Sisimito I--Ox Witz Ha

by Henry W. Anderson

  After eating, the drove lazed about, digging themselves into the mud that surrounded the tree. I was losing valuable time and I was increasingly angry at myself for allowing myself to be trapped. The waaries were quite unconcerned and I feared that they were simply waiting for Sisimito to arrive. An hour had passed when I heard the almost silent wings of an owl in flight. Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e rose and walked towards the tunnel and vanished. The waaries followed, directly, making no barking noise, just a low moaning sound. At the mouth of the tunnel, each stopped and turned and stared at us before silently disappearing into the tunnel. Every hair on my body stood on edge and koal seed had transformed my skin into a grayta.201

  I decided to remain ‘entrenched’ for another hour and during that hour, unanswered questions stormed my mind. Did Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e come looking for us? Was the encounter merely a coincidence? Was Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e able to communicate with Sisimito? Would he let Sisimito know where we were? Was the owl that flew over the same owl I had been seeing? Molly said nothing, was staring most of the time. I feared for her mind … and mine.

  Finally, we were able to leave our refuge in the tree. I hoped and convinced myself that Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e would not interfere with the drove’s normal routine. All my hunting experience told me that they would just continue on their way as if their encounter with us had not happened. Therefore, I did not expect the waaries to return suddenly or to waylay us. Waaries were not rational, they were directed by instinct. But that was in my world. I was in their world and they were led by Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e.

  Molly and I crawled back through the passage in the chaparral and were soon on the river bank. The waaries were nowhere to be seen and when I sniffed the air, I could not smell them. We quickly searched the immediate area for any revealing evidence that we were there. There was none discernable and we resumed our walk, very alert. Within minutes, however, deep from the jungle, southeast of where we were, came the loan roar of a howler monkey. My skin immediately reacted and rose. The roar was answered by another that seemed much closer. I looked at Molly and saw alarm masking her brown eyes.

  “They know we’re here and they’re coming,” I warned, looking quickly around us, selecting what I hoped would be our best option. “Let’s go … east. We’ll go upriver as far eastward as this river takes us.”

  Walking upriver was far easier than what we had been doing. We could choose where we wanted to walk and, because the river was flowing from east to west, the little debris we stirred up did not course in front of us, obscuring our path. We avoided the rocky areas as they were difficult to walk on and we also avoided the mud and clay areas for walking there would leave foot prints and create a muddy flow behind us. We walked mainly on the sandy bottom, but, in a short while, the grains got into our jungle sandals and were cutting into the soles of our feet. It was painful and I saw the pain marked across Molly’s face, but I did not call a halt. She did not ask to stop and we kept on walking, oblivious of the great beauty that surrounded us in the pristine jungle. Because of the width of the shallow river, the canopy did not meet above us and that allowed sunlight to fall and be brilliantly reflected off the orange, red, blue, yellow … all possible colors … of the flowering shrubs that lined the river sides, as well as the bromeliads and exotic orchids that grew on the trees. The ts’unu’uns were, once more, plentiful and they were joined by many other birds and butterflies. Again, they did not seem interested in us. Perhaps, Sisimito’s influence did not reach that far. Maybe, his influence was restricted to the area I had seen covered by the dark and swirling clouds. I did not know. Once, we saw a t’ix, mountain cow, and its calf on a sani-bay. The mother kept a close eye on us as we passed, but it did not run away nor did it attack us. How I would have loved to remain where I was and simply watch them, even for a little while. But I couldn’t. We were running away. We were running away from an evil we thought existed only in story books or in tales told around a campfire or fire hearth at night. I still did not understand what had happened, how that evil had come alive. Perhaps, it was always alive and, at that time, that evil was closing in on us. As if to signal that possibility, more and more frequently, there came the roar of the Black Howler Monkey.

