“My apologies.” The sting of tears burned at the corners of my eyes as I fought to keep them back.
Daniel squeezed my hand under his and turned to his uncle. “Thank you, Uncle Samuel,” he said. “Yaoti, your hospitality will be appreciated.”
The awkward silence passed. Conversations resumed.
Daniel to the rescue. Bless him.
Chapter Twenty-five
A small fleet of ships slinked toward the coast under the black curtain of night. Ghost-like, their masts loomed tall and imposing, supporting sails full of Atlantic wind. Anchors were dropped into the ocean, dories tossed into the sea, and bodies crawled inside them. When they reached the shore, guns blazed, horses stampeded, and greedy men lusted for gold.
The Sunal came to meet these Europeans bearing lavish gifts of precious stone and food. The Europeans took all that was offered and some things that were not. A ravenous hunger for riches burned in their eyes. The European men shifted into dark shadows that dropped to the sandy shore. Hideous beasts with blood soaked fangs and ragged claws emerged from the black pools. Frothy saliva dripped from their snarling lips, and serpent tongues flicked from their mouths. With an ear-piercing screech, the monsters rushed forward, descending upon the Sunal like merciless predators.
The beach became a grave for the fallen, and there were many.
****
The fear in the hearts of the Sunal seized my mind, and my eyes shot open. I sat up and took a moment to get my bearings. I was in bed in my room under the quilts, Daniel next to me above the quilts. My breath came in ragged gasps, my nightshirt damp with perspiration. I had finished dinner, enjoyed apple pie and conversation. Tizoc had left before anyone else, a pensive look on his face. Daniel and I had excused ourselves to come upstairs. I had pretended to convince him to stay with me again, but it hadn’t taken any persuasion at all. He had followed me willingly into my room, had found new ways to set my mouth on fire with his own, and then we went to sleep.
So what brought on the strange vision of beasts invading the Sunal shores?
Tizoc, I thought, staring into the darkness of my room.
Yes.
Where are you?
On the patio.
Beside me, Daniel snored lightly. He was so peaceful, so utterly perfect, I hated to wake him with my movements, but I had to find Tizoc. After peeling the quilts away, I slid my feet out and eased them to the floor without a sound. Glancing at Daniel again, I waited for him to stir, but he slept deeply, contentedly. Being close to me allowed him to get a full night’s sleep. That made me feel important.
I ran my finger along the curve of Daniel’s cheek before I could stop myself. Grinning at the sheer joy of being able to call him my own, I got out of the bed and padded on bare feet to the doorway.
I felt my way down the stairs and through the dark kitchen to the outside, my smile fading. In the bright light of the full moon, a shadowy figure sat on the end of the patio.
“Why didn’t you talk to me from your room?” Tizoc asked.
“I had to make sure you were all right. In person.” I took a tentative step closer. He had shed his golden vest, and silver rays of moonlight striped across the dark skin of his exposed back. His head was in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. “Are you all right?”
Tizoc’s shoulders rose then fell, a huffed breath following the movements. “Not really.”
I edged closer until I stood beside him. He patted the wooden floor next to him without looking up at me. Gathering my nightshirt about me, I eased down to sit, stretching my legs out in front of me. My bare feet sunk into the grassy courtyard.
“You saw it too, didn’t you?” Tizoc turned his head to look at me.
“The beasts. Yes.” A cool night breeze zipped by, flitting against my skin and reaching my insides somehow.
“It means trouble,” he said.
“Which you need to protect your people from?”
“I think so.”
“But how?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Tizoc folded and unfolded his hands across his knees. “My people are wary of strangers, but as you’ve seen, we are quick to get past that and trust. We also think we are more powerful than anyone who might visit our shores. It might be a fatal mistake to think this way with whoever is coming next. They are like those that took me as a slave.”
What was coming could not be welcomed as our crew had been. “They’re out for gold,” I said. “I could taste their desire for it. They want it more than anything.”
“We have plenty of it here.” Tizoc lowered his shoulders.
“You have many beautiful things here.”
