by J
“Then we’ll smuggle you out,” said Hermanjilio. He took the map from Max and spread it out on the floor. “Here’s San Xavier. And here’s the Gulf of Mexico. And here”—he tapped on the map—“is the mouth of the Mississippi River.” With his nose almost touching the paper—“This map is old, it’s hard to read”—he traced the blue line of the river up from the sea with his finger and jabbed at a point about two thirds of the way along. “Here it is! Cahokia Mounds!”
Lola knelt next to him to study the route of the river. “New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis. I’ve read about those places. Mom and Dad were going to take me on a road trip. It was going to be my first-ever vacation.”
“They’ll still take you,” said Hermanjilio. “Come to Cahokia with us and we’ll get them back.”
Lola said nothing.
Max was still staring at the map. “But how would we get there? Could we drive all the way?”
Hermanjilio shook his head. “Too risky. Armed guards at the border.”
“A boat?” suggested Lola. “Across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Mississippi?”
Hermanjilio sounded dubious. “The coast guard is always on the lookout for smugglers. And the waters around here are dangerous. Too many reefs and strong currents.”
“But look.” Lola pointed at San Xavier on the map. “There’s a dotted line just off the coast. Someone’s drawn in a shipping lane around the reefs.”
Hermanjilio looked closer. “That’s no shipping lane. Where did you get this map, Max?”
“It was in Sylvanus Morley’s car.”
Hermanjilio did a double take. “Sylvanus Morley? As in Vay Morley, the great archaeologist who excavated Chichen Itza?”
“Yes. I met him at the White Pyramid when we were running from the zombies. He threw me the keys to his car—his jalopy, as he called it. Eusebio drove me and Lola home in it.”
“Of course! That old car! How could I have forgotten?”
“You were too angry to remember anything that day.”
“Why was I so angry?”
“That was the day you found out that Lola had stolen the White Jaguar and Chan Kan had jumped into Xibalba with it,” said Max. “I’ve never seen you so mad.”
“We were talking about shipping lanes,” said Lola, quickly changing the subject.
Hermanjilio tapped the map excitedly. “I think we’ve found our escape route! Do you know anything else about Vay Morley, Max?”
“I know that it’s his fault my middle name is Sylvanus.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that. But did you also know he led a double life? He used his cover as an archaeologist to spy for the US navy. He was looking for German submarine bases along the Yucatán Peninsula.”
“Cool,” said Max flatly, not understanding the relevance of this fact.
“Don’t you see?” Hermanjilio was yelling. “That dotted line, it was drawn by Sylvanus Morley! It must be the submarine lane.”
“This sounds like an interesting conversation,” said a young Maya man coming in through the terrace doors.
“Hi, Lucky!” called Max.
“Hi, Jaime,” called Lola.
Jaime Ben, known by almost everyone as Lucky or Lucky Jim, was Uncle Ted’s former right-hand man and now a trainee schoolteacher. “Hey, you two,” he said, high-fiving them. “Is this pizza up for grabs?”
“It’s cold,” Lola warned him.
“Even better,” said Lucky, taking a huge slice. “So what’s going on? I had a message from Mr. Murphy to come by after school. Sounds like he has a construction project he wants my advice on. Whoa!” Lucky dropped his pizza in surprise as he registered the damage in the sitting room. “What happened here?”
Max plunged into the story from the first time he saw the upside-down bird through to his encounter with the queen of the bats to his late-night flight down to Xibalba and Lord Kuy’s return visit to the villa. Most people wouldn’t have believed any of it, but Lucky wasn’t most people. He knew all about the craziness that was the Maya underworld.
When he was caught up, Max showed him the map. “So this is Cahokia Mounds, where we need to get to.”
“If we decide to go,” added Lola.
“But Max is not officially allowed to leave San Xavier,” explained Hermanjilio. “So we’re thinking of ways to sneak him out.”
“And that’s why you were talking about submarines?” asked Lucky.
They nodded.
Lucky had a strange look on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it and clammed up again.
“What were you going to say?” asked Lola.
Lucky shook his head guiltily. “I better not.”
