“You think? You would be too.”
“I look forward to being unsteady.” He kissed her more deeply. “Soon.”
Many years ago, all animals were great friends. Among the most admired was the b’alam, the jaguar. But he was also arrogant about his dazzling golden fur, often saying to other animals that none of them had as perfect skin as him.
One day he roamed too close to monkeys playing with an avocado. It landed on b’alam, staining his spine. Enraged, he took a monkey to his cave and ate it. The monkeys told Yum Kaax, the lord of the Mount, what had happened. Yum Kaax decided to help them punish the b’alam. They lured him from his cave and threw black zapote, ta’auch, a Mayan word that translates as monkey poop, at b’alam. That was how b’alam got his spots.
They were no longer friends, and b’alam hunted and ate the animals in the rainforest. Yum Kaax gave the animals gifts to protect themselves from the jaguar’s attacks. Sharp fangs, thicker skin, and long tails.
B’alam hid among the plants, having to work harder to get food. He learned not to be so vain. He was still feared and admired for his ferocity, vision, and foresight. Our noble ancestors wore b’alam’s lustrous fur because they wished to be as powerful and majestic as him.
—Tata
Mayan Shaman
Petén, Guatemala
Vivid dreams of Luca and anticipation about exploring Tikal caused Ari to toss and turn throughout the night. She threw back the covers at five o’clock, seeking a bracing shower to fully wake her before heading down to a six o’clock breakfast alone. Absorbed in the team notes, she absently consumed her breakfast and coffee, trying to find out anything she might have missed in yesterday’s meeting and commit the details to memory. Exiting the comedor at six thirty, she passed Matt and Meg giggling on their way in.
“Good morning! How’d you two sleep?”
Their goofy smiles spread from ear to ear, and they answered in unison, “Great!”
“How about you?” Meg asked.
“Not so good. Too excited. Tikal has been on my bucket list since I was a little girl. I’ve checked my camera batteries several times to make sure I don’t run out of juice. Just know, I might take a thousand pics. And don’t rib me about it, okay?” Ari raised her eyebrows in question. “I’m going to check over my packing one more time.”
“Do you have plenty of memory?”
“I have an extra card, just in case.”
“Don’t forget your flashlight,” Meg called behind her.
Ari stopped and turned. “Huh?”
“We’re camping in the ruins! Did you forget?”
“Wh-wha-what? I didn’t see that in the notes. Seriously?”
“Yup. It wasn’t in the notes. Luca received approval late yesterday and surprised everyone at dinner. How did you miss that?”
Ari had been in another world during dinner. Quiet and reflective about the undercurrents between her and Luca, she had tuned out most of the dinner conversation. Specifically, she had focused on ignoring his deep voice—it turned her insides to hot liquid and made her unable to think. And she had to think. She was in a difficult situation. Had she created it? Encouraged it? Last night under the stairs came flooding back. She certainly hadn’t stopped it. Her face flushed.
“How many nights?”
“Just tonight,” Matt answered.
“But I’m sure it’s going to be mind-blowing,” Meg said. “Hey, why’s your face all red?”
She ignored Meg’s question. “Gotta go. I’ve got to redo my packing… What about tents?”
“I believe Luca gave that assignment to Natasha,” Matt said.
Urgency threaded Meg’s words. “Rattle your dags. You have, like, fifteen.”
“Huh?”
“Aussie, for hurry!”
“Oh. Got it.” Ari took off at a jog toward her room. Over her shoulder, she shouted, “I’ll be back in a jiffy. Don’t leave without me.” Out of their sight and giddy, Ari jumped in the air and laughed. Then she skipped back toward her room with a smile so big it hurt. Tikal was at the top of her very long bucket list, and she was finally going to experience it.
“Good morning, happy one,” Luca said, his eyes crinkling with amusement.
She stopped dead in her tracks. “Good morning,” she said, faltering, heat flushing her face. “Um, I got a little carried away. I’ve wanted to explore Tikal forever. I’m kinda excited.”
