It was almost finished. The groove encircled the rim and Dr. Smith had bored a round hole through the middle of the wood, both sides of which he beveled on the corner of the stone bench. He put his forefinger through the hole to check the smoothness and then spun it with the other hand. It rotated freely and was well-balanced. He took it off his finger and looked at it with a certain pride. He had never made a pulley-wheel before.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMizjH2eDo
He became aware of being watched and looked up. Zuma was standing a few yards away. He stood up and she came over to him.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IVzUXRWeb
"I have spoken to Tetzal and he went to see Nenetl," she said.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFj0LaoZpyb
"Thank you, my dear," Dr. Smith replied.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMqFtmK0nc
Zuma looked at the pulley-wheel. "Is it finished?" she asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HF17PM1bp
"Almost."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPewhtKZm6
"As is our time together, beloved." Tentatively she touched the pulley-wheel. "I do not understand its purpose but I have always known that it would take you away from me."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJ29YZLZq3
Dr. Smith put it in his pocket and took her hands in his. "I am very sorry, my dear," was all he could say, and to ignore it would be to deny that which I was; the High Priest of Knowledge."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5G0wuTOL2
Zuma looked at him sharply. "You are no longer that?" she asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH6hUJBj9t
He shook his head. "I have lost faith in Huitzilopochtli and in our traditions."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sFunIExlA
"Then your tragedy is far greater than mind," Zuma said. "Your whole life has been devoted to the temple. Mine has encompassed but a few days." They walked along the path leading to the garden door.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7TaQ5orjc
"We have known each other in trust for many years and I have sought your counsel frequently, Zuma," he admitted. "Maybe in another nation you would have been the High Priest of Knowledge and I, a seller of vegetables."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyV8hs7mOMK
She smiled at the concept.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2nwh78Ex31
"Now, I with you to do something for me to assist them," he continued and took a gold medallion and chain from around his neck. "Behold, the title to my dwelling-place and all I own therein." He put it in her hand. "Tomorrow, while Yaotl prepares the Perfect Victim for sacrifice, the handmaiden and the warrior, Don, will be brought together under guard before they are escorted to the temple for their punishment." 412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FOfMHqXRD
He squeezed the medallion in her hand. "Give that to the guard so that he turns his head away while you conduct the girl, as if for punishment, to the temple.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zeeGU7bKi
"And Don, the warrior?" Zuma asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlXFcNzJ8W
Tetzal smiled. "I am sure he will accompany you," he said.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u6j0Ey863
"I shall do it," Zuma relied, and then asked Tetzal about himself.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3IisaIQPL
"You have nothing. What will you do? Where will you go?"412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgj3lMtide
"Into the wilderness, Zuma," he said. "There I will seek the truth of Quetzalcoatl."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkl7SDxEtnx
"When?"412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE06qKprUgX
"Now," he replied. "What better time?" He laid his posy of flowers on a bench and walked out of the garden.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEILXVgfb5I
Zuma thought to return to Dr. Smith and tell him about the medallion but decided that had that been Tetzal's wish, he would have spoken to her in Dr. Smith's presence. So she picked up Tetzal's posy as a memento and went home.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE9KULy1be
With the dawn came tension as the Aztecs watched the sun begin the journey across the clear blue sky to its zenith, when all knew day would become night. In their minds was one question, would Huitzilopochtli accept the sacrifice of the Perfect Victim and give them back his light, which was their life, or would they be left to die in eternal darkness? Families stayed in their homes until the appointed hour when they would be summoned to the temple square to pay reverence to the Perfect Victim and, in fear and trembling, worship their sun god.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneapgQKEkN
The door of Don's dark, cramped barracks cell was opened by an armed warrior and the daylight flooded in. Don blinked several times when went outside where a second warrior pointed with his cudgel towards the Chosen Warrior's courtyard. Don walked through the passageway and wondered if this would be his final encounter with Yaotl, if he would have a small red circle painted over his heart and have a javelin hurled at it as if he were a life-size clay model. To his shock he was directed to his old quarters where two warriors stood at either side of the entrance. He went inside and Penny, guarded by another warrior, threw herself into his arms.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu29BxO04io
"What's going to happen to us, Don?" she asked in desperation.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeJMOtuKg6
"They're going to take us to the temple,' Don replied, "and you know what that means, don't you?"412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljp9PCnRho
"Horrible things!" She sounded terrified.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMcEL5F157J
"No, the four of us will be together again," Don said reassuringly, "and thinking about it overnight I've come to the conclusion that Ollin and his friends are no match for Dr. Smith."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMCGyTNVBG
Across the courtyard in Yaotl's quarters the Perfect Victim waited in impatient, drugged euphoria for his deification. His body had been washed and perfumed, his garments were radiantly white, his plumed helmet extravagantly colorful and in his hands he held an exotic posy of flowers and a fly-swatter.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfZh1ogutu
Yaotl came from his bedroom wearing the Chosen Warrior's full ceremonial dress. "It will be my privilege as leader of our armies to escort you, O' Perfect Victim, to your glory," he intoned.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0u9KGf51T
The Perfect Victim smiled. "May victory always sit upon your shoulders," he replied.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYuLZJNm9z
Tlaqui waddled in. "Let the procession begin," he said. "The avenues are lined."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAUvpFzCNz
Yaotl looked at Tlaqui sharply. "And what of the girl and my challenger?" he asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUG0qfSrzE6
