The Lost City

by J

  Great Sun picked up the red stone and held it up to the morning sun until the carved jaguar blazed as red as fire, and Max saw the world through a filter of red. “Behold the Red Jaguar of Chahk, stone of the east, stone of the rising sun,” said the interpreter.

  The same process was repeated for each Jaguar Stone.

  “Behold the White Jaguar of Ixchel, stone of the north, stone of the moon and the stars.”

  “Behold the Green Jaguar of Itzamna, stone of the center, stone of rebirth.”

  “Behold the Black Jaguar of Ah Pukuh, stone of the west, stone of the setting sun.”

  “Behold the Yellow Jaguar of K’awiil, stone of the south, stone of the past and the future.”

  Each time, the crowd was bathed in the appropriately colored light. Now, as Great Sun put the last stone back on the altar, stage lights like lasers beamed their colors across the adoring crowd, whipping them into a frenzy.

  “Apart from the compass points, this is all wrong,” complained Lola. “Tzelek wouldn’t say those things. It’s not him.”

  “May the stones set us free!” intoned the interpreter. “Hail to the Jaguar Stones!”

  A troupe of twirling dancers took the stage, wearing various Lycra interpretations of Maya dress. At a signal from the woman, they joined hands and danced in a circle as the trapdoors opened and the altar bearing the Jaguar Stones sank back into the depths of the pyramid.

  Great Sun mumbled an incantation.

  “It is time to set your spirits free,” continued the interpreter. “Let your spirits fly. Are you ready?”

  “We are ready,” chanted the crowd.

  “Are you ready?” asked the interpreter again.

  The crowd, once again, declared their readiness.

  Great Sun looked skeptical.

  “Some are still not ready,” lamented the interpreter.

  “Teach them!” called a voice.

  “Those who seek enlightenment must first enlighten themselves. Those who would be children of the stars must free themselves from their earthly possessions.”

  Tears streamed down the face of the girl in the poncho as Great Sun bowed to the audience and made a blessing in his peculiar Mayan.

  “From sunrise to sunset, may your joy be infinite,” said the interpreter. “May wild honey drip into your mouths.”

  To tumultuous applause, Great Sun was carried offstage on his litter.

  “I don’t get it,” said Max. “When I saw Tzelek a few days ago, he was his usual homicidal self. Why has he suddenly gone into show business?”

  “It’s not him,” replied Lola. “It can’t be.”

  “But he’s wearing the identical clothes that he wore at the Villa Isabella.”

  “It is a great Maya king costume,” conceded Lola. “It’s exactly how I imagine the real thing.”

  “And those Jaguar Stones looked pretty real, too,” Max pointed out.

  Now a man’s prerecorded voice boomed over the site. “If you wish to shed that which weighs you down … cash, jewelry, small electronics … baskets will now circulate for your convenience.” Smiling dancers began passing through the crowd carrying large wicker baskets. “These baskets are handmade by Maya women in the rainforest. They are available for sale at the merchandise concessions, along with a wide selection of Birdman items, T-shirts, hammocks, and postcards.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a T-shirt,” said Max.

  Lola glared at him. “Concentrate, Hoop. What do we know about Tzelek?”

  Max thought about it. “He’s tried to kill me twice. He’s Lord 6-Dog’s adopted brother. He’s based at the Black Pyramid. He formed the Undead Army to take on Lord 6-Dog’s Jaguar Warriors. He killed Lord 6-Dog’s father. He’s the craziest, most evil, most ruthless maniac in Xibalba. And he’s obsessed with battling Lord 6-Dog.”

  “Exactly. So why would he be selling T-shirts? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “That doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” said Max. “This whole place is nuts.”

  In front of them, a man with a ponytail removed his gold earring and placed it into a basket. “I am ready,” he said.

  The girl with the poncho removed her nose stud. “I am ready,” she said.

  All around them, people were enthusiastically taking off their jewelry, emptying their wallets, and switching off their phones to place in the baskets.

  Now drums began to beat and the newly unencumbered danced wildly in concentric circles. “We are free!” they sang. “We are ready!”