“Many things that will need protecting.” Another puff of air rushed out of Tizoc as he turned to face me again. “I know you and Daniel were planning to stay in Ezenoch longer, but maybe you should leave with the captain. It will be safer elsewhere.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Daniel and I are supposed to help. Both of us. The good Lord wouldn’t allow us to come all this way to abandon you as soon as there might be trouble. And your gods wouldn’t have linked us as they have if I weren’t meant to play a role here with you.”
Though the vision had scared me, I knew—more than I knew anything else—that I was here for a reason.
Tizoc extended his legs so his feet also nestled in the grass, and he leaned back on his arms. His body stretched on forever next to me.
“You would stay to help my people?” The dim light that spilled into the courtyard got caught in his unusual eyes, and the soul of a tiger shined through. The soul of someone who would give his last breath protecting his people.
“You’re talking to a girl who pretended to be a boy for months to get a little adventure. What wouldn’t I do?”
It felt good to hear Tizoc laugh, some of the worry lines slipping off his face and getting lost in the darkness.
“You English women have courage.” He jabbed my side with his elbow, and I squirmed away, laughing softly.
“Tizoc, your family has given me what my own has not been able to in a long time. Attention. They see me. If there’s a way to repay them, I’m going to do it.” I slid my hand over his and left it there for a moment.
Tizoc turned his hand over and wove his fingers between mine. They fit together. Perfectly.
“Thank you, Cihuapilli.”
His dark hand overlapped my light one, so different yet the same. Five fingers, one palm, a pulse in his wrist that beat beneath the skin just as mine did.
With a squeeze to his hand, I took in a breath. “I should get back.” A lonesome frog croaking away in the courtyard somewhere punctuated my words.
“Sleep well,” Tizoc said.
“You too.” I stood. “We’ll figure out what has to be done, Tizoc. Together.”
As I slinked back into the house, I glanced over my shoulder at Tizoc sitting alone at the end of the patio. I would do whatever it took to help him. Anything and everything.
****
When I went downstairs in the morning, Daniel following behind me, two voices greeted us.
“You can’t catch him, Captain!”
“Oh, I’ll get him!”
“What if we corner him like this, Jonah?”
A white streak zipped out the door and onto the patio as Daniel and I rounded the corner.
“Oh, no!”
“He went outside, Captain!”
“Now we’ll never get him!”
“We’ll get him!”
“Not unless he wants you to,” I said, startling everyone in the kitchen.
The captain, Timmy, and Jonah whirled around simultaneously. The boys gaped at me, wide-eyed and frozen in place.
“S-sorry, miss.” Jonah bowed and elbowed Timmy.
“Yeah, sorry,” Timmy squeaked as he looked down at his feet, which were bare. “We didn’t mean to make so much noise.”
Daniel snickered behind me as he slung his arm around my shoulders. “Knew they wouldn�
��t recognize you.”
The captain leaned against the doorway. “Take a good look at her, boys.”
Timmy and Jonah looked at each other then back at me. “Should we know her, Daniel?” Jonah asked. He narrowed his eyes and studied me. Timmy stepped closer to his brother, a confused look washing across his little round face.
“I’m deeply offended that you don’t.” I swiped Jonah’s hat off his head in one quick motion.
“Hey!” he cried. “That’s my hat.”
I held up my hand to quiet him then proceeded to gather my hair up into the hat. When I had it snuggly on my head and slouched a little as I had done aboard the Rose, Timmy yelled, “Jonah, it’s… it’s Charlie!”
Jonah’s brows knit together. “Is it, Daniel? Is it Charlie?”
“It sure is.” Daniel stepped next to the boy who seemed as if he were waking from a dream. “It’s Charlie.” Stooping low to get level with Jonah’s ear, he whispered so I could still hear him. “She’s beautiful, huh?”
Jonah nodded as I removed his hat and held it back out to him. He stared at the hat and finally Timmy came forward, taking it from my hands.
“You’re a girl,” Timmy said. He suddenly looked worried. “Did the natives turn you into a girl?”