Luca’s crooked grin made her stomach flip and release butterflies. Leaning over, he purred into her ear, “I like it when you are excited. It ex—”
“Morning, Boss! Morning, Ari! What a beautiful day! Can you believe we’re going to see Tikal? I’ve got to pinch myself,” Joan said, seemingly oblivious to the electricity pulsing between Luca and Ari. “I might have overpacked, but better than not enough. Glad I brought a ground roll for these nights out away from our hotel. A woman of a certain age like me, well, my bones and joints get rather stiff.”
Luca’s voice was warm and full of patience. “Good morning, Joan. Tikal is remarkable. We all will make sure you are as comfortable as you can be tonight. Fair?”
“Thank you, Luca,” Joan said.
Looking at his watch, he said, “We leave in ten. Would you like help?”
“I’m good, kind sir. See you down at the shuttle.” She waddled off, weighed down by multiple bags.
“What a fine woman, Joan. And where are you headed, Ari?”
Lost in Luca’s mossy gaze, she scrambled to find an answer. “Um, forgot my flashlight.”
Running a palm over his stubble, appearing to want to say something and then changing his mind, he said, “See you shortly.”
Dense jungle shrouded early sunlight as the shuttle drove toward Tikal National Park. Despite her excitement, Ari blinked her bleary eyes repeatedly. The spotty night of sleep had caught up with her even though she’d downed four cups of coffee at breakfast. She grabbed the seat in front of her and unfolded, standing upright since she was petite. It felt great. Bracing her feet, she balanced as the shuttle swayed and bucked over the uneven road. Ari worked her shoulders, rotating them forward and then back, moving her head and stretching her neck while inhaling deeply to wake herself up. Better already. Still holding on with her right hand, Ari dropped her right shoulder and extended her left arm over her head, stretching as much as possible. She switched to the other side.
“Are you leading shuttle yoga, Ari?” Natasha called from a few rows in front of her.
Lost in focusing on stretching safely on a moving vehicle, Ari started. A derisive expression covered Natasha’s face, aimed right at her.
Her words were out before she realized what they might infer. “Um. No. I have a crick in my shoulders. My body is wound kinda tight.”
Natasha remained silent, continuing to stare at Ari through her shades, no smile.
God, she makes me so uncomfortable. She’s always watching me, like I’m guilty of something or she expects me to be.
“I see,” Luca said, seated next to Natasha, with a lazy, knowing smile.
The shuttle hit a dip. She thudded back into her seat, color flooding her body. A string of swear words flew through her mind, all aimed at Natasha. Ari busied herself with her camera, extracting it from its case, hands quivering as she pulled her lens cap off and pointed the lens out the open window, flustered and fully awake now.
Through her lens, she witnessed a Sunday morning in Petén. Reverence for the simplicity of Maya life filled her. Here, deep in the jungle and away from the bustle of more heavily populated areas, she had stepped backward in time. Mayan men led saddled horses along on the road’s edge, where the rainforest had been forced to stop. Young children rode on top and, like their parents, were dressed in their finest Sunday dresses, pants, shirts, and shoes. Women walked closely, often carrying the littlest ones wrapped in colorfully woven slings.
The activity was riveting, and she longed to capture all of what she saw with her camera. However, she lowered it each t
ime she was tempted to take a photo of a child, respectful of the Mayan belief that mirrors, even those within cameras, are portals to the otherworld, that taking photos of children would steal their souls. She watched the Maya until they were out of sight, hoping to burn the images into her memory. The lively conversation on the shuttle hushed as the team took in the beauty surrounding them. In short time, the team would arrive at the national park.
Luca stood suddenly and yelled, “Para!” Stepping to the door, he bounded out as soon as the shuttle slammed to a stop. The group emptied out behind him and stood in a half circle. Rife with impatience, Ari continued moving, curious why Luca had ordered the driver to stop when the park entry was another fifty meters ahead.
He braced his hand in front of her. “No! Wait! Do not move,” he demanded, pointing just past the front of the shuttle.
