“She hasn’t seen Citali speak the words. We don’t know if she was alone in the boat or if she was with other people. We don’t know what she was holding. Was it the boy who lived? One of the children who died? Was it part of what was given? Was there some sort of ceremony before the greeting was exchanged? Without knowing more, we’re really putting Pebbles…and ourselves…at risk.”
“What do you suggest then, Jen?” Pebbles asked.
“That we don’t try the reenactment until we’ve been to the waterfall. Somewhere between here and there, you might have more visions that fill in some of the remaining gaps.”
“Um…thinking it might be a little late for that,” Anlon said. “Look!”
Pebbles turned and looked in the direction where Anlon pointed. Across the river, in the clearing between the stand of trees Mereau had destroyed and the next section of jungle, a large group of men was running toward them waving machine guns and machetes.
“Great. Just great,” Jennifer said. She walked up to Mereau. “Looks like we’re going to need to defend ourselves. What do you have in your bag of tricks?”
As Mereau opened his mouth to respond, two sounds echoed down the river. The whine of a motor and the rat-tat-tat of gunfire. Pebbles turned to see a river raft come into view. Pablo was in the front, wildly waving at them to flee. With each gunshot, he and the other men in the boat ducked lower and lower.
Pebbles felt a tug on her arm. It was Anlon. He pulled her from the riverbank and said, “Uh…Mereau, this would be a pretty good time for that manhood demonstration.”
“I was thinking the same.”
Mereau strode to his backpack with Jennifer following close behind. The rest of the group backed away and ducked down. Pebbles saw him pull out the Sound Stone again. Jennifer reached for it but Mereau pulled it away from her and motioned for her to join the rest of the group. Jennifer stood her ground and snapped back at him. He clenched his jaw and dug his hand inside the pack again. He pulled out two cookie-shaped stones, the Dreylaeks, and slapped them in Jennifer’s hands. Once more, he motioned for her to join Pebbles and the others.
Jennifer ran up to the group and ducked down with them. She stared back toward Mereau and said, “He’s effing crazy.”
“What’s he going to do?” Sanjay asked.
“Watch.”
Pebbles saw Mereau break into a sprint toward the riverbank, waving at Pablo to drive his raft past him. Pablo appeared to welcome the request. He revved the motor and sped by, his wake splattering Mereau’s jeans and boots. Mereau turned and ran back toward his backpack. For a moment, Pebbles thought he had changed his mind about using the Sound Stone and was going back for something else. But then he turned and dashed for the riverbank again. On the far side of the riverbank, the men running across the clearing began firing their guns. Jennifer splayed onto the sand.
“Get down. Lie flat,” she said.
No one debated the command. From her prone position, Pebbles kept her head up, still watching Mereau. Raising the Sound Stone to his lips, he puffed out his cheeks and angled his head toward the sand. A second later, the sand around his feet sprayed in all directions, the ground underneath Pebbles rumbled, Mereau soared over the river.
“What the hell?” mumbled Sanjay.
Pebbles thought he would crash into the pile of fallen trees on the other side, but he raised his lips to the stone again and his flight slowed. The sand on the other bank swirled up. Mereau disappeared from view. When the sand cleared, Mereau stood at the edge of the clearing.
Once again, he raised the bowl-shaped stone to his lips. Into the air flew one of the tribesmen, then another. The area around Pebbles shook with the force of a distant tremblor. A tree on the edge of the clearing was ripped from the ground and rose into the air. It hovered above the clearing for a few seconds and then plummeted from view. There was a loud thud and shards of the tree twirled through the air. When they, too, disappeared from view, all was quiet save for the river’s gurgling. No guns. No shouts. No birds chirping. Nothing.
Mereau stood in front of the stunned collection of tribesmen. He lowered the Sound Stone below his chin and said, “Drop your weapons.”
Some of the men stepped back. Others flinched. Mereau pulled the stone back against his lips and hummed sharply. The machete in one man’s hand trembled and ripped from his grip. Mereau aimed at another but the first disarming did the trick. The others cast down their weapons. Lowering the Sound Stone to his side, he said, “That’s better.”