"They shall follow at a distance and by another way so that the Perfect Victim's path to the temple is not defiled before the sacrifice," Tlaqui replied.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuRmG8sdb0
"They should go first," Yaotl argued.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOZdsqEjLn
"The High Priest of Sacrifice does not wish it," Tlaqui said. "They follow the Perfect Victim, but will be punished first. I shall instruct the guard," he added and made his way across the courtyard to give explicit instructions to the warrior accompanying Penny and Don about the route he should take to the temple. Then Tlaqui hurried away so as not to miss his moment of reflected glory.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdY1UyyKV9
The Aztecs watched in awed silence as the Perfect Victim walked slowly along the broad, warrior-lined avenue towards the pyramid and the temple. On one side of him was Tlaqui, supposedly gazing intently at his posy but his eyes flicked from side to side at the crowd as he tried to gauge the impression that he was making. On the other side of the Perfect Victim was Yaotl, proudly carrying a gold-studded cudgel, the insignia of the commander of the Aztec armies. But despite the solemnity of the moment, every few seconds someone in the crowd would shield their eyes and look up apprehensively at the sun blazing down on them.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLp3AkDnYVl
Zuma hurried across the deserted barracks courtyard and went through the passageway. The two warriors outside Don's quarters saluted her as she passed them as did the third one inside.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsg7uHzCFf4
"What brings you here, Zuma?" he asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasewxsMrDa
"I have been instructed by the High Priests to escort Nenetl's handmaiden to the temple," she answered.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQCXbqlNAp
The warrior glanced at Don. "What of him?"412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJG93a754zZ
"You, alone, will escort him. So dismiss the others," she replied.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74coUur8lA
"That I cannot do," the warrior said warily. "It would exceed my authority."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTE78do2fDQ
Zuma explained that on the day of a perfect sacrifice the High Priests wanted as little attention as possible drawn to them on the streets. The warrior conceded that 412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQSHCD7KNP
Tlaqui had ordered him to take a different route to the temple. Zuma held up the medallion.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIZSoak7S2
"Tetzal himself told me to give you this proof that I express his wishes."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAuW9SmDAp
The warrior took it from her and studied both sides.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDYE3dfPmO
"It is the title to his dwelling and all his possessions," he exclaimed.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyH6DpMh4T
"Who holds it, owns them," Zuma hesitated and then pointed at Don. "Well, until you deliver him to the temple."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOaPlslxP8
The warrior chuckled, went outside and sent the other two warriors off to watch the sacrifice. Don gave Zuma a thumbs-up sign and had the impression that she understood.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtP3vGW3pY
"Mine until we reach the temple," the warrior repeated, shaking his head in amusement as he came back inside. It was the final coherent thought he was to have for some considerable time, as Don laid him out cold with a devastating chop on the base of his neck.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEs3PXN8vG
"I shall escort you to the temple," Don said. He went into the bedroom, took a warrior's half-masks and put it on his head. "We overheard the route to take, didn't we, Penny?" he added as he came back to them.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVLrwQQuT2
Penny picked up the medallion. "We must take this back to Tetzal."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3FZ5iIFha
"Leave it," said Zuma. "Tetzal has gone."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHn9BLQzgL
Dr. Smith had placed his pulley-wheel beside the strip of silk behind the curtain and made Ann stand on the throne, her arms stretched up above her head with the coiled snake bracelet held between her hands. He made a few mental calculations.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3DPXJRxH3
"Exemplary, my dear," he said. "You may come down now."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5IcsxrwBB
Ann, with less than godlike grace, clambered off the throne, though in the final stages Dr. Smith did offer her his hand. "As soon as Don and Penny are here," he said, "you must insist that Tetzal has them released."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQucs7W6T2E
"Dr. Smith, this temple will soon be lined with warriors and Ollin will be present," Ann replied. "Do you believe Tetzal will be on our side?"412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIaferClu9u
"I'm not a bad judge of character," Dr. Smith said haughtily, "and Tetzal will do all he can to help us. I will do the rest."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QhgwQlWvi
"But your plan can't work," Ann protested. "We won't escape. They'll stop us."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMppSaR95K
Dr. Smith was aggrieved. "My dear Miss MacGregor, the Aztecs will be preoccupied with their God, their human sacrifice, and an eclipse," he said. "What we do will be of no consequence to them."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQIK8SQQYi
"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Ann replied without conviction.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTx19eSQX6J
They heard footsteps coming up the stairs.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTeFVuEsW3
"Hide!" said Ann and Dr. Smith ducked behind the brocade curtain of the alcove.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3iL0G2oMM
Ollin limped into the temple, a razor-sharp obsidian knife in his hand. Behind him came twenty warriors armed with javelins. Ann watched them from the throne as they took up their positions along the walls. Olln sidled over to her.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpjvQwZMmY
"The procession has started," he snarled. "The sacrifice awaits you."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKURHnev65
"Where is the High Priest of Knowledge," Ann asked.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWV167Gwhd8
"He is gone." Ollin spat out the sentence.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClvlheJTbE
"Where to?" Ann snapped back.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1ZRJziKsG
"Who can say?" Ollin waved his arms. "Into the wilderness, perhaps."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbWwcql2Bb
"You've killed him." Ann's voice was cold and accusing.412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpTtnUBn2C
Olln shok his head. "I did no such thing," he hissed. "You destroyed his faith in Huitzilopochtli. Tetzal will never return."412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ29SRtUUqx0
412Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSnm4anE2R