In general, Ari hated it when people tried to order her around, but fear replaced her anger when she looked to where he pointed. She had seen tarantulas before—in pet stores and when Jimmy Robert brought his pet tarantula to school in sixth grade for show-and-tell. She had stayed as far away as possible. Had she known earlier, she wouldn’t have gone to school that day.
Luca squatted. Gingerly he picked up the tarantula with his left forefinger and thumb and carefully flipped his hand so that its caramel-colored thorax rested against his large palm, filling it. Its hairy, segmented black-and-brown legs undulated, and retractable claws opened and shut, seeking escape.
Ari found it difficult to breathe. Profuse sweat—nothing to do with the days escalating temperature—broke out all over her.
Luca pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head, where they nestled in the thick waves. Appreciation and wonder laced his words. “It looks to be a young mature male, harmless as I am holding him.”
She stayed put, wrestling with the rising bile and light-headedness flooding her system. An unbidden memory surfaced.
Shafts of sunlight filtered through the planks of Aunt Nan and Uncle Pete’s ancient barn, spotlighting particles of hay, straw dust, and the hard work of a barn spider that hung from the large truss above her. Flies buzzed to and fro in the morning light. She wanted to go home, but her parents weren’t due back from their weekend trip for another day.
“Take off your sunglasses, Ari,” Luca encouraged. “I have him. He cannot harm you.”
She did as he bid but kept her eyes closed tightly. She swallowed convulsively and shook her head. That one memory, tucked deeply away from when she was ten years old, surfaced. She could smell the sawdust bedding and feel the straw poking through her soft flannel pajamas, making her itch. The crisp morning air chilled her exposed neck, hands, and feet.
The night was pitch-black when she ran into the old barn. She had climbed up into the loft after locking the barn door from the inside with the pitchfork. She had burrowed down into the dry straw of the loft, insulating herself from the chill of the autumn evening and her uncle’s rage, desperate to get away from what she’d witnessed—her uncle pummeling her aunt with his fists and then kicking her as she lay on the floor screaming and crying, holding her pregnant belly, pleading for him to stop. She had shivered violently, crying and praying for her aunt, her unborn cousin, and herself until she fell asleep.
Through her flashback, Ari heard the oohing and aahing, talking, and questions from colleagues as they jockeyed to get a closer look.
“Wow, he’s beautiful!”
“Aren’t you nervous holding that thing, Luca?”
“Are you sure it’s a young one? I’ve never seen that large a spider.”
“Let me get a picture! How do you know it’s a male?”
“I’d like to hold it,” Natasha demanded.
Luca was brusque when he finally responded. “Not now. Just observe.” Pointing to the deep indentions on the spider’s underside, he said, “It is a male. See? It has epiandrous fusillae—an extra set of silk-spinning glands. All males have them.” Ari sensed his shadow over her before he quietly said, “The spider will not hurt you. I have it. Trust me.”
Ari drew her lips into a fine, tight line and shook her head again, more vehemently this time.
The itching moved along her right arm, a huge barn spider. It must have fallen as it was starting to take down its web above her this morning. Screaming, she swiped at the spider, causing it to land where she had slept, and vaulted upright and onto the ladder, racing down to the barn floor. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest while she wrestled with opening the barn door.
Luca said, “Ari, open your eyes. Look. He is a fine specimen.”
“Hey, Red. You’ve got to get yourself together. You’re going to see bigger, badder things than a little spider in this place.” Natasha sneered.
Ari barely opened one eye and then shut it again, tightly, and shuddered.
Something crawled over her bare foot. It was a wolf spider, almost two inches long. The hair on the robust hunter made it appear more menacing. Recalling her dad’s suspected wolf spider bite from the spring and how the surrounding area had swelled and remained painful for a week, she screamed again and again, vigorously shaking her foot, flinging the spider against the barn wall where it scurried away.
“Ari…” Luca was gently insistent.
An engine started up. That meant it was six thirty and Uncle Pete would be driving away from the homestead to begin farming. He was punctual down to the second. She listened, waiting until it was safe to undo her makeshift latch on the barn door. Cautiously, she—
The shuttle engine became more pronounced. She opened her eyes and the memory faded, but she felt light-headed.