Several of the men exchanged glances with each other. A few more edged back. Mereau said, “Any of you speak English?”
They looked at him with a mix of puzzlement and fear. Mereau contemplated uttering the ancient farewell in his native tongue but decided on a different way to communicate with them. He waved his hands to signal the men to step back. The gesture was understood, and the tribesmen retreated. He urged them to retreat some more and then signaled them to stop.
Mereau lowered his head, raised the stone to his lips, and hummed. A strip of Earth ripped up, leaving a dirt line where grass had been. He hummed again and formed another dirt line. As he furrowed other lines, the tribesmen began to chatter amongst themselves. The chatter grew louder as Mereau moved about, adding to the design.
Lost in the process of etching the Candelabra into the soil, Mereau was unaware the men had dropped to their knees until he finished the last flourish of the design. Looking at his handiwork and then at the stunned men, Mereau smiled. “Excellent, gentlemen. Now that’s a more appropriate welcome for the one who comes to speak the words.”
His smile and tone of voice must have struck the tribesmen as friendly. They smiled back, some of them uttering nervous laughs. Mereau motioned for them to stay put and he backed away. Craning his neck, he shouted across the river.
“Anlon? Pebbles? Anyone?”
A shout came back. It was Anlon. “I’m here. You okay?”
“Yes. All is well. Come across. Everyone. Bring Pablo too.”
While he waited for their arrival, Mereau gathered up the strewn weapons and stacked them away from the tribesmen. When the work was finished, he looked toward the jungle, thinking of a plan of action. His eyes drifted to the mountain farther upriver.
There was a rustling of leaves from the direction of the river. Mereau turned to see his wet comrades walking toward him. He smiled and waved. All but Pablo returned the gesture. He looked as if he was heading to his doom.
Mereau watched them take in the scene — the piled weapons, the shattered remains of the tree, the crater formed when Mereau slammed it into the ground, the kneeling tribesmen and the land carving of the Candelabra. Jennifer was the first to speak.
“You are batshit crazy, Mereau.”
He laughed. “Is that a compliment?”
“Uh, no.”
Sanjay stared at him. “You flew across the river. You tossed men and trees like they were toys.”
“Nice artwork,” said Pebbles. “Did your new friends do it, or you?”
“It is my creation. They watched. As you can see, it is familiar to them.” Mereau turned to Pablo. “Come forward, please. I need your translation assistance.”
Pablo glared at Mereau before leveling his angry eyes at the tribesmen. His hand was on the butt of his pistol.
“Hand me your gun, Pablo. This will be a friendly chat.”
“They shot at me. They damaged one of my rafts, injured two of my men.”
“I am sorry. It is my fault, not theirs. I should have taken your concern about their return more seriously. Now hand me the gun.”
“No. They are bloodthirsty. They know only one way.”
“I’d do what he says, Pablo,” Jennifer said. “You don’t want to end up like the tree.”
The tour guide grumbled and passed Mereau the gun. He, in turn, handed it to Jennifer. She added it to the weapon pile as Mereau conferred with Pablo. “You said you know their language. Please ask who among them is in charge.”
; Pablo posed the question and a man on the far right answered. Mereau motioned for him to stand. He was a middle-aged man, paunchy around the middle but otherwise muscular. He eyed Mereau warily as he approached. Mereau turned and invited Pebbles into the small group.
“Ask him his name,” Mereau said to Pablo.
After an exchange of words, Pablo said, “Tuka.”
Mereau said his own name and bowed. He then placed his hand on Pebbles’ shoulder and said to Pablo, “Tell Tuka this woman is the one who speaks the words. The one who has come to claim what was hidden. Tell him her name is Citali.”
The mention of the name Citali caused the man’s face to twitch, even before Pablo relayed Mereau’s message. As I expected, thought Mereau. The tribe even remembers the name of the last true Keeper. When Pablo finished the translation, Tuka took a step back and bowed to Pebbles. There was a momentary buzz among the other tribesmen. Mereau whispered to Pebbles. “Bow.”