  We were running out of cocoyol and I did not see any more fruit trees that bore edible fruit along the river banks. We were also exhausted and walking up river was becoming more difficult. We no longer felt the pain in our feet and that was a dangerous sign for I was sure that the pain was still there; however, we continued walking. Sometimes, I had to help Molly, but most of the times she refused help reminding me that she was Private Cervantez and wanted to be treated as such. I reminded her that soldiers depended on each other in order to succeed in any mission. At times, we would carry each other, if necessary. She smiled and kept on walking. We didn’t look at the river banks often so we no longer saw the beauty therein. Perhaps, there was always the fear that within the lush jungle foliage lurked the wild and evil eyes of the Kechelaj Komon.

  The peeniwali were all around us, but that night there were no angels singing with me. Dusk had fallen, but we kept on walking, sometimes barely moving. The moon, when it did come up would be bright, but that wasn’t for a few hours. I had decided that I was going to push us on until we were ready to drop from exhaustion or until we reached the Main Divide of the Maya Mountains. From the point where we had encountered the river and began walking upstream, I had estimated six miles to the Divide, as the crow flies. But a river takes turns, sometimes it would turn back on itself. Once, we followed an oxbow lake only to find ourselves, after half-an-hour, just opposite where the lake had started. Regardless of all the turns we took, however, the river kept going almost directly east and as we had walked some eight or nine miles, I expected that we would soon be reaching the base of the Main Divide.

  The moon was not yet up when I heard the distant sound of falling water. I stopped. “Do you hear that, Private?”

  “Yes,” Molly answered, quietly. “It sounds like the wind.”

  “We don’t want the wind, Molly. It could be Etzelal Iq’. We don’t want him.”

  “Who’s Etzelal Iq’?” I shook my head but didn’t answer. “It’s not the wind,” she continued. “It’s rapids.”

  “I hope not, Molly. It’s dangerous climbing rapids in the night.” I sucked my teeth, something I frowned upon, but found myself doing more and more often. “We’ll have to fokin do what we have to fokin do, I guess.”

  “You’re doing good, Stephen … I mean, Sarge. I don’t know if anyone would have done better.”

  I looked at her in the darkness and, suddenly, I felt empty, very lonely. Before, I had never felt like that in my jungle, not even when I was alone. Of course, Bas was almost always with me, but where Molly and I were, that was not my jungle. I wanted to hold her, but I couldn’t allow myself to do that, at least, not yet. I remembered how her body had hit mine as I had pulled her out of the way of Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e at the maami tree. I had felt her breasts close against my body and even in that moment of grave danger, I had been warmed as I became aware of her erect nipples against my chest. I pulled my thoughts. She said I was doing good. I didn’t get compliments often and the compliment, especially coming from her, felt wonderful. Wonderful? I had to question what the fok was happening to me. It was just a compliment. That’s all it was.

  “Thank You,” I nodded.

  We walked another half-an-hour and even in the darkness I was able to see that the banks, on both sides were beginning to rise quickly over short distances. I felt certain we had reached the base of the Main Divide, but I was dismayed, however, that the inclines were so precipitous and that we were getting into an area surrounded by hogbacks.202 It would be difficult and time consuming to climb those. I didn’t want to begin feeling discouraged, so I put aside my negative thoughts knowing that when daylight came I would be able to make a better assessment of the area. I encouraged myself to believe that I would f
ind a col203 through the Divide.

  A bright moon had come out over the mountains in the east as we continue to walk, allowing me to see my surroundings clearly for the first time in several hours. The banks had suddenly moved several hundred feet apart and we were entering a glade. The jungle had given way to a large grassy area on both banks of the river and the sound of falling water had grown louder. The spurs of the mountains, on both sides of where we were, rose quickly to over two thousand feet forming a colossal concave wall above which the summits were flattened, creating a table-mountain.204 But what made us stop in awe was the moonlit waterfall falling some fifteen hundred feet to the river in which we walked. We had entered a hidden valley, one like I had never seen before. I shook my head in awe at the magnificence of the silver ribbons of water as they fell to the river where they burst into living crystal sprays, cascading and exploding into rainbow colors along their paths. I felt Molly’s hands upon my own.