“Are you okay?” Joan asked.
Meg reached out to hold Ari and said, “I think she’s going to faint!”
“Ari!” Luca’s voice snapped with frustration, trying to reach her. He stepped in front of her, temporarily blocking her from seeing anyone else and holding the tarantula behind his back. His voice softened. “Look at me.”
She looked for a place to anchor, finding it in the deep green pools of Luca’s eyes, which held no ridicule, only kindness and concern.
“Good. Now breathe.” He watched her carefully as she inhaled deeply, holding her breath for ten long counts before slowly exhaling, as her mom had taught her. “You are all right.” Luca nodded and stepped away from her, vanishing into the dense vegetation. Quickly reappearing, he assured Ari and everyone else. “The tarantula is back off the road. He will not get squashed.”
Embarrassed by her behavior, she took in the concern of her colleagues. Except for smug Natasha. Blushing hotly, she stared at the road in an attempt to get ahold of herself and her emotions.
His strong, lean hand extended low, offering her a lifeline. She took it. Tingling raced into her body, taking her by surprise. Even in fear, the deep hunger she had for him surfaced. Her eyes widened, and she raised her head.
Luca cast his eyes around at the rest of their group, seeking their attention and consensus. “Everyone, back on the shuttle. We have a long day.”
He turned back to her. “Better?”
She looked up into his eyes and nodded. She saw questions flit through his emerald-green depths and something else. It hit her in the solar plexus. Ari inhaled deeply, held her breath, and then exhaled as slowly as possible to steady herself. What a hot mess she was.
Ari boarded the shuttle, guided by Luca’s hand on her back. When seated, her body trembled from the stress of seeing the enormous tarantula and Luca’s touch. She grasped her notebook and pen from her backpack after her hands stilled. A uniformed man came out of the little building at the entry gate and waved at their shuttle. It stopped, and Luca and Natasha hopped off.
Ari gave up on journaling and picked up her camera again, trying to capture everything she saw around her, not wanting to miss any of her experience in Tikal.
The shuttle swayed when Luca and Natasha stepped in and moved up the steps. They stood in front, holding on to a safety bar as the drive
r shut the doors and drove into the park.
“Everyone, eyes up front. Please,” Luca directed. “We are checked in and have secured our campsite and guides for tomorrow morning’s sunrise hike. We have roughly eighteen kilometers until we reach the area where we will camp. We will decide our course of action after we arrive. The gate said we are among the first in this morning.” He spoke to the driver, who slowed down further. “I have asked our driver to drive more slowly than the posted forty-five-kilometer speed limit so that you can take in the majesty of Tikal. Most of you have not been here. It is a very special place. The park is expansive, five hundred seventy-five square kilometers.
“Laser technology has recently surveyed more than twenty-one hundred square kilometers of the Petén jungle. The tens of thousands of structures buried beneath the jungle foliage reveal the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization was much more complex and interconnected than originally believed. With this new information, the population estimate has been increased to between five and fifteen million. Causeways, defensive walls, fortresses, and ramparts indicate that warfare was rife. I remind you that Ari and Matt are our utmost experts on differing aspects of the Maya. We are fortunate to have them on our project.”
Her eyes met Luca’s, and she nodded. His smile was slow and reassuring.
“Ari?” he said.
She felt him studying her. She didn’t dare look and gave him a thumbs-up instead.
“Why did we stop again?” Joan asked Luca.
“Ocellated turkeys and coatis are crossing the road.”
Ari rose from her seat. “Can we get out again? I’d like to take some pictures.”
“The park is full of them. You will see many more. I would prefer we continue on.”
“Sure.” Ari sat, scooting next to the window across from Luca, in front of Meg and Matt. Ebullient, she extended her lens out the opening, wanting to pinch herself. She was finally in the place that was at the top of her bucket list. She snapped away, capturing the turkeys and raccoon-like coatis before they disappeared into the dense green.
Afraid to Fall (Ancient Passages Book 1) Page 11