  “This stinks!” exclaimed Lola, her eyes blazing brighter than the morning sun. “It stinks worse than tapir pee. Whoever Great Sun is, he’s inventing Maya rituals to get money from his followers. How can people be so stupid?”

  Blue waved from across the crowd.

  “Talking about stupid …,” said Max.

  “Be nice,” said Lola. “We need all the friends we can get.”

  “Hey, guys,” said Blue, coming over. “What did you think? Wasn’t it amazing? Have you ever seen anything like those Jaguar Stones?”

  “Actually—” began Max.

  “No,” said Lola firmly. “We haven’t. Where did they come from? Do you know, Blue?”

  “Great Sun says he found them here at Cahokia. He says the Birdman showed him where they were buried.”

  “What do you know about Great Sun?” asked Lola. “Who is he?”

  “I’ve only ever seen him onstage. But they say he’s a great king from a faraway land come back to claim his inheritance. I assume he’s a descendant of the kings of Cahokia.”

  “And what’s the deal with the star children thing?”

  “I thought you’d know that.”

  “I would? Why me?”

  “Your people, the Maya, were big star watchers, right? Great Sun says they predicted all this. He says we all came from the stars, and one day, we’ll go back there.”

  Lola sighed. “Seriously, Blue? Think about it. Why would my people, way down in Central America, care about anything except their own cities and their own children and their own lives? And if they couldn’t predict the Spanish conquest, why would they make predictions about a bunch of hippies in the twenty-first century?”

  “I’m not a hippie,” said Blue. “I’m on a gap year.”

  “Sorry. But this”—she indicated the bustling tent city—“has nothing to do with the Maya.”

  “Then, why did you come here?”

  “I wish I hadn’t.”

  “Even if you don’t believe any of it, the people here are good people.”

  Lola nodded. “I know. That makes it worse. Good people being sucked in by an evil confidence trickster.”

  “Shh,” Blue warned her. “Don’t talk like that. I’ve heard Great Sun has spies to root out troublemakers—interplanetary agitators, he calls them.”

  “Why does that not surprise me?” said Lola.

  “Please,” said Max, breaking in. “Can you two stop talking? I’m dying of hunger here.”

  “Come to our camp,” said Blue. “You can’t miss it. It’s the big blue tent with yellow stars. Oh, and bring The Dawg. Rainbow’s got some organic mangoes for him.”

  “Do you have human food, too?” asked Max.

  Blue laughed. “Of course. But humans can eat mangoes, you know.”

  “My cousin wouldn’t know that,” joked Lola. “He lives on pizza.”

  “You like pizza? No problem. See you at the camp!”

  “Yesss!” Max punched the air.

  Lola looked at him quizzically. “I don’t get you, Hoop. One minute you’re freaking out because the most evil being in Maya history is possibly right here, right now. And the next minute you’re happy as a clam because someone mentions pizza.”

  “I can’t think when I’m hungry,” said Max defensively.

  “Which is always,” Lola teased him. “So let’s go find Lord 6-Dog, have some food with Blue, and think things through.”

  The crowds were clearing now, and as they walked towa
rd the trees, Max and Lola saw that the base of the pyramid was blocked off all the way around. A security team in black shirts guarded the barriers. On one side, a gaggle of media crews were conducting interviews in a dozen different languages with anyone who’d talk to them. At the back, through the autumnal trees, the silver roofs of trailers were visible.

  “That must be where Tzelek lives,” said Max.

  “I can’t imagine Tzelek living in a trailer,” said Lola.

  “But if it’s not him, how did he get that costume?”

  “That’s the big question. Let’s see what The Dawg thinks about it.”

  They found him in a hickory tree.

  Lola called up to him in howler sounds. He ignored her and carried on munching leaves.

  “Did you tell him it’s about Tzelek?” asked Max.

  At the sound of his enemy’s name, Lord 6-Dog stopped eating and dropped down out of the tree.

  Lola looked quickly around to make sure the coast was clear. “There’s no one around, I think we can talk.”

  “About Tzelek?” asked Lord 6-Dog. “What of him?”

  “We think he’s here,” said Max.

  “Max thinks Tzelek’s here,” Lola corrected him.