  “How …” She stopped as if she could not find the words to describe the emotion that the scene had provoked in her. It was not a very wide waterfall, not thunderous or violent in its nature. It was a veil of lace, a curtain of softness, falling from the heavens to the jungle floor. I listened to hear the shutters of Clarke’s camera opening and closing, but the sound was not there.

  “A hidden valley falls,” I uttered. “I will call it just that, Hidden Valley Falls. This must be the riverhead205 as the falls seemed to be coming from out the mountain itself. I’ll know tomorrow when we’re above it.” I looked at the hogbacks that surrounded us. It would be difficult to cross those, but I tossed the foreboding thoughts aside. Tomorrow would take care of itself.

  We kept walking, more quickly even though we were exhausted, wanting to reach the falls as swiftly as we could, wishing to be a part of its purity. Soon, we were there and we touched it, feeling the softness of the water as it fell. In areas, there were rock projections that took the force of the fall before the water caressed the river. I rushed under one of these and had the water flow and fall over my body. There was a sani-bay not far from where I stood and I hurried to it, sat, and quickly removed my jungle sandals. I loosened my belt and scabbard and they fell to the sand. It was the first time I had taken them off since Molly gave them to me as we escaped. I pulled off my dirty and wet pants and threw it down as I rushed back to the fall. The only thing I did not take off was the Green Scapular.

  “Come, Molly,” I shouted. “It’s great.” I watched her as she dashed towards the sani-bay. She removed her sandals and ran towards me. I watched her as the water fell upon her face. I watched her as she smiled. She took off her blouse and threw it on the sani-bay. I watched as her breasts jumped and her nipples rose into firmness. She was laughing. She removed her pants and panties and threw them where her blouse lay. She faced away from me and was jumping up and down. I touched her shoulder and turned her until she faced me. I pulled her body close to me. Her eyes were closed. I knew that she could feel Tóolok hot and hard against her groin as I felt her breast soft, her nipples hard, against my chest. I felt weak as I held her. I bent to kiss her lips, upon which droplets of water were flowing.

  Illustration 43: The Hidden Valley Falls.

  She opened her eyes, looking directly at me. “Too much has been happening,” she implored. I held her even closer. I was burning to the point of losing all rationality. I had to fight with myself. I had to struggle intensely to understand what she was saying. “Let’s wait. Please? I know that’s hard. Remember Sarge. I’m Private Cervantez.”

  I let her go, but she was still near to me. I closed my eyes, but I could still see her. I wanted to say, fok the Private Cervantez bit. Emotions tore at me until I thought I would faint. Then I felt her hold my hand. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have done that. I pulled her to me, placing my lips over hers. I could feel her trying to resist, but I also felt her resistance rapidly subsiding as our bodies held each other. I picked her up and carried her quickly to the sani-bay where I placed her on a bed of moss and lichens interspersed with Maiden Hair Ferns. I lay her down, crushing the ferns beneath her body. I had my hand between her legs. I felt her moisture there. She moved her legs apart and I was on top of her. I felt some resistance as I began entering her. I heard her cry out, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop and her cry wasn’t one of terror or great pain. Then, Tóolok was in her.

  The skies erupted. Lightening rose from the jungle and sped towards the heavens then returned, tearing at the mountain tops. Thunder tore through the valleys, rocking the trees and making the rivers wild. Heavy rain bore down on us, trying to tear us apart, but we were oblivious to it all.

  I felt her arms tighten around me. I felt her moving under me. She was crying out. I was crying out. As spasms overtook us, our screams were taken from us and we just held on to each other in and out of consciousness. The storm abated as suddenly as it had come and as exhaustion eventually overtook us, and as we were falling asleep in each other’s arms, I heard her murmur “Tristan”. We lay together in the strange world we were in, bathed by the jungle moonlight on the sani-bay of the Hidden Valley Falls.