She took a step back just as Tuka had done and mimicked his bow. Mereau handed her the Sound Stone. “You are skilled with this, are you not?”
“It’s been a while, but, yeah.”
“Scatter the weapon pile. Just a brief demonstration to provide Tuka your credentials.”
“Okay.”
Pebbles turned, crouched slightly and huffed a tone against the base of the bowl-shaped stone. The stack of guns and machetes spiraled away in a chaotic jumble of flying objects that landed fifty yards away. The tribesmen chattered. Tuka bowed again.
Mereau asked, “Can you lift an object? Say, a tree stump?”
“Got an idea better than that.” Pebbles smiled and crooked a finger at Jennifer. “Front and center.”
“Uh…”
“Come on. Don’t be bashful. After all, I am the one who speaks the words and we do need to convince our friends here to help us.” Pebbles smiled at Tuka.
Jennifer sighed and walked up. “When do I get to be the priestess?”
“Next time there’s a restless spirit around looking for someone’s mind to invade. Now, hush and stand still. I haven’t done this in over a year.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I’m worried about.” Jennifer closed her eyes and widened her stance. “Remember, Citali, focus on my center of gravity. Just in case you don’t remember, it’s down here near my belly button, not up near my boobs.”
Pebbles laughed. “Look, I apologized for that, like twenty times already.”
“Uh huh, that’s because you missed twenty times.”
“Shh…I need to concentrate.”
Mereau stood behind Pebbles and watched her aim the bowl at Jennifer’s abdomen. She began to hum, low and steady. Jennifer’s shirt and cargo pants rippled. Pebbles increased the power of her hum and Jennifer’s feet lifted off the ground. She circled her arms as if trying to balance on an invisible ledge. Pebbles blew harder and Jennifer rose above the heads of those standing. Pebbles moved to the left while holding Jennifer captive in the sound waves from the Tyl. Jennifer moved left in the air as well. Her face turning red, Pebbles reduced the intensity of her humming and Jennifer drifted back down. When she stumbled onto the ground, Pebbles pulled the stone from her mouth and turned back to Tuka. The tribesman, mouth agape, bowed once more, retreated two additional steps and knelt.
Mereau put an arm around Jennifer. “As a reward for your courage, I will defer to your earlier instincts.”
“Meaning what?”
He stepped away and addressed Pablo. “Tell Tuka the one who speaks the words, the stone blower, the one who comes to claim what was hidden, will visit the waterfall upriver. Tell Tuka we will camp near the falls. None in our group should be harassed in any way.”
The translation yielded brisk head nods and a one-word reply from Tuka.
“He agrees,” said Pablo.
“Excellent. Later tonight, after the one who speaks the words visits the waterfall, she will go to see the Keeper. Ask Tuka to light her way.”
Outside the tent, Pebbles could hear Pablo’s men conversing while they ate their dinner. Even though she did not understand their words, she could tell from the slow-paced speech and occasional dramatic inflections that they were sharing stories by the campfire. No doubt one of the stories was about Mereau’s earlier theatrics and possibly another was about Pebbles’ levitation of Jennifer.
The main event, however, seemed to be a retelling of the legend Pablo had shared earlier. She guessed this because the man speaking alternated between male and female voices and he spoke at a low volume, as if trying to avoid arousing the attention of others outside of their group.
She wondered if the purpose of the retelling was to prepare the men for what was to come. Pebbles stared up at the tent ceiling and murmured, “How about preparing me too?”
Would she be able to summon Citali? If Citali did appear, would she show Pebbles the emblems? If she did not appear, were there more visions in store? And would they reveal more deceptions on Citali’s part?
Pebbles still had not shared the details of her last two visions with anyone. Partly because other events had overshadowed the need to discuss them, but partly because Pebbles struggled to come to grips with what Citali had shown her.
Sanjay had been so adamant about his belief that the bonfire vision was a dream instead of a memory. He had argued the dream’s symbolism indicated Citali’s mind was trying to cope with the knowledge she had killed her own children. Pebbles had found it hard to deny Sanjay’s instincts, especially when she stopped to consider how odd many of the visions had seemed.