Captain Finley and Daniel burst into laughter while I ruffled Timmy’s curly, blond hair. “No, Timmy.” I kneeled down to look him in the eye. “I was always a girl.”
“You pretended?” He shot a quick glance to the captain.
“I pretended.” Fortunately he hadn’t asked me if I’d lied.
Timmy slowly shook his head. “You’re as pretty as Mummy.”
“Well, thank you,” I said. “Did you and Jonah take good care of Ghost for me?”
“Yes, but now he’s run off.” Timmy turned a sorrowful gaze out toward the patio.
“Why don’t we go look for him?” I asked.
“All right.” Timmy’s face brightened. “Come on, Jonah.”
I walked to the threshold leading to the patio as Timmy rushed ahead and bounded outside. Turning to Jonah, I asked, “You coming?”
Jonah stood in the middle of the kitchen, his hands by his sides. He looked as if he’d grown some since I saw him a few days ago, which I suppose is exactly what a young boy should be doing.
“Why don’t you and Timmy go ahead and we’ll be along in a moment.” Daniel put his hand on Jonah’s shoulder as he spoke.
“All right.” I stepped out onto the patio after Timmy.
Daniel and Jonah stayed in the house for only a few minutes, but when they emerged, Jonah bowed to me then ran off after Timmy.
I got up from my hands and knees where I had been searching for Ghost under a wide-leafed bush. Brushing my palms on my dress, I walked over to Daniel.
“What did you say to him?”
“Told him that you were the same old Charlie. That a dress and fancy hair didn’t change the fact that you’re his friend.” He slipped his hand into mine and pulled me closer to him. “You know what Jonah said?”
“What?” My eyes focused on Daniel’s lips inches from my own.
“He asked if you belonged to me now.”
“What did you tell him?” I met Daniel’s eyes as I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“I told him you belonged to you, but you didn’t mind sharing with me.” He kissed me as the sun spilled into the courtyard, another perfect Sunal dawn unfolding in this flowered paradise.
Something furry brushed up against my ankle, and I pulled away from Daniel to see Ghost slinking around between my feet.
“There you are.” I reached down to scoop up the cat.
“Guess you named him accurately.” Daniel scratched between Ghost’s ears. “He sure knows how to vanish.”
Ghost climbed up onto my shoulders and nosed around in my hair. His soft whiskers tickled my cheek, and a wet nose sniffed at my neck. I giggled as a deep purr buzzed in my ear.
“I think he likes you as a girl,” Daniel said.
“He probably knew all along. Cats are extremely intelligent, you know.” I lifted Ghost off my shoulders and held him in my arms.
“You found him!” Timmy ran barefoot through the courtyard grass. Jonah came running after him as Tizoc came toward us.
“No,” I began. “Ghost found me.”
Timmy stomped closer, and when he was within arm’s reach of Ghost, the cat leaped from my hold, flicked his tail, and darted off into the house. Timmy pounded his little fist on the patio and turned to sit on the end of it, slumping his chin onto his hands.
“I don’t think Ghost likes me.”
His face was so long, his blue eyes moist, and his bottom lip quivered. I stepped toward Timmy, thinking of something to say to console him, though I feared he might be right about Ghost. Tizoc, however, reached Timmy first.
“Cats don’t like to stay in one place for too long.” He sat next to Timmy on the patio. His legs were ridiculously long next to Timmy’s short legs. “The best way to get a cat to stay around you is to rub this on yourself.” He handed Timmy a sprig of something with green, velvety leaves.
Timmy looked at Tizoc warily but took the stem. “What’s this?”
“It’s mint. Cats like the smell and taste of it. At the end of this courtyard, there’s mint growing. Go pick a couple more samples like that one and leave them around where the cat will find them. Put some in your room, in your pocket. Wherever. I’ll bet you’ll see more of him.”
“Ghost was easy to look after on the Rose. He couldn’t run away too far, but here…” Timmy spread his hands out. “Here, there are too many places to hide.”
“Ghost can take care of himself.” I kneeled in front of Timmy. “But Tizoc is right. Why don’t you and Jonah collect some mint and see if you can’t coax that cat to hang around longer?”