  Later that night, Etzelal Iq’ grew and whistled as he searched for us. We did not hear him. I still lay on her soft body, knowing her heart was beating calmly against mine. Tóolok was resting comfortably inside Molly … just where he wanted to be … and, like a good soldier, always ready to come to attention when the mission demanded it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  THE HALACH UINIC

  (Ajawinel K’an II)

  Saturday, April 8, 1972

  I didn’t know if it were the glare and heat of the morning sun overhead, or the pangs of hunger I felt, or the absolute quietude that surrounded us that awoke me. I was instantly alert as the jungle was never absolutely quiet, unless danger lurked nearby. I stood up and looked around, ignoring the pain in my chest caused by the injury done by the tusks of Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e. I saw no one … none of the Kechelaj Komon. There were no signs of danger, but there were none of the animals I would usually hear or see. There were no ts’unu’uns and no butterflies. There were no crickets. Even the water across from me did not have any fish. I looked around again, concentrating on each area as I looked. I didn’t like what my premonitions were telling me; something was wrong and we had to get moving. I touched Molly with my foot and she moved. “Get up,” I ordered. I couldn’t tell if there were a sound in my voice that had sent her a warning, but she was immediately alert, reacting to my command. She searched for her cloths, found them and, hastily, put them on. I was still searching the landscape about me, no longer enthralled by its beauty, but searching for any indication of danger that may be there. She handed me my pants and I hurriedly put them on. I looked for the belt and scabbard, spotted them and raced over to where they were. I belted myself, quickly, and walked back to where Molly was.

  For a moment I was about to relax. We seemed to be safe. I wondered if I were not being over anxious. The night before was still strong in my body and there would be no harm in working Tóolok a little more before we began our walk again. Then deep within the jungle, from the area we had come, I heard the urgent roar of the Black Howler Monkey. I looked to the west and saw heavy blackened clouds reaching into the sky and rolling towards us. I pointed and saw Molly’s face fill with apprehension and fear.

  “Fok! Fok! Fok!” I shouted. “They’re right behind us.” I looked about me, that time looking for the col I had believed I would find. As my eyes searched, the sloping sides of the hogbacks that surrounded us seemed more precipitous than ever. There did appear to be small ledges about the waterfall where one could rest, if needs be, as one climbed, but scaling would be almost vertical and very dangerous should either of us fall. Taking that route would also have us in the view of anyone … anything … who approached so I had to use the cover of the jungle. I could not allow Sisimito or his enchanted animals, the Kechelaj Jupuq, see us as we tried to escape.

  “Pick up your sandals,” I mur
mured, as I did the same. “We’ll climb to the right of the waterfall, Molly. We’ll keep in the jungle, among the trees, so that we can’t be seen.” I hurried down to the riverside, Molly following me close. “Drink as much water as you can. We’ll have to eat later.” We drank and I started running towards the eastern slopes. “We’ll put on our sandals when we reach the cover of the trees.” I could see that Molly was trying her best not to break down and it was only sporadically that her eyes revealed her dread and terror. I was a soldier, trained to respond to difficult and unexpected situations. I couldn’t afford the luxury of trepidation.

  “Aren’t those loose spots on the slope?” asked Molly, as we hurried towards the steep incline we had to climb. “Pieces of rocks and boulders seem ready to fall.”

  “Fokin scree!206 That’s all we need to slow us down. We’ll walk around them if we can.” I continued running through the tall green grass. I tripped on a rock and fell, but, luckily, the tall grass cushioned my fall. “Let’s slow down or we’ll get hurt,” I uttered, in exasperation. “Too many fokin rocks in the grass.” I stared ahead and saw a lot of talus207 at the bottom of the slope. “There are a lot of rocks ahead, at the base of the slope,” I told Molly. “Be careful! No accidents! We can’t have an accident or we’re foked.”