The latest visions, however, showed Pebbles that Sanjay was only partially right. He was correct that the bonfire vision was definitely an attempt on Citali’s part to rationalize her actions. But he was wrong about it being a dream. It was not. It was a memory in which Citali changed the facts of what really happened to hide her culpability. She had painted herself as a well-meaning victim rather than a calculating puppet master whose grand plan had backfired.
That realization had caused Pebbles to retreat to her own tent instead of joining Anlon and the others in the dining tent. It caused her to now lie on the cot, close her eyes and reevaluate the rest of Citali’s visions while asking herself a question. Were the visions a mix of memories and symbolic dreams as the others supposed, or were they all memories laden with lies?
A voice penetrated her thoughts. Anlon’s voice. Pebbles’ eyes opened and she looked around. She saw Anlon peering at her through the entrance flap of the tent.
“Sorry to wake you,” he said.
“No problem. I wasn’t sleeping. Just thinking with my eyes closed.” She shook her head to clear her mind and became aware of a commotion outside the tent. “What’s going on out there?”
“Tuka just showed up.”
Pebbles sat up. “Really? Why?”
“I’m not sure. He’s brought a bunch of his people. Mereau’s with him now.” Anlon reached out his hand. “Come on, let’s find out what’s going on.”
“No. Not yet.” Pebbles patted her hand on the cot. “Sit with me. I need to talk with you about the visions I had earlier today.”
As Anlon lowered onto the cot, he said, “I guess we did kinda skip over them. Sorry about that.”
“It’s all right. There was a lot going on,” Pebbles said. “And I didn’t know what to make of the visions when they first happened anyway. But now that I’ve had a chance to think about them, I’m starting to get a real bad feeling about Citali.”
“More deceptions?”
“Bingo. A lot more.” Pebbles described her latest visions in detail and then said, “Citali wasn’t a helpless bystander at the bonfire. That was BS. She’s the one who pulled all the strings. So, it got me thinking about all the other visions. And the more I’ve thought about them, the more convinced I am that a lot of the stuff that happened in the other visions was BS too. The question I’ve been struggling with is whether the BS was intentional or not. I’m trying to give Citali the benefit of the doubt
, but it’s hard to believe the deceptions are innocent.”
“What do you mean? Give me an example.”
Pebbles massaged her wrists as she answered. “Let’s start with the children. Citali never talked about them or showed them in any of the early visions I had. That’s kinda weird, don’t you think? I mean, I’m not a mom, but, if I was, and I felt my kids were at risk, they’d be on my mind all the time.”
“Absolutely,” said Anlon. “But is it really true they weren’t on her mind? Couldn’t the amorphous objects in her bag have been proxies for her children? If Sanjay were here, he would probably say Citali was in so much pain about their deaths, she turned them into inanimate objects in her visions.”
“Yeah, I guess. But the thing is, as I was thinking back through all the visions, I realized she did show them to me, but I missed it. It was in the Rashana vision. Before Rashana arrived, Citali had been looking out the window as a group of women with children walked by. A few of the kids — not all of them — made a gesture to Citali, touching their hands to their heads. Citali smiled and touched her head in return. Sort of blowing kisses to each other. I’m not a hundred percent certain, but I think her kids might have been the ones who touched their heads.”
“Hmm…why is that significant?” Anlon asked.
“I don’t know that it is,” Pebbles said, “only it seems Citali went out of her way to hide the fact she had kids in other visions and now that part of the Rashana vision comes across like a slip-up. Just like the whole new ones thing. I’d always assumed it meant the children were the new generation of oracles.”
Anlon nodded. “But then Pablo used the same term to describe the new goddess in the legend. The new one will bear the emblems…”
Pebbles halted her wrist-rubbing and gripped Anlon’s knee. “Exactly. It could be coincidental, but if it’s not, it kinda implies Citali believed her children had a right to claim what was hidden, ergo…”
She watched a frown form on Anlon’s face. She waited for him to say, “Ergo, what?” But then the frown began to fade and Anlon said, “Ergo, Citali believed she had a right to claim what was hidden.”
Priestess of Paracas Page 29