Max thought for a moment, then leapt to his feet. “Uncle Ted’s got one, doesn’t he?” he screamed excitedly. “Down there in the cellar?”
Lola turned to Lucky. “I know Dad used to be a smuggler, but that’s crazy. Isn’t it?”
Hermanjilio looked from face to face in disbelief. “Are you telling me that Ted Murphy has a submarine stashed away somewhere?”
“It’s just a small one,” said Lucky defensively. “A mini-sub.”
“I knew it!” said Max. The first time he’d stayed at the Villa Isabella, he’d discovered the secret staircase leading from Uncle Ted’s office down to the cellar and the underground HQ of his smuggling operation. Since many of the tunnels led out to sea, he’d imagined finding a James Bond–type submarine dock in among all the high-tech equipment. Now he was delighted to discover that his fantasy had been true all along.
Lola looked shocked. “But Dad promised me he’d given up smuggling.”
“He has,” Lucky assured her. “He bought it just before he made that decision. He’s never used it, I promise. But it’s not that easy to offload a sub without people asking questions.”
“I can’t believe it,” Max said gleefully. “My. Uncle. Has. A. Submarine.”
“Can you drive it, Jaime?” asked Lola.
He nodded. “But please call me Lucky. I tried to go back to Jaime, but even my family calls me Lucky. And we’re going to need a lot of luck to pull this off.”
“We? You’re going to help us?” Max punched the air.
Lucky laughed. “So who’s coming with me?”
Max and Hermanjilio put their hands up straightaway.
Slowly, Lola put hers up, too.
“I’m going to regret this,” she said.
Hermanjilio put an arm around her. “You’re doing the right thing. You can’t run away from problems. You have to face them. And we’ll face this one together, the four of us.”
“Four’s a full load,” said Lucky. “I warn you, it’s pretty cramped in the sub. It wasn’t built for comfort.”
“How far can it take us?” asked Hermanjilio.
Lucky knelt over the map and took some measurements with his thumb and forefinger. “You’re headed for the Mississippi River, right? The sub can go fifteen hundred nautical miles without refueling. That should get it to New Orleans and back.”
“Can’t you take us all the way to Cahokia?” asked Lola.
“If people saw a sub refueling on the Mississippi, it might attract attention, don’t you think? Besides, I’m a teacher now. I have a class full of children waiting for me.”
“So how long to New Orleans?” asked Max.
Lucky thought for a moment. “At a cruising speed of twenty knots, I’d say two days at most.”
Max looked worried. “Does the sub have a kitchen? What will we eat?”
Lola nudged him playfully. “Don’t worry, Hoop. We won’t let you starve.”
Hoop! She’d called him Hoop! Things were back to normal between them! Max grinned at her. “So we’re really going to do this, Monkey Girl?”
“I guess so.” She looked like she couldn’t believe what she’d just said. “I guess we’re going to Cahokia.” She shook her head in wonder. “Looks like Lord Kuy was right. Max and Lola save the world—again!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
SUBMERGED
Lady Coco didn’t want them to go. “It’s too dangerous under the water. The ocean is filled with vengeful ghosts.”
Lola laughed. “These days, I think it’s just fish and deep-sea divers.”
“You’re Maya, you should know this,” Lady Coco rebuked her. “Before the Earth was born, the ocean was a sea of blood where gods and monsters battled. We call it the fiery pool.”
“It’s not like we’ll actually get wet,” Max reassured her. “The sub is like a little house.”
Lady Coco was not convinced. “You have no business underwater. It’s not natural.”
When she couldn’t talk them out of it, she insisted on rising from her sickbed and hobbling down to the kitchen to bake batch after batch of cookies, muffins, and scones. Raul, too, came down in his dressing gown to ransack the store cupboards and find every possible household item that could be of use to the brave submariners.
Lord 6-Dog, on the other hand, received the news impassively.
He was stretched out on a hammock, dressed—incongruously for a howler monkey or a Maya king—in a pair of child’s blue-and-white-striped pajamas (castoffs from one of Lucky’s younger siblings) with a hole cut out for his tail.
“May the Jaguar Kings watch over thee,” he said.
“Don’t you wish you were coming with us?” asked Max.
“Into the fiery pool, the primordial sea of blood? No, young lord, I do not.”
“It’s just across the Gulf of Mexico, not far at all.”
“I care not for oceangoing vessels. My people lost many boats on trading expeditions.”
“Technology’s advanced a bit since then. They have radar and sonar now to avoid shipping hazards.”
“They cannot avoid the rocks of destiny,” said Lord 6-Dog darkly.
“Okaaaay.” Max turned to go. “Any last-minute advice?”
Lord 6-Dog thought about it. “Heed my words,” he said, sitting up in his hammock. “If the raging main should cause turmoil in thy stomach, be sure to void thy guts on the leeward side of the galleon lest thy puke should blow back in thy face.”
“It’s not a gal—oh, never mind,” said Max. “You really don’t like boats, do you?”
“Water is the realm of the underworld.”
“You could at least wish us luck.”
“I wish thee courage, and strength, and wisdom. I do not believe in luck.” He lay back down. “And now, if thou wilt excuse me, it is time for my nap.”
Loaded up by Lady Coco and Raul with more food than they could eat in a month at sea, Max and Lola said their good-byes. Then they climbed down the remains of the spiral staircase, now buckled and bent under Eek’ Chapaat’s weight, to the defunct HQ of Uncle Ted’s smuggling empire. They could hear the distant sounds of Lucky and Hermanjilio shouting to each other as they readied the sub and, by flashlight, they followed the echoing voices down the dark and dripping tunnels.
“Watch out for centipedes,” said Max.
“They’re gone,” replied Lola. “Lucky and Hermanjilio checked the tunnels. Ugh! Can you imagine how disgusting it must have been down here last night? Lady Coco and Raul were so brave.”
“I have my own bad memories,” replied Max. “Did you know that Lucky once arrested me down here?”
“Yes, you’ve told me that story a million times. He caught you trespassing.”
“It’s not trespassing when you’re a guest in your own uncle’s house.”
“It was for your own good. You’d been warned not to snoop around.”
With Max still seething at the injustice, they turned into a short tunnel that sloped steeply down into the water … and there was the mini-sub, bobbing on the tide. Suddenly, Max forgot everything but the vessel in front of him. It was smaller than he’d expected: about as wide and long as a school bus, tapering toward the stern. Halfway down the body, a fin-shaped bridge gave it the look of a sleek, blue shark.
“Ahoy there, me hearties!” called Hermanjilio.
“Okay, one thing, before we go anywhere, you have to promise to drop the accent. That pirate thing could get majorly annoying,” said Lola.
Hermanjilio saluted. “Aye aye, milady.”
Lola rolled her eyes. “Something tells me this is going to be a long voyage.”
Voyage. Max liked the sound of that. It sounded exciting and adventurous, but with a hint of luxury ocean liner. He didn’t even mind Hermanjilio pretending to be a pirate. In fact, he kind of liked it. He viewed the sub approvingly.
“What are those for?” he asked, pointing to two pipes sticking up at the back of the fin-shaped bridge.
“Periscope cameras and air intake,” explained Lucky.
“How can you have an air intake under the water?” asked Max.
“Ah. I think I may have misled you. This sub is designed to travel just below the surface. That way, we stay hidden, but we can pump in fresh air.”
“Like snorkeling?” asked Lola.
“Exactly.”
Max’s face fell. “I thought we’d be deeper than that.”
Lucky smiled. “Sorry, Max. The engine needs oxygen from the air intakes.”
“What’s the point of a sub if you can’t dive? Uncle Ted was a smuggler. He must have needed quick getaways.”
“Diving is for emergencies only. This sub can go down to about sixty feet,” Lucky conceded, “but let’s hope she doesn’t need to. It uses up battery power and puts a lot of stress on the shell.”
Max tried to reboot and focus on the positive. “It’s cool that it looks like a shark.”
“She looks like a shark,” Lucky corrected him. “Ships are feminine. But the shark thing is good camouflage, eh? Mr. Murphy designed her himself.” He looked at Lola. “Did you notice the name?”
She shone her flashlight on the hull. “Lily Theodora. Dad named her after me!”
“He should’ve called it Monkey Girl,” said Max.
“He should’ve called her,” Lucky corrected again.
“I can’t believe you said that.” Lola took a swing at them with a bag of oranges.
“Hey! Stop using our rations as lethal weapons!” Hermanjilio scolded her. “Now, get those oranges stowed away. It’s time to go.”
“All aboard,” said Lucky, ushering Hermanjilio through the hatch in the fin.
Max and Lola followed and found themselves in a minuscule cockpit. Lucky and Hermanjilio looked like giants squashed into the two little seats.
“Go below and make yourselves at home,” said Lucky. “We’re about to launch.”
A metal ladder led down to a narrow corridor lined with storage lockers and tanks and banks of batteries. At one end of the corridor was the engine room. At the other end was a tiny bathroom, galley, and sitting area. Beyond that, Max and Lola found a bunkroom with four stainless steel bunks.
Max tried one out for size. He couldn’t straighten his legs.
“It’s like everything’s child sized,” said Lola.
“Or howler monkey sized,” said Lord 6-Dog, hanging upside down in the bunkroom doorway. He still wore his pajamas.
Max bumped his head on the top bunk as he sat up in surprise. “Lord 6-Dog! Have you come to say good-bye?”
“I have come to assist thee on thy quest,” said the monkey, jumping down.
“I thought you were afraid of the sea?”
Lord 6-Dog squared his shoulders in his little pajamas and stood as tall as he could. “A Maya king is afraid of nothing.” Even as he spoke, his eyes betrayed his fear.
“It’s good to see you, Lord 6-Dog,” said Lola gently. “But you don’t have to do this.”
“I know that.” He climbed regally up to the top bunk. “Is this my berth?”
“What changed your mind?” asked Max.
“I had a dream,” replied Lord 6-Dog, lying down. “And now I plan to have another one. Wake me when we make land.” With that, he turned his royal back on them and started snoring.
Max and Lola were still staring at him openmouthed when Hermanjilio came down the ladder. His frame filled the whole corridor. “Well, kids, looks like I won’t be coming with you after all. The sub takes four, and Lord 6-Dog will be a lot more useful to you than I could be.”
“But we need you! You’re an expert on everything!” Lola cried.
“What you need in Cahokia is an expert on the Jaguar Stones, and no one knows more than Lord 6-Dog on that subject. I know he’ll look after you. Just be careful, okay?”
“We’ll be fine. It’s not the jungle,” said Lola. “We’re going to a land of hotels, and hot showers, and round-the-clock pizza.”
“Even so, be on your guard. Don’t take any chances. If this plan fails, we’ll come up with another one. I just want you back safe and sound.” He passed Lola his wallet. “You should have enough dollars in here for everything you need. Just don’t let Max spend it all on food.”
Lola gave him a hug. “We’ll miss you.”
“Take care of each other,” he said, climbing back up the ladder. “Oh, and one of you better get up here and take my copilot seat.”
Lola’s reactions were faster than Max’s, and she shinnied up the ladder to the cockpit. “Here we go!” yelled Lucky.
The craft vibrated like one big engine room.
Down below, in the cramped cabin, Max looked out of the porthole but saw only thick black water. Hermanjilio had left guidebooks and maps on the little table, but he couldn’t think about reading. The smell, heat, and noise of the engine were dizzying. He’d expected the sub to glide silently through the water like a killer shark. This was more like riding inside a diesel lawn mower. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about puking.
He must have dozed off because the next minute, Lola was shaking him awake. “It’s your turn, Hoop! Wait till you get up there. It’s amazing!”
He climbed up and squeezed himself into the seat beside Lucky. The sub was close to the surface now, and the cockpit was filled with turquoise light. Bubbling streams rushed past the windscreens and sunlight danced on top of the waves. By squinting upward, Max could see a distorted version of the sky and the clouds. It was beautiful.