  “Here?” Lord 6-Dog sniffed the air. “I smell him not. Where didst thou see him?”

  “At the Sunrise Ceremony,” answered Max. “Did you watch it?”

  “Alas, I did not. My attention was distracted by a persimmon tree.”

  “Max thinks that Great Sun is Tzelek,” explained Lola.

  “Curse those persimmons!” Lord 6-Dog grunted in frustration.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s not him,” Lola soothed him. “He doesn’t seem Maya enough.”

  “Where can I find this Great Sun? I would know if it were Tzelek in a heartbeat,” said Lord 6-Dog.

  “He’ll be at the Sunset Ceremony this evening,” said Lola. “Until then, we should keep a low profile. Let’s just hang out in Blue’s tent.” She smiled at Lord 6-Dog. “Rainbow’s got some mangoes for you. But no more talking until we’re alone.”

  “Thou dost expect me to keep quiet when Tzelek is at large?”

  “Yes,” said Lola firmly. “And it’s not Tzelek.”

  On the way to Blue’s tent, they passed many unusual structures. There was a giant hand the size of a house with grown adults sliding down its fingers. There was an open-top London bus with the upper deck made into a dance floor. There was an archway made of old bicycles for no apparent reason. And there was every size and color of tent you could imagine.

  But the biggest tent was the blue one with yellow stars.

  It was round with a pointed roof, like a circus tent—an impression underlined by the stilt-walkers and fire-eaters who were practicing outside. Inside, it had a Moroccan air, with rugs, and pillows, and swathes of cloth draped from the tent poles.

  “You’re here!” cried Blue happily. “Look! I’ve made a special place for The Dawg. It’s supposed to remind him of the jungle.” He showed them a corner of the tent that was curtained off with green muslin and piled-up mountains of green pillows. A low table was loaded with bowls of fruit and trays of nuts. “And for you,” Blue said to Max, “we have something extra special.” He brandished a pizza box.

  Max opened it eagerly. Then his face fell. “What is this?”

  “Eggplant and lentil pizza. The crust is made from spinach and celery. It’s the Cahokia Special. You won’t find it anywhere else.”

  “Glad to hear it,” said Max, appalled at this subversion of his favorite food and very much hoping to never find it anywhere else ever again.

  “What would you like, Lola?” asked Blue. “Tamales? Burritos? Nachos?”

  “Pizza’s great,” she said. “If Max can spare some.”

  “Help yourself,” said Max. “Have it all.”

  “Would you like dessert?” asked Blue.

  Max looked up eagerly.

  “Cabbage cake? Beet brownies? Prune pie?” offered Blue.

  “Do you have any chocolate ice cream?” asked Max.

  “That sounds good,” said Blue. “I bet I can find some.”

  “Thank you, Blue,” said Lola. “This is so kind of you.”

  “Thank my father. It’s all on his credit card.”

  “Is he here?”

  “No, he’s a dentist in California.” Blue pointed at a big bowl of toothbrushes on a side table. “Help yourselves, by the way. He keeps me supplied. When I told him I didn’t want to be a dentist, he kind of lost interest in me. He gave me a credit card and told me to get out of his hair.”

  “I’m so sorry,” said Lola.

  “It’s okay. Coming to Cahokia has been like finding a new family. Speaking of which”—he hesitated—“if you’re cool with it, I do have some friends who’d like to meet The Dawg.”

  Reluctant, but not wanting to sound ungrateful, Lola said: “The thing is, Blue, he’s shy. He’s not good with people. He’s a wild animal.”

  They both regarded the howler monkey, who was reclined on the pillows dangling grapes over his mouth like a Roman emperor.

  “Just one or two,” begged Blue. “They’ll be quick.”

  Lola sighed. “I guess. But no photographs.”

  “You got it,” said Blue. “I’ll go tell them.”

  He ducked out of the tent and was met by excited voices.

  “This pizza is disgusting,” said Max.

  “Forget the pizza,” said Lola. “We need to talk before Blue comes back. How can we find out more about Great Sun? Do you have any ideas, Lord 6-Dog?”

  He paused mid-grape. “At nightfall, I will infiltrate his quarters.”

  “I’ll come with you,” said Lola. “We’ll go after the ceremony.”

  “No. Thou wilt stay safely here. Thou art a good climber, Lady Lola, but only a monkey could scale that wall. Besides, if it truly is Tzelek, I should prefer to face him alone.”

  Lola opened her mouth to protest, just as Blue stuck his head around the curtain. “Knock, knock. Is The Dawg ready for some visitors?”

  “Just a moment,” called Lola. She crouched next to Lord 6-Dog. “I’m sorry to say this, your majesty, but please remember you’re an animal.”

  “What should I do? Swing from the tent pole?”

  Lola shook her head in horror. “Why don’t you just sit there and look mystical?”

  “I am a monkey. I have limited dramatic options.”

  “Let’s practice. Show me your mystical face.”

  Lord 6-Dog opened his eyes wide and pursed his lips.

  “That looks like your seasick face.”

  Lord 6-Dog tried again.

  “That’s worse. You look like someone punched you.”

  “Imagine you can smell a freshly built termite nest,” suggested Max.

  Lord 6-Dog lifted his nose quizzically.

  “Perfect!” said Lola. “I’ll tell Blue.”

  Soon, a nervous-looking Rainbow entered the tent. Besides mangoes, she brought a garland of yellow flowers, which she gave to Lola to place reverently around Lord 6-Dog’s neck over his striped pajamas. He looked more mystical already.

  Rainbow knelt in front of him.

  “What should I do with my life?” she asked him.

  “He can’t talk,” said Lola quickly. “He can’t answer you.”

  “He spoke to Blue,” said Rainbow. “Maybe he will speak to me.”

  “He’s just a howler monkey,” Lola insisted, but Rainbow ignored her and carried on kneeling there, eyes closed, swaying slightly.

  “I hear you,” she said. “Thank you.” She appeared to be talking to the monkey.

  When she stood up her face was flushed with excitement. “This is the best day of my life.”

  Max and Lola looked at each other, baffled.

  “Did he answer you?” Lola asked her.

  “He spoke to my heart. He told me to follow my dreams and become a librarian. How cool is that?”

  Before Lola could pr
otest, Rainbow had whipped out her phone and taken a photo of herself with Lord 6-Dog.

  “No photos!” said Lola, but Rainbow was gone.

  Max was muttering to Lord 6-Dog. “How did you do that? Did you really communicate with her?”

  “Of course not, young lord,” the monkey muttered back. “I was thinking about termite nests.”

  “Then what just happened?”

  “In my opinion, she listened to her heart.”

  Outside, it had taken approximately five seconds between Rainbow posting her photo online to word spreading around Cahokia about The Dawg’s message for her. A line of people clutching bunches of bananas soon wound from Blue’s tent all around the park.

  “I’m sorry,” said Blue. “Word got out. I’ll try to get rid of them.” There was a scuffle at the door and they heard his voice saying, “Hey! Stop! Where are you going? You can’t just barge in like that.”

  “Out of my way, you idiot,” came a female voice.

  In marched a young woman wearing a business suit and a headset microphone. “Come with me,” she said to Max and Lola. “Great Sun wishes to speak with you. Now.”

  Behind her tramped in four burly bodyguards with SECURITY written on their sweatshirts. They pulled down curtains and kicked over bowls of fruit and toothbrushes as they searched the tent.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Lola. “What do you want?”

  “We’re shutting you down,” said the woman. “You’ve been fortune-telling without a license. There is only one guru at Cahokia.”

  She went to take Lord 6-Dog’s garland and he bared his teeth at her.

  “Do you have a muzzle for that thing?”

  “No but—” Before Lola could even finish her sentence, a guard had pulled out a gun and shot the monkey. With a deep echoing groan, like a tree falling in the jungle, Lord 6-Dog fell lifeless to the ground.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  GREAT SUN

  “What have you done?” screamed Lola. “You’ve killed him!”

  “It was just a sleeping dart,” said the woman with the headset witheringly. “Get it out of here, boys.”

  One security guard took the howler’s hands, another took his feet, and between them, they carried Lord 6-Dog out of the tent. Lola and Max tried to follow, but the remaining two guards blocked their way.