know something,” he whispered.
“I do too,” Evan hissed.
“Speak it,” Cayetano said.
“We knew he meant harm. He hates Singing Bird, but he hates you more, Cayetano.”
“Why?” Layla asked.
“His father knew Cayetano’s father,” Adam said.
Cayetano nodded. “Yes. They grew up together.”
“His father believed he should have been chief instead of Cayetano’s father. The hate started there,” Evan added.
“But why me?” Layla asked. “Why does he wish me such harm?”
Cayetano sighed. “Even I know this. The easiest way to hurt me is to hurt you. Without you I die here.” He put a hand on his chest.
Layla felt his pain as surely as if it was her own.
“Then we have to make sure no one hurts you this way, because when you hurt, so do I.”
Yuma had been silent, but no longer. He swung the awl up over his head.
“You saved me. You saved Adam and Evan. Now we will protect you. We have decided.”
Now her tears fell freely.
“I don’t want any of you feeling responsibility here. You are the children. We are the adults.”
Yuma shook his head. “I may not be tall, but my childhood is gone. It died with my father. I am a man, and I will grow bigger, but my heart will stay the same.”
Evan whispered. “We also know about your baby but we aren’t telling anyone. She will change the world.”
Layla glanced at Cayetano. He looked as stunned as she felt.
Yuma leaned against her hip and slipped his hand into hers.
“The baby will be named Tyhen, but people will call her The Dove and she will be mine. I will protect her with my life and she will love me.”
In that moment, she remembered Windwalker’s words.
Leave no one behind.
Now she understood. The future would never happen as it should, without the little boy she had saved.
Layla told Cayetano what they said, but he was in shock. Not only did these three children know the baby would be a girl, but they were giving her a name?
“What does this name Tyhen mean?” he asked.
Layla’s voice was trembling. “It’s the language of Layla Birdsong’s people, the Muscogee. It means whirlwind.”
She felt Cayetano flinch, but he didn’t falter. It was another reminder that the child belonged to the Windwalker and not to him.
“That is a good name,” Cayetano said. “A strong wind cleans. She will have a lot of cleaning to do to make so many tribes stop fighting with each other.”
“But she won’t be alone,” Adam said. “She will have us.”
Chapter Nineteen
Chak was preparing himself to die. He knew he wouldn’t last long in the jungle, and was cursing Cayetano’s life with every step. When he heard rustling in the trees behind him, he spun, expecting the next moments to be his last.
Instead, two men walked into view, as surprised to see him as he was them. They were each carrying a spear in one hand and a large bag in the other. When they recognized the shaman, they were afraid they would be cursed for interrupting some ritual.
Instead, Chak hailed them. “Where are you going?”
“To the City of the Sun. We have yams to trade at their marketplace.”
The City of the Sun. Chak had heard it was lead by a chief named Bazat, and that he was crazy. Still, crazy would be preferable to dead if he could find a way to turn this to his benefit.
“I would walk with you.”
They both nodded in agreement and he fell in behind him, thanking the Gods for their arrival. He listened absently to their chatter as they walked, but when he realized they were talking about the death of a shaman in the City of the Sun, he interrupted.
“How did this shaman come to die?”
“They say he was cursed by the Little War-Gods,” one man said.
Chak frowned. “There were War-Gods in the City of the Sun?”
“Yes, the twin sons of Sun and Mother Earth who are called the Little War-Gods. They fell out of the sky into the marketplace and Bazat took them into the palace. But then they disappeared.”
Chak stumbled. The twins who appeared so suddenly in Cayetano’s palace could also be the same twins! And if they were really the Little War-Gods, then that would explain what was happening.
First Singing Bird returned with all the New Ones, and then the twins appearing so unexpectedly could be the reason Cayetano was behaving strangely. He must be under a spell.
Chak began fantasizing about ridding Naaki Chava of Singing Bird, sending the strangers into the jungle to find their own place to live, and returning to the city a hero for recognizing what had taken place. Cayetano would be grief-stricken at the loss of his woman, shamed for falling prey to their wiles, and fall out of favor. It was the perfect revenge.
What puzzled him most was why he hadn’t seen that in his dreams? His only explanation was the Little War-Gods had powers greater than his, and blocked his dreams to keep him from their truth. He began to question the traders more.
“So how did Bazat behave when the twins were gone? Did he want them back?”
“My brother’s woman is from the City of the Sun. He said Bazat was angry and searched the jungle, but couldn’t find them. He sacrificed two citizens of the city to appease the twins’ anger, one citizen for each twin, and now his anger is done.”
Now it was clear! Chak saw his path. He had been driven from Naaki Chava so that Bazat could learn the truth. And the shaman had died in the City of the Sun to make room for him.
His step was no longer dragging and he was no longer waiting to die. He had a place to be and a purpose to fulfill. He would pay Cayetano back. Singing Bird would die.
***
As the day moved on and Chak’s threat was no longer an issue, Cayetano kept thinking about Yuma’s toy, he was curious to see how the New Ones fared, and
if they had any creations of their own.
Language was still an issue between the New Ones and the people of Naaki Chava, but he’d been told they were learning quickly and coping as to be expected. It was nearing the harvest celebration in Naaki Chava. Crops were being put in storage much faster than before because the New Ones were working side by side in the fields with the People, and that made everyone happy.
But he wanted to see for himself and went to find Singing Bird. If he had questions, she had their language, too.
***
Layla had finally found a place to be alone. She was struggling with more morning sickness and she wanted to think. She couldn’t get past how close the boys had come to being murdered. It reminded her of how fragile their toehold was in this new place.
As she sat, she picked at some fruit, testing to see if it would stay on her stomach. So far, this morning sickness was the only physical connection she had with the baby she carried. It was too soon for her belly to grow, and far too soon to feel the child begin to move. In a way, the morning sickness was turning into a good reminder, because there were times when the pregnancy didn’t seem real.
She chewed and swallowed the fruit, then waited to see if nausea hit. When it did not, she tried another small piece and then tore off a piece of the bread and popped it into her mouth, too.
Birds were squawking overhead as they flew past. Beautiful peacocks strutted through the courtyard, spreading the magnificence of their tail-feathers and then shrieking, as if to say, ‘look at me! Look at me’.
Layla smiled and tossed a piece of fruit toward one of them but a monkey dropped down from a tree, grabbed the fruit and scampered off. She laughed.
“Sorry Mr. Peacock, but you were bragging too loudly and moving too slow.”
I am here.
Layla turned around, expecting to see one of the servants, but she was alone. She shrugged off the moment and took another bite of the bread, chewing slowly and again, letting it settle in her belly before chancing another bite.
You cannot feel my heart, but I can feel yours.
Layla stood up. “Who’s there? Who’s hiding? Come out and show yourself.”