Jonah pulled his brother to his feet. He stared for a few more silent moments at Tizoc then urged Timmy to get going.
I shifted to sit beside Tizoc as the two boys walked toward the mint growing at the far end of the courtyard.
“Where is everyone else?” Daniel asked.
“My father is at the emperor’s palace,” Tizoc explained, “and my sisters...” He went quiet for a moment, turning an ear toward the house, listening. “They are still here. Yaretzi is coming right now.”
Yaretzi stepped onto the patio and waved at us.
Shock zipped across Daniel’s face. “How did you know she was coming?”
“He can read my mind.” Yaretzi breezed past us to pick some flowers from the courtyard. In a moment, we could no longer see her.
“Sure he can.” Daniel rolled his eyes.
I swallowed loudly, and both Tizoc and I turned our eyes to Daniel.
“What?” he said. “Oh, Charlie, he can’t possibly read minds. Come on, now.” His voice was firm, but a faint uncertainty leaked into his words.
“I can,” Tizoc said. “I can read my parents, my sisters, and…” He looked at me, hesitating until I nodded. “And Charlie’s.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Daniel said.
“Tizoc is telling the truth. We can speak to each other without talking aloud. We can also see what the other person sees.” I stood and placed my hand on Daniel’s arm. “Remember when I told you I had seen the sacrifice?”
“Of course. You were horrified.” Daniel looked past me to Tizoc.
I touched his chin and made him focus on me. His blue eyes were sharp and wide. How could I make him believe this?
“Well, I did see it. I saw it because he was seeing it.” I pointed to Tizoc. “Our minds linked somehow, and I saw what he saw.”
“If this is true,” Daniel began in a steely tone, “why would he allow you to see something that would upset you?”
“I did not know she was linked to me at first,” Tizoc defended. “If I had, I would not have let her witness the sacrifice. I only felt her in my mind later on that night after you had gone to her.”
Daniel clenched
his teeth together, and his jaw hardened.
Tizoc got up from the patio and stood in front of Daniel. “You stayed with her that night. Right by her side. You held her. Made her feel safe.”
My cheeks grew hot as I listened to Tizoc, but his words convinced Daniel we were telling the truth. The expression on Daniel’s face changed as his eyebrows rose up, and his mouth opened several times.
“You saw us?” he said quietly.
“Through Charlie, yes,” Tizoc replied, looking a little uncomfortable. “I did not watch for long. Just until I knew she was safe.”
“How kind of you,” Daniel said, his mouth set in a hard line.
“Daniel.” I tugged on his hand. “Don’t be angry with Tizoc. He can’t help with whom he links. I am the first outsider to share his talent. It must mean something important.”
“Considering what’s coming,” Tizoc said.
“What’s that mean?” Daniel said, some of his anger abating and a concern washing over his features.
“Last night,” I began, “we shared a vision.”
“A vision about what?” Daniel jammed his hand into the front pocket of his breeches.
“Beasts,” Xochitl said from behind us.
“Monsters wanting gold,” Teiuc added, joining her sister on the patio.
“They wish to hurt our people,” Eréndira continued, appearing in the kitchen threshold.
“We have to keep them away,” Citlali finished.
“I think we’re supposed to help them.” I turned back to Daniel and rested my palm on the front of his shirt.
“I think she’s right. Charlie is meant to help us,” Xochitl said.
“If you want Charlie’s help, you get mine too,” Daniel said. “I don’t leave her side.”
“As you wish,” Tizoc said. “We will need a great deal of help if we are to keep the Sunal safe from these Europeans that are coming. They are not like you. They come with ill will.”
“They are not Englishmen,” Yaretzi said, having come back from her flower picking.
“No,” I agreed. “I think they might be Spanish.”
“These men will be brutal,” Tizoc said. “We must be prepared.”
“Your father saw the vision as well, Tizoc.” Citlali rested a hand on her son’s broad shoulder. “He is speaking with the emperor about it, but it is difficult without any actual proof that these men are coming.